PS1 Games

RiptOPL can list and launch your PlayStation 1 games right alongside your PS2 library, on the same device. It does this through two cores — POPSTARTER for *.VCD images and Ember for game folders containing *.cue, *.bin, or *.exe discs. Ordinary devices merge both into one PS1 list. Neither uses OPL's built-in core or Neutrino, so this is a self-contained path with its own storage layout and settings.

The two are interleaved and sorted as one library, so a game you keep for both cores simply appears twice. Which core runs a title is a property of that row, decided when you launch it — there is nothing to configure and no third toggle.

PS2 and PS1 libraries on each device

Every supported game page holds a PS2 list and a PS1 list:

• its PS2 games (ISO / ZSO / UL format), and
• its PS1 games — POPSTARTER *.VCD images and Ember *.cue titles together, in one list.

PS2/PS1 Game Display controls whether these are separate L3-switched views, a combined list with filters, or one locked library. They remain views of the same device page — with the same covers, favorites, and per-game settings — rather than separate device tabs.

PS2/PS1 Game Display

The same picker appears on both Settings → Interface and Settings → PS Emulation Settings. They edit one value:

APPS and Favorites do not inherit this setting. Favorites always has its independent PS2 → PS1 → ELF → All in One ring, opening on PS2. Applications Display either keeps all ELFs in one inert Mixed list or splits Apps / titles containing [PS1] (case-insensitive) across L3; either side still launches an ordinary ELF. Switching back to an L3-enabled device mode restores each device page's retained position.

How PS1 games launch

A PS1 row carries its own core. A *.VCD row boots through POPSTARTER.ELF; an Ember row boots through ember.elf. Neither ever uses OPL's built-in core or Neutrino, so on any PS1 game the per-game Loader Core selector is an inert label and changing it has no effect. The same applies to GSM, Cheats, PADEMU and the other PS2-specific per-game options — neither PS1 core reads them.

POPSTARTER only needs the VCD's name to do its job. RiptOPL hands it the selected title and POPSTARTER locates the matching *.VCD file itself. Ember is handed the name of the game folder and finds its own disc image inside it.

For an iLink VCD, RiptOPL uses the same local block-device handoff as USB and MX4SIO: mass:/POPS/XX.<game>.ELF. The normal XX. filename rules therefore apply unchanged.

POPSTARTER.ELF path

By default RiptOPL looks for POPSTARTER.ELF in each device's POPS folder. To pin it to one device instead, set Settings → PS Emulation Settings → POPSTARTER.ELF Device — Default, Memory Card, USB, MX4SIO, MMCE, HDD (exFAT), HDD (APA), Custom, Game's Device, or iLink. The free-text POPSTARTER.ELF Path field below it only appears when the Device is set to Custom. The on-screen editor caps at 31 characters; for a longer path set popstarter_path in settings_riptopl.cfg directly.

Ember — the second PS1 core

Ember is created by Gageformer. It is an independent PlayStation 1 emulator written from scratch for the PS2, bundled unmodified under the Ember Public Beta Testing Licence. That licence ships in the release package as EMBER/LICENSE-BETA.txt and governs the build it accompanies; please read it. In short: free to use and to bundle non-commercially, no selling, and no modifying or repackaging the build.

Setting Ember up

The release package contains a ready-made EMBER/ folder. Copy it to the root of a device, right beside POPS/. Then add your own PS1 BIOS as EMBER/bios.bin — it must be exactly 512 KB. A BIOS is copyrighted and is never distributed with RiptOPL or with Ember, so the folder ships with a placeholder file whose name reminds you. Give each game its own folder:

<device>:/EMBER/
    ember.elf
    bios.bin                       <- yours, 512 KB, not included
    settings.txt                   <- optional, see below
    games/
        Spyro 2 (Ripto's Rage)/
            whatever.cue
            whatever.bin

The folder name is what you see in the list, and it is also the key for cover art and per-game settings — so ART/Spyro 2 (Ripto's Rage)_COV.png on that device just works, exactly as it does for a *.VCD. Files inside can be named anything; .cue is preferred over .exe over .bin. Ember writes its per-game memory cards (MC1.vmc, MC2.vmc) into that same game folder, so it has to be on writable media.

