Credit where credit is due: OLLis8h aka N73User who have made these instructions and created the necessary archives.
I supply here a rewritten and English version of these instructions which were in German, and can be read in their original state at this link: http://www.psxtools.de/thread.php?threadid=17659
3: USB Flash Drive. Step 1: Once you've downloaded the file, copy the FREEMCBOOT.ELF and the INSTALL folder to the USB. Step 2: Start up your PS2 and put in the USB Stick and AR MAX EVO. Step 3: Once AR has booted go to the Media Player. Step 4: Use the 'Next Item' Button to go to the FREEMCBOOT.ELF. Copy the FREEMCBOOT.ELF file and the INSTALL directory from the Free McBoot Noobie Package archive into the root directory of your USB drive. The newest versions of Free McBoot, version 1.90 and newer, also have the ability to install and boot from both Sony and non-Sony HDDs when using a 'fat' PS2 and network adapter. Launch 'FREEMCBOOT.ELF' on your PS2. Insert your USB stick into your PS2. Follow the on-screen instructions for installation. The installation places the program in the OSD, or main, menu of your PS2. The installation file will be automatically detected when you insert the USB stick into your PS2.
Those who have the fat PS2 may also use the PS1 Exploit by pepsi_max2k, found at: http://bootleg.sksapps.com/tutorials/fmcb/armax2.php Antivirus free installer kaspersky.
This guide is intended for those who have wound up with a Action Replay Max Evo disc with no media player. If you have a disc with Max Media Player, you’ll be better off following this guide by
JNABK: http://bootleg.sksapps.com/tutorials/fmcb/armax.php
JNABK: http://bootleg.sksapps.com/tutorials/fmcb/armax.php
For this guide one needs the following materials:
-Action Replay Max Evo without media player
-USB-drive, formatted in FAT32
-OLLi_s8h – FMCB v1.8 _ ARMax _ USB-Pack.rar (link)
-PS2 Memory card (I used the official 8Mb card)
-Action Replay Max Evo without media player
-USB-drive, formatted in FAT32
-OLLi_s8h – FMCB v1.8 _ ARMax _ USB-Pack.rar (link)
-PS2 Memory card (I used the official 8Mb card)
This guide will assist in the installation of Free McBoot v1.8. If another version is desired one should just swap the one in the archive with the other one (this is more precisely covered in the appropriate part of the guide).
It goes without saying that you are 100% responsible for any damage you do to your equipment while following unofficial tutorials on the Internet. Although damaging anything when following this tutorial seems extremely unlikely.
You probably want to get your hands dirty by now, so here are the instructions step-by-step:
1. Extract the contents of OLLi_s8h – FMCB v1.8 _ ARMax _ USB Pack.rar into the root folder of the USB drive. If you don’t already have a file archiver, I suggest 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/).
1. Extract the contents of OLLi_s8h – FMCB v1.8 _ ARMax _ USB Pack.rar into the root folder of the USB drive. If you don’t already have a file archiver, I suggest 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/).
The root of the USB-drive should contain:
• INSTALL
• MaxSettings
• 00000_180_ActionRepl.max
• codelist.bin
• FREE_MCBOOT.ELF
• INSTALL
• MaxSettings
• 00000_180_ActionRepl.max
• codelist.bin
• FREE_MCBOOT.ELF
Optional step: Replace INSTALL and FREE_MCBOOT.ELF with a different version.
2. Boot up the Action Replay Max Evo disc in the PS2, without the USB-drive.
3. If prompted with «Internet Connection Detected. Do you wish to check online for updates?», press no.
4. Open Settings (Lower right corner), allow the codelist to load.
5. Turn off «Automatic Update Prompt» then «Save and Exit».
6. Now turn off the PS2 and connect your prepared USB-drive.
7. Boot up the Action Replay Max Evo disc again, this time while the USB-drive is connected to USB-port 1.
8. Open Max Memory.
9. Select My devices, then choose the USB-drive as the primary device.
10. Select «AR MAX Codelist ver. -804409333» and copy to MC1.
11. Press triangle to return to the primary device selection screen.
12. Choose the memory card.
13. You should have two entries called «ActionReplayMAX Settings», delete the one which is 66Kb in size (Size of selected files is shown right above the file list).
14. Press triangle to return to the primary device selection screen.
15. Choose the USB-drive.
16. Select «ActionReplayMAX Settings» and uncrush to MC1.
17. Reboot the PS2, still keeping the the disc inside and the USB connected.
18. Choose Expert Mode from the main menu. Allow the codelist to load.
19. On the following screen, choose ARMAX Evo.
20. Make sure «Running», «Payload [0000]», and «Payload [0001]» are all checked.
21. Press start on the controller and choose «Start game (3 codes)» from the game launch window.
22. As the Action Replay Max Evo disc is already in, just press X on the next prompt. Action Replay Max will automatically reload the main menu.
