HD Loader

HD Loader is a program for the PlayStation 2 video game console which allow users to play games installed to the optional hard drive peripheral available for the PS2. The games can be copied to the hard drive from an original game CD or DVD from within HD Loader, or installed using a PC and software such as [http://www.hdldump.ps2-scene.org/ HDL Dump] or [http://forums.psxforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=22748 WinHIIP ] (the PS2 hard drive uses a standard IDE interface and the HDD can be connected to almost any PC). The HD Loader software does not require an original
Sony hard drive to function properly; Maxtor IDE drives and others using the same spacing between the IDE cable and power cable can be attached to the PS2 using a Sony Ethernet adapter and formatted for use by the software (other drives such as Western Digital IDE drives require you to slightly mod the Ethernet adapter to increase the spacing on the adapter as the drives IDE and power spacing is a bit too wide). By using the Ethernet adapter and a non Sony hard drive with the PS2, games such as "Final Fantasy XI", which require the HDD peripheral cannot be played even through the loader as it requires a physical Sony hard drive to install to.

Reaction

Sony's public stance on HD Loader is that it is not supported and is illegal (besides playing backups and homebrew games, it can also enable game piracy). In October, 2006, a federal court in California ordered defendants to pay in excess of $9 million in damages for Digital Millennium Copyright Act violations for selling HD Loader. Original HD Loader discs are still being produced and sold on their main [http://www.hdloader.org/ HD Loader] website and alternative websites [http://www.hdloader.net/] [http://www.hdloader.com.au/] , but rumor is that it's of the unofficial patched version. [http://www.hdloader.net/forums/showthread.php?mode=hybrid&t=186] A clone of the patched version of the official version is being sold as called HD Advance is still being manufactured and can be purchased from many online retailers.

Compatibility

HD Loader is not 100% compatible with all PS2 games. Some incompatibilities exist because game software depends on certain peculiarities of the PS2 drive hardware. Additional incompatibilities arise from the use of dual-layer DVDs in some PS2 games, which are sometimes not parsed properly by HD Loader (incidentally, dual-layer games can only be installed from a PC but as of 0.8c you can install them from HD Loader, this is because HD Loader 0.8b and earlier versions are only capable of ripping the first layer of a game directly on the PS2). Finally, there are intentional impediments introduced in versions of HD Loader before 0.8c to some recent high-profile PS2 titles, such as "God of War" and "Gran Turismo 4", to prevent them from being executed off the hard drive.

In response to the limitations of HD Loader, a number of independent programmers have developed patches which extend the functionality of HD Loader to improve game compatibility. These include a fix to improve dual-layer support, one to implement a non-aligned data buffer (which allows "Gradius V" to be played from the HD), one to defeat newer copy-protection measures (popularly known as the "God of War" fix), one to support the new "slimline" SCPH-70000 series PlayStation 2 hardware and one to implement 48-bit Logical Block Addressing (which allows HD Loader to take full advantage of hard drives larger than 137 GB; or 128 GiB, as reported by HD Loader) as of 0.7c hard drives of up to 2 Terabytes can be used.

These patches have been accumulated into unofficial HD Loader release known as 0.8b, The unofficial HD Loader is currently at version 0.8c as of April 2007. Version 0.8c continues support for 48bit (up to 2 Terabyte hard drives), patches for both GTA:LCS/GTA:VCS & GOW2 , 3 more modes and support for installing and running dual layer games directly off the hard drive.

A lot of people believe that the version 0.8c of HD Loader is exactly the same as the HD Loader 0.8b+ ( God of War 2 fix ) or the HD Loader 0.8b (Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories fix) [http://www.console-exploits.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9610&page=3] . They are completely different versions.

Some games need to be patched in order to be played with HD Loader. Final Fantasy XII is an example. At least one game, namely, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, needs to be started with a PS1 digital controller and then switch to Dualshock 2. Some games cannot even be installed. A message will appear stating that a fatal error is encountered. According to PS2HD.COM, the compatibility rate of patched HD Loader is around 88.2%.

Version history

Official HD Loader is extracted and released to the internet as a retaliation to the free library files used in its creation.

0.6d - the first unofficial version that improved game compatibility.

0.7c - fix for Suikoden V, patches for 48bit HDDs (up to 2 Terabytes), DMA modes (UDMA/MDMA) and DVD9 fix to allow dual layer games to be played were added. A stable GUI Patching app was created and allowed one to choose which patches and other various edits to apply to an Official unpatched version. Updated compatibility menu added.

0.7e - IPS patches that fixed Shadow of the Colossus and Super Monkey Ball were added. This made many more games that were previously incompatible, now compatible. Updated compatibility menu added and modes changed from numbers to what the patch does.

A list of games fixed with this version:

*Shadow of the Colossus
*Shinobido Imashime
*Buzz the Music Quiz mode 3
*Buzz the Big Quizz mode 3
*etude prologue
*Amplitude
*Capcom Classics Collection
*Karaoke Revolution 1
*Karaoke Revolution 2
*Karaoke Revolution 3
*MEDICAL91
*Sega Ages Vol. 25: Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box
*MS Saga
*Super Monkey Ball
*Psyvariar Complete Edition
*Rampage Total Destruction
*Lego Star Wars -Enemies now appear in Free Play
*Strikers 1945 1& 2
*24: The Game
*Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
*Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny
*Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast
*The Da Vinci Code
*Tokyo Xtreme Racer DRIFT
*Godzilla: Save the Earth

0.8 - A patch that fixed and the ability to edit the DMA button configuration.

0.8b - fixes a bug with HDL0.8 not installing to HDDs over 128GB and a few other minor errors. Updated compatibility menu added.

0.8b+ - A patch that fixed God Of War 2 was added. NOTE: the patch author(s) did not rename the version in this fix, so users took it upon themselves to give a variety of names, such as HDLv0.8b_GOW2, HDLv0.8b++. But this patch crashed the previous patch for GTA:LCS , making it incompatible due to a misaligned buffer.

0.8c - A fix for the buffer alignment was added into the GUI Patcher app and made both GOW2 and GTA:LCS run without crashing. This is the current version. The unofficial releases can be run on a console with a modchip installed, or by using the PS2 Independence Exploit.

Important Note - Players who were using HDAdvance 2.0 retail pressed discs (CD or DVD) to format (PS2 Format) their 80 GB Maxtor Hard Disks and subsequently use the disc to play PS2 games from the HDD have a strange problem. HD Loader versions up to 0.7c boot up perfectly via the Independence Exploit but subsequent versions of Hdloader from 0.8 onwards freeze on the splash screen and refuse to start up. No one seems to know the correct reason.A remedy (that has not been confirmed to work 100% across the board) is to reformat the PS2 hard disc with the 0.8 (and upwards) version of HDloader.

External links

* [http://www.hdloader.org/ HD Loader] , HD Loader site.
* [http://www.absoluteanime.com/hdloader.php HD Loader Game Compatibility List] , a straightforward list which includes notes about various compatibility issues.
* [http://list.sksapps.com/ Updated Compatibility List for the PS2 HD] Shows compatibility for the various versions of HD loader, USB Extreme and ToxicOS.
* [http://ps2drives.x-pec.com PS2 Hard Drive Compatibility Chart]