PS2 - Faulty Optical-out

[Bluepixie]

Hey,

Just on the off change anybody can help me with this.

I have a PS2 which my landlord kindly left for me (he was just going to throw it out). It's a PAL v4 if what the serial number tell me is correct. I naturally went out and bought Guitar Hero 3 and hooked my VideoLogic Digitheatre DTS (http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews/digitheatre.html) up to the PS2 by the optical connection. A very happy month of GH action ensued.

However, just a few days ago, I was playing a game as per norm. Then I started getting crackling from the speakers then solid white noise. Yeeesh. So went through the motions, I turned off the speaker system completely let it cool down, tried again, got about 30's of play then white noise again. Tried it with my PC Auzentech X-Fi Prelude, played some music and games (over several days) no problems. Tried playing music CD's in the PS2, same results and quicker this time too. Tried playing games, CD's through the TV speakers instead, no problems.

This quickly lead me to the conclusion that the optical out on the PS2 is indeed, borked. Now, I've been looking around on net at various stores in the UK that supply spare parts and what not but I can't find any that supply spare optical outs. Is it possible to repair this?

If not, I was thinking of getting rid of this PS2 and getting a slim PS2 instead, but I now know that the fatty is indeed the way to go particularly when doing HD, networking and chip mods. I have a spare 200GB IDE Western Digital kicking about which makes an HD mod very appealing. Do I still need to mod chip it if I go with the HD mod or can I do with out?

What do people advise? ;-)

Cheers.

[Strings]

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/4595/04sy3.jpg

I just uploaded this on mininova, thought I'd put it here too. Sorry it's not written better (I wrote it quickly and off the top of my head), I hope it's helpful to those new at this who want a quick way to running HD Loader. Loading and streaming speed benefits when using HD Loader are immense! This new patch includes support for God of War 2.

Description:
This is a HD Loader 0.8c compilation that contains a shrunk HD Loader 0.8c (600KB), latest version, Independence Compiler 3.0 (which itself contains boot.elf), hdld_svr and hdl_dumb, all the software you need to play games off HDD on your PS2!

As for the hardware, you'll need:
Fat PS2 (original, non-slim)
PS2 Network Adapter (I suggest ebay)
HDD (IDE, 3½ inch, at least 40GB)
Original Playstation One game
Crossover cable (to copy games from your computer to your PS2, no normal network cable, HAS to be crossover)
A way to boot burned CD-ROMs, like Swap Magic or any chip (since this is needed only once, to copy the elf files to a memory card, you can use any PS2, a friend's maybe)

So:
Run Independence compiler, follow instructions and don't forget to include HDL08c an hdld_svr (if you plan to transfer ISOs over a network) elf files, add a PS1 disc ID, select that your PS2 is on a network and select the proper region (PAL = Europe, NTSC = USA). Boot.elf will be included automatically. Make CD image, burn it and run it on a PS2 with the memory card you plan to use inserted into Slot 1.

After you're done, insert the PS1 game you previously determined to use and boot.elf should start.

Configure boot.elf to run HDL08c.ELF default and hdld_svr.elf on a press of a certain button. Both are located on your Slot 1 memory card in the SYSTEM folder.

To install games, you can either use originals (or copies if you have a chip) and install them from the HD Loader interface or do it over a network. Connect your PS2 and your computer with a crossover cable and run hdld_svr.elf on your PS2. On your PC, go Control Panel > Network Connections > right click Local Area Connection and select Properties > select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) then properties > select "Use the following IP address" and write 192.168.0.1 for IP and 255.255.255.0 for subnet mask > OK > OK.

Now run hdl_dumb.exe and click attach. You can now transfer gamer over the network. When you're done, change the Internet Protocol properties back to "Obtain an IP address automatically" and reconnect the cables.


Note: For a compatibility list (compatibility is very high, BTW), see http://www.ps2hd.com/list/ (in HDL, press Select when on a game to choose among compatibility modes, Mode 3 is the third listed etc)
Note2: Thanks to ZeroX and others over at psx-scene.com

Hope this is all you need. Good luck!

I've just copied and pasted that from a torrent on BitGamer. If you don't have an account give me a shout and I'll upload the newest version of the loader. It's probably on public sites though.

[Bluepixie]

Do you have a chipped PS2? Who does? Do you need a chipped PS2 to play games off a HD?

I take it I should be looking for this kind of network adaptor? (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-PLAYSTATION-2-NETWORK-ADAPTER-BOXED-NEW_W0QQitemZ230229055286QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item2 30229055286)

[Sideshow]

You don't need to be chipped to run games off the HD. If you are chipped then you can burn a copy of HDLoader though; if you are not chipped you're gonna have to buy it.