Instead of replacing the fan with a 12v fan, why not just add a diode in line on the voltage side to the fan? This will add a 1v drop and will protect the system against any backfeeding.
Simple electrical theory, but it kinda makes it jankier. What made me cringe was the splicing of two very different gauge cables. He couldn't find a thicker gauge wired PS2 fan header plug?
You can think of diodes as valves for the flow of electricity, they only allow flow in one direction. An ideal diode (theoritical diodes that has properties that are simple to think about) would not change anything about the flow in the correct direction, but actual diodes consume some power themselves by causing a voltage drop. Thus, putting some on the way of the wire that is going to the fan would reduce the voltage the fan receives, which is desired here. Backfeeding is when an electric motor turns movement into electricity (think a wind turbine) rather than the other way around. Since the circuit may not be designed with receiving power from the fan in mind, it can be a problem. The flow direction control property of the diode would have the benefit of preventing that (Though I think that is not necessary, since I don't see a reason for backfeeding to be a problem specific to this mod and impossible with the original design. The original PCB design should have provisions for that.)
@@cagatayy1182 Mainly, my reasoning for a diode, outside of dropping voltage, is that I don't know if the motherboard or if the original fan have any provisions for backfeeding. If, say, there's a provision for backfeeding but it's in the fan, then removing the fan essentially removes that provision. Adding a Diode would both reduce voltage and add the provision. Yeah, a resistor could be another viable option..I was trying to cover all possible scenarios with a diode.
FMCB also released a version that can be installed on the hard drive (ssd). Called Free Hard Drive Boot (FHDB). This means you don't need a dedicated memory card installed. It loads directly off the drive.
@@anno5936you don't actually need a FMCB to install a FHDB. There's an image pack you can burn to your drive from a PC. (But it is easier to use the FMCB to install)
Not at the time, it was cutting edge, the emotion engine died not because it was slow but because no one could program for it. The original PlayStation was ahead of PCs at the time it came out, hell, several people used to mod them for the better audio Sony baked into them as the only other device close was a several thousand dollar Sony preamp. PlayStation audio is still amazing today honestly. PS2 was also one of the first consumer available Blu-ray players that didn't cost so much that it was prohibitive to use. @@ZackSNetwork
Quick note, I saw that you used wired to extend the crystal oscillator out. This is typically not a good idea since the crystal connections should be exactly equal lengths to the MCU, as well as contained within PCB traces so that they are parallel. Seems like it’s not causing a big issue for you though but just something to note for future projects. Great work overall though!
To be honest that microscope he linked is a ridiculously good price unless the price of microscopes have just dropped recently... I got a cheap Chinese one that hooks up through a USB into a computer and that was $15 more than what he linked 3 years ago. Didn't come with a stand or anything I had to rig up my own setup around the camera.
Same, I thought this video was neat until he did that. Just install an emulator and put it in that housing at that point. I skipped to the end of the video because of that.
If it was styled more closely to the PS2 I would've accepted it. NFC Systems made a smaller version of the PS5 (that is 5, not 2) with a custom case that is cleaner looking.
Biggest issue I had with that case is using 3D printer to get it... As much as I like the tech, it's aesthetics look janky at best... And all that while having a CNC which most likely could easily cut through aluminum or steel, which would at least in my opinion look decent... But hey it's a project and I probably couldn't do half of what he did.
You can also move FMCB to the HDD and set it up to auto start FMCB from the harddrive, and the memory card isn't needed anymore. It would be cool to move the controller receiver on the inside of the console, if at all possible. I really do love the re-designed case
Could just figured a way with using a ps3 type situation if know what i mean and know what your doing you could have wireless controllers and still have og controller ports
I used to do the FMCB card service in Europe. One quick advice: Make sure to get a genuine SONY PS2 8MB card if you're using it for daily boots. The aftermarket cards use compression, non of them have legit 64mb storage - and with each compression, the code for FMCB is at risk of being corrupted. So in theory, it'll fail on you at random, at some point. Source : my silly ass, which got me sued by Sony.
I think I would have kept the OG case, just my opinion! Also, as much as I love the SSD upgrade, I'd still want to play DVDs and CDs! I would have preserved that ability somehow! The PS2 was an awesome DVD and Audio CD player! By the way, you can use a voltage divider circuit to convert the 7 volts for the fan to around 4.85 volts, you need 2 resistors (1.2k and 2.7k ohms). Just make sure you get better resistors with smaller variances in resistance.
I agree, I think the aesthetic Zac was going for was like a gaming desktop PC, but it kinda looks like a fancier version of those Xbox 360-Es which is weird for a PS2. I wish he put some of that flair the PS2 has with the ridges into his redesign. Sure it would add to the print time but c'mon, it's the PS2.
Funnily enough, Gran Turismo 4 is one of the few games on the PS2 that could already run at HD - with a component cable the PS2 could output 1080i, and a couple of games even supported it. (Heck, the option for that was very briefly visible when you were showing off the video settings!)
@@tmnt9001 in the video he mentioned he tried the different ones on the software he was using, I suspect that the software didn't use more advanced algorithms because it caused lag issues possibly.
@@ZacBuilds 1080i is alot more information than 480p your deinterlacing software must have been trash, don't just blame interlacing as the problem Its the crappy deinterlacing software thats the problem.
@@skylarhasmail666 deinterlacing is kinda trash tho. the best way to enjoy interlaced content is on a CRT, trying to watch it on anything else is a sub-part experience.
dude your builds RULE!!!! I love these hacks you implement - and I think your attention to aesthetics and what makes a design feel good makes your builds stand out. Regarding the back plate - there is actually a technical benefit to painting it black, not just aesthetics! The emissivity of a surface finish significantly impacts a surface's ability to radiate heat. The better the emissivity, the better the heat transfer. Black Body Radiators are both perfect emitters and absorbers of radiation. While its impossible to make a perfect black body, it IS true that the more black you can make a surface finish, the better its emissivity will be! Reflective/metallic surface finishes have poor emissivities - they're bad at absorbing and emitting thermal radiation. As almost too simple as it may seem, just a little bit of the right paint can go a long way in manipulating this. I feel like most people are aware that the colour black is the perfect absorber (wearing a black tshirt in the sun gets you hotter) but it seems most people either forget or aren't aware that black colours are equally good emitters! What determines whether it will emit or absorb is whether it is hotter or colder than its surroundings. Unless the devices are in the path of the sun, usually they're the hottest thing in the living room. It does depend on the line-of-site the back plate will have with the rest of the room, so if the dock covers most of that back plate it becomes less prominent. Fans via forced convection do a lot of work in terms of heat transfer, especially since typically the components that need to reject heat are inside the casing and don't have radiative visibility to surroundings. But keep in mind - radiative heat transfer scales as [Tobject^4 - Tsurroundings^4] so as temperature difference goes up, radiation can quickly become the dominant mode of heat transfer!!!! Not sure how hot the back plate actually - but its a simple thing with very tangible impact :)
I used to clean PS2s back when everyone had them. Usually it was just a good cleaning that did the trick but one time I swapped out a disk drive and when it worked it was a very satisfying feeling. Best console ever.
Small tip about GSM - games that use field-rendering will most probably don't work in progressive modes (480p, 720p). A good alternative is 1080i, and in my experience it works well with most games. While the image is still interlaced, the combing effect is much smaller and most TVs can blend it well.
@@CarterDarter yeah even with 540 lines of vertical res per frame, thats still more than typical PS2 framebuffer resolution, so you dont really lose any detail
Ikr... I love console mods but most hard-mods cost a fortune... I have so many consoles that I'm dying to add a HDMI mod 😭 But of course that's all nothing compared to the amount of premium equipment this guy is stocked with...
