Easy POPS

🎯 How to add shortcuts in OPL

Once games are processed, Easy POPS generates a conf_apps.cfg file in the USB root. Copy it to your Memory Card and OPL will show your PS1 games directly in its menu.

1. Open uLaunchELF from the Free McBoot menu
2. Browse to mass:/conf_apps.cfg
3. Press [R1] on the file and choose Copy
4. Navigate to the OPL folder on your Memory Card: mc0:/OPL/ or mc1:/OPL/
5. Inside the OPL folder, press [R1] and choose Paste
6. Open OPL, go to Settings, set Apps to Auto and press Save Changes
7. Done! Your PS1 games will appear in the OPL menu

⚠️ If OPL doesn't work for you — uLaunchELF alternative

You can launch games directly from the file browser without needing OPL.

1. Open uLaunchELF and navigate to mass:/POPS/
2. Find the file XX.GAME.ELF (where GAME is your game's name)
3. Select it and press [○] to launch it directly

💿 Multi-disc games — How does it work?

Some PlayStation 1 games came on multiple discs. For example, Gran Turismo 2 had two CDs (Arcade and Simulation). During gameplay, the game would ask you to swap the disc.

What does the delimiter do?
It's a separator that tells the app where the game name ends and the disc number begins. In the example above, the delimiter is CD-

🖼️ IGR textures — How does it work?

IGR stands for In Game Reset — the on-screen prompt that shows up when you use the disc-swap hotkeys during a game (see the Hotkeys section below). By default this prompt shows up as plain, low-quality text.

When this option is checked, Easy POPS downloads a set of English texture files (IGR_BG.TM2, IGR_NO.TM2, IGR_YES.TM2) straight into your POPS folder, replacing the default prompt with a cleaner, properly localised version. It's a small visual touch — nothing changes if you leave it unchecked, POPStarter will just fall back to its built-in prompt.

🎨 Cover art — How does it work?

When this option is checked, Easy POPS creates an ART folder at the root of your USB drive (alongside the POPS folder) and downloads a cover and icon image for each processed game.

To find the right image, the app reads the Game ID it detected for each disc (e.g. SLUS-00553) and looks it up against a cover database. If a match is found, it's saved into the ART folder using a name tied to that game's launcher file, so OPL and other tools can pick it up automatically.

You can also tick any of the advanced options — alt. cover, logo, label, background, and screenshots — to download extra artwork alongside the standard cover and icon, whenever it's available for that game.

If a game's Game ID couldn't be detected, or no matching art exists online, that game (or that specific asset) is simply skipped — everything else keeps working as normal. If detection fails, you can also type the Game ID in yourself next to that game in the list, and the art will be downloaded from that.

🔌 MX4SIO / MMCE support — How does it work?

If you play your PS1 games from an MX4SIO or an MMCE instead of a regular USB drive, pick the matching option here.

Easy POPS will download a small POPSTARTER folder for it — just copy that folder to the root of your Memory Card afterwards, and you're set.

If you pick MMCE, Easy POPS also downloads a MemoryCards folder (with the PS1 and PS2 boot cards inside) straight to the root of your USB drive, alongside POPS, ART and POPSTARTER.

You can only pick one at a time, since a PS2 can't use both at once.

Don't forget you still need to copy conf_apps.cfg to your Memory Card too (see the "Add to OPL" section above).

🎮 In-game hotkeys

Button combinations you can use while inside a PS1 game.

🏠 Back to the main menu (Free McBoot)

Press all at once and you'll return to the Free McBoot menu, from where you can open uLaunchELF or OPL for whatever you need.

🔄 How to switch disc during a game

You have two ways to do it: