ps2build C++ migration
This repository is the C++/ps2build transition of RiptOPL. These guides include the production project's full documentation; feature and hardware parity are still being validated. The release targets are Korium, RetroAchievements and IncebtIon, all on ps2build. Check the migration ledger before treating an imported production feature as verified here.
Settings Reference
For initial values and saved-setting overrides, see Fresh-start defaults.
Every settings screen in RiptOPL, in the order the loader shows them. Each table lists the rows exactly as they are labelled on screen, with their values and what they do. Rows that open another screen are marked [sub-screen]. Per-game options are on the Per-game Settings page.
Where settings live
RiptOPL's master settings use settings_riptopl.cfg (with migration from
conf_riptopl.cfg). That filename is separate from stock OPL's master config, but
conf_network.cfg, app lists, per-game configuration and support files can still be shared.
Favorites import from uOPL/wOPL is one-way: the next write saves RiptOPL's own OFAV
format to favourites.bin, which those loaders cannot read back. Keep an original copy if
you use them too. The settings home follows boot-directory discovery or Custom Settings Path;
do not assume it is always mc0:/OPL/.i Page return retention
Opening Start or Settings remembers the game/source page you paused on. Returning keeps that page
selected while it is still visible; RiptOPL falls back to the first visible page only when the old
page was disabled or removed.The Settings screen
Settings on the Start menu opens a screen titled Settings that lists eight pages, then Save Changes.
| Page | What is on it |
|---|---|
| Game Sources | Which devices are enabled and how each one starts; MMCE Settings |
| General & System | Last-played, folders, IGR path, settings home, Write Operations, the parental lock, prefix paths, caches |
| Network | Protocol, the PS2's address, the SMB and HTTP servers, POPSTARTER's network files |
| Interface | Game display, theme, Coverflow, artwork, colours, language, screen position |
| Game Launching | PS2 logo, default core, OSD and GSM defaults, Neutrino defaults |
| PS Emulation Settings | POPSTARTER and Ember, the PS1 list, BDMA driver equip |
| Controller Settings | Scrolling, confirm button, stick sensitivity, menu vibration, pad emulation |
| Audio Settings | Sound effects, boot sound, background music |
- Cross opens a page. On a page, L1 and R1 move to the previous and next page (wrapping round), and OK or Cancel return to the Index.
- Save Changes writes everything to storage. Leaving the Index with Circle or Start after changing something asks whether to save first.
Game Sources
Which storage devices are enabled, and when each one starts. Every device ships Off, so a first boot lands on the Start menu with no tabs: enable exactly the devices your console has. The network protocol and addresses are on the Network page; prefix paths and cache sizes are on General & System.
Devices and start modes
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Default Menu | BDM Games / ETH Games / HDD Games / Apps / MMCE / Favorites | Which tab is shown first on boot. Default Apps. ETH Games means the network: it opens whichever page the chosen Protocol puts its games on (the UDPFS or HTTP page, or for UDPBD / UDPFS IMG the network drive's page if it has attached by the time the menu appears). |
| HDD (APA) Start Mode | Off / Manual / Auto | OPL's native APA/PFS HDD mode. Coexists with Internal HDD (exFAT): one shared ata_bd stack serves both, and each drive is matched by its partition layout at mount time (APA is refused on an MBR/GPT/exFAT disk). See Internal HDD. |
| MMCE Start Mode | Off / Manual / Auto | Startup mode for MMCE (SD2PSX / MemCard PRO2) game loading. See MMCE. |
| MMCE Settings | [sub-screen] | Slot, IGR bootcard, GameID and timing options for MMCE. See MMCE Settings below. |
| BDM Devices Start Mode | Off / Manual / Auto | Startup mode for the Block Device Manager, which serves the four rows below. Auto starts immediately; Manual waits until you open the tab; Off registers no mass-device tab at all. |
| Internal HDD (exFAT) | Off / On | The internal HDD formatted exFAT (MBR or GPT), mounted through BDM as an HDD Games tab. See Internal HDD. |
| USB | Off / On | The USB mass-storage driver. See USB / MX4SIO / iLink. |
| MX4SIO | Off / On | The MX4SIO SD-card adapter driver. |
| iLink | Off / On | The iLink (IEEE 1394) mass-storage driver. |
| Network Connectivity | Off / Manual / Auto | Whether and when the network stack starts. Off (the default) leaves the network adapter alone; Manual waits until you open the tab; Auto starts immediately. What it connects to is the Protocol row below it. |