With the fan option, you could use a resistor or a couple of diodes in series to drop the voltage as two diodes in series, would provide a 1.4v voltage drop and run the fan at 5.6 volts
I think it's kind of stupid modernizing classic gaming systems honest to god I wish Sony made a comeback with memory cards instead of using useless SSDs that will eventually be corrupt in the future not to mention memory cards back then actually held a purpose of defeating this concept in general. All you would have to do is buy a memory card and POOF your game data is protected for life if memory cards made a comeback in the "modern" times you would have it made.
this was my dream goal when i started studying computer engineering. For financial reasons i ended up working in defense but I originally pursued the field because wanted to bring life back into the PS2. You've done way more than i ever thought possible with the original hardware. You probably couldn't do much better without recreating their hardware on a high end fpga eval card.
Hey! Awesome vid! I have a few tips for you, though: OPL is better than HDLoader, since GSM is built-in and allows for optimization modes. It does require you to look up a table, but it's worth it if you want to play your entire library - some games may or may not work without them. Besides, you can actually forgo any controller ports and memory cards. PadEmu and VMC respectively, *also* on OPL. PadEmu allows you to use a bluetooth adaptor on USB (check compatibility) to connect a DS3/4/5 and make the PS2 use it like a normal DS2. You can also do FreeHDBoot to not require a memory card to access all these features. Sidenote: For OPL, you can make FMC/FHDB run it upon boot. Might be worth a try when using PadEmu. Cheers!
Pademu really likes to break games randomly, atleast in my experience. Iirc I was playing through .hack and kept having random crashes on loads, switching Pademu off fixed that. I'm pretty sure Pademu also doesn't support analog buttons and I'm unsure if the 8bitdo does either, but the Brook Wingman PS2 does when used with a PS3 controller.
@@kechamayoo I always update it whenever I get back to using my ps2 after a while, so it wasn't a really old version. It's just my experience with it anyways and a controller adapter just seems safer in that sense to me.
Still have a silver Slim somewhere as a backup DVD player, along with silver controllers, remote and FMCB, so thanks for the nice walk down memory lane and congrats to this project!
@@megazuccc Oscillators are used for timing and signal generation. Timing is critical for the proper communication of all the different parts (every single chip) of the circuit. Signal generation is your wifi signals and such.
its still a great video and he rebuilds the eintire housing with wooden accents ands goes into pretty great detail on how settings can be changed a lot to amek the game look a lot better up to 2024 standards for an old console as that is. plus you cant really build your own playstaion 2, that would be ill eligible as they would copyright him. @@GoodBoyGoneDad
@@japaroads Yes he's building a new PS2 if by "building a new" you mean "taking an old one and adding modifications to it". There's no need to falsely advertise the contents of the video, and there's definitely no need to defend the choice to do so. The video is great as it is and should be titled appropriately.
Might also be a good idea to put some mesh on the grates, to keep lint and stuff from making a nest in the system. Other than that great build, I had a lot of fun games I loved on that system and between that and the N64 made a lot of childhood memories.
Dude these videos are so awesome - I've been getting into 3d printing and electronics recently and it's super inspiring and educational the way you approach these problems. Keep it coming!
Wow, turning a classic console into something so sleek and modern is impressive! The blend of nostalgia with a fresh, updated design is genius. Great work!
7:09 I worked R&D at a power tool company. They do make smaller solder iron tips, but you have to be really careful with how much pressure you use with them because their smallness also means they can bend easily when heated. So, bend it into something like a hockey stick and you can hit those 10mil traces fairly easily. You'll also need a thinner solder wire with it though too. Also, they do make hollow solder with a paste core... it's cleaner to use when doing these kinds of projects. And finally, be very careful with how much heat you apply to those pads next to any IC. You can melt the interior of the ICs causing them to break.
I was screaming "BENT CONICAL" for that entire segment. As for the heat, obviously don't use too much heat, but that's actually the primary use of Kapton Tape: heat insulation.
Very cool build, I'd have kept the original controllers though purely for the pressure sensitive inputs. Not a lot of games used them, but there are some games that relied on them (MGS2/3 come to mind). They had to change how those inputs worked for more modern releases.
I love that whenever I think something isn't going to look good. You put in a ton of finishing touches to make it even better. You really do go above and beyond. Start an ETSY page already!
Thankl you! and I do have one, but just for 3d print files haha. Selling physical products is not a world I want to venture into just yet. It would take a lot of time and distract from making videos.
This absolutely blew me away 😮😮😮😮. The amount of craftsmanship that went into this is incredible. That’s without the knowledge of all the old and new electrical components 🔥🔥. One of the best videos I’ve seen. Can I buy one
A project like this with a PS2 Slim would leave so much room for cool mods, you could probably do the case out of resin as well due to the size factor. I know there is a mod to adapt a SSD onto a Slim motherboard as well.
only for the first slim. when someone made the hdcombo, sony REALLY removed it for the next revision, and the pata interface was completely removed, leaving just the network. yes, Free HD Boot is an improvement. use OPL for supported games, especially when you can give them virtual memory cards. :)
400k subs, fairly young, normal looking, obviously very intelligent and is able to actually use it, has a nice house with 3x high quality 3D printers, full wood workshop, CNC machine, Damn. I’m v jealous, I have one of those.
I did the network adapter swap on one of my PS2s a couple of years ago and love being able to add modern drives. There are cheap printed brackets you can pickup and install on the SSD so it doesn't move around inside the case. You can also partition the SSD and install FMCB on one of the partition and games on the other. Lastly don't forget to add a region free modchip so you can run NTSC, PAL and Japanese games.
This is amazing. I’m gonna try to find a way to print the case in pieces for my smaller print bed but everything else is easily doable. You sir, are a great source for modding ideas!
I got kind of exited when you used the K1 max because i have a regular K1 myself. it gave me a sort of realization that i can do things like this myself with the tools i have.
You actually *can* boot with just the HDD (and use only the HDD if you want). You want FHDB (Free Hard Drive Boot). This is what I use on my fat PS2. In this way, I can either use virtual (software) memory cards, which also live on the HDD. Or I can use my physical memory cards as normal memory cards, which is what I do. FCMB is cool as a portable option, but FHDB is way better and has no downsides. You install FHDB by flashing a pre-made hard drive image file. Then you just pop it into the PS2 with the network adapter, and you're done. It boots into FCMB from the HDD.
It would be better to flip the fan so it works like an exhaust one. An intake fan ends up creating swirls of air flows inside the case, while an exhaust one creates a negative pressure, so the fresh air is sucked through the holes in the case, which creates more stable air flow inside. Also, the intake fan will end up pushing more dust into the case.
@@billybones6463 I believe you got confused. Exhaust fan is better, and that's how it's done in most of the gaming consoles with similar cooling design
I absolutely love your builds and the way you push your own limits. I know your videos are ~30 minutes long mostly but my question is what is the duration of builds in real time?
@@goodkill1 He did make a video later explaining what exactly happened and all the ways that things just failed. When you run a large business you will inevitably have problems, and the real issue is linus never really had business sense, his massive ego literally kept the company afloat. Terren Tong is the new CEO so technically his company should be running immensely better.
THISSSSS is a 2001 Sony PlayStation 2. It’s a really cool modern classic video game console that I’m going to take apart and add some quirks and features. Then I’m going to take it for a test drive and show you how cool this console can be. And then…I’m gonna give it a Doug score.
What an abslutely sick mod to the PS2. I got my ps2 in the early 2000's and got it chipped mid 2000s so I can play different region games. I then learned about mcboot and bought an original network adaptor. I still have my PS2 in my box with a IDE HDD with retro games loaded on. You had me in AWW the entire video of all the cool things you did to the system. Thanks for the thorough video. You have earned my sub!
Imean, it's not common to have $25k+ worth of workshop equipment in your house anywhere in the world. Zac has these because they're his source of income.
Wdym? He worked hard for it, and it's pretty much his job and hobby... You should not be jealous of him because he didn't get those printers just because he lived on other country because again he worked hard for it, you should instead be inspired by him! Envy is the worst lol
@@brenzcarlcasas3728 stop being a bitch about everything. no one is jealous of anything, the man is stating a fact, which is 100% true btw, and theres nothing wrong with it. jesus go eat some fruits and chill out
This has got to be the coolest console mod video I have ever seen, and I'm a huge fan (cough cough, *pun intended*) of better cooling when it comes to older, noisy consoles. I would actually love to see you mod a PS3 Slim in a similar way. That would be cool. Love your videos! Keep up the great work!!!
