do you really need an ide hdd for ps2 network transfer?

[CaseyDog]

i got an ide drive a while back, along with the official ps2 network adapter (since the unofficial ones to my knowledge lack ethernet ports), but for some reason the drive didn't fit in it. this was a large waste of money

do you really have to pick between hunting down a specific type of really slow transfer speed, hard-to-find storage for network transfer, or removing and then reinserting screws, praying the drive hasn't slid out of place and will still be detected by the console, with ferrying a sata drive to and from your pc in between, every time you want to add games? i have interest in a very sizeable portion of the ps2 library, so i'd to know a way to make it not a nightmare to explore on real hardware

ps: no interest in smb transfer or anything else that causes more issues than internal hdd, before anyone suggests it

 

[IluaLinerin]

For what i've read, sometimes the unofficial adapters DO come with an actual ethernet port, but seems to be hit or miss, if you got an official network adapter i wouldn't bother trying to hunt a compatible IDE HDD, i would get a SATA adapter "upgrade" kit for it, you can open it, remove the IDE connection board and install a SATA one and use a modern HDD/SSD on your PS2, it's usually the most reliable way and offers the full compatibility of the original adapter along with it's network capabilities.
In alixpress and other websites you can get said board for usually 10$, sometimes less.

 

[DinohScene]

+1 for the SATA upgrade kit.