Install & First Boot
RIPTOPL.ELF is a single self-contained executable — no installer, no registry,
no driver. Drop it where your PS2 boot method expects an ELF and you are done with the install step. This page covers exactly what to download, where to put it, what happens the first time it runs, and what the opinionated defaults mean for you.
What is RIPTOPL.ELF?
RiptOPL is a downstream fork of Open PS2 Loader compiled to a single PS2 ELF binary. The standard build includes everything in one file — GSM video-mode handling, in-game screenshots (IGS), DS3/DS4 pad emulation (PADEMU), Virtual Memory Cards (VMC), PS2RD cheats, and parental controls. There are no per-feature variant builds to choose between; the one ELF does it all. DualSense / DualShock 5 (USB) support is the only optional extra, compiled in separately with make DUALSENSE=1 — check the Releases page for the current variant availability.
settings_riptopl.cfg — a different filename from canonical OPL's conf_opl.cfg and from wOPL's config. That means RiptOPL, OPL, and wOPL can all sit on the same memory card without touching each other's settings. Everything else in the OPL/ folder — cover art, themes, VMCs, per-game configs (CFG/), and the favourites.bin star list — is shared across all builds that understand those formats.
Release channels
RiptOPL ships from two channels. Both are built by the same CI pipeline and produce the same package format; the only difference is stability vs. recency.
| Channel | Tag | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Rolling pre-release | rolling |
Latest code from master, rebuilt on every push. Best for eager testers who want new features as they land. May be unstable — release notes flag when the bleeding-edge toolchain build failed. |
| Tagged release | v* (e.g. v1.2.0-Beta-…) |
Curated, known-good versions cut manually from a tag. Use these for a stable production install. |
See Releases for the full asset listing, checksums, and pull instructions. The short version: download the RIPTOPL-<sdk>-<rel>-<sha>.zip installable package, unzip it, and use the APP_RIPTOPL/RIPTOPL.ELF inside.
What is inside the installable zip?
The RIPTOPL-<sdk>-<rel>-<sha>.zip package contains:
APP_RIPTOPL/RIPTOPL.ELF— built with theps2dev/ps2dev:latest(bleeding-edge) toolchain.APP_RIPTOPL-OLDSDK/RIPTOPL.ELF— built with the pinned/stableps2max/devtoolchain. Use this if the latest build has a regression.POPSTARTER/andPOPS/folders — structure for PS1 support.POPS.ELF(the PS1 emulator) is a Sony binary and is not distributed here.POPSTARTER.ELFis a third-party community launcher, also not distributed here. These folders are not strictly empty placeholders: the release may bundle SMB and BDMA module variants in them (see the VCD / PS1 docs).neutrino_*.7z— the bundled Neutrino external core archive used by the network-boot (UDPBD/UDPFS) subsystem (pre-populated with the UDPFS config). It is not the target of the Neutrino ELF Path setting; per-game Neutrino requires a separateneutrino.elfon a memory card.SHA256SUMS.txt— hashes of every binary in the release.
The bare RIPTOPL-<version>.ELF files (both toolchains) are also published separately if you only want to drop a fresh ELF over an existing install.
Getting RIPTOPL.ELF onto your PS2
RiptOPL requires a way to boot unsigned ELFs on the PS2. The two most common are FreeMcBoot (FMCB) on a memory card and FreeDVDBoot / FHDB on an internal HDD. Any method that can launch an ELF works.
1. Download the package
Go to the Releases page and grab either the latest rolling pre-release or the most recent v* tagged release. Download the RIPTOPL-*.zip installable package and unzip it locally.
2. Copy RIPTOPL.ELF to your boot location
Use the ELF from APP_RIPTOPL/RIPTOPL.ELF inside the zip. Where it goes depends on your boot method:
- FMCB — copy
RIPTOPL.ELFto a folder on a USB drive, memory card, or SMB share, then add a FMCB menu entry pointing to it. A common convention ismass:/APPS/RIPTOPL/RIPTOPL.ELFormc0:/RIPTOPL/RIPTOPL.ELF. - FHDB — copy into an HDD partition the same way FHDB expects its launch targets.
- Other launchers — place the ELF wherever that launcher is configured to find it; RiptOPL has no path requirements of its own.
The ELF filename itself does not matter to RiptOPL, only to your launcher's menu entry.
3. (Optional) Place the Neutrino archive
The bundled neutrino_*.7z is only needed for network boot (UDPBD/UDPFS), where it is used by the network-boot subsystem (pre-populated with the UDPFS config) — you do not place it manually or point the Neutrino ELF Path at it. For per-game Neutrino launching you supply neutrino.elf separately: place it at mc0:NEUTRINO/neutrino.elf or mc1:NEUTRINO/neutrino.elf (or set Neutrino Device / Neutrino ELF Path to a custom location) after first boot. See Neutrino Core.
