OK to discuss PSP modding?

[QueQueg]

After much reading about the battery savings and emulation potential, I'm interested in modding my PSP with a custom firmware.

Is it OK to discuss this sort of thing here on CoG (as long we stay away from discussions of piracy)?

[pomeroy]

After much reading about the battery savings and emulation potential, I'm interested in modding my PSP with a custom firmware.

Is it OK to discuss this sort of thing here on CoG (as long as stay away from discussions of piracy)?

I'm pretty sure this is a taboo subject no matter what you talk about. The mods will, of course, tell you for sure.

[Widgetcraft]

Uncertain, but I hope it's fine to talk about, as that is one thing that always bothered me about Evil Avatar; discussing anything even sort of related to piracy was grounds for moderation. I think an intelligent gamer community should be able to discuss all aspects of technology, particularly gaming hardware.

It is a bit of a moot issue at the moment anyway, the late model 2000's and all 3000's aren't able to be cracked, as of now.

[QueQueg]

Codejunkies has a tool battery that can put the 3000 into service mode. I'm not sure how much more the community needs, but I guess that's a good start.

I have a PSP2001 from 18 months ago, I'm hoping that it can be modded.

I'm most excited because I have an extensive PS1 collection that I'd love to be able to load up on a mobile console. Right now all the little jewel cases are collecting dust in my back bedroom.

[QueQueg]

I have just been informed that this little puppy (http://us.codejunkies.com/Products/PSP-Battery-Service-Tool__EF000530.aspx) has arrived at my hacienda.

I will attempt to mod my PSP this evening, hopefully without turning it into a worthless pile of plastic.

Wish me luck. I will post details, if anyone wants them.

Again, if I'm out of line here, feel free to close the thread. No hard feelings.

[Everyone vs Dinosaurs]

I wanna hear the results!

[mister slim]

I wanna hear the results!

QueQueg is dead. One of the rarely mentioned potential side effects of modding.

[Reverant]

Sorry if this is out of bounds, mods. I'll keep this clean.

You can find $7 tool batteries online that are compatible with the fat and (at least) the psp2001s and they are legitimate, working products. They do not come with instructions, however, but I'm sure there guides for that sort of thing online.

General consumer safety tip: There are loads of Memory Stick Pro Duos online that are fake. Do yourself a favor and either buy one at the store or from a reputable online dealer. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I bought a PSP right before the 3000s came out (wasn't impressed enough to wait) for two reasons. The first was to play Crisis Core and the second was the off chance that I could play my favorite PSX Square rpgs on the go. I've been extremely satisfied with both.

[frederec]

The last I read, those new batteries that claim to be able to hack a PSP 3000 don't quite work. It sounds like they're close but not quite capable.

And it didn't seem totally taboo back at the old place. I passed my pandora's battery and magic memory stick through a little over half a dozen people from there, and it went pretty well. My battery has hacked something like a dozen PSP's at this point. It's quite the slut.

[QueQueg]

I wanna hear the results!

The Service Tool doo-hicky worked like a charm. I downloaded a nifty little Magic Memory Stick utility to prep the file system of one of my sticks. With a bit of fiddling (10 minutes?) I had the custom firmware installed (4.01 M33). Then it was just a matter of putting the latest and greatest CFW (5.0 M33-3) into the /PSP/Games/UPGRADE folder on the stick, and running it like any other update.

There are quite a few good emulation utilities available. I put an SNES, NES and GBA emulator on there, so thats awesome.

My wife is happily playing our PS1 Spyro 2 on there now...

She won't give it back!

All-in-all, it was amazingly easily. Now I'm shopping for another PSP!

[frederec]

The Service Tool doo-hicky worked like a charm.

This was on a 3000? Really? I honestly didn't think it was doable yet...glad to be wrong if that's the case.

[QueQueg]

This was on a 3000? Really? I honestly didn't think it was doable yet...glad to be wrong if that's the case.

Nope, it was a Daxter-pack Silver 2001. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

On a semi-related note, is anyone not amazed at the technical abilities of the various "scenes". I'm a professional software engineer, but my specialties are so... pedestrian compared to the kind of crap these guys are pulling off.

Emulation has always amazed me. Reverse-engineering a system's firmware... is this some serious voodoo, kung-foo shit or what?