| Protocol | SMB / UDPFS / UDPBD / HTTP | Indented under Network Connectivity. The same setting as Network → Protocol: changing it on either page changes both. Greyed while Connectivity is Off; the protocol you chose is kept and comes back when you turn Connectivity on again. Access (Files / IMG) stays on the Network page. |
| Applications Page Start Mode | Off / Manual / Auto | Startup mode for the Apps tab. See Apps. |
| Favorites Page Start Mode | Off / Manual / Auto | Startup mode for the Favorites tab. Off hides the tab. See Favorites. |
MMCE Settings
Opened from MMCE Settings on Game Sources. Settings for SD2PSX / MemCard PRO2 adapters; see MMCE for full detail.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| MMCE Slot | 0 / 1 / Auto | Which memory-card slot the MMCE adapter is in. |
| IGR Bootcard Slot(s) | NONE / 0 / 1 / BOTH | Slot(s) sent the "switch to bootcard" command on an in-game reset. See In-Game Reset. |
| Send GameID on Launch | Off / On | Sends the Game ID to the MMCE adapter when a game launches, for adapters that switch memory-card profiles by game. |
| Wait cycles after /ACK low | 0–5 | Extra wait cycles after the /ACK signal goes low. Lower values may improve performance but can make some adapters unstable. |
| Use timeout alarms | OFF / ON | MMCE timeout alarms. Off may help performance, but a timeout then freezes instead of failing cleanly. |
| MMCE Prefix Path | text (path) | Subfolder on the MMCE card that holds the OPL folder tree, instead of the card root. |
General & System
One page: general behaviour first, then Write Operations and the parental lock, then prefix paths and cache sizes.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Remember Last Played Game | Off / On | Pre-selects the last launched game on the next boot. Off by default. |
| Auto Start | 0–9 (seconds) | Launches the last played game after this many seconds. Shown only when Remember Last Played Game is on; 0 disables the countdown. |
| Browse Folders in Game List | Off / On | Shows subfolders of CD/ and DVD/ as browsable entries. Off by default, and not supported on every device; see Folder browsing. |
| Language | installed languages | UI language. The same setting as on Interface. |
| IGR Path | text (path) | An ELF to boot after an in-game reset, instead of exiting to the PS2 browser; give it RiptOPL's own ELF to come back to RiptOPL. Keep it on the memory card (mc0:/mc1:) or a FAT32 USB drive (mass:/…): the post-reset loader cannot reach MMCE, so for MMCE chain through a memory-card loader such as PS2BBL. A USB path needs USBD.IRX and USBHDFSD.IRX in the card's SYS-CONF folder; if they are missing, RiptOPL offers to copy them the first time you launch a game on the OPL core from the menu (Auto Loading launches can't ask), and without them the reset drops to the PS2 browser. See In-Game Reset. |
| Custom Settings Path | text (path) | Saves settings to a folder you choose, for example mass0:/OPL. Blank uses the folder RiptOPL booted from. The device is loaded on demand, so it need not be mounted when you type the path. |
| GSM Defaults (All Games) | [sub-screen] | The global GSM video settings every game inherits unless it sets its own. Also on Interface and Game Launching. See GSM Video Modes. |
| Write Operations | Off / On | Allows RiptOPL to rename and delete titles and create VMC images. On by default. It never allows edits to an APA partition table; see Disk safety. |
| Parental Lock Password | text (password) | Blank disables the lock. See Parental lock below. |
| Debug Colors | Off / On | Coloured debug overlays, for developers. Off by default. |
| BDM Prefix Path | text (path) | Subfolder that holds the OPL folder tree on BDM devices (USB, MX4SIO, iLink, exFAT HDD), instead of the drive root. See BDM Prefix. |
| ETH Prefix Path | text (path) | The same for an SMB share. See SMB. |
| HDD Spindown | 0–20 (minutes) | Spins the internal HDD down after this many idle minutes. 0 disables it. Default 20. |
| Cache Game List (HDD APA) | Off / On | Caches the APA HDD game list to speed up later scans. Off by default. |
| BDM Cache | 0–32 | Read-ahead cache size in sectors for BDM devices. Default 16. Larger values can smooth streaming but use more IOP RAM. |
| HDD Cache | 0–32 | Read-ahead cache size for the APA HDD. Default 8. |
| SMB Cache | 0–32 | Read-ahead cache size for SMB. Default 16. |
Folder browsing
With Browse Folders in Game List on, subfolders of CD/ and DVD/ appear in
the list as browsable entries instead of the loader flattening everything into one long list. It is
off by default.
