ShadowMountPlus (PS5)

Version: 1.6beta4

Repository: https://github.com/drakmor/shadowMountPlus

Warning! Mounting images can cause shutdown problems and data corruption on internal drives! This depends on many factors, but is more common with older firmware versions. Please take this into account when testing.

ShadowMountPlus is a fully automated, background "Auto-Mounter" payload for Jailbroken PlayStation 5 consoles. It streamlines the game mounting process by eliminating the need for manual configuration or external tools (such as DumpRunner or Itemzflow). ShadowMountPlus automatically detects, mounts, and installs game dumps from both internal and external storage.

Compatibility: Supports all Jailbroken PS5 firmwares running Kstuff v1.6.6+ (Recommended 1.6.6) or Kstuff-lite v1.0+.

Current image support

PFS support is experimental.

Extension	Mounted FS	Attach backend	Status
.exfat	exfatfs	LVD or MD (configurable)	Optimal
.ffpkg	ufs	LVD or MD (configurable)	Legacy
.ffpfs	pfs	LVD	Experimental

Notes:

• Backend, read-only mode, and sector size can be configured via /data/shadowmount/config.ini.
• Debug logging is enabled by default (debug=1) and writes to console plus /data/shadowmount/debug.log (set debug=0 to disable).
• exFAT is the preferred image filesystem, including on 4.xx firmware, with no known reboot/shutdown issues in typical use.

Recommended FS choice

• Prefer exFAT (.exfat) in most cases: it is generally more performant, case-insensitive, and does not have reboot/shutdown issues in typical use.
• Use UFS (.ffpkg) only when specifically needed for compatibility with your game/setup.

Runtime config (/data/shadowmount/config.ini)

This file is optional. If it does not exist, built-in defaults are used.

Supported keys (all optional):

• debug=1|0 (1 enables log_debug output to console + /data/shadowmount/debug.log; default is 1)
• quiet_mode=1|0 (1 suppresses plain informational popups but keeps rich toasts; default is 0)
• mount_read_only=1|0 (default: 1)
• force_mount=1|0 (mounting even damaged file systems; default: 0)
• image_ro=<image_filename> (repeatable; force read-only mode for this image filename)
• image_rw=<image_filename> (repeatable; force read-write mode for this image filename)
• recursive_scan=1|0 (0 = scan only first-level subfolders, 1 = recursive scan without depth limit; default: 0)
• scan_interval_seconds=<1..3600> (full scan loop interval; default: 10)
• stability_wait_seconds=<0..3600> (minimum source age before processing; default: 10)
• exfat_backend=lvd|md (default: lvd)
• ufs_backend=lvd|md (default: lvd)
• backport_fakelib=1|0 (1 mounts sandbox fakelib overlays for running games; default: 1)
• kstuff_game_auto_toggle=1|0 (1 pauses kstuff after tracked game launches and resumes it on stop; default: 1)
• kstuff_pause_delay_image_seconds=<0..3600> (delay before pausing kstuff for image-backed launches; default: 20)
• kstuff_pause_delay_direct_seconds=<0..3600> (delay before pausing kstuff for direct/non-image launches; default: 10)
• kstuff_no_pause=<TITLE_ID> (repeatable; keeps kstuff enabled for matching titles)
• kstuff_delay=<TITLE_ID>:<0..3600> (repeatable; per-title pause delay override, last matching rule wins)
• scanpath=<absolute_path> (can be repeated on multiple lines; default: built-in scan path list below)
• lvd_exfat_sector_size=<value> (default: 512)
• lvd_ufs_sector_size=<value> (default: 4096)
• lvd_pfs_sector_size=<value> (default: 32768)
• md_exfat_sector_size=<value> (default: 512)
• md_ufs_sector_size=<value> (default: 512)

Per-image mode override behavior:

• Match is done by image file name (without path).
• File names with spaces are supported.
• If multiple rules target the same file name, the last one in config wins.
• If no rule matches, global mount_read_only is used.
• Example:

mount_read_only=1
image_rw=PPSA1234-my-image.ffpfs
image_rw=MYGame 123.exfat
image_ro=legacy_dump.ffpkg

Scan path behavior:

• If at least one scanpath=... is present, only those custom paths are used.
• /mnt/shadowmnt is always added automatically, even with custom paths.
• With recursive_scan=0 (default), only first-level subfolders are checked.
• With recursive_scan=1, subfolders are scanned recursively.
• Full scan loop runs every scan_interval_seconds (default: 10).
• Sources newer than stability_wait_seconds are deferred until stable (default: 10).

