I was really suprised to hear that the MC slot is faster than the USB haha

I read that once the game is loaded, you can remove the FMCB cardand reolace it with a normal memory card for saving games, and just to remember to switch the cards back before changing the game.

Compatibility is the biggest filter when it comes to OPL, but keep in mind that sometimes versions of games from other regions will actually work, and if you're really lucky they'll support PAL60 output which means they'll work okay on a NTSC console. 2024 Update: I've since gone from this to a 1TB HDD with a SATA adapter on my phat PS2 and the difference is night and day. I tested out more recent builds of OPL with my MX4SIO card and sadly haven't seen much improvement in the realm of compatibility so I personally can't recommend it even if the cards are cheap, the money saved won't save much in terms of the time spent fiddling with different versions of games hoping they won't break after a certain point or fail to save.

Love the shoutout to the online spreadsheet. I started it off to help the PS2 community 😊

Honestly, I don't get why Sony hasn't done more to bring PS2 games into a HD space. Right now, the options I use are my launch model PS3(s) and emulation. I recognise that emulation renders the PS2 better. But the PS2 hasn't had anywhere near as much official support as the PS1 has... Even with it being the highest selling console. I still wish Sony would have done a PS2 mini console (Like with what they did on the PS1). I would have ripped their hand off for that... But because the PS1 mini flopped so badly, that ever being an option for the PS2 also drifted into a dreamspace. All I am saying is, the PS2 deserves some love also. I like the tech here but with the low quality resolution of the PS2 console on modern TV's I wouldn't really go for it. HD has kinda spoilt me, in the sense that I won't really go for anything else.

The USB method is not too bad, the CD based games run flawlessly, and I've found some DVD that also run great, like Summoner and Rumble Roses.

You do really good work on this platform, dude

It just occurred to me, wouldn't the saving game progress issue be solved by splitting the micro SD in two partitions? I have an external drive with two partitions and when you plug it in it shows two drives, if that was possible in PS2 one partition could be the memory card and the other the storage where you put the games.

I wanna see a speed test between this memory card flash reader vs game disc. Seems like they might be the same speed.

I heard about this a few days ago. It’s great that people still find new things to do on the PlayStation 2 two decades later. I still have my PlayStation 2 fat with HDDOSD and Free Mcboot.

This is great to replace USB game loader for PS2 since PS2 loads off USB too slow but with this it's perfect like running off disk! Edit: Carl's reply to this comment below apparently not for all PS2 models!

Thanks fir the review. Was amazed to hear about this recently, modding a Phat with an HDD is cool but its actually quite a pain putting the games on. if this has the same or better OPL compatibility than using an HDD then it's the best method there is I think. And it works on the nice compact slim machines! Incidentally, if you have a Phat PS2 you never need a FMCBoot memory card, you can set up FreeHDBoot & OPL from scratch on an HDD, then play the games off this MC2ISO

This is great man! Please keep us updated when this improves. Love and blessings from Ontario Canada!

in my opinion, MX2SIO is an alternative to play with LESS hassle compared to using USB, which is we all know it's 1.0, with slightly better performance in FMV playback. But in terms of performance, I'd say either internal HDD/SSD with NA or LAN server is still a better choice. And since it's known working with only specific release of OPL, we don't know if the compatibility for all known PS2 games is covering the game we want to play.

Last time I checked they were sold out, nice to see you got your hands on it.

wow how in the world is memory card slot faster than USB? You guys in the modding community are just genius and im so grateful

aliexpress is already selling these, with FMCB and OPL combo.

Inside OPL Setup: Go to settings. Change BMD Start Mode to Auto. Go to Block Devices. Make sure USB and MX4SIO are turned ON. Save Changes.

I managed to get one and it's one of the best purchases I've made for ps2

I was thinking this kind of method like ten years ago. But, I can't seem to get around with it. And now, things are happening. I feel excited and happy about this mod. Eyes got a bit teary.

One thing you didn't touch on was the fact that the MC2SIO microSD card can be formatted as EXFAT eliminating splitting all the over 4GB PS2 games into pieces. Have you tried it and does it work?

I must correct you Mr.Mario, you can save games with this! 🙂 You must use specific OPL version (v.1.1.0-Beta-1629-e20f2ee-bdm3). I made my one mx4sio card from broken ps1 mmc and it work great. As you said, you have all schematics online to do it yourself, off course you need some soldering knowledge, but is not that hard.