[Mr. Murphy]

I'm still curious on how the mods (and the law) feel about this as well. Is it illegal to modify something you've purchased? If you own the original cartridge, is illegal to also play it on emulation?

[QueQueg]

Legal or illegal... honestly I don't know. I'm playing games I bought on my system I bought.

That feels right.

[mister slim]

Yeah, these legal questions aren't really settled. Hardware you can typically alter however you want after purchase. So modding is going to be legal. Most mod-chipper cases hang on the distribution of pirated software rather than the chip. The chips themselves are going to depend on functionality. Like Xbox chips added a lot of perfectly legal augmentations in addition to the ability to use ISOs, and I don't anyone has a problem with turning an Xbox into a media center. I believe Australian courts have held that the use of chips to play imports is legal. Modding a PSP is probably going to be legal, though it's possible Sony could sue modders for misuse of their code.

I'm not really sure how platform-shifting would work out in the legal system. Music/movies as a precedent seem to imply it would be okay, though it's hard to tell how a court would actually rule. It's not legal to download a game, even if you own a copy, but I doubt any publisher would bother with such a case.

[J Arcane]

I'm still curious on how the mods (and the law) feel about this as well. Is it illegal to modify something you've purchased? If you own the original cartridge, is illegal to also play it on emulation?

Thanks to the idiocy of the DMCA, technically speaking modding is illegal, if it serves to circumvent existing copy protection measures.

If someone put out a custom firmware that did nothing to the PSP's copy pretection measures and did not play ISOs, you'd be in the clear, but as it stands I'm not aware of any, and furthermore, as I understand the way the PSP is built, simply installing them requires circumventing the copy protection system in place.

[Bone]

So my long-modded PSP finally bricked. I'm not sure what happened- I've successfully upgraded it many times, and it survived the last flashing. It was a few days later when it refused to turn on or even light up an LED.

You guys think one of the tool batteries may get me back in? I previously had used the GTA hack to get 1.50 back on, and have been using Dark Alex firmwares ever since (most recently the 5.00 M33 release).

[frederec]

So my long-modded PSP finally bricked. I'm not sure what happened- I've successfully upgraded it many times, and it survived the last flashing. It was a few days later when it refused to turn on or even light up an LED.

You guys think one of the tool batteries may get me back in? I previously had used the GTA hack to get 1.50 back on, and have been using Dark Alex firmwares ever since (most recently the 5.00 M33 release).

Remember Pandora's Battery was originally designed to unbrick PSP's, the hacking functionality came a little bit later. So yeah, it should probably work.

You're in Austin, though. If you were ever in my area, I could let you use mine. Maybe save you a little money.

[Mr. Murphy]

Thanks to the idiocy of the DMCA, technically speaking modding is illegal, if it serves to circumvent existing copy protection measures.

If someone put out a custom firmware that did nothing to the PSP's copy pretection measures and did not play ISOs, you'd be in the clear, but as it stands I'm not aware of any, and furthermore, as I understand the way the PSP is built, simply installing them requires circumventing the copy protection system in place.

Well that's a shame. I wonder how come circumventing copy protection on an object you own is illegal? Is it really any different from tearing out the copyright page of a book you bought (which is only illegal if you try to sell the book afterwards)?

[frederec]

Well that's a shame. I wonder how come circumventing copy protection on an object you own is illegal? Is it really any different from tearing out the copyright page of a book you bought (which is only illegal if you try to sell the book afterwards)?

It's illegal because the MPAA and the RIAA have way more money to lobby congress than you do.

Also keep in mind, there are plenty of people, even here, that think selling used games should be stopped. This isn't much different. As far as most media companies are concerned, any time you want to use their product on a different device, they want your money. Hell, looking at all the different copies of Final Fantasy IV I own is proof of that.

[Thanasimos]

I've fallen way behind in the modded PSP scene. What's the latest good custom firmware? I should get started again...

[Mr. Murphy]

Hell, looking at all the different copies of Final Fantasy IV I own is proof of that.

I hear that.


Also keep in mind, there are plenty of people, even here, that think selling used games should be stopped.

There are? I mean, I think GameStop should stop selling them for a measly 5$ below the original price, but there are really gamers who have a problem with us selling games to each other, or over Ebay?

