Historical context, not an install recipe#
The POC2 / POPS-00001 era explains where POPStarter came from. It is not a recommendation to redistribute old packages, use unsafe repacks, or revive proprietary emulator bundles.
Short chronology#
- Sony's POPS emulator existed as part of the PS2 ecosystem and later became the base around which community launchers were studied.
- Early POC2 material circulated with instructions around HDD partitions and edited game dumps.
- Community bundles then appeared under POPS-00001-style naming, often mixed with hex-edited or unsafe repacks.
- POPStarter evolved as a launcher and patch layer so users did not have to keep relying on those crude early workflows.
- The final public POPStarter line is r13 Beta 2019/06/05, with later fix-pack/community work documented separately.
What changed from the early era#
| Early POC2-style concern | Modern documentation stance |
|---|---|
| Per-game HDD partitions and edited images. | Document legacy PP. and __. partition routes, but prefer clear modern __.POPS / __common/POPS recipes where supported. |
| Bundled proprietary emulator files. | Do not mirror or link binaries. Identify required files by role and verification hash only. |
| Risky repacks and old RIP/WIP confusion. | Use final r13 build identity as the public baseline and label old behavior by date/build. |
| Scattered compatibility folklore. | Separate built-in fixes, commands, patches, TROJAN files, and per-game community fixes. |
Why this matters#
Many wrong guides mix early POPS-00001 assumptions with final POPStarter behavior. That is how old config-byte meanings, pre-final IGR behavior, unsafe package references, and broken HDD recipes keep resurfacing. Historical material belongs in provenance, not in the default quick-start path.
| Date / label | Summary | Why it matters | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
WIP02 |
Added the 8-slot force-compatibility table and enabled IGR skin/IRX loaders by default. | Explains the $418-$41F config array and why IGR texture loading is a default r13 behavior. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) ShaolinAssassin POPStarter documentation wiki |
Beta 8 |
Added SMB, ps2host, and napLink backend work, and embedded the PFS wrapper. | SMB is a normal POPStarter feature from this line, not proof that a special debug-only build is required. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) ElOtroLado POPS emulator for PS2 thread (mention only) |
Beta 11 |
Added mc1 module fallback, SMB port selection, optional IPCONFIG.DAT behavior, and fixes for POPS# folder reads. | Documents why memory-card POPSTARTER folders can live on mc0 or mc1 and why POPS0..POPS9 support files matter. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) ElOtroLado POPS emulator for PS2 thread (mention only) |
Beta 12 |
Added $FORCEPAL, SMB authentication, and a working $SAFEMODE command. | Separates PAL-region forcing, SMB username/password lines, and raw-code timing behavior from earlier broken docs. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) ElOtroLado POPS emulator for PS2 thread (mention only) |
Beta 13 |
Added the mc0/mc1 BOOT.ELF exit chain, fixed cheat-engine hook+8 and $C0/$USBDELAY interactions, removed the old function skipper, and removed ps2host/napLink launchers. | Critical boundary for IGR exit behavior and the $412 correction: in r13, $412 is HDTVFIX, not the old function skipper. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) PSX-Place POPStarter page 15 - IGR and BOOT.ELF discussion |
Beta 15 |
Added CD-lid / DISCS.TXT multi-disc behavior and 480p calculations. | Explains DISCS.TXT/VMCDIR.TXT-era multi-disc handling and why 480p remains a compatibility-sensitive option. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) ShaolinAssassin POPStarter documentation wiki |
Beta 16 |
Integrated $IGR0 through $IGR5, $NOIGR, and $D2LS as CHEATS.TXT commands; repurposed $412 as HDTVFIX; added an untested software-reset combo. | Makes the CHEATS.TXT IGR commands canonical instead of requiring standalone TROJAN files for every IGR behavior. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) ElOtroLado POPS emulator for PS2 thread (mention only) |
Prototype 2 |
Added $42F value 0x04 as a diagnostic test mode. | The test mode disables normal auto fixes and should not be recommended for normal play. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) |
r13 Beta final public build |
Final public r13 build; recovered history says $IGR5 was fixed in this last build. | This is the canonical package identity to prefer over old RIP/WIP builds. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) Retro-Jogos POPStarter guide home PSX-Place POPStarter release thread |
TROJAN_7.BIN r7 fix pack |
Recovered history identifies this as the last public fix-pack line. | Keep TROJAN_7 as a per-game fix-pack family, separate from IGR TROJAN_0..5 and compatibility PATCH_7 discussion. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) Hugopocked fixes for POPStarter |
uLE_kHn loader-address fix |
uLE_kHn moved loader.elf to 0x00092000 to avoid kernel corruption. | Explains why later uLE_kHn packages are referenced in modern direct-VCD launch workflows. | POPSLoader recovered POPStarter documentation site (mention only) ElOtroLado POPS emulator for PS2 thread (mention only) |