Got mine coming in the mail! Can't wait to try it out!

You can still use FMCB on 9000x models if they are earlier models not patched by Sony.

Great little gadget and solution for the ps2 slim owners. A bit of a no go atm while there is no game saving, but once thats solved it will take off more. Im surprised no ODE has ever come out for ps2. Those ps2 phat drives are garbage im always replacing them when i get a faulty ps2 in the shop.

Saving now works in-GUI as well as in-game on the newest OPL Betas! OPL got ExFAT-, ZSO- and Fragment-support! :)

Losing micro SD cards in a case is common for many raspberry pi cases too. :-( I’m sure many know of what you speak.

Literally in the middle of soft modding my kids ps2 and came across this. Hope you've been well.

I'm surprised it took this long when we've been using the GameCube Memory Port for a decade.

It's going to be a long time before this is in stock again now that bigger youtubers are covering it.

You were not the only one who put the micro sd card in and then had to get it out of the casing, thankfully I was able to get it to slide out enough that I could pull it out the rest of the way. The only issue I seem to be having with it is I can't get it to read the micro sd card which is a SanDisk (figures I only have those on hand) which according to Helder's website aren't 100% compatible with it.

I probably need to mess with mine a bit more, but I haven't been impressed with the functionality of mine so far. So far I had a much easier time booting and running games via the USB.

Hey, given that you use OPL to launch and play roms from the MC2SIO, would it be possible to somehow launch and play other roms such as nes, snes, etc stored on the MC2SIO? Or is it strictly ps2 roms?

Oh man I lost this channel happy to have found it again

Also- the compatibility submission link in the Google spreadsheet doesn't work for me, but I tried the Japanese version of Quake III Revolution on my North American fat PS2 and it worked. It runs at 60hz and most menu text is English which makes it the ideal version to play in OPL since the North American version unfortunately just doesn't work (it was notorious for long loading times which were apparently fixed in international revisions so that likely has something to do with it) and the PAL version doesn't support PAL60.

I see alot of potential for this espiecally in regards to running PS1 games since the PS2 won't need to use the MIPS R3000A chip for IO therefor it should be possible to run PS1 games off it instead but I guess that means we'll need a update from OPL to make that possible.

The specific OPL builds on Helder's site just give me a black screen...I've given up on trying to get this to work. Maybe I'll try again in the future. Thanks for the great video, though. Good job!

Noticed those recently on Aliexpress. Thought I was really behind on the PS2 modding scene. Btw. are you aware of any other devices like the mClassic? I'm trying to setup my PS2 so i can output it to my monitor which only has HDMI in. And I'm looking for a lag free PS2 upscale solutions.

Now there's one more thing I wonder. How fast is the port really? Is it USB 2.0 level or an in between of 1.1 and 2.0

I just bought one of these for my FAT PS2. I know I can go HDD but this was an interesting choice.

Probably a FAQ, which device are you using to capture the PS2 footage? Looks pretty crisp!

I load my games from mini router connected to ethernet port with an external 2.0 HDD but once the MX4SIO gets completely polished will be the future of ps2 loading games.

sick shirt! good guide i didnt know about other entry methods

thank god i found this video, opl settings not saving and games not being able to read memory cards is a problem with the current official opl version but helder's site has a working version thankfully

What about iLink port on 3000x series? OPL has (experimental) support for that port. I tried that with a hdd enclosure (which has Oxford 934 chipset on its board) with Firewire port but games don't show up. I'm trying to figuring this iLink/s400/ieee_1394_4pin/firewire stuff. You can still find fat ps2s with that port and some old hdd enclosures with firewire 400 port on the second hand market. It's theoretically 10 times faster than the usb port and FMV's are no issue. Game compatibility is also not too bad. This subject is also pretty fun to work on and I think it deserves its own videos on KZfaq.

A fat PS2 with an original network adaptor modified with the sata upgrade kit is definitely the ultimate solution, but the mc2sio is a very close second

When I will get in my town. Greetings from Karachi, Pakistan

I finally ordered mine it was so hard I had to wait forever cuz it was always out of stock but I finally got one so excited!!!!

Will not boot opl at times . Shows black screen or freezes when it doesn't boot up. 🤔

I was curiouse about the mem card loader. Fantastic to see things are coming along. You should check your Facebook messages though.

Great video , still have to do my ps2 fat 👌👌👌, on the pre order list

I ordered a pair off of aliexpress, along with a 32gb sd card and FMCB mem card. From what it seemed the shipment already came with all the apps and games preloaded in the SD card, when I loaded it with my PS2 backups installed in the folder the games showed up in OPL but did not run. I formatted the SD card and got the ISOs properly set up, and now the games won't even show up as if it's not reading the MX4SIO mem card though the lights turn on on the card and my mem card ports are reading other mem cards. I formatted two SDs off of a Macbook that formatted it in a MBR partition table in FAT32 format, then reformatted it in FAT32 on windows 10, I'm going to reformat them on linux ubuntu in FAT32 but change it into the GPT partition table. though its supposed to be plug and play and I have seen the cards read games but not play them so unless the cards are defective is there anything I could be doing wrong? Also tested on PS2 v35000 and 39001

This is definitely awesome and hell probably is what ive been looking for since apparently my PSP action replay special edition ps2 save loader disc seems to not work,but honestly now the question is though is it better to just get a modded ps3 to do all the great ps2 things or this? Cause ya know i feel like ps3 emulates ps2 really well despite whatever model interestingly enough.

I've been wanting to get one of these for a month now it's sold out and I have my email set up for notifications when stocks back in.... I played Haunting Ground on a PS2 slim off USB stick it ran pretty good but yeah the cutscenes were a little choppy....

I just cant figure out how to get large roms on this thing. I've seen tutorials but I feel like there missing a step.- EDIT your tutorial for USB loading was brilliant. ITS WORKING NOW !!!!

10:52 PERSONA 2 SPOTTED AYY :D

I'm surprised the inability to save your games isn't a total deal breaker for more people.

Gutted these came back in stock while I was at work, and sold out before I got home... Edit: They dropped more stock today, and I got one! Super excited to try this badboy out!

Can I ask what brand and gb size of sd you were using to load your games? I got the bundle from Helder, I'm able to get into OPL, but none of my games show up on the list and the ones I'm testing are well below 4GB.

Nice vid duder! I yoinked one of the aliexpress clones of these that I'm yet to test yet as these helder ones are super hard to get ahold of. I really want to see if I can get it working on a 90000 with a modbo installed using matrix to boot directly to OPL. Which entry points have you tried so far with this? You didn't notice any issues?

quick question...I've had the issue with USB loading where you can't load a game and use an accessory at the same time (eg. Singstar) using this, would that be solved?😅

I cant get past loading config when trying to load a game

Nice review. I have recieved mine from Helder today. I have some questions. 1. What Micro SD cards are recommended? Sandisk should be fine, right? I'm gonna buy one, so I just want to make sure it'll work... 2. If you put your PS1 games on a USB stick, shouldn't those be playable in OPL? 3. If you create save slots (memory card emulation) on your Micro SD card in OPL, that still doesn't work either? Right?

Interesting little device. Thankfully I still have a chipped PS2 fat with a 1tb 2.5 inch drive in the back. It's running Toxic OS as the dash. For people who want other options this one seems legit. 👍

How do you know, Mr. Mario? 😁 So, if you can't save your game then how do you continue your progress? Anyway, great video, Mr. Mario!

Don't feel bad, I got my micro SD card stuck inside the MC2SIO case too!

How do you know about how the SD card slips into the memory card shell?

How's support for this currently if you don't mind me asking? I bought mine a bit ago and have kinda sat on it until compatibility got better. I have a fat PS2 with an internal HDD but looking to purchase a slim model at a later date.

I'M STILL WONDERING HOW THE ETHERNET SPEED IN PS2 Slim and if it's good Better to connect that ethernet with hdd

This card is bad quality half time cant load game list i got a bitfunx MX4SIO and performance is great not a single problem so far so good.

any info on saving a game yet? I tried creating a VMC but the game freezes on the opening splash screen every time I try to launch.

Thanks for the video. It helps reassure I setup mine correctly as well. Question: Did you get MVC 2 to work on your ps2 with the adapter? Don’t know which settings need to be on. Mine will not load it. I have a model 75001 ps2.

Where are the specific OPL versions on Helder's site? I can't seem to find them at all.

Building one myself soon, do you need 2 cards? One with mcboot and the other for games? Or can it all be done from one memory card?

