Play PS1 Games From Fat PS2 Internal Hard Drive Using Popstarter and OPL Tutorial (2019)

[@gamehulk]

Great tutorial. For anybody doing this in 2024, you have to make sure you use the Jay-Jay version of OPL because the regular version had PS1 support removed after version 1.0. I used 1.2 version and it has to be the Jay-Jay one. Also, the naming convention of the ISOs have changed twice since this video was made. The ISOs have to be named like "SLUS_000.67.Castlevania Symphony.VCD" because it has to be 32 characters or less and start with the title ID. The version of OPL Manager I had recognizes a "new" naming convention where you don't need the title ID in it, but it lets you change to the "old" naming convention in its settings, but it didn't actually rename the IOSs for me, so it's kind of useless for that. Just rename the VCD file yourself so that it has the title IT at the start of the file and is 32 characters or less. Then use OPL manager to download the art and then just use a memory stick and copy your ART and CFG folders to your hdd0:/+OPL/ folder. You don't have to mess with any of the RadNet stuff if you don't want to. SotN worked great, but be sure to check out the compatibility guide to see if the game you want to play works or not and if you have to do anything extra like a put a BIOS file in the folder VMC folder. (The VMC folder is in hdd0:/__common/POPS/[VCD NAME]/ and holds that game's virtual memory cards. If the game only works with a certain console BIOS, like SCPH-1001.BIN, name it BIOS.bin and put it in the game's VMC folder. Tekken 3 might need this) I'm a little bummed that Ridge Racer doesn't work, but at least I can play SotN on my PS2 flawlessly, and there's tons of PS1 games that do work perfectly too.

[@vincentclark8386]

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I've been spending about a week after work trying to get all of this to work. In regards to renaming the files - Is there an easy way to see what the SLUS file name should be? Only method that I can see is that I convert the bin to VCD using PSXVCD then convert that using POPStarterGameInstallerforOPLv1 THEN OPL manager can read the VCD files so I can get the SLUS name and THEN i can go into the folder where the VCD's are kept and manually convert them to "SLUS(numbers).Game Title.VCD and keep it under 32 characters. IS there anything i'm missing?

[@gamehulk]

@@vincentclark8386 I'm not sure what PopStarterGameInstallerforOPL is, but when I pointed OPL Manager to my VCD files (I just had them named like Castlevania Symphony of the Night.VCD), OPL Manager knew what it was and the SLUS name was already filled in one of the boxes. I just looked at that and followed the naming convention and shortened it to 32 chars. In the end I only used OPL Manger to download the artwork and make the CFG files, then I renamed the VCDs to the right naming convention and put them where they're supposed to go and then copied thar ART and CFG folders to where they belonged and finally OPL was able to see the VCDs and show the artwork (after I enabled artwork in settings).

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Thanks for the pro tip. This also assumes you can get the jay jay version because sometimes their ps2-home website likes to block visitors, like myself which is irritating.

[@vincentclark8386]

@ProjectPhoenixMedia I got it from github... I think... that ps2-home site is infuriating lol. Your videos are awesome btw. Thank you so much for doing what you do.

[@playstationportal4131]

I have everything set up as per this video. I am finding that there are too many games with graphical glitches and slow fps. Example Soul Blade or Doom. Suggestions?

[@anonony9081]

Just in case anyone else had this issue, OPLManager can't just look at any folder and see your VCD files for the renaming operation. It must have the VCDs inside of a folder called POPS within the directory you give it. This took me a while to find the answer to

[@beeroclock.9412]

This method finally worked for me. had to update wle to allow for the creation of a pops partition without the + in front, then it recognized and launched my games. on HDD capitalize file extensions. I had a problem where the games would launch and I'd see the ps launch screen but when the game loaded I would lose video. The CHEATS.TXT file mentioned in the text below the video fixed this. THANK YOU! Also check ps2 home for popstarter igr texture files so that when you push r1 r2 l1 l2 start select, the reset menu isnt in Korean! For HDD put these files in your common/pops/ folder Thanks again!

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Thanks for working out the nitty gritty details, and now you can game like a boss!

[@elamriti]

pops1 has a limit of 130gb +- but you can brake that limit by making pops 1 pops 2 pops3 etc etc for poeple who have morw than 130gb of ps1 games like me

[@Shad0wX]

Do you physically own the games lol

[@juancarl814]

8GB is the max. size for my POPS folders. Weird cause I have 120 GB available. I guess every HDD is different. I just made more POPS folders and stored the games in there.

[@AhmedNSane]

@@Shad0wX You must be new here. *Pirate Yao Ming*

[@Shad0wX]

@@AhmedNSane arrrrg matey

[@wasey616]

So if I need to create a second POPS folder, do I just put the same files in there as the first one, and then the games? Also, how would a second folder full of games appear on OPL?

[@KentHamson]

My goodness this was a great tutorial. I had been trying to figure this out for days. following this got me up and running. I am so excited to finally have my HDD installed and game library available on it. THANK YOU!

[@dapperfan44]

Did you have any issues with your PS1 games just kicking you back to LaunchElf? I did the tutorial but I must be doing something wrong because I can see my games but none of them are booting. Edit: Figured it out, the problem was the IOPRP252 IMG file had a lowercase extension. I had to capitalize the extension from .img to .IMG for it to work.

[@mmhmenjoy7275]

Ur awesome my man! I have the cheap knockoff SATA HDD network adapter, so no FTP for me. I just basically used a USB to transfer all the files where you indicated and BAM! No more scratched discs, weak lasers, I can enjoy my entire library of PS1 games without having to pull them off the shelf and pop them in. Plus I can play all my Japanese Imports! Keep up the good work. Less do dis

[@bigpun2k6]

am i missing something. is this using the ps2 hardware via internal hdd to play the ps1 or is it loading an emulator off the hdd to render the gamplay? I am familiar with fmcb, hdloader etc but confused if this is hardware usage or emulation? thanks man

[@mmhmenjoy7275]

bigpun2k6 I believe pop starter does just what it sounds like. It “popstarts” PS1 vmc files so they work with OPL, which is primarily used for USB/PS2. It injects the initial region checker and disc verification to get those game files up and running.

