everchangingone wrote:daleighan, what is this hdd adapter you speak of, and where can i see it online? i like the idea of doing a ps2 laptop and am actually thinking of doing my own. i have already got a lot of it figured out, just need to find some parts.
Teclis, maybe we can come up with something together. i'm ,not sure what you had in mind, but you might like some of my ideas.
Actually, I'm putting the PS2 laptop on the back-burner for the moment (if you're still interested in doing a PS2 laptop, pm me and tell me a little about what you're planning to do; I'll try and help you out as much as I can) in favor for something far more doable and far sexier...you'll see...soon.
I've been working on an almost identical project, however, your idea to use the hdd for ffxi is ambitious, yet will not work. The ide expansion created for the slim ps2 will not support ffxi until a replacement system bios is written. HDD loaders and the like work properly already, and it is likely that linux will read the drive.
The upside is that as most modchips that allow direct booting to hdd loader have flashable bios, this patchmay be in the works, but as ffxi userbase dwindles, so does hope of this panning out.
Oh well... anyway- other than upscan conversion 100% compatibility with vga is unlikely, and would be more hassle than it's worth (except in the case of linux which the multiple video modes would come in handy for). A simple 7-8" svideo/component lcd with a decent pixel count should suffice.
The video adapter bundled with linux only supports sync on green in linux and games supporting progressive mode. the blaze adapter has a software patch to enable this support on more games, and the cable is rewired to support non sync-on-green (too bad finding one of these sets is near impossible- i'm looking for one myself solely so i can connect my spare ps2 to my kvm and do away with my old sony trinitron in favor of lcds)
the other issue is configuring the wireless on the bridge you'd have to attach to the network port- not an impossible feat, but i'd keep the bridge separate personally.
I'm researching membrane keyboards for this an another laptop project i'm doing for my daughter, and this'd probably be the best way to go for space and simplicity of construction.
After much time away from the boards and endless hours of , sweat, and tears, my project is nearing completion...
I had mentioned earlier in the thread that I was going to put the 'PStwo laptop' on the backburner in favor of something a touch more doable and (imho) a great deal cooler. What I have done is, in fact...make an already portable device.....BIGGER (*gasp*).
The immediate question one would ask is, 'WHY?!?!?!?'. My only answer is, 'because I can, and I wanted to do something that would have people turn their heads when out and about in public.
Enter the PSP-N-S-p-A, which stands for PSP-Not-So-portable-Anymore.
THE DESIGN
What I've done is rip apart a PSP and combine inside of a 12" portable flat-panel LCD TV for larger video output...but that's not all. Because of the difficulty of which it would be to open the unit and change out the memory card, I went out and purchased the PSP 4GB hard drive and integrated that into the internals of the unit..
Now one might be saying, 'Okay brightboy, what about UMD access and controllers?!'. Good questions...what I've done is move the PSP's UMD drive to a different location, so the UMDs can be inserted into a slot on the side of the unit (took quite a bit of trickery and crafty wiring to get all of this to work...big-ups to my father for the help!!) [NOTE: The only downside to this is that the PSP thinks the UMD tray is always 'closed' so the only time you can insert a UMD is when the unit is turned off]. As for the control, I went and purchased a device known as 'PSP2TV' and took advantage of its TV-out functions (which is what made the video to the LCD possible) and PS2 controller functions...I simply installed a wireless receiver onto the controller port and use a PS2 controller for...controller...operations.
The unit's USB port has been wired to the side of the screen, and wireless gaming still remains intact....
Pictures will be posted once I feel the case is ready.
ADDITION: the PSP's system firmware is version 1.5, for homebrewy emulation goodness! XD
Are you going to post some pics soon? I hope it turns out well!