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Setup Storage Reference Archive

BDM / exFAT

How BDM Assault adds exFAT USB support to POPStarter through driver substitution, and what it does not change.

BDM Assault is driver substitution#

BDM Assault gives exFAT USB support to older closed-source PS2 homebrew that can load external USB drivers. For POPStarter, that means replacing the USB driver filenames POPStarter looks for on memory card. It is not native POPStarter exFAT support, and it is not internal HDD exFAT support.

POPStarter placement#

bdm_assault.irx -> mc?:/POPSTARTER/usbd.irx
usbd_bd_assault.irx -> mc?:/POPSTARTER/usbhdfsd.irx

The destination names are lower-case in the POPStarter folder because POPStarter is looking for those external driver names.

FreeMcBoot placement#

bdm_assault.irx -> mc?:/SYS-CONF/USBD.IRX
usbd_bd_assault.irx -> mc?:/SYS-CONF/USBHDFSD.IRX

This helps FreeMcBoot-side USB behavior. It does not replace the POPStarter-specific placement above when POPStarter needs its own external USB drivers.

Practical checks#

  • Use the BDM files from the BDM Assault project; do not rename unrelated USB drivers and expect exFAT to work.
  • Keep the normal POPStarter USB layout after the driver substitution: VCDs and support folders still live under mass:/POPS/.
  • For POPSLoader fork non-HDD devices, the fork notes say BDMA is required and only one BDMA mode can be active at once.
  • If FAT32 works and exFAT does not, debug the BDM module placement before changing the POPStarter game layout.