😂 Never thought I'd hear "key bump" as a unit of measure on TH-cam 😅😅 Love this build Zac! Really nice functional and aesthetic rethinking of the PS2. Perhaps do a PS2 mini combined with a M.2 NAS for media streaming? I know there's a build out there somewhere that a guy did for a car install... but it wasn't a single unit; think the data storage was connected but installed separately.
The fact he went through with a 85% modding for this PS2 just made my day.. I have an old fat PS2 device... that my brother damaged, after it served me well for a whole 20 years, without a single complaint, and also using DVDs only, gosh i wanna fix it and make it run again.
I personally would flip that fan to exhaust the heat, not use it as an intake. Otherwise all that air inside has no where to go. Unless I'm missing some front ventilation somewhere, but none the less I think that would be better 😊
Great project, although I have to say its better to keep the disc drive because of compatibility. Yeah, a ton of games run from HDD nowadays just fine. But there are still games with issues. I lost 50 hours of Valkyrie Profile 2 thanks to a very mean copy protection they built into the game, that got triggered by running it from OPL instead of just using my original disc. And I got some issues with other games in the past, too.
@@vincentjonesvr In the case of this game you only find that out 50+ hours into the game. And the savegame isnt repairable, as it triggers a flag at boot, so you basically have to delete all your saves and start completely fresh (its so bad, it even triggered on some OG hardware!). Also, I had a lot of troubles with games not really working well in the past on OPL. Maybe its just the types of games I play, as my collection isnt really focused on those "big hits" and the compatibility goes down the more obscure the games get.
A nice upgrade for sure, but I do take issue with using USB and not a power supply of some kind. This could really hurt the life of something like this, as the whole purpose of a big PSU is to provide really stable and predictable power, which is a bit of a risk. I don't know that you will for sure get a lot of peaks or drops from a USB adapter, but why risk it...
I had a similar concern. The Digital Audio Converter DAC is actually really good on my late fat mode PS2l. A bit of tasteful exaggeration on the bass. Super smooth mids and highs. It blows the Xbox 360 away in terms of sound quality. The power supply is a critical component of any audio system. Most people don't care or won't hear the difference I suppose. I would expect you could hear a difference through the digital HDMI cable as well. Digital isn't perfect like the marketing would have us all believe. Although it has it's advantages over analog.
Modern power supplies are simply much better than what we had 20 years ago. It really isn't an issue. Moving the noise from the SMPS out of the case will only help with RFI.
Great idea. But you could use a first model ps2 slim instead. That nodel support HDD the pins are there to tap. There is a mod to bring back the HDD support to that model. Then you will have a smaller motherboard to work with so a smaller case to fit inside your resin printer.
(not zac builds, only saying, because I've run into that confusion on other people's vids before). Maybe it was a fluke, but my brother had a slim that was an absolute nightmare on heat... the thing would freeze mid-game if you didn't have some sort of fan blowing over the thing whenever you had it turned on. Not saying every slim had this problem, but personally, I avoid slim consoles of any sort like the plague because of this...
@@yeldarb141983 problems with that particular one. Slims run colder and more efficiently. Check the fan and console for dust. The EE is not a particular hot CPU unlike ps3 cell who runs normally hot.
@@ot4kon pretty sure that console is long gone at this point, lol. this was over fiften years ago. I don't even know where that console is now. but yeah, it was new at the time, so... =/
That's one class looking Ps2. Definitely your best looking project to date!. Your videos are definitely an inspiration for modern design and organization projects!.
Bro, it takes a lot to impress me these days, you should be super proud of and impressed with yourself. Just the aesthetic of your design alone got me :) the PSZ logo im epoxy resin is a beautiful touch, mate! I always use final fantasy x because I was never a racing gamer when I was younger, but wow that Gran Turismo game looks amazing and PS3 quality to me, just from the HDMI upscale 😍
This brought back memories of the first time my younger brother and I turned on a PS2 and being memorized by it's green and blue lights. A recommended large sized resin printer would be the Phrozen Mega 8K. They recently introduced a S variation that prints faster but has a reduced z height. Nice video and build.
Instead of resin printing maybe consider printing in ABS or ASA and then acetone vapour smoothing it? This may result in a glossy finish which might not be what you're looking for but could be an option. Also just because the components in the PS2 might actually run kinda hot compared to older consoles you've done custom cases for, ABS or ASA would be a good idea just for the heat resistance compared to PLA, which might start to warp if it gets too hot. Another option would be sanded ABS/ASA, it's considerably easier to sand than PLA and could give you a nice look if you take it to a high enough grit. Just don't print ABS/ASA in your home, it's recommended to have some kind of carbon air filtration when printing those materials or just print in your workshop then vent it out after the print is done.
Bad idea - after acetone bath it always cracks. Not immediately, could take a year, but it'll crack. Especially such big thing. And PLA is most rigid. Better to printing multipart resin and then glue and gloss it with same resin - it'll be seamless.
@@evilgremlin I did not realise that was a possibility with acetone smoothing, none of the guides I've seen ever mention it. After doing a bit or research it seems the cracking is due to internal stresses which the acetone smoothing can expose. So maybe a well printed ABS part wouldn't see this issue as quickly. I'd still say an ABS part sanded would work nicely in this situation or perhaps even polycarbonate.
I feel like he modernized that so much at the point of not even using the original case that I just question, why not just use an raspberry with an emulator at that point?
Uhm … you can do that ?? Just yesterday i was real bummed my ps2 got nicked out of my parents basement - id really love to for some good old crash bandicoot … wait could i do that on my iphone too ? Also since i don’t own any controlers: would it be the same without the sore thumbs haha
They actually sell a SATA conversion board for the official network adapter. Something to consider if you ever want to add networking capability to this thing Also, me personally, I'd have left the disk drive in What 3D modelling software did you use to design the custom shell by the way? I've been looking to get into 3D printing myself
I second this. Third-party SATA broadband adapters cut corners and ditch networking capabilities. The SATA board is a drop-in replacement that can be installed in less than 15 minutes, no soldering required.
@@TAGMedia7 The 3rd party adapters are cheap and work well enough. You're not going to do anything with networking capabilities on a PS2 in 2023, except for maybe ftp:ing over your games which would be a lot slower than just copying the games directly from your PC to the drive anyway
Fusion 360 is a great option. I use that for all of my projects. You can get an education license for free if you're in school and I believe they have a free version (or highly discounted version) for personal use
you also can use a bluetooth dongle and make it work with OPL. so you can use PS3 controllers via bluetooth without the 8bitdo adapter. very nice video, I would go for a more fancy/traditional not blocky square case for the PS2, but it looks amazing. great work!
This video was really cool. One correction though, Sony did actually make a first party wireless PS2 controller, although they’re very rare. I run a retro store and I’ve only seen three of them ever. I do own one of those. Tiny criticisms; I’m a repair tech and I’ve never seen a cap go bad in one of these. Parts suppliers have really fanned the flames of peoples fear of electrolytic capacitors going bad on everything. Also, a bit of sanding and painting would also save you from doing the case in resin.
Man that's so nice! I have a Slim PS2 here and I wish I could do some of those mods. Unfortunately I don't have the acknowledge neither the tools to do so. But thinking of it, what mods could you do with a slim PS2? That would be a nice part 2 for a video like this
This is a cool project for someone who just wants to do it, but the definitive way to play PS2 games is still just on original hardware with a good quality CRT.
instead of replacing the fan you could've used a resistor to bring to voltage down to about 3 to 5 volt . or you can get adjustable resistor and program it with arduino for it to run on lower wattage on idle and higher with high temps
resistors heat up quite a lot. he would be better off using a diode or a small voltage regulator (unless the fan is PWM driven in which case it wouldnt work
8:51 you can also install a software to the Hard drive that allows you to basically do the same thing just without needing a memory card, software is called FHDB, and it's by the same developers as the memory card software and also uses a similar exploit. Also if you had used an original network adapter you could have used online play in games that support or adding games via FTP without needing to remove the hard drive, which is nice especially with the case mods that you're doing.
