PS2 [FORK] RiptOPL (Customized Open-PS2-Loader) rolling-release

RiptOPL
An opinionated Open PS2 Loader fork — aiming to be the "definitive build."
Based on Open PS2 Loader · Copyright 2013, Ifcaro & jimmikaelkael
Licensed under Academic Free License version 3.0
Review the LICENSE file for further details.

What is RiptOPL? A downstream fork of Open PS2 Loader with a built-in cover-art Coverflow theme (default), a Favourites tab, per-game Neutrino external-core launching, a consolidated Device Settings hub, DualSense support, and ready-to-use opinionated defaults. Its settings live in their own settings_riptopl.cfg so they never collide with official OPL or wOPL installed on the same memory card — while artwork, themes, VMCs and favourites stay shared. See This Fork's Additions. For the canonical project, use ps2homebrew/Open-PS2-Loader.

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Full documentation & guides: https://nathanneurotic.github.io/Open-PS2-Loader/ — a complete, searchable docs site covering every storage backend, the Neutrino core, PS1/VCD, the Theme Engine (with worked examples and an annotated sample theme), a full settings reference, and troubleshooting.

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Contents

• Introduction · Quick Start · Major Features Overview · Releases · How to Use · USB/MMCE/MX4SIO/iLink · SMB · HDD · APPS · Cheats · NBD Server · ZSO Format · PS3 BC · Frequent Issues

Introduction
Open PS2 Loader (OPL) is a 100% Open source game and application loader for the PS2 and PS3 units. Major capabilities include GSM video mode fixes, Virtual Memory Cards (VMC), PS2RD cheats, DS3/DS4 pad emulation, themes, and homebrew app launching.

It supports six categories of devices:

1. USB mass storage devices;
2. MMCE (Memory Card Mass Storage protocol devices);
3. MX4SIO (SD card connected to memory card port via adapter);
4. iLink (SBP2 compliant storage devices via IEEE 1394);
5. SMBv1 shares;
6. ATA/IDE HDDs, including internal exFAT configurations (MBR/GPT).

Plus an optional network-block-device boot (UDPBD / UDPFS, via Neutrino) that streams games from a PC over the LAN as their own game list — off by default and mutually exclusive with SMB. See This Fork's Additions.

All of the devices mentioned above support multiple file formats, including:

• ISO;
• ZSO (Compressed ISO);
• USB Extreme (ul);
• Homebrews (Apps) in ELF format;
• HDDs support the HDLoader format.

Note

OPL is developed continuously - anyone can contribute improvements to the project due to its open-source nature.
You can visit the Open PS2 Loader forum at:
https://www.psx-place.com/forums/open-ps2-loader-opl.77/

You can report compatibility game problems at:
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/open-ps2-loader-game-bug-reports.19401/

For an updated compatibility list, you can visit the OPL-CL site at:
http://sx.sytes.net/oplcl/games.aspx

Quick Start
What you need

• A PlayStation 2 or backward-compatible PlayStation 3.
• One storage option: USB drive, MMCE or MX4SIO SD setup, iLink storage, SMB network share, or internal HDD (APA/PFS or exFAT).
• A RiptOPL build (RIPTOPL.ELF) — a tagged v* release for stability, or the rolling pre-release for the latest features.
• Optional: network access (recommended for SMB and remote file management).

Minimal startup path

1. Download a RiptOPL build (tagged v* or rolling) from the Releases page.
2. Copy the RIPTOPL.ELF file to your launch method (FMCB, FHDB, or equivalent).
3. Prepare your storage with the expected OPL folders: DVD, CD, CFG, ART, VMC, and other mode-specific directories as needed.
4. Open OPL settings and enable the device mode you plan to use.
5. Launch one test game, then save settings so OPL reuses your configuration.

For detailed setup steps, jump to the README sections for USB/MMCE/MX4SIO/iLink, SMB, HDD, APPS, and Frequent Issues.

Major Features Overview
This section is a fast feature map to improve discoverability of core OPL capabilities and reduce setup friction for first-time and returning users.

