PS2 [MX4SIO/SIO2SD] SD Card Adapter and SD-driver for the PS2 SIO2 interface

[Fabio Kuntze]

@TnA
@Al3x_Portugal and I tested some sandisk cards and none worked

 

[BBsan]

@Fabio Kuntze sid you already try to add the resistors to D2 and D3 as well? I'll try to do this tomorrow, but bc my limited time it takes forever for me

 

[Fabio Kuntze]

@Fabio Kuntze sid you already try to add the resistors to D2 and D3 as well? I'll try to do this tomorrow, but bc my limited time it takes forever for me

I don't think so, micro sd doesn't have D3, and D2 would be the pin CS, or ATT on PS2

https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=jinslove4u&logNo=30147509996

 

[Zwei]

I've been out of the ps2 scene for a while.
With this adapter we will be able to put the games on the SD card ?

 

[neo88]

I've been out of the ps2 scene for a while.
With this adapter we will be able to put the games on the SD card ?

If that is the idea, play homebrews and games by the MC port to get a higher reading speed than in USB ports.

 

[Zwei]

If that is the idea, play homebrews and games by the MC port to get a higher reading speed than in USB ports.

The SD2SP2 game cube card does this

 

[Elrey_jj]

Were can i buy the PCB Prototype Micro-SD for the ps2

 

[Yayi López]

Hi guys, here I share the one that believes me and the tests I did, I hope it can be of use to you

 

[Fabio Kuntze]

Alternative adapter, requires soldered wires on ps2 board or some connector compatible with MC port


UPDATE 08/04/2021
Add 10k resistor from MISO(DAT) to 3.3v(VCC)

 

[Elrey_jj]

Hi guys, here I share the one that believes me and the tests I did, I hope it can be of use to you

Hola cual sd card funcionan yo quiero meter al sd peluculas sera posible eso y cual media player me recomiendas gracias

English:
Hello, which sd card works, I want to put movies on the sd, will that be possible and which media player do you recommend? Thank you

 

[Thiago Barrios]

Some tests...

======================
Alien Hominid/Micro Machines V4:
Freezes on first load (MC load) on all of my opls tests (79001/50001)¹.
Pad emulation trick¹
======================
Barbarian/God Hand/Ico/Naruto Shippuden U.N. 5/Freedom Figthers/ Shrek 2/ Freekstyle/ Mashed: Drive to Survive:
Works on 79001* & 50001**

*(v1.1.0-Beta-DB-2027-48f95c9 => MC load fail; v1.1.0_Beta_1703_4c44cc => MC load fail;
v1.1.0-Beta-1627-23ba651-bdm => Opl freezes on usb games tab).

**(v1.1.0-Beta-1627-23ba651-bdm => MC load ok; ).
======================
MVsC2:
Works on (79001* & 50001**)¹

Pad emulation trick¹

*(v1.1.0-Beta-DB-2027-48f95c9 => MC load fail; v1.1.0_Beta_1703_4c44cc => MC load fail;

**(v1.1.0-Beta-1627-23ba651-bdm => MC load ok; ).
======================
The Bouncer:
Works on 79001* & 50001**

*(v1.1.0-Beta-DB-2027-48f95c9 => MC load fail; v1.1.0_Beta_1703_4c44cc => MC load fail;
v1.1.0-Beta-1627-23ba651-bdm => Opl freezes on usb games tab; Noticeable slowdown in fmv).


**(v1.1.0-Beta-1627-23ba651-bdm => MC load ok; little slowdown in fmv).
======================
Generic micro SD with adapt. 4GB class 4;

PS2 79001 & 50001 with modchip;

MX4SIO on 2° MC port with 4 resistors pull down trick.

On 79k, I'm getting "MC not inserted" on all tested games. On 50k , only opl v1.1.0-Beta-1627-23ba651-bdm could access the MC.

Manual BDM/usb start works better for me.

Getting opl crashes on cfg saving, or not saving.

More pics:
https://i.ibb.co/By8Bhcn/20210721-160218.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/whF0TH9/20210730-163209.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/ncwNn4q/20210730-170532.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/nR4z3Q7/20210730-170450.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/FX1RJgg/20210730-170358.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/NSWGgGk/20210730-073428.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/bJxBV30/20210730-072900.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/z4pPQQ1/20210730-072558.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/3Fftx2w/20210729-232102.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/YWC8TcY/20210730-073117.jpg

 

[Fabio Kuntze]

I tested the OPL 1703/DB2027 version and found a lot of problems with the BDM drive.
It doesn't save the settings in the Micro SD, and doesn't load them on startup, after setting BDM it recognizes and loads the Micro SD game list, but from 5 games I have only 1 started.
opnps2ld-v1-1-0-beta-1629-e20f2ee-bdm3 this works great on a 79001 and a 90001 with ModChip, on a 79001 with FMCB a lot of incompatibility and freezes.

Nice portable @Thiago Barrios

 

[Yayi López]

Hello guys, here I share a video where we can see a comparison between the MX4SIO and the native USB of the PlayStation 2. The tests were made with some heavy kinematics games to be able to compare if using this method the stops are over, I hope it will be useful :

 

[TnA]

Keep in mind that the speed can also be improved, if you use a big sector/cluster-size when you format the SD!