There are a few PS2 games that are in 1080 HD. Also on the fan, find a small PWM circuit with a control knob. Then you can adjust the fan speed accordingly
18:28 treeline and grass looks better on stock RCA. These assets were never meant to be displayed at higher resolutions, so there's only so much you can do. In the end a blurry but period accurate image is probably the best these games are ever gonna look, because no amount of upscaling will fix the inate resolution of the assets.
Man this was amazing. I know I don’t have the skills nor coordination to do this. I would happily pay you to make one for me. Just saying, this thing looks amazing and works great
While it wont do anything on bus speed, it should still help with overall latency and perceived speed due to elimination of seek times from a laser trying to find info on a spinning disc.
Pretty sure it's ATA66, but yeah, it doesn't matter. A spinning drive would be lucky to achieve even 3-4 MB/s random read performance. A SATA SSD can get 20-ish if it's decent. That's still not faster than the HDD adapter's bus, and you're likely already hitting a CPU bottleneck when trying to decompress/decode assets at that speed. Remember that the PS2 only has something like 36 MB of RAM combined. In fact, this happens in some games even with a regular HDD. Star Ocean 3 actually slows down for a second or so at the start of battles because the CPU is busy handling the data from my HDD that's arriving way faster than the game expects it to.
I just cram SD cards into mine with a IDE->SD adapter. Lot of folks say going the SD route is bad but they're cheap to replace with better seek times than a HDD. I haven't had to replace the SD yet even after two years of it being modded.
Ya this is true, you're limited by the bus. The SSD is a TAD bit quicker, but only in the 1-5% range. But honestly, the SSD costs about 25 dollars more and is quieter and uses less power, so it was an easy choice.
Great project! And congrats to the new addition to your printer fleet. I'm sure you'll inevitably catch the bug and find out why we call them "helmet-class printers". 🤣
The only thing I would have changed would have been to retain the DVD drive. I know optical media is outdated when you can fit hundreds of games onto a SSD but one of the big selling points of the PS2 was that it was also a great DVD movie player, taking that functionality away just seems wrong to me.
Excellent video. I am pleased to hear you say GSM works with the majority of games. I am often mocked when I say the same .. 85% of the titles I have work extremely well, often with field flipping enabled.
I love the improvements and everything that went into this, but im not a fan of the wood finish, would have liked seeing aluminum or something futuristic looking instead
Instead of replacing the fan with a 12v fan, why not just add a diode in line on the voltage side to the fan? This will add a 1v drop and will protect the system against any backfeeding.
You said words I will never understand
Simple electrical theory, but it kinda makes it jankier. What made me cringe was the splicing of two very different gauge cables. He couldn't find a thicker gauge wired PS2 fan header plug?
You can think of diodes as valves for the flow of electricity, they only allow flow in one direction. An ideal diode (theoritical diodes that has properties that are simple to think about) would not change anything about the flow in the correct direction, but actual diodes consume some power themselves by causing a voltage drop. Thus, putting some on the way of the wire that is going to the fan would reduce the voltage the fan receives, which is desired here. Backfeeding is when an electric motor turns movement into electricity (think a wind turbine) rather than the other way around. Since the circuit may not be designed with receiving power from the fan in mind, it can be a problem. The flow direction control property of the diode would have the benefit of preventing that (Though I think that is not necessary, since I don't see a reason for backfeeding to be a problem specific to this mod and impossible with the original design. The original PCB design should have provisions for that.)
Or use a resistor seeing as the load is constant. Either way it's cheaper than getting a new fan.
@@cagatayy1182 Mainly, my reasoning for a diode, outside of dropping voltage, is that I don't know if the motherboard or if the original fan have any provisions for backfeeding. If, say, there's a provision for backfeeding but it's in the fan, then removing the fan essentially removes that provision. Adding a Diode would both reduce voltage and add the provision. Yeah, a resistor could be another viable option..I was trying to cover all possible scenarios with a diode.
FMCB also released a version that can be installed on the hard drive (ssd). Called Free Hard Drive Boot (FHDB). This means you don't need a dedicated memory card installed. It loads directly off the drive.
Really!? Shit I'll have to update that. Good tip, thanks!
You still need FMCB to install FHDB though, so you didn't miss out 😂
@@anno5936you don't actually need a FMCB to install a FHDB. There's an image pack you can burn to your drive from a PC. (But it is easier to use the FMCB to install)
@@anno5936 no you don't, you can install it directly from your computer. I did this. It's incompatible with the exfat thing though
Or you can use HDD OSD
Divide print into parts and glue them together later ❌
Buy a new, bigger and most expensive 3D printer ✅
I wish I could do that too 😂
He made it seem like that but he had that printer for awhile already
I was always fascinated with PS1 and PS2.
The engineering prowess demonstrated by both systems is indeed commendable.
It looked unique their hardware was underpowered as hell though.
@@ZackSNetwork I wish someone would make a video about PS1 hardware, explaining every component in great detail.
Not at the time, it was cutting edge, the emotion engine died not because it was slow but because no one could program for it. The original PlayStation was ahead of PCs at the time it came out, hell, several people used to mod them for the better audio Sony baked into them as the only other device close was a several thousand dollar Sony preamp. PlayStation audio is still amazing today honestly. PS2 was also one of the first consumer available Blu-ray players that didn't cost so much that it was prohibitive to use. @@ZackSNetwork
PS2 was the weakest console in its generation
@@mrcaboosevg6089 Nope, that place goes to the Dreamcast
Quick note, I saw that you used wired to extend the crystal oscillator out. This is typically not a good idea since the crystal connections should be exactly equal lengths to the MCU, as well as contained within PCB traces so that they are parallel. Seems like it’s not causing a big issue for you though but just something to note for future projects. Great work overall though!
thank you, I was gonna post this
@@RobotsEverywhereVideossame, this is pretty hacky, but can't argue with results.. seems to work fine lol
I noticed that too, cutting equal length wires would negate this problem.
@@reanimationxp Its only a 300mhz processor.
Only for lower frequency devices though
The higher the frequency, the higher precision you'll need @@proxyhx2075
I actually respect how many ads you were able to fit into one vid
The fact that he called the resin coloring 'key bumps' made me understand how this man has the energy to do this. IYKYK.
This is the comment I was looking for 😂
As soon as he said that, I came to the comments 😆
I don’t know fill me in
@@Dark_Ukiyo cocaine
LMAO
If you can't afford a microscope don't worry as you must be less than 30 and have good eyesight.
Idk man i cant see 2 feet infront of me (literally) and im nowhere near 30
Pretty sure this comment is satire tho
@@SWITCHITUPREVIEWSproblem isn't what's two feet in front of you but rather what's less than a foot in front of you
To be honest that microscope he linked is a ridiculously good price unless the price of microscopes have just dropped recently... I got a cheap Chinese one that hooks up through a USB into a computer and that was $15 more than what he linked 3 years ago. Didn't come with a stand or anything I had to rig up my own setup around the camera.
My eyes been shot my whole life 🤣. That's not how that works
Just use phone.
A lot of hard work, dedication, and planning went into this project and I appreciate it. I absolutely liked this video and will share it right now!
I read dedication as defication.
But I think that's cos my tummy is poorly.😂
ps2 is probably the most timeless case and this guy is designing his own case
Same, I thought this video was neat until he did that. Just install an emulator and put it in that housing at that point.
I skipped to the end of the video because of that.
@@dj_314 lol same.
Yeah it looks like a cheap hobby box for a senior project. Cool concept but execution is lacking. Got him some views though
If it was styled more closely to the PS2 I would've accepted it. NFC Systems made a smaller version of the PS5 (that is 5, not 2) with a custom case that is cleaner looking.
