# PS2 Reference Notes

This folder is a planning-oriented reference bundle for the `retroDE_ps2`
core. It is not meant to be an exhaustive PS2 encyclopedia; it is meant to
collect the implementation details that are likely to matter when we turn this
into an FPGA project.

Files in this folder:

- `hardware_overview.md`: PS2 subsystem map, memory map, and boot flow notes.
- `software_and_emulators.md`: Open-source SDK, graphics libraries, and
  emulator projects worth mining for behavior and test ideas.
- `implementation_workstreams.md`: A subsystem-by-subsystem map of what the
  project would need to account for, plus an `ao486` comparison.
- `source_log.md`: Source list with URLs and short notes.
- `supplemental/`: Second-pass additions (Claude). Primary Sony manuals,
  PSX-on-FPGA prior art as methodology templates, academic / community
  feasibility material. See `supplemental/README.md`.

Suggested reading order:

1. `hardware_overview.md`
2. `implementation_workstreams.md`
3. `software_and_emulators.md`

Notes:

- These notes favor primary or near-primary technical sources where possible:
  emulator source trees, SDK/toolchain repos, and low-level hardware
  references.
- Some PS2 knowledge still lives in community documentation rather than
  official Sony publications. Where that is the case, the source is called out
  clearly.
- I did not find a credible open-source HDL PS2 core during this pass. The
  public material that surfaced is overwhelmingly emulator, homebrew SDK, and
  reverse-engineering documentation.