POPSLoader — the modern launcher
POPSLoader is a menu-driven front-end for POPStarter: a Lua UI on the Enceladus runtime that lists your PS1 games with cover art and launches them — while adding device backends stock POPStarter never had. It is the project this documentation site lives in, maintained by Ripto / NathanNeurotic.
ℹ How it relates to POPStarter
POPSLoader wraps the same POPS emulator and POPSTARTER.ELF documented across the rest of this site — think of it as the friendly launcher layer on top. Everything in the POPStarter reference applies underneath.What it adds over stock POPStarter
- Cover-art game browser — a console-style menu of your PS1 library instead of renamed ELFs.
- Modern storage — pick your device with BDMA Mode: FAT32 or exFAT USB, MX4SIO, MMCE (SD2PSX / MemCard PRO2), plus the APA internal HDD.
- Boots from anywhere — memory card, MMCE, MX4SIO, or USB.
- In-launcher settings — video standard, BDM mode, boot page, per-device game lists, hidden games.
- Multi-disc collapse, launch arguments, and HDD game-list caching.
ℹ Supported devices & status
Working today: internal HDD (APA/PFS), USB (FAT32 & exFAT via BDMA), MX4SIO, MMCE (SD2PSX / MemCard PRO2), and physical disc (DKWDRV). Wired but not yet hardware-tested: HDD-exFAT (BDM “ATA”), iLink, UDPBD/UDPFS, and SMB v1 — see the full device matrix. Live status & known issues live in STATE.Project documentation
The living docs for the POPSLoader codebase. Rendered straight from the repository.
README — OverviewREADME.md · 22 KBSTATE — status, invariants & known issuesSTATE.md · 29 KBArchitectureARCHITECTURE.md · 42 KBComponentsCOMPONENTS.md · 29 KBDesign decisionsDECISIONS.md · 75 KBRoadmapROADMAP.md · 14 KBRolling notesROLLING_NOTES.md · 10 KBQA regression matrixQA_REGRESSION_MATRIX.md · 71 KBTestingTESTING.md · 9 KBContributingCONTRIBUTING.md · 12 KBLaunch argumentsdocs/LAUNCH_ARGUMENTS.md · 7 KBPreservation contractsdocs/PRESERVATION_CONTRACTS.md · 37 KB