[frederec]

I've fallen way behind in the modded PSP scene. What's the latest good custom firmware? I should get started again...

Dark Alex just put out 5.00m33-4. It can access the playstation store directly from the PSP, but if you have a large memory card (like I do), it has issues and will always think your memory stick is too full. Sony is up to 5.01, but the current custom firmware fakes the firmware check when you connect to the store, so it doesn't force you to update.

[frederec]

There are? I mean, I think GameStop should stop selling them for a measly 5$ below the original price, but there are really gamers who have a problem with us selling games to each other, or over Ebay?

I think you're right. I think the real issue is with GameStop's used game pricing. But most of the time when I see people ranting and raving about used games and how terrible it is for the industry, they talk about it in general, not specifying GameStop.

It's mostly industry people that come out and would like to stop all used game sales. Not all industry people, of course, but some vocal ones.

[Mr. Murphy]

I think you're right. I think the real issue is with GameStop's used game pricing. But most of the time when I see people ranting and raving about used games and how terrible it is for the industry, they talk about it in general, not specifying GameStop.

It's mostly industry people that come out and would like to stop all used game sales. Not all industry people, of course, but some vocal ones.

Yeah, I've noticed, and the funny thing is, my kneejerk reaction was to agree with them. "Gamestops used sales are taking the money out of good developers hands!" and all that. Then I was explaining the situation to my girlfriend (who is very active in a fair-trade organization that focuses on making sure farmers get a fair wage for their products) and I realized the problem wasn't that they sell used games, it was the WAY they do it - by placing the used games directly next to the new ones and pushing used games instead of new ones when you make a purchase, as well as by offering the smallest discount possible when you purchase the used game (which is still enough to lure in most people, since it is five dollars cheaper) they just aren't being fair to the game developers and publishers or their customers.

Unfortunately fairness is not a legal requirement of our economy. It's hard for me to justify any sort of legal action changing the way used sales work, when I've come to learn just how much farmers and other 'developer' level members of our economy are getting fucked over by the distributors of their particular product.

[frederec]

Unfortunately fairness is not a legal requirement of our economy. It's hard for me to justify any sort of legal action changing the way used sales work, when I've come to learn just how much farmers and other 'developer' level members of our economy are getting fucked over by the distributors of their particular product.

Not that I am advocating legal action or anything, but the problem with letting it go unregulated is that GameStop will probably not change their tactics until it becomes unprofitable for them. And unfortunately, I'm not sure if will become unprofitable until game companies start getting severely hurt by the loss of sales. And by the time it's noticeable, who knows how much damage is done.

Then again, I honestly don't know how many new game sales GameStop does compared to used games. I'm the sort of person that consistently buys new games, generally only buying used if I can't get it new or if I find it significantly cheaper. I also don't go to GameStop much anymore, so I'd like to hope it's not as bad as all the doomsayers would have us believe.

[Mr. Murphy]

Not that I am advocating legal action or anything, but the problem with letting it go unregulated is that GameStop will probably not change their tactics until it becomes unprofitable for them. And unfortunately, I'm not sure if will become unprofitable until game companies start getting severely hurt by the loss of sales. And by the time it's noticeable, who knows how much damage is done.

Yep, it's a complicated issue. I pretty much leave it up to the economic specialists.

Then again, I honestly don't know how many new game sales GameStop does compared to used games. I'm the sort of person that consistently buys new games, generally only buying used if I can't get it new or if I find it significantly cheaper. I also don't go to GameStop much anymore, so I'd like to hope it's not as bad as all the doomsayers would have us believe.

Ditto. I like owning a new product and I like supporting the game developers that make games I enjoy, so I always buy new. And usually from Wal-Mart - I can't tell you how many times I went into a GameStop only to be told I couldn't buy such and such because I didn't pre-order, only to go to the Wal-Mart across the street and get it no problem. Eventually I cut GameStop out of the loop, and now I pretty much only hit them to look for more obscure titles.

[mister slim]

I don't think GameStop would be profitable without the used games. There's not much margin on new games and consoles and if GS didn't have used game sales the chain megastores would have more of the market and GS would be more like your local comic book store.

[QueQueg]

I've fallen way behind in the modded PSP scene. What's the latest good custom firmware? I should get started again...

