playstation-portable tag archive

Tag archive for 'playstation-portable'

Mar

PSP Open Firmware Edition

By Damien Guard Categories: Entertainment and Hardware Tags: firmware, Open-Edition, playstation-portable, psp.

I mentioned in at a previous post that I had modified my PSP so I could run my old favourite Lucas Arts adventure games and even my original PS1 games.

Dark Alex is the guy behind the firmware but the whole scene/process is full of terminology and a bit complex. This are the steps that worked for me (via 2.71) and for a couple of friends (via 3.03)

This will invalidate your warranty and has the potential chance to leave your PSP useless. By following these instructions you are agreeing to take that risk and liability into your own hands - no warranty is expressed or implied, the author will not be held liable for damages, etc. Sony certainly do not authorise such modification.

You will need

PSP currently running firmware 3.03 or earlier
Memory Stick Pro Duo with some space
Various files linked to from this post

Also, if your firmware is above 2.71 you will need:

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (original with 2.0 firmware update on it not 2.6)

My instructions below are for the earlier TA-079 hardware not the newer TA-082 so go check this guide for details of identifying which you have - they also have information on what you need to do for the TA-082 model.

Getting enabled

So check which firmware you have in the PSP's Settings > System Settings > System Information menu option - it's called System Software.

If it is 1.50 already jump to Flashing Open Edition section.

If above 1.50 but below 2.71

Make a note of your network settings, they will be lost!

download the 2.71 firmware
create the folder /PSP/GAME/UPDATE/ on your Memory Stick
rename the file EBOOT.PBP and move it to this folder
put Memory Stick in PSP and go to the Game > Memory Stick menu
choose the 2.71 firmware update option and follow instructions
download the homebrew enabler for 2.71 (I used Rev C)
copy the contents of the downloads MS_ROOT folder to the root of your Memory Stick
put Memory Stick back in PSP and use the Photo viewer to look at the HENx folder
your PSP should now crash with a blue/green screen
check the System Information menu option again - it should say HEN at the end of the System Software
if it does, skip to the Flash 1.50 downgrade section
if it does not, power off your PSP and try viewing the picture again
download the generic 2.71 downgrader and unpack contents of MS_ROOT to Memory Stick root folder
download the 1.50 firmware
rename the file UPDATE.PBP *then* copy to /PSP/GAME/UPDATE/ on the Memory Stick
put Memory Stick in PSP and go to the Game > Memory Stick menu
choose the x.yz firmware update option and follow instructions
Agree to reset the corrupt settings when it reboots
check the System Information menu option again - it should say 1.50!

If above 2.71 but below 3.03

download the 3.03 firmware
create the folder /PSP/GAME/UPDATE/ on your memory stick
rename the file EBOOT.PBP and move it to this folder
put Memory Stick in PSP and go to the Game > Memory Stick menu
choose the 3.03 firmware update option and follow instructions
rename your /PSP/SAVEDATA/ folder to /PSP/SAVEBACK/ or something
download the homebrew enabler for 3.03
copy the contents of the downloads MS_ROOT folder to the root of your Memory Stick
put Memory Stick back in PSP and attempt to load Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
the game should flash the screen blue before you get to play and reboot
check the System Information menu option again - it should say HEN at the end of the System Software
if it does not, power off your PSP and try loading GTA again
delete the /PSP/SAVEDATA/ folder and rename /PSP/SAVEBACK/ back to /PSP/SAVEDATA/
download the 3.03 downgrader and unpack contents of MS_ROOT to Memory Stick root folder
download the 1.50 firmware
rename the file UPDATE.PBP *then* copy to /PSP/GAME/UPDATE/ on the Memory Stick
put Memory Stick in PSP and go to the Game > Memory Stick menu
choose the x.yz firmware update option and follow instructions
Agree to reset the corrupt settings when it reboots
check the System Information menu option again - it should say 1.50!

If above 3.03

You're out of luck for now.

Flashing Open Edition

Dark Alex's official patch requires you grab a few Sony firmware images and run a patching tool... but there is a very unofficial pre-made package available. The steps are

download the 3.10 OE-A Easy Installer
unpack it to your hard disk
copy the 310oeflasher and 310oeflasher% folders to /PSP/GAME/ on the Memory Stick
put Memory Stick in PSP and go to the Game > Memory Stick menu
choose the 3.10 Open Edition firmware update option and follow instructions
check the System Information menu option again - it should say 3.10 OE-A.

