BFpilot

BFpilot is a lightweight PS5 payload that serves a browser-based file manager at http://<PS5_IP>:5905/.

The project is split into three payloads:

• bfpilot.elf - the main file manager payload with integrated archive extraction.
• bfpilot-launcher-installer.elf - an optional home-screen tile installer.
• bfpilot-archive-worker.elf - a fallback diagnostic archive worker.

The main payload stays compatibility-focused. It does not import launcher installer libraries, does not install the tile, and can be used without touching PS5 app installation services.

Features

• Browse local PS5 paths from a web browser.
• Upload and download files.
• Copy, move, rename, create folders, and delete from the web UI.
• PS5-side copy and move operations with progress and cancellation.
• Transfer timing, throughput, and device diagnostics.
• Extract RAR, 7z, split 7z, and ZIP archives from the main file manager ELF.
• Clean places sidebar for Root, Homebrew, Mounts, User, Data, mounted drives, and custom shortcuts.
• Mounted USB/ext drives are shown only when they are actually present.
• Top storage summary for Data and mounted drives.
• Persistent custom shortcuts with add, rename, and remove controls.
• Optional launcher tile that opens http://127.0.0.1:5905/.

Download

Use the release assets:

• bfpilot.elf for the file manager and archive extraction.
• bfpilot-launcher-installer.elf only if you want the PS5 home-screen tile.
• bfpilot-archive-worker.elf only as a fallback diagnostic archive worker.

Run bfpilot.elf first. It serves the web UI and starts the integrated archive daemon; archive extraction does not require injecting another payload. Run the launcher installer payload only if you want the tile.

Usage

Inject the file manager payload to your loader, usually on port 9021:

python3 payload_sender.py <PS5_IP> 9021 bfpilot.elf

Open:

http://<PS5_IP>:5905/

Health checks:

http://<PS5_IP>:5905/api/status
http://<PS5_IP>:5905/api/diag
http://<PS5_IP>:5905/api/fs/places

Install or refresh the launcher tile:

python3 payload_sender.py <PS5_IP> 9021 bfpilot-launcher-installer.elf

The tile opens:

http://127.0.0.1:5905/

Archive Extraction

Archive extraction is integrated into bfpilot.elf. The file manager prepares jobs, starts a lightweight archive daemon, and reports progress through the web API. bfpilot-archive-worker.elf is kept as a fallback diagnostic build of the same archive engine.

From the web UI:

1. Select one archive file.
2. Click Extract.
3. Choose a destination under /data or a mounted USB/ext drive.
4. Enter a password if the archive needs one.
5. Watch the progress panel.

The UI polls:

http://<PS5_IP>:5905/api/fs/archive/status

Supported today:

• RAR, including passworded archives and normal multipart RAR sets when every part is present beside the first volume.
• 7z, passworded 7z, and .7z.001 split sets.
• ZIP stored/deflate entries, ZIP64 sizes/offsets, and traditional ZipCrypto passwords.

Extraction uses conservative archive-engine threading by default. The archive API accepts threads=0 for automatic tuning. 7z auto mode is currently capped at 2 effective threads; RAR is clamped to 1 effective thread until large-archive PS5 stability is proven after the perf5 crash investigation. Status responses include threads, effectiveThreads, threadMode, elapsed time, average MB/s, input/output timing counters, and best-effort archive priority fields. RAR status also reports thread-pool counters such as rarMtThreadedBlocks and rarMtLargeBlocks for diagnostics, but normal RAR extraction should report effectiveThreads=1 for now.

Known limits:

• ZIP AES encryption reports unsupported.
• Split ZIP is not implemented yet.
• Archive jobs cannot be cancelled from the browser after extraction starts.
• Failed extractions leave the BFpilot-owned staging folder in place for inspection instead of deleting evidence.

Build

Set PS5_PAYLOAD_SDK to your PS5 payload SDK path:

export PS5_PAYLOAD_SDK=/path/to/ps5-payload-sdk
make clean all
make inspect-imports

Expected outputs:

bfpilot.elf
bfpilot-launcher-installer.elf
bfpilot-archive-worker.elf

make inspect-imports verifies that the file manager payload does not contain launcher/AppInstUtil imports and that the isolated installer contains the required installer imports. The file manager may include archive engine code, but it must remain launcher-free.

Diagnostics

Local read-only diagnostics:

PS5_IP=<PS5_IP> BF_WEB_PORT=5905 make ps5-diag

Read-only storage accounting audit for Settings/BFpilot free-space mismatches:

PS5_IP=<PS5_IP> BF_WEB_PORT=5905 make ps5-storage-audit
PS5_IP=<PS5_IP> BF_WEB_PORT=5905 \
python3 scripts/ps5_storage_audit.py --deep --settings-free-gb 18

Smoke test the file APIs using only BFpilot-created files under /data/test:

PS5_IP=<PS5_IP> BF_WEB_PORT=5905 \
BF_ALLOW_PS5_WRITE=1 \
make ps5-smoke

Optional benchmark mode writes under /data/test/bfpilot-bench by default:

PS5_IP=<PS5_IP> BF_WEB_PORT=5905 \
BF_ALLOW_PS5_WRITE=1 \
BF_ALLOWED_REMOTE_ROOTS=/data/test/bfpilot-bench \
python3 scripts/ps5_diag.py --bench

Archive performance harness:

BF_ALLOW_PS5_WRITE=1 \
BF_ARCHIVE_LOCAL=/path/to/test.rar \
BF_ARCHIVE_PASSWORD='optional-password' \
BF_ARCHIVE_THREADS=0,1,2 \
PS5_IP=<PS5_IP> BF_WEB_PORT=5905 \
make ps5-archive-perf

The harness uploads the archive once under a BFpilot-owned test folder, extracts to separate destinations for each requested thread count, saves diagnostics/ps5-archive-perf-*.json, captures archive logs, and deletes only its own test folder by default. Use manual thread counts above 2 only for controlled stability testing.

Runtime logs are stored on the PS5 at:

/data/BFpilot/boot.log
/data/BFpilot/log.txt
/data/BFpilot/crash.log
/data/BFpilot/launcher-installer.log
/data/BFpilot/archive-integrated/archive-worker.log
/data/BFpilot/archive-integrated/status.json
/data/BFpilot/archive/archive-worker.log
/data/BFpilot/archive/status.json

Compatibility Notes

bfpilot.elf is launcher-free by design. It avoids AppInstUtil, SystemService, UserService, and privileged launcher imports because those can fail before main() on some firmware/loader combinations. Archive extraction is integrated into the main ELF, but only through libc/network-safe archive code and the BFpilot-owned job/status files under /data/BFpilot/archive-integrated.

bfpilot-launcher-installer.elf is separate and uses the complete launcher installer dependency set. If launcher installation fails on a firmware, the file manager payload remains usable.

More detail is in docs/COMPATIBILITY_STRATEGY.md and docs/FIRMWARE_TESTING.md.