Question PlayStation 2 Portable USB Speed Workaround?

[VideoGameAttorney]

USB loading is generally okay, but it has it's slow downs. Are there any alternatives out there which would allow faster loading?

 

[Stitches]

USB loading is generally okay, but it has it's slow downs. Are there any alternatives out there which would allow faster loading?

Ethernet Network Loading and MX4SIO (SD card loading) are the practical options for this. Both are faster than USB, with Network Loading being the fastest. Network Loading has greater game compatibility IIRC and has enough bandwidth to support Full Motion Video cutscenes, but it's much more complicated to set up as it requires using an ethernet compatible microcomputer like a Raspberry pi to run a local network file host for the PS2 to load games from. MX4SIO is easier and cheaper to do, has lower game compatibility (which is being improved regularly), and FMV support varies by game and SD card quality.

 

[VideoGameAttorney]

Ethernet Network Loading and MX4SIO (SD card loading) are the practical options for this. Both are faster than USB, with Network Loading being the fastest. Network Loading has greater game compatibility IIRC and has enough bandwidth to support Full Motion Video cutscenes, but it's much more complicated to set up as it requires using an ethernet compatible microcomputer like a Raspberry pi to run a local network file host for the PS2 to load games from. MX4SIO is easier and cheaper to do, has lower game compatibility (which is being improved regularly), and FMV support varies by game and SD card quality.

Are there any detailed guides (that you'd recommend) explaining network loading? If not, at first glance, MX4SIO seems like a good alternative. Thanks for your insight.

 

[Stitches]

I haven't done either, so not really no. We do have an SD loading thread on this forum tho, and it shouldn't be too hard to find a tutorial elsewhere for loading PS2 games via a SAMBA file server on a raspberry pi clone

 

[cy]

As @Stitches said, SD loading is always an option. It is faster than USB loading, and has the benefit of being fairly low-profile. Wesk's PS2 Ultra Slim build goes over how you can do it pretty easily.