PS2 FMCB Guides : Create Images for POPSLoader

POPS-00001 PSX Emulator for PS2 Tutorial (Using FMCB and Hdloader) by psalmsamuel

With this guide you will be able to make a .CUE/BIN backup of your PSX game and play it from your PS2 Harddrive. The POPS-00001 Emulator is "Sony" made, it was just never officially released, but was later decrypted and released. Games that work 100%, work much better then the Psx Emulators for the PC, there are no missing frames or images.

Things You Will Need for this Guide

1. A way to launch "ulaunchelf", softmod like FMCB or the Super Soft Mod 2.0. Or a Hard Mod.
2. PS2 with a Harddrive.
3. A way to transfer games to your PS2 Hdd once formatted in hdloader: A Usb Stick, Usb Hard drive, or ftp.
4. Virtual Drive like "Daemon Tools", and Image creator like "Ultra ISO".
5. The "POPS-00001" Emulator, with a PSP BIOS or a correct region PS1 BIOS patched into the Executable, the one provided has this already done.
6. POPS-00001 PSX Image Fixer (Included Below or "cue2pops", to drag and drop your .cue file to patch your .bin file)

Formating your HDD with "WinHIIP_V1.7.6" for use in your Ps2
1.Get the Harddrive you want to install "hdloader" on, now hook it up to your PC and format it with "WinHIIP_V1.7.6, (Format Drive/change all the sizes to 128Mb.
2.Now select HdLoader 48bit,if your drive is larger then 137gigs). Now that your Drive is Formated for the PS2, you will then create a partition for POPS-00001 so it is the first partition before any PS2 games are added to your PS2 HDD. (Since POPS-00001 is 28bit the partition can not be greater then 137MB, we are keeping the partition close to the beginning of the drive so it is within this size limit also)

Creating your Partition in Hdloader formatted PS2 HDD for POPS-00001
Open Ulaunchelf and select "Misc"
Select "HddManager" this is where you will create a partition
1. Press "R1" select "Create" from the Menu as you are creating a partition
2. Create a Name, I choose "PP.WILDARMS", press "ok" (the "PP." must be included before the name of the partition)
3. Select its size, I selected 700MB and press "ok" (circle button)
4. After creating the partition, ulaunchelf will scan your harddrive again, this can take a while depending on the size and amount of data.
5. Now you've created a visible partition

Preparing Your PSX GAME for use with the POPS-00001 Emu
1. Dump your game to CUE/BIN format, now drag the .CUE file to "CUE2POPS.EXE" it will create a .VCD file, rename the file to MYDUMP.BIN
2. If your game is a "multi bin" image, mount the .CUE file with a virtual drive like, "Daemon Tools", and then convert the image to CUE/BIN with a image creater, like "Ultraiso". Now Continue with step 1.
3. The "disc" folder, "EXECUTE.EXE', and "MYDUMP.BIN" files go into the root of the partition, they do not go inside a separate folder.
4. You Must Edit the partition Path in "EXECUTE.EXE" to the name of the partition with your games files (use a hex editor) ex: "PP.POPS-00001" or "PP.WILDARMS" to PP.THE_GAME_YOU_ADDED to that partition.
5. Use a Usbstick or usb hardrive, or put a harddrive in a usb enclosure to transfer your gamefiles from your pc to your ps2 hdd, which is in your ps2 (you can also ftp). Your PS2 Harddrive is formatted with the Ps2 partition, and your pc can't see it, the program "WinHIIP_V1.7.6" lets you add PS2 games to the PS2 harddrive, it doesn't see the partitions you create for the psx games, or let you add games that way to the drive.
6. You can still add PS2 games to your ps2 harddrive or ps1 games using the methods above.

NOTES

1. Your just using "POPS-00001 PSX Image Fixer" or "CUE2POPS" to patch your game images, which is contained in the package below, you do this by dropping the .CUE/.BIN files in the same folder as the application, and then "DRAG AND DROP" the .CUE on to the executable. After it spits out a .VCD file you rename this to MYDUMP.BIN. And follow the file structure in this tutorial. You do not need to install "Popsloader Package" to the emulator or this guide. (avoid the unnecessary setup, because you will still have to create a partition for each game).

2. Make sure your partition is larger then the size of the files you drop into the partition you create on your PS2 harddrive.

3. If using a USB Hard Drive, and to help prevent ulaunchelf from freezing always go to
"hdd0" to refresh your harddrive in the PS2 before beginning transfer, and wait a minute after turning on the USB Harddrive before transfering with ulaunchelf.

4. You can select multiple files with ulaunchelf press the "X" button to select all the files to copy into your partition then press "L1" then select "copy" then you can paste them to the correct partition.

5. "POPS-00001 PSX Image Fixer" included in the package, or "CUE2POPS" automatically adds the Pops Header, along with a popstation header before the image file. (All you have to do is delete this from the beginning of the image and your image file will be back to normal, if your using this as a backup for an emulator or something also.) Your using the POPS660 BIOS for the PS1, it is region free, so you don't need to change bios, but if your using the wrong region game, it will display incorrectly. You will need to hexedit the name of the Partition you created in the EXECUTE.ELF file, for the name of the partition you create for each game. In the archive included just change "PP.WILDARMS" to "PP.MYGAMENAME"

6. Hdloader does not see the partitions you create for the PSX games, nor does "WinHIIP 1.7.6" the program you use to add PS2 Games to your PS2 hdd from your computer, the only way to add PSX games is through ulaunchelf, and with a usb stick or drive or by ftp.

COMPATIBILITY LIST OF GAMES I TESTED

XMEN Children of the Atom - Pal patched to Ntsc (fixed screen position)
(screen flicker on title, goes black just press start to skip, and on first match flicker only, otherwise works great)
Final Fantasy 9 NTSC two ppf patches applied works 100% (make sure your dump is correct size)
Steel Reign NTSC works 100% great
Marvel Super Heroes NTSC works 100% great
Armored Core 1 NTSC works 100%
Armored Core 2 NTSC works 100%
Master of Monsters NTSC works 100% great (some hiccups during battles)
Master of Monsters PAL2NTSC works 100% great (small hiccups during battles)
Raystorm - pal patched to ntsc, intermitten slowdown, boss slowdown otherwise works great
Dino Crisis 1 NTSC works 100%
Dino Crisis 2 NTSC works 100% (no freezes on weapon change)
Armored Core 3 NTSC works 100%
Thunder Force 5 NTSC works 100%
Gundam Battle Assault 2 NTSC works 100%
Disruptor NTSC Works 100%
Revolution X NTSC Works 100%

Boots Up But With Severe Game Errors

Gundam Battle Assault 1 Ntsc - Severe sound stuttering after first stage
Xenogears 2.0 Patch Ntsc, extreme flicker when ever you move the main character
Colony Wars Red Sun NTSC no music, occassionally goes to ingame menu

DON'T WORK

Castlevania SOTN (psone bios, psp 660) (ntsc/pal, pal patched to ntsc) freezes after memory card screen
Final Fantasy 7 " "
Valkyrie Profile Ntsc 660bios, black screen during opening sequence
XMEN Children of the Atom NTSC (screen off center more flicker in the first stage, compared to the "pal patched to ntsc" version)
um Jammy Lammy Ntsc, freezes at first loading screen
Parasite Eve 2 Ntsc, freezes on square logo
Pa Rappa Ntsc, freezes after the first level starts
Colony Wars Vengeance NTSC freezes after mission start
Final Fantasy 7 freezes after start menu