Current state of the PSP world (custom firmware)

[Harrison]

Much has happened recently in the PSP world so I thought I would bring you all up to speed in case you haven't been keeping tabs on the progress.

Many updates this year

Sony have been very busy with firmware updates so far this year. Some of these are to update existing features, adding such things as support for more music formats and higher resolution video files. But also the firmware updates have been to add more support for the PS3. Already the firmware releases have progressed from the 3.03 firmware at the beginning of the year to the current 3.51.

Revised PSP announced!

In addition the long running rumours about a revised PSP were finally confirmed at the E3 show. Sony has confirmed that it is to release a revised edition of the Sony PSP worldwide from September. It still have the same sized screen and accepts UMDs just the same, but it is 33% percent lighter and 19% slimmer. The battery is touted to be more efficient and games should load faster. But the biggest new feature is that the portable console will now have the ability to output high quality video as demonstrated on a Sony BRAVIA television set. It will also be available in a range of colours including ice silver!

Here is a picture of the revised PSP:


http://www.maxconsole.net/content_img/newslimpsp.jpg


As you can see the revised PSP doesn't look that different from the original. The most noticeable difference is that the two audio holes have moved from being each side of the screen at the bottom, to towards the top of the screen just above the controls.

All of the other rumours about additional analogue sticks and other features seem to have just been fan made rumours and nothing more. Making the console thinner and lighter, and the battery usage more efficient is definitely a more logical revision for an existing console. Think of this in a similar way to Sony's previous PS1 and PS2 revisions, just redesigning the existing system to make it smaller, cheaper to make, and as up to date as possible. This is also similar to the update Nintendo made to their DS with the DS lite.

Custom Firmware

The famous PSP firmware hacker Dark AleX continued to work on development of his OE custom firmware for the PSP. The last release of his firmware was 3.40 OE-A, giving users the abilities of the newer firmware, while retaining all of the homebrew and ISO game image benefits of the famous 1.5 firmware.

Dark AleX leaves the PSP scene!

Dark AleX recently announced that he was leaving the PSP scene. This came as a huge shock to the PSP homebrew community as it meant an end to his great custom firmwares, and meant that the current Dark AleX firmware 3.40 OE-A is the last we will see from him.

This was a bigger shock because the official 3.51 PSP firmware was already released by Sony so the current Dark AleX 3.40 firmware was already out of date. meaning that some newer games would not work that required 3.50 or 3.51 firmware.

Russia save the day!

But all is not lost. In a big surprise a new Russian group suddenly appeared on the scene called the M33 Team. And what did they release? The Custom firmware called 3.51 M33 :D

This firmware contains everything great that the Dark AleX OE firmwares contained and brings it up to the current 3.51 firmware release allowing compatibility with newer games and the additions this current firmware adds, plus they have added their own custom recovery menu and many other additions and improvements over the older DA firmwares.

I've just upgraded my PSP to this new 3.51 M33 custom firmware and can confirm it upgraded smoothly and works perfectly for homebrew emulation and ISO game images.

In addition the M33 team seem to be working hard on this firmware, possibly quicker than Dark AleX ever did. As soon as a bug is found in the firmware the M33 team release a patch to help fix this. These bugs have so far included an issue with WiFi which fixed it, compatibility with some games in NoUMD mode and a few other updates and fixes. They have already released 5 updates for the M33 firmware and they haven't required the complete update procedure common with DA updates. Instead they have just required the update copied to the PSP and then executed to patch and update the firmware. And best of all these patches are cumulative so using the latest one adds all of the patches released to date.

The current version is now 3.51 M33-5

And this custom firmware is very easy to setup and install. If you are running PSP FW 1.5 or any of the Dark AleX OE firmwares than you can easily update to the 3.51 M33 firmware without first needing to downgrade. If any of you would like a quick guide to upgrading your PSP to this custom 3.51 M33 firmware please let me know and I will post one. It is very easy.

New Downgrade exploits found

Until recently anyone with a PSP had limited options for downgrading their PSP back to FW 1.5 so they could then use homebrew software, emulation, or upgrade to a newer custom firmware. That has now changed.