[@halotroop2288]

@@mmhmenjoy7275 POPS ( PlayStation One Portable Station ) is an official PS1 emulator on the PS2. "Popstart" is not a verb in itself, "POPStarter" is a contraction of "POPS" and "Starter."

[@Ze_Caporal]

Thank you for everything! These past few days, I totally followed a tutorial from a French guy. Not bad but from 2016. So completely obsolete! I almost lost my mind lol, I havn’t understood why it doesnt worked. Now with your video it’s work for me :) ! Just The Popstarter r13 RIP06 don’t work with internal HDD, black screen and reboot of the PS2. (WARNING: POPSTARTER RIP 06 has a bug with Internal HDDs that it will not load the games. The workaround is to use the most current RIP 07 BETA 5 (or newer)). R13 WIP07 works for me.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Thanks for letting me know. Got a link?

[@Ze_Caporal]

Project Phoenix Media The official topic from ps2-home ;) www.ps2-home.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=1819 When you click on the download link PUBLIC RELEASE - RIP 06: POPStarter_r13_RIP_06.zip it’s bring you on the page 23 (answer #225) with the warning note ;) Nb : Also have problems with some games (Ok for MGS1 but the same display issues with THPS 1 And THPS 2...). I will try with others Popstarter versions.

[@LuisPerez-tv7mr]

Thank you so much I updated my popstarter file to the Beta 6 of WIP07 and this now works.

[@playstationportal4131]

You sir are a legend! Have a cookie 🍪

[@gamerdudegamerdude4961]

For those having Black Screen! 1. Try using standard Composite Cables and not Component Cables/HDMI. If it still does not work. 2. Force PSX Games to output 480p by making a CHEATS.TXT file inside the POPS folder or each games folder; type $480p inside the CHEATS.TXT file to force 480p on every PSX games. Downside is they will look even more pixelated than their native 240p/i resolution but its better than getting a Black Screen. 3. You can also use OPL Manager to edit every games CHEATS.TXT and copy it over the HDDs POPS folder with the 480p fix.

[@throwinflies1977]

OMG thanks for this nugget I was losing my sanity and couldn't figure it out! Damn I love my ps2 to hdmi adapter so I'll try the cheat workaround and compare with the component cable setup......

[@tommylee67]

Same, I was trying splitters and all sorts of things, cheats.txt and wham! it works great

[@ManOfAttitudeLP1998]

@@throwinflies1977 I use component to VGA Adapter on CRT Monitor so 48ßp has scanlines and makes the ps2 look better

[@kylie-chan]

What folder do you copy the cheat file too?

[@gamerdudegamerdude4961]

@@kylie-chan Inside POPS or you can individually put the CHEATS.TXT in each ps1 game. eg(__POPS/CHEATS.TXT or __POPS/"ps1 game"/CHEATS.TXT)

[@josephking7442]

This was extremely insightful and helpful among all the terrible forum posts, thank you!

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Thank you!

[@94Jyraya]

THANK YOU man, thank you 😀 After hours of searching, I finally managed to run Colin McRae Rally 2 on my PS2 thanks to your videos. I mean, it still has stutters, no music, and graphical glitches, but it's running now at least 😀 I'll check it with another ROM later, or maybe update the Popstarter itself or something, but thank you anyways 😀

[@ronthehybrid]

If you're getting a black screen when starting the game, you need the lastest Popstarter file.

[@chrisw8069]

Excellent. Thanks for doing this. If only the emulator itself was better...

[@Lunkanovic]

Works like a charm, thanks for the tutorial :)

[@n-o-i-d]

This is the best video I found, very well explained

[@Elliandr]

This helped me to an extent, but unfortunately my PS2 cannot use Red Host Client since my PS2 uses a hard mod that takes up the network port (Game Star Network Adapter HDD Mod) meaning my only option was to use PFS Shell. Additionally I couldn't create the partition on the PS2 itself for whatever reason, so I had to use PFS Shell for that as well. The current syntax in PFS shell is as follows, for the benefit of anyone else who follows me with a similar setup: Since I am on disc 11 I used the following to mount the drive: device \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE11 and to create the POPS partition of 20 GB I did: mkpart 20G PFS The directory structure seems to be the same though, so I then just had to use the commands to copy the files over that way.

[@Kippykip]

Cheers man, this helped me! Although my drive was different, to find the correct drive type this into cmd: wmic diskdrive get Caption,DeviceID,InterfaceType then find the correct \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE index

[@tomyslo]

I like that you've used the OST from Blur in the outro!

[@JolliAllGenGamer]

man this is awesome! i never knew you could play ps1 isos on ps2 until this tutorial. i was just playing ps1 games via a PS3 CFW.

[@moondrower897]

Awesome as usual dude keep up the good work 😎

[@nevsky187]

Really good. Helped me loads. Thanks! I had to use psshell because I couldn't get the network adapter to connect but otherwise, very helpful.

[@Niphoria]

Thank you so much - still works altough i would recommend using an older version of Jayjay OPL as the latest ones have broken HDD support (im using 1826)

[@tdome3000]

Excellent video, very easy to follow! I just had an issue, that the PS1 game wasn't showing up in OPL. But I just had to press the select button to refresh the list, and then it was fine. Tested with your versions of popstarter and OPL, as well as the latest ones (r13 beta and OPL 1580 DB) The mainline OPL doesn't have the PS1 menu, but the "DB" versions work. So my workflow must be: go to the HDD tab -> Start (to spool up the HDD, even if it is already spun up) then PS1 -> Run and then also Refresh.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Glad it worked out in the end. These days I use the mainline OPL, but the "DB" does have the ps1 tab , although the main devs do not like the "DB" version as they see it as inferior and using copyrighted code, I guess ps2 scene drama. At the end of the day, do what works best for you.

[@tdome3000]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia I use both, the mainline 1.1 for launching games, and DB for the HDL server and PS1. The main OPL devs very stupidly removed the HDL functionality and replaced it with some non-functioning NBD rubbish. So mainline OPL is useless for anything but starting games, you cannot properly install games anymore.

