Memento Memor32 Firmware v1.2e Review

Written by Brakken
January 2008

Introduction

Wouldn't it be nice to just plug in a memory card into your Sony Playstation 2™ video game console and have the ability to boot homebrew and legal backups without having to open your console, void it's warranty and do a major soldering job? Well, it's possible thanks to the *unofficial* Memento Firmware for the Memor32™ a USB v2.0 PS2™ memory card. Using the Memor32 and the Memento Firmware you can skip all of the trouble.

The Memento Firmware, once flashed to your Memor32 will allow you to boot homebrew and legal backups by just inserting the card into your PS2 and turning it on. It will also let you load homebrew/games from your legal collection contained either on a IDE Hard Drive or a USB Hard Drive. You won't have to worry about what version console that you're running it on either. The Memento firmware works on all of the v3-v15 PS2 models. Talk about an amazing firmware!

Features

Plug n' Play Installation
Boot Patched Legal Backups (PS2)
Boot Homebrew/Legal Backups from HDD*
Boot Homebrew/Legal Backups from USB HDD*
Boot Homebrew using 4 DEV modes

* = Using Third Party Software

Contents

Well, since this is a firmware you really don't get any "contents". I usually do product reviews, not software. Due to the features of this software I thought it would be a good addition to the ISO-420 Review collection. Anyway, I'm including a few product shots just for the curious people out there that want to see what the Memor32 looks like. If you'd like more in-depth information about the Memor32 itself check out my review.

 

Installation

Once you have your Memor32 drivers installed (this is covered in my Memor32 Review all you need to do is load up the Memento Firmware Writer and click on "Update". After around a minute and a half you've turned your Memor32 into a full fledged softmod!

Additionally, you don't have to worry about not being able to use the Memor32 as a normal memory card once it's flashed. You can still use it for it's produced purpose which is to allow you to save 32MB of Save Games onto the card and transfer them to and from the PC via it's built in high-speed USB v2.0 port.

Usage

There are three options on how you can boot your legal backups and a eight ways to boot homebrew. Let's cover the backups first. The three options you have are to patch the image and burn it, write it to an IDE hard drive or write it to a USB.

Usage - Legal Backups

Using your Memor32 in conjunction with the Memento firmware you can boot backups you've created of games that you own. There are three main ways to boot your backups which are via patched DVD's, IDE Hard Drives and USB Hard Drives. The two most commonly used methods will probably be using patched images for new users and hard drives.

Patching Image(s)

Patching images means you'll need to first "dump" your original game, patch it and then burn it. Some of the old-time "sceners" who already have their legally purchased and owned games backed up aren't so fond of this process as it requires a bit of time. You can use programs such as DVD Decrypter, Nero and ImgBurn to dump your images. The patching application supports normal .ISO files, .BIN files and also Nero (.nrg) files. If your game image is in different format then that I would suggest using the Trial version of MagicISO. Even though it's a "Trial" version it will still let you convert tons of different image files into .ISO files.

Here is a quick guide on how to "backup" your original owned PS2 DVD using the freely available DVD Decrypter Software.

Load up DVD Decrypter and pick "Mode" then "ISO" then "Read".

Next click on the DVD to HDD image.

Now just sit back and let it dump your game.

Once you have your image file(s) on your hard drive it's time to patch it/them. Load up the Memento Patcher application, browse to where your image(s) are located and select one. After a few seconds it will be patched and ready to burn. You can burn your PS2 images using Nero, ImgBurn or DVD Decrypter. To burn with DVD Decrypter simply select "Mode -> ISO -> Write" and then select your image using the "Please select a file" option. Once it's burned it's ready to go.

However, there are some games like Final Fantasy XII™ which will refuse to boot without another patch! You can find an archive of patches in Eurasia's PS2 Patch Downloads Section. Once you have the patch and the image you'll need an application to patch it with. I've used PPF-O-Matic v3.0 for this review.

All you do is load up PPF-O-Matic v3.0 then select the ISO file you wish to patch and then pick PPF patch file you wish to patch it with. Now you can burn your game using the instructions in the paragraph above.

Writing Image(s) to IDE Hard Drives

Using a hard drive to store your homebrew and legal backups of your own original games is by far the best way to go. Not only do you not have to patch the image(s), but they also load a lot faster - that is if you're using a v3-v11 Sony PS2 (the big ones). If you're using the new v12-v15 (small) ones you're limited to using a USB Hard Drive which has lower transfer speeds. These lower speeds are due to the fact that the PS2's USB ports are v1.1 not v2.0.