Any PSP owner with an official Sony firmware of 2.80 or older have been able to use a selection of downgraders to revert their PSPs to FW1.5. But anyone with a PSP that has a 2.81 or newer version of the official Sony firmware have been limited to one option, the Grand Theft Auto downgrader exploit. This required finding the original unpatched release of the game, upgrading the PSP to firmware 3.03 and then using the game to downgrade to 1.5. The problem was that the original unpatched version of GTA is very hard to find, and as soon as this exploit was discovered the cost of the game shot up on ebay. Also it meant that any PSP with an official firmware newer than 3.03 could not use this and the owner was stuck.

Now the good news is that another exploit was found in the official firmware 3.50 using any version of the game Luminies. This makes it much easier for people to find a copy of this game to use to downgrade their PSP, and even the re-released platinum version of the game will work! You just need to upgrade your PSP to firmware 3.50, download the 3.50 hen downgrader and obtain a copy of the Luminies game that is then used to initiate the downgrader.

[AlexJ]

I recently ordered a PSP, and would be quite interested in running hacked firmware on it. It hasn't arrived yet, but when it does I'm sure I'll need some help in downgrading and running the custom firmware.

Out of interest, how likely is it that something will go wrong when downgrading/upgrading the firmware?

[Harrison]

It's not that likely that anything would go wrong during downgrading/upgrading firmware. As long as you first charge the PSP to 100% battery and have it connected to the mains power throughout the process there is little that can go wrong.

As it is a new PSP you might have quite a new firmware version on it. This would require using a copy of the Lumines game. I've not tried this downgrader myself, but might shortly to downgrade my girlfriend's PSP so can let you know how it goes.

[AlexJ]

Lumines doesn't look like a game I'd usually spend money on but if a lot of people are buying it simply to use to downgrade perhaps eBay might be flooded with them and I can get it cheap off there.

It's probably worth buying if it allows me to sample games before deciding which to purchase. How does it work once you have the custom firmware? Do you put the ISO image on a Memorystick along with some application to run it? Am I right in thinking a 1GB card will provide enough capacity?

[Demon Cleaner]

Here (http://forum.classicamiga.com/showthread.php?t=450) is a big thread about running software on the PSP, discussion between Harrison and Submeg.

Better get a 2GB memory card, as UMD is 1.8GB, so you can also put ISOs of bigger games on the stick to run them, otherwise you won't be able to do so. And as you can also put several games on a memory stick, getting a bigger one is always an option.

[Harrison]

Lumines doesn't look like a game I'd usually spend money on but if a lot of people are buying it simply to use to downgrade perhaps eBay might be flooded with them and I can get it cheap off there.

It is more likely to work in the opposite way. Because most people are trying to obtain the game so they can use it to degrade their systems sellers will increase their prices as the game is suddenly in high demand. This happened with GTA:LCS. Before the GTA downgrader existed GTA sold for £10-15 on ebay. Once the downgrader was released the price shot up on ebay to £22-50. And I can see the same happening with Lumines, although unlike GTA where only a specific version worked, with Lumines all versions are meant to work so it might not be so bad.

As for the game itself, Lumines is a great puzzle game. When you first play it you wonder what the fuss is about, but after playing it for an hour you realise why. It is very simple but good fun to play. Kind of like a cross between tetris, blocks, columns and a few other puzzle games. Some great music and graphics too.


How does it work once you have the custom firmware? Do you put the ISO image on a Memorystick along with some application to run it?

It ised to be the case that you needed a complicated application to run game ISO images from memory stick, but not any more. Now with custom firmware you don't need to use any applications to run them. You just copy the game ISO files onto the memory stick in the ISO directory, then on the PSP navigate to the game section and all of the game ISOs you have on the memory stick will be listed ready to play. And because the ISO launcher is built into the firmware you just select the game and it loads and runs.

A big advantage of running games from memory stick is a huge saving in battery power. As there is no UMD spinning in the drive the system is not using any power to read discs. On my system, running a game from UMD the battery lasts maybe 3 hours or so, but running games from memory stick I've managed over 10 hours between charges.

Also of note is the "No UMD" mode in current firmware. The original ISO loaders for the PSP used a method where a real game was always in the PSP's UMD drive and when the loader booted it would use the real disc to trick the PSP firmware that it was booting a real disc, and then would switch to the ISO image to continue loading the game. With current firmware there is a "No UMD" mode. This means you don't need a disc in the drive to run ISO based games from the memory stick. The only problem is that the No UMD method isn't 100% compatible with all games so for some you do need to switch to using the older method (which is also built into the firmware) where it uses a UMD in the drive to boot the ISO images.