- Folder rows sort to the top of the list, ahead of games, and are drawn with a trailing
/. Within each group, entries sort by title. - Select opens a folder; the cancel button goes back up a level. (Which face button that is depends on your Select button setting — see Controls.)
- A folder row has no info page and no per-game settings, so Square and Triangle do nothing on one.
Supported devices only
Folder browsing works on BDM devices (USB, MX4SIO, iLink, exFAT HDD), MMCE, and
UDPFS in Files mode. It does not apply to the APA/PFS HDD or the PS1/VCD list, which do not scan
a CD/DVD directory tree at all, nor to the UDPFS block device. SMB is not
supported yet — its paths use a different separator and it is deliberately deferred. Turning the setting
on simply has no effect on those pages.Parental lock
Set a password in Parental Lock Password and save. Leave the field blank to disable the lock. An invalid password, such as the master override itself, is rejected.
What the lock actually gates
The parental lock guards configuration and destructive actions, not game launching. Anyone can still start any game on the list. What is behind the password:
- Settings and the per-game / per-app settings screens (Triangle on a title)
- Rename and Delete on a game entry
- Network compatibility update and Start NBD Server
It is not a content filter
If your aim is to stop a particular game being played, the parental lock will not do it — it stops the
library being changed, not played.Setting, using and clearing it
To set one, enter a password in the field above and save. To remove one, clear the field and save — RiptOPL confirms with "Parental lock disabled."
Entering the correct password unlocks for the rest of the session: RiptOPL stops asking until the next restart, so you are not re-prompted between one settings screen and the next.
The master override disables the lock, it does not just unlock it
Entering the master override at the prompt does not grant one-time access — it deletes the stored password
and writes the config immediately, showing "Parental lock disabled." After that there is no lock at
all until you set a new one. The master password also cannot be chosen as your own: trying to set it is
rejected with "Error - this password cannot be used."Network
What the network stack connects to. Whether it starts at all is Network Connectivity on Game Sources. Rows that do not apply to the selected protocol are greyed or hidden.
Protocol and PS2 address
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol | SMB / UDPFS / UDPBD / HTTP | Also shown, indented under Network Connectivity, on Game Sources; it is one setting. Only one protocol can own the network adapter in a session. First activation can start live; changing an already loaded protocol needs a restart. UDPFS and UDPBD need a static PS2 IP. See Network Boot and HTTP. |
| Access | Files / IMG | Files serves loose ISOs from a folder (-bsd=udpfs); IMG serves a disk image as a block device (-bsd=udpfsbd). Only UDPFS lets you choose: SMB and HTTP lock it to Files, UDPBD to IMG. |
| SMB Version | SMBv1 / SMB2 | Which SMB dialect to speak. SMBv1 is the default. Greyed unless Protocol is SMB, but the value is kept. Applies to browsing and in-game reading, from the next boot. See SMB. |
| Advanced Options | Off / On | Makes Ethernet Link Mode and the SMB Port editable. On by default in RiptOPL. |
| Ethernet Link Mode | Auto / 100Mbit Full-duplex / 100Mbit Half-duplex / 10Mbit Full-duplex / 10Mbit Half-duplex | Forces a link speed and duplex. Auto negotiates. |
| IP Address Type | Static / DHCP | How the PS2 gets its address. UDPBD and UDPFS require Static: they do not use the SMB stack, so DHCP is never resolved for them. While either is the Protocol, this row is locked to Static with the address fields enabled; your DHCP choice is kept as the SMB/HTTP preference and comes back when you switch protocol. |
| IP Address | four octets | The PS2's static IP address. |
| Mask | four octets | Subnet mask. |
| Gateway | four octets | Default gateway. |
| DNS Server | four octets | DNS server address. |
SMB Server
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Address Type | IP / NetBIOS | Whether the server is addressed by IP or by NetBIOS name. |
| Address | text or four octets | Server IP or NetBIOS hostname. |
| Port | 0–65535 (default 1111) | SMB port. RiptOPL defaults to 1111 (was 445); the server and client must match. PS2 Servers currently defaults to 1111; enter the protocol-specific value its launcher displays. Standard Samba/native shares commonly use 445. |
| Share | text (default games) | Share name on the server. Leave blank to list available shares. |
| User | text (default guest) | SMB username. |
| Password | text | SMB password. Leave blank for guest authentication. |
HTTP server
Shown only when Protocol is HTTP: HTTP server (IP), HTTP port (default 1100),
HTTP base path (default /) and Test HTTP server. They are separate from the SMB
fields, so pointing HTTP elsewhere never changes SMB. See HTTP.