[@gumbi5612]

Can u transfer a saved ps1 file from a ps2 hard drive to a ps1 memory card and if u can how do u do it I been playing Parasite, Eve on my ps2 hard drive and I’m on the Second disc but it doesn’t give me a option to switch or anything and when I rest my ps2 I figure it would automatically transfer the save file to the Second disc but nothing can some one help me out is there something I’m missing?

[@FOGamer.]

i think it's better to have separated drives for PS1 and PS2 games because OPL has an option to boot the hard disk manually (if you wanna play PS2 games) so it doesn't boot every times you launch OPL for no reason and you can use a USB stick to play the PS1 games to not damage your HDD.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

That is a great tip, thanks for sharing.

[@FunnyGA1ex]

Usb is garbage on ps2. Just get a Seagate drive you cheapskate! Haha

[@JonGibbins]

I know this is an old video but thanks for the clear walkthrough! Awesome stuff.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Glad it helps, I think of revisiting for 2022 to make it easier to explain if there is a better way to do it. I mean the process is sorta complicated as it is lol.

[@nicolasfredette8564]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia how does the PS2 synch to the PC, in order to do the IP address part ?

[@Nadoriadoga]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia Please do! I'm trying to get it to work, but can't find a version of OPL with the ps1 games menu

[@DsolAX]

@@Nadoriadoga Yo bro, I was struggling with this for the last day. You have to get the daily builds verson, and not the ifcaro builds. The daily builds are right below the ifcaro builds as a drop down spoiler on the ps2-home site.

[@nicholaslorenz8801]

@@Nadoriadoga yes I did this for ps2 and it was easy. The Ps2 ISOs showed up in OPLM, but when I try to dump a .VCD file in the POPS folder created by OPLM as show in the video around 7:40 I am not seeing the game show up like it does in this video. Have you had any luck? I think our issue is similar unless you are talking about OPL program within Ps2

[@Illegallycopyrighted]

That was amazing…well done

[@Adam-rt7lp]

@Project Phoenix Media Hey bro great tutorial.. Love how your using the same TV from years ago!!! I just wanted to ask you how do you setup virtual memory cards to save games?

[@punishermetall4283]

Thanks for the tutorial, this is exactly the simple procedure I was looking for. I wanted to ask what folder or partition to put PS2 .iso games in? And what folder use for put art covers for same PS2 games? Same like in the video? Thanks.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Same as the video. PS2 games use a program like winhiip or hdd batch installer, its simpler process. PS1 games on ps2 follow the video or this link:bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/popstarter-documentation-stuff/wiki/quickstart-hdd

[@SolidNateMovies]

We need an exfat tutorial now

[@triplecheeseburgers]

I don't see the games listed in OPL on PS2 and I tried using both a slightly older version of OPL and the one listed in this video. I've followed all the directions except I used PSXVCD instead of CUE2POPS because I couldn't get it to work for me. I've only tried spyro 1 and xenogears and they both seem to have the correct filename when ran through OPL manager. I can see the game files listed in the __.POPS directory of the hdd where I copied them in uLaunchelf, but I just can't get them to show up in OPL. I have a 2nd hard drive with PS2 games on it that works perfectly with both versions of OPL that I have and all the games work great. I'm tempted to make a partition on it for PS1 just to see if that works. Both hard drives are 80 gb and the PS2 one is seagate while the PS1 hdd is maxtor. By the way, I also tried making the __.POPS partitions of various sizes on the PS1 drive starting with 70 gb, then 20 gb, then 8 gb. The __.POPS partition didn't have a 1 automatically added to the end of it until I tried the 8 gb partition so I'm assuming that's what I want but it still didn't work. Anyway I'll try again tomorrow with different PS1 games and maybe a different hdd if I can find one lying around somewhere. If anyone has experienced this problem or can help in any way, I would greatly appreciate it. I've spent nearly all day on this and I feel like I'm so close to getting it to work. EDIT: I figured out what my problem was, I was using version 4.42 of uLaunchelf and the hdd manager kept naming the partition "+__.POPS" instead of "__.POPS" I read the walkthrough and found out +__.POPS wouldn't work as a partition name so once I upgraded uLaunchelf to version 4.43 like in this video, I was able to successfully partition the hdd with the right name. Tried Spyro 1 out and it works great and saves and loads just fine. Also found another link to the CUE2POPS program that's used in this video: bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/popstarter-documentation-stuff/wiki/apps-last-version

[@pol.kraine7890]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia Could it be that the VCD needs the SLUS and # in front of the game title? Mine never came with that it was just the game title. Could that be a reason why OPL doesn't read them?

[@gellogranata]

Hi, thanks for the video. When you linked your PS2 to your PC via ethernet, did you use the Ethernet cable to link your PS2 directly to your computer's Ethernet port?

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Yes, that is exactly what I did, but you don't have to. If you have a router in between or network switch or hub, and with static ip addresses you can do the same thing.

[@gellogranata]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia thanks, have tried several times both ways but it ddn't work for me, even though I own an original network adapter. Eventually I did it with pfsshell, by far the fastest alternative, even though it's pretty boring to plug and unplug my HDD everytime I want to put a game on it.

[@justinraymond]

Yowza! Thanks for this guide. I was having issues with black screen, but I think it was because I was using an older version of POPSTARTER.ELF - make sure you're using at least WIP 07 - BETA 06. Then because I was messing around with the CHEATS.TXT files my screen was whack, because I'm playing on a PVM - so I deleted those files. Now I'm good to go. Awesome!

[@justinraymond]

Although I will say it seems like this runs games at 480i, not 240p. Bit of a bummer there.

[@julianwass7002]

thank you for this video. I could not get it to work but I'm also using virtualbox etc. Would love to see a 2021 version!

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Not sure how I would do a 2021 version as I spent a lot of time in the 2019 going over the steps. Same steps still apply in 2021 or any other year in the future I would think.

[@julianwass]

Well, as they say, crap in crap out. I named my pops folder +__.POPS . This video is perfect !