Biggest issue I had with that case is using 3D printer to get it... As much as I like the tech, it's aesthetics look janky at best... And all that while having a CNC which most likely could easily cut through aluminum or steel, which would at least in my opinion look decent... But hey it's a project and I probably couldn't do half of what he did.
I'm a huge fan of PCSX2 but I'm not going to lie, that's friggin' SICK!
I agree, i like the build, but on PCSX2 it just looks so much better
Now build a PlayStation 6.
Wouldn't that just be a modern PC in a compact case?
Unless he designs the whole thing to be different from PCs, there's no point.
Lol u wild
its a playerstation
soo it have games at 19696969796 $ only 💀💀
Bro, Just buy the RTX, stop sweating
You can also move FMCB to the HDD and set it up to auto start FMCB from the harddrive, and the memory card isn't needed anymore. It would be cool to move the controller receiver on the inside of the console, if at all possible. I really do love the re-designed case
Could just figured a way with using a ps3 type situation if know what i mean and know what your doing you could have wireless controllers and still have og controller ports
If theirs a way theirs a will to do it. I would explain but that just be too much explaining
@@RJCox-p4rthere they're their, I would explain but that just be too much explaining
I used to do the FMCB card service in Europe. One quick advice:
Make sure to get a genuine SONY PS2 8MB card if you're using it for daily boots.
The aftermarket cards use compression, non of them have legit 64mb storage - and with each compression, the code for FMCB is at risk of being corrupted. So in theory, it'll fail on you at random, at some point.
Source : my silly ass, which got me sued by Sony.
ah yes of course
I think I would have kept the OG case, just my opinion! Also, as much as I love the SSD upgrade, I'd still want to play DVDs and CDs! I would have preserved that ability somehow! The PS2 was an awesome DVD and Audio CD player! By the way, you can use a voltage divider circuit to convert the 7 volts for the fan to around 4.85 volts, you need 2 resistors (1.2k and 2.7k ohms). Just make sure you get better resistors with smaller variances in resistance.
I love this. I would use those resistors for the cathodes in a distortion circuit inside a tube based amplifier.
or 5 volt linear regulator for the Fan.
finally a comment with brain
I agree, I think the aesthetic Zac was going for was like a gaming desktop PC, but it kinda looks like a fancier version of those Xbox 360-Es which is weird for a PS2. I wish he put some of that flair the PS2 has with the ridges into his redesign. Sure it would add to the print time but c'mon, it's the PS2.
@@stevenmccroskey3411 yes for sure! I agree with you. The PS2 is a very iconic machine!
Funnily enough, Gran Turismo 4 is one of the few games on the PS2 that could already run at HD - with a component cable the PS2 could output 1080i, and a couple of games even supported it. (Heck, the option for that was very briefly visible when you were showing off the video settings!)
That's true, but running at 1080i introduces interlacing artifacts. I found I got better results from 480p and then upscaling.
@@ZacBuildswhich de-interlacing algorithms did you try? There are some really good ones out there...
@@tmnt9001 in the video he mentioned he tried the different ones on the software he was using, I suspect that the software didn't use more advanced algorithms because it caused lag issues possibly.
@@ZacBuilds 1080i is alot more information than 480p your deinterlacing software must have been trash, don't just blame interlacing as the problem Its the crappy deinterlacing software thats the problem.
@@skylarhasmail666 deinterlacing is kinda trash tho. the best way to enjoy interlaced content is on a CRT, trying to watch it on anything else is a sub-part experience.
14:05 “mixed in lil key bumps of various powders” 😂😂😂
I had to CTRL F this immediately.
Followed by "then using a syringe, I mainlined the epoxy"
dude your builds RULE!!!! I love these hacks you implement - and I think your attention to aesthetics and what makes a design feel good makes your builds stand out.
Regarding the back plate - there is actually a technical benefit to painting it black, not just aesthetics!
The emissivity of a surface finish significantly impacts a surface's ability to radiate heat. The better the emissivity, the better the heat transfer. Black Body Radiators are both perfect emitters and absorbers of radiation. While its impossible to make a perfect black body, it IS true that the more black you can make a surface finish, the better its emissivity will be! Reflective/metallic surface finishes have poor emissivities - they're bad at absorbing and emitting thermal radiation.
As almost too simple as it may seem, just a little bit of the right paint can go a long way in manipulating this.
I feel like most people are aware that the colour black is the perfect absorber (wearing a black tshirt in the sun gets you hotter) but it seems most people
either forget or aren't aware that black colours are equally good emitters! What determines whether it will emit or absorb is whether it is hotter or colder than its surroundings.
Unless the devices are in the path of the sun, usually they're the hottest thing in the living room. It does depend on the line-of-site the back plate will have with the rest of the room,
so if the dock covers most of that back plate it becomes less prominent. Fans via forced convection do a lot of work in terms of heat transfer, especially since typically the components
that need to reject heat are inside the casing and don't have radiative visibility to surroundings. But keep in mind - radiative heat transfer scales as [Tobject^4 - Tsurroundings^4] so as temperature difference goes up, radiation can quickly become the dominant mode of heat transfer!!!!
Not sure how hot the back plate actually - but its a simple thing with very tangible impact :)
I used to clean PS2s back when everyone had them. Usually it was just a good cleaning that did the trick but one time I swapped out a disk drive and when it worked it was a very satisfying feeling. Best console ever.
Small tip about GSM - games that use field-rendering will most probably don't work in progressive modes (480p, 720p). A good alternative is 1080i, and in my experience it works well with most games. While the image is still interlaced, the combing effect is much smaller and most TVs can blend it well.
I'm surprised he didn't bring up 1080i at all, especially on Gran Turismo. More detail for the upscaler = better results in theory
@@CarterDarter yeah even with 540 lines of vertical res per frame, thats still more than typical PS2 framebuffer resolution, so you dont really lose any detail
@@CarterDarterSame. I wonder why he didn't mention native PS2 HD games, even though there are only a handful.
@@mimimimeow That is 960 lines of vertical res per frame for GT4´s 1080i mode.
So, you just print money or something?
Nah, TH-cam does that for him lol.
Everytime a person gets into a hobby TBH.
I think PCBWay does... they've sponsored most videos I've seen today from unrelated creators😂
He's Canadian, they can just raid Monopoly boards for money.
Ikr... I love console mods but most hard-mods cost a fortune...
I have so many consoles that I'm dying to add a HDMI mod 😭
But of course that's all nothing compared to the amount of premium equipment this guy is stocked with...
With the fan option, you could use a resistor or a couple of diodes in series to drop the voltage as two diodes in series, would provide a 1.4v voltage drop and run the fan at 5.6 volts
This is hands down the most impressive modding of a PS2, i've ever seen. Nice job !
Spend some time checking out aubrey de grey in stead. He is working on curong ageimg
@@snorttroll4379 tf is that
I think it's kind of stupid modernizing classic gaming systems honest to god I wish Sony made a comeback with memory cards instead of using useless SSDs that will eventually be corrupt in the future not to mention memory cards back then actually held a purpose of defeating this concept in general. All you would have to do is buy a memory card and POOF your game data is protected for life if memory cards made a comeback in the "modern" times you would have it made.
@@snorttroll4379you should not say "instead"
true . both. @@FairyIsland-ui9hh
this was my dream goal when i started studying computer engineering. For financial reasons i ended up working in defense but I originally pursued the field because wanted to bring life back into the PS2. You've done way more than i ever thought possible with the original hardware. You probably couldn't do much better without recreating their hardware on a high end fpga eval card.
Hey! Awesome vid! I have a few tips for you, though:
OPL is better than HDLoader, since GSM is built-in and allows for optimization modes. It does require you to look up a table, but it's worth it if you want to play your entire library - some games may or may not work without them. Besides, you can actually forgo any controller ports and memory cards. PadEmu and VMC respectively, *also* on OPL. PadEmu allows you to use a bluetooth adaptor on USB (check compatibility) to connect a DS3/4/5 and make the PS2 use it like a normal DS2. You can also do FreeHDBoot to not require a memory card to access all these features. Sidenote: For OPL, you can make FMC/FHDB run it upon boot. Might be worth a try when using PadEmu. Cheers!
Pademu really likes to break games randomly, atleast in my experience. Iirc I was playing through .hack and kept having random crashes on loads, switching Pademu off fixed that. I'm pretty sure Pademu also doesn't support analog buttons and I'm unsure if the 8bitdo does either, but the Brook Wingman PS2 does when used with a PS3 controller.
@@De_kaid oh, really??? is it an early build of OPL? that could be the issue. otherwise, good to know! thank you so much
@@kechamayoo I always update it whenever I get back to using my ps2 after a while, so it wasn't a really old version. It's just my experience with it anyways and a controller adapter just seems safer in that sense to me.
Still have a silver Slim somewhere as a backup DVD player, along with silver controllers, remote and FMCB, so thanks for the nice walk down memory lane and congrats to this project!
That case is amazing! Did anyone else think the original picture looked better than the HDMI did? I did, at least the way he presented it.
Gotta be super careful moving oscillators. They can be very high frequency and moving them changes the impedance of the traces.
Yeah. My immediate reaction when he did that was "How the hell did that work!?"..
@@nikkiofthevalley probably luck, or it's just not that super sensitive.
what would be the function of the oscillator in this application? like connecting to a controller? or wifi or something?
@@megazuccc Oscillators are used for timing and signal generation. Timing is critical for the proper communication of all the different parts (every single chip) of the circuit. Signal generation is your wifi signals and such.
@@megazuccc It's likely a clock source. It may be for a real-time clock or a data clock.
"I built a MODERN PlayStation 2..." = "I modded my PlayStation 2 with modern parts..." I read the title like he was literally building a PS2
Oh he's just modding a PS2? Thank you for saving me 22 minutes.
its still a great video and he rebuilds the eintire housing with wooden accents ands goes into pretty great detail on how settings can be changed a lot to amek the game look a lot better up to 2024 standards for an old console as that is. plus you cant really build your own playstaion 2, that would be ill eligible as they would copyright him. @@GoodBoyGoneDad
lmao he basically is building a new PS2.
I would watch a video on that.
@@japaroads Yes he's building a new PS2 if by "building a new" you mean "taking an old one and adding modifications to it".
There's no need to falsely advertise the contents of the video, and there's definitely no need to defend the choice to do so.
The video is great as it is and should be titled appropriately.
man. you are the first youtuber I see do some hardcore mods on this OG Playstation 2 Console. It looks great !
Might also be a good idea to put some mesh on the grates, to keep lint and stuff from making a nest in the system. Other than that great build, I had a lot of fun games I loved on that system and between that and the N64 made a lot of childhood memories.
Dude these videos are so awesome - I've been getting into 3d printing and electronics recently and it's super inspiring and educational the way you approach these problems. Keep it coming!
Wow, turning a classic console into something so sleek and modern is impressive! The blend of nostalgia with a fresh, updated design is genius. Great work!
7:09 I worked R&D at a power tool company. They do make smaller solder iron tips, but you have to be really careful with how much pressure you use with them because their smallness also means they can bend easily when heated. So, bend it into something like a hockey stick and you can hit those 10mil traces fairly easily. You'll also need a thinner solder wire with it though too. Also, they do make hollow solder with a paste core... it's cleaner to use when doing these kinds of projects. And finally, be very careful with how much heat you apply to those pads next to any IC. You can melt the interior of the ICs causing them to break.
I was screaming "BENT CONICAL" for that entire segment.
As for the heat, obviously don't use too much heat, but that's actually the primary use of Kapton Tape: heat insulation.
Very cool build, I'd have kept the original controllers though purely for the pressure sensitive inputs. Not a lot of games used them, but there are some games that relied on them (MGS2/3 come to mind). They had to change how those inputs worked for more modern releases.
PS3 controllers have pressure sensitive inputs, I wonder if they work with the 8bitdo adapter
The Ace combat games did as well I believe, the pressure applied to the radar button would determine how zoomed out it was if I recall correctly.
@@dbbgbaOPL has a setting to use PS3/PS4 controllers with USB or Bluetooth adapters
@@jadedandbitterYes, as well as the throttle and airbrake.
retro fighters makes wireless ps2 controllers with pressure sensitive inputs :)
Coolest channel I’ve ever come across, how has the TH-cam algorithm not shown me your content before? Subscribed.
Your videos are definitely an inspiration for modern design and organization projects!
I love that whenever I think something isn't going to look good. You put in a ton of finishing touches to make it even better. You really do go above and beyond.
Start an ETSY page already!
Thankl you! and I do have one, but just for 3d print files haha. Selling physical products is not a world I want to venture into just yet. It would take a lot of time and distract from making videos.
Absolutely amazing to see your modded version of my childhood preferite console.
Thanks for sharing your passion with us, you earned a new subscriber!
This absolutely blew me away 😮😮😮😮. The amount of craftsmanship that went into this is incredible. That’s without the knowledge of all the old and new electrical components 🔥🔥. One of the best videos I’ve seen. Can I buy one
A project like this with a PS2 Slim would leave so much room for cool mods, you could probably do the case out of resin as well due to the size factor. I know there is a mod to adapt a SSD onto a Slim motherboard as well.
I concur. I had one of those, they are pretty compact and would greatly benefit from this lad's upgrades.
only for the first slim. when someone made the hdcombo, sony REALLY removed it for the next revision, and the pata interface was completely removed, leaving just the network.
yes, Free HD Boot is an improvement. use OPL for supported games, especially when you can give them virtual memory cards. :)
0:30 - Today I learned PS2 Modders really don't care for Linus Sebastian.
400k subs, fairly young, normal looking, obviously very intelligent and is able to actually use it, has a nice house with 3x high quality 3D printers, full wood workshop, CNC machine, Damn. I’m v jealous, I have one of those.
Money can buy everything
I did the network adapter swap on one of my PS2s a couple of years ago and love being able to add modern drives. There are cheap printed brackets you can pickup and install on the SSD so it doesn't move around inside the case. You can also partition the SSD and install FMCB on one of the partition and games on the other. Lastly don't forget to add a region free modchip so you can run NTSC, PAL and Japanese games.
This is amazing. I’m gonna try to find a way to print the case in pieces for my smaller print bed but everything else is easily doable. You sir, are a great source for modding ideas!
Couldn't you just print it diagonally?
I got kind of exited when you used the K1 max because i have a regular K1 myself. it gave me a sort of realization that i can do things like this myself with the tools i have.
You actually *can* boot with just the HDD (and use only the HDD if you want). You want FHDB (Free Hard Drive Boot). This is what I use on my fat PS2. In this way, I can either use virtual (software) memory cards, which also live on the HDD. Or I can use my physical memory cards as normal memory cards, which is what I do. FCMB is cool as a portable option, but FHDB is way better and has no downsides.
You install FHDB by flashing a pre-made hard drive image file. Then you just pop it into the PS2 with the network adapter, and you're done. It boots into FCMB from the HDD.
Such a great project, love the post-mortem analysis segments too
Damn Zac. With that massive effort. You deserve at least 2M subscribers
I don't have the skills or the tools to do what you do but I am a fan of this type of work , very good content
I admired the use of wording when mixing pigments for the epoxy… keybumps 🙏🏽 great content. I love watching your videos, genius and artistic
I was looking for this comment lmaoooooo
^^ Same lmaooooo
outed him self lol
It would be better to flip the fan so it works like an exhaust one.
An intake fan ends up creating swirls of air flows inside the case, while an exhaust one creates a negative pressure, so the fresh air is sucked through the holes in the case, which creates more stable air flow inside. Also, the intake fan will end up pushing more dust into the case.
Why didn't the OG PS2 use an intake fan if it's superior?
@@billybones6463 I believe you got confused. Exhaust fan is better, and that's how it's done in most of the gaming consoles with similar cooling design
@@agarmash_You didn’t answer the question. Just a deflection.