I don't know, I just went up to the very latest I could find (5.0 m33-4). Is that a good custom firmware? Not sure. I didn't know there were options. I'm pretty new to the whole scene myself.

I've seen add-on dashboards that replace the XMB, but I think they are separate from the CFW, and can be used with any of them.

[QueQueg]

I can't tell you how many times I went into a GameStop only to be told I couldn't buy such and such because I didn't pre-order

This. This why I don't waste my time at Gamestop.

[Mr. Murphy]

I don't think GameStop would be profitable without the used games. There's not much margin on new games and consoles and if GS didn't have used game sales the chain megastores would have more of the market and GS would be more like your local comic book store.

In the end, GameStop is simply employing good business practices (whether they are fair or not is a different question). I decided I couldn't justify punishing them for utilizing capitalism to its fullest.

[mister slim]

In the end, GameStop is simply employing good business practices (whether they are fair or not is a different question). I decided I couldn't justify punishing them for utilizing capitalism to its fullest.

The real problem was letting them merge with EB and become the monolithic used outlet. Now there's no competitor to keep their purchase prices high.

[pheriannath]

Personally, I don't mind if people talk about modding their systems so long as it sticks strictly to homebrew software and open source stuff. If these threads stay away from emulation and piracy, we should be cool.

<3 to Rogue_Hunter for using the Pandora Battery on my PSP at PAX.

[frederec]

I don't know, I just went up to the very latest I could find (5.0 m33-4). Is that a good custom firmware? Not sure. I didn't know there were options. I'm pretty new to the whole scene myself.

The m33 firmwares are done by Dark Alex and his team, who is one of the leading hackers in the PSP homebrew community. The other firmwares that are released tend to be modifications of his firmwares, or mid-releases while people wait for the newest m33 firmware. So yeah, it's pretty much the one to use.


I've seen add-on dashboards that replace the XMB, but I think they are separate from the CFW, and can be used with any of them.

What you're probably thinking of is irshell, a full shell replacement. A lot of people rave about it, but the couple of times I've tried I found it too cluttered and unfriendly. I might warm up to it if I gave it more of a chance, but that hasn't happened yet.

[Bone]

IRshell is a tool I keep around, because it's got useful features. But as a replacement for the XMB, not so much.

However, NervOS is a pretty decent replacement shell that actually is intuitive and has all the features of the original XMB + a few extras. NervOS is also skinnable and if I were to desire a completely different XMB experience, I'd boot into NervOS full-time.

[QueQueg]

I'll have to check out NervOS. I looked at IRShell, but got intimidated by the screen-shots that I found.

[Bone]

IRshell is like the fire-hose approach to GUI that programmers seem to like. Here are 50 icons that do everything possible there is to do on the system... :)

NervOS takes the familiar XMB design metaphor and runs with it, just adding a few extra icons/features and making it skinnable.

[J Arcane]

Well that's a shame. I wonder how come circumventing copy protection on an object you own is illegal? Is it really any different from tearing out the copyright page of a book you bought (which is only illegal if you try to sell the book afterwards)?

It was the entertainment industry's end run around fair use. Fair use is protected by legal precedents, and getting a law through or an appeal through to overturn them would've been too hard a sell even for the crooks in Congress. So instead they get the DMCA pushed through and make cracking encryption and copy protection illegal, lobbying heavily on the piracy and security issues, while conveniently being silent on it's effects on fair use.

THe end result is a legal catch-22, where even though in any given case I might be perfectly within my fair use rights as a consumer to copy a piece of media I own, I'm not legally allowed to circumvent the copy protection in order to do so because "OMG PIRACY IS KILLING EVERYTHING!!!"

I personally, don't give a flying fuck, and if anything, took that shit as an encouragement to piracy, because if someone so heinously disrespects my rights as a consumer, I'm not left with much encouragement to respect their rights as a producer of goods.

There are? I mean, I think GameStop should stop selling them for a measly 5$ below the original price, but there are really gamers who have a problem with us selling games to each other, or over Ebay?

Because they've been suckered into a bullshit line of rhetoric for the sake of the "hobby". It's a mindset I've seen time and time again, where somehow gamers owe developers and shop owners a living, and anything that doesn't contribute directly to that is evil.

I knew a hobby shop owner who used to drive customers away with his 10 minute long rants on the evils of eBay, taking money from the hands of poor shop owners, etc. etc.