[@ForeverParadise_]

@@julianwass i followed this video exactly except i used a USB to transfer . are you saying that instead of __.POPS , the partition needs to be named “+__.POPS”??

[@julianwass]

FREEWAUNE no, I accidentally named it +__.POPS and once I fixed that to __.POPS it all worked suddenly!

[@ForeverParadise_]

@@julianwass i believe i had the error because persona isn’t on the eligibility list

[@taylorcollazo5739]

I'm getting a "No Disc !" in LaunchELF error when I try launching a PS1 game in OPL. What am I doing wrong?

[@mcmartymcfly]

did you ever find a solution to this, I'm having the same issue

[@asj17snb10a]

There was a solution? I'm having the same issue... after waiting about 2 minutes of a black screen, the "No Disc! " message in LaunchELF (v4.43a) appears.

[@zaqlpmko1]

did you figure this out yet?

[@ricardod123]

Make sure that you have a 'POPS' folder inside the __.common folder with the two files.

[@ЕвгенийЖуков-м5п]

Очень хорошее и полезное видео. Автору большое уважение за его работу. Я не зная английского языка всё равно понял как это сделать)

[@dapperfan44]

I'm copying my games via USB because I didn't want to bother with the transfer over IP. Not that I could anyway since I'm using a SATA adpater. WOW it's slow! The read speeds on the PS2's USB ports are truly killer. Edit: damn thing keeps kicking me back to uLaunch. Edit: FINALLY figured it out, the problem was the IOPRP252 IMG file had a lowercase extension. I had to capitalize the extension for it to work. @Project Phoenix Media would you mind adding that to the description? This way more people don't get tripped up like I did. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong until I saw that the .IMG extension on your screen was capitalized while mine was not. Here's something else that's important for people to know. It doesn't show in this video and I assume your tv doesn't struggle with that resolution, but modern HDTV's don't support the native resolution of PS1 games over component cables because it's too low. Create a file that is called exactly "CHEATS.TXT" and then paste inside it "$HDTVFIX" without the quotation marks. Put this file into the folder that your game creates for the virtual memory cards in the __common/POPS/SCUS_123.45.Game Name folder. And you don't need to, but I recommend adding "$SMOOTH" to the CHEATS.TXT file so that the PS1 emulator automatically uses the smoothing option for the game. And, you don't need to start each game in order to make the folder. After you make your SCUS_123.45.Game Name.VCD file, just create the folder named exactly the same thing as the game file. You can put the Cheats file in that folder, and other folders like it, then copy the folders in to the __common/POPS folder. The PS1 games will load right away over the component cable, and you don't need to change to your composite cable any more.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Adding notes now, thanks!

[@dapperfan44]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia you're welcome, thank you! I just realized I made a mistake in my comment. I didn't mean "create the folder named exactly the same thing as the folder". I meant "create the folder named exactly the same thing as the game file." I see fixing my mistake removed your heart but I still appreciate it!

[@TheMadisonHang]

oh god you just made this vid God bless

[@theoriginaljrest]

Greatly appreciate your videos regarding PS2, OPL and Popstarter! Is there a way to partition the internal hdd so that I can have 1 partition be PS1 titles and another partition be PS2 titles? I'm using a 160gb internal HDD with the original network adapter for IDE drives and I'm satisfied with how PS2 games perform but I find that performance off of the front 1.1 usb are super slow for most PS1 games. I have not been able to find confirmation anywhere if this can be done and figured I'd ask you. Thanks again!

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

I haven't personally tried but internal hard drive should be able to coexist with ps1 and ps2 games. Get a copy of wlaunchelf v4.43a I think that allows partitions to be made, see if that helps.

[@nick11927]

This is my plan. Did you try this?

[@splitx7656]

i had set up my hdd with your tutorial and my psx vcds month ago to launch the games via ulaunch with ELF files. (worked great since now :D) now i saw your new tutorial but i didn't get the point how i let my VCD games show up in OPL .. what are the steps to load them up via OPL now ? any suggestions ? i don't think i have to format everything and start from scratch Thanks :)

[@Jek47]

Is there any way to do this with an exFAT internal HDD with GrimDoomer's OPL?

[@aminquraishi2367]

Did you find a way?

[@Jek47]

@@aminquraishi2367 I don’t think it’s possible yet

[@stepencuy]

thank you so much, very helpful :)

[@EllRiver]

Will you make an updated video using the newest beta version of OPL that allowes Exfat? So we can get Popstater to working on that version of OPL?

[@cbk12]

Yes that would be awesome 👌 pls 🙏

[@SpurdoMaltese]

It doesn't work with the exFAT GrimDoomer OPL. Period. You use the Jay-Jay 1.2.0 version, or don't bother. the exFAT OPL is for dumping .iso files straight unto the HDD, and doesn't support any functionality with POPSTARTER.

[@cbk12]

Can you please make an updated video with the new ex fat opl to put ps1 games on it . Thanks! 😊

[@socialengineering2539]

Work perfect thank u from morocco ♓

[@noahdavis6155]

Wouldn’t you be able to just skip the radhost client part by using a sata adapter cable and loading the files directly to your hard drive?

[@yottadrive]

Dude, thank you so much for doing this video, you're my hero! Now the only problem is the IGR which doesn't work, my PS2 stays in a black screen but that happens only with PS1 games, I don't know why.

[@ronthehybrid]

If you dont see your game, make sure you include the id in the name. ex:SLUS_123.45.Game.vcd

[@amigatroels3645]

I have spent all day trying to get this *&#!@ to work.. I have tried the latest official OPL which have the greyed out PS1 icon but I can't select it what ever I do. I tried the latest OPL daily build which have the PS1 enabled in menu, and finally displays the games but the screen just goes black and then eventually goes back to sysmenu. I have all the latest files for popstarter, and placed exactly where they should be... I followed the video exactly as you did, what the *"@#$& am I missing here??