Am I right in thinking a 1GB card will provide enough capacity?

Yes and No. Although UMDs have a capacity of 1.8GB I've so far I've not seen any game ISOs larger than about 900MB, so a 1GB memory stick is fine for running any current games. But I would recommend you get at least a 2GB memory stick as having a larger memory stick means you can fit more on it at once and have more games available at once to play.

It also means you can fit other stuff on the stick at the same time as some games. Such as music and videos.

I also recommend you stick with official Sony memory sticks and don't buy third party sticks as they are not as reliable and don't carry the 5 year warranty of the Sony ones. On all of the PSP forums I visit I've read of many people having problems with third party sticks from companies such as Sans, Lexar and others.

[AlexJ]

Looking at play.com they're doing Sony 2GB for £17.99 (£9/GB) or 1GB for £13.49 so with the 2nd GB costing just £4.50, it makes sense to go for the higher capacity.

[Submeg]

About the downgrade, it was easy, I did it and it worked, so it was ok. About Lumines...if you wish to borrow it, I have the game. I could always mail it to you for you to use to downgrade :)

[Demon Cleaner]

Looking at play.com they're doing Sony 2GB for £17.99 (£9/GB) or 1GB for £13.49 so with the 2nd GB costing just £4.50, it makes sense to go for the higher capacity.That is indeed no big difference, I would also get the 2GB in your place. I never looked for memory sticks like this, but it seems they dropped a lot in price recently.

[Harrison]

Memory sticks have definitely dropped in price a lot this year, although they are still more expensive than alternative flash memory such as SD cards which cost about half the price of Sony Memory Sticks.

BTW, if any of you are interesting in seeing more pictures of the new slim PSP and the documentation about it, someone on a PSP forum found this interesting link (https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=656803&fcc_id=) which contains PDFs of images and all of the specs of the new revised PSP. Quite a cool find.

[Demon Cleaner]

Some nice pictures they have there.

[AlexJ]

Right got my PSP at last, firmware on it appears to be v2.71 (Firmware the same thing as system software I assume?).

[FOL]

Thats great, DONT UPDATE IT, ignore what any UMD says or Network Update.

Im sure someone can talk you through it. If not, arrange a time to meet up in chat and i will talk you through the process.

[AlexJ]

Harrison gave a link to this guide (http://www.psphome.com/forum/psp-tutorials/689-tutorial-how-downgrade-your-non-ta082-2-71-psp-1-50-a.html) a while back. Just need to check the motherboard model and then I'll see how far I get with the guide.

[FOL]

Harrison gave a link to this guide (http://www.psphome.com/forum/psp-tutorials/689-tutorial-how-downgrade-your-non-ta082-2-71-psp-1-50-a.html) a while back. Just need to check the motherboard model and then I'll see how far I get with the guide.

Thats well outdated, mobo's dont matter now, as the downgraders should patch the mobo. Just make sure the downgrader you pick says it will patch the IPL

[Harrison]

Indeed. Things move quickly these days. And you are very lucky because your PSP with 2.71 firmware can be downgraded without the need for any game save exploits. :)

Read THIS THREAD (http://forums.maxconsole.net/showpost.php?p=639625&postcount=3) for information on downgrading your PSP from 2.71 to 1.5

And this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsVXYEY8n5s)on youtube shows the process.

And once downgraded to 1.5 you can then upgrade to the current M33 custom firmware. You can download the files needed to do this from here. (http://dl.qj.net/Firmwares-PSP-/catid/163) Maybe stick with the 3.51 M33-7 version for the moment, instead of the newer 3.52 M33-4 version. You will need to download the main custom M33 firmware installer, plus two original Sony firmwares. For M33 FW3.51 this would be the official FW1.5 and FW3.51. And once this is done download the latest M33 update for that version of firmware. These updates are cumulative so you only need the latest to add all the previous patches. For 3.51, update 7 is current, and for 3.52, update 4.

[FOL]

And if your abit worried about making update file/files, give me a shout, and ill sort you out, :)

[AlexJ]

Okay, I've succesfully downgraded to 1.5 (the guide in #16 was really clear :thumbs:). I think I'll go for 3.51 M33-7 to start with at least.

So from QJ.net I need to download:

'PSP custom firmware: CFW v3.51 M33'
'Official PSP FW 3.51'
'CFW 3.51 M33 Update #7'

And also a 1.5 firmware. Would this be 'PSP Firmware 1.50 File (EBOOT) North America', or do I need a PAL/UK 1.5?

Anything else? And then what do I need to do when I've downloaded these files?

[Harrison]

Yes, that is all you will need. And the official US 1.50 eboot will be fine.

Once downloaded, rename the 1.5 and 3.51 official eboot files to 150.PBP and 351.PBP.

This custom M33 firmware updater is very easy to use.

1, Format your memory stick in the PSP and connect the PSP to your PC.
2, Copy the M33CREATOR directory into the Game directory on your memory stick.
3, Copy the two renamed official firmware eboots into the M33CREATOR directory.
4, Disconnect the PSP from your PC. Go to Game/Memory stick on your PSP and run the 3.51 M33 CREATOR. Wait while it creates that data file from the two official eboots and once finished it should go back to the PSP XMB.
5, go to games/memory stick on the psp and execute 3.51 M33UPDATE. Press X to agree to the installation.
6, when finished, press X to shut down and then manually reboot the PSP.
7, You should now be in 3.51 M33.

[AlexJ]

I've read I need to run kxploitpatcher first because I'm using offical 1.5 and not an custom firmware. Is that right?

EDIT: I ran it anyway and it seemed to cause no harm. Following the rest of the instructions now...

[Harrison]

Oh yes, sorry. You do first need to do that as you are on 1.5.

First you need to copy the kxploitpatcher and kxploitpatcher% folders from the 1.50only dir into the ms0:/psp/game/ directory on the memory stick and then run it. And once that is done you can do the rest.

[AlexJ]

3.51 M33 all went OK :)

Now I just need to update to Rev7. I've got the file but the readme's not much help. Do I copy the M33_7 folder that contains EBOOT.PBP into the GAME folder? Format memory card first?

[Harrison]

Their update readme files are not much help are they.

You need to copy the M33_7 directory that has the EBOOT.PBP file in it over to the memory stick, and place this in the ms0:/PSP/GAME150/ directory, then run it.

These updates are not full firmware updates, but just patches so they don't take long to run.

[AlexJ]

Great, then just bang the .iso in the ms0:/ISO/ folder and go I guess.

[Harrison]

Yes.

You may also like to know about the M33 recovery menu. If you hold down the right collar button when you switch the PSP on you will get the boot recovery menu appear. You can change lots of useful settings in here.

The most useful part (and the part where you can't mess anything up) is in the main Configuration menu. In here you can switch the UMD mode between normal and NoUMD. If it is set to normal more game ISO images will work, but you will need to have a real UMD game disc in the PSPs drive all the time. With NoUMD selected you don't need a disc in the drive, but not all games will work.

ANother useful option I always set is Hide corrupt icons, otherwise you will get lots of corrupt icons in the games list when using homebrew such as emulators.

Also if you find some homebrew or emulation doesn't run try changing the homebrew kernal from 3.51 to 1.5 as that may help.

[AlexJ]

Okay tried running an ISO with no success. Basically the screen went blank after the PSP splash with no MS activity light and all buttons including power stopped working. Removing and reinserting the battery allowed me to restart. Is that just a faulty ISO or is something wrong with my config? (It did the same in both UMD and NoUMD modes)

[Harrison]

Sounds like a corrupt ISO. I get that sometimes. Normally it will just throw up a "could not run" error and go back to the PSP OS, but sometimes it will just show the Sony screen and then the PSP will switch off. Same also happens sometimes when trying to run homebrew and emulators.

Just download a different game ISO and it should work.

A good place to get lots of PSP ISOs is the torrent site www.gamestorrents.com (http://www.gamestorrents.com)

[AlexJ]

Thanks for the link, I'll grab a couple from there and try them out. And thanks also for all the help installing the CF, very much appreciated. I think I'll try PSPUAE out using the guide on the main site while I'm waiting for the iso's to download.

[AlexJ]

The 2nd ISO file I tried worked perfect as did PSPUAE. :D Anyone fancy coming up with a list of the ~10 must have PSP games I should try out?

[Harrison]

Glad to hear it all works.

