VMC and Handler Files

Virtual memory card basics#

• SLOT0.VMC and SLOT1.VMC are the normal per-game VMC files.
• $NOVMC0 and $NOVMC1 can disable individual virtual slots when a game or test requires that behavior.
• SMB shares must be writable because POPStarter creates and updates VMC files over the network.
• For multi-disc games, use VMCDIR.TXT in later-disc folders to point saves back to disc 1's VMC folder.

POPS folder priority#

USB split folders and HDD common folders are easy to misread. POPS_IOX.PAK and IGR textures can live in the main POPS folder, while per-game handlers and compatibility files often need to be copied into the specific folder being launched from.

BIOS and OSD handlers#

The recovered wiki coverage separates BIOS handler and OSD handler behavior. Keep those files as explicit per-game experiments, not global defaults. If both handler names appear in a source, preserve the source-specific priority note instead of guessing.

The recovered VMC/handler notes flag OSD.BIN and BIOS.BIN precedence as important enough to track. This site keeps it as a handler topic until package-level inspection confirms every edge case.

IGR textures#

IGR texture loading is part of the later POPStarter line. Texture files such as IGR_BG.TM2 belong to presentation, not compatibility. POPSLoader packages can also include similarly named texture patch artifacts, so keep texture files separate from compatibility PATCH_#.BIN meaning.