Settings Reference

This is the full reference for the SMS settings menu — every option, grouped exactly the way SMS groups them, with what each one does and the values it accepts. If you only want to turn a storage device on, jump to Device settings; if you're tuning subtitles or the picture, see Player settings and Display settings.

ℹ How to reach the settings menu

The settings menu is the same SMS menu you use for saving and quitting. Open it from the browser, then pick one of its top-level entries. Each entry opens a sub-menu of options. On a toggle, Cross flips it between on and off; on a value item, Left/Right cycles the value. Triangle goes back up a level. Nothing is committed to storage until you run Save settings (see Saving your settings) — so you can experiment freely and just not save.

The top level of the SMS menu has these entries. The first four open the option sub-menus documented on this page; the last four are actions.

Top-level entry	What it opens / does
Display settings…	TV system, character set, language, image position, and an Advanced sub-menu for resolution & sync — see below.
Device settings…	Every storage/network Autostart toggle, the Start … support on-demand items, CD/DVD options and controller options — see below.
Browser settings…	Appearance of the file browser: background image, sound FX, sorting/filtering, panel colours, the reset-button action and Exit-to target — see below.
Player settings…	Everything about playback: subtitles, audio/SPDIF, volume, colour resolution, scroll bar, and an MP3 sub-menu — see below.
Quick help	An on-screen list of the button shortcuts (browser and player).
Save settings	Writes your configuration to storage — see Saving your settings.
Shutdown console	Powers the PS2 off.
Exit SMS	Leaves SMS and returns to the boot browser it was launched from.

⚠ Labels come straight from the app

Every option name and value on this page is taken from the SMS build's own on-screen strings, so it should match what you see on the TV. Wording can differ slightly if you load a translated language file, but the layout and behaviour are the same.

Device settings — storage & network

This is the menu you care about most on this fork: it is where you turn storage devices on. Each device has an Autostart toggle (whether it starts automatically at boot), and — when the device is not currently running — a matching Start … support item appears at the bottom of the menu so you can bring it up right now without rebooting.

Autostart toggles

Each toggle shows on or off. On a clean install (no saved settings) every one of these is off — SMS auto-starts nothing, so you enable only the devices you actually use. Once you save, your choices persist across reboots.

Option	Device it starts	Values
Autostart network	The SMB/host network stack. Mutually exclusive with UDPFS for that boot. See Network Setup.	on / off
Autostart USB	USB mass storage (`massN:`). See USB.	on / off
Autostart HDD APA	The internal HDD via the classic APA/PFS path (`hdd0:`, the `SMS_Media` partition). See Internal HDD.	on / off
Autostart HDD BDM	The internal HDD via ATA as a BDM `massN:` device — this is the exFAT path added by this fork. See Internal HDD.	on / off
Autostart MX4SIO	The MX4SIO microSD adapter over SIO2 (`massN:`). The headline feature of this fork. See MX4SIO.	on / off
Autostart i.LINK	An i.LINK (IEEE 1394 / FireWire) drive as a BDM `massN:` device. See i.LINK.	on / off
Autostart MMCE	An MMCE device (SD2PSX / MemCard PRO2) in the memory-card slot (`mmce0:` / `mmce1:`). See MMCE.	on / off
Autostart UDPFS	The folder-served UDPFS network drive (`udpfs:`). Mutually exclusive with SMB/host for that boot. See UDPFS.	on / off

⚠ Shared resources — choose one member of each pair

MX4SIO and MMCE both use the SIO2 / memory-card-slot bus. Only one can be active at a time — enable the one you're using, not both.
HDD APA and HDD BDM both own the internal ATA bus. Pick one; whichever starts first owns the bus. Use HDD APA for a classic PFS SMS_Media drive, or HDD BDM for a modern exFAT drive.
Network (SMB/host) and UDPFS load different stacks for the one Ethernet controller. Whichever starts first owns it until reboot. Enable one, not both.

See Devices Overview for the full picture.

"Start … support" — bring a device up now

When a device isn't running yet, a matching item appears at the bottom of the Device menu. Selecting it starts that device immediately, so it shows up in the device row without a reboot. Once the device is up, its item disappears from the list. The wording matches each device:

Start SMB server support (shown when an SMB server is configured)
Start HOST ( ps2dev ) support
Start USB support
Start HDD support (APA)
Start HDD BDM (ATA / exFAT)
Start MX4SIO support
Start i.LINK support
Start MMCE support
Start UDPFS network drive

The Device menu also ends with a Refresh connections item, which re-probes the running devices — handy after hot-swapping a card or drive so its contents are re-read.

