PS1/2 Popstarter on USB won't Save progress

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

i've been running games off a USB drive formatted to FAT32 and i was trying to save my game and it worked as you'd expect but when trying to import
a save i had on my psvita, but i first put the VMC (VMC 0 Since i saved in memcard slot 1) in memcardRex to check if my save data was there and my save data was just not there, so then i put my USB drive back in my PS2 and sure enough, when i boot up the game my save was not there.

if there is a way to fix this?

 

[Fien]

Does it work if you let POPStarter make a new VMC for the game (by saving a new save in the game) and use MemcardRex to paste a existing save into it?

I did this in the past for at least Gran Turismo (2) and Tekken 3, those worked fine.

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

Does it work if you let POPStarter make a new VMC for the game (by saving a new save in the game) and use MemcardRex to paste a existing save into it?

I did this in the past for at least Gran Turismo (2) and Tekken 3, those worked fine.

i could most definitely try this, though im unsure if it will let me save my progress going forward but it is worth attempting, nonetheless

 

[Fien]

If you get the game in POPStarter to load a save, it will be able to update/overwrite the save if you progress the game too.

Be sure the save you want to import is from the same version of the game as the one you run in POPStarter. PS1 saves are not cross-region compatible and won't be recognized if they are not from the same version.

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

If you get the game in POPStarter to load a save, it will be able to update/overwrite the save if you progress the game too.

Be sure the save you want to import is from the same version of the game as the one you run in POPStarter. PS1 saves are not cross-region compatible and won't be recognized if they are not from the same version.

that's the thing i wasn't able to get it to load a save, i managed to save in game but upon resetting it is not there

 

[Fien]

Which game is it that have this problem? Or all games? Is it not even creating the (empty) VMC file?

And how did you launch POPStarter? Like with POPSLoader, OPL's app-tab or using uLaunchELF?

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

Which game is it that have this problem? Or all games? Is it not even creating the (empty) VMC file?

And how did you launch POPStarter? Like with POPSLoader, OPL's app-tab or using uLaunchELF?

All games but the first game i tried was Chrono Cross,

And the method im using to launch games is the method where you convert the games to VCD and put them on a FAT32 USB and the games will show up on a FMCB menu

 

[Fien]

How do they show up in FMCB? Normally they don't? I think it has something to do with launching if all games don't save.

Give POPSLoader a try: https://www.psx-place.com/resources/popsloader.1396/

It seems like the download link is dead.

I've made a copy from my USB drive. Extract the attached .7z to the root of a USB drive. And put your .VCD files in the POPS directory. No other files, only the .VCD files. Name them correctly "Game Name.VCD".

Use FMCB (or uLaunchELF) to launch POPSLOADER.ELF. Then select USB and the games will be listed.

If you save a game, it should automatically make a directory with the name of the VCD in the POPS directory, containing the VMC files.

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

How do they show up in FMCB? Normally they don't? I think it has something to do with launching if all games don't save.

Give POPSLoader a try: https://www.psx-place.com/resources/popsloader.1396/

It seems like the download link is dead.

I've made a copy from my USB drive. Extract the attached .7z to the root of a USB drive. And put your .VCD files in the POPS directory. No other files, only the .VCD files. Name them correctly "Game Name.VCD".

Use FMCB (or uLaunchELF) to launch POPSLOADER.ELF. Then select USB and the games will be listed.

If you save a game, it should automatically make a directory with the name of the VCD in the POPS directory, containing the VMC files.

so uhm.....is this supposed to happen? (not even i can read what it says in person) I launched it through launchELF because popsloader isnt on the FMCB menu

 

[Fien]

That's not supposed to happen. It's blurry (how does it became so blurry?), but looks like a error message, maybe missing files?

You're sure the USB drive is partitioned as a single FAT32 partition?

To rule out incompatibility with a specific USB drive, you can give another drive from a different brand a try.

I tried this set of files on a FAT32 USB drive and it works with two games on it. Started with uLaunchELF. It should look like in the attached video.

Applications won't be in the FMCB menu automatically, you'll need to add them using the Configurator or by editing the .CNF by hand if you want to add it there.

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

That's not supposed to happen. It's blurry (how does it became so blurry?), but looks like a error message, maybe missing files?

You're sure the USB drive is partitioned as a single FAT32 partition?

To rule out incompatibility with a specific USB drive, you can give another drive from a different brand a try.

I tried this set of files on a FAT32 USB drive and it works with two games on it. Started with uLaunchELF. It should look like in the attached video.

Applications won't be in the FMCB menu automatically, you'll need to add them using the Configurator or by editing the .CNF by hand if you want to add it there.

i have no idea if it's a compatibility issue as it seems to work with everything else i do with it without problem, though i could try another drive as i have only one other on me, as for what it's formatted to? yes it is indeed FAT32

 

[Fien]

And the POPSLOADER.ELF is in the root of the drive, together with the POPSLDR directory (which is mandatory)?

Another thing you can check is if the partition is at the beginning of the drive with a partition manager. In the past I had one drive which didn't work fine with some consoles and the partition wasn't starting at the beginning. After making a new partition table and partition with Gparted it worked fine. Since then I repartition every new drive before using on old consoles.

In rare cases a USB drive can even don't have a partition table, but the partition just take the whole space. For PC (and Xbox 360) use it's not a problem. But for some consoles it is.

 

[ChronoCrossfangirl2002]

And the POPSLOADER.ELF is in the root of the drive, together with the POPSLDR directory (which is mandatory)?

Another thing you can check is if the partition is at the beginning of the drive with a partition manager. In the past I had one drive which didn't work fine with some consoles and the partition wasn't starting at the beginning. After making a new partition table and partition with Gparted it worked fine. Since then I repartition every new drive before using on old consoles.

In rare cases a USB drive can even don't have a partition table, but the partition just take the whole space. For PC (and Xbox 360) use it's not a problem. But for some consoles it is.

i used another USB drive and formatted it and it worked, saving the game and everything. i suspect it's got something to do with the cluster size not being set to the correct option on my other one and it could be what you said as well, nevertheless i'll give it a more in detail look another time, the important thing is that it's all working now with the other one, i'll edit my post with the name of the USB i'm using later in case someone wants to know.

i very much as always appreciate the help, feel free to let me know anything i may need to consider going forward.

 

[Fien]

Good to know it's working now

The cluster size is a possibility too. On Linux I never set them and it defaults to 32KB for FAT32 of this size. I don't know what Windows do by default. It seems like you can have more choices using a tool like GuiFormat.

But, there's also a chance that the other drive just works if you simply reformat it. After all, flash drives and FAT16/32 can be dodgy sometimes. Removing them once forgetting to unmount or "safely remove" them first can be enough to corrupt the filesystem, leading to weird behavior.