Memory Cards
The two PS2 memory-card slots are always available: their services load at start-up, they are polled in the background, and they are where saves, exploit folders, the Launchstation install and several helper files live.
Slot cards and what they report
The Files tab shows mc0 (Slot 1) and mc1 (Slot 2) (mc0:, mc1:). A background poller checks each slot, so the card never blocks while the screen is drawing. Status lines:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| PS2 memory card / PS1 memory card | A card answered. PS2 cards also show free space in MB (“1.25 MB free of 8 MB”) and a usage bar that turns red above 90%. |
| Slot empty | No card. The card is shown but cannot be focused; browsing says “Insert a memory card into this slot”. |
| Checking… | The first poll has not finished. Opening the card forces the check. |
| Not responding – open to retry | The poll failed (card removed mid-read, or the SIO2 bus is busy). Opening the card retries; this also switches the IOP away from MX4SIO if that stack owns slot 2. |
Settings > Storage & devices > Hide empty memory card slots removes empty slots (and unused MMCE entries) from the File Browser. Card states are re-checked in the background while the dashboard is running.
What lives on a memory card
| Item | Location |
|---|---|
| Save games, PSU backups | Card root folders; see Saves, PSU & Timestamp Tools |
| Launchstation install | The install folder from the release package (LAUNCHSTATION.ELF, title.cfg, BGM.ADP…). Home scans mc:/APPS and mc:/BOOT for applications by default. |
| Settings | DASHBOARD.CNF, DASHAPPS.CNF, DASHLIB.CNF beside the loaded configuration or ELF, falling back to mc0:/SYS-CONF/ |
| Network config | mcN:/SYS-CONF/IPCONFIG.DAT (after the ELF’s own folder) |
| Exploit installs | BIEXEC-SYSTEM/BAEXEC-SYSTEM/BEEXEC-SYSTEM/BCEXEC-SYSTEM and BOOT/BOOT.ELF; see exploit installer |
| Neutrino install | Optional mc0:/neutrino/ or mc1:/neutrino/; see Neutrino |
| OSD game history | mcN:/B?DATA-SYSTEM/history (the second letter depends on the console region), written for disc launches so MMCE adapters can follow the game |
| Updated DVD player | mc0:/BREXEC-DVDPLAYER/dvdplayer.elf (or mc1:) is used for DVD Video when present |
| IGR helper (non-MMCE boots) | mcN:/BOOT/WLE-IGR.ELF; see IGR |
A memory card cannot hold Neutrino ISOs, POPStarter VCDs or Ember games (too small and not a supported backend), but it is a valid place for the Neutrino loader.
Limits
- PS2 card names are short (about 32 characters); a longer name must be shortened, or the save wrapped in a PSU.
- Directory and file operations on a card are slower than on USB. Large copies use small transfer chunks so the progress overlay can update; a call that blocks inside the IOP still cannot redraw until it returns.
- Folders recognised as exploit folders ask for confirmation before deletion or modification and cannot be renamed from the dashboard.
- Opening
mc1:while MX4SIO is the active stack resets the IOP back to the memory-card stack; copying directly between MX4SIO andmc1:is refused.
MMCE adapters in a slot
An SD2PSX or MemCard PRO2 in a slot also works as a normal memory card for games; its SD card is reached separately as MMCE Slot 1/2. See MMCE. MMCE and MX4SIO cannot be used in the same session without an IOP reset.
Troubleshooting
- Card shows “Not responding”. Re-seat the card, then open it. If you recently used MX4SIO, wait for the IOP reset to finish.
- Free space looks wrong. The bar compares to an 8 MB card; larger third-party cards report MB only.
- Save titles show as file names. Switch the browser’s Show mode to a game-title view.
- Everything on mc1 vanished after SD use. Slot 2 belongs to MX4SIO while that stack is active; open the card again to restore it.