ℹ Autostart vs. Start-now

Autostart decides what comes up automatically at every boot (and is remembered once saved). Start … support is a one-shot "turn it on for this session" that doesn't change the Autostart toggle. A common flow: leave everything off, use Start MX4SIO support to test, then — once happy — flip Autostart MX4SIO on and save.

CD/DVD and controller options

The rest of the Device menu covers the optical drive and controller behaviour, plus the network settings entry that links to the on-screen network setup.

Option	What it does	Values
Network settings…	Opens the network protocol selector and Edit IPCONFIG.DAT for the PS2's static IP, mask and gateway. The SMB device has its own server editor. See Network Setup.	opens sub-menu
Controller port 2	Tells SMS what is plugged into controller port 2 so it reads it correctly.	gamepad / remote control / none
Pair Bluetooth controller	Pairs a DualShock 3 or DualShock 4 to the connected USB Bluetooth dongle. The row appears only when the Bluetooth driver is available: connect the dongle, plug the controller into USB, run this command, then unplug the cable and power on the controller.	action
Disable CD/DVD	Turns the optical (CD/DVD) source on or off. Disable it if you never use discs, so SMS doesn't wait on the drive.	on / off
CD/DVD speed	Read speed for the optical drive.	low / medium / high
Directional buttons	Chooses how the D-pad is read — as a standard gamepad or as a remote control.	gamepad / remote control

Display settings — TV output & language

Everything about how SMS drives the screen, plus the interface language and character set. Most people set the TV system once and never touch the rest.

Option	What it does	Values
TV system	Chooses the video standard SMS outputs.	NTSC / PAL
Character set	The code page used when drawing text (menus, file names, subtitles) — pick the one that matches your language/filenames.	cycles through the built-in character sets
Language	The interface language. The default is English; other languages appear if their language file is present.	cycles available languages
Adjust image left / right / up / down	Nudge the whole picture to centre it on your TV. Four separate items, one per direction.	press to nudge
Advanced settings…	Opens the advanced display sub-menu below (resolution, colour depth, sync parameters). Only needed for HD/VESA modes or fine tuning.	opens sub-menu

Advanced display settings

These control the raw output resolution and timing. They are for advanced users chasing a specific mode or fixing a picture that doesn't sync — the defaults are fine for standard NTSC/PAL. Changes here only take effect when you run Apply settings at the bottom of the sub-menu.

Option	What it does
Display height	The output framebuffer height in scanlines.
Display width	The output framebuffer width in pixels.
Color resolution	Framebuffer colour depth (also selectable from the Player menu). See Color resolution.
Synch. parameter 1 (video)	Fine video-sync timing for the current mode. Adjust only if the picture rolls or is off-centre.
Synch. parameter 2 (GUI)	The equivalent sync tuning for the on-screen GUI layer.
Synch. parameter 3 (Audio)	The equivalent sync tuning for audio timing.
Apply settings	Commits the advanced display changes to the live output so you can see the result.

⚠ HD modes and the background

SMS supports higher-resolution modes (including a 720p framebuffer) via these advanced settings, but on this fork a full-screen wallpaper at 720p is still being tuned. If you switch to an HD mode and the desktop background looks wrong, drop back to a standard mode. Standard NTSC/PAL is the tested, reliable path for now.

Browser settings — the file browser's look

These change how the file browser looks and behaves, and what SMS does on the reset button / on exit. Colour items open a small palette picker; the rest are toggles or values.

Option	What it does	Values
Skin (shown at the top)	The active `.smi` skin. Shows the skin name, or `none`. See Themes & Skins.	cycles installed skins / none
Use background image	Whether the desktop background image (skin/artwork) is drawn behind the browser.	on / off
Sound FX	Enables the browser's navigation sound effects.	on / off
Sort filesystem objects	Whether folders/files are shown sorted rather than in raw filesystem order.	on / off
Filter media files	Whether the browser hides files SMS doesn't recognise as playable media, so the list shows only openable files.	on / off
Display HDL partitions	Whether HD Loader-style partitions on the internal HDD are shown in the browser.	on / off
Hide system partitions	Whether the PS2's system partitions on the HDD are hidden from the list.	on / off
Use exception handler	Installs SMS's exception handler (a debugging/robustness aid).	on / off
Active border color	Palette colour of the highlighted (active) panel's border.	palette index
Inactive border color	Palette colour of the inactive panels' borders / info bar.	palette index
Text color	Palette colour of the browser's file-list text.	palette index
Status line text color	Palette colour of the bottom status line (path + clock).	palette index
Selection bar color	Palette colour of the highlight bar on the currently selected item.	palette index
Reset button action	What the PS2 reset button does while SMS is running.	cycles actions (incl. exit)
Exit to	Where Exit SMS sends you — the target program SMS returns to on exit.	cycles exit targets

ℹ Palette / colour items

The colour options (Active border color, Text color, Selection bar color, and the subtitle colours in the Player menu) pick from SMS's 16-entry palette. Cycle the value to preview each colour live in the panel it affects, so you can match your skin. See Themes & Skins for the palette itself.

