EDIT 2016/06/18: v0.972 (FMCB v1.952) released EDIT 2016/05/21: v0.971 (FMCB v1.951) released - http://assemblergames.com/l/threads...fmcb-v1-8c-installer.46670/page-3#post-882012 EDIT 2016/01/04: v0.97 (FMCB v1.95) released EDIT 2014/06/29: v0.96 (FMCB v1.94) released EDIT 2013/10/13: v0.95 (FMCB v1.93) released EDIT 2013/08/17: v0.94D and H released. EDIT 2013/07/20: v0.94C released. Includes stability fix and translation updates. EDIT 2013/07/16: v0.94B1 released. Includes stability fix. EDIT 2013/07/14: v0.94B released. Includes minor bugfix. EDIT 2013/07/12: v0.94A released. Includes minor bugfix. What is FMCB? Free Memory Card Boot (FMCB) is a homebrew software which is designed to setup your PlayStation 2 console and provide you with a means of launching homebrew software, without the need for any extra hardware, modifications to your console or dangerous tricks like the legendary swap trick. FMCB was originally developed by Neme and Jimmikaelkael, but they have been kind enough to provide me with access to its source code, for me to make some improvements to it. What is FHDB? Free Harddisk Drive Boot (FHDB) is basically FMCB that gets installed onto the PlayStation 2 console's HDD unit. It does everything like FMCB does, but is meant to be used with the Sony HDDOSD (Browser update v2.00). Does FMCB/FHDB support my console? All PlayStation 2 consoles but the late models should be supported, although FHDB can only be used on consoles that can have a HDD connected to them (SCPH-10000 to SCPH-55000 series). The unsupported late PlayStation 2 console models start from the SCPH-90000 (Manufactured starting in the 3rd quarter of year 2008). They have boot ROM v2.30 or newer, and will never support FMCB. How to determine if your SCPH-90000-series console is supported: http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/fmcb-fhdb-release-thread.61599/#post-882017 The PSX (DVR) unit is also partially supported; you can run PlayStation 2 games and software from it, but FMCB for the PSX has no support for its XMB. There is no version of FHDB for the PSX. Please refer to this Q&A article if you have further questions: http://ichiba.geocities.jp/ysai187/PS2/FMCB/FMCB_19_QA.htm If you have questions that were not addressed in the Q&A article, please feel free to post in this thread. Translations Like with the other major tools released by me, the FMCB installer supports the 8 languages that the PlayStation 2 supports. If you would like to contribute to the translation efforts, please refer to http://ichiba.geocities.jp/ysai187/PS2/LanguageSupport.htm for more information on writing new translations. To submit your translation, please feel free to either send me a PM or an e-mail message. Translation status: 1. Japanese (never done). 2. English (Built in; already done) 3. French (Done): ShaolinAssassin 4. Spanish (Done): Previously done by ElPatas and pool7. 5. German (Done): Delta_force 6. Italian (out of date): master991. 7. Dutch (out of date): port187. 8. Portuguese (Done): gledson999 Downloads/links and for more information FMCB/FHDB + FMCBInstaller project page (go here for downloads): http://ichiba.geocities.jp/ysai187/PS2/FMCB Sister post on psx-scene: http://psx-scene.com/forums/f153/fmcb-v1-9-series-release-thread-116247/
PlayStation 2 model compatibility However, FMCB and FHDB will not support the late model of the SCPH-90000 series, PS2TV (PX300-1), DEX (DebugStation/TEST) consoles that do not support MagicGate file decryption and the TOOL unit. The unsupported DEX consoles include the DTL-H100xx and DTL-H300xx series consoles. The DTL-T10000(H) TOOL unit is not supported. As for the PlayStation 2: the late model of the SCPH-90000 series has ROM v2.30, which lacks a working update function. It is believed that such consoles are R-chassis models. There is also the PlayStation 2 TV (PX300-1), which comes with ROM v2.50. Like with the late SCPH-90000, it lacks a working update function. How does one determine the chassis model? All consoles (starting from the D-chassis SCPH-30000 and later) have the chassis model printed on their device information sticker: If your SCPH-90000 series console is a R-chassis model, it does not support FMCB/FHDB. To confirm whether your console has ROM v2.30/v2.50, you can use PS2Ident to check the ROMVER string: http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/playstation-2-identification-tool.46947/ The ROMVER string looks like "0100JC20000217", whereby the first 4 digits represent the version number. In this example, the ROMVER string indicates that the ROM is v1.00. All unsupported consoles will never be supported because they have a dysfunctional/missing update function in their BOOT ROMs. As the BOOT ROM chip is a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM) chip that can only be programmed once, there will never be a fix. The late PlayStation 2 consoles had their update mechanisms removed, while the early DEX and TOOL units lacked the ability to decrypt MagicGate files. The old method to determine whether FMCB supported, was based on the date code of the console. That method did not apply to all PlayStation 2 regions (only the US and some territories had date codes), hence it was not a very good indicator. However, this new method is still relatively untested. If anyone manages to find a console that does not follow this rule (i.e. a R-chassis model with ROM v2.20 or a P-chassis model with ROM v2.30), please let me know.
Hi! Long time FMCB user here. Good news. Hope you'll keep working on it! I can help with the Italian translation, if you want. Drop me a PM.
Please feel free to contribute a new translation. If you need help with understanding the requirements, please feel free to ask me or to post here.