FreeMCBoot is one of the most tried and tested softmod methods you can find. Once you have a memory card that is FMCB‘ed, the PS2 will detect it on the Memory Card and boot it up. This guide will show you how to create a Memory Card capable with FMCB capabilities, as well as explaining how it will work. An exploited memory card will work on all versions of the PS2.
This softmod requires access to a console has already been modded, which will be used to transfer the mod data to the Memory Card.
Back up the Memory Card you wish to install FreeMCBoot on. If something goes wrong during install, you could potentially lose your game saves.
Hi guys, Tech James here,For this video, I’ll show you guys how to install the latest version of Free Memory Card Boot (FREE MCBOOT) Onto a 2nd PS2 memory ca. In this guide PS2 modding guide, I will take you through the steps needed to soft mod your PS2. I will show you how to use a DVD to launch Homebrew and install Free McBoot to your memory card, how to back up your Games and how to run PS2 game backups on your PS2.
You must have either of these:
- A hardmodded PS2 console (had a chip installed to give it modded abilities).
- An original (Fat) PS2 with FreeHDBoot softmod installed on it.
- An already existing, working FreeMCBoot Memory Card.
You also need:
Fmcb Ps2 Slim Download
- A computer (operating system does not matter).
- A USB removable storage drive (512MB or more).
- An 8mb Memory Card (official 8mb is preferable, third party is a risk).
You also need the following software (all free):
- FreeMCBoot (original).
- uLaunchELF or other ELF launcher (supplied by existing mod).
The FreeMCBot package comes with a file that ends with .ELF. ELF file are executable by a modified PlayStation system, and in the package provided comes with a FreeMCBoot installer. Unfortunately, that’s why you need a pre-modded console.
FreeMCBoot Installer
Firstly, download the files above and place them on a FAT/FAT32 formatted memory stick. Extract the entire zip archive onto the memory stick, as all the files in the zip archive are required for the console to be able to open it. Safely eject the memory stick from your machine to ensure the files are correctly written to the memory stick, and then transfer it to the PS2.
Boot up the PS2 and open up uLaunchELF. Navigate to MASS:/ to access the memory stick we have plugged in. The memory stick should show up similar to above (files beginning with a dot is junk from my mac, which may not be there for you – which is fine). If so, launch up FMCBInstaller.elf.
The launcher will display the FreeMCBoot Installer, a multi-purpose tool which will allow you to prep a memory card for FreeMCBoot, as well as install FreeHDBoot to a hard drive and various other memory card related functions. For the purposes of preparing FreeMCBoot for another console, we will need Multi-install.
The FMCB installer will warn you about the multi-installation process. So long as you backed up your Memory Card, this should be okay. The warning is that the filesystem needs to be modified to allow all systems to be able to read the FreeMCBoot exploit, which is obviously not a designed function for the Memory Card. If something goes wrong during install, your Memory Card could become corrupted. FMCB Installer can revive the Memory Card, but your save data will be lost. If you back up your saves, you will be fine. If you do not back up, beware.
The system will then ask you what memory card you will like exploited. If only one is present in the Memory Card slots, it will automatically detect it. Select OK and the FMCB Installer will proceed to exploiting your Memory Card with FreeMCBoot.
Ps2 Download Emulator
Once the installation is complete, you can safely exit out of the installer. Once the console drops back to the browse menu, turn it off and plug your newly exploited memory card into your non-exploited console.
FreeMCBoot
When you boot your PS2 up with the FreeMCBoot memory card inserted, you will find the boot sequence will not execute. Also, instead of just ‘Browser’ and ‘System Configuration’, you should now have a lot more options available. If so, congratulations you have successfully softmodded your console!
If you have opted for a multi-install as instructed in this guide, then the memory card can be used to execute the FreeMCBoot on any console that is not the latest release of the slimline console (SCPH-9000x). This means that combined with the memory stick (unless you copy your FMCB Installer files to your memory card via uLaunchELF), you can potentially install this on your friends’ consoles, and then everyone can benefit from the world of softmodding.
FreeMCBoot without Pre-modded Console
For those new to the scene, it’s a pretty tall ask to already have a modded console. If you are unable to go through the FreeHDBoot method which can be done without one, then your next course of action is to purchase a FreeMCBoot memory card.
Unfortunately we do not provide such service (yet), however the PS2 Reddit community has a contact that will do this for you with no labour charge. Simply pay the fee for the memory card unit, and they will send you one with multi FreeMCBoot pre-installed. Like mentioned in this guide, this will work for all PS2 consoles excluding the last production range (SCPH-9 range). Details can be found in the sidebar on Reddit (mobile users, click community information).