23. Now start Max Memory. The codes you just activated will run Free McBoot from the USBdrive upon starting Max Memory. Easiest to install fre db. (Don’t worry, you will still be able to use Max Memory after this when running the Action Replay Max Evo disc without the codes activated).
24. You are done. I strongly suggest formatting the memory card, but please keep in mind that this deletes everything on the memory card. Then install Free McBoot from the menu (I chose «multi version install»).
FreeMCBoot is one of the most tried and tested softmod methods you can find. Once you have a memory card that is FMCB‘ed, the PS2 will detect it on the Memory Card and boot it up. This guide will show you how to create a Memory Card capable with FMCB capabilities, as well as explaining how it will work. An exploited memory card will work on all versions of the PS2.
This softmod requires access to a console has already been modded, which will be used to transfer the mod data to the Memory Card.
Back up the Memory Card you wish to install FreeMCBoot on. If something goes wrong during install, you could potentially lose your game saves.
You must have either of these:
- A hardmodded PS2 console (had a chip installed to give it modded abilities).
- An original (Fat) PS2 with FreeHDBoot softmod installed on it.
- An already existing, working FreeMCBoot Memory Card.
You also need:
- A computer (operating system does not matter).
- A USB removable storage drive (512MB or more).
- An 8mb Memory Card (official 8mb is preferable, third party is a risk).
You also need the following software (all free):
- FreeMCBoot (original).
- uLaunchELF or other ELF launcher (supplied by existing mod).
The FreeMCBot package comes with a file that ends with .ELF. ELF file are executable by a modified PlayStation system, and in the package provided comes with a FreeMCBoot installer. Unfortunately, that’s why you need a pre-modded console.
Free Mcboot Install From Usb
FreeMCBoot Installer
Firstly, download the files above and place them on a FAT/FAT32 formatted memory stick. Extract the entire zip archive onto the memory stick, as all the files in the zip archive are required for the console to be able to open it. Safely eject the memory stick from your machine to ensure the files are correctly written to the memory stick, and then transfer it to the PS2.
Boot up the PS2 and open up uLaunchELF. Navigate to MASS:/ to access the memory stick we have plugged in. The memory stick should show up similar to above (files beginning with a dot is junk from my mac, which may not be there for you – which is fine). If so, launch up FMCBInstaller.elf.
The launcher will display the FreeMCBoot Installer, a multi-purpose tool which will allow you to prep a memory card for FreeMCBoot, as well as install FreeHDBoot to a hard drive and various other memory card related functions. For the purposes of preparing FreeMCBoot for another console, we will need Multi-install.
The FMCB installer will warn you about the multi-installation process. So long as you backed up your Memory Card, this should be okay. The warning is that the filesystem needs to be modified to allow all systems to be able to read the FreeMCBoot exploit, which is obviously not a designed function for the Memory Card. If something goes wrong during install, your Memory Card could become corrupted. FMCB Installer can revive the Memory Card, but your save data will be lost. If you back up your saves, you will be fine. If you do not back up, beware.
The system will then ask you what memory card you will like exploited. If only one is present in the Memory Card slots, it will automatically detect it. Select OK and the FMCB Installer will proceed to exploiting your Memory Card with FreeMCBoot.
Once the installation is complete, you can safely exit out of the installer. Once the console drops back to the browse menu, turn it off and plug your newly exploited memory card into your non-exploited console.
FreeMCBoot
When you boot your PS2 up with the FreeMCBoot memory card inserted, you will find the boot sequence will not execute. Also, instead of just ‘Browser’ and ‘System Configuration’, you should now have a lot more options available. If so, congratulations you have successfully softmodded your console!
If you have opted for a multi-install as instructed in this guide, then the memory card can be used to execute the FreeMCBoot on any console that is not the latest release of the slimline console (SCPH-9000x). This means that combined with the memory stick (unless you copy your FMCB Installer files to your memory card via uLaunchELF), you can potentially install this on your friends’ consoles, and then everyone can benefit from the world of softmodding.
FreeMCBoot without Pre-modded Console
For those new to the scene, it’s a pretty tall ask to already have a modded console. If you are unable to go through the FreeHDBoot method which can be done without one, then your next course of action is to purchase a FreeMCBoot memory card.
Unfortunately we do not provide such service (yet), however the PS2 Reddit community has a contact that will do this for you with no labour charge. Simply pay the fee for the memory card unit, and they will send you one with multi FreeMCBoot pre-installed. Like mentioned in this guide, this will work for all PS2 consoles excluding the last production range (SCPH-9 range). Details can be found in the sidebar on Reddit (mobile users, click community information).
Free Mcboot Install Usb
If you have any questions about FreeMCBoot, FMCB Installer or this guide, please let me know in the comments below.