POPSLoader

POPSLoader is a graphical PlayStation 2 homebrew launcher designed to easily browse and launch your PS1 games (using POPStarter) from various storage devices. It features a clean, responsive layout, cover art support, sound effects, on-screen keyboard, and direct memory card exit shortcuts.

The current public release is BETA 10.

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BETA 10 Highlights

POPSLoader BETA 10 introduces critical bug fixes and usability improvements tested on real PS2 hardware:

• Fixed HDD POPSTARTER Handoff: Resolved the long-standing "D-10" black screen hang when launching games using an HDD-backed POPStarter configuration.
• Fixed wLaunchELF / BOOT.ELF Exit: Exiting to BOOT.ELF / wLaunchELF no longer black-screens on the tested setup. The final fix uses the normal embedded-loader handoff instead of the failed special reset path.
• Restored UI Options: The BOOT.ELF option is fully visible again in the Exit modal, and the Triangle key shortcut has been restored.
• Polished User Interface: Includes layout alignment corrections, cleaner typography, dynamic menu box adjustments, and text wrapping.

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Supported Devices

POPSLoader supports scanning and booting games from the following backends:

• USB (mass:)
• MX4SIO (SD card via memory card slot adapter)
• MMCE (Multi-Memory Card Emulator)
• Internal HDD (using PS2 ATA network adapter)

Note

Game compatibility and drive loading performance may vary depending on your specific console model, adapter type, and the quality of your POPStarter/POPS binaries.

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Quick Install

To set up POPSLoader:

1. Download the Release: Download and extract the latest POPSLOADER.zip package.
2. Copy Launcher Files: Copy the PS1_POPSLOADER/ folder to the device or memory card from which you want to launch POPSLoader.
3. Place POPS Files: Put the PATCH_5.BIN file (included in the POPS/ directory of the ZIP) into your active POPS folder (see directory structures below).
4. Add POPStarter & POPS Files: Add your POPStarter executable (POPSTARTER.ELF) and the required POPS support files (IOPRP252.IMG, POPS.ELF, POPS.PAK, POPS_IOX.PAK) to your POPS folder. These copyrighted Sony POPS files are not included in the release package.
5. Add Games: Copy your PS1 game images in .VCD format into the same POPS folder.
6. Launch: Run POPSLOADER.ELF using wLaunchELF, Free McBoot, or your preferred ELF launcher.

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Folder Layout

Ensure your directories and files match these paths exactly depending on your storage device:

USB / MX4SIO / MMCE Setup

Place all files on the root of your storage device (mass:/, slot:/, etc.) in a folder named POPS:

File Path	Description
<device>:/POPS/GameName.VCD	Your PS1 game image
<device>:/POPS/GameName.png	Optional cover art (200x200 8-bit PNG recommended)
<device>:/POPS/IOPRP252.IMG	Required POPS support file
<device>:/POPS/POPSTARTER.ELF	POPStarter launcher binary
<device>:/POPS/POPS.ELF	POPS emulator engine binary
<device>:/POPS/POPS.PAK	Emulator resources payload
<device>:/POPS/POPS_IOX.PAK	Emulator input/output resources payload

Internal HDD Setup

Place VCD game files inside your dedicated POPS partitions, and system binaries inside __common/POPS/:

File Path	Description
hdd:/__.POPS/GameName.VCD	Your PS1 game image (can also use partitions __.POPS0 through __.POPS9)
hdd:/__common/POPS/ART/GameName.png	Cover art folder
hdd:/__common/POPS/IOPRP252.IMG	Required POPS support file
hdd:/__common/POPS/POPS.ELF	POPS emulator engine binary
hdd:/__common/POPS/POPS.PAK	Emulator resources payload
hdd:/__common/POPS/POPS_IOX.PAK	Emulator input/output resources payload

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Controls

Navigate POPSLoader using a standard PS2 controller:

Button	Action
D-pad Up / Down	Scroll through the game list
D-pad Left / Right	Page Up / Page Down (jump through large lists)
Cross (X)	Confirm option / Launch selected game
Circle (O)	Go back to the Main Menu / Cancel
Triangle (△)	Exit shortcut / BOOT.ELF shortcut where available
Start	Open the Settings / Profile Editor
Select	Toggle "Hide Text Mode" (clears the UI for a clean view of cover art)
L1 / R1	Move text cursor Left / Right (inside on-screen keyboard)
Square (□)	Delete character (inside on-screen keyboard)
R2	Toggle uppercase / lowercase (inside on-screen keyboard)

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BOOT.ELF / wLaunchELF Exit

POPSLoader BETA 10 fixes the crash when returning to your memory card bootloader.

• Selecting BOOT.ELF in the exit menu (or pressing the Triangle shortcut) will look for:
  1. mc0:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF
  2. mc1:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF
• If found, BOOT.ELF now launches through the normal embedded-loader handoff with a clean BRAM setup and an explicit argv[0].
• If you do not have wLaunchELF installed at these paths, this option will fail to boot.

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Internal HDD Notes

• Internal HDD setups received major reliability improvements in BETA 10, correcting the partition mount handoffs that previously prevented games from loading.
• Ensure that your game partition is named matching the __.POPS convention, and that the __common/POPS/ directory contains all necessary POPStarter/POPS emulator binaries.
• Existing USB/MX4SIO/MMCE setups are unaffected by the HDD fixes and should continue to work normally.

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Troubleshooting

Game does not appear in the menu list

• Using uppercase .VCD is recommended if your games are not being detected, especially on case-sensitive setups.
• Verify that VCD files are placed directly in the POPS (or __.POPS) folder, not inside subfolders.

Game launches to a black screen

• Verify that IOPRP252.IMG, POPS.ELF, and the .PAK files are present in the POPS folder.
• Check that your game image .VCD is healthy and uncorrupted.

Cover art is not showing up

• Check that the cover image is in .png format.
• The PNG filename must match the .VCD game filename exactly (e.g. Crash Bandicoot.VCD requires Crash Bandicoot.png).
• Ensure the cover art is placed in the same folder as the VCD (or __common/POPS/ART/ on HDD).
• For best compatibility and performance, use 200x200 pixel images.

BOOT.ELF exit option fails or hangs

• Confirm that a valid wLaunchELF executable is installed on your physical memory card at mc0:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF or mc1:/BOOT/BOOT.ELF.

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Known Issues & Planned Improvements

The following improvements and investigations are planned for subsequent updates:

• Boot & Scan Speed: Optimization of directory parsing and backend discovery.
• Modchip Compatibility: Investigate black-screen hangs on certain modchipped consoles.
• Setting Modernization: Transition away from legacy profile setups to a cleaner, custom path system (such as DKWDRV/POPStarter path configuration).
• Enhanced Backend Detection: Improve automatic discovery for usb:, mx4sio:, and ata: using IOCTL queries.
• UI Customization & Themes: Integrate graphical updates (by Berion) and add settings to customize or skip the boot splash sequence.
• In-Game Features: Support for per-game fixes, cheat codes, Virtual Memory Card (VMC) setups, and multi-disc swap prompts.
• SMB (v1) Support: Implement network game scanning and launching via SMB v1.

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Credits

• israpps (El_isra): Original POPSLoader project creator.
• Daniel Santos: Creator of the Enceladus runtime foundation.
• Berion: User interface design and theme assets.
• nuno6573: Cover-art engine integrations.
• Hugopocked: POPStarter fixes.
• Ripto / NathanNeurotic: Maintenance, UI polishing, and release engineering.

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Development & Building

Developer documentation, repository architecture details, and building prerequisites are maintained in the following files:

• STATE.md: Detailed current code and hardware status details.
• QA_REGRESSION_MATRIX.md: Complete ledger of hardware test outcomes.
• ARCHITECTURE.md: Structural data-flow documentation.

To build the launcher binary from source, run:

make clean elfloader all

(Requires a set up PS2DEV SDK environment with ps2-packer and matching dependencies.)