Games to try depends really on what genres you like.

I've just been playing the updated remakes of Final Fantasy 1 and 2 and they have been ported very nicely and suit the PSP screen well. If you missed them originally they are worth playing.

Valkyrie Profle Lenneth
Puzzle Bobble
Luminies
Loco Roco
Dungeon Siege Throne of Agony
Driver 76
Tekken Dark Resurrection (great PSP version from this series)
Gradius Collection
Hot Shots Golf Open Tee
Lego Star Wars II The original Trilogy (one of my favourite PSP games)
Mercury (nice puzzle game)
Metal Gear Acid
Outrun 2006
Wipeout Pure (one of the best ins series to date)
Ridge Racer (both PSP games are worth playing)
SSX on tour
Tomb Raider Legend
Field Commander
...

I think that will do for now. Out of those you have to play Loco Roco. It is very unique and suits the PSP perfectly.

[AlexJ]

I've come to the conculsion I made a mistake buying the PSP. Yes there are some great games, and the Amiga on the go is brilliant but the white case just looks, well gay really. Anyway, I've conviently found a family member who wants to buy a PSP (in white, the fool!) and saw a black model for sale in WH Smiths today for £115 so bought it. The only problem is it's got 2.81 firmware on it.

As I understand it there are two methods to downgrade available, either using GTA/Lumines exploits or the Pandora's battery. I don't particulary want to have to buy another game (especially as I have the patched version of GTA) so the latter seems to be the best option. Has anyone had any success with it? Until the white one goes, I have a PSP with custom firmware and one with 2.81 official firmware, two batteries (standard ones that came with the 2 PSP's) and 1 memory stick. Is it possible to do the downgrade using this equipment and then restore everything so the battery and MS function as normal again?

[Harrison]

See! I told you so. I said at the beginning you should go with black, but no... you had to have the white one... now look what happened. ;)

Yes, as you have the two PSPs you should easily be able to do this. FOL has already tested the Pandora battery method and said it worked perfectly well so if you have any questions he's your man. Just remember that if you do want to try this make sure you backup the battery Eboot before you change it into a Pandora battery. Otherwise you won't be able to change it back again after.

I can confirm that the Luminies downgrader worked perfectly on my girlfriend's Pink! PSP, so if you would rather go that route it does work.

One word of caution. Check inside the UMD drive and look for any piece of curcuit board that is visible and see if it has the letters IC1003 printed on it. If it has then the PSP will have a TA82 motherboard. This isn't a problem as far as degrading games, but with these motherboards you cannot currently upgrade to the latest firmware versions, so you would not be able to use any of the custom M33 firmwares. You would instead have to use an older Dark_AleX OE firmware. I think the newest a TA82 can be upgraded is 3.30.

[AlexJ]

See! I told you so. I said at the beginning you should go with black, but no... you had to have the white one... now look what happened. ;)

Yeah I know, some stuff looks great in white, but the PSP doesn't. Guess I should have had a look at one in the flesh first before buying. Anyway, it all seems like it'll work out OK in the end (hopefully!)


One word of caution. Check inside the UMD drive and look for any piece of curcuit board that is visible and see if it has the letters IC1003 printed on it. If it has then the PSP will have a TA82 motherboard. This isn't a problem as far as degrading games, but with these motherboards you cannot currently upgrade to the latest firmware versions, so you would not be able to use any of the custom M33 firmwares. You would instead have to use an older Dark_AleX OE firmware. I think the newest a TA82 can be upgraded is 3.30.

Really? My white one is the IC1003 model and that works fine on 3.51 M33-7. All I had to do was make sure I ran a key patcher before downgrading to 1.5 to avoid it bricking.

[Harrison]

Hmm... maybe the key patcher fixed that issue. The Luminies downgrader I used on my GFs PSP actually threw up a warning saying it couldn't be upgraded beyond 3.30 once downgraded.

I wonder if that can now then. I will have to investigate further. Any info on this FOL?

[AlexJ]

I've found a pretty good guide on how to do it here (http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=76092). Can FOL (or anyone else who's done the downgrade this way) clear a few things up?

1.

- Remove the Memory Stick and disable the USB connection. People argue over weather to remove the memorystick before disabling USB or after. It realy doesn't matter. I always remove it while in USB mode and have never had problems.
- Connect the Memory Stick again via the USB connection of the PSP. Important or you can end up with a bricked memorystick!!