Fuck 'em. THat's not how capitalism fucking works. If you can't compete, you lose, no one owes you any special favors, no one is reuired to pay out the nose when they could be saving hundreds of dollars. Find a way to compete, or get out of the way.

[Mr. Murphy]

Stuff I agree with

Exactly.

I personally, don't give a flying fuck, and if anything, took that shit as an encouragement to piracy, because if someone so heinously disrespects my rights as a consumer, I'm not left with much encouragement to respect their rights as a producer of goods.

Pirates are Patriots!

I am all for supporting the people who create the things I love, but there are definite problems with the infrastructure. One of the reasons I love buying Valve games over Steam is I feel like my money is going directly where I want it to go.

[J Arcane]

Exactly.



Pirates are Patriots!

I am all for supporting the people who create the things I love, but there are definite problems with the infrastructure. One of the reasons I love buying Valve games over Steam is I feel like my money is going directly where I want it to go.
Oh, don't take it as some great statement of principle, more just selfish human response. I was never very good at "do unto others as you'd have them do to you" when the other was being a jackass. ;)

I fuckin' love Steam, though sadly there's not enough cases outside of Valve's games where all that extra profit really seems to be going straight to the developer, which to me was always the great promise of Steam.

Understand that I do like giving to the guys who made the game whenever I can and can afford to, I just resent the entitlement complex, and them using that complex to justify trying to strip away my rights as a consumer.

I would probably not even be a gamer today if it weren't for used games. Almost every console and console game I've ever owned was bought used, otherwise I never would've been able to afford them.

[Mr. Murphy]

Oh, don't take it as some great statement of principle, more just selfish human response. I was never very good at "do unto others as you'd have them do to you" when the other was being a jackass. ;)

I'm the same way, I don't really believe pirates are patriots, I was more poking fun at the pirates out there who act like what they are doing is part of some grand cause. For me piracy is a gray area, that I don't really feel like getting into right now, but I do fall firmly into the camp that it is not hurting the industry anywhere near as much as they would like you to believe.

[Bone]

I agree with you both (J Arcane and Mr. Murphy) and I am simply tired of having to justify my hacking of the PSP and DS that I own. I don't care what "most" people do with the hacked firmwares, I am using them to enjoy the fruits of HOME coders, not to play pirated media. But I am not above ripping my own game library to run from a memory card- that's just common sense.

I realize the PSP library has increased in quality in the last couple of years, yet the only reason I'm sad I bricked mine is that I miss all the creative home-brewed video games and apps I was so used to playing. I guess I'll spring for a Pandora's battery- can they also be used as a regular battery, or are they strictly for unbricking and entering service mode?

[Mr. Murphy]

I agree with you both (J Arcane and Mr. Murphy) and I am simply tired of having to justify my hacking of the PSP and DS that I own. I don't care what "most" people do with the hacked firmwares, I am using them to enjoy the fruits of HOME coders, not to play pirated media. But I am not above ripping my own game library to run from a memory card- that's just common sense.

I realize the PSP library has increased in quality in the last couple of years, yet the only reason I'm sad I bricked mine is that I miss all the creative home-brewed video games and apps I was so used to playing. I guess I'll spring for a Pandora's battery- can they also be used as a regular battery, or are they strictly for unbricking and entering service mode?

Hey Bone, have you ever considered amending your user title to "Pastor of Muppets?"

When I get a DS or PSP, one of the first things I'm going to do is mod it. I own so many old games, still, that I would love to be able to play on the go. Like you said, it's just common sense.

[J Arcane]

Hey Bone, have you ever considered amending your user title to "Pastor of Muppets?"

When I get a DS or PSP, one of the first things I'm going to do is mod it. I own so many old games, still, that I would love to be able to play on the go. Like you said, it's just common sense.
Nice thing about the DS is you don't really have to mod it. It's just a cartridge thingy you plug in. I'm looking forward to that. We never modded my friend's PSP even though we both kinda wanted to, because of the chance of stories like Bone's.