RetroAchievements
In the RetroAchievements build only, this page ends with RetroAchievements telemetry and RetroAchievements badges. They are shown whatever the Protocol is: telemetry uses the network driver the game launch loads, not the menu's.
POPSTARTER Network Settings
The POPSTARTER Network Settings row (also on PS Emulation Settings)
opens POPSTARTER's own network files, IPCONFIG.DAT and SMBCONFIG.DAT, which PS1
games over SMB need. They are not RiptOPL's settings.
- The screen shows what those files contain. If none were found, it says so and leaves the fields blank.
- Import from SMB POPS Directory reads both files from the connected share's
POPSfolder. Nothing is written until you press OK. - The fields are the PS2's IP address type, IP, mask and gateway, then the SMB server's address, port, share, user and password.
- OK writes only what you actually changed. On a first setup, with neither file on the card, saving the SMB values writes
IPCONFIG.DATtoo, as DHCP unless a complete static IP is entered.
i Apply and reconnect immediately
Confirming the Network
page applies the current values and begins a fresh SMB connection attempt immediately;
the explicit Reconnect action does the same without leaving the page. If the network page
already shows a failed connection, Select / Refresh retries it there, without reopening
settings or saving the whole configuration.Interface
How the menu looks: game display, theme, artwork, colours, language, and screen position.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PS2/PS1 Game Display | Both (L3) / Mixed / PS2 / PS1 | Both (L3) keeps separate PS2 and PS1 pages toggled with L3. Mixed combines them and L3 cycles Mixed / PS2 / PS1. PS2 or PS1 shows only that type and fully disables L3. APPS and Favorites use their own rules. See PS1 Games. |
| Applications Display | Mixed / Apps / PS1ELF (L3) | Mixed shows every ELF in one APPS list with L3 disabled. Apps / PS1ELF (L3) moves titles containing [PS1] to a second L3 page; launch behaviour is unchanged. |
| Show [PS1]/[PS2] Labels | Original feature; C++ port pending | Starts each disc-game row with [PS1] or [PS2], which helps in the Mixed view. Off by default. Display only: names, sorting, renames and favourites are unchanged, and app and folder rows are never labelled. |
| Show CFG Titles in Game Lists | Off / On | Available with the CFG-title port in PR #32. Shows the Title= line from each game's CFG instead of its file name, and sorts by it. Off by default: every list refresh then reads every game's CFG, so large SMB, MMCE and MX4SIO libraries load slower. Display only: renames, favourites, art and launching keep the file name. See Unicode game titles. |
| Video Mode | Auto / PAL / NTSC / … | Output mode for the menu. Auto follows the console. The two FLICKER-FREE entries at the end of the list send the same 480i/576i signal but read both fields from the same lines, so thin lines and font edges stop strobing on a CRT — at the cost of half the vertical detail. After a change, hold Accept to keep the new mode; a tap does nothing, and Back or 10 seconds restores the old one (see Keeping a new video mode). Games use GSM instead; see GSM Video Modes. |
| Theme | installed themes | Active theme. The default is <OPL>. Themes are read from THM/ on each device. See Theme Engine. |
| Coverflow Settings | [sub-screen] | See Coverflow Settings. |
| Artwork Settings | [sub-screen] | See Artwork Settings. |
| Colors | [sub-screen] | See Colors. |
| VCD Games List Settings | [sub-screen] | How the PS1 list is shown. See VCD Games List Settings. |
| Language | installed languages | UI language. English is built in. The other 33 ship as lang_*.lng files in RIPTOPL-LANGS-*.zip; each one placed in an LNG/ folder is added to the list. See Languages. |
| Notifications | Off / On | Brief on-screen notices when a config, theme or language file loads, or a partition mounts. On by default. |
| Sort Games Alphabetically | Off / On | Sorts game lists by title. Off lists games in the order they are found. On by default. |
| Automatic Refresh | Off / On | Re-scans for newly connected devices and adds their games without a manual refresh. Off by default. |
| Widescreen | Off / On | Draws the menu for a 16:9 screen. On by default in RiptOPL. |
| H-POS | −300–300 | Horizontal screen offset. |
| V-POS | −300–300 | Vertical screen offset. |
| Overscan | 0–100 | Shrinks the drawn area inward to compensate for overscan. |
| Show GameID Barcode (Pixel FX) | On (All) / On (POPSTARTER only) / On (PS2 only) / Off | Draws a game-ID barcode as a game launches, read by Pixel FX / RetroGEM / PS2Digital devices to switch profiles, for PS2 games, PS1 VCDs or both. Its PS1 half is the same setting as RetroGEM Game ID on PS Emulation Settings. |
| GSM Defaults (All Games) | [sub-screen] | The global GSM settings. See GSM Video Modes. |
i Remembered L3 views
Wherever L3 does something, the view you leave a page on is remembered across reboots: every device page,
the Favorites shelf and the APPS split side keep their own position. BDM pages save one position per device
type (USB, iLink, MX4SIO, exFAT HDD, UDPBD), so a device keeps its view when the mass slot numbers
swap between boots. Pressing L3 never writes to storage:
a position rides along with a write that already happens — launching a game, or saving settings — so
toggling and then powering off without doing either is the one case that is not kept. A remembered view
the display pickers above no longer allow is discarded, not forced.Coverflow Settings
Tunable live while the Coverflow theme is active. See Coverflow for full detail.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cover Count | 3 / 5 | How many covers are shown at once. 3 = one centre plus one each side; 5 = one centre plus two each side. |
| Center Scale | None / Small / Medium / Large | How much the center cover is enlarged relative to the side covers (stored as 0 / 15 / 30 / 45). None draws every cover the same size. |
| Animation Speed | Off / Fast / Normal / Slow | Duration of the sliding animation when scrolling through the carousel: Off = instant snap (0 ms), Fast = 100 ms, Normal = 200 ms, Slow = 400 ms. |
| Dim Side Covers | Off / On | Darkens the covers to the left and right of the centered selection. |
Artwork Settings
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cover Art | Off / On | Loads cover art. When off, no art images are loaded even if present. On by default. |
| Disc Artwork | Off / On | Shows the theme's disc art: every image keyed on the ICO suffix (<ID>_ICO in ART/), including the theme's own placeholder for it. Turn it off to hide the disc while keeping covers and backgrounds. On by default. |
| Background Art | Off / On | Shows a game's background image (<ID>_BG in ART/) when the theme uses one. On by default. |
| 3D Save Icons | Off / On | Shows a save icon where the theme has a spot for it (both built-in themes do). PS2 titles use the assigned VMC first, then memory cards. PS1 titles read the 2D save icon from POPSTARTER's SLOT0.VMC/SLOT1.VMC or Ember's MC1.vmc/MC2.vmc in the game's save folder; those cards appear after the emulator creates them. Off by default. Themes place it with the SaveIcon element. |
| Cover Art .tar Archive | Off / On | Also reads art from an ART/art.tar archive alongside the loose image files. Off by default. |
| Art Delay | 0 (Instant) / 2 (Fast) / 5 (Medium) / 8 (Standard) | How many frames the cursor must rest on a title before its art starts loading. 0, the default, loads straight away; a higher value skips art for titles you scroll past. |
Colors
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Text Color | colour picker | Normal UI text. |
| Selected Color | colour picker | Selected/highlighted UI text. |
| Dialog Color | colour picker | Background tint of dialog boxes. |
| Game Title Color | colour picker | Game titles in the list. |
| Background Color | colour picker | Background of the main UI. |
| Plasma Blend Color | colour picker | Low-end blend colour of the animated plasma background. |
| Reset Colors | [button] | Resets the colours to RiptOPL's own built-in defaults (the navy <OPL> scheme), not the active theme's. |
Game Launching
What happens as a game starts, and the global defaults per-game settings fall back to.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PS2 Logo | Off / On | Shows the PS2 logo before a game, when the disc logo is valid and matches the console's region. On by default. |
| Create VMC on First Launch | Off / On | Launching a PS2 game with nothing in VMC slot 1 creates an 8 MB card on the game's own device, named as the VMC screen suggests (every disc of a multi-disc game shares one), assigns it and saves it before the game starts. An existing card of that name is reused; Back during creation cancels the launch. Skips PS1 and app rows, HTTP, and the internal APA HDD under Neutrino. Off by default, because it moves those games' saves off the physical card. Working jobs are allowed to finish; Cancel waits for cleanup while keeping the menu open. See automatic creation and its validation limits. |
| Default Loader Core | <OPL> / Neutrino | Global default only for sources that support both cores. <OPL> (the default) is the native core; Neutrino chains the external neutrino.elf. UDPFS / UDPBD always use Neutrino; SMB / HTTP always use <OPL>. A per-game choice overrides the global default only where that source supports both. See Neutrino Core. |
