What do I need to start soft-modding my ps2 to run apps such as HDLoader?
You need to learn how to “Exploit” your PS2 to run arbitrary code that is not licensed by Sony and made by homebrew developers. Your first step is to setup the “PS2 Independance Exploit” from one of our tutorials found in the Tutorials Section. The “PS2 Independance Exploit” does NOT work on any slim-line version of PS2 consoles and requires a real mod-chip for those versions to run any homebrew software. To run HDLoader you will require a harddrive and network adapter to play games from HD (duh!).