Backport overlay behavior:

• For each scanpath, use:
  • <scanpath>/backports/<TITLE_ID>/
• The backports folder is ignored during normal game scanning.
• A backport is applied automatically to the matching mounted game from the same scan path.
• If /mnt/sandbox/<TITLE_ID>_XXX/app0/fakelib exists while the game is running, ShadowMount+ also mounts it into that game's sandbox common/lib.
• backport_fakelib=0 disables the sandbox fakelib watcher.
• For backport_fakelib to work correctly, the standalone BackPork payload must be disabled. Running both at the same time will conflict.

Kstuff game lifecycle behavior:

• When kstuff_game_auto_toggle=1, ShadowMount watches game exec/exit events in the background.
• Image-backed launches use kstuff_pause_delay_image_seconds; direct/non-image launches use kstuff_pause_delay_direct_seconds.
• kstuff_no_pause skips auto-pause entirely for matching title IDs.
• kstuff_delay overrides the pause delay for matching title IDs, regardless of image/direct launch type.
• If both kinds of rule target the same title, kstuff_no_pause takes priority.
• When the last tracked game stops, ShadowMount immediately enables kstuff again if it was the component that disabled it.

Validation:

• See config.ini.example for a ready-to-use template.

Mount point naming

Image mountpoints are created under:

/mnt/shadowmnt/<image_name>_<hash>

Image layout requirement (.ffpkg, .exfat, .ffpfs):

• Game files must be placed at the image root.
• Do not add an extra top-level folder inside the image.
• Valid example: /sce_sys/param.json exists directly from image root.
• Invalid example: /GAME_FOLDER/sce_sys/param.json (extra nesting level).

Scan paths

Default scan locations:

• /data/homebrew
• /data/etaHEN/games
• /mnt/ext0/homebrew
• /mnt/ext0/etaHEN/games
• /mnt/ext1/homebrew
• /mnt/ext1/etaHEN/games
• /mnt/usb0/homebrew .. /mnt/usb7/homebrew
• /mnt/usb0/etaHEN/games .. /mnt/usb7/etaHEN/games
• /mnt/usb0 .. /mnt/usb7
• /mnt/ext0
• /mnt/ext1
• /mnt/shadowmnt (mounted image content scan)

You can override scan roots with scanpath=... entries in /data/shadowmount/config.ini.

Recommended folder structure:

• Default mode (recursive_scan=0):

  • /data/homebrew/<TITLE_ID>/
  • /data/etaHEN/games/<TITLE_ID>/
  • /data/homebrew/backports/<TITLE_ID>/
  • /data/etaHEN/games/backports/<TITLE_ID>/

• Recursive mode (recursive_scan=1):

  • /data/homebrew/PS5/<AnyFolder>/<TITLE_ID>/
  • /mnt/ext0/etaHEN/games/<Collection>/<TITLE_ID>/
  • /mnt/ext0/etaHEN/games/backports/<TITLE_ID>/

Creating an exFAT image

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

• Required components installation:
  • sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y exfatprogs exfat-fuse fuse3 rsync
• Script: mkexfat.sh
• Usage: ./mkexfat.sh <game_root_dir> [output_file]
• Example:
  • chmod +x mkexfat.sh
  • ./mkexfat.sh ./APPXXXX ./PPSA12345.exfat
• Notes:
  • Source folder must be the game root and contain eboot.bin.
  • Auto-calculates image size using rounded file allocation + metadata + safety margin.
  • Automatically selects exFAT cluster profile:
  • Large-file profile: 64K
  • Small/mixed-file profile: 32K

Windows:

• Recommended: use make_image.bat (wrapper for New-OsfExfatImage.ps1 + OSFMount).
• Requirements:
  • Install OSFMount: https://www.osforensics.com/tools/mount-disk-images.html.
  • Keep make_image.bat and New-OsfExfatImage.ps1 in the same folder.
  • Run cmd.exe as Administrator.
• Usage:
  • make_image.bat "C:\images\game.exfat" "C:\payload\APPXXXX"
• Behavior:
  • Auto-sizes the image to fit source content.
  • Source folder must be the game root and contain eboot.bin.
  • Formats and copies source folder contents into image root.
• Optional (fixed size): run PowerShell script directly:
  • powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\New-OsfExfatImage.ps1 -ImagePath "C:\images\game.exfat" -SourceDir "C:\payload\APPXXXX" -Size 8G -ForceOverwrite