| Neutrino Defaults | [sub-screen] | The global Neutrino settings. See Neutrino Defaults. |
| OSD Defaults | [sub-screen] | The global OSD Settings: the console language, screen size and video mode handed to games that do not set their own. |
| GSM Defaults (All Games) | [sub-screen] | The global GSM settings. See GSM Video Modes. |
Neutrino Defaults
Opened from Game Launching. Games whose per-game pickers are Default follow these, and the arguments here go to every Neutrino launch.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Neutrino Path | text (full path) | Where neutrino.elf is. <not set> (the default) looks on the active game's device, then mc0:/mc1:; a path you set is tried first, on any device, and falls back the same way when it is unavailable. Device aliases such as usb:/, ata:/, mmce:/, hdd:/ and smb:/ are accepted. For MMCE + GameID switching, keep Neutrino on mmceN: (or the MMCE Prefix Path), not the same slot's mcN:. Replaces the old Neutrino Device picker. See Neutrino Core. |
| Neutrino Video | Off / 240p / 480p / 1080i x1 / 1080i x2 / 1080i x3 | Default Neutrino -gsm video mode for games whose per-game picker is Default. Off by default. |
| Neutrino GSM Compatibility | Off / Type 1 (GSM/OPL) / Type 2 / Type 3 | Field-flipping fix for games that shake or tear under a forced Neutrino video mode: the :c half of -gsm. Greyed until a Neutrino Video mode is set. Off by default. |
| Auto Boot ELF (-elf) | Off / On | Passes the game's boot ELF to Neutrino, for example -elf=cdrom0:\SLUS_123.45;1, so Neutrino can find a per-title config. On by default; a Boot ELF you set in the arguments takes precedence. See Neutrino Core. |
| Show Launch Arguments | Off / On | Just before a Neutrino launch hands over, shows every argument Neutrino will receive. Accept launches; Back stays in the menu. Auto Loading never asks. Off by default. See Neutrino Core. |
| Neutrino Advanced Arguments | [sub-screen] | The structured global Neutrino arguments editor. These apply to every Neutrino game; per-game arguments add on top. Prefix a flag with $ to disable it without deleting it. See Neutrino Core. |
Neutrino Path spellings and upgrades
The editor takes the whole path and scrolls, so there is no 31-character limit any more. Typed
aliases (usb:/, ata:/, mx4sio:/, ilink:/) search
every mounted device of that family; mass0:/ means exactly that slot. An old
Memory Card or HDD (APA) picker choice becomes the matching path when you upgrade.
The full rules are in Neutrino Core.
OSD Settings
The PS2 system configuration a game sees as it boots: its language, screen size and video mode. Open it globally from OSD Defaults above, or for one game from OSD Settings in the Triangle menu. This is an OPL core feature. See Per-game Settings.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Settings Mode | Global / Per Game | Whether this game uses the global OSD settings or its own. Fixed to global when opened from OSD Defaults. |
| Enable | Off / On | Applies the overrides below. When off, the console's own settings are used. |
| OSD Language | Japanese / English / French / Spanish / German / Italian / Dutch / Portuguese / Russian / Korean / Traditional Chinese / Simplified Chinese | The language written into the system configuration handed to the game. |
| Screen Size | Full Screen / … | The TV aspect ratio handed to the game. |
| Video Mode | System Default / … | The video output mode handed to the game. |
PS Emulation Settings
PS1 games: both cores (POPSTARTER and Ember), the PS1 list, and the BDMA driver equip. See PS1 Games.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| POPSTARTER.ELF Path | text (full path) | Where POPSTARTER.ELF is. <not set> (the default) looks in the VCD's own POPS folder, then mc0:/mc1:; APA HDD VCDs use __common/POPS. A path you set is tried first, on any device, and falls back the same way when it is unavailable. The editor takes the whole path. Replaces the old POPSTARTER.ELF Device picker, whose device choice becomes the matching path when you upgrade. SMB PS1 VCDs also use an SB.<name>.ELF selector. |
| RetroGEM Game ID | Off / On | Draws the game-ID barcode read by Pixel FX / RetroGEM / PS2Digital when a PS1 VCD launches. On by default. |
| Ember Display Mode | Default / 240p / 480i / 480p | Output mode Ember uses, written to settings.txt in the launching device's EMBER folder. 480p needs component or HDMI (composite shows no picture), so choosing it asks first. RiptOPL used to label 480i as "480p"; it has always written 480i. |
