ESR

From PS2 Project

This guide is a complete walkthrough from installation to getting games running. FREE MCBOOT is a creation by jimmikaelkael and ESR is a creation by ffgriever. The ESR patcher was created by bootsector and modified into a Windows GUI by ffgriever.

For a list of tested and compatible games, please take a look at the ESR Compatibility List.

Getting Started

PLEASE READ THE STEPS COMPLETELY BEFORE INSTALLING.

What You Need

Before you can get this to work, you need to have access to an already exploited PS2 (Fat with independence exploit, or one that already has Free MC Boot), or a modded PS2, a Memor32 card, Action Replay MAX, or Codebreaker (8.1 and newer), or Swapmagic. There are installation instructions in various languages at SKSApps for installing FMCB through the latter 3 methods located here.

Basically just some way to run ELF files.

FMCB Method

Credit goes to PSXJowie This may or may not work with PS2 models v1-4 but it should work for v5 and newer. It is confirmed working for NTSC-U consoles, but it is unknown whether it works with consoles of other regions. (Have you tested it? Edit this page.)

If you are confused PM me on ps2ptt.com USER: PSXJowie.

Works perfectly with the PAL versions 3000 and 5000 of PS2! Tested and everything works! By LuC-iTA

Verified working on PAL systems 35002 50002 and 70002 (NZ/AUS models) - Mikuro

Download these files:

• FREE MC BOOT
• ESR beta r9
• DVDPLx
• BxEXEC-DVDPLAYER
• ESR_disc_patcher_GUI_v0.24a For Windows or
• ESRPatchJava_v0.2.4 (for other OSes)
• uLaunchELF_v4.16

'Note:' Updates for FREE MCBOOT can be located here updates for ESR can be located here

First extract the files from DVDPLx.zip and locate the proper file associated with your region (based on the last letter of the file).

In my case I have a US console, so I chose DVDPLU.

Next, rename it to DVDELF.bin. MAKE SURE THE FILE NAME IS CAPITALIZED and the .bin extension is lowercase.

Now extract the files in ESR_beta_r9.zip

Rename ESR beta r9 dvdv direct.elf to BOOT.ELF (Note: some games may need to be booted with ESR beta r9 dvdv direct off.elf which is like Mode 3 for those familiar with HDLoader.)

It must be in ALL CAPITALS, INCLUDING THE .ELF EXTENSION. (Note: You may want to take the uLaunchELF elf file and rename it to BOOT1.ELF and stick it on your thumbdrive as well. More info later.)

Now extract the FREE MCBOOT installer .elf and stick the DVDELF.bin file and BOOT.ELF file in the same directory on a usb thumbdrive.

Through uLaunchELF or some other means, run FREE_MCBOOT.ELF of your usb thumbdrive.

Insert the memory card you want to install FREE MCBOOT on into the Player 1 slot and hit the X button to do a normal install.

Reload into uLaunchELF and navigate to the folder that was created BxEXEC-SYSTEM (where x is the region).

Copy the osdmain.elf file.

Paste osdmain.elf onto your usb thumbdrive (unless you're able to rename the file to dvdplayer.elf in uLaunchELF then skip the next 2 steps).

Rename osdmain.elf.

To dvdplayer.elf.

Extract the folder BxEXEC-DVDPLAYER (replace the x with the letter that was found in the folder BxEXEC-SYSTEM that FREE MCBOOT installed to on your memory card) to your usb thumbdrive and stick the dvdplayer.elf file in there. PAL users need to edit (notepad) the dvdplayer.id file to 4.32E instead of 4.32U. Otherwise it won't work.

Stick the usb thumbdrive back into the PS2 and copy the BxEXEC-DVDPLAYER folder to your memory card.

Delete the BxEXEC-SYSTEM folder.

Double check the BOOT folder on your memory card to make sure BOOT.ELF (the renamed ESR.elf) is there. (Notice: I included BOOT1.ELF and BOOT2.ELF in my BOOT folder. BOOT1.ELF is uLaunchELF and BOOT2.ELF is ESR dvdv direct off.elf. Why did I do this? So I can update FREE MCBOOT and ESR with ease by holding R1 when I load a burned game. More info later.)

