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PlayStation 2 OPL+SMB

J

jassin000

I've been running Open PlayStation Loader (version 1.0 was released this year in fact) in conjunction with a Raspberry Pi 3 setup as a SMB server for about 3 years total now.
While this combo has been great (only minor slowdown in some heavy FMV sequences) today marks the 3rd time I've had to reimage the SD card to repair data corruption (yea about once a year it seems).
I'm thinking the Pi don't like the constant power cycling of turning the console on/off (as its powered via the PS2 USB port).

What I'm seeking is a Samba/SMB like NAS server (RJ45 10/100) with a very fast drive inside (M.2 or SSD only).
Anyone have a good recommendation, or failing that... Something different I should try with the current Pi setup?

I have been resistant to powering the Pi independently of the PS2, I really like that the system has fully booted and is hosting images right about the same time the PS2 has loaded into the OPL menu. Its very compact/self contained just like I want (yea connecting the PS2 to my router to reach a NAS is a shit option I will NEVER be using).
 
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@dewmansnk thanks for that article, yea it really seems like my issue too.
I'm already running the barebones command line only version, so no need to kill X or other bloatware packages.
I'll look into moving the swap files to RAM as suggested so I can mount read-only.
 
What advantage does the raspberry pi set-up offer over just using a regular Sata hard drive (with a sata network adapter)?

I thought that's what every did these days. Does the Pi reduce loading times further?
 
Zebra said:
What advantage does the raspberry pi set-up offer over just using a regular Sata hard drive (with a sata network adapter)?
Click to expand...
Cuz that only works with that PoS PS2 Phat.
Slim is where its at baby, not to mention the RJ45 is actually a full duplex 10/100 (it just lacks a large cache) making it technically faster than the original DVD drive.

Also machinal drives in 2021? Fuck no! Solid-state is where its at.
 
jassin000 said:
Cuz that only works with that PoS PS2 Phat.
Slim is where its at baby, not to mention the RJ45 is actually a full duplex 10/100 (it just lacks a large cache) making it technically faster than the original DVD drive.

Also machinal drives in 2021? Fuck no! Solid-state is where its at.
Click to expand...
I have a ssd installed in my launch PlayStation 2 fat model. As much as I love the slim model, I got to say, the fat model is awesome.
 
jassin000 said:
Cuz that only works with that PoS PS2 Phat.
Slim is where its at baby, not to mention the RJ45 is actually a full duplex 10/100 (it just lacks a large cache) making it technically faster than the original DVD drive.

Also machinal drives in 2021? Fuck no! Solid-state is where its at.
Click to expand...
How much loading time does it save vs using an SSD hard drive via the network port (on the launch model)?

I understand that owners of the slim mode' have to remove the DVD drive and use that port due to the slimmed down hardware design. I didn't know it was faster.

Is there an additional advantage to using a PI instead of just putting a hard drive in the slim model?
 
jassin000 said:
Cuz that only works with that PoS PS2 Phat.
Slim is where its at baby, not to mention the RJ45 is actually a full duplex 10/100 (it just lacks a large cache) making it technically faster than the original DVD drive.

Also machinal drives in 2021? Fuck no! Solid-state is where its at.
Click to expand...

Not to be an "ACKSHUALLY" guy but SSDs die too. They're faster and more reliable early in their lifecycle but SSDs are less stable with age.

I guess my point is that you are still gonna want to have backups... which mechanical drives are still a much more affordable tool for, failure rates or not.
 
Zebra said:
I didn't know it was faster.
Click to expand...
Well its strange... The data rate is faster, but it has a very limited buffer.
So you can't precache data like you can with a hard drive or disc drive.

I've found using a very short network cable and a Pi3/4 prevents FMV from skipping.
But sometimes a game that streams in data vs just loading will studder a little (think GTA3 when driving across town).
 
jassin000 said:
Well its strange... The data rate is faster, but it has a very limited buffer.
So you can't precache data like you can with a hard drive or disc drive.

I've found using a very short network cable and a Pi3/4 prevents FMV from skipping.
But sometimes a game that streams in data vs just loading will studder a little (think GTA3 when driving across town).
Click to expand...
I thought the bandwidth would be an issue. I remember being surprised when I first installed a hard drive that it didn't change the loading times that much compared to using CDs and DVDs. It wasn't like playing PC games off a hard drive. It was only a little faster.

I didn't know if the slim console was different in this respect or if connecting the drive via the DVD port made a difference.

I haven't played GTA3 in a while. You've got me curious to see if skips on mine. And, if the issue is helped or hurt by running it off disc on my mod-chipped PS2.
 
Games that stream data from the disc are designed to do some prefetching as I understand it.
This cannot be preformed via network because of the afroed mentioned small buffer size allotted by the console design to the network stack.

In just about all other cases I've observed better than disc/HDD performance, so OPL+SMB is what I use and recommend to others.

I'd gladly share my pre-made SMB Pi image with everyone, but its an issue of bandwith.
You see with the proper partitions created the resulting IMG file is the same size as the SD card itself.
7zip can only offer so much compression so I'm left with a 122GB file that would take me a month or loner to upload/share.
 
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Pi4 supports PCI (so you could run an M.2 drive) Combined with a read only file system that might solve your issues.

it does also support Gigabit Ethernet, which wont help you on the PS2 side but will make transferring games TO the Pi setup much nicer.


another alternative to the read only file-system is one of the "SuperCapacitor UPS" systems for Pi boards:
https://juice4halt.com/
https://www.sensorsiot.org/safe-shutdown-for-raspberry-pi-with-super-capacitors-133/
http://www.hackerspace-ffm.de/wiki/index.php?title=Raspi_EDLC_UPS

basically they provide your Pi with about 15 seconds of power once they've been "turned off" so that they can gracefully shut down.
 
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