[Bone]

Hey Bone, have you ever considered amending your user title to "Pastor of Muppets?" I have considered it. Right now I prefer keeping the Spoonerism intact, where you can just switch the M and P to get Master of Puppets. But you're right, for effective pronunciation and imagery, Pastor of Muppets might work better. I can't decide :)


Nice thing about the DS is you don't really have to mod it. It's just a cartridge thingy you plug in. I'm looking forward to that. We never modded my friend's PSP even though we both kinda wanted to, because of the chance of stories like Bone's.I love that about the DS. Unplug the cart and it's stock again. I still don't know what could have happened to my PSP- generally, if you brick one, it's during the firmware flashing process. I was able to play hours of games on the new firmware, and I didn't make any other system changes. There is the off chance that my battery is dead, my charger is broken, or my built-in flash memory is corrupt. I've had this thing for almost four years and have been running custom firmwares almost since day one, so I've really had a good run with it and with Dark Alex custom firmware in particular.

Once I try unbricking it with a Pandora, I'll share the results.

[Mr. Murphy]

I have considered it. Right now I prefer keeping the Spoonerism intact, where you can just switch the M and P to get Master of Puppets. But you're right, for effective pronunciation and imagery, Pastor of Muppets might work better. I can't decide :)


I love that about the DS. Unplug the cart and it's stock again. I still don't know what could have happened to my PSP- generally, if you brick one, it's during the firmware flashing process. I was able to play hours of games on the new firmware, and I didn't make any other system changes. There is the off chance that my battery is dead, my charger is broken, or my built-in flash memory is corrupt. I've had this thing for almost four years and have been running custom firmwares almost since day one, so I've really had a good run with it and with Dark Alex custom firmware in particular.

Once I try unbricking it with a Pandora, I'll share the results.

For me Paster of Muppets is kinda funny, because you switched the P and the M. Pastor of Muppets is REALLY funny, because it's a joke on two levels. But it's all good!

I didn't know that to 'mod' the DS you didn't actually have to modify it at all. How do you get the games you want to play on your DS onto the cartridge?

[QueQueg]

can they also be used as a regular battery, or are they strictly for unbricking and entering service mode?

A real tool battery can only be used as a tool battery. I bought the Service Tool to convert a battery to tool and back. It was cheaper than the tool battery, and ultimately more useful, IMO.

[QueQueg]

For me Paster of Muppets is kinda funny, because you switched the P and the M. Pastor of Muppets is REALLY funny, because it's a joke on two levels. But it's all good!

I didn't know that to 'mod' the DS you didn't actually have to modify it at all. How do you get the games you want to play on your DS onto the cartridge?

There's two parts. The bit that plugs into the DS cartridge slot enables the DS to load custom software. The bit that plugs into the GBA slot in the bottom typically has a slot for SD memory cards in it. You load up your custom what-nots on that.

[Mr. Murphy]

There's two parts. The bit that plugs into the DS cartridge slot enables the DS to load custom software. The bit that plugs into the GBA slot in the bottom typically has a slot for SD memory cards in it. You load up your custom what-nots on that.

That's fucking AWESOME.

[frederec]

I guess I'll spring for a Pandora's battery- can they also be used as a regular battery, or are they strictly for unbricking and entering service mode?

Did you miss my earlier post? You live in Austin, I live in Austin. I have a Pandora's Battery that has been used many times to hack people's PSP's (including a few people on these boards). I could assist with your unbricking, and you'd just need to get over my way.

[Bone]

For me Paster of Muppets is kinda funny, because you switched the P and the M. Pastor of Muppets is REALLY funny, because it's a joke on two levels. But it's all good!I may just have to change it. I'm liking Pastor more and more.


I didn't know that to 'mod' the DS you didn't actually have to modify it at all. How do you get the games you want to play on your DS onto the cartridge?The mod cart they provide you with (which is a normal sized DS cart) has a tiny slot for a standard Micro-SD card. They also give you a USB Micro-SD adapter so you can copy stuff from your PC directly to the card.

There's two parts. The bit that plugs into the DS cartridge slot enables the DS to load custom software. The bit that plugs into the GBA slot in the bottom typically has a slot for SD memory cards in it. You load up your custom what-nots on that.
Or, this. The newer cards, however all seem to use the single, small DS cart and skip the GBA slot altogether.