Ember display mode

Ember can output 240p or 480p, and there is a setting for it at Settings → PS Emulation Settings → Ember Display Mode. Ember's settings.txt is an optional file and RiptOPL keeps it that way:

Any other lines in that file — comments, or keys a future Ember adds — are preserved throughout. Ember's own default is 480p, so leaving this on Default and having no file mean the same thing.

Device support

Ember titles are supported on USB, MX4SIO, iLink, exFAT-ATA, MMCE, SMB, APA/PFS HDD, UDPFS and UDPBD. Ordinary device pages merge Ember folders with their POPSTARTER rows; the two UDP network pages are Ember-only. A device with no EMBER/ library simply contributes no Ember rows, and every ordinary device's POPSTARTER library lists exactly as before.

Where to put your VCD files

exFAT support — the BDMA equip

POPSTARTER's stock driver handles ordinary USB FAT32. USB exFAT and the MX4SIO, MMCE, ATA and iLink transports need matching external block-device modules (the BDMAssault / "BDMA" drivers). RiptOPL equips them onto your memory card from Settings → PS Emulation Settings — you supply the module files, RiptOPL copies the right pair to mc?:/POPSTARTER/. VCD BDMA Apply on Launch ships On, so by default the matching pair is equipped automatically immediately before each VCD launch and the manual BDMA Source / BDMA Mode pickers stay hidden; turn it Off to equip by hand instead.

BDMA Mode

Shown only when VCD BDMA Apply on Launch is Off. Selects which driver variant POPSTARTER should use:

BDMA Source

Shown only when VCD BDMA Apply on Launch is Off — with it On the source is the game's own device family instead. Selects which device RiptOPL reads the module files from (the device whose POPS/ folder holds the variant you want to equip): USB, MX4SIO, MMCE, iLink, or Internal HDD. RiptOPL identifies the device by its block-device driver (usb / mx4sio / ata / ilink / mmce) and reads from that specific device, so pick the one your module files actually sit on. For an internally attached exFAT HDD choose Internal HDD — RiptOPL reads it from its mounted massN: root (the exFAT volume mounted through the BDM mass-device namespace, never a typed ata0: filesystem), so its POPS/usbd.irx.ata + POPS/usbhdfsd.irx.ata are found.

SMB is network-only, so the BDMA equip does not apply to it.

The equip step

PS1 over SMB

PS1 games on an SMB share need POPSTARTER's own network config (IPCONFIG.DAT + SMBCONFIG.DAT) on the memory card, plus its SMB modules. Edit those files from POPSTARTER Network Settings, on Settings → PS Emulation Settings or Settings → Network. The screen shows what the files on the memory card already contain, can import both from the connected share's POPS folder, and writes back only what you change. On a first setup, with neither file on the card, saving the SMB values writes IPCONFIG.DAT too, as DHCP unless a complete static IP is entered. See POPSTARTER Network Settings.

The SMB modules themselves ship in the release's POPS/ folder — copy them to mc?:/POPSTARTER/. If they are missing, an SMB VCD launch warns you rather than hanging silently.

Internal HDD — APA partitions and exFAT

The internal HDD supports PS1 games through two paths that coexist:

• APA/PFS partitions — the traditional POPS APA volumes (__.POPS, __.POPS0 … __.POPS9). RiptOPL scans all of them and lists their *.VCD files in the HDD device's PS1 view. No BDMA equip is needed here because POPSTARTER reads PFS natively.
• exFAT HDD (BDM) — enable Internal HDD (exFAT) in Game Sources. The exFAT volume mounts as a normal BDM block device (one of the massN: slots) and its POPS/ folder appears in the same PS1 view as USB. Equip the HDD (exFAT) BDMA mode so POPSTARTER can read back off the exFAT volume at launch time.

For the full HDD setup guide, including the APA/exFAT layout and how to enable BDM HDD, see Internal HDD (APA & exFAT).

Notes & limitations

• The PS1 view reuses the normal device pipeline, so covers, favorites, and the theme all work exactly as they do for disc games.
• POPSTARTER, every loose BDMA pair (including .ilink), and the POPS patch file ship as separate files in the release POPS/ folder — RiptOPL does not embed any of them.
• The per-game Loader Core, GSM, Cheats, PADEMU, and OSD options do not apply to PS1 games; POPSTARTER ignores them and the UI reflects this.
• SMB PS1 requires POPSTARTER's own network modules on the memory card in addition to the network config files.

POPSTARTER internals — sister site

The following topics are fully documented on the POPStarter docs site and are not re-documented here: