fstat13--PSCapture/docs/INSTALLER.md

How the PSCapture installer works

There is no separate installer: PSCapture.exe installs itself. Everything happens on the first launch, in four steps, from one window.

launch ─► self-elevate (UAC) ─► driver check ─► install (once) ─► deploy payload ─► stream

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Step 0 — Self-elevation (no manifest tricks)

On startup the app calls CheckTokenMembership against the Administrators group. If it is not elevated it re-launches itself through ShellExecuteEx(…, "runas", …) — the standard UAC prompt — and the elevated instance takes over. No manifest is embedded, so the executable stays a plain single file.

Step 1 — Is the driver installed?

Checked by a single registry probe:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{50533543-414d-4def-9b0e-192080102030}\InprocServer32

That CLSID is the virtual capture card's DirectShow filter. If the key exists, the driver is considered installed and this step is skipped.

Step 2 — Installing the driver (first run only)

1. Creates %ProgramFiles%\PSCapture.

2. Extracts pscapture.dll from its own resources (the driver travels embedded inside the executable, resource RCDATA n.3) and writes it there. It also copies itself, so the installed folder is self-contained — the distributed installer is literally one file.

3. Registers the filter by loading the dll into the app itself and calling DllRegisterServer directly. (Earlier builds shelled out to rundll32, which turned a missing dll into a cryptic "the specified module could not be found" dialog; the in-process call returns real error codes.) Every step is checked: if the dll could not be written (not elevated, no rights), the app says so instead of attempting a doomed registration.

   DllRegisterServer writes the COM registration for the filter CLSID, including the DevicePath entry that modern capture consumers (Chromium/Discord media engine among them) use to pick the device. DllUnregisterServer removes it - that is the uninstall path today (delete the folder + call it).

Step 3 — Deploying the console payload

The payload (pscapture.elf) ships inside the executable as a Windows RCDATA resource — no loose files to lose. Two paths are used, in order:

1. Autoloader (persistence): over anonymous FTP (port 2121) the app creates /data/pldmgr/payloads/pscapture/ on the console and uploads pscapture.elf there, so the jailbreak's autoloader starts it on every boot.
2. Immediate start (this session): the same bytes are pushed to the payload loader on TCP port 9021; the app reads back the console log and prints it in the window. The console shows the system notification “PSCapture is streaming on:PORT”.

Step 4 — Streaming (the feeder)

The feeder lives inside the app (a worker thread), no background services:

1. reads the stream port from /data/pscapture.port (FTP),
2. connects to the console over TCP and receives NV12 1920×1080 frames,
3. applies the live gain and shift px settings from pscapture.ini (re-read every ~30 frames — changes are instant),
4. publishes each frame into the shared memory ring Local\Ps5CamShm, where the driver picks it up for any consumer (Discord, OBS, ffmpeg…).

Closing the app stops the feeder; the camera freezes on the last frame and reconnects automatically the next time you press Start.

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Files and locations touched

Where	What
%ProgramFiles%\PSCapture\	pscapture.exe (self-contained) + the pscapture.dll it extracts
Registry HKCR\CLSID\{50533543-…-192080102030}	the capture-card filter registration
Console /data/pldmgr/payloads/pscapture/pscapture.elf	payload (autoloader)
Console /data/pscapture.port	stream port announced by the payload
Console /data/pscapture.log	payload log (FTP-readable)
Next to the exe: pscapture.ini	IP, GAIN, SHIFT settings

Notes

• No Windows service, no scheduled task, no kernel driver: the capture card is a user-space DirectShow filter, the feeder dies with the app.
• The console side never needs configuration through the PS5 menus: the payload and the app handle everything.
• Uninstall = stop the app, run rundll32 "%ProgramFiles%\PSCapture\pscapture.dll",DllUnregisterServer, delete the folder (and optionally /data/pldmgr/payloads/pscapture/ on the console). A one-click uninstaller is on the roadmap.