Model Compatibility
The original version of the PS2 Linux kit worked on only the Japanese SCPH-10000, SCPH-15000 and SCPH-18000 PlayStation 2 models. It came with a PCMCIA interface card which had a 10/100 Ethernet port and an external IDE hard drive enclosure (as there is no room inside the unit). This kit cannot be used with any later model PS2 (which includes all non-Japanese models) because these models removed the PCMCIA port.
Later versions of the PS2 Linux kit use an interface very similar to the HDD interface/Ethernet sold later for network play (the later released Network adaptor was also usable with the kit, including the built-in 56k modem.) This kit locates the hard drive internal to the PS2, in the MultiBay. With this kit, only the SCPH-30000 model of PlayStation 2 is officially supported. The kit does though work equally well with models newer than SCPH-30000 with the exception that the Ethernet connection tended to freeze after a short period of use. Thus the newer SCPH-50000 PlayStation 2 model will only work correctly with PS2 Linux with an updated network adapter driver, which must be transferred to the PlayStation 2 HDD by using either an older model PlayStation 2 to transfer the driver or a Linux PC with an IDE port. Both methods involve swapping HDDs. This is due to the inability to use USB Mass Storage devices with the relatively old kernel (version 2.2.1) shipped with the kit.
The slim SCPH-70000 PlayStation 2 model does not work with PS2 Linux at all, due to the lack of a hard drive interface, though a very few early models in this revision had solder pads of an IDE interface on the motherboard that could be used (but required modding of the console, thereby voiding its warranty.) Even so, it is possible to network boot from a PXE server
PS2 Linux install DVDs are region encoded, as are all other PS2 game discs. A European/PAL disc will be rejected by an NTSC PlayStation 2 game system, however this is only at boot time: if you have a mod that allows you to load a PAL disk, then the PS2 Linux boot loader supports both PAL and Linux (read the documentation to determine the button presses), so once you are past the "DVD not supported", you can boot Linux and then later start X Window in NTSC mode.
Read more about this topic: Linux For PlayStation 2
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