So just to confirm here we remove MS, press circle to exit USB, reinsert MS, open USB connection? No need to power down the PSP at any point?

2.


- Put the 1.50 official update on your memorystick. Not in any folders, just on there, the first part of memory Stick. This is the root. Once it's on there rename it from (it should be named eboot.pbp in the first place it doesn't matter if it isn't) eboot.pbp to update.pbp.
- Remove the Memory Stick and disable the USB connection. Again it doesn't matter which way round you do this.
- Run "installer" program the PSP. This application
will create the firmware files on the root of the Memory Stick, as well as msipl.bin. You do not need to move these files as they are all put in the right place by the program.
- Connect the Memory Stick again via the USB connection of the PSP.

So it's copy & rename 1.5 (any locale I take it), remove MS, press Circle to exit USB. Then I assume we need to put the MS back in before running the installer program (guide missed that step out). Once it's run, the USB connection needs opening again. Have I got that right?

[FOL]

well it shouldnt really matter, i remove my MS all the time. I wouldnt remove it, while connected to USB though.

Just follow the instructions that came with pandora, which state, disconnect (press O) from USB and remove MS.

To be honest, I dont like that guide, it adds confusion, the pandora original readme is so much easier to understand.

Once MS is created, you will never have this problem. My spare MS (magic MS) is sat on the shelf, just incase my PSP dies, :).


Hmm... maybe the key patcher fixed that issue. The Luminies downgrader I used on my GFs PSP actually threw up a warning saying it couldn't be upgraded beyond 3.30 once downgraded.

I wonder if that can now then. I will have to investigate further. Any info on this FOL?

Did you make a dump of the IDStorage (using key cleaner) while in HEND before downgrade? if not, then you can not go back to Original FW above 3.00

The key needs to be altered back to its untouched state, for it to allow you back on higher original firmware.

Anyways, to all you PSP owners, if you havent made a backup of your IDStorage keys, DO IT A.S.A.P. If your IDStorage gets corrupt, it can cripple your PSP. Things wont work like WiFi, UMD's wont read, etc etc.




One word of caution. Check inside the UMD drive and look for any piece of curcuit board that is visible and see if it has the letters IC1003 printed on it. If it has then the PSP will have a TA82 motherboard. This isn't a problem as far as degrading games, but with these motherboards you cannot currently upgrade to the latest firmware versions, so you would not be able to use any of the custom M33 firmwares. You would instead have to use an older Dark_AleX OE firmware. I think the newest a TA82 can be upgraded is 3.30.

None of that matters, any PSP can go to any custom firmware, as the IDStorage Key 5 is edited to allow running of 1.50. Downgraders just patch key 5, the only problem is when you want to go back to higher firmwares.

EDIT:- @AlexJ you got PM, ;)

[AlexJ]

When I use Pandora to downgrade how do I back up my IDStorage before the downgrader changes Key 5? Is it by making a NAND flash backup (Pressing circle at the Pandora menu)?

[Harrison]

Did you make a dump of the IDStorage (using key cleaner) while in HEND before downgrade? if not, then you can not go back to Original FW above 3.00

So does this only affect using official firmware above 3.00? And not custom firmware such a 3.51 M33? If so that isn't a problem as I wouldn't still an official firmware back on a PSP anyway.

[FOL]

Correct, but why 3.51 M33, 3.52 M33-4 has very nice features.

[AlexJ]

Probably a really stupid question, but if I put 3.52 M33-4 on it and update 5 comes out, can I then just update straight to 5 or do I have to go back to a basic 3.52 M33 with no updates?

EDIT: Thanks for the PM!

[FOL]

Probably a really stupid question, but if I put 3.52 M33-4 on it and update 5 comes out, can I then just update straight to 5 or do I have to go back to a basic 3.52 M33 with no updates?

You get my PM?

Yeh dont worry about updates, as they will work with any rev of current release, i.e. 3.52 M33 can be updated to -4 with out problem as it includes all the patches from -1, -2 and -3. The patches are designed so you can just update to the next, with out problem.

[AlexJ]

You get my PM?

Yeh dont worry about updates, as they will work with any rev of current release, i.e. 3.52 M33 can be updated to -4 with out problem as it includes all the patches from -1, -2 and -3. The patches are designed so you can just update to the next, with out problem.