At any rate, the first thing you'll need to do is hook up your hard drive to your computer. If you're using a USB drive this is a piece of cake as all you do is plug it in. If you're using an IDE hard drive it becomes a little more complicated as you will need to hook it up to a spare IDE cable inside of your computer. I'm not going to go through how to install an IDE hard drive, but I'm sure Google or this guide can help you out there.

Once you have your hard drive hooked up you're going to need to grab a program named WinHIIP. This program is a PS2 hard drive manager for Windows which allows you to format the drive, add/remove image(s), change the "mode" settings and apply any necessary patch(s) to the game(s) you'll be using. You can grab WinHIIP from here.

First you'll want to load WinHIIP. You'll be presented with a blank screen.

Next under "Select Drive" select the Hard Drive you wish to turn into a PS2 hard drive.

Once you've selected the drive the option to format it is aviaible. Select that option.

Leave the settings are they are and click on "okay".

WinHIIP will now format the drive.

Now you have a PS2 formatted drive.

Next pick "Add Images" and select the image(s) you wish to install. Once you've done this a list of them will come up. Click on "Start" and it will write the image(s) to your PS2 formatted hard drive.

When it's done you can select an image using the check box and click on "edit" to edit the game's name and the HDLoader mode you wish to use. Modes are required for some games to work. Most games are compatible from the get go, but there will be a few you will need to set the compatibility mode for.

Another option you have in WinHIIP to the ability to apply a PPF patch to the image. Some games require a patch to boot from a hard drive. Final Fantasy XII is a prime example of this as you'll need to patch it before you can actually play the game. Although, this is an extra step there are only a handful of games that require a hard drive patch. You can find an archive of patches in Eurasia's PS2 Patch Downloads Section.

How do you patch a game? Well, you can do it two ways. If you have the game installed on your hard drive simply select the game you want to patch then pick "Apply PPF Patch". Next you'll just browse to the patch you wish to install and patch the image. The second way is to use PPF-O-Matic v3.0 which is has already been covered in the IDE hard drive section (above).

Writing Image(s) to USB Hard Drives

Using USB Extreme's Windows software you can format your drive and add your legal backups to it. You can grab the software from here. Once you have the software, plug in your USB hard drive, check what drive letter it was assigned and then load up the program.

If your hard drive isn't formatted yet you can format it using the "Disk Format" tab. Note it will take a while for larger hard drives. Once it's formatted you have a basic set of options which allow you to copy over a legal backup of your game. Sadly, this is limited to "CD/DVD-ROM" drives only. What does that mean? That means you can't copy over ISO files like with WinHiip. A work around is the mount your ISO with Daemon Tools so it appears as it's a physical drive.

So you basically select the source drive, the type of backup you're transferring over (CD or DVD) and then select the destination drive. Once this is done you can type in the name of the game and hit "Start". After a little while your legal backup will be copied over to your USB hard drive and you're good to go.

Usage - Gameplay

Gameplay - From Disc

Once patched and burnt onto a DVD+R or DVD-R all you need to do is stick your game into your PS2 and turn it on. The Memento logo will appear for a second or two and then your backup will boot. I had barely any problems with the backups that I did test out as they load and play like they should with no slowdown. One exception is FFXII which uses DVD video. Due to the fact the Memento firmware sets the read speed to a consistent state the video in FFXII lagged. Video present in other formats worked fine. Lastly, don't try to burn your legal backups onto DVD-RW discs as they won't work. Overall I'd say the ability to boot your legal backups is about 99% perfect.

Gameplay - From IDE HDD

Booting games from a IDE Hard Drive requires the use of the Sony Playstation 2 Network Adapter. This small rectangular component has a built in IDE port. After you've copied over your legal backups simply connect the IDE Hard Drive to the Network Adapter and connect it to the back of your Playstation 2. Note that v12-v15 models aren't equip with the expansion bay so you'll be limited to using a USB Hard Drive.

To boot games from an IDE Hard Drive you will need to first create sub-directory under "C:\Program Files\Memor32\Ps2Saves" named "BOOT", download HDLoader, rename it to "BOOT.ELF" and place it in the "BOOT" directory. Now transfer over the BOOT directory using the Memor32's Save Game Manager to your Memor32 memory card. This process is covered in more detail (below) in the Dev.oultion Modes.

Next, with the hard drive connected and the Memor32 card in the Playstation 2 turn your console on while holding the "R1" button. This should bring up the HD Loader screen and display the list of legal backups contained on the hard drive. All you do now is select the backup you wish to boot and play! If you're game doesn't work it could be because you have the wrong modes set or the game just doesn't work from the hard drive. For a list of games that work or don't plus which modes to select check out PS2HD's HDLoader Compatibility List.

Now this process works fine for hard drives up to 120GB, but if you have a larger hard drive, say a 400GB you'll need to follow these steps:

(1) Skip using WinHiip for now, start with a fresh unformatted hard drive
(2) Download HDLoader (link above)
(3) Place it on your Memor32 memory card as outlined above.
(4) Boot into HDLoader and Format your Hard Drive (this will format it as LBA48)
(5) Follow the process of adding legal backups in "Writing Image(s) to IDE Hard Drives".
(6) Now just boot HDLoader and you'll have your legal backups with >120GB support!

Note that the supported backups run excellent and load much faster then if they were on a DVD. Cut-scenes, videos and in game loading work as they should. Over 89% of the games released work fine (according the PS2HD's List). ll of the backups I tested worked flawlessly (of course, I had to patch some or set modes for others).

Gameplay - From USB HDD

Booting games from a USB Drive requires the use of uLaunchELF along with USB Advance. Once you have these two files you'll need to set uLaunchELF as one of the BOOTx.ELF files on your Memor32 memory card. This process is outlined below in "Usage - DEV.olution Modes". You see, the Memento Firmware fails to boot USB Advance directly, so we're going to use uLaunchELF to boot it.

After you have uLuanchELF on your Memor32 you'll also need to place USB Advance on it. To do this I created a sub-directory under "C:\Program Files\Memor32\Ps2Saves" named "ELFS" and put the USB Advance ELF in that directory. Next I copied over the "ELFS" directory using the Memor32 Save Game Manager.

Now you'll boot up the Memor32 and press the trigger button you've assigned the uLaunchELF to. Once you're in it's menu you can browse the Memor32's memory card contents, go to the "ELFS" directory and launch USB Advance.

While this is the easiest method to boot backups, it does come at a cost - speed. The PS2 only has v1.1 USB ports on it so you're limited to the slow transfer rates it can read at. Additionally, booting from USB has a very poor compatibility rating. Once again you can check out the compatibility via visiting PS2HD's HDLoader Compatibility List.

Usage - DEV.olution Modes

DEV.olution Modes let you boot homebrew ELF files from either your Memor32 memory card or from a compatible USB mass storage device (such as thumb drivers). There are a total of eight ways to boot homebrew - four of them can be used to boot the ELF files right off of the Memor32 and the other four can be booted from your USB device. Watch out though, as the PS2 is picky about which USB mass storage devices it will support. I tried four of them (Wristband, PenKey, Hard Drive and Compact Flash -> USB converter) and only two worked.

Homebrew, if you didn't know are programs development by unlicensed amateur developers for various consoles. Of course you can only run PS2 homebrew on the PS2, but speaking in general that is what homebrew is. You see, Sony wants you to spend thousands of dollars on hardware and software to develop games for the PS2. So, using free software and low cost hardware amateur developers can produce various programs such as games, emulators, media players, etc... without having to spend tens of thousands of dollars. There is nothing wrong or illegal about homebrew, it's just Sony doesn't "authorize" it.

Booting Homebrew using the Memor32 "DEV" Modes

You will use the Memor32's Save Game Manager (SGM) to transfer your ELF files to the Memor32. All you need to do is create a sub-directory under "C:\Program Files\Memor32\Ps2Saves" named "BOOT" and place the ELF's you wish to boot in there. You'll have to rename each ELF file to the following ...

R1 : /BOOT/BOOT.ELF
R2 : /BOOT/BOOT2.ELF
L1 : /BOOT/BOOT3.ELF
L2 : /BOOT/BOOT4.ELF

Once you've placed the ELF files and any resources they require under the "BOOT" sub-directory simply load up the SGM and you'll notice a "BOOT" save file. Transfer this over and you're ready to go. My BOOT directory was 20.9MB and it took 9 minutes and 2 seconds to write to the Memor32.