[@amigatroels3645]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia Tried Silent Hill and Tekken 3

[@jeffreyharris6541]

I found this which makes the conversion of the files easier, it also creates the .elf file. psx-scene.com/forums/f19/psxvcd-englishl1989-157130/

[@HasidicHomeboy]

So this tutorial gets me PS1 games, and then I have to do a totally different setup for PS2 games right? Do you have a video on that?

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

To clarify, this is a method to do ps1 games on ps2, not downloading them. For PS2 games its a different method, see the ps2 playlist for more details. Either use winhiip to install to internal hard drive, or play games from usb or smb.

[@sinisa.banjac]

Thanks for this man :) Is there a way to play multi disk games with popstarter? I was searching in comments but I didnt find anything...

[@TheMrSalamandre]

That's worked for me...But not so easy ^^ do it from a USB pen drive. Thanks for your time to explain it well. Is there a way to change disk on the fly when playing ps1 game? Thanks.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Yes, see this method: bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/popstarter-documentation-stuff/wiki/multi-disc

[@djopulence]

is it possible to transfer all the PS1 files in one swoop? I have a lot of PS1 games and it's been tedious. great vids by the way. your tutorials are appreciated.

[@djopulence]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia i actually figured it out. i marked all my VCD files with the X button, copied and pasted to initiate the transfer. i didn't have to keep tending to it. 12 hours later...DONE!

[@wilburcobb8990]

ok...I followed the guide...I added all the correct files to the correct directories...WHY AREN'T THE PS1 GAMES SHOWING UP????

[@WCP_Modz]

I just found out myself how to get them to show up.. I myself have a new problem (game booting into black screen) but I can help you.. granted you have the latest versions of everything shown in the video, the naming format is wrong in the newest OPL manager.. (22.4 the PS1 VCD naming format is broken, download 22.1 from PSX-Place) and when prompted for auto updates, uncheck the box.. the main thing is to name the VCD file with the "SLUS_???.??." in front of the name of the PS2 game (OPL manager 22.1 will do this automatically considering the VCD is compatible) example: name your game as "SLUS_???.??.Game title.VCD" (I will use Spyro 2 Ripto's Rage as an example below) "SCUS_944.25.SPYRO 2 - RIPTOS RAGE.VCD" and place it in the __.POPS partition of the HDD as shown in the video..

[@wilburcobb8990]

@@WCP_Modz I actually figured it out myself and forgot about this comment but this is important info to have online. Wanna know what my problem turned out to be? The PS1 id database listed ids with a dash instead of an underscore. And yeah, OPLManager did me dirty, batch renamed all my .VCD's as "HDD format" which didnt have any ids in the filenames and refused to let me batch rename them again so I had to do it myself. TEDIOUS! but we got em in the end.

[@WCP_Modz]

@@wilburcobb8990 nice, were you running them from HDD? and have you got the games to boot at all past the black screen? one thing I am thinking it could be is, I use a PS2 to HDMI adapter and maybe the PS1 games aren't compatible with that output.. otherwise I don't know (I've checked the Popstarter compatibility list and messed around with a few different builds, but nothing gets past the black screen, I can't find my AV cables either so I can't even see if the adapter is the problem lol) edit: I did find my AV cables and yes, the HDMI adapter was the problem.. the AV cables work perfectly fine.. in case anyone else has this issue..

[@wilburcobb8990]

@@WCP_Modz HDMI is a fickle mistress. I personally never trust adapters if I got an alternative. Glad we both got it working lmao

[@vidgam]

@@WCP_Modz I was headbutting this this issue all day, just couldn't figure out why it wasn't spitting out the error that files were improperly named. Thanks for figuring it out and posting it here. Hopefully the bug gets addressed soon. But I still have no clue why the games aren't showing up on the OPL list.

[@alienrefugee51]

Why don't you use FHDB and load it onto the HDD instead of using FMCB on an MC?

[@TheOriginalVersatile]

alienrefugee51 yes that is another alternative too

[@RetroPCUser]

On my PS2, it shows the partition name as +__.POPS and not __.POPS using the uLaunchELF v4.42D HDD Manager. Is there a way to force the name to be __.POPS? Edit: fixed it by using the PFS Shell to create the partition and filesystem. It doesn't show on the uLaunchELF program, but I'm able to copy my VCD files and start playing my PS1 games. Also, has anyone had graphical glitches in some games, like the picture being choppy at times or losing the background?

[@elmariachi5133]

Hello! Thank you for the tutorial! I still have some trouble in making use of it: The memory card needs to be plugged in for the IP configuration to work, because IPCONFIG.DAT needs to reside ont he mc. But how do you make the PS2 boot FHDB from the internal HDD with the memory card plugged in? For recovery reasons I have FMCB on the memory card and so I have to unplug the memory card first and the plug it in right before starting the network, so the PS2 won't boot from the mc but the networking can still find the configuration. Isn't there a better way for doing this? And: Can't this be done using OPL Manager completely? It got network options, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't make it work fully for installing PS1 or PS2 games remotely. And: At 8:12, where you say "just for making it easier": What exactly do you mean by that? What would be the "normal" way and why or how would it be less easy? especially: I want to avoiod transferring all the folders everytime I add one PS1 game, does this have to do with this? And: Where would I put the BOOT.ELF file when using FHDB? There is no BOOT folder, but there's the __boot partition - would this be right? thank you :)

[@elmariachi5133]

Thank you very much! That answeref some general questions I had about the softmodded PS2, too. I think that using FHDB isn't very popular vs FMCB, as there are many little problems that no one else seems to bother :) I initially had the plan to not use a memory card at all, so it wouldn't stand out the front of the case and also becasue I only have one 8MBit card. But it seems that it's probably not worth ging through the trouble of not having a memory card always in.

[@StillTheVoid]

What about multi-part ps1 games like i.e. final fantasy vii or metal gear solid which require 2 or 3 discs?

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

I haven't gotten around to doing that tutorial, but its simple to do. See this link for meantime: bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/popstarter-documentation-stuff/wiki/multi-disc

[@StillTheVoid]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia Yeah...this section may be confusing to some viewers. I can appreciate and wait for this upload if possible. Keep in mind for ps2 there are two part discs out there as well. But most definitely ps1.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Totally agreed, like metal gear solid is one example.