You can verify if the installation is working by looking at the version of the DVD Player in the PS2 Browser. It should be the same as mine. (Version is editable in the dvdplayer.id, dvdplayer-e.ver, and dvdplayer-j.ver as long as it's higher than the current version of your PS2 DVD Player driver. Also, you may have to change the letter in the file depending on your own DVD Player version. 4.32x -> Replace the x with what your console version says.)

Now you want to patch an ISO with one of the ESR patchers, burn it to good media, and stick it in the PS2. My Example: YouTube

As I mentioned before about BOOT1.ELF and BOOT2.ELF, if you hold the R1 button after you stick the patched, burned game into your PS2, it will load BOOT1.ELF instead of the game. Holding down L1 will boot BOOT2.ELF. It's all in the configuration file for FREE MCBOOT.

Tutorial Done By: PSXJowie

Memor32 Card Method

By NuVanDibe

Firstly you'll need to install the latest Memento firmware, available here. As of this moment the latest version is 1.2e, which is a beta, so v1.1 is used for this tutorial. Other versions should work in the same way.

You'll only need the following files:

• Memor32 Drivers and Memor32 Savegame manager
• Memento firmware
• ESR beta r9b.rar and ESR disc patcher GUI v0.24a.rar

Note: The Memento firmware is, by itself, capable of booting PS2 backup discs, but ESR has better compatibility.

After installing the drivers, you need to format the Memor32 memory card in your PS2. If it's already formatted, then connect it to a computer using a Mini USB-B adapter (if you don't have one, they're available from most computer stores for cheap). Start the Memor32 Savegame Manager. If you have any saves on the card, you will need to back them up before continuing. Erase the data from the card, close the Memor32 Savegame Manager, and format it again using the PS2. Then, connect the card to the computer a second time. Run the Memento firmware installer and install the firmware. After several seconds, you should get a notice saying that the firmware was successfully programmed onto the card.

Browse to the directory where you installed the Memor32 Savegame Manager (X:\Program Files\Memor32 by default, where X is the Windows installation drive letter). You'll find a folder named Ps2Saves. Open that folder, and create a new folder inside it called BOOT. Extract ESR beta r9b dvdv direct.elf from ESR Beta r9b.rar into the BOOT folder and rename it BOOT.ELF.

Reopen the Memor32 Savegame Manager, put a checkmark beside the new "BOOT" choice in the right column, and click the Restore button. You can now restore any saves that you had to erase during the beginning steps.

The Memor32 card is now ready, but the PS2 disc image file still needs to be patched for it. Extract the ESR Disc Patcher GUI and run it. Click the Patch button, then browse to the location of the DVD image and select it. Load up the image in an image-to-disc burning application, such as Imgburn, and burn it to a disc. The best kind to use is single layer DVD-R or DVD+R. Don't use dual layer, rewritable, or DVD-RAM discs.

Insert the Memor32 card into the PS2 system's Memory Card Slot One, and place the backup disc into the disc tray. Hold down R1 on the controller in port 1, then turn on the PS2. After a few seconds, the screen will display the ESR logo, and will boot the game after flashing colors.

Many games will work fine without the R1 button being held down. This is due to the fact that the Memento firmware by itself can boot most backups. ESR, however, has better compatibility. If a backup does not boot, make sure that the R1 button is being held while the system is booting up, and that the ESR logo is being displayed.

If a game refuses to boot, try the following troubleshooting steps:

• Try reseating the Memor32 card, or blowing on the contacts to clear the dust away.
• Check the compatibility list (as of now there is no official compatibility list) to see if your game will boot with ESR.
• Try booting it with Memento instead by leaving all the buttons on the controller unpressed during the boot sequence of the ps2.
• Try burning a new disc on a lower speed setting.
• Make sure you're not using dual layer, rewritable, or DVD-RAM discs.
• Try backups of other games to see if they will boot.
• If nothing works, repeat the entire process from the first step.