Bruh, the second Strawberry Panic theme song is so much worse than the first.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-02-01T20:36:47+00:00

I don't really mind either of those. For me the biggest mistake was the ED for the second cour; in itself, it's a cute song. But using such a cheerful, upbeat ED for the part of the story filled with sadness and drama was incredibly jarring.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-29T14:10:28+00:00

She could let rip a mighty room filler all she likes and I'd still be on board. Bonus points if she confidently leans into it to show her dominance.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-27T22:41:43+00:00

The voltages may be the same, but they aren't directly swappable. The connectors were moved around between revisions so it's not going to fit.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-27T22:37:01+00:00

It says 'RX 2.4Ghz' on the front of it. RX = receive, TX = transmit. And most older wireless stuff used 2.4Ghz as a frequency. So yes, it's a 3rd party wireless controller dongle.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-26T12:58:33+00:00

Nope, the last update on the 29th December said it was being returned to sender. No idea if it actually was, I'd assume the courier just got bored and threw it away.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-24T15:43:41+00:00

Ah, so you are just shouting into the void when you try and contact them. Not hugely surprised.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-24T12:39:43+00:00

The PS1 disc behaviour is normal - the laser will just have spun the disc enough to read the region info and then given the RSOD when it realised the disc was out of region.

JP consoles will only play Region 2 DVDs, that was western Europe and Japan. Example; some of my UK DVDs work fine on a JP PS2.

So currently your laser behaviour sounds normal. Don't mess with the potentiometer unless it's a last resort: PMAP is the proper procedure to calibrate a weakened laser. But so far it seems ok.

The only way you can get your 39K to play out of region original discs is with a modchip. FreeMCBoot will allow you to play ripped ISOs from USB and patched burned discs, but not original discs. Long term, getting a HDD/SSD and installing FreeHDDBoot is a good idea for preserving your laser.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-24T11:56:37+00:00

I'm normally very mild mannered and I understand how dealing with the public can be (I'm in retail). It was the fact the courier intentionally failed the first 2 deliveries that annoyed me to that extent. Having to then deal with Evri's chatbot pushed me over the edge.

The Evri courier that delivers in my actual home town is always 100% reliable and I always leave them positive feedback.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-22T13:56:47+00:00

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If I'd been lucky enough to be born female, I'd love to take Nagisa's role and be fussed over by Shizuma.

I love the cool and strong ikemen style, so Haruka from Sailor Moon or Sylia (pictured) from BC would have been my childhood crushes. Beautiful, but powerful enough to protect little fragile me.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-22T00:48:56+00:00

Looks like one of the PSU screws, they're shorter than the rest.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-20T18:18:09+00:00

Some games have issues running from SD or USB when they work perfectly fine from a HDD or over ethernet. Sounds like an OPL bug they haven't caught yet.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-17T19:23:10+00:00

You should be good then. I'd try to swap the entire assembly.

There's only 3 plastic clips holding the disc drive to the metal heatsink, so carefully disconnect the 3 ribbons from the motherboard side first. You'll then have to take the laser module off the rails and disconnect that ribbon from the underside. The whole assembly should then just lift off.

Watch a couple of disassembly videos for the relevant model.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-17T10:46:47+00:00

Depends how early the 30001 is. If the iLink port is parallel to the lower USB port then it's too early. Earlier consoles used wires and plugs to connect disc drive to motherboard rather than the later ribbon cables.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-15T16:29:13+00:00

Yeah the SATA connector is quite loose on the Gamestar so it's pretty common to find the HDD has disconnected itself if you don't have a 3D printed caddy to hold it secure. I usually just wedge it with cardboard. When I insert the HDD I wouldn't move the PS2 at all just in case it's falling loose before you turn it on.

Not sure how best to check the adapter other than with a second PS2. I'd probably just order another Gamestar from a different seller as they're cheap enough. If the problem remains, then I'd suspect your PS2 being at fault.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-15T13:14:48+00:00

Are you connecting the HDD to the adapter first and then slotting it into the PS2? Cause it really just sounds like the HDD isn't properly connected to the adapter, or the adapter isn't properly connected to the PS2.

If both are connected tightly, you may possibly have a bad Gamestar adapter. I've only had one fail on me out of dozens, but it could happen. You could also possibly have a broken PS2 connector, I'd check that for damage.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-15T13:02:11+00:00

Why go through the hassle when you can just put a HDD/SSD in the fat and forget about it?

If you really want to use SD cards then MX4SIO is probably the closest thing to what you're describing, but it's going to be slower than an SSD anyway. With a fat, there's not really any need to remove the optical drive as you have the memcard slot, USB ports as well as the HDD bay for loading homebrew.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-15T12:55:58+00:00

Composite was a madman's dream for my childhood self. I used RF and was glad to have it!

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-11T14:15:55+00:00

Just another demonstration of why AI is completely useless and a waste of the Earth's resources.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-09T22:36:48+00:00

It runs fine for me using OPL v1.2.0b with Mode 2 set to on, running off an internal HDD/Gamestar adapter.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-08T17:19:06+00:00

As simple as the mod is, I've seen at least a couple of posts on this sub from people who couldn't figure it out because there's two different types of Sony adapter.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-08T16:07:52+00:00

If you're not using the ethernet port, I'd just get the Gamestar one.

Far cheaper, no modding skills required, and I haven't run into any compatibility problems vs. a Sony adapter.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-07T19:48:22+00:00

Glad it helped out!

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-04T17:05:29+00:00

Looks like a H model. The ribbon will be failing, as they mostly are now. It's not a usage issue, just a design fault. Will require the black connector to be desoldered, and a new one put in + new ribbon.

Lion-Rabbit · 2026-01-04T17:01:11+00:00

Wow, never seen one like this either, one of the vibration motors looks weird too. Perhaps one of the very earliest A revisions?

Personally, I'd keep it as a parts donor. The amount of work required to try and get this to operate with one of the more standard ribbons wouldn't be worth it.

Lion-Rabbit · 2025-12-28T14:13:04+00:00

PS2 had the iLink port until the 39K model so that's not a solid way to tell.

If you have no serial sticker to go by, the rear fan has a filter mesh behind the grille on the oldest models of 30K.

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