• MMCE support: OPL supports MMCE devices using the Memory Card Mass Storage protocol for SD-based loading through the Memory Card slot.
• MX4SIO support: OPL supports MX4SIO adapters for SD-based loading through the Memory Card slot. See the USB/MMCE/MX4SIO/iLink section for filesystem and layout guidance.
• Internal HDD exFAT support: the internal ATA HDD can be loaded as exFAT — mounted through the Block Device Manager (BDMAssault / "BDMA") into the same massN: namespace as USB/MX4SIO — in addition to APA/PFS, including GPT partitioning for large disks, for PS2 and PS1 (POPSTARTER) games. See the HDD section for formatting, the BDMA equip, and fragmentation guidance.
• Themes: Place theme assets in the THM folder, then select and apply themes from OPL settings. This fork ships a built-in <Coverflow> cover-carousel theme (the default) — see the Theme Engine reference to author your own themes.
• Cheats / PS2RD: OPL supports PS2RD .cht cheat files from the CHT folder, with both auto-apply and launch-time selection modes.
• Pad emulation (DS3/DS4): Builds that include PADEMU allow DualShock 3 and DualShock 4 pad emulation support.
• GSM (video mode handling): Builds that include GSM allow game video mode handling/overrides for display compatibility.
• VMC (Virtual Memory Cards): Create and use VMC images (8MB to 64MB) via the VMC folder and per-game options.
• Per-game settings workflow: Highlight a game, open Game Settings, adjust options (such as compatibility modes, cheats, GSM, PADEMU, and VMC), then save so settings persist per title.
• App launching (APPS + config methods): OPL can launch homebrew ELFs using either conf_apps.cfg entries or per-app title.cfg metadata in APPS subfolders.

This Fork's Additions
This build layers several features on top of upstream OPL:

• <Coverflow> theme (built-in, and the default): a centered cover-art carousel for the game/app list, with an alpha-faded reflection, animated scrolling, a configurable cover count, and aspect-correct covers in both 4:3 and widescreen. Tune it live under Coverflow Settings (shown while the Coverflow theme is active). Authoring details and every theme value live in the Theme Engine reference.
• Cover-art .tar archive (opt-in): keep all of a device's covers in a single uncompressed ART/art.tar (entries named <GAMEID>_<suffix>.png) instead of thousands of loose files. Enable Cover Art .tar Archive under Display Settings (default off); when on, each cover is read from the archive and falls back to the loose .png when it isn't there, so the two coexist. A small art_cache.bin index written beside the archive lets later boots skip the re-scan. The format matches wOPL/sOPL art packs, so existing .tar packs work unchanged.
• Favourites tab: press R3 on any game to star it; a virtual Favourites page (alongside the device tabs, switched on in Device Settings) gathers your starred games from every device into one list, and a star marks favourited titles everywhere. Favourites are stored in a shared favourites.bin, and RiptOPL will import an existing uOPL / wOPL favourites file if it finds one — so your favourites carry over from those builds.
• Neutrino external core (per-game): hand a game off to an external neutrino.elf instead of OPL's built-in core, chosen per title, with custom launch flags you can set globally and per-game. See docs/NEUTRINO.md.
• UDPBD network boot (Neutrino): stream games from a PC over the LAN as a network block device — they show up as a UDPBD Games list with full covers and per-game settings, just like a local drive. UDPBD launches via Neutrino, is off by default, is mutually exclusive with SMB (they share the one network adapter), and needs a static PS2 IP. See the network-boot section of docs/NEUTRINO.md.
• UDPFS network boot (Neutrino): a newer network transport (Neutrino's UDPRDMA) offered alongside UDPBD. A Net Boot Protocol picker under Device Settings chooses UDPBD or UDPFS; UDPFS launches via -bsd=udpfsbd with a bundled bsd-udpfsbd.toml, and its PC server (udpfs_server.py) ships inside the bundled Neutrino folder — match the server to the protocol you pick. Same static-IP and SMB-exclusivity rules as UDPBD.
• PS1 games via POPSTARTER (VCD view): press L3 on a device page to switch between your PS2 discs and a list of PS1 *.VCD games on the same device — it's a view, not a separate tab. A Default game view setting (Both / ISO / VCD, default Both) can lock a page to one type, and Favourites follow the active view. PS1 titles boot through POPSTARTER only (never OPL's core, never Neutrino — the Loader Core selector is inert for them). Works on USB / MMCE / MX4SIO / iLink / SMB and the internal HDD — both APA (__.POPS* partitions) and exFAT (BDMA; PS1 games in massN:/POPS/). See docs/VCD.md.
• Core-aware per-game settings: the per-game screen adapts to the selected Loader Core — under Neutrino it greys the panels Neutrino ignores (GSM, Cheats, PADEMU, OSD Language and the OPL-only compat modes) and offers a structured Neutrino Video picker (Off / 240p / 480p / 1080i) plus a Neutrino-only Mode 7 (-gc=7). See docs/NEUTRINO.md.
• Device Settings hub: the old "Settings" page is now General Settings, and a new Device Settings page consolidates the per-device options, cache sizes, Block-Devices (BDM) settings, all MMCE settings, the network-boot controls (the UDPBD/UDPFS toggle + the Net Boot Protocol picker, interlocked with SMB), and the Favourites tab toggle in one place.
• DualSense / DualShock 5 (USB): optional controller support, compiled in with make DUALSENSE=1.
• Ready-to-use defaults: a fresh install boots with sensible options already enabled — widescreen, cover art, notifications, sound effects + boot sound, USB, delete/rename, and the PS2 logo, with the device tabs in Manual mode. Video mode stays Auto. Change any of it under Settings.
• Private settings, shared data: RiptOPL saves its master config as settings_riptopl.cfg (auto-migrated from the older conf_riptopl.cfg; not conf_opl.cfg), so it can sit on the same memory card as official OPL or wOPL without either build clobbering the other's settings. Everything else under the OPL/ folder — artwork, themes, VMCs, per-game configs, and favourites — stays shared between builds.