If you have any questions about FreeMCBoot, FMCB Installer or this guide, please let me know in the comments below.
Last updated: 9th May 2019Funey touched on the pros/cons in a previous article but I want to tidy that up, fix pretty much everything and add more to it with this.
So, what is Free McBoot, then? Free McBoot is Free Memory Card Boot, a PlayStation 2 softmod allowing you to run unsigned code and unofficial programs. What kind of apps? If your TV has a bad scaler (or you’re using VGA and want to force a proper resolution, for example) you can use GS Mode Selector [GSM] to force a video mode such as 480p or 1080i. If one of your game discs is scratched, no problem – use OpenPS2Loader to boot games from USB, SMB (network) or HDD – with per-game options. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to burn the game to a blank DVD, ESR can trick your PS2 into thinking it’s a DVD movie and boot the game.
Core Features
Free McBoot [or Free HD Boot/FHDB, if using FMCB off a HDD] bundles in a few core apps in their recommended package; uLaunchELF [unofficial ELF launcher, probably the most important part], HDLoader, ESR and SMS [simple media system]. So what’s uLE (uLaunchELF) and why is it so important? Well, it is basically a file browser with settings that will affect the system. You can browse your USB/HDD/memory card etc. using uLE and launch ELF [app files] from it. You can also copy, paste and move files – even memory card save files! HDLoader is Hard Drive Loader; you boot games from the HDD, simple as that. ESR, as mentioned before, boots burned games from a DVD. SMS is a simple media system [hence the name] that will play/view basic media files. That’s basically it for core FMCB – but where it gets interesting is in the apps you add.
Above: uLaunchELF
Apps
Fmcb Ps2 Download Games
Free McBoot has a plethora of apps to choose from. As mentioned, there is GSM to force outputs, from 480p to HDTV 1080p. Open PS2 Loader [OPL] is a really nice app; you can add information for your favourite games (such as release date, description, age rating, screenshots, backgrounds etc.), and you can have custom configurations for every game – you can make a virtual memory card on a USB/HDD with OPL’s “+VMC” edition, or force outputs [this is really helpful if you’re playing an American[NTSC] game on your European/Australian[PAL] console, for example]. Along with this, you can update OPL over your network. You can also play games – you can play classics like DOOM directly ported to PS2 or you can use emulators to emulate classics, like NES/SNES games. Or you could play fanmade games – like Super Mario War. There are so many useful apps using FMCB, but listing them all here would take far too much time.
Is there any reason not to get Free McBoot?
The truth is, there really isn’t any good reason not to get Free McBoot anymore. Yes, it will void your warranty, but what good is a warranty for what is now quite an old system? That aside, if you’re worried about bricking your system, don’t worry, that won’t happen either – it’s a softmod, there’s realistically nothing that actually can go wrong. Lastly, if you ever have second thoughts about FMCB, no worries – simply take out the memory card FMCB is on (or if it’s on your main memory card, uninstall it) and voila, no more FMCB. You can put your FMCB memcard back in at any time to restore everything, too.
So, in summary, try Free McBoot. Buying memory cards with FMCB on them off of eBay is not really a good idea, as you can get it installed for free thanks to free FMCB install services – the only thing you need to pay for is shipping, no new memory card needs to be bought. They’re trustworthy too – they’re FMCB veterans who’ve usually lurked around the scene for a long time, assuming you’re looking for the service off a dedicated forum. Some eBay sellers are trusty, but watch out for the ratings.
Fmcb Ps2 Download Games
Ps2 Download Games
If you’re willing to do a small, quick mod to your PS2 [at least on the slimline version], you can remove a spring and cover 2 sensors [not going to cover how to here] to make discs keep spinning and reading even with the tray open. Then you can burn a version of a supported game to a blank disc – but the burned version has a FMCB installer, and you load that by doing whatever you have to do to get to the FMCB installer ELF [launch file, used in some ps2 games]. That’s the basic idea behind the exploit, and it’s pretty easy once you know what you’re doing.
To summarize, Free McBoot is a fantastic Swiss army knife tool for any PS2 fanatic and given how easy it is to get a FMCB memory card, it’s almost hard to pass up. It opens up a world of backed up games, homebrew programs and makes your PS2 much more versatile. Thanks for reading, and remember to check out some of the other stuff on this blog.