launcHER nightly

Commits

• d7ca6d3: Clarify HDD storage modes and Ember paths (NathanNeurotic (Ripto)) #12

launcHER nightly

launcHER

launcHER is a standalone PlayStation 2 forwarder built specifically to launch Ember from supported devices while preserving the environment Ember needs after handoff.

It is intentionally small in scope. This is not an OSD replacement, HDD Browser project, KELF installer, or menu system. It is simply launcHER.

launcHER is derived from the standalone launcher in pcm720/OSDMenu, stripped down and adapted for Ember launching.

What it does

launcHER can locate EMBER/ember.elf on a supported PS2 storage device, prepare the required device stack, forward Ember's game-folder argument, and hand execution over to Ember.

For APA/PFS HDD launches, launcHER also provides the behavior Ember specifically needs:

• mounts the target PFS partition read/write;
• keeps pfs0: mounted across ExecPS2;
• keeps the HDD/DEV9 environment alive with -dev9=NICHDD;
• allows Ember to receive pfs0:/EMBER/ember.elf as its real argv[0];
• forwards the game as a bare folder name in argv[1].

This allows Ember to continue resolving its relative games/ directory and retain writable access for memory cards, settings, and other files after launcHER exits.

Release files

Each release provides:

• launcHER.elf — the standalone launcher;
• launcHER.CNF — an editable quickboot template with device examples;
• launcHER.zip — ready-to-copy package containing the ELF and CNF;
• GitHub's automatic Source code (zip) and Source code (tar.gz) archives.

No KELF is required for normal launcHER use.

Ember layout

The expected Ember layout is:

EMBER/
├── ember.elf
├── bios.bin
└── games/
    └── <GAME_FOLDER>/

The game argument must be the bare folder name under EMBER/games/.

For example, if the game is stored at:

EMBER/games/Soul Blade/

then Ember should receive:

argv[1] = Soul Blade

Do not pass games/Soul Blade, a .cue path, or a full device path as the game argument.

OPL APPS layout

launcHER does not require its ELF filename to match its CNF filename.

A copy of launcHER.elf may be renamed to the game title for OPL while the configuration filename remains constant:

+OPL/
└── APPS/
    └── Soul Blade/
        ├── Soul Blade.ELF   <- renamed copy of launcHER
        └── launcHER.CNF

When Soul Blade.ELF starts without explicit target arguments, it resolves the directory it was launched from and opens:

<launch directory>/launcHER.CNF

The ELF may therefore be named Soul Blade.ELF, Pepsi Man.ELF, Final Fantasy VII.ELF, or anything else. The quickboot configuration remains launcHER.CNF.

This keeps OPL-facing filenames useful for game presentation and management without coupling them to launcHER's configuration name.

Explicit .CNF or .CFG paths passed to launcHER are still honored exactly as supplied.

Quickboot configuration

Keep launcHER.CNF in the same directory as the launcHER binary or renamed copy being launched. When launcHER is started without an explicit target, it always looks for launcHER.CNF beside that ELF.

Lines beginning with # are comments. Uncomment only the profile you intend to use.

arg= lines are shared by all active path= lines, so device profiles that require different handoff arguments should not be mixed in the same active block.

APA / PFS HDD

This is the hardware-verified Ember handoff.

Example using an APA partition named __.EMBER and a game folder named Soul Blade:

path=hdd0:__.EMBER:pfs:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=pfs0:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=Soul Blade
arg=-skip_argv0
arg=-dev9=NICHDD

launcHER uses:

hdd0:__.EMBER:pfs:/EMBER/ember.elf

to locate and load Ember, while Ember itself receives:

argv[0] = pfs0:/EMBER/ember.elf
argv[1] = Soul Blade

-skip_argv0 removes the loader-facing hdd0: target from Ember's final argument list. -dev9=NICHDD keeps the HDD/DEV9 environment active and, in launcHER, preserves the writable pfs0: mount through handoff.

Replace __.EMBER with your actual APA partition name and Soul Blade with your actual Ember game-folder name.

MMCE

path=mmce?:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=<GAME_FOLDER>

Memory card

path=mc?:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=<GAME_FOLDER>

USB

path=mass?:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=<GAME_FOLDER>

usb?: is also supported by the inherited launcher path handling.

MX4SIO

path=mx4sio:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=<GAME_FOLDER>

Internal exFAT HDD / ATA BDM

path=ata:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=<GAME_FOLDER>
arg=-dev9=NICHDD

i.Link

path=ilink:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=<GAME_FOLDER>

UDPBD

path=udpbd:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=<GAME_FOLDER>
arg=-dev9=NIC

UDPFS

path=udpfs:/EMBER/ember.elf
arg=<GAME_FOLDER>
arg=-dev9=NIC

Network configuration for UDPBD/UDPFS follows the inherited OSDMenu Launcher implementation and uses mc?:/SYS-CONF/IPCONFIG.DAT.

Supported launcher transports

The standalone launcHER build enables:

• MMCE
• memory cards
• USB / mass storage
• internal exFAT HDD / ATA BDM
• APA / PFS HDD
• MX4SIO
• i.Link
• UDPBD
• UDPFS

The project no longer builds or packages the unrelated OSDMenu/HOSDMenu patchers, MBR installers, KELF payloads, CD/DVD launcher path, or XFROM support.

Compilation support does not imply that every transport has been hardware-verified with every Ember version. APA/PFS Ember launching is confirmed working with the handoff shown above.

Direct arguments

launcHER can also be called directly by another launcher instead of using launcHER.CNF.

APA example:

launcHER.elf hdd0:__.EMBER:pfs:/EMBER/ember.elf pfs0:/EMBER/ember.elf "Soul Blade" -skip_argv0 -dev9=NICHDD

The global launcHER flags belong at the end of the argument list.

Building

A PS2SDK/ps2dev environment and CMake are required.

cmake -B build
cmake --build build --target launcHER

The finished package is generated under:

build/release/
├── launcHER.elf
└── launcHER.CNF

GitHub Actions additionally creates launcHER.zip from those two files for releases.

Project scope

launcHER deliberately does one job:

Get Ember launched from wherever it lives, then get out of the way without destroying the environment Ember still needs.

Keeping the project focused also means upstream OSDMenu features that have nothing to do with this job are not part of launcHER's release target.

Credits

• pcm720 — creator of OSDMenu and the standalone OSDMenu Launcher that launcHER is derived from. The device handlers, loader architecture, and foundation of this project come from that work.
• Eliminator / eliminator1403 — PS2 hardware testing, validation, regression checking, device-side feedback, and the filename-independent launcHER.CNF quickboot refinement used for renamed OPL APPS entries.
• Gageformer — creator of Ember, the project launcHER exists to launch.
• NathanNeurotic / Ripto — launcHER fork, Ember handoff integration, APA/PFS persistence changes, standalone build, configuration, and release packaging.
• The PS2SDK / ps2dev contributors and the broader PS2 homebrew community whose drivers and libraries make the supported device stack possible.

launcHER keeps its upstream lineage visible on purpose. It would not exist without pcm720's launcher work, Ember would not exist without Gageformer, and the hardware behavior would not be trustworthy without real-console testing.