Can you use any Zip drive on a PS2?

SneakyPenguin

SneakyPenguin

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Ok, I am really in need of memory, as I now have 50 PS2 games, and only 2 memory cards. I remember a while back, Interact or some company made a special PS2 Zip drive, that used mass-storage zip disks for regualr game saves. I have a zip drive lying around, and it has a USB plug. What I'm wondering, is if there is any way to use this regular Zip drive with my PS2.
 
get a HDD, if i remember correctly the drive cost 100$ when it cam out, and my experiance is that zip disks are unreliable.

hdd all the way
 
Yea, but if I'm too cheap to buy a memory card, why would I drop $100 on the HDD? I said, I already have a zip drive, with like 5 disks, so if there is some way to use that, it would be super.
 
theres this thing out called the memory maxx, it compresses saves to 1/10th size for storage, no clue how well it works or if its reliable. but its only like 10 bucks
 
Datel made one called the X-Drive or somesuch. I don't know if it was ever released in the US or if the UK version is compatible, but for 100 pounds (anyone? conversion?) it's way overpriced. Have you considered the Sharkport?
 
[quote name='SneakyPenguin']Ok, I am really in need of memory, as I now have 50 PS2 games, and only 2 memory cards. I remember a while back, Interact or some company made a special PS2 Zip drive, that used mass-storage zip disks for regualr game saves. I have a zip drive lying around, and it has a USB plug. What I'm wondering, is if there is any way to use this regular Zip drive with my PS2.[/quote]

Huh? Do they really have these kinds of zip drives for PS2??? :shock:
 
I have a floppy drive that's connected to a memory card for my PS1. It was made by Interact, I think. The thing sucks but it was a novel idea. It didn't actually save to the floppy. You had to press a button on the drive and then it would save the entire contents of what was on the memory card to the floppy.
 
The Interact products are actually just US distribution for Datel. I have the PS1 floppy drive unit. It works alright but I ended up continuing to buy memory cards once they were down to $10 for a pack of three and the reliability was decent.

For a ZIP drive to work it would have to be connected to the system through a front-end device that looked like a memory card to the console and plugged into the memory card slot. This would also mean you couldn't use more than a fraction of the ZIP disc's capacity because the emulation would have to conform to the card sizes supported by most games for compatibility.

As for a USB ZIP drive, forget it. There are probably some Japanese games that know how to use a USB ZIP but in general it wouldn't be very useful. Onl games written with ZIP support in advance would ever work with it.
 
[quote name='SneakyPenguin']bump, maybe some software or something?[/quote]

A software shim is possible but compatibility would be iffy at best. THings like the compressed memory cards that require a loader have a very bad track record. I ended up with one that I thought was a deal until I found out what it really was. $10 down the drain.

THere are some backpack cards that work by adding more capacity to an existing card. TRU carries them. They're less expensive because they don't have to reproduce all the circuitry of a stadalone card.
 
[quote name='CaseyRyback']thanks punq. I never even knew that about the HDD.

Guess it pays to read the manual sometimes[/quote]

I'm hoping they'll add the same function to HDLoader. I've got a 160GB ($70 at Fry's) drive installed and HDLoader only handles a max partition size of 127 GB. IT would be nice if they extended the software to handle multiple partitions and let use that remaining space for backing card saves.
 
I just tried to copy the data and my memory card will not recognize my Hard Drive.

Am I doing something wrong?

EDIT:I read the manual and it talks about only things compatible with the HDD can be moved.
 
Looks like I pretty much have to use memory cards. Oh well, thanks for the help.

[quote name='lilblaznpinoy']is it possible to use a regular pc hdd that fits it ur ps2?[/quote]

If you have a HDLoader, yes, as long as it fits.

[quote name='football0701']zips pretty much crash if u dont use them perefectly right[/quote]

I have never had a Zip disk crash on me, and I really can't think of a way to mis-use a disk. You put it in, copy data. I can't see anyone messing that up.
 
[quote name='js1']this is what I picked up the other day for ps2 and it works GREAT, worth EVERY penny!

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/243921.asp[/quote]

What I find interesting is that they try to make it sound as though there is something physically special about this hardware when all it is is the software to temporarily enable and ATA volume over the USB port. It wouldn't take much more to support a ZIP drive's removable media and fulfill the OP's needs so long as he could live with shuffling files on and off his memory card as needed for games.
 
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