Yeah, got the PM thanks. Saves me having to find all the files. 3.52 M33 it is then. Just to check - do I need the official 150.pbp and 352.pbp like I did with 3.51 M33?

[FOL]

You get my PM?

Yeh dont worry about updates, as they will work with any rev of current release, i.e. 3.52 M33 can be updated to -4 with out problem as it includes all the patches from -1, -2 and -3. The patches are designed so you can just update to the next, with out problem.

Yeah, got the PM thanks. Saves me having to find all the files. 3.52 M33 it is then.

Just make sure you read the readme i wrote, in the customfirmware folder, if you have gone the pandora way. You should then be fine, :).

[AlexJ]

I get a "The game could not be started. (8002014C)" error when trying to run the installer. Any ideas why?

[Harrison]

This normally happens if you have put the files in the wrong place. Make sure they are in PSP/GAME150 and not PSP/GAME.

[AlexJ]

This normally happens if you have put the files in the wrong place. Make sure they are in PSP/GAME150 and not PSP/GAME.

Yeah I did a quick search on Maxconsole and that's what was said on there. Runs OK now.

EDIT: All done! Now running 3.52 M33-4 :)

[FOL]

This normally happens if you have put the files in the wrong place. Make sure they are in PSP/GAME150 and not PSP/GAME.

Yeah I did a quick search on Maxconsole and that's what was said on there. Runs OK now.

EDIT: All done! Now running 3.52 M33-4 :)

lmao, i should have not done a readme, ;). I put all that info in there, :)

[AlexJ]

This normally happens if you have put the files in the wrong place. Make sure they are in PSP/GAME150 and not PSP/GAME.

Yeah I did a quick search on Maxconsole and that's what was said on there. Runs OK now.

EDIT: All done! Now running 3.52 M33-4 :)

lmao, i should have not done a readme, ;). I put all that info in there, :)

From the readme:


- Manually create the PSP/GAME (optionally PSP/GAME150) folders on the
Memory Stick.
- Copy the "battery" and "installer" programs to PSP/GAME

Yeah, I guess it makes sense if you read it understanding how the PSP firmware works, else it's a little confusing as it isn't really optional, it's required if you use CF instead of 1.5. But hey, I've learnt a little more about how it works and will know now next time something similar comes up.

[FOL]

This normally happens if you have put the files in the wrong place. Make sure they are in PSP/GAME150 and not PSP/GAME.

Yeah I did a quick search on Maxconsole and that's what was said on there. Runs OK now.

EDIT: All done! Now running 3.52 M33-4 :)

lmao, i should have not done a readme, ;). I put all that info in there, :)

From the readme:


- Manually create the PSP/GAME (optionally PSP/GAME150) folders on the
Memory Stick.
- Copy the "battery" and "installer" programs to PSP/GAME

Yeah, I guess it makes sense if you read it understanding how the PSP firmware works, else it's a little confusing as it isn't really optional, it's required if you use CF instead of 1.5. But hey, I've learnt a little more about how it works and will know now next time something similar comes up.

ermmmm, thats not my readme. My readme is in the cutomfirmwares folder.

[AlexJ]

From the readme:


- Manually create the PSP/GAME (optionally PSP/GAME150) folders on the
Memory Stick.
- Copy the "battery" and "installer" programs to PSP/GAME

Yeah, I guess it makes sense if you read it understanding how the PSP firmware works, else it's a little confusing as it isn't really optional, it's required if you use CF instead of 1.5. But hey, I've learnt a little more about how it works and will know now next time something similar comes up.

ermmmm, thats not my readme. My readme is in the cutomfirmwares folder.

That only goes through the 1.5 > 3.52M33 process. The bit I got stuck with the GAME/GAME150 was making the Jigkick battery on my 3.51M33 PSP. Once down to 1.5 the upgrade was totally clear.

[FOL]

From the readme:


- Manually create the PSP/GAME (optionally PSP/GAME150) folders on the
Memory Stick.
- Copy the "battery" and "installer" programs to PSP/GAME

Yeah, I guess it makes sense if you read it understanding how the PSP firmware works, else it's a little confusing as it isn't really optional, it's required if you use CF instead of 1.5. But hey, I've learnt a little more about how it works and will know now next time something similar comes up.

ermmmm, thats not my readme. My readme is in the cutomfirmwares folder.