Creating a UFS2 image (.ffpkg)

FreeBSD:

• Script: mkufs2.sh
• Usage: ./mkufs2.sh <game_root_dir> [output_file]
• Example:
  • chmod +x mkufs2.sh
  • ./mkufs2.sh ./APPXXXX ./PPSA12345.ffpkg
• Notes:
  • Source folder must be the game root and contain eboot.bin.
  • The script auto-calculates image size using rounded file allocation + metadata + safety margin.
  • Recommended newfs parameters for UFS2:
  • newfs -O 2 -b 65536 -f 65536 -m 0 -S 4096
  • mkufs2.sh keeps this fixed block/fragment/sector profile and auto-tunes -i based on source file/directory count.
  • Rough manual -i estimate for manual builds:
  • target_inodes ~= file_count + dir_count + 2048
  • bytes_per_inode ~= image_size_bytes / target_inodes
  • Round bytes_per_inode down to a multiple of 4096, then keep it in the practical range 65536..262144.
  • Practical rule of thumb: use 262144 for normal game dumps, 131072 for tens of thousands of files, and 65536 only for very file-dense images.
  • Example: for an 8 GiB image with 60000 files and 4000 directories, -i ~= 8*1024^3 / (60000 + 4000 + 2048) ~= 130312, so use -i 131072.

Windows:

• You can create UFS2 images with UFS2Tool https://github.com/SvenGDK/UFS2Tool.
• Example:
  • UFS2Tool.exe newfs -O 2 -b 65536 -f 65536 -m 0 -S 4096 -i 262144 -D ./APPXXXX ./PPSA12345.ffpkg
  • For manual builds, use -i 262144 as the baseline and lower it for images with many small files.

Installation and usage

Method 1: Manual Payload Injection (Port 9021)

Use a payload sender (such as NetCat GUI or a web-based loader) to send the files to Port 9021.

1. Send shadowmountplus.elf.
2. Wait for the notification: "ShadowMount+".

Method 2: PLK Autoloader (Recommended)

Add ShadowMountPlus to your autoload.txt for plk-autoloader to ensure it starts automatically on every boot.

Sample Configuration:

shadowmountplus.elf
!3000
kstuff.elf

---

Troubleshooting

If a game is not mounted:

• Debug log is enabled by default; if disabled, set debug=1 in /data/shadowmount/config.ini.
• Check /data/shadowmount/debug.log and system notifications from ShadowMount+.
• Verify scan roots:
  • if scanpath=... is set, only these paths are scanned;
  • /mnt/shadowmnt is always scanned.
• Verify scan depth:
  • recursive_scan=0 scans only first-level subfolders;
  • recursive_scan=1 scans recursively.
• If logs show source not stable yet, adjust stability_wait_seconds (or wait for source copy/write to finish).
• Verify game structure:
  • folder game: <GAME_DIR>/sce_sys/param.json;
  • image game (.ffpkg / .exfat / .ffpfs): sce_sys/param.json must be at image root (no extra top-level folder).
• If you see missing/invalid param.json for an image, check via FTP that files are present under /mnt/shadowmnt/<image_name>_<hash>/ and include sce_sys/param.json.
• If you see image mount failure, check image integrity and filesystem type (.ffpkg=UFS, .exfat=exFAT, .ffpfs=PFS).
• If you see duplicate titleId notification, keep only one source per <TITLE_ID>.

If a game is mounted but does not start:

• Check registration notifications (Register failed ...).
• If the game is not registered, try removing its launcher icon and removing it from Itemzflow.
• If this does not help, remove the game data from system settings and retry (this will delete game saves).

⚠️ Notes

• First Run: If you have a large library, the initial scan may take a few seconds to register all titles.
• Large Games: For massive games (100GB+), allow a few extra seconds for the system to verify file integrity before the "Installed" notification appears.

Credits

• Drakmor - Evolution of ShadowMount to ShadowMountPlus

• Special Thanks:

  • VoidWhisper for ShadowMount
  • BestPig for BackPort
  • EchoStretch for kstuff-toggle and etc
  • Gezine
  • earthonion
  • LightningMods
  • john-tornblom for SDK
  • PS5 R&D Community