Get your old favourites on there!

Your PSP is now ready to play images of your original PS1 games (image with Alcohol 120% or similar image making software then convert with PopStation) and third-party "home-brew" software like ScummVM to play all those great point-and-click adventures you've got lying around.

In both cases just create a folder on your Memory Stick inside /PSP/GAME/ and drop the EBOOT.PBP file in that new directory. Access it from the Game > Memory Stick menu as usual!

As a bonus the battery appears to last longer playing home-brew and PS1 games - perhaps because of the lower CPU requirements or the fact the UMD isn't spinning all the time.

[)amien

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Nov

The hunt for a PSP in time for Christmas

By Damien Guard Categories: Entertainment Tags: playstation-portable, psp, Sony.

My little brother just decided he'd like to merge his November birthday present and his Christmas presents in the hope I'd get him a Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP).

The hunt

I decided to beat the seasonal rush and get one now and checked out my usual on-line suppliers of merchandise... Amazon, out of stock despite their Google advert claiming otherwise, Play and MX2 out of stock (Play now have it back in stock for £179.99 including Donnie Darko UMD). A few other stores I'd not used were also out of stock or rather vague on the whole issue.

I hit our main town known as St. Peter Port - or just "Town" - and found that Woolworth had sold their last one today, Guernsey Computers had a waiting list that would probably be two weeks at best, Gruts had a headshake and a shrug. Number 19, known for it's overpricing policy and twangy curry smell, had decided to sell grey Japanese import models for a whopping £179.99 (bear in mind we don't have VAT here....) This is the same place that last week had Red Dwarf VII for £21.99... while Woolworth had it for £13.99 - a 57% mark-up over another shops retail price!

A quick trip to the secondary town area known as The Bridge led me to Southside Computers and NSEW (formerly PC Island) which yielded similar useless responses.

One might wonder if these stores are not capable of putting an "out of stock" notice over their huge piles of empty Sony PSP Value pack display boxes that adorn their window displays.

I recalled that The Bridge is home to a smaller less well known store called Big Byte. They deal with the usual gaming gear as well as a sizeable retro and used section and so I headed there.

Here a PSP Value pack, genuine UK edition set me back just £145.99, in-stock there and then. They also have a deal where you get two games for an extra £30 bringing it to £174.99 (these two games are listed at £29.99 each on Play).

They've still got a few PSPs left as I type this and are expecting a few more in but I don't believe they do mail order so Guernsey residents only. Call them on 01481 240444 - they are opposite where Microgames used to be.

Intentional stock shortages?

All this lead me to wonder what Sony is playing at. I can only imagine the problem with consoles and the manufacturer subsidising the cost of the system is that they don't want to sell too many at Christmas. Perhaps it's a hit on their accounts or maybe the slightly disinterested receiver of such a gift doesn't pay back the cost of the console buy purchasing a few games.

This probably explains why Sony is offering the current "Giga packs" which seem to be much more readily available for £265 (ex VAT) and include the PSP value pack contents, two games , a USB cable and a 1GB memory stick. The price of these components individually comes to £280 (ex VAT) hardly much of a saving but then this isn't about giving you a good deal it's about Sony minimizing that subsidy by ensuring you buy some products with a positive profit margin.

Subsidising the console is a pretty standard affair, the XBox360 is loaded to the hilt with the latest techniques to prevent you from running anything unapproved.. or more specifically not helping Microsoft claw back their massive per-unit hit. Sony's PSP has been bypassed a couple of times, the latest technique allowing you to downgrade the 2.0 internal software back to exploitable 1.50 so you can run third party games and tools.

This can be a bit of a pain with some titles such as requiring 2.0 software. I'm only actually interested in one piece of third party software, ScummVM, which lets me run my favourite old point-and-click adventures on lots of hardware and as of v0.8.0 that list includes 2.0'ed PSPs :)

The whole concept is in total contrast to the mobile phone market where the networks subsidise the price of the phone and the manufacturers (including Sony) are clambering to make it as easy as pie for anyone to develop for their phone going so far as to provide tool kits and samples to do so.

Maybe Sony and Microsoft should satisfy the geeks among us with non-subsidised versions of the consoles that will happily run unsigned code as well as the legal stuff. Sony have done something similar with the hobby-developer PS1 Net Yaroze and the Linux kit for the PS2.

Now that would be a nice Christmas gift...