[@CansProject97]

Thanks for tutorial

[@cuongluong3515]

Thanks for the detailed instructions, can I manipulate copying files from the usb instead of from the computer network. thanks

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Put files on usb and you can copy over

[@cuongluong3515]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia Thanks very much

[@gdn86]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia How? I have no idea how to access the USB drive in ulaunchelf.

[@ZeFoxii]

I have a question does this run the games, on the ps1 chip in the system? Or does this somehow change the libraries to the ps2 chip?

[@nemesis1971]

hello good tutorial but I have a question I already installed several psx games on the hard disk but to install the ps2 games with winhip it corrupts the partitions of the psx games it will be that I have to install them with another program like HDL Dump that is my question

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

I haven't played with ps2 internal hard drive with both ps2 and ps1 games coexisting before. You can give HDL Dump a try. I didn't realize winhiip screws up pop starter games I never would have thought that.

[@alanmorford]

Like others, I too am experiencing OPL not displaying my VCDs. My PS2 games display properly and I've poured over each step and verified my files are correct but nothing I do makes it show up. I'm even reconverted the cue and bin to a new VCD and transferred but it didn't help. And now GPL Manager isn't seeing my VCDs anymore and I have NO idea why. Help!

[@alanmorford]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia I tried Diablo

[@middle_pickup]

Can you help us understand how this will work with games that use multiple discs? What happens when I'm playing that game and I need the second disc? Do I launch the second one after rebooting the console? Will the game save? What's your experience been here...

[@godsend1112]

Seeing as how this was from 3 years ago at the time I'm reading it, you've probably already discovered the answer, but for those out there that see this question, the game will prompt you to save your progress at the end of disc 1 then you just reset the ps2 once all saving is complete and go back to opl then select disc 2 to play and it should work once it reads the save file.

[@Ksandr_ZN]

Hi! Please tell what do if game on several disks? How change disk? Example i want to play Fear Effect, but it's game on four disks.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Follow this guide: bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/popstarter-documentation-stuff/wiki/multi-disc

[@썬샤인-h5c]

You are great!!

[@kinnikudash385]

After creating the __.POPS partition, while loading OPL, it just blackscreens. I copied the files directly from the USB, since I have a bootleg SATA Network Adapter. Did I do something wrong?

[@kinnikudash385]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia I got help from some of the people at the PS2 reddit, yesterday. I already found out how I messed up. Ended up having to re-install FMCB due to messing with uLaunch configuration.

[@proveimnotme4923]

Fantastic Tut. I appreciate your work. Resident Evil Launches/plays in OPL. Art work not displaying in OPL which was pasted in hdd0:/+OPL/ART/ There are JPGs there. ideas? Thank you.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

I wonder if the cover art is not the right size? Poor man's method is scrap the art onto a usb, like put the game on usb and then scrape the art. Once you got proper art, then copy to the internal hard drive and see if it fixes anything. I focus more on gaming than art, so it doesn't bother me as much lol I guess

[@anthonyaviles8665]

Hi I'm following your guide and I did all the steps and all that loads is the PlayStation bios screen when a game starts and that's all it does

[@anthonyaviles8665]

It's metal slug then u read the compatability sheet and said it wasent comparable

[@harvindersidhu9601]

Hi versatile I followed your this video to add ps1 games to internal hdd. I got the games added no problem but the light gun games for ps1 the light gun does not work the same light gun works for ps2 light gun games can you help me out thanks

[@nzwq2676]

Will POPStarter and PS2 games run on the same HDD at the same time?

[@TheOriginalVersatile]

nzwq yes you can do that

[@xxbyron13xx]

@@TheOriginalVersatile How?

[@jonathanj7498]

@@xxbyron13xx first format ps2 drive (internal drive). Then create a 2nd partition (aka the __.pops folder aka the ps1 stuff). When you connect your drive to a pc (using adapter?) you can copy over ps2 games using for example WinHIIP on a pc. The program knows its a ps2 drive already. To copy the ps1 games just follow this video. you have to use seperate programs because there is no program that copies both ps1 and 2 as far as i know. maybe im wrong. for ps1 i just opl manager

[@Concreteowl]

saiyans guinea pigs he skates over the partition (presumably directory) aspects. It would have been good to have that in the tutorial rather than assuming everyone knows how to do it. Otherwise it’s a good tutorial.

[@GamesAndMoreGamesAndMoreGames]

One thing I don't see mentioned here or anywhere else I have looked. How do you play PS1 and PS2 games off the same internal drive? Do you need to partition the HDD in half and have one for PS1 OPL and One for PS2 OPL?

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

They just coexist with each other. I should do a tutorial showcasing that, thanks for idea.

[@MrMojo06]

Have a problem. The cue2pops I have isnt working. When I drag the cue to the exe it just opens cue, but its not like the version your are using, looks more recent. When I try to manually select cue through the drop-down, it does nothing. No error or anything

[@JamilThePimpLol]

I'm attempting to connect my PC to my PS2 through the network cable. I've got the cable connected directly from my PC to the back of the PS2 through a network adapter. How can I find the IP address of my PC and PS2 to input into Rad Host? You didn't touch much on how Rad Host works. I don't even understand if I should be plugging the ethernet cable into my networks router or directly into my PC. You also didn't mention how to find your PC's IP address. I've found the IPv4 address, but I've been told that's not my PC's IP that's the networks IP. EDIT: So I've figured it out and have gotten Rad Host to connect to my PS2 through an ethernet cable connected directly to my PS2. Rad Host is green showing it's connected and I've even been able to see the "Transfer to PS2" Folder in LaunchELF on my PS2. The only problem is that the moment I see that folder my ULaunchELF program on my PS2 freezes and I'm unable to do anything until I restart my PS2. I'm on the same version of FMCB, UlaunchELF, and OPL as you. I'm using an original PS2 Network adapter that I've converted to SATA. The network adapter doesn't seem to be the problem as I've been able to connect through Rad Host multiple times already, even being able to see the folder from my PC. Happen to know why it freezes every time I get to the folder on my PS2? EDIT: I've figured out why it was freezing, Rad Host client had multiple instances running in the background. Closing them out and starting up just 1 program fixed my issue. It was tricky because there was only one showing in the task bar.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Thanks for pro tip and joining the ps2 homebrew club!

