Helped my brother install the Swap Magic cover on his SCHP-50003 PS2 today. He decided to go with the Swap Magic 3 Coder Plus and the Slider Tool Pro because he didn't want the console chipped to play imports. Was a bit worried when I was going to remove the front CD cover because people were saying how easy it was to break the clips. It was actually very easy to remove. I was more worried about dislodging the CD tray.

Here's how it was done...

Installing and Using Swap Magic v3.8

As instructed on several sites, you first turn on the PS2 then eject the tray. With the tray still ejected, turn off the main power switch at the back. Flip the PS2 upside-down and you're ready to remove the front CD cover.

For the 5000x series, there's no screw underneath the tray unlike earlier models. Now to each of the two corners of the cover you should be able to see tiny holes in between the cover and the parts of the CD tray clipping onto it. I stuck a very small screwdriver (the kind used for watches and jewellery) into them and gently pried the clips outwards. I then clipped on the new Swap Magic cover. Simple as that.

Now, it was time to play around with the console's ejection mechanism so that we could start loading import games and backups.

First, you insert the appropriate Swap Magic disc; CD for CD games and DVD for DVD games. Once at the "swap disc" screen, you slip the Slide Tool in at the left side of the cover then carefully slide it all the way to the right. You can feel the tool dragging the ejection mechanism inside. After you've moved the Slide Tool to the far right, the CD tray should come out a little. You can now pull it out using the Slide Tool. By doing this, the PS2 doesn't know you've ejected the Swap Magic disc you put in and thus, won't end the program if you try putting a new disc in in the next few steps.

Next, replace the Swap Magic disc with the game you want to play. Push the tray back in then once again, slide the tool into the left side of the cover. Drag it to the right and you'll come across a little "bump". Guide the Slide Tool over it by pulling it out a little so that you can slide over it and then continue dragging the tool right to the end. Now drag it back to the left so that the ejection mechanism is re-locked. You should hear a clicking sound if you've done it right. Finally, select the appropriate options and you can play!

Impressions
It's managed to run all the games I've tried on it so far which are imported sample copies of Grim Grimoire and Odin Sphere (brilliant games!). Also tried some backups to see how well they ran and I found the drive is much louder. I'm not sure why it does this... Perhaps it's the dye or the speed I burned the discs at. In any case, this will put quite an extra amount of strain on the drive but I won't be playing that many backups anyway. I don't think a chipped solution would have been any better but at least you don't have to mess around with the Slider Tool.

I was pretty alarmed when I saw this. It's the back of the Swap Magic discs! I thought it was the extra spinning that ruined the disc but it turns out they were already like this. Why I don't know but the discs work fine.

Now it's my turn to wait for a good region-free Wii solution!

And yes, I still buy games even though there's solutions to play them for "free" like the one here. You can see my partial collection from the "GetBackers Manga" and other posts under the Collection category. Why? Check my stance on piracy in this post.