Clarifications

[rogueKlyntar]

Please bear with me as I may say stuff that makes as much sense as "download a CPU"

What is the difference between a ROM, an ISO, and a BIOS?
Is a BIOS specific to a game, a PS2 console, a save file, or what?  
What counts as legitimate? I know BIOSs from the internet don't, but do ones from other people's game disc or console?
If I have no disc and no console, am I just s*** up the creek as a matter of playing as a technical feasability?
What makes PCSX2 legal but generation of the files needed to use it illegal? What use are the internet-sourced ROMS if they cannot be used?

[pandubz]

So what counts as legitimate?

Any BIOS or game dump that you make on your own accord.

Is a BIOS specific to a game, a PS2 console, a save file, or what?

Console. The BIOS is the low level system that controlled the physical hardware in the PS2. PCSX2 uses this for things like determining what language to launch a multi-language game in, among other things.

If I have no disc and no console, am I just ***** up the creek as a matter of playing as a technical feasability?

Pretty much. The only legal way to use PCSX2 is with your own BIOS and game dumps.

Either way, what makes PCSX2 legal but generation of the files needed to use it illegal?

PCSX2 is legal, because it is not a distribution of any copyrighted materials. It is a software creation that, when fed a dump of a BIOS and a game, can closely recreate the same behaviors as a physical PS2. Dumping the BIOS and games isn't illegal either. Distributing said dumps to other people, or receiving said dumps, is illegal and hence unsupported by the community.

[jesalvein]

you are allowed to use material you own.
means isos from your own discs, or bios from your own console.
what happens on other sites is none of our concern. that's just how we run ours.

If you need support for pirated materials, you're free to ask anywhere else but here.

Thanks for your understanding.

[rogueKlyntar]

Dumping the BIOS and games isn't illegal either. Distributing said dumps to other people, or receiving said dumps, is illegal and hence unsupported by the community.

So...you can do it yourself but you can't legally give it to your friend? Even though your friend could legally buy your console and disc form you, dump it personally, and sell it back? That certainly makes sense... Thx for the quick reply.

[pandubz]

So...you can do it yourself but you can't legally give it to your friend? Even though your friend could legally dump it personally from your own console? That certainly makes sense... Thx for the quick reply.

Your friend would not be able to dump it legally from anyone's console but their own. The dumper must own the resources being dumped and only the dumper may legally use them once dumped.

So I *could* play using illegally-sourced files on PCSX2 if I had them?

This is not at all what I said, and not supported on this forum either.

[gtgamer468]

I also need some clarifications. I have a couple of games that don't work in my PS2 and I also tried to dump it into an image file. However, I keep getting disc errors and in the end, I cannot dump it. If I suppose download a ROM for the exact same game but looking up the ELF name and match checksums with redump, or if I have a friend that have the same game and I dump an image off of that, are both scenarios legitimate?

[jesalvein]

are both scenarios legitimate?

not here

[gtgamer468]

Okay then, thanks for that. I was getting a bit curious after the author of this thread brought up this issue.