| Ember Timing | Default / Auto / NTSC / PAL | Ember's timing standard, written to the same settings.txt. |
| Ember Dithering | Default / On / Off | Ember's dithering, written to the same settings.txt. |
| Ember Shading | Default / 15-bit / 24-bit (experimental) | Ember's colour depth, written to the same settings.txt. 24-bit is experimental and can cause issues in some games. |
| Ember Controller | Default / Auto / Analog / D2A | Ember's controller mode, written to the same settings.txt. Usually best set per game with Triangle → Ember Game Settings, which overrides this row. For all five Ember rows, Default leaves a hand-written value alone, and changing a row back to Default removes it. See Ember. |
| VCD Games List Settings | [sub-screen] | See below. |
| POPSTARTER Network Settings | [sub-screen] | POPSTARTER's own network files, needed for PS1 over SMB. See POPSTARTER Network Settings. |
| VCD BDMA Apply on Launch | Off / On | On by default. Launching a PS1 VCD then equips its matching exFAT driver on the memory card first, and BDMA Source and BDMA Mode are hidden. Turn it off to manage those yourself. |
| BDMA Source | USB / MX4SIO / MMCE / HDD / iLink | Which device's POPS/ folder holds the loose BDMAssault driver files. Shown only when VCD BDMA Apply on Launch is off. |
| BDMA Mode | USB (FAT32) / USB (exFAT) / MX4SIO (exFAT) / MMCE (exFAT) / HDD (exFAT) / iLink | The block-device driver POPSTARTER loads. Changing it copies the matching pair from the source device's POPS/ folder to the memory card; FAT32 uses POPSTARTER's built-in driver. Shown only when VCD BDMA Apply on Launch is off. |
| USB BDMA Driver | Ask / exFAT / fat32 | For PS1 VCDs launched from a USB stick only. The PS2 cannot tell a fat32 stick from an exFAT one, so POPSTARTER's driver has to be chosen: Ask prompts on every USB VCD launch; exFAT or fat32 pins the answer. |
VCD Games List Settings
Opened from PS Emulation Settings or Interface.
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Hide PS1 Game ID (VCD list) | Off / On | On by default. Hides a leading game-ID prefix (e.g. SLUS_005.51.) from PS1 names, for display and sorting. Launch, cover art and favorites are unchanged. |
| First disc only (multi-disc PS1) | Off / On | On by default. Lists only Disc 1 of a multi-disc game (POPSLoader style), hiding (Disc 2), (CD 2) and so on. All discs stay available for in-game swapping, and Favorites are not filtered. |
| Display PP.<ID>.POPS partition games (HDD) | Off / On | APA HDD only: lists one-game partitions named PP.<ID>.POPS.<name> (e.g. PP.SCES-01492.POPS.MEDIEVIL) as PS1 games. Other PP.* partitions stay hidden. |
Controller Settings
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scrolling Speed | Slow / Medium / Fast | List scrolling speed. Default Medium. |
| Select Button | Circle / Cross | Which face button confirms. The default follows the console: Circle on Japanese consoles, Cross elsewhere. |
| Analog X-Axis Sensitivity | Off / Low / Medium / High | How readily the left stick moves the cursor horizontally. Off stops the stick navigating on that axis. Default Low. |
| Analog Y-Axis Sensitivity | Off / Low / Medium / High | The same for the vertical axis. |
| Controller Vibration in Menus | Off / On | A short vibration when moving the cursor, confirming or going back. Needs a DualShock in analog mode. On by default. |
| Controller Emulation | [sub-screen] | The global Pad Emulator Settings: DualShock 3/4 over USB or Bluetooth, multitap emulation, per-port emulation and vibration, pairing, and the Fake DS3 workaround. See PADEMU. |
| Controller Macros | [sub-screen] | The global Pad Macro Settings: analog slow-down per stick, axis invert, and turbo button speed. |
Audio Settings
| Option | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Effects | Off / On | UI navigation sound effects. Off by default, as in stock OPL. |
| Boot Sound | Off / On | Plays a sound when RiptOPL starts. Off by default. |
| Background Music | Off / On | Streams background music. Off by default; when on, it stays silent unless a music file is found (see below). |
| Sound Effects Volume | 0–100 | Volume of UI sound effects. |
| Boot Sound Volume | 0–100 | Volume of the boot sound. |
| Background Music Volume | 0–100 | Volume of background music. |
| Default Theme Music | text (path) | Path to a music file to stream when the active theme has no music of its own. |
Where the audio comes from
Background music is Ogg Vorbis (.ogg). RiptOPL streams it rather than loading it into
memory, so a long track costs no extra RAM. It looks in this order and takes the first that works:
<theme>/sound/bgm.ogg— a disk theme's own music.- The Default Theme Music path set above.