Did you miss my earlier post? You live in Austin, I live in Austin. I have a Pandora's Battery that has been used many times to hack people's PSP's (including a few people on these boards). I could assist with your unbricking, and you'd just need to get over my way.I DID miss your earlier post. Or rather, I misread it and thought you lived somewhere else. I will PM you in the next few days and see if we can arrange a de-bricking party. Thanks frederec!

[Disgustipated]

Both my PSP and DS are modded (I use that term lightly with the DS). I love it. Being able to play SNES/Genesis/GBA/PS1 games on my PSP is a godsend, and umm... *mumbles something indiscernible about the DS*. :D

[frederec]

I DID miss your earlier post. Or rather, I misread it and thought you lived somewhere else. I will PM you in the next few days and see if we can arrange a de-bricking party. Thanks frederec!

Cool. I look forward to helping you out. I haven't de-bricked a PSP before, just hacked them, so I'm curious how it will play out.

[pomeroy]

Cool. I look forward to helping you out. I haven't de-bricked a PSP before, just hacked them, so I'm curious how it will play out.

It should work the exact same.

[QueQueg]

From what I've read, you just bring the PSP up with the tool battery, then load whatever off of the stick. If the stick was properly prepped with the CFW files, then you can reflash the PSP from the stick.

M I RITE?

Seriously, I don't know.

[maverick106]

From what I've read, you just bring the PSP up with the tool battery, then load whatever off of the stick. If the stick was properly prepped with the CFW files, then you can reflash the PSP from the stick.

M I RITE?

Seriously, I don't know.

Hey, I wanna know too. I have a PSP with CFW on it, but I didn't do it myself. The firmware is getting a bit out of date, and I'd like to upgrade, but I want to make sure I do it the right way to avoid screwing anything up.

At this point, CFW is extremely necessary for me, because something is wrong with the UMD drive and it doesn't read properly. I'd say 1/20 times it can actually load up a game from it. So putting my games on memory sticks is the only way I can play anymore.

[frederec]

Hey, I wanna know too. I have a PSP with CFW on it, but I didn't do it myself. The firmware is getting a bit out of date, and I'd like to upgrade, but I want to make sure I do it the right way to avoid screwing anything up.

At this point, CFW is extremely necessary for me, because something is wrong with the UMD drive and it doesn't read properly. I'd say 1/20 times it can actually load up a game from it. So putting my games on memory sticks is the only way I can play anymore.

Just go download the newest firmware 5.00m33-4, follow the directions on how to install it, and you should be fine. It's fairly hard to screw it up these days. There's not much of a reason to stay on older custom firmwares, since the newer ones tend to run better and have more features (there are some little issues, but they don't matter too much unless you get into it).

[QueQueg]

I updated mine from 4.01 (where I started) to 5.0 m33-3 (and again to -4) by downloaded the new CFW and just dropping it in PSP/GAME/UPDATE on your memory stick.

You then run it like a game from the memory stick in the XMB.

[maverick106]

Well crap. Tried to upgrade my PSP, was very careful to charge it fully, keep it plugged in, and not disrupt the update process, but it got to 99% and then failed. Now it seems to be bricked. :(

I assume a pandora's battery is the only way to fix this?

[pomeroy]

Well crap. Tried to upgrade my PSP, was very careful to charge it fully, keep it plugged in, and not disrupt the update process, but it got to 99% and then failed. Now it seems to be bricked. :(

I assume a pandora's battery is the only way to fix this?

Most likely.

[maverick106]

Most likely.

Well, if anyone knows a place to get one, as cheap as possible, let me know. Let it be known, Sony's firmware upgrade process is shit. The exact same thing could have happened to a standard Sony firmware upgrade, and allowing your product to be bricked by expected use is douchebaggery of the highest caliber.

[frederec]

Well, if anyone knows a place to get one, as cheap as possible, let me know. Let it be known, Sony's firmware upgrade process is shit. The exact same thing could have happened to a standard Sony firmware upgrade, and allowing your product to be bricked by expected use is douchebaggery of the highest caliber.

You can pick up the tool batteries for around $20. I have a Pandora's Battery and magic memory stick combo that I'm generally willing to lend out if you pay shipping each way (last time I did it it cost about $2.60 to go first class one way).

[maverick106]

You can pick up the tool batteries for around $20. I have a Pandora's Battery and magic memory stick combo that I'm generally willing to lend out if you pay shipping each way (last time I did it it cost about $2.60 to go first class one way).

