FreeMCBoot Tutorials Hub

This hub collects every install and setup tutorial on this site in one place, in the order most people need them. Start with the install route that matches your console, then move to loader setup, then to storage and updates. Each tutorial stands on its own, and each one links back here, so you can always find your way back to the full list.

Before you start any tutorial, know two things about your console: its model, and whether it can auto-boot FreeMCBoot. Most Fat consoles and earlier Slims can. Late SCPH-90000 Slims from the third quarter of 2008 onward, with datecode 8C and later and boot ROM 2.30 and newer, cannot auto-boot FMCB and need the Fortuna route instead. If you are unsure, check the ROM version — datecode 8C was a transition period, so datecode alone does not settle it.

Install tutorials

• How to Install FreeMCBoot 1.966 — The complete fresh install, from choosing an entry point to confirming the card boots. Start here if you have not installed FMCB before.
• Install FreeMCBoot with FreeDVDBoot — The no-modchip route that uses a burned DVD to run the installer on an unmodified console. The right choice when you have no modified console to borrow.
• Install FreeMCBoot from a PC with a PS3 Memory Card Adapter — The PC route, using an adapter to write the card directly from a computer. Useful when you have no disc-based entry point at all.
• FunTuna and Fortuna for Late SCPH-9000x Slims — The manual browser-trigger route for late Slims that cannot auto-boot FMCB. Read this first if your console is a late 9000x model, rather than repeating a standard install that cannot work on it.
• Install FHDB on a Fat PS2 Hard Drive — Free Hard Drive Boot for Fat consoles: FMCB installed to the internal hard drive instead of a memory card, with the network adapter and drive setup that route requires.

Setup tutorials

• Set Up Open PS2 Loader: USB, SMB, and Hard Drive — The three OPL storage modes, folder structure, and the settings that decide whether games appear. Read this after FMCB itself boots.
• Set Up MX4SIO and microSD with OPL — The memory-card-slot storage route: adapter, card, formatting matched to your OPL setup, and testing with one game before moving a library.
• Update OPL and Add Apps with uLaunchELF — How to update the loader separately from FMCB, add applications, and manage files on cards, drives, and USB storage after install.

How to use these tutorials

Follow one tutorial end to end before starting another. The most common install failure is not a bad file or a bad console; it is mixing steps from two different routes. If a tutorial assumes a bundle and you downloaded the author’s package, or assumes a standard install and your console is a late Slim, stop and switch to the tutorial that matches what you actually have.

Keep notes as you go: your console model and revision, your FMCB version (1.966 for a fresh install), and each application version you add. When something breaks later, those notes turn a rebuild into a quick fix.

For the software itself, start at the Download page. For version questions, see the Versions guides, including the 1.966 changes and the installer-versus-bundle explanation. For hardware, see the Gear and Buying Guides Hub, which covers memory cards, storage, hard drive kits, video, and controllers — all as blank hardware you buy and set up yourself.

If a tutorial step does not match what you see on screen, do not force it. Re-read the step, check that you are on the right tutorial for your console revision, and check the version notes for the software you installed. A mismatch between guide and screen is information, not an obstacle to push through.