[@ty1134]

In theory if I just have an internal hard drive already loaded with some PS2 games (non-ethernet hdd apater), I could just plug the hdd into my desktop via usb adapter, and place all the files over directly? My only concern is I never installed OPL directly, but it appears to be installed after I imaged the drive with WinHIIP. Any thoughts or suggestions at that plan of attack? Edit: I replicated the file structure shown, and put all my converted ps1 games where they belong. I pulled my hdd out of my ps2 and plugged it back into my desktop via sata to usb adapter, but Windows doesn't seem to let me see the file structure of the ps2 formatted drive. I do see all my ps2 games on there, and can add more, but I can't think of a way to throw all these files from my desktop to the drive since Windows doesn't see it. I may need to revisit.

[@zebular]

Is there any way of transferring over the VCDs directly to the hard drive (in my case an IDE to SD card)? Anything over network in my experience has always been extremely slow.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

How about transferring from usb to hard drive, does that help?

[@zebular]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia Yeah that's what I've been doing. Still pretty slow with USB 1.1 lol

[@CJ-io7fg]

Did everything as followed but my game didn't start up and then it took me back to ulaunchelf and my hdd files were gone. Kinda like it erased everything again even after a format.

[@CJ-io7fg]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia don't laugh it's for my wife but harvest moon. I was gonna try the spyro series but after this started I thought I'd save my time and get some answers.

[@guillemdc]

First of all, thanks for the video tutorial, it's great. Now the question: Is there a way to start adding PS1 games to a hard drive that already contains PS2 games without starting from scratch? Cheers!

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

I don't see why not, add the games manually through USB I think is one way of doing it. Look up ps2-home.com guides or bitbucket popstarter guides if there are better ways of doing it.

[@Concreteowl]

As with the ps2 games I would really appreciate a tutorial or explanation about the naming convention for art files. OPL manager won’t get art for me in the 800x600 resolution I am stuck with. I will need to do this manually. I followed some guides online with zero success.

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

I didn't realize OPL manager art scraping doesn't work properly for internal hard drive?

[@Concreteowl]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia it probably does. The problem is that in 800x600 resolution the GUI is stretched across the the screen and the options you click on are unreachable. There is no way of nudging it along. I only have about two dozen games PS2 and PS1 so manually searching for the art isn't too difficult but I don't know the naming or size conventions used. Naming the art the same as the game doesn't seem to work.

[@francis15lghz90]

In my PS2 when I create "__.POPS" adds automatically "+" symbol like "+OPL" and the OPL not detect the game. What I can do?

[@SynificHDPLAYS]

update ULaunchELF to the latest version, as well as OPL; just in case.

[@truehaun]

I’ve done everything exactly like he said but I can’t get the games to boot. It goes to a black screen for a bit and then loads back into wlaunchelf. Can someone help me?

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

Give the bitbucket wiki a try see if that helps: bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/popstarter-documentation-stuff/wiki/Home

[@AhmedNSane]

Popstarter works well via OPL with original network adapter (US) + BitFunx SATA Upgrade Kit, but shows a recurring black screen with a clone network adapter (Game Star). Think there's a fix for clone network adapters? I'd very much appreciate it.

[@Ameen12344]

Hey I’ve tried exactly same in the video but whenever I’m starting the game it’s just black screen and off what should I do to avoid this. Please help.

[@Theninjagecko]

did everything right, The VCD doesnt show in the ps1 list.

[@francis15lghz90]

Same

[@Concreteowl]

Did you get anywhere?

[@Concreteowl]

@Mr Guru they were named properly in my case my version of ulauncher had added a + to the POPS folder partition name and wouldn't let me change it. I updated again and I could rename the partition. My television wouldn't render interlaced images well so I added a cheat script to render them in 480p. Now it works fine on the games that work.

[@the1ucidone]

Project Phoenix Media, I have an issue. So, running all of the latest versions. I am using a 2TB HDD. So, I'm unable to transfer through Ethernet because the adapter does not support that function as it is SATA and not IDE. So, I do have the required "POPS" files. I'm able to place PS2 Backups on the HDD just fine among other things. What I seem to be incapable of doing is Partitioning the HDD into smaller sectors .__POPS1 and transferring any of the .VCD files. Is there another way to transfer? The HDD when I try to partition only gives me an Error and just cancels so I'm unable to partition it as required. I've been trying to get PSone backups on this thing for over a year and nobody seems to have an answer and there are Zero tutorials for a HDD of this size. Now of course I can hook this up to my PC directly for the HDD but as you know it doesn't really read it to my knowledge. You are my only hope. Thank you so much.

[@tomasdelizia3695]

Try getting a sata to usb adapter and do everything on PC

[@the1ucidone]

@@tomasdelizia3695 That's the issue man, you aren't given that as an option as the PC cannot read this HDD format. Only one program seems to so far. (hdl_dump_helper_gui_2.3) Even the PC doesn't recognize the HDD, unless you use AOMEI, but that might rewrite the HDD format and fuck it all up lol. This isn't so clean cut I'm afraid.

[@the1ucidone]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia Well, at least for me it does not work. If you ever get a chance or you wanna try something of this magnitude. Just let me know and I'll send you all the links, we can Gmail for secure purposes. Collaborating on this would be helpful for future modders for sure. Since, I'm probably one of the few who have ever went to this size. It's been soul sucking man, doing it alone with no idea wtf I'm doing lol. But, I made it work. If only I can get these PSone games to work then it would be a flawless victory. During this particular project, it took me so long that my Dad died, my dog died, and my moms house fell a part. I went through Hell for this PS2 and I don't wanna give up. Thanks for the reply buddy. :)

[@chavo4684]

@@the1ucidone So does this mean that the only way to upload ps1 games is through a USB thumb drive? since there is no program to use to upload the ps1 games to the external hard drive via pc? I know that WinHiip can be used to upload ps2 iso file games but why not ps1 vcd file games?