Well, if you're willing I'll definitely take you up on that. :D I'll PM you to try to set things up.

[Mr. Murphy]

There's two parts. The bit that plugs into the DS cartridge slot enables the DS to load custom software. The bit that plugs into the GBA slot in the bottom typically has a slot for SD memory cards in it. You load up your custom what-nots on that.

Does anyone know what this is called and where you get one? Doing an internet search for this kindof thing just leads you to a million shady sites.

[Everyone vs Dinosaurs]

Does anyone know what this is called and where you get one? Doing an internet search for this kindof thing just leads you to a million shady sites.

Because some kind soul helped me on Ev Av, I would be delighted to give you the same kind of help. (Made the process MUCH easier for me, and prevented me from being screwed)


Send me a PM with exactly what you want to do, and I'll help you achieve it!

[Suave Peanut]

I'm having an issue with my PSP that maybe someone here can help me with before I get lost in the depths of the internet trying to find some answers...

I recently bought a PSP from a friend, and he has CFW 3.52 M33-4 which I am attempting to upgrade to 5.00 M33-6. The problem is, when I run the update it just hangs on the "Unpacking... Done. Please wait." screen and never stops making me wait. It just hangs there forever. I get the same results when I tried to update to CFW 4.01

If anybody can give me any tips I'd appreciate it.

[frederec]

I'm having an issue with my PSP that maybe someone here can help me with before I get lost in the depths of the internet trying to find some answers...

I recently bought a PSP from a friend, and he has CFW 3.52 M33-4 which I am attempting to upgrade to 5.00 M33-6. The problem is, when I run the update it just hangs on the "Unpacking... Done. Please wait." screen and never stops making me wait. It just hangs there forever. I get the same results when I tried to update to CFW 4.01

If anybody can give me any tips I'd appreciate it.

This sounds familiar...I'll need to search around for it. I think I ran into this once updating, where I needed to update to an intermediate firmware (maybe even doing 3.52 M33 before 3.52 M33-4 or something). Try installing to one of the earlier ones, like 3.71M33. If you get desperate, I always like to offer the services of my pandora's battery, whose magic memory stick can take you straight to 5.00M33.

[pomeroy]

You have to go to 5.00 m33 first. -6 indicates the version of the firmware, and you have to have the 5.0 kernel (I think that's the right term for it) before you can get to the latest version.

[Suave Peanut]

I figured it out. I formatted flash1 in the recovery console and it worked after that.

Apparently something was corrupted, but now I'm am rollin' fly with 5.00

[LarsenNET]

Speaking of batteries what is a good replacement for the original battery on a PSP fat? Mine is already has custom firmware so I just need a good replacement that doesn't make the device any bigger than it already is.

[frederec]

Speaking of batteries what is a good replacement for the original battery on a PSP fat? Mine is already has custom firmware so I just need a good replacement that doesn't make the device any bigger than it already is.

Can you use a slim battery on a fat? I know you can use a fat battery on a slim, but I don't know if it goes the other way. You may just have to try to track down one of the old fat batteries.

[Philonious]

I recently modded my PSP (fun times) and have loaded MY PSX and PSP games onto the memory stick (if Sony feels the need to bitch me out I'll show the 16gig memory stick duo I bought to pull this off). What other handy tricks would people recommend for me?

[frederec]

I recently modded my PSP (fun times) and have loaded MY PSX and PSP games onto the memory stick (if Sony feels the need to bitch me out I'll show the 16gig memory stick duo I bought to pull this off). What other handy tricks would people recommend for me?

Honestly, that's mostly what I do with my hacked PSP. I occasionally use pimpstreamer to watch video from my network on my PSP, but it's a bit twitchy of a program, and can't do simple things like pause or rewind. There are lots of homebrew games out there, of varying quality. I've goofed around with a few, but haven't run across anything really compelling. The best thing you can do is spend some time browsing a site (http://www.psp-homebrew.eu/index.php) that lists and rates homebrew to get an idea of what's out there.

Keep in mind there are various utilities out there. For instance, a friend of mine is very much into ebooks and reading manga on whatever media player she is using at the time, so there's stuff like that out there. There are also emulators for just about every console under the sun (and some calculators) for it. There's even an N64 emulator which is just now approaching a playable state.