Once you have the BOOT directory transferred over to the Memor32 you can plug it into your PS2 and when powering up hold one of the top trigger buttons to load the ELF. Here is a list of ELF's I tried and how they worked out.

 

Name DEV1 DEV2 DVD HDLoader v0.8b YES YES NO myPS2 v0.5 YES YES N/A pGenv 1.4 YES YES N/A ps2pce v0.5 YES YES N/A psms v1.2 NO NO N/A SMS Version 2.5 (Rev.2) YES YES N/A Super Mario War YES YES YES SNES Station YES YES YES* uLaunchELF v3.72 YES YES N/A USB Advance YES YES NO

As you can see the Memento firmware has near perfect compatibility with loading ELF files with the exception of psms. You will also notice it won't boot HDLoader or HDAdvance discs. However, if you wish to boot them I found a method to do so. Simply load uLaunchELF v3.72 and then boot the ELF file using it.

As noted with the "*" in SNES Station booting from DVD had some issues. The main ELF did boot, but it refused to read the contents (ROMS) off of the DVD. I tried using a pre-made ISO, DVD-ROM (ISO), DVD (UDF/ISO) and my own disc created with the $ony CD/DVD Generator v2.0. All of them failed to read the files from the disc. However, when booted from a DEV mode SNES Station will allow you to load ROMS from a USB device.

Booting Homebrew using the USB "DEV" Modes

 

The method to booting homebrew from USB devices is the same as above, but instead of holding just R1, R2, L1 or L2 you will hold the "down" button along with one of the trigger buttons. As above your homebrew must be placed in a sub-directory named BOOT with the same file naming convention listed above. Compatibility using the USB "DEV" modes was the same as the Memor32 modes. The advantage of using your USB device to boot homebrew from is the fact that you won't take up space on the Memor32 and can store a heck of a lot more multimedia files on your USB drive then you can on the Memor32.

Example Usage
DOWN + R1 : /BOOT/BOOT.ELF
DOWN + R2 : /BOOT/BOOT2.ELF
DOWN + L1 : /BOOT/BOOT3.ELF
DOWN + L2 : /BOOT/BOOT4.ELF

Conclusion

What's the chart for? It's to show you non-believers that the Sony Playstation 2 isn't dead. Frankly, it's sold just about as many new units in 2007 as the XBOX 360™ did. With this in mind I don't consider this product to be release "too late". Of course, there are already many people that have a collection of legal backups and own a modchip which wouldn't need this sort of product. Well, that's if your modchip has Dev.olution modes.

If you've been in the scene for a while and are using a simple modchip that can't boot ELF files easily or are using the old Memory Card exploit this product is superior to either methods. It's simple to use. You don't have to open your console. You don't have to void your warranty. All you do is flash the Memor32 and then plug it into your PS2 and you're good to go.

The positives defiantly outweigh the negatives for Playstation 2 users who don't already own a solution to boot homebrew and legally made backups of their own games. There's no messing about with opening the case, taking apart your PS2 just to reach it's motherboard where you must solder on 15-18 wires. In all fairness, if you have no idea how to solder it's a pretty tough job. Even if you're installed a GameCube™ or Nintendo Wii™ chip and think you can handle a PS2 you're over estimating your skills.

The Memor32 along with the Memento Firmware is your best bet if you either own an older featureless modchip, use a "swap" trick or have a PS2 that has a dead DVD-ROM drive. That's right. Even if your PS2 won't read discs anymore you can still use it to boot your homebrew and legal backups from a hard drive. It's even a better option if you've just purchased a PS2 and are looking for a solid solution that gets the job done with no fuss.

Positives

Plug n' Play Installation
99% Compatibility w/Legal DVD Backups
Competitive Price Compared to Chips w/the Same Features
Homebrew Support Near Perfect
User Support Forum on Homepage

Negatives

Patching Required for Discs
Games w/DVD Video Studder
IDE HDD Playback Requires 3rd Party Application
USB HDD Playback Requires 3rd Party Application
Some Disc Games Require HDLoader Patches to Boot

Links

Team Memento's Website
Memor32 Website
Memor32 ISO-420 Certified Review
OZ Modchips - Australian Reseller

-=[ Memento Memor32 Firmware v1.2e Review Discussion Thread ]=-

Product(s) were received from the website above. ISO-420 will always link back to whomever sent the product(s) *respect*, but please remember that the reviews are independently written by our staff and are not subject to alteration by whomever supplies us with the review product(s).