Getting Started

Want to play a PS1 game on your PS2 with POPStarter? Here is the whole thing start-to-finish, kept deliberately simple. The rest of the site is reference for when you want to go deeper.

The short version

Convert your PS1 disc to a .VCD, put it on the device you want to play from, and launch it — easiest with POPSLoader, the cover-art menu this site belongs to. POPSLoader's BDMA Mode setting is the device selector: it lets you play from FAT32 or exFAT USB, an MX4SIO SD adapter, an MMCE card (SD2PSX / MemCard PRO2), or the internal HDD — use whatever you have. The walkthrough below starts with a plain USB stick as the simplest case.

What you need

A PS2 with homebrew already installed (FreeMcBoot / FreeHDBoot) so it can run unsigned programs.
The POPS emulator file. POPS is Sony-copyrighted, so you supply it yourself — we can't host it. For USB you need POPS_IOX.PAK. Check yours against the MD5 on the Downloads page so you know it's the correct file.
POPSTARTER.ELF — the launcher itself (free homebrew). Get it from Downloads.
CUE2POPS — converts your game disc into the .VCD format POPStarter plays. Also on Downloads.
Your own PS1 game as a BIN/CUE backup of a disc you own.
A USB stick formatted FAT32 (for fussy, CD-streaming games, format it with 16 KB clusters).

Step 1 — Pick where your games live

POPSLoader plays from any of these — its BDMA Mode setting is the device selector. USB FAT32 is the easiest first step; every other device is the same flow with BDMA Mode set differently. (Internal HDD is the one device that doesn't use BDMA.) Full details in the device matrix.

Start here

USB — FAT32Simplest. BDMA Mode FAT32. No console surgery.

USB — exFATFor drives/files over FAT32's 4 GB limit. BDMA Mode USBEXFAT.

MX4SIOSD card in the memory-card slot (SIO2 adapter). BDMA Mode MX4SIO.

MMCESD2PSX / MemCard PRO2 emulator card. BDMA Mode MMCE.

Internal HDD — APA/PFSThe classic HDL/OPL format. Most space, fastest. No BDMA needed.

Internal HDD — exFATAn exFAT-formatted internal drive. BDMA Mode ATA (newly added).

Network (SMB)Stream from a PC share. Needs a network adapter.

The simple path — USB

Convert your game

Drag your game's .cue file onto CUE2POPS. Out comes YourGame.VCD — that's the disc image POPStarter plays. (A few games want a tweak — see the Compatibility notes — but most just work.)

If conversion fails or your game won't boot, open the .cue in a text editor and confirm the track line reads MODE2/2352 — a plain MODE1/2048 ISO rip won't convert. CUE2POPS is also what preserves CDDA audio tracks and multi-disc layouts.

Copy these onto the USB stick

mass:/POPS/POPS_IOX.PAK     ← the POPS emulator (you supply this)
mass:/POPS/POPSTARTER.ELF   ← the launcher
mass:/POPS/YourGame.VCD     ← your converted game
mass:/POPS/YourGame/        ← an EMPTY folder (holds the virtual memory card & saves)

mass:/ just means the root of the USB drive. The empty folder must match the VCD's name.

Launch it

Pick whichever launcher you have:

POPSLoader — the friendly menu GUI that lists your games with cover art (this is the project this site belongs to). Easiest if you want a "console-like" menu.
uLaunchELF (the uLE_kHn build) — opens a .VCD directly like a program.
OPL's APPS page — copy POPSTARTER.ELF, rename the copy XX.YourGame.ELF, and add a small title.cfg next to it. (The XX. prefix is required for USB.)

(Optional) tweak it

Want a cheat, or need a fix? Put a CHEATS.TXT — in UPPERCASE (this trips up a lot of people) — inside the game's folder, with $SAFEMODE on the first line. Picture wrong on an HDTV? Add $HDTVFIX. The Cheats and Troubleshooting pages have the rest.

Using a different device?

The convert → copy → launch flow above is the same on every device — set POPSLoader's BDMA Mode to match, then put the same POPS folder on that device:

USB exFAT — same as the USB steps above, just format exFAT and set BDMA Mode to USBEXFAT (needed for files/drives past FAT32's 4 GB limit).
MX4SIO (SD via the SIO2/memory-card slot) — set BDMA Mode to MX4SIO and copy the POPS/ folder onto the SD card. POPSLoader lists your games with cover art.
MMCE (SD2PSX / MemCard PRO2) — set BDMA Mode to MMCE and copy the POPS/ folder onto the card's storage.
Internal HDD (APA/PFS) — a different layout (POPS files go in __common, each game in its own __.POPS partition; no BDMA). Follow the HDD quickstart.
Internal HDD (exFAT) — format the internal drive exFAT and set BDMA Mode to ATA; then it works like the other mass devices (same POPS/ layout, XX. launch). Newly added.
Network (SMB) — add the IRX modules + two .DAT config files and use the SB. prefix. Follow the SMB quickstart.

The classic per-device file layouts (USB / HDD / SMB) are in these quickstart guides:

Quickstart USBfull wiki page Quickstart HDDfull wiki page Quickstart SMBfull wiki page

Stuck? The usual culprits

Cheat or fix doing nothing? The file must be named CHEATS.TXT in UPPERCASE, in the game's folder.
Game won't start from USB? Confirm POPS_IOX.PAK is in mass:/POPS/. A plain FAT32 drive needs nothing special; for an exFAT drive (or MX4SIO / MMCE) set POPSLoader's BDMA Mode to match — BDMA is what reaches every device except the internal HDD.
Green or blank screen on an HDTV? Add $HDTVFIX (or hex-edit config byte $412 from 0 to 1).
Kicked back to the file browser right after launching? Usually a wrong/old POPSTARTER.ELF or an incompatible BOOT.ELF — see Troubleshooting.

Full help on the Troubleshooting page.

Wait — what even is POPStarter? (the 60-second version)

POPStarter is a launcher, not an emulator. The actual PlayStation 1 emulation is done by POPS — a program Sony shipped on certain PS2/PSX consoles (which is why you have to supply it yourself). POPStarter takes your .VCD game, applies any cheats/patches, and hands it to POPS to run. POPSLoader (this project) is a modern, menu-driven front-end for all of it; its BDMA Mode setting also lets you play from exFAT USB, MX4SIO and MMCE — not just FAT32 USB and the HDD. Everything beyond this point on the site is the deep reference — dip in only when you need a specific answer.