PS5SX2

---

What is PS5SX2?

PS5SX2 is a port of PCSX2 to the PS5. It runs as a native app on a jailbroken console:

• PCSX2's recompilers run straight on the PS5's CPU.
• Its Vulkan renderer draws through a modified version of ps5vk, Mihawk-99's native Vulkan driver for the PS5's GPU (PS5_Vulkan), tweaked specifically for PS5SX2.
• You pick a game from a cover-flow shelf and play it upscaled on a 4K TV.
• You change its settings from your phone while you play.

A passion project

PS5SX2 is a passion project. It started as a "can this even work?" experiment, done in spare time out of love for the PS2's library and the fun of seeing those games on new hardware. There's no company or schedule behind it, and nothing is for sale.

Expect rough edges. Bug reports with logs are very welcome, and so is patience.

Highlights

• Native, not streamed. The emulator, its recompilers and its renderer all run on the console itself.
• Up to 6x native resolution, 8x on the PS5 Pro. PCSX2's hardware renderer runs on Vulkan with 4K output, and FSR is one of the display filters.
• A shelf for your games. A 3D cover flow of your library. Covers download automatically the first time you start it. Games play from .iso, .chd, .cso and .zso files, and each is titled from its serial in PCSX2's game database, whatever the file is called.
• Settings from your phone. The shelf shows a QR code: scan it, or type the address under it (http://<PS5 IP>:<port>/) into any browser on the same network, and a settings page opens. Triangle on the shelf shows the QR code large.
  • Change the resolution, aspect ratio, filters, patches and more, for all games or one game.
  • Most changes apply while you play.
• An in-game menu. In a game, hold L2 + D-pad Down for a second: the game pauses and a menu in the shelf's style opens over it, with save and load states (each slot with its screenshot), every setting of the settings page, the controls, the game's achievements and the way back to the shelf. The in-game menu has the details.
• Widescreen and 60 FPS patches. Put PCSX2 patch files (.pnach) in /data/PCSX2/patches/ and switch them on per game from the settings page.
• RetroAchievements. Sign in on the shelf and earn RetroAchievements as you play (softcore). Unlocks pop up like PS5 trophies, with the badge and the trophy sound, and every game's list is in its Square menu. RetroAchievements has the details.
• Online play. PCSX2's emulated network adapter is on for every game and goes out through the PS5's own connection. SOCOM II has played online matches on PS Rewired's revival servers.
• Recommended settings for the games played during development, one tap away on the settings page.
• Bigger memory cards. Make blank 8, 16, 32 or 64 MB cards on the settings page and pick the card in each slot, for all games or for one.
• HD texture packs in one button. Press Square on a game to download its HD texture pack from archive.org's PCSX2 HD Texture Packs collection (about 340 games). It installs itself. Your own PNG or DDS packs work too, kept on the console, on a USB drive or in any folder you name.
• Rumble and an FPS graph. The game's vibration goes to the controller, at the strength you choose, and a blue frame-rate graph can sit in the corner of the picture. The settings page switches them on and off, and chooses what the info box shows.
• Up to 4 players with a multitap: the other PS5 users logged in when the game starts play on their own controllers.
• Fast forward (experimental) on a button combo you choose, to skip videos.
• Games, BIOS and textures on a USB drive. Games are found in the drive's top folder, games/, PCSX2/games/ and PS5SX2/games/; a BIOS in bios/, PCSX2/bios/ or PS5SX2/bios/. Once you name a game folder, a BIOS folder or a textures folder in the settings (Folders), only that folder is used for it, and Scan USB drives can leave the drives out altogether.
• USB keyboard and mouse play as the PS2 controller, with PCSX2's own keys. This doesn't work on firmware 11.x and 12.00 yet: see Known limitations.
• Logs that survive. The last sessions' boot, emulator and settings logs stay on the console, so a problem can be tracked down afterwards. When a game runs slow, a built-in profiler notes in the log which part of the emulator the time went to: logs from slow games are the most useful ones to send.

What you need

• A jailbroken PS5, on any firmware. PS5SX2 works on all of them and has been tested on every firmware up to 13.60, on the PS5 Pro and on the other models, a Slim included. Tested consoles has the details.
• The PS5SX2 Helper payload, from the releases, loaded together with kstuff. It's based on OnionHEN. It jailbreaks PS5SX2 when it starts, which the emulator's recompilers need, and gives the app access to /data.
• ShadowMountPlus, loaded at every boot like kstuff. It mounts PS5SX2 from /data/homebrew/PPSA99203/ and puts it on the home screen.
• Your own PS2 BIOS, dumped from your own console. Without one, PS5SX2 offers OpenPS2BIOS, an experimental open-source BIOS it ships (PS2 discs only, and some games don't work yet); a BIOS of your own always comes first.
• Your own games, as .iso, .chd, .cso or .zso files.

No Sony BIOS, games or keys come with PS5SX2.

Getting started

For the main release, use PS5SX2Helper.elf and PS5SX2Installer.elf to launch PS5SX2 and automatically keep your build up to date.

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