Id love to see a speed test benchmark comparing the memory card port vs SATA

Hi, i really liked this video. I bought an PS2 recently and i want to play many ps2 games but i want to do it on its original speed. Im thinking on buying one FMCB card to play ps2 rom games on my ps2. I didnt decide yet if im gonna use an external hard drive or an MX4SIO sd card to store and load that games. Please tell me if an external hard drive will have the same file transfer speed as an usb drive stick like you show so well on this video, and because of that the games will have the same slow downs as well?

I've seen at least as many people saying it doesn't work as those saying it does. I think we're overselling this thing.

Great video and great content as always from Mr Mario. 💯👍👍 I have a ps2 slim with FMCB, unfortunately the PS2 does not support my modern new Sony 4k TV. Can I just use my modded FAT first gen PS3 to play PS2 games on it? Is it safe? Thanks

Anyone else having trouble with the sd card showing up with the games? On mine it hardly never shows sd card when I launch OPL. I’ve tried several sd cards including the recommended cards

I’m a little confused how this could be faster than usb 1.1. USB 1.1 is 12Mbs while the memory card read/write speed is 130Kbs. It makes mah brain hurt

any info/updates on saving? both slots are occupied by the FMCB and the MX4SIO. I've been told not to allow the system to save on the FMCB card. Could use some help on this.

The problem saving configuration broke one of my MC, after I found out that it fails when you activate support for mx4sio, if you let this setting OFF there is no problem I made my own mx4sio adapter and it was pretty bad that games didn't read my main memory card, is a shame that they sell that adapterts and nobody tells that you can not save, I hope that will be fixed soon

I bought it, it arrived today. With OPL 1.1.0 the ps2 doesn't recognize the port 1 memory card and is impossibile to save. Checking around I found this tutorial, but the recommended version of OPL (the one on this video also) gave me black screen. The device is working, I suppose there's something wrong with the memory card because it doesn't work even if I format and reinstall FMCB.

What does it actually do? Just make your games load faster?

Would love to get one, however they are continuously out of stock on his web page.

I was playing Sly Cooper as a backup on my SD card and the game was broken. I couldn't swing on a hook and when I got the key, I couldn't advance to the next part of the game. Then I played the game on the disk. It also works pretty well on the PCSX2 emulator. Gran Turismo 4 also doesn't load past the intro movie. But other than that, my other games work well. Edit: Sly Cooper works well if you adjust the game settings in OPL, specifically mode 3 I believe but it's on the compatibility list. Another game that works well is OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast. Need For Speed Underground also works well.

Agreed, The MC2SIO is great! Somehow I just love my Modchip and especially listening to the lovely sound of the disc spinning. 🤩 Nostalgia.

i actually have one question about MC2SIO how does it handle dual discs like Xenosaga? & Shadow Hearts Covenant?

This is a first good alternative to USB for slim models. But HDD loading on FAT version is still way faster.

There are some PS2 games that detect the official hard drive and let you save directly to it. If you had one of those installed could you then save in those few games? I know this is not a solution because most games do not detect the hard drive, but I am curious.

I found my brother's old ps2 39001 fat still runs beautifully and I got the network adapter and modded it and then I found my old ps2 70001 slim now I'm conflicted about it because with my brother's old PlayStation 2 me and him taught my niece how to play video games and then I get with my first ps2 that my grandma that just recently passed away about 10 months ago and she bought it when I was in 4th grade my Mom's husband stole both systems a long time ago and I found them I'm conflicted about which one to take

How does the loading time compare to using an HDD or loading games via a network?

Am i right in thinking that GSM will not work with the MC2SIO... Sadly GSM is essential for me.

I have followed all the steps and my opl just freezes once the programme is loaded.

I pick up cheap PS2s often, they're still cheap. I love giving modded PS2s and other legacy consoles as gifts. This also gives me plenty of spares, so I tend to play games from disc, either burned or factory. But a fast removable media option would be so nice.

Love the hat and love the vid dude. I like your happiness

I bought the modded memory card and have followed all the steps but the systems freezes on opl screen

So, the slow save time on games has everything to do with bad programming?

If I'm understanding this correctly, even if this improves, its compatibility will only be as good as OPL, which still is pretty janky and leaves is wanting a proper ODE solution.

Did you use a Multitap and see if having a 3rd memory card would work with saving?