Acknowledgements
This fork stands entirely on the shoulders of the PS2 homebrew community. None of this would exist without the ps2homebrew team and their many years of open-source work on Open PS2 Loader and the PS2SDK — kept free, open, and readable so that people like us can study it, learn from it, and build on it. Every feature in this fork began as their code and their ideas. We are deeply grateful that this work was shared openly; it is the only reason a fork like this is even possible.

RiptOPL is a direct agglomeration of the wider OPL family, bringing together features, code, and ideas from rickgaiser's OPL, neutrino, sOPL, uOPL, wOPL, OPL DB, POPSLoader, OPL RetroGEM ID by CosmicScale, nhddl, and official OPL.

With special and sincere thanks to:

• Wolf3s and KrahJohlito — the driving force behind uOPL / wOPL, where much of this fork's modern functionality originated. The Neutrino external-core loader and the Coverflow and Favourites interfaces are all reimplementations of features they designed and pioneered together. We learned an enormous amount reading their code, and this fork is as much a tribute to it as anything else. Thank you both.
• bbsan2k — for the MMCE (Memory Card Mass Storage) protocol that makes SD-via-memory-card loading through the PS2's memory-card slot possible. OPL's MMCE support builds directly on it.
• saildot4k — for BDMA-ATA (exFAT internal-HDD block-device support), and the fixes, feedback, and oversight that shaped this fork's block-device work. A big piece of getting it right.
• eliminator1403 — for dedicated testing, bug reports, and real-hardware feedback that has repeatedly caught issues and shaped fixes across this fork. Invaluable QA.
• Berion — for the artwork and theme design that has shaped how OPL looks for years. The visual language this fork builds on owes a great deal to that craft.
• Ifcaro and jimmikaelkael — the original Open PS2 Loader authors — and every contributor across OPL's long history.

If you want the canonical, actively-maintained project, it lives at ps2homebrew/Open-PS2-Loader — please support it. This fork is a downstream labor of love, not a replacement, and it exists only because that upstream work is open for everyone to learn from.