Ulaunch on cd - Save settings?

[therock003]

I have burned ulaunchelf on a cd disk,and i boot elfs from a card reader.But how can i save the location of elf so i press the specified button on the main menu,instead n having to navigate to it each and every time via the file browser?

[peterdcrees]

The simplest method is to not include any "LAUNCHELF.CNF" file on the CD.

Whenever uLE is started without such a file in its 'own' folder, it will assume that the folder "mc0:/SYS-CONF/" should be used for the configuration file. If one already exists there, it will be loaded, and in either case that is where future saves will be made.

uLaunchELF will not, however, create "mc0:/SYS-CONF/" (or any other folder) unless the user commands it, so if that folder is missing, then both loading and saving of CNF will fail.

You will have to use the uLE FileBrowser to create the "mc0:/SYS-CONF/" folder 'manually'.
This is done by navigating to mc0: then pressing R1 and choosing "New Dir"

(Thanks to dlanor for this explanation!)

[therock003]

The CD i've already burned doesnt contain that cnf.Only boot.elf,dummy.dat and system.cnf.

As i've already asked on the argon thread,is it possible for sys-conf to be created on the mass storage rather than the mcard?That way it would be more convenient for me.

[dlanor]

The CD i've already burned doesnt contain that cnf.Only boot.elf,dummy.dat and system.cnf.

Good. Then you should be able to use the same CD with the new CNF file(s) on memory card, once you prepare such. No change to the CD will be needed.

As i've already asked on the argon thread,

That issue has nothing to do with Argon, as the use of the standard folder "mc0:/SYS-CONF/" is one of the few system-wide standards that nearly all homebrew PS2 developers apply consistently. Changing that standard is not up to the Argon team, or any other individual developer, though any such developer is free to allow config files being used elsewhere too. But such alternatives are not part of the standard.

is it possible for sys-conf to be created on the mass storage rather than the mcard?That way it would be more convenient for me.

First and foremost: The proper name is "SYS-CONF" not "sys-conf".
On PS2 filesystems character case is always significant.

Secondly, there is no established standard for seeking config files on USB, since that is an optional device type. The only mandatory device type on the PS2 is the memory card, so that is where standard config files should be stored. (While MC units are removable, it has always been considered mandatory to have at least one such unit connected. And that goes equally for Sony specs and homebrew specs.)

However, whenever any program starts up from another device, this also implies the existence of that device for other usage, so many programs also look for a config file in the launch directory. This includes uLE, which will always look first of all in the launch directory for its "LAUNCHELF.CNF" file (or alternatively "LNCHELF.CNF" on filesystems limited to 8+3 character filenames).

If you wish to have a CNF file loaded (and later saved) on a device different both from MC and from the launch device, that too can be catered for, but only by having a LAUNCHELF.CNF in the launch directory, and in that CNF file include a CNF path redirection command, like the following example line:
CNF_Path = mass:/Your USB Config Folder/

That command only sets up the CNF path for later use though, so to ensure that the file in that folder is also reloaded after each bootup, you will also need to include the command "MISC/Load CNF" as the "Default:" launch key, by including the following line in the CNF file stored in the launch directory.
LK_auto_E1 = MISC/Load CNF

So as you can see it is possible to do what you want with uLE, although you will have to create a new boot CD to do things your way. Personally I'd set up that standard "SYS-CONF" folder on the MC instead. It's less trouble, and you will need that folder for other purposes anyway. (It is the ONLY standard location for IPCONFIG.DAT, just to name one example.)

Btw:
Most of the tips I gave above are also available in the heavily commented LAUNCHELF.CNF file supplied in each uLE release ZIP. You may find it useful to study that file in some detail, as it contains lots of info not documented elsewhere. Some of those features are also available in the normal config menus of uLE, but a few can *only* be manipulated by direct editing of the file, such as "NET_HOSTwrite" and "PSU_HugeNames" and a few others.

Best regards: dlanor