4. Prepare your storage device
OPL expects a specific folder layout on whichever device(s) you plan to load games from. You do not need to create these by hand — RiptOPL will auto-create them on first boot — but it helps to know what they are:
DVD/ ← DVD5 and DVD9 ISO images CD/ ← CD-based game images (blue-bottom discs) ART/ ← cover art images CFG/ ← per-game settings files VMC/ ← Virtual Memory Card images THM/ ← themes LNG/ ← language / translation files CHT/ ← PS2RD cheat files APPS/ ← homebrew ELF files
For the APA/PFS internal HDD, OPL uses hdd0:__common/OPL/ for the non-game folders. For exFAT HDD (BDMAssault) and all other folder-based devices (USB, MMCE, MX4SIO, iLink, SMB), the folders live at the root of the device.
DVD/, ART/, etc. manually — just enable the device, save settings, and the directories will appear.
First boot walkthrough
Launch RIPTOPL.ELF
Boot through FMCB, FHDB, or your chosen launcher. The first thing you will see is the Coverflow theme — RiptOPL's built-in cover-art carousel. The game lists will be empty until you enable a device and have games in the right folders.
Enable your device
Navigate to Settings → Device Settings. Enable the storage device(s) you want to use. USB is already on by default — if you have a USB drive with games in DVD/ and CD/, it will appear immediately. For SMB, HDD, MMCE, MX4SIO, iLink, or network boot, enable the corresponding toggle and fill in any required details (IP address for SMB/network boot, etc.).
Save settings
Go to Settings → Save Changes (or the equivalent save action in the settings screen). This writes settings_riptopl.cfg to the config path and auto-creates the device folders. From this point on, RiptOPL remembers your preferences across boots.
Launch a game
Back on the main list, your games appear under the device tabs. Highlight a title and press Cross (or Circle for Japanese-layout controllers — the confirm button follows standard OPL behavior and is configurable). The game boots via OPL's built-in core by default. To use Neutrino instead, open Game Settings → Loader Core → Neutrino for that title. See Per-game Settings.
Opinionated defaults
Unlike upstream OPL — which ships with most features off and expects you to enable them — RiptOPL boots with a set of opinionated defaults that are on from the very first launch, before you have saved any settings. You can change any of them under Settings at any time.
| Setting | Default | Where to change |
|---|---|---|
| Widescreen (16:9) | ON | Display Settings |
| Cover art display | ON | Display Settings |
| Notifications (popups) | ON | Display Settings |
| PS2 logo on boot | ON | Display Settings |
| Sound effects (SFX) | ON (volume 80) | Audio Settings |
| Boot sound | ON (volume 80) | Audio Settings |
| BGM (background music) | OFF | Audio Settings |
| USB device | Enabled | Device Settings |
| iLink, MX4SIO, exFAT HDD, UDPBD | OFF | Device Settings |
| Device start mode (all tabs) | Manual | Device Settings |
| Video mode | Auto (0) | Display Settings / GSM |
| Default theme | <Coverflow> (built-in) | Theme Settings |
| Delete/rename games | Enabled | General Settings |
| Visual GameID barcode | OFF | Display Settings |
| UDPBD/UDPFS network boot | OFF | Device Settings |
Config file: settings_riptopl.cfg
RiptOPL saves its master config as settings_riptopl.cfg. This is a renamed, private config that coexists on the same memory card or device as canonical OPL (conf_opl.cfg) and wOPL without either build touching the other's settings.
If you previously used an older RiptOPL build that saved as conf_riptopl.cfg, the new build automatically migrates your settings the next time it saves — you do not need to rename anything manually.
The config file is discovered and written in this priority order (first found wins on read; saves always go back to the same path it was read from):
- The memory card (
mc0:ormc1:) — the default initial path - If not found on the memory card, OPL falls back in a fixed sequence: the
config.pathredirect pointer file in the current working directory (the Krah bootstrap — it stores the directory of the last saved config and is rewritten on every save) - then
mc0:/mc1:explicitly, then the boot device (mass:orhdd:), then MMCE, then BDM devices, then the BDM/internal HDD (hdd0:__common/OPL/)
Everything else — cover art (ART/), themes (THM/), VMC images (VMC/), per-game config files (CFG/), and favourites.bin — lives in the shared OPL/ folder structure and is read and written by any OPL-family build that understands those formats. RiptOPL will import an existing favourites.bin from wOPL or uOPL on first launch.