POPSLoader Project

POPSLoader Project Wiki

The maintained project guide for POPSLoader, alongside the preserved historical POPStarter reference. The native GitHub Wiki is synchronized from this repository's maintained Markdown and mirrored in the GitHub Pages project section; the historical .research/wiki/ pages are archival and remain unchanged.

Release status (October 19, 2026): official 1.3.1 includes controller-free boot handling, larger disc artwork, the Ember Beta-2 option and full ZIP/flat-PSU installation kits. Rolling and experimental are built from the same source at this cut. Ember and USB + UDPFS remain experimental and not hardware-certified. Do not infer hardware compatibility from green CI.

Start here

• Installation Guide — prerequisites, device-root directories, launcher installation.
• Release Formats — the eight-file APPS/PS1_POPSLOADER/ directory, flat memory-card .psu, full ZIP, development and stable channels.
• Ember Core — Ember versus POPStarter, configuration, game format, licensing, test status and i.Link policy.
• Device Support — storage devices, which features are implemented, and what still needs testing.
• Technical Ember integration — detailed settings, paths and launch contract.
• UDPFS / BDM-UDPFS guide — opt-in PS1 network support.
• STATE.md — authoritative changing status, regressions and hardware evidence.
• QA_REGRESSION_MATRIX.md — detailed test records.
• POPSLoader release downloads.

Preserve the distinctions

POPS is Sony's PS1 emulation software and is not supplied. POPStarter is the original PS1 game launcher. POPSLoader is the modern front-end, which can browse VCD games for POPStarter and now includes a separate Ember PS1 emulator pathway on the rolling/development channel. The recovered POPStarter historical wiki is preservation material and should never be rewritten as if it documented the current POPSLoader project.

Hardware testing is separate from CI. Ember game launch, controller availability after handoff and VMC saves still require actual PS2 confirmation. i.Link is intentionally deferred until RiptOPL demonstrates working hardware support; it does not block other Ember work.