FreeMCBoot vs FreeDVDBoot: Permanent Softmod vs Disc Entry Point
FreeMCBoot (FMCB) and FreeDVDBoot are often mentioned in the same breath, and they are often used together, but they are not alternatives to each other. The direct answer is this: FMCB is the persistent softmod that lives on a memory card and gives you a homebrew menu every time you power on a supported console, while FreeDVDBoot is a disc-based entry point that you boot once in order to run something, most usefully the FMCB installer, on a console that has no other way to run homebrew yet. Think of FreeDVDBoot as the key and FMCB as the lock it opens permanently. You need the key only until the lock is fitted; after that, the card does the work on its own.
That relationship explains why guides pair them so often. A completely unmodified PS2 cannot run the FMCB installer by itself, because running the installer is itself a homebrew action. Something has to run first. That something can be an already-modified console, a cheat disc, a PC adapter, or a FreeDVDBoot disc. FreeDVDBoot is popular as that first step because it needs no second console and no special hardware beyond a disc the console can read, provided the console’s disc drive works and the disc is prepared for the console’s DVD player behaviour.
What each one is
| FreeMCBoot v1.966 | FreeDVDBoot | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A memory card softmod and menu | A disc-based exploit and entry point |
| Where it lives | On a PS2 memory card | On a burned disc, used at boot time |
| Persistence | Persistent: the menu appears on every power-on of a supported console | Temporary: it runs when you boot the disc; it does not by itself install a persistent menu |
| Main job | Provide a homebrew menu and launch loaders and tools | Provide a first run of homebrew on an unmodified console, often the FMCB installer |
| Needs a working disc drive | Only if you use a disc entry point for the first install | Yes, because the entry point itself is a disc |
| After the job is done | Keep the card in the console and use the menu | Put the disc aside; you do not need it for daily use once FMCB is installed |
FMCB was created by Neme and jimmikaelkael and maintained by SP193, with v1.966 (2019-04-13) as the latest stable release. FreeDVDBoot is a separate project for the PS2’s DVD player, and it should be understood on its own terms rather than as a version of FMCB. The two projects solve different halves of the same problem: getting in the first time, and staying in afterwards.
The typical combined workflow
The most common workflow that uses both looks like this, in outline rather than as a step-by-step burning guide.
- Prepare a FreeDVDBoot disc for your console and a USB drive or other medium holding the FMCB installer files.
- Boot the console from the FreeDVDBoot disc, which gives you a homebrew environment for that session.
- Run the FMCB installer from that environment and install to a dedicated memory card, choosing the install type for the console you will actually use.
- Power off, remove the disc, and power on with the card inserted. On a supported console, the FMCB menu appears without the disc.
- From the FMCB menu, launch the loaders and tools you have added separately, such as Open PS2 Loader (OPL) and uLaunchELF, since the v1.966 package itself contains no apps.
Step 5 is worth repeating, because it is where expectations go wrong. Installing FMCB does not install OPL, uLaunchELF, or ESR. Those are separate homebrew programs. FreeDVDBoot does not change that either; it only gets you into the installer. The loaders are compared in OPL vs ESR vs HDLoader, and the loading routes in OPL Loading Compared: USB vs SMB vs HDD vs MX4SIO.
When FreeDVDBoot is the right entry point, and when it is not
FreeDVDBoot is a good entry point when you have one unmodified console, a working disc drive, and no friend with a modified console nearby. It is a poor entry point when the disc drive is failing, because the whole method depends on reading the disc, and it is unnecessary when you already have another route, such as a PC adapter or an already-modified console. In that case, adding a disc step only adds a variable.
FreeDVDBoot also does not solve the late-model problem on its own. A late SCPH-90000 Slim that cannot auto-boot FMCB will not be fixed by entering through FreeDVDBoot and then installing standard FMCB, because the installed FMCB still will not auto-boot on that console. Late consoles need the Fortuna or FunTuna route, compared in FMCB vs Fortuna, FunTuna, and OpenTuna. Entry point and boot route are different questions, and confusing them leads to repeated installs that were never going to change the outcome.
Disc dependence after installation
Once FMCB is installed on a supported console, daily use does not need a disc at all. Loaders can run your own dumps from USB, a network share, a hard drive, or an MX4SIO card, and the FMCB menu itself needs only the card. That is one of the main reasons people install FMCB in the first place: it frees the console from dependence on a disc drive that is, on many surviving PS2s, the oldest and most failure-prone part.
FreeDVDBoot, by contrast, remains disc-dependent by design. Every use requires booting the disc. That is fine for a one-time install, but it would be a poor daily routine, which is exactly why the two are combined rather than used as substitutes. If you find yourself booting a disc every time to reach homebrew, you have an entry point but not yet a persistent softmod, and the next step is to complete the FMCB install rather than to get better at booting discs.
Checklist
- Decide whether you need an entry point at all; an already-modified console or a PC adapter may already provide one.
- If you use FreeDVDBoot, treat it as the first step, not the destination.
- Install FMCB to a dedicated card for the console you will actually use.
- After installation, test power-on without the disc; the menu should appear from the card alone on a supported console.
- Add loaders separately, and get the v1.966 package from /download/.
FAQ
Is FreeDVDBoot a replacement for FreeMCBoot? No. FreeDVDBoot is a disc entry point. FMCB is the persistent card softmod. They are complementary, and FreeDVDBoot is most often used to install FMCB.
Do I still need the FreeDVDBoot disc after installing FMCB? No, not for daily use on a supported console. The card provides the menu on its own. Keep the disc as a fallback entry point if you ever need to reinstall.
Can FreeDVDBoot install FMCB on a late Slim? It can run the installer, but the resulting standard FMCB install still will not auto-boot on a late Slim. Late consoles need a Fortuna or FunTuna trigger instead.
Does using FreeDVDBoot require a working disc drive? Yes. The entry point is a disc, so a failing drive blocks this route even though disc-free loading afterwards does not need the drive.
If I already have a modified console, do I need FreeDVDBoot? No. An already-modified console can run the installer directly, which is simpler than adding a disc step you do not need.