[@the1ucidone]

@@chavo4684 Good question. You can upload your PS1 games to an External HDD and even a USB thumb drive. Project Phoenix Media actually has some videos that show how to do exactly that. He also has a tutorial on an IDE (Old Model Power Supply) HDDs, which take a much older connector. The issue I'm having is uploading to a 2TB Internal SATA HDD. Therefore, Winhiip does not work on the SATA HDD as it is too large of storage for the program to read. :)

[@abbasraza2493]

The games show up in OPL but I when I launch them they give a black screen before going back into Free HDBoot. All files are present and partition is correct. Any suggestions?

[@abbasraza2493]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia I did a test with only one game first. Ace Combat 2. It was named and VCDed by OPL manager along with the art download. All files are in correct places and games are in __.POPS directory which is 20GB allocated in HDD manager as per your tutorial. Thinking it was a volume problem, i added 23 PS1 games totaling 14GB... using a USB. 6 hours and a restless night later, the games don't even show up in OPL. So this time i retraced my steps and did the same thing i did for ace combat 2 only now with ridge racer. Results? Same thing. It shows up in OPL with all the art work but presents a black screen if i try to boot. Note that the previous 14GB still dont show. I'm going to clean up the __.POPS directory and only going to transfer if i know it will work. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

[@Xeakerr]

Is there a new way doing this? Has it become easier?

[@pol.kraine7890]

Also I get an error when playing CASPER, when it loads the next adjacent room (displays one at a time) I get an "SPU time out error: 7" maybe it's a bad copy/conversion? Is there a way to rip ps1 games directly from ps2 optical drive?

[@Thelastairbendy]

video wouldve been a lot shorter without that FTP method

[@ZaimAfham]

Sadly my fake gamestar adapter don't have network port.

[@G.T.01]

Thanks very much for this video and all your other tutorials, they've been extremely helpful! I ran into a problem implementing this one. When I try to make the __.POPS partition on my HDDmanager, it shows up in the hddmanager section, but it doesn't show up in the browser under hdd0 where I need to paste things into. I have tried to restart my PS2 multiple times, and deleted and recreated the partition but it still doesn't show up in hdd0. Any help would be much appreciated please. Edit: I have just tried to recreate the partition and it keeps saying "Failed to create partition". I kept the partition size to 8GB, and have over 30GB free on the hard drive. I also have my PS2 games on this hard drive, could that be the reason for it not allowing me to put PS1 games simultaneously, or should both be possible to do on the same hard drive?

[@Concreteowl]

A. C did you ever get an answer to this?

[@G.T.01]

@@Concreteowl no, unfortunately I have never found a solution. Sorry I couldn't be more help :( Are you having the same issue?

[@Concreteowl]

@@G.T.01 I am not sure he is even describing a partition. It sounds more like a directory. I let you know how I get on.

[@G.T.01]

@@Concreteowl good luck! I believe in you :)

[@Concreteowl]

@@G.T.01 I managed to create the partition and copy the files over but at first OPL didn't recognise the vcd images. Looking down the comments section I found that this was due to using an older version of uLaunchELF which put a plus in the name of the partition. By downloading the WLaunch version of BOOT.ELF I could rename the partition and remove the + . Now OPL sees the VCD images but doesn't get passed the PS1 boot screen. It's very frustrating. These videos make everything seem relatively simple which is far from the case.

[@shawnvansickle1688]

I am running into an issue when I attempt to connect my pc to my PS2. When it comes to my IP Address and Gateway are all the same except the last set of digits my IP is 011 and Gateway is 006, the Netmask is set the same as the in the tutorial. Any ideas where I am going wrong?

[@Bobby8451]

Hey man, just wondering, how would someone go about converting VCD back to ISO?? Ive actually did it,BUT, My PS3 won't play them. I keep getting errors. Any help? Maybe u could give it a shot and see what youcome up with, I don't know. LOL

[@kentzuniga4463]

I have opl 0.9.3. Will it work on a ps1 game?

[@TheNightFury321]

No

[@GreymanWalking]

@Mr Guru do the file names also need to be in all caps or can they be names SLUS_001.01.some game.VCD?

[@manicmadnessallen2672]

What harddrive did you use?

[@sospyro]

i wonder if popstarter uses the backward compatibility built in the ps2 for Ps1 games or it is completely stand alone and uses only the same hardware of the ps2 games/software?

[@ProjectPhoenixMedia]

I've understood that popstarter is an emulator, but if you use native ps1 disc that runs better? I don't know all the details, just test the games you like and if they work well great. If not, maybe emulate on pc or android

[@squidwardtentacles2736]

I followed all the steps and it starts to load ps1 game, then it kicks me into ulaunch elf and says "no disc"

[@cgbartlett1989]

Let's do this!

[@Neeko-Cat]

ok so this worked fine but i can’t get save files to work the game asks me to insert a memory card but yet when i was playing ps1 games via SMB the save files worked fine

[@octo3167]

Some games (mgs 1 for example) comes on 2 disks. And it asks to insert second disk in one point. How to do it?

[@samothelo3716]

@@ProjectPhoenixMedia Na that wouldn't work. You need to insert disc 2 at the prompt, you can't just quit the game and load disc 2, because it naturally saves after inserting the second disc. Fear Effect is the same, had trouble playing these games on the PSP too, tbh I think multiple disc games are POPS' and other console emulators bane, unless theirs a copy with disc 1 and 2 written into one big file, and a modders has made it so it automatically switches into disc 2 mode itself

[@jmffer]

Found this: bitbucket.org/ShaolinAssassin/popstarter-documentation-stuff/wiki/multi-disc Haven't tried it myself, copying games over now, but will give it a shot when they are good to go.

[@Andrew-pm3wy]

The games show up in a list with cover art and everything and the ps1 logo comes up to boot the game but it never loads. Ive watched this video many times and have tried anything i can think of to do make it work. Somethings not right.