No, there's no typo in the title. It's 2020 and Sony's second home console, the PlayStation 2, got a new exploit; and an interesting one at that! Aptly named FreeDVDBoot, this exploit allows users to run burnt homebrew games on an unmodified PS2. Just slide in a DVD into the console as you would with any other game and boot it without any additional tools.

@CTurt , the software engineer behind FreeDVDBoot and fellow GBAtemp member, explained in length his method that exploits the console's DVD player functionality in a blog post. He also made all of FreeDVDBoot's code available on GitHub, along with a step-by-step guide.

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In case you're wondering about actual PS2 games rather than homebrew titles, yes, FreeDVDBoot also enables you to run backup copy of those. CTurt shared a video using his exploit to run a backup of Shadow of the Colossus:

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It doesn't end there either. CTurt further goes on to speculate that this method could potentially work on every single PlayStation home consoles and that he will investigate this possibility in the future:

There's really no reason this general attack scenario is specific to the PlayStation 2 as all generations support some combination of burned media: from the PlayStation 1's CD support, to the PlayStation 3 and 4's Blu-ray support, with the PlayStation 4 having only removed CD support. Hacking the PS4 through Blu-ray BD-J functionality has long been discussed as an idea for an entry point. This may be something I would be interested in looking into for a long-term future project: imagine being able to burn your own PlayStation games for all generations; 1 down, 3 to go...

SOURCE
FreeDVDBoot code and guide on GitHub

 

[Alexander1970]

Does high speed burning introduce enough of a wobble or poor pit formation maybe that the now ancient lasers are troubled by that as much as reading from burned media over pressed?

Of Course with a good Burner (...what is a good Burner today since Plextor are no longer on the "Top Dog" Position ?) and DVD-R´s the Chance is great that a 16x burned DVD-R works.
But maybe not long and the Laser from the Device will not be grateful for such DVD-Rs...
Please try it on a Wii,you will see the Result.
And a GameCube miniDVD-R burned with 16x will never work correct,that I can asure you.

 

[smf]

And a GameCube miniDVD-R burned with 16x will never work correct,that I can asure you.

I had to burn minidvd-r at 4x speed for the gamecube, slower wouldn't work.

I wanted to use this to install fmcboot but it still requires a usb flash drive. Unfortunately my usb ports don't work so I still can't get it installed.

I'm surprised you can't run freemcboot installed from dvd. If it's got hard coded paths then maybe you can hex edit them

 

[uyjulian]

FMCBInstaller wasn't updated to have the DVD drivers.

You should check the issue with the USB port (pins continuity? hub chip fried?).

 

[PogChampion369]

Poggers moment

 

[esmith13]

Sooooo, is anyone working an update to ESR Patcher to patch in this exploit and make PS2 games boot on compatible systems without needing to use a "boot disc"? The technical info on exactly how to do it manually is here: https://cturt.github.io/freedvdboot.html but a new version of ESR patcher or a replacement for it that incorporates these steps would be WONDERFUL for the average user...

 

[RiPPERD]

ps4 now has an exploit for 7.02

 

[Deleted User]

ps4 now has an exploit for 7.02

And has nothing to do with this and thus completely off topic.

 

[RiPPERD]

And has nothing to do with this and thus completely off topic.

sorry, not sure what happend i typed more than that but it didnt actually type it... maybe i touched the screen. My bad.

what i was actually trying to say was this:

the ps4 exploit is now out for higher firmware so this means we can still use pkg files etc and thus saving the lasers in the ps4. This method would actually put a huge strain on the lasers and we would also all need bluray burners unless the exploit could inject/execute kernel exploit that was released for 7.02?

 

[Deleted User]

sorry, not sure what happend i typed more than that but it didnt actually type it... maybe i touched the screen. My bad.

what i was actually trying to say was this:

the ps4 exploit is now out for higher firmware so this means we can still use pkg files etc and thus saving the lasers in the ps4. This method would actually put a huge strain on the lasers and we would also all need bluray burners unless the exploit could inject/execute kernel exploit that was released for 7.02?

Ok, but again, this exploit is not for ps4, atleast not yet, and doubtful it ever will, so again, off topic.
Besides, bluray drives have 2, sometimes even 3, lasers in them, depending on the media being used.

 

[masenko]

managed to get persona 3 fes working with this. i followed a youtube video. just searched freedvdboot patcher on youtube it was the 3rd video down for me. I've also tried with Castlevania Lament of Innocence but that just freezes after the konami logo
edit;
seems like the video i followed is an improper way to do it, search "Final Fantasy X Selfbooting" on youtube for a better way. im gunna test it now myself
edit 2:
just google FreeDVDBoot Auto Patcher to find the tool. don't know if link is allowed on here. only tested klonoa 2 with it and works great, played til level 2 no issues

 

[cvskid]

managed to get persona 3 fes working with this. i followed a youtube video. just searched freedvdboot patcher on youtube it was the 3rd video down for me. I've also tried with Castlevania Lament of Innocence but that just freezes after the konami logo
edit;
seems like the video i followed is an improper way to do it, search "Final Fantasy X Selfbooting" on youtube for a better way. im gunna test it now myself
edit 2:
just google FreeDVDBoot Auto Patcher to find the tool. don't know if link is allowed on here. only tested klonoa 2 with it and works great, played til level 2 no issues

Do you know if the freedvdboot auto patcher works with games that didn't work with esr patcher before like parappa the rapper 2?

 

[masenko]

Do you know if the freedvdboot auto patcher works with games that didn't work with esr patcher before like parappa the rapper 2?

i think its the same compatibility as standard ESR, is it not?

 

[JayRockets]

If the guy who found this exploit believes it could be used on a PS1, then I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to use that same PS1 version of the exploit to get a PS2 to play a burned PS1 game.

 

[Ryccardo]

If the guy who found this exploit believes it could be used on a PS1, then I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to use that same PS1 version of the exploit to get a PS2 to play a burned PS1 game.

The basic idea, very maybe - certainly not the implementation (which is a DVD player exploit, so it has nothing to do with CDs, and CDs and DVDs are not interchangeable on a PS2 - even more so with regards to this exploit as the PS2 does not support "Mini DVD*"

* = as in what Nero calls a DVD-Video standard movie stored on a CD, not as in the discs a Gamecube uses

 

[RedBlueGreen]

Looks like you still need to use ESR patcher to patch ISOs before you burn them. So it's still largely the same as what we've had for ages, except you don't necessarily need to install anything. For people already using FreeMCBoot, there's not really any reason to download this. The "self launching" backups just have some sort of payload. It's still a much bigger hassle than something like the Wii where you can just burn the ISO. Of course ESR patched discs can boot automatically in the PS2, but some games don't work.

 

[VinsCool]

Good news everyone!
More PS2 versions will be supported.

UPDATE: New vulnerabilities have been found in the DVD player which now makes it possible to port FreeDVDBoot to most phat PS2 consoles too (DVD player versions 1.00 - 2.13)! I've just released an ISO for 2.10. Video demo from KrHacken: https://t.co/DgAPI9OXFO

— CTurt (@CTurtE) August 9, 2020

 

[TastifulBurger]

-Snip, I'm a Dum Dum.-