The MemCard Pro series of products from 8BitMods are literally game changing inventions for original hardware enthusiasts. When paired with the right ODE or homebrew software, they can generate a functionally limitless supply of save game storage for the GameCube, Playstation 2, and the original Playstation. These memory cards can also be used to enable undocumented features—for example, the MemCard Pro2 can be used as a storage pool for loading software on a PS2. Recently, 8BitMods has been experimenting with backporting some of the MemCard Pro2’s features to the original MemCard Pro in a new beta firmware, but there are caveats to keep in mind.
The first thing is that only the second revision of the MemCard Pro will receive these features. There were several substantial manufacturing changes made over the MemCard Pro’s lifetime and those changes are required for these new features to work. To check which revision you have, look for a model number on the underside of the card. If you see the model number MCP002, you’re good to go; if you see MCP001, you’ve still got a great PSX memory card but that’s as far as it goes. 8BitMods will be extending owners of MCP001 models a 40% discount on new MCP002 models however, so if you ordered your MCP001 through 8BitMods, Stone Age Gamer, Castlemania/Rondo, Classicgamestore.ch, or Dragon Box, then you’ll be able to pick one up for a pretty reasonable price. The discount program is going to be rolled out once the firmware exits beta, which has no firm release date as of this article.
The second thing to note is that there’s no going back once you’ve performed this firmware update. If you’re not comfortable with using a beta firmware, wait until the bona fide final release is out in the wild. Currently, the beta is available only on the 8BitMods Discord server, so there’s no direct link outside of there that I can put in this article. Please check the #memcard-pro-help channel to find the latest version of this beta.
Without further ado, here’s the changelog (as of this article):
MCP v3 Firmware Changelog
- New Features
- Capable of functioning as a PS2 or PS1 memory card on all PS2 variants, with 8MB, 16MB, 32MB, 64MB and 128MB memory card sizes supported!
- Supports the new MMCE OPL protocol to allow using the MCP as a data source. In layman’s terms, this means you’ll be able to run game backups directly from the SD card in the MCP.
- Cloud Backups with Google Drive for both PS1 and PS2 saves. PS1 saves can be backed up either manually or automatically, but PS2 saves have to be backed up manually.
- Template Cards allow you to use a vmc as a template for all newly created VMCs
- Custom Boot Card allows you to boot the MCP with a specific VMC always
- FMCB Partially supported through soft reset after power up. Cold-booting FMCB is not supported at the moment.
- Bugfixes & Improvements
- The OLED Display has been re-arranged, with a smooth text scrolling ticker and icons for Wifi mode / signal strength and PS1 / PS2 activity indicator.
- GAME ID supported for both PS1 and PS2.
- On-device Menus allow you to change basic settings directly on the device without the need to setup the WiFi WebUI.
- The WiFi can now be enabled from the device.
- The GameID feature can now be completely disabled from the WebUI Settings.
- Experimental Feature to increase signal strength for compatibility with various controller peripherals. (Note: Not entirely sure what this means yet)
- The OLED Display orientation can now be flipped!
- Limitations compared to the MemCard Pro2
- The SD card in the MCP is only accessible in DirectSD mode. This means that it needs a fast SD card to function well in PS2 mode.
- As mentioned, there are no auto-cloud backups in PS2 mode.
- No SD compatilbility mode for slower microSD cards.
- No FMCB cold boot (at least not yet, may be fixed).
- Saving while running games in MMCE mode will be slow due to using DirectSD access.
- Because the MCP1 doesn’t have a USB port, there’s no USB Mass Storage mode or PS3 Adapter Mode.
- Adding features going forward will be challenging, and not all MCP2 features will make it to the MCP1.
- The MCP1 still has a smaller screen than the MCP2.
Be sure to check out the 8BitMods Discord server for more info about this beta firmware and the current lineup of MemCard Pros—including the upcoming VMU Pro!