That only goes through the 1.5 > 3.52M33 process. The bit I got stuck with the GAME/GAME150 was making the Jigkick battery on my 3.51M33 PSP. Once down to 1.5 the upgrade was totally clear.

Oh, you didnt need to go to 1.5, you could have just ran that 3.52 update, and it would have installed.

Oh well, its all sorted, :). Happy gaming.

[AlexJ]

Oh, you didnt need to go to 1.5, you could have just ran that 3.52 update, and it would have installed.

Oh well, its all sorted, :). Happy gaming.

Oh right, guess I took the scenic route to installing it then. In any case, the end product is the same and it's an end product I'm very happy with, especially as I've now figured out how to put PS1 games on it. Thanks for the help :thumbs:

[FOL]

Oh, you didnt need to go to 1.5, you could have just ran that 3.52 update, and it would have installed.

Oh well, its all sorted, :). Happy gaming.

Oh right, guess I took the scenic route to installing it then. In any case, the end product is the same and it's an end product I'm very happy with, especially as I've now figured out how to put PS1 games on it. Thanks for the help :thumbs:

Hope your enjoying, playing C&C 1 and sensient again is great, :thumbs:

[AlexJ]

I played C&C1 loads on the PSX. Can still remember two cheats for it: CCUCS[R1]CCC and RDLLDRRDLXUX - no idea what they do though. I got the game for the PC a few years later and have to say it was far better on there. Two PS1 games I've found suit the PSP well are the puzzle/platformer game Kula World (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kula_World) and platformer/RPG-lite game Tombi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomba!). They seem more at home on the PSP than they did on the original PSX.

[Harrison]

Being able to run PSX games on the PSP is definitely great. Even though many PSX games now look quite dated on a TV due to the low resolution textures, on the PSP screen the smaller size makes them all much better and just as good as I remember them from years ago. I really have to create more isos from my PSX games so I can finish off all of the RPGs.

[v85rawdeal]

Just ran Monster Rancher off as a test, and it worked fine. The only problem being no way to use the Shrine in the town to its full capacity. Will have to see if there is a patch somewhere that will allow players to use UMDs as though they were CDs.

But the graphics for both that and The Grinch do look a lit cleaner than they do on my big TV. Have just started doing this and it has breathed a whole new life into my PSP.

[Harrison]

It definitely does as you suddenly have access to thousands more games for the handheld system. But saying that, according it the scene releases there have now been over 1300 PSP games released to date, so the system isn't actually short of its own games any longer.

[thomasjs]

I have seriously been trying to understand this whole situation here.
Yes I am a noob..
I have 2.71 SE-B (bought used like this) and I want to Update to m33 3.90

I understand that i need to download files from psp-hacks.com, but I can't understand what files to download.

Could someone please assist me with links?

I guess you can say I don't really understand how to upgrade once I have the files downloaded either. I found a recovery mode, but not shure what to do with that.

I believe I don't understand what these Eboot files are, and what to do with them. I am sorry for beeing yet another stupid user, but I have used 3 hours now, and still don't know how to upgrade my psp.

Thankyou

[Harrison]

The 3.90 M33 firmware can only be installed once your PSP is already running the custom firmware 3.52 M33-4 or above.
And because you are already using a custom firmware you can directly install 3.52 M33 and then 3.52 M33-4. And once that is done you can then upgrade directly to 3.90 M33 and then to 3.90 M33-3.

The files you will need are:

For the 3.52 M33 upgrade.


3.52 M33 upgrade installer
official Sony 1.5 firmware
official Sony 3.52 firmware
3.52 M33-4 update

For the 3.90 M33 upgrade


3.90 M33 upgrade installer
official Sony 3.90 firmware
3.90 M33-3 update
1.5 kernel addon V2 (not essential but adds ability to run FW1.5 homebrew and emulators on phat PSP)

You can download all of the custom installers from Dark Alex's own site found here (http://www.dark-alex.org/index_psp.php) or from QJ.net (http://dl.qj.net/Firmwares-PSP-/catid/163) or from php-hacks (http://www.psp-hacks.com/category/39). And you can get the official firmware downloads from here (http://www.psp-hacks.com/category/36).

If you need more information or help on where to find all of these files please ask.