How to load games using ARMax on a PS2 Slimline
After reading forum after forum on how to use ARMax to load backups on my PStwo Slimline, they all seemed one way or another refer to a step that can only be used on the FAT version.
This guide is a step-by-step tutorial for ONLY the PStwo Slimline versions... no FATs allowed here!
Here goes:
STEP 1 : Disable the 3 sensors:
Disable the 3 sensors that stop the CD/DVD from spinning when you press the eject button. You can find this anywhere on the net, but here's a link to get you started as it shows graphics. (http://www.geocities.com/pstwoslimline/tapetissue.htm).
My Method of Disabling Sensor A:
What I did was when I took apart the PStwo slimline, I used a small piece of twist-tie (metal only) and jammed Sensor A down and bent it over 90 degress to hold it in place. To get the metal part of a twist-tie only, just burn off the plastic and you will have the metal portion.
My Method of Disabling Sensor B:
For Sensor B, once the cover is off, turn it upside down and just remove this sensor completley by removing the one screw.
My Method of Disabling Sensor C:
Sensor C is the tricky one. When you remove the 6 screws on your PStwo, you will notice there are two small "anti-skid" square pieces that have nothing underneath them. Remove these and put them together like a sandwich. You will need this "sandwich" to disable Sensor C.
When you examine Sensor C upclose, right next to it you will see the screw that holds the laser housing, there is a space about 1cm thick just below the screw and above Sensor C in which you can push your "sandwich" in so that it will hold the sensor down much more securely than a piece of tissue.
NOTE: ***** The PStwo lid wont close with this "sandwich" piece, as the plastic mold on the lid will touch them. To fix this, examine the PStwo lid and notice one of the mold "hinges" is much longer than the other (it's the hinge with the spring beside it). Using an old knife and your stove, heat up your knife so it's red hot and slice through this molding so it is the same deepnees as the other hinge.. basically just slice it upto the hinge so that the lid still says on and you can close it. You don't have to do this step, but your lid will not close if you use the "sandwich" pieces to keep Sensor C down. ******
Once this is all done, reassemble your PStwo slimline and proceed below.
Now that the 3 sensors are disabled, make sure it works. Put in an original game and start to play. You will notice the DVD will still be spinning even with the lid open.
STEP 2 : Get everything you need:
- you will need the following
- USB Memory Stick (I used the Staples name brand it worked perfectly, costs $19.99 CDN for 256 MB)
- Action Replay Max CD (I have the blue box version, bought at Zellers for $29.99 CDN - 1 original PS2 game (I purchased Primal at Blockbuster for $9.99 CDN)
- CDLOADER.ELF copied onto the USB Memory Stick. Download from here as this is the only one that will work > http://www.geocities.com/jjax1975/CDLOADER.zip (thanks jjax!)
- Blank DVD-R's to burn your backups (I recommend the Memorex DVD-R as they work very well)
- Total cost thus far is: $59.97 CDN (oddly the same price of one brand new PS2 game!)
STEP 3 : Using Action Replay Max to launch CDLOADER.ELF
- Insert the Action Replay Max CD and the USB Memory Stick (make sure the CDLOADER.ELF file is on the memory stick)
- Power on your PStwo Slimline and let Action Replay Max load up.
- Choose the "Media Player". Once the Media Player loads up, it will read your USB Memory stick.
- Press the LEFT or RIGHT button to bring up the player window, make sure that you see the name CDLOADER.ELF in the bottom left corner.
- Select the PLAY button and press X. CDLOADER.ELF will now launch.
STEP 4 : Using CDLOADER.ELF to play your Backups
- Once CDLOADER.ELF loads up, the Action Replay Max CD will stop spinning.
- Once the ARMAX CD stopped spinning, press the TRIANGLE button on your controller. This will reset the laser head to the top. This is VERY IMPORTANT. I will explain later on.
- Remove the Action Replay Max CD and insert an original PS2 Game DVD (eg: Primal).
- Press TRIANGLE again, the laser head will move down and read the DVD. In the bottom left corner of your screen, it should read "PS2 DVD".
- Once you see the "PS2 DVD" in the bottom left corner, Press the X button.
- After a few seconds of spinning, the disc will stop spinning and you will get a new screen with a message "Put in DVDR by EA Method".
- At this screen, remove the original PS2 game, and insert your backup.
- Press the X button again.
- The disc will start spinning again and your backup will load.
END.
This method WORKS! I've used this to play over a dozen of my backups without any problem. I highly recommend going to blockbuster and purchase a used game with a high TOC index. I use the game Primal (made by Sony) for my original and it works flawlessly with all my game swaps.
Although you may be spending $59 in "material" to get this done, the benefit is that you now have Action Replay Max to play media files and you can copy your game saves to your USB memory stick! I prefer this method over the "Swap Magic" method any day!
