Known issues at a glance
The recurring POPStarter / POPSLoader problems and their fixes, in one place — each row links to the page that documents it in full. For the longer Q&A and the recovered known-bugs pages, see FAQ & known bugs.
A consolidated index of the recurring problems and their fixes — each row links to the page with the full detail.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
| Black screen on IGR / exit (after a game runs) | An incompatible BOOT.ELF sits in the exit chain. | Disable the ELF loader with stock PATCH_9.BIN, or replace/recompress BOOT.ELF. details → |
| Black screen + stuck HDD LED launching an HDD ELF from OPL’s Apps page | OPL is waiting on a network/BDM/SMB device left on Auto. | Set the OPL devices you don’t use to Manual or Off. details → |
| Expected 240p but got 480i / 576i | $HDTVFIX is active (config byte $412 or in CHEATS.TXT). | Remove $HDTVFIX — it forces interlaced output for displays that reject 240p/288p. details → |
| USB drive not detected | USB access delay too low, or a poor format. | Raise config byte $413 ($USBDELAY_# only patches streaming, not detection); use FAT32/exFAT with 32K–64K clusters. details → |
| exFAT USB not detected | BDM modules not renamed. | Place usbd.irx / usbhdfsd.irx in mc?:/POPSTARTER (BDMA); keep an internal HDD on APA/PFS. details → |
| Cheats do nothing | Lowercase CHEATS.TXT on a PFS volume, or raw codes with no $SAFEMODE. | Use an UPPERCASE CHEATS.TXT; put $SAFEMODE on the first line for raw GameShark/AR codes. details → |
| A game’s CHEATS / VMC / fixes are ignored | The per-game support folder name includes .VCD or uses the display title. | Name the folder exactly the VCD basename (no .VCD); on HDD keep per-game fixes under __common/POPS. details → |
| SMB share ignored / won’t connect | Typos: IPCONFIG.DAY / SMBCONFIG.DAY / poweroff.irc, or wrong case. | Use .DAT and poweroff.irx with correct case. details → |
| SMB black screen / won’t launch | Missing SB. prefix, or smb: vs smb0: mismatch. | Use SB.<Game>.ELF; try the smb0: form on newer OPL betas. details → |
| SMB boots but saves fail | The share is read-only / guest has no write access. | Grant write access so POPStarter can create SLOT0.VMC / SLOT1.VMC. details → |
| Modern Windows / NAS unreachable over SMB | SMB1/CIFS disabled, guest blocked, or port 445 closed. | Enable SMB1 on an isolated network, or use a dedicated writable PS2 share. details → |
| HDD returns to Browser / can’t find VCDs | The __.POPS partition is missing its dot or has the wrong case (or a +__.POPS was created). | Use exactly hdd0:/__.POPS/ (VCDs) + hdd0:/__common/POPS/ (common files). details → |
| A POPS0–POPS9 game boots without its patches/handlers | Support files live only in the main POPS folder. | Copy BIOS.BIN, PATCH_#.BIN, TROJAN_#.BIN, VMCDIR.TXT into each POPS# folder (keep POPS_IOX.PAK + IGR textures in main). details → |
| OPL Apps entry missing / launches nothing | Saved as title.cfg.txt, wrong APPS folder, or a boot= mismatch. | Save a plain title.cfg beside the ELF; boot= must match the ELF name. details → |
Final-build behavior (e.g. $IGR5, byte meanings) doesn’t match | An older RIP/WIP build is in use. | Use Rev 13 Beta 2019/06/05 — the canonical final public build. details → |
| SMB shows debug / status text | SMB mode forces startup status text — it is not a "wrong build" signal. | Ignore it; don’t chase a debug build. details → |
| Multi-disc swap / shared VMC fails | DISCS.TXT / VMCDIR.TXT misplaced or wrong filenames. | DISCS.TXT in every disc folder; VMCDIR.TXT in the later-disc folders, with exact VCD names. details → |
| POPSLoader: hangs or black-screens at startup | A stray .irx driver in the folder POPSLoader boots from. It loads every .irx beside the ELF, and one that waits on hardware you do not have will hang the boot. | Move loose .irx files out of that folder, or keep them in an IRX/ subfolder. Most likely if you run from a downloads folder or under an emulator. details → |
| POPSLoader fork: USB / MX4SIO / MMCE games missing | BDMA disabled, wrong mode, or mc0 missing. | Use mc0, enable BDMA, and select only the device mode you actually use. details → |
| No saves to a physical PS1 memory card | POPStarter is VMC-only (per-game virtual cards). | Use the per-game VMC; physical-card saving isn’t supported. details → |
| Only two controllers are recognized | No multitap support. | Only the first two pads work. (by design) |