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[bheemer]

Well i got my HdLoader this past weekend. For about 170 dollars (including tax and shipping) i got the HDloader disc, a ps2 network adapter and a 120gb hard drive. the place i got it from sold it as a package.

took about 5 minutes from opneing the box to installing into my ps2. not a single problem. booted it up and immediately put all my existing games on the hard drive. my games range from 1 -3 gb each and all run much much better.

anyone that has vice city on ps2 knows those load times are really bad. the hdloader really fixes that.

bad things: you cant play online games from the hd, you have to use the disc.
dvd9 games (dual layer discs) wont work with hdloader. the good news is the only one that i know of currently that is a dvd9 is xenosaga, and that plays fine from the disc.

gta san andreas will no doubt have the same depressing load times as vice city and is also planned as a dvd9 which is bad news.

overall its a great product and is very easy to work with. games take between 6-12 minutes to install and you dont need the disc anymore once installed.

if you have any questions ill answer em in this thread.

 

[Semjaza Azazel]

Do you have any approximate guesses on how many seconds this thing can speed up load times? Specific game comparisons would be cool.

 

[Lord Error]

How long does it take for the HDLoader disc itself to boot-up?

I'm a bit bummed about the whole hard disk thing right now. It visibly slows down the boot-up process, has annoying, sparking yellow light inside the casing, and screws up the bootup screen a bit - and now that I think about it, none of the games that I constantly play even have noticeable load times, plus it's gonna be a huge annoyance if future games can't be installed, or even worse, refuse to work when they detect HDLoaded games on the disk. I'm just beginning to think that I don't even need this whole thing, but I'll wait to actually test the HDLoader before making the decision.

 

[Cloudy]

How long does it take for the HDLoader disc itself to boot-up?

Pretty fast. It splashes an HDLoader logo for a second then goes right to the games...

 

[dark10x]

This seems quite interesting, to say the least...

Perhaps I'll give it a shot. I have to RMA a 120gb Maxtor drive anyways (which I've already replaced with a Seagate) so I should have a shot at this.

 

[kaching]

Mine's on the way.

 

[PanopticBlue]

I'm a bit bummed about the whole hard disk thing right now. It visibly slows down the boot-up process, has annoying, sparking yellow light inside the casing, and screws up the bootup screen a bit - and now that I think about it, none of the games that I constantly play even have noticeable load times, plus it's gonna be a huge annoyance if future games can't be installed, or even worse, refuse to work when they detect HDLoaded games on the disk. I'm just beginning to think that I don't even need this whole thing, but I'll wait to actually test the HDLoader before making the decision.

I just put in a new 120gb Maxtor just for HDLoader, and my PS2 isn't really booting up any slower than it did before. Maybe the initial screen with the cubes takes an extra second or two, but beyond that, I can't tell there's a hard drive there. Of course, I have no HD-enabled games to use it with, but I don't care about any of those anyway. And where is this yellow light you keep going on about?

Hopefully I'll get my Hdloader in the mail today, I'll post impressions once I do. Seems to be a lack of those around. I would like some more detailed impressions with games people have succesfully installed.

 

[Cloudy]

How long does it take for the HDLoader disc itself to boot-up?

I'm a bit bummed about the whole hard disk thing right now. It visibly slows down the boot-up process, has annoying, sparking yellow light inside the casing, and screws up the bootup screen a bit - and now that I think about it, none of the games that I constantly play even have noticeable load times, plus it's gonna be a huge annoyance if future games can't be installed, or even worse, refuse to work when they detect HDLoaded games on the disk. I'm just beginning to think that I don't even need this whole thing, but I'll wait to actually test the HDLoader before making the decision.

I didn't notice any delay in the boot-up but even if there was, what exactly is the rush? The "sparking" light is to show that the hdd is working. It does that if you have the hdd installed (hdloader or not)...

And I'm sure most people who have this thing aren't in it for quicker load times. Face it, it's for playing games without constantly switching discs (that alone is exteremely helpful cos we all know how that ps2 tray can get), keeping your actual cds/dvds in pristine condition (Disgaea will be worth a lot someday ) or for bootlegging...

 

[fennec fox]

Does this work if your PS2 is chipped?

 

[Cloudy]

Does this work if your PS2 is chipped?

http://hdloader.com/site.php?page=faq

 

[bheemer]

it takes two secs for hdloader to boot. i ahve noticed some increased noise from my ps2 but other than that nothing has changed since i installed the hd.

 

[PanopticBlue]

Just got my Hd Loader in the mail...

Very early impressions:

This thing is AWESOME. I've just installed a few games that were within quick reach on my coffee table...

Onimusha - Works perfect, loading between rooms is 1 or 2 seconds at most now.
NFS: Underground - Works perfect, load times decreased a bit
Transformers - Works perfect, load times nearly halved
R-Type Final - Works perfect, Load times now are 2 secs or less

I'll post later after I load some more.. so far this thing is really nice

 

[isamu]

I may have to grab one of these.

But here's what I'd like to know....

1)Would it be possible for them to somehow develop a program that would allow your games to be saved to the HD via savestate format? In other words...not having regular memory card saves, but saves that you can access ANYTIME during gameplay, similar to emulators? THAT WOULD FUCKING RAAAWK!!!! I'd buy 10 of these loaders if they can do that.

2)How are the loadtimes during gameplay? Is it faster? The loadtimes in GT3, RRV, Tony Hawk and Suikoden III are HORRIBLE Would this loader improve them?

3)Can you play PS1 games from this loader? If so, can memory card saves be stored in the HD as well? I would love to play Mortal Kombat Trilogy off an HD with no load time!

 

[Lord Error]

I didn't notice any delay in the boot-up

Maybe I'll try to re-format the disk and not install the updated browser. I'm suspecting the new browser is being loaded off the HD at each bootup (no matter if you just boot the game), and that slows things down. Then again, if I do that, I assume I won't be able to 'officially' install games that support that option... Or to use any upcoming functionality if there ever turns out to be any (like MP3/media playback or something)

2)How are the loadtimes during gameplay? Is it faster? The loadtimes in GT3, RRV, Tony Hawk and Suikoden III are HORRIBLE Would this loader improve them?

Loadtimes in Gran Turismo 3 seem long to you?? No wonder I'm not sure if I need this thing, as I must be more tolerant than most, when it comes to load times.

3)Can you play PS1 games from this loader?

No.

If so, can memory card saves be stored in the HD as well?

Memory card saves can be backed to HD but cannot be used from it.

 

[Takuan]

PanopticBlue: I'm curious, are you using the official HD or a 3rd party? Sony's FFXI beta HD was terribly slow, I imagine a 3rd party would result in even better load times.

 

[Lord Error]

Sony's FFXI beta HD was terribly slow,

I'd imagine the HD speed is not even an issue but rather the bus speed or even more likely a speed of data decompression routines that game uses. That's why some games loading times are cut down more than the others. No matter how slow, any 40+GB HD can fill 32MB in a second or two.

 

[Nintendo Ate My Children]

Do PS2 CD-ROM games work with the HDLoader? Also, does anyone know how many future games are going to be DVD9 like GTA San Andreas?

 

[Takuan]

Also, does anyone know how many future games are going to be DVD9 like GTA San Andreas?

Games on DVD-9 media are currently unsupported by HDLoader. If you attempt to install a DVD-9 game it is likely that the installation will appear successful, but any attempt to actually run the game will most likely fail. There are currently under 10 DVD-9 games for the PS2, so hopefully this is not too much of a problem.

What a piece of shit

 

[truesayian]

only question.. where can i get this for cheap?

 

[PanopticBlue]

Well I've played around a bit with it tonight...I'm really liking the HdLoader so far despite a couple hiccups. Don't know if anybody cares, but here are the games I've tried do far:

Castlevania
Colin Mcrae 3
Devil may Cry 2
Guilty Gear X2
Hot shots Golf 3
Onimusha
NFS: Underground
NFS: Hot Pursuit 2
Transformers
R-Type Final
Rez

...All working and the load times for every game is cut in half at least, and in some cases even 3 or 4x faster. Nice!

