Exploiting the Playstation 2 with the use of an Action Replay Max and USB drive

Exploiting the Playstation 2 with the use of an Action Replay Max and USB drive
by Cool438

If you wish to jump to a particular section, use the CTRL+F keystroke to search.

Contents:

Introduction
Step 1 – Supplies
Step 2 – Creating a Title.DB file and adding it to the .max file
Step 3 – Transfering the .max file to the USB drive
Step 4 – Using Action Replay Max to copy the files to the memory card
Step 5 – Adding additional .ELF files to your Playstation 2

Introduction
This tutorial will teach you how to exploit your Playstation 2 gaming console with the use of an Action Replay Max and USB drive. If these two items are not available to you, then you should not follow this tutorial. This method is by far one of the easiest ways to exploit your Playstation 2. Note that I am not responsible for any damage(s) that may occur as a result of this guide.

Step 1 – Supplies
-Playstation 2 Console (Not Slimline)
-Retail Action Replay Max CD with the ability to get files from a USB drive
-Playstation 2 Memory Card with preferred 1.5mb free space
-Original PSX Game(s) (Nearly Any)
-Several files and programs which are included in this tutorial

*Note – You may also use the Action Replay Max EVO Edition.

Step 2 – Creating a Title.DB file and adding it to the .max file

*Note- (See the bottom of this note for a Title.DB with 800 games) Personally, I would make my own Title.DB file instead of downloading an unknown, which may or may not work. This can be useful for those who want to make several exploited memory cards without generating a custom TITLE.DB file for each. This file takes up additional memory card space. Some report problems getting this to work, and many game's codes are not included. Exploitstation.com strongly urges you to generate your own TITLE.DB file.

Here is the Title.DB with 800 games.

Here we will make a PSX “Trigger” disc in order to use the memory card exploit.

-Download Titleman Frontend
-Download IDGET
-Extract the Titleman Frontend and IDGet .rar archives.
-Insert your PSX game into your computer’s cd/dvd drive.
-Use IDGet to select the drive where you inserted the game.
-Click the GET button to retrieve the game’s ID.

IDGet GET button

-Open Titleman Frontend and ignore the startup message.
-Create a new Title.DB with the Create Title.DB button.
-Use the pulldown menu and type the game ID you just retrieved.
-Once typed, use the ADD EXEC button to add your game to the Title.DB.

-Your Title.DB will be placed in the same folder as Titleman Frontend.

*Note 2- If you want, you can use more than one PSX Trigger disc IDs in your TITLE.DB. I would not recommend this, as it is very time consuming but you will have a higher rate of success for doing so.
*Note 3- Not all games like being trigger discs. From my experience, two of my PSX games, Quake II and Duke Nukem: Time to Kill did not trigger the exploit.

-Download Exploit.max.

*Note 4- The exploit.max file includes LaunchELF (a launcher ELF to execute other .ELF files) and ExecFTPs (an FTP client for the PS2).

-Download PS2 Save Builder 0.8.
-Extract PS2 Save Builder 0.8 and open it.

-Go to File -> Open and open the exploit.max file.
-Replace Everything in the Root/ID section with your region code.VERY IMPORTANT! (See the picture below for details)

-Right click in the white space and then click on Add file.
-Navigate to where your Title.DB file is located and add it to the .max file.
-Your window should now look like the image below with the exception of the region code. Remember that it is either BADATA-SYSTEM for (USA; NTSC consoles) or BEDATA-SYSTEM for (Australia, New Zealand; PAL consoles).

Region Code Input

*Note – Do not mind the file size of the TITLE.DB file. It varies depending on how many games you added to the file. I just happened to use the 800 game version. Normally it isn't this big if you just add a couple of games.

-Now save your new file by clicking on the floppy disk icon or by going to File -> Save As. You can overwrite the file; we don't need the old one anymore now that we have the Title.DB file.

Step 3 – Transfering the .max file to the USB drive
-Plug in your USB drive into a USB port on the computer.
-Navigate to the directory where you saved your new .max file and transfer it to the USB drive.

Step 4 – Using Action Replay Max to copy the files to the memory card
-Turn on your Playstation 2 , insert the Action Replay Max CD, and the USB Drive.
-Go to the Memory Card Manager.
-Wait for the .max file to fully load.
-Check the checkboxes for the .max file and select the “UNCRUSH to memory card” option.
-When it is finished uncrushing, reset the Playstation 2 with your PSX Trigger disc.
-You should now be able to see the LaunchELF Boot Screen.

-Congratulations! You have sucessfully exploited your Playstation 2 console!

Step 5 – Adding Additional .ELF files to your Playstation 2
-This step is optional but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as there is not much you can do with ExecsFTP and LaunchELF except transfer more files.
-Download any .ELF files you wish from Exploitstation.com's ELF Library.
-Configure the .ELF files as necessary and be sure to read the appropriate documentation (Ex. Readme.txt).
-Transfer the new .ELF files to the USB drive.
-Start the Playstation 2 with the PSX trigger disc.
-View BadServo's LaunchELF tutorial on how to copy/cut/paste files, create a new partition on a hard drive, and assigning the .ELF files to keys.

This concludes my tutorial. I hope you found it informative and don't be afraid to ask for help if you get stuck. ^_^