POPSLoader BETA-10-5 (v1.0.0 - rev5)

POPSLoader BETA-10-5 (v1.0.0 - rev5)

The D-10 release. HDD POPSTARTER + HDD games is finally reliable, plus supporting infrastructure across the launch pipeline.

🎯 Headline fixes

• HDD POPSTARTER + HDD games (D-10) hardware-confirmed PASS. The long-standing main stabilization blocker is closed. PFS partition unmount before ExecPS2 is the load-bearing fix.
• POPSLoader launches from wLaunchELF and similar non-IOP-resetting parent launchers now works reliably (ps2sdk #425 workaround in _ps2sdk_memory_init).
• BOOT.ELF exit from autoboot / OSDSYS / Browser / HOSDMenu-launched POPSLoader is back to working (V2 route restored after an intermediate regression).

✨ New features

• Per-device settings sidecar: settings (.pldrs) now save next to POPSLOADER.ELF on USB / MC / MMCE / MX4SIO installs. Settings follow the device.
• NHDDL-style launch arguments: pass -page=hdd (or -mode=ata, NHDDL-compat) to POPSLoader's argv to boot directly to a specific device's game list. Also -game=<selector> (game auto-launch) and -debug (extra diagnostics).
• Newer SDK device prefixes recognized: usb:, usbN:, ata:, apa: — POPSLoader now correctly classifies the boot device regardless of which path convention the parent launcher uses.

🐛 Other improvements

• Unified boot-context resolver (ResolveBootContext) replaces three near-copies of the same "where are we" logic; settings, IRX decisions, and UI navigation now share one source of truth.
• CI Lua syntax validation extended to all bundled .lua files (was previously only etc/boot.lua).
• Pre-elf_loader dead code removed from system.cpp.

⚠️ Known broken (workarounds available)

• DKWDRV from a custom HDD path: black-screens. Use the default MC path (mc0:/PS1_DKWDRV/DKWDRV.ELF).
• BOOT.ELF exit when POPSLoader was booted from HDD: long-standing. Use Exit → OSDSYS, or reboot the console manually.

Full details and chronology in STATE.md and QA_REGRESSION_MATRIX.md.

🙏 Thanks

Nuno for relentless hardware testing across multiple sessions a day, including running diagnostic builds. CosmicScale for the wLaunchELF report that unblocked the bootstrap fix. Berion for the GUI mockup work (landing in a future release).

📦 Install

Download POPSLOADER.zip from the assets below. The ZIP root contains:

• PS1_POPSLOADER/ — the POPSLoader app files (POPSLOADER.ELF, POPSTARTER.ELF, icons, etc.)
• POPS/ — PATCH_5.BIN

Extract to your install location per the README.
@nuno6573 @israpps @NathanNeurotic