PlayStation 2 Network Adaptor

The PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay is a 3.5" drive bay introduced with the model 30000 and 50000 PlayStation 2 (replacing the PCMCIA slot used in the models 10000, 15000, and 18000, and no longer present as of the model 70000) designed for the network adaptor and internal hard disk drive (HDD). These peripherals enhance the capabilities of the PS2 to allow online play and other features that were shown at E3 2001.

The Network Adaptor was released together with the launch of the PlayStation 2 Network Play service. Two models of the adapter were available - one with a dial-up modem and an Ethernet jack for broadband Internet connection (sold in North America), and one with only an Ethernet interface (sold in Europe and other regions). A start-up disc ("Network Access Disc") is included with the Network Adaptor and installs a file on the memory card for connection settings which are accessible by all but one Network Adaptor compatible game. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 was released in November 2001 and supported the Network Adaptor hardware, but not the software as it was not finalized until much later.

The Network Adaptor also provides a Parallel ATA interface and a Molex disk drive power connector to allow installation of a 3.5 in IDE hard disk drive in the expansion bay.

Slimline PlayStation 2 models have an ethernet port built-in, but no hard disk drive interface. However, the first slimline model (SCPH-70000) retains the circuitry required to connect a hard drive, and may be modified to add an IDE connector. This can then be adapted to utilize SATA hard drives.

The maximum supported rate is 100Mbps, at full duplex. It is also backwards compatible with 10Mbps hardware and configurations.

The PlayStation 2 Hard Disk Drive (PS2 HDD) was released on July 19, 2001 in Japan (together with the Network Adaptor) and on March 23, 2004 in North America. It requires the Network Adaptor to connect to the PlayStation 2 and to receive power. The HDD has a 40 GB capacity that can be used by games to reduce load time by putting data on the hard drive temporarily, or back up memory card data. Due to MagicGate copyright protection, programs that are bootable directly from the HDD (e.g. PlayStation Broadband Navigator, PlayOnline Viewer, Pop'n Music Puzzle-dama Online) are keyed to the system when that system installs them. The HDD can be transferred to another PlayStation 2 system and files on the HDD can be accessed, but those specific programs cannot be booted without being reinstalled. Contrary to popular belief, a complete reformat of the HDD is not necessary upon transfer of the HDD between consoles, or else it would not be useful to have the HDD be preformatted and have preinstalled software, as is the case with the North American HDD unit. An HDD Utility Disc is included to allow maintenance of the HDD and in North America, Final Fantasy XI is also included. There are 35 North American games that support the HDD.

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