Player settings — playback, subtitles & audio

The biggest sub-menu. It covers subtitles, audio/SPDIF, volume, the scroll bar, colour resolution, an auto power-off timer, and an MP3 settings sub-menu for audio playback. Toggles are on/off; value items cycle with Left/Right; colour items pick a palette index.

Subtitles

SMS shows external subtitle files over video. These options control loading, look and placement. Some (offset, font width/height) show a live Sample while you adjust them. See the dedicated Subtitles page for the full walkthrough.

Option	What it does	Values
Autoload subtitles	Automatically load a matching subtitle file when a video starts.	on / off
Opaque subtitles	Draw subtitles on a solid backing rather than transparent, for readability over busy scenes.	on / off
Subtitle color	Palette colour of normal subtitle text.	palette index
Subtitle bold color	Palette colour used for bold subtitle text.	palette index
Subtitle italic color	Palette colour used for italic subtitle text.	palette index
Subtitle underline color	Palette colour used for underlined subtitle text.	palette index
Subtitle alignment	Horizontal placement of the subtitle text.	left / center / right / center-right
Subtitle offset	Vertical position of subtitles on screen (shows a live Sample).	value in points
Subtitle font width	Horizontal size of the subtitle font (shows a live Sample).	value
Subtitle font height	Vertical size of the subtitle font (shows a live Sample).	value
Subtitle MBCS	Multi-byte character-set handling for subtitles (for languages that need it).	on / off

Audio & video output

Option	What it does	Values
S/PDIF - Dolby Digital/DTS	Passes AC3/DTS out over the optical S/PDIF port as a bitstream to an external decoder, instead of decoding on the PS2.	on / off
Video auto 2:2 pulldown	Applies 2:2 pulldown handling for correct playback of certain video cadences.	on / off
Default volume	The starting playback volume level.	value
Color resolution	Framebuffer colour depth used during playback / GUI. Higher looks better; lower saves video memory.	16 bit / 32 bit

On-screen extras & scroll bar

Option	What it does	Values
Display scroll bar time	Whether the elapsed/remaining time is shown on the player's scroll (progress) bar.	on / off
Auto power-off	Automatically powers the console off after a period of inactivity.	off, or a number of minutes
Scroll bar length	The on-screen length of the player's scroll bar.	value
Scroll bar position	Where the scroll bar sits on screen.	top / bottom / off
Scroll bar color	Palette colour of the scroll bar.	palette index
Volume bar color	Palette colour of the on-screen volume bar.	palette index

MP3 settings (audio sub-menu)

Opened from the Player menu via MP3 settings…, this covers how audio and playlists behave.

Option	What it does	Values
Audio animation display	Whether a visual animation is shown while audio-only files play. See Audio & Playlists.	on / off
Randomize playlist	Shuffle the play order of a playlist.	on / off
Repeat mode	Repeat the current playlist/track.	on / off
Audio spectrum display	Show a spectrum-analyser visual during audio playback.	on / off
Autodetection parameter	A tuning value for MP3 format auto-detection.	value

Saving your settings — and where they go

Nothing you change in the menus is permanent until you run Save settings from the top level of the SMS menu. Until then you can change anything and simply not save. There is also a button shortcut on some builds (Select+Square) that saves settings from the browser.

Make your changes

Set your Autostart toggles, colours, subtitle look, and so on in the sub-menus. Try devices with Start … support first if you like.

Run Save settings

Back out to the top of the SMS menu (Triangle), select Save settings, and confirm.

Reboot to confirm

Your Autostart choices and preferences come back on the next boot.

ℹ Where the config is stored (and the fork's twist)

By default SMS saves its configuration to the memory card at mc0:/SMS/SMS.cfg. On this fork, if SMS was booted from another re-mountable device (USB, HDD, MX4SIO, MMCE, i.LINK or writable UDPFS) and there's no memory card to write to, it saves the config next to the SMS ELF on that boot device instead — so a memory-card-less setup still keeps its settings. Either way, one Save settings is all it takes. Deleting the config file gives you clean defaults again — where nothing auto-starts. The separate SMS.smb server list follows the same directory; only IPCONFIG.DAT remains memory-card based.

⚠ Clean defaults auto-start nothing

On a first boot or after clearing the config, no storage device is started automatically. This is deliberate on this fork: you turn on exactly what you need. If SMS boots and you don't see your device, that's expected — enable its Autostart (or use Start … support), then Save settings.