Apart from the wood work and the logo shenanigan, this was a true masterpiece.
I absolutely love your builds and the way you push your own limits. I know your videos are ~30 minutes long mostly but my question is what is the duration of builds in real time?
3:50 Re-PS2 PSU - Power Supply Replacement ...& the one up improvement of replacing the barrel connector with a USB-C one 🤯 😸
0:32 "how to destroy your reputation" 🤣 im dying
TH-cam algorithm at its finest
Poor Linus 😂 Search PS2 Mods, get video about him not sending back a water block
@@ZacBuilds I don't pity that dude, he auctioned off someone else's property for charity. That's stealing
@@goodkill1 He did make a video later explaining what exactly happened and all the ways that things just failed. When you run a large business you will inevitably have problems, and the real issue is linus never really had business sense, his massive ego literally kept the company afloat. Terren Tong is the new CEO so technically his company should be running immensely better.
@@lockinhinddanger934 unsubbed don't care
I love how the glass panel you put makes it look like a gaming PC when standing up, you did an amazing job with this thing
I like the ps2 look more honestly, not everything have to look like a computer
Doug DeMuro??
i was hearing the same thing haha
Not quite, this guy doesn't base videos off Wikipedia excerpts and make shit up, while Doug does
@@williambartholomew5680 and this guy also has a Canadian accent
THISSSSS is a 2001 Sony PlayStation 2. It’s a really cool modern classic video game console that I’m going to take apart and add some quirks and features. Then I’m going to take it for a test drive and show you how cool this console can be. And then…I’m gonna give it a Doug score.
It’s clear so so much work goes into making these videos.
I wish I had the patience and motivation to do projects like this.
What an abslutely sick mod to the PS2. I got my ps2 in the early 2000's and got it chipped mid 2000s so I can play different region games. I then learned about mcboot and bought an original network adaptor. I still have my PS2 in my box with a IDE HDD with retro games loaded on. You had me in AWW the entire video of all the cool things you did to the system. Thanks for the thorough video. You have earned my sub!
It's just insane the load of tools available for you guys overseas - here in Brazil we don't even set a 3D printer, imagine having one in home
Imean, it's not common to have $25k+ worth of workshop equipment in your house anywhere in the world. Zac has these because they're his source of income.
Wdym? He worked hard for it, and it's pretty much his job and hobby...
You should not be jealous of him because he didn't get those printers just because he lived on other country because again he worked hard for it, you should instead be inspired by him!
Envy is the worst lol
@@brenzcarlcasas3728 stop being a bitch about everything. no one is jealous of anything, the man is stating a fact, which is 100% true btw, and theres nothing wrong with it. jesus go eat some fruits and chill out
Eh, you both sound like condescending pricks to me, personally.
um, that's not exactly commonplace even here in the US bro ^^;
This has got to be the coolest console mod video I have ever seen, and I'm a huge fan (cough cough, *pun intended*) of better cooling when it comes to older, noisy consoles. I would actually love to see you mod a PS3 Slim in a similar way. That would be cool. Love your videos! Keep up the great work!!!
😂 Never thought I'd hear "key bump" as a unit of measure on TH-cam 😅😅
Love this build Zac! Really nice functional and aesthetic rethinking of the PS2. Perhaps do a PS2 mini combined with a M.2 NAS for media streaming? I know there's a build out there somewhere that a guy did for a car install... but it wasn't a single unit; think the data storage was connected but installed separately.
I was looking for this comment LOL, I was like, whaaat?
Same lol used ctrl - F to find it lmao
@@tylerhoovler16 🤣🤘
Immediately came to comments for this lmao
also came here for this ahahahahahaha@@codyday5746
Simply put: AMAZING work! My jaw just kept dropping watching you make this whole thing come into its' final form. Hats off to you sir!
The fact he went through with a 85% modding for this PS2 just made my day.. I have an old fat PS2 device... that my brother damaged, after it served me well for a whole 20 years, without a single complaint, and also using DVDs only, gosh i wanna fix it and make it run again.
I personally would flip that fan to exhaust the heat, not use it as an intake. Otherwise all that air inside has no where to go. Unless I'm missing some front ventilation somewhere, but none the less I think that would be better 😊
You missed the giant slotted grille cut out of wood that takes up a whole side
Great project, although I have to say its better to keep the disc drive because of compatibility. Yeah, a ton of games run from HDD nowadays just fine. But there are still games with issues. I lost 50 hours of Valkyrie Profile 2 thanks to a very mean copy protection they built into the game, that got triggered by running it from OPL instead of just using my original disc. And I got some issues with other games in the past, too.
There are 'modes' to run games in to avoid some of those issues. IIRC, that game in particular needs one of the modes enabled for compatibility.
@@vincentjonesvr In the case of this game you only find that out 50+ hours into the game. And the savegame isnt repairable, as it triggers a flag at boot, so you basically have to delete all your saves and start completely fresh (its so bad, it even triggered on some OG hardware!).
Also, I had a lot of troubles with games not really working well in the past on OPL. Maybe its just the types of games I play, as my collection isnt really focused on those "big hits" and the compatibility goes down the more obscure the games get.
Ended up looking gorgeous! Great work!
A nice upgrade for sure, but I do take issue with using USB and not a power supply of some kind. This could really hurt the life of something like this, as the whole purpose of a big PSU is to provide really stable and predictable power, which is a bit of a risk. I don't know that you will for sure get a lot of peaks or drops from a USB adapter, but why risk it...
I had a similar concern. The Digital Audio Converter DAC is actually really good on my late fat mode PS2l. A bit of tasteful exaggeration on the bass. Super smooth mids and highs. It blows the Xbox 360 away in terms of sound quality.
The power supply is a critical component of any audio system. Most people don't care or won't hear the difference I suppose. I would expect you could hear a difference through the digital HDMI cable as well. Digital isn't perfect like the marketing would have us all believe. Although it has it's advantages over analog.
Modern power supplies are simply much better than what we had 20 years ago. It really isn't an issue.
Moving the noise from the SMPS out of the case will only help with RFI.
Great idea. But you could use a first model ps2 slim instead. That nodel support HDD the pins are there to tap. There is a mod to bring back the HDD support to that model. Then you will have a smaller motherboard to work with so a smaller case to fit inside your resin printer.
This!
(not zac builds, only saying, because I've run into that confusion on other people's vids before). Maybe it was a fluke, but my brother had a slim that was an absolute nightmare on heat... the thing would freeze mid-game if you didn't have some sort of fan blowing over the thing whenever you had it turned on. Not saying every slim had this problem, but personally, I avoid slim consoles of any sort like the plague because of this...
@@yeldarb141983 problems with that particular one. Slims run colder and more efficiently. Check the fan and console for dust. The EE is not a particular hot CPU unlike ps3 cell who runs normally hot.
This This This!
@@ot4kon pretty sure that console is long gone at this point, lol. this was over fiften years ago. I don't even know where that console is now.
but yeah, it was new at the time, so... =/
Your builds are super sick man! Great job
That's one class looking Ps2. Definitely your best looking project to date!. Your videos are definitely an inspiration for modern design and organization projects!.
Seriously love your videos mate. You do everything I want to do but don't have the funds to do it. Great video.
The only reason I have the funds to do these projects is because people like you watch my videos, so thank you! It's truely a dream come true.
Bro, it takes a lot to impress me these days, you should be super proud of and impressed with yourself. Just the aesthetic of your design alone got me :) the PSZ logo im epoxy resin is a beautiful touch, mate! I always use final fantasy x because I was never a racing gamer when I was younger, but wow that Gran Turismo game looks amazing and PS3 quality to me, just from the HDMI upscale 😍
definitely earned my sub bro, glad there's yt creators out there still making genuinely interesting content. 💯 🤘🏼
Thanks for the support man!
This brought back memories of the first time my younger brother and I turned on a PS2 and being memorized by it's green and blue lights.
A recommended large sized resin printer would be the Phrozen Mega 8K. They recently introduced a S variation that prints faster but has a reduced z height.