Some SDs are also faster and some slower! I have a TOSHIBA EXCERIA 8GB which reads at ~1.8MB/s and another card which only reads at 1.6MB/s and so on.

Keep in mind that it is still "work in progress" and that we just got to the point that it is in the OPL-Betas and "working".

Do you have a FAT and a Slim (75k or newer) to compare both?

Some other games with high bitrate FMVs you can try: GT4, FF XII, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3

 

[Yayi López]

Keep in mind that the speed can also be improved, if you use a big sector/cluster-size when you format the SD!

Some SDs are also faster and some slower! I have a TOSHIBA EXCERIA 8GB which reads at ~1.8MB/s and another card which only reads at 1.6MB/s and so on.

Keep in mind that it is still "work in progress" and that we just got to the point that it is in the OPL-Betas and "working".

Do you have a FAT and a Slim (75k or newer) to compare both?

Some other games with high bitrate FMVs you can try: GT4, FF XII, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3

Thank you very much for the information, friend, it is very good to know so I take them into account and I can give a better answer to all those who are commenting on me, Greetings

 

[Fabio Kuntze]

alternative adapter with common and cheap material

 

[TnA]

Man! This project seems to go through the roof since 1-2 weeks!

• Implementation into the official OPL Beta-builds (hence also in later releases)
• Videos for DIY-Builds
• Speed-tests
• etc.

Keep in mind that this this might not be the final design and that device and game-compatibility could be affected!

View attachment 27671

I completely forgot I received this....
How far has the project come along? Is this proto board even relevant now??

You can use it with OPL and Retroarch now!
Others like wLE, FMCB/FHDB, SMS, etc. certainly seem interesting!


@Fabio Kuntze Would you try to make one of those, but with a big SD slot and a case? Maybe a video or tutorial out of it? You don't need to make a well cut video yourself. You could send RAW video to some YouTuber. We have the connections to them, so that would not be a problem.

If you ever join the PS2-Scene-Discord I will make you a "Contributor". Your ideas and contributions are appreciated.

 

[TnA]

I will edit the first post as soon as I can, but it will probably take a few days.


So where are we at?

We have:

• the SD//MX4SIO-Code in the PS2SDK allowing any app which adds this support and is recompiled, using/accessing SD-Cards (normal&micro), which means this project is NOT going to "die off" anytime soon.
• an implementation in the official Repo as well as some forks (OPL DB, etc.). Loading PS2-games from it, loading and saving from and to VMC works, saving settings works!
• RetroArch being capable of accessing it (which is promising for wLE, FMCB, FHDB, FMCB/FHDB-Configurator, SMS, POPStarter, etc.).
• 2nd Prototype Batch of MX4SIO-Adapters has been manufactured. I am not sure how many Prototype-Builds there will be for a "simple adapter".
• custom/DIY Adapters
• an open source project, regarding the source/code and even the Hardware, like the full hardware-structure or Gerber-Files for the PCB, etc. (except for the "name" of the adapter AFAIK).
• new ideas regarding the hardware, like Pull-up-resistors
• many interested people.
• There are plans for a sophisticated "Debug-Version", which will NOT be a simple adapter anyone can rebuild. However... This is meant to be similar to the MemoryCard Pro project, but adding some things like an additional connection for debugging-capabilities (for example your app, or a game in OPL or whatever). The most important thing... The general project and EVERYTHING regarding the hardware and software is OPEN SOURCE! The financial use of the name "MX4SIO" is not, but EVERTHING else IS! So... I would LOVE some additions to MemoryCard Pro!
• etc.

What is missing:

• Higher card-compatibility (not sure if that can be accomplished via the "simple adapter" and updating the driver, or if it needs an MCU or any other additional Hardware. The pull-up-resistors already seem to make a difference!).
• Some structural changes (for example a "hooking-manager" or how to call it), to avoid the "PADEMU-Fix".
• A tool to let other Homebrew-Apps access the SD-Card like "mass" (USB-storage-device), without recompiling them! I think something like a TSR-Routine used in GSM (standalone), or "ESR MC (mini)" would be the most sufficient method.
• etc.

I would very much appreciate the people who invented "Memcard PRO" (for the PS1) to contact us somehow. Be it here or on the PS2-Scene-Discord!

Why? I think this could be a great Co-Op!
We release the simple adapter (which doesn't interfere with their project) and they could add support for a "passthrough-mode" and some other things to their project!

It would be great if some of our people could get one (or 2?) of those cards and if MemoryCard Pro users could enjoy using these cards for other stuff on the PS2 as well.
There are SOOOO many things which could be accomplished by it on a PS2 as well, just by additions to the Software!!!

• MX4SIO-Support
• Support for VMCs/multiple or big "MC" on a PS2!
• Support for FMCB on a PS2, via a pre-build image or "save"!!!
• Support for using other MCIDs like the one from Memor32 and Memento, or from ANY user out there!
• etc.

 

[Berion]

What is mount point for MX4SIO? Under i.e "mc0:/" or some different like i.e "mx4sio0:/", "sd0:/" and similar?

People from MemCard Pro aren't responding for e-mails not related to product issues or shipment...

 

[TnA]

"mass:"
Well, it depends on which is detected first but yeah.... like a USB-Device!

If they don't respond, they loose a GIGANTONORMOUS chance of earning revenue and cash!!!