THM/bgm.oggunder the active settings home — built-in themes only (<OPL>and<Coverflow>). A disk theme never falls through to this.
That order is why a disk theme with its own sound/bgm.ogg ignores your Default Theme Music
setting: the theme wins. To use your own track everywhere, pick a theme that ships no music of its own.
The track plays through the console's audsrv, which only has converters for some sample rates:
44.1, 48, 32, 22.05 and 11.025 kHz in mono or stereo, and 24 or 12 kHz in stereo only. A file at any
other rate, such as 16 kHz, plays no music at all; the menu carries on silently. Re-encode it at
44.1 kHz if in doubt.
Sound effects are PS2 ADPCM (.adp, 44.1 kHz), supplied by the theme in its
sound/ folder. There are eight:
| File | Played when |
|---|---|
boot.adp | RiptOPL starts (the Boot Sound setting) |
cursor.adp | Moving the cursor |
confirm.adp | Confirming |
cancel.adp | Going back |
message.adp | A message or dialog appears |
transition.adp | Changing screen |
bd_connect.adp | A block device is connected |
bd_disconnect.adp | A block device is removed |
The two built-in themes use effects embedded in the ELF and read nothing from the card. A disk theme supplying only some of the eight falls back to the built-in sound for the rest. See Theme Engine.
Per-game Settings (quick reference)
Press Triangle on a game to open its menu. Each screen is documented in full on the Per-game Settings page.
- Game Settings — Loader Core, DMA Mode, Game ID, Custom ELF, compatibility Modes 1–7, and the Neutrino overrides (Neutrino Launch Args, Neutrino Video, Neutrino GSM Compatibility, Neutrino Filesystem). See Neutrino Core.
- Cheat Settings — PS2RD Cheat Engine, its mode, and PS2RD Cheat Image. Global or per-game. See Cheats.
- Configure GSM — GSM Selector, forced video mode, H-POS and V-POS, Emulate FIELD Flipping. Global or per-game. OPL core only. See GSM Video Modes.
- Configure VMC — VMC Slot 1 and Slot 2 assignment, image creation and deletion, and keeping a physical card in a slot. See VMC.
- Controller Emulation and Controller Macros — per-game pad emulation and macros. See PADEMU.
- OSD Settings — OSD language, screen size and video mode. See OSD Settings above.
- Save Changes, Test Changes and Remove Settings — save this game's settings, launch with them unsaved, or delete them.
- On a PS1 title the menu is shorter: Global PS Emulation Settings, Ember Game Settings (Ember titles only: this game's Ember Timing, Dithering, Shading and Controller, written to its
settings.txtwhen you press OK) and Rename. See Ember. - Rename and Delete — only with Write Operations on, and never for PS2 games on the internal HDD. See Disk safety.
Which settings are greyed out under the Neutrino core?
OPL-only features are unavailable when a game is set to use the Neutrino core. In the per-game
Game Settings screen the following are greyed (shown with a "Not used with Neutrino"
hint): Modes 4 and 6 (Skip Videos and Disable IGR), and the Configure GSM and Controller Emulation /
Controller Macros screens. Cheat Settings stays: Neutrino runs cheats too, and only its PS2RD Cheat
Image row is greyed. Modes 1/2/3/5 stay active because they map
directly to Neutrino's -gc= flag. Mode 7 is Neutrino-only and is available (passes
-gc=7 to Neutrino). DMA Mode, Game ID, Custom ELF, and VMC settings remain active regardless
of core. See Per-game Settings.