Gungrave - works, but opening fmv has butchered sound
Contra - Gives fatal read error, wont copy
Gradius 3 & 4 - Gives fatal read error, wont copy

Btw, my Contra and Gradius discs are in pristine condition, I mean there isn't a smudge, no tiny scratches or anything. They are literally perfect. And I know the HdLoader is compatible with cd based games because Rez worked like a champ. It's disappointing i can't get Contra on there, but overall so far, the HD Loader is absolutely worth the $25 I gave for it.

Takuan, I'm using a brand new Maxtor 120gb (bought it just for hdloader). I most likely won't bother with any of the games that officially use the hdd (I'm just simply not interested in any of them) especially if it's going to slow the whole system down.

 

[Snowball]

Is there a VIDEO of the HDLOADER working out there?
I'm very curious to see it live!

Thanks
Snowball

 

[Cmdr. Solrak]

Where can I get this HDLoader?

 

[RiZ III]

170 dollars to get rid of a few seconds of load time

 

[DDayton]

170 dollars to get rid of a few seconds of load time

Are you implying that people might use this for any other reason?

(coughs)

 

[Burger]

Does this thing work with a PAL ps2 and a PAL N/A ??

 

[bheemer]

Also, does anyone know how many future games are going to be DVD9 like GTA San Andreas?

A game will have to be larger than 4.7 gigs to be put on a dvd9. few games (at this time) even reach the 4 gig limit of a single layer disc. one was xenosaga (because of extensive cut scenes some ranging up to 45 min in length) and another popular one is gta san andreas. not many games are made on this format at all. plus hdloader 2.0 could fix it ;p

Where can I get this HDLoader?

goto www.hdloader.com and click on distributors. i went with someone not on the list and i regretted it. they played the runaround with me and then removed the product from their webpage and "forgot" about me till i contested the charge on my credit card. (probably because the packgae they were offering me was below cost) they sent me the stuff but it all appeared open.

ps dont shop at the console corner.

170 dollars to get rid of a few seconds of load time

ARRRRRRRRRRR!

 

[Lord Error]

Also, does anyone know how many future games are going to be DVD9 like GTA San Andreas?

The bigger concern is will the future games even work when they detect you have illegally installed software on the HD...

170 dollars to get rid of a few seconds of load time

Well, that's the main reason for me, but on the other hand I realize it myself that it's not that important (again, to me). So I'm kinda on the fence what to do. On one hand, there are small annoyances that I've mentioned, and on the other hand I'd feel stupid to return the HD now, and regret it later, when some game I really care about benefts from it... The whole pirating thing means pretty much nothing to me as I always own more games than I have time to play anyways...

 

[JohnDoe8865]

I'm beginning to get pissed off. I placed my order at divineo.com on June 16th with a 3 open day wait. I was told that I would receive a FedEx shipping number within 48 hrs of ship. I used FedEx 24 hr shipping at great expense. Ok, so now it's June 22nd. This is the 5th open day if I exclude Sat/Sun. I've emailed them, and if they try to jerk me around I''ll have the CC company withhold payment or whatever I need to. : /

 

[Gregory]

Wouldn`t this thing be more interesting for piracy than increased load times? Just rent/borrow/download games and install them to your harddrive, right?

And your ps2 doesn`t even have to be chipped for this ?

 

[bheemer]

no your ps2 doesnt even need to be chipped. all u need is the original disc and you can copy them to your hard drive....to save on load time!

in a non related topic look at warios thread on 3 months of free gamefly....i already signed up!

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

Wouldn`t this thing be more interesting for piracy than increased load times? Just rent/borrow/download games and install them to your harddrive, right?

And your ps2 doesn`t even have to be chipped for this ?

your not supposed to say this out loud/and no the hd loader self boots no chip needed, gawd didnt you own a dreamcast

 

[Gregory]

your not supposed to say this out loud/and no the hd loader self boots no chip needed, gawd didnt you own a dreamcast

I guess ps2 rentals will increase quite a bit in the future then, heh.
That`s even easier piracy than on Xbox, where you need to have a modchip I believe.