Nice video and build.
Mesmerized
never thought you could do this, good job for all the process and you made it!
Instead of resin printing maybe consider printing in ABS or ASA and then acetone vapour smoothing it? This may result in a glossy finish which might not be what you're looking for but could be an option. Also just because the components in the PS2 might actually run kinda hot compared to older consoles you've done custom cases for, ABS or ASA would be a good idea just for the heat resistance compared to PLA, which might start to warp if it gets too hot.
Another option would be sanded ABS/ASA, it's considerably easier to sand than PLA and could give you a nice look if you take it to a high enough grit.
Just don't print ABS/ASA in your home, it's recommended to have some kind of carbon air filtration when printing those materials or just print in your workshop then vent it out after the print is done.
Bad idea - after acetone bath it always cracks. Not immediately, could take a year, but it'll crack. Especially such big thing. And PLA is most rigid.
Better to printing multipart resin and then glue and gloss it with same resin - it'll be seamless.
@@evilgremlin I did not realise that was a possibility with acetone smoothing, none of the guides I've seen ever mention it. After doing a bit or research it seems the cracking is due to internal stresses which the acetone smoothing can expose. So maybe a well printed ABS part wouldn't see this issue as quickly. I'd still say an ABS part sanded would work nicely in this situation or perhaps even polycarbonate.
Good idea here, my next video (or at least the one I'm working on now) is going to focus heavily on post processing of 3d printed parts. Stay tuned.
@@ZacBuilds Looking forward to it! Loving these game console upgrade videos.
@@Antstar12 I mostly meant surface
I feel like he modernized that so much at the point of not even using the original case that I just question, why not just use an raspberry with an emulator at that point?
I think at this point it's more about the retro Chip stuff
I wonder if it's easier to emulate games on original hardware.
Uhm … you can do that ?? Just yesterday i was real bummed my ps2 got nicked out of my parents basement - id really love to for some good old crash bandicoot … wait could i do that on my iphone too ? Also since i don’t own any controlers: would it be the same without the sore thumbs haha
Then it wouldn’t be original hardware.
14:05 Did he just say what I think he just said?!
Absolutely😳 I ran straight here to see if anyone else noticed😅😅😅
Well we've all done it
They actually sell a SATA conversion board for the official network adapter. Something to consider if you ever want to add networking capability to this thing
Also, me personally, I'd have left the disk drive in
What 3D modelling software did you use to design the custom shell by the way? I've been looking to get into 3D printing myself
I second this. Third-party SATA broadband adapters cut corners and ditch networking capabilities. The SATA board is a drop-in replacement that can be installed in less than 15 minutes, no soldering required.
Disc drives are naturally very loud, I believe it would have ruined the aesthetic he was going for with using quieter fans etc etc
@@TAGMedia7 The 3rd party adapters are cheap and work well enough. You're not going to do anything with networking capabilities on a PS2 in 2023, except for maybe ftp:ing over your games which would be a lot slower than just copying the games directly from your PC to the drive anyway
Fusion 360 is a great option. I use that for all of my projects. You can get an education license for free if you're in school and I believe they have a free version (or highly discounted version) for personal use
I'm often playing Killzone, Midnight Club 3, CoD 3 and Gran Turismo 4 online in the evenings, so I very much use the networking.
you also can use a bluetooth dongle and make it work with OPL. so you can use PS3 controllers via bluetooth without the 8bitdo adapter. very nice video, I would go for a more fancy/traditional not blocky square case for the PS2, but it looks amazing. great work!
This video was really cool. One correction though, Sony did actually make a first party wireless PS2 controller, although they’re very rare. I run a retro store and I’ve only seen three of them ever. I do own one of those. Tiny criticisms; I’m a repair tech and I’ve never seen a cap go bad in one of these. Parts suppliers have really fanned the flames of peoples fear of electrolytic capacitors going bad on everything. Also, a bit of sanding and painting would also save you from doing the case in resin.
Man that's so nice! I have a Slim PS2 here and I wish I could do some of those mods. Unfortunately I don't have the acknowledge neither the tools to do so.
But thinking of it, what mods could you do with a slim PS2? That would be a nice part 2 for a video like this
This is a cool project for someone who just wants to do it, but the definitive way to play PS2 games is still just on original hardware with a good quality CRT.
instead of replacing the fan you could've used a resistor to bring to voltage down to about 3 to 5 volt . or you can get adjustable resistor and program it with arduino for it to run on lower wattage on idle and higher with high temps
resistors heat up quite a lot. he would be better off using a diode or a small voltage regulator (unless the fan is PWM driven in which case it wouldnt work
8:51 you can also install a software to the Hard drive that allows you to basically do the same thing just without needing a memory card, software is called FHDB, and it's by the same developers as the memory card software and also uses a similar exploit.
Also if you had used an original network adapter you could have used online play in games that support or adding games via FTP without needing to remove the hard drive, which is nice especially with the case mods that you're doing.
There are a few PS2 games that are in 1080 HD. Also on the fan, find a small PWM circuit with a control knob. Then you can adjust the fan speed accordingly
18:28 treeline and grass looks better on stock RCA. These assets were never meant to be displayed at higher resolutions, so there's only so much you can do. In the end a blurry but period accurate image is probably the best these games are ever gonna look, because no amount of upscaling will fix the inate resolution of the assets.
Bro your work is so sick, not only do you know PC you can build. keep it up
Man this was amazing. I know I don’t have the skills nor coordination to do this. I would happily pay you to make one for me. Just saying, this thing looks amazing and works great
Me too. I’m ready to buy today.
Just so you know, an SSD won't give you much of a speed benefit over a traditional hard drive, due to the limitations of the bus speed on the PS2.
While it wont do anything on bus speed, it should still help with overall latency and perceived speed due to elimination of seek times from a laser trying to find info on a spinning disc.
@@guardianali exactly, Optical drive vs ssd even at ata 100 or whatever the ps2 uses is still no contest for latency.
Pretty sure it's ATA66, but yeah, it doesn't matter. A spinning drive would be lucky to achieve even 3-4 MB/s random read performance. A SATA SSD can get 20-ish if it's decent. That's still not faster than the HDD adapter's bus, and you're likely already hitting a CPU bottleneck when trying to decompress/decode assets at that speed. Remember that the PS2 only has something like 36 MB of RAM combined.
In fact, this happens in some games even with a regular HDD. Star Ocean 3 actually slows down for a second or so at the start of battles because the CPU is busy handling the data from my HDD that's arriving way faster than the game expects it to.
I just cram SD cards into mine with a IDE->SD adapter. Lot of folks say going the SD route is bad but they're cheap to replace with better seek times than a HDD. I haven't had to replace the SD yet even after two years of it being modded.
Ya this is true, you're limited by the bus. The SSD is a TAD bit quicker, but only in the 1-5% range. But honestly, the SSD costs about 25 dollars more and is quieter and uses less power, so it was an easy choice.
This is pretty rad! The final product is definitely worth the new printer 👌
Great project!
And congrats to the new addition to your printer fleet. I'm sure you'll inevitably catch the bug and find out why we call them "helmet-class printers". 🤣
You're a freaking artist, mate. That thing is gorgeous.
I’m not a very big gamer but what you did with that console is awesome!!
You didn't need to use GSM to get rid of combing artifacts as there's an option for Motion Adaptive Deinterlacing in the RetroGEM settings
NOT THE DISK DRIVE!
How are you the top comments
@@Atomic-ly2vi Pure skill
The only thing I would have changed would have been to retain the DVD drive. I know optical media is outdated when you can fit hundreds of games onto a SSD but one of the big selling points of the PS2 was that it was also a great DVD movie player, taking that functionality away just seems wrong to me.
The console modification turned out incredibly well!
Excellent video. I am pleased to hear you say GSM works with the majority of games. I am often mocked when I say the same .. 85% of the titles I have work extremely well, often with field flipping enabled.
I love the improvements and everything that went into this, but im not a fan of the wood finish, would have liked seeing aluminum or something futuristic looking instead