Doo-dads for using not-PS2 controllers on the PS2.
I have a brook ps2 super convertor that I use to make the USB fightstick I have (Mayflash F300 Elite) work. The Brook supports PS4 and PS3 controllers, but the stick seems to only work if I set it to PS4. Normally the stick needs a PS4 controller plugged into it in PS4 mode, but it works here without one.
You can use USB keyboards and mice with the PS2. It's mostly only supported for games with online chat and some FPS. In addition:
There are also some doodads that let you use a mouse in place of the right analogue stick, so again mostly just useful for FPS.
I can't find a complete list of PS2 multitap games, so here are some interesting ones.
Wanted to get a wheel for OutRun 2 SP, here're my notes on the Logitech wheels, roughly in order of price/quality. Skipped wheels that aren't at least gear driven / have proper force feedback.
At this point it's pretty simple to run games on the PS2 without needing discs, or any hardware modification.
The first step is to get free mcboot. The easiest way to is to buy a memory card with it already setup on there. Otherwise you will have to put the required stuff on the card yourself (though recent discoveries have made this easier). Buy a decent one, any card with the 'MagicGate' branding should be reliable. Sony, Hori, and Fujiwork are ones I'm aware of
Next you need to decide how to load ISOs. You can do this via USB (slow, the PS2 only supports 1.1, and lots of USB devices don't work), from a hard disk (IDE or SATA), or over a SAMBA network. The last two option require the HDD/network adapter that plugs into the back of a 'fat' model PS2. I don't have a 'slim' model, but IIRC they have an ethernet port built-in, and I dunno how they do HDD. The advantage of using a hard disk is that you can rip your own discs straight to it, the advantage of using a network connection is that you can store a bunch of games on a NAS and not worry about having to fuck with your PS2 to get games on there.
Your memory card will come with Open PS2 Loader (OPL), which is what you use for running games. It may have POPStarter, which is an emulator for playing PSX games, and you can also have other emulators and stuff on there. Once you have Free McBoot you can install whatever you want via USB or network.
Note: My PS2 has a mod chip, but I can't run NTSC-region discs unless I take the Free McBoot card out.
A Free McBoot memory card should have some version of LaunchELF on it. This is a file manager for PS2s, most usefully letting you explore memory cards. This means you can transfer saves to and from a correctly formatted USB drive (FAT32), and use other tools to use them with and emulator like PCSX2, or use your emulator save son your PS2.
Once you have your saves on a USB you can use MyMC to open an existing PCSX2 virtual memory card and insert your saves. Also works with saves you might download online, in other formats.
You can also use MyMC to export saves in .psu format, which can then be put on a your USB drive and transferred back to the memory card. The process is similar to how you put them o nthere in the first place, but when you are pasting the files onto the memory card you have to use the 'psupaste' command instead other regular 'paste' one.
Pretty straight-forward. Programs seem to handle it without any configuration? I remember having to fuss with this a bit for PSX games?
If you're running games off a network then the ISO format works for CDs and DVDs.
If you're using a HDD then you can rip games straight to it from the PS2!
☞ Source: [HowTo] Rip Playstation 2 Games on Linux
The main Linux tool for disk/c stuff is dd (which I would like to have a better handle on):
$ dd if=/dev/sr0 of=[title].iso
if is 'input file', and of is 'output file'. If you have more than one disc drive /dev/sr0 might be something else.
If there are errors you can try ddrescue:
$ ddrescue /dev/sr0 [title].iso
Seems like most software works fine. With K3b:
I didn't have any luck trying to get graphics from Earth Defence Force Tactics, but:
winetricks dotnet20 to ditch this error message: 'This application could not be started. You must enable the .NET Framework from Windows Features dialog box (from Control Panel, choose Programs, Turn Windows features on or off).'Non-game software
PlayStation Basic is a version of Yet Another Basic (Yabasic) which was distributed on a demo CD in Europe as part of a failed effort by Sony to have the PS2 considered a 'home computer' rather than a videogame console, which would've saved them some taxes.
Yabasic exists on other platforms too!
I'm not that fussy about this kinda thing, but it'd be nice to be able to plug it into my computer monitor (DVI, VGA). Seems a bit of a faff though.