Hacking your PSP

[Travis]

This guide is contained within the one thread and has all you need for Pandora, Downgrading etc.

Please don't post your questions here, use the Help section.

You will be thinking now, well I've got a PSP, but I want to unlock its full potenital and use it for playing "backed up" games, homebrew, PS1 games and whatnot

The first thing you need to ask yourself is what type of PSP to do you have?

- A PSP 1000 (aka PSP Fat)
- A PSP 2000 (aka PSP Slim)
- A PSP 3000 (aka PSP Brite)

All PSP 1000s are currently hackable. Most Slims (PSP 2000s) are fully hackable except the very new Slims that come with firmware 4.01 official or over; ones with a TA-088v3 or TA-090 motherboard on the inside. Its is unknown if it will be hacked, but thanks to a new TIFF exploit in the latest firmware it shouldn't be too far away. Read this to determine whether you have an "unhackable" PSP by whats on the box -- http://www.psp-hacks.com/forums/f117...ox-by-t223726/

For those who have an "unhackable" PSP there are still ways you can run ISOs, homebrew, etc. (see below)

Next, you need to understand the basics of hacking a PSP. When people say they have "hacked" their PSPs it means that they have modified the firmware on it to a certain firmware called "Custom Firmware" or CFW for short.

CFW is modifed Sony made firmware so that you can run homebrew (user made programs) and copies of UMD games stored on your Memory Stick as ISOs.

The current Official Firmware is 5.51
The current Custom Firmware is 5.00 M33-6

Custom firmware retains all the features of Sony firmware and adds more (such as the capabilities I have already stated). I will show you how to load the best Custom Firmware, known as M33. M33 firmware is made by Dark_AleX of Team M33

There are loads of ways to get Custom firmware. Check what PSP and firmware you have already then choose one of the options below

PSP 1000

Firmware: 1.00, 1.50
Upgrade straight to Custom Firmware

Firmware: 1.51, 1.52, 2.00, 2.01, 2.50, 2.60, 2.70, 2.71, 2.80
Downgrading 2.80 and Below

Firmware: 2.81, 2.82, 3.00, 3.01, 3.02, 3.03
Downgrading 3.03 and Below

Firmware: 3.10, 3.11, 3.30, 3.40, 3.50
Downgrading 3.50 and Below

Firmware: 5.03 and below
Installing CFW using ChickHEN + Recovery Flasher - Recommended

Firmware: All - Requires another, already hacked, PSP
Making a Pandora's Battery: The Softmod Method
-- Using your Pandora's Battery

Firmware: All
Making a Pandora's Battery: The Hardmod Method
-- Making the Battery
-- Making the Magic Memory Stick
-- Using your Pandora's Battery


PSP 2000 Ta088v2 and below

Firmware: 5.03 and below
Installing CFW using ChickHEN + Recovery Flasher - Recommended

Firmware: All - Requires another, already hacked, PSP
Making a Pandora's Battery: The Softmod Method
-- Using your Pandora's Battery

Firmware: All
Making a Pandora's Battery: The Hardmod Method
-- Making the Battery
-- Making the Magic Memory Stick
-- Using your Pandora's Battery


PSP 2000 Ta088v3 and above

Firmware: 5.03 and below
-- ChickHEN
-- CFW Enabler


PSP 3000

Firmware: 5.03 and below
-- ChickHEN
-- CFW 5.02 GEN-A for HEN (not a permanent flash)

Firmware: 5.03 and below
-- ChickHEN
-- CFW Enabler

Notes:
- For the Pandora's Battery: A Fat battery will work in a Slim, but the Slim battery will not work in a Fat

[Travis]

Upgrade straight to Custom Firmware

Notes:
This method cannot be used if you have official firmware 1.51 and above. Custom firmwares will work though
You can use this guide to update your existing M33 firmware to the latest firmware. Just start at the section "Now to go to 4.01 M33-2"

Requirements:

- PSP running 1.00 or 1.50 official firmware, or any Custom Firmware. If you have firmware above 3.52 M33-3, skip to step 4
- Memory Stick (preferably larger than 32MB)
- A PSP battery that is charged more than 76%

Notes:
It is a good idea to backup then format your Memory Stick on the PSP before you begin

Instructions:

1)
- Download the 3.52 M33 easy installer -- HERE
- Open the .rar
- If you are on firmware 1.50, open 1.50 Installation.exe; if you are on CFW click on CFW Installation.exe
- Select your PSPs drive letter
- Click Install

2)
- Once finished, go (on your PSP) to Game > Memory Stick.
- 1.50 Step Only Run KXploit Permanent Patcher. Follow on screen instructions. Once finished, continue with the steps
- Run 3.52 M33UPDATE (from Game > Memory Stick)
- Follow the on screen instructions
- Once completed you should have 3.52 M33
- Backup first, then format your Memory Stick

3)
- Open the .rar you downloaded before (3.52_M33_Installer.rar)
- Then, inside that, open M33-1234.rar
- Plug your PSP into the computer, and copy the entire PSP folder to the Memory Stick, confirming to merge, copy, replace whatever comes up
- Once copied, go into Game > Memory Stick and run the 3.52 M33-4 Updater
- Follow the prompts. If the installer fails, set your game kernel to 3.52 in the recovery menu. To do so, turn off your PSP by holding the switch up for 3 seconds. Then bootup while holding R. Go into Configuration then set "Game Folder Homebrew" to 3.52 Kernel

4) Start here if you have firmware above 3.52 M33-4
- Download the 5.00 M33 easy installer -- HERE
- Run 5.00 M33 Easy Installer.exe
- Select your PSPs drive letter
- Click Install

5)
- On your PSP, go to Game > Memory Stick
- Run the 5.00 M33 Updater
- Follow the on screen instructions

You should now have 5.00 M33 Custom Firmware installed on your PSP. Go exploring and find some homebrew to put on it

[Travis]

Making the Magic Memory Stick

To make the Magic Memory Stick we will be using Rain's Ultra Lite MMS Maker. To use this program your PSP doesn't have to be running Custom firmware

1) Download Rain's Ultra Lite MMS Maker and the 5.00 Official Eboot -- HERE

2) Extract both items

3) Connect your PSP to the computer then run RainUltraLiteMMS.exe



4) In the Rain's Simple MMS Maker window, tick the "Format Memory Stick" box, then click Make MMS

5) You should now be prompted to find the 5.00 Official Eboot. It should be in the same directory as RainUltraLiteMMS.exe

6) Wait as it installs



7) When done, some text saying "Make MMS is Finished" should appear above the progress bars. You now have a Magic Memory Stick

[Travis]

Using your Pandora's battery

So you now have a Pandora's battery and Magic Memory Stick. Here is what to do now to load M33 firmware

1) Insert Memory Stick into PSP

2) Insert battery into PSP

3) Despertar Cementerio will auto load. If it doesn't, shutdown your PSP then try booting it up holding the L trigger

4) You now have some options on a cool looking menu



5) If you are wanting to Install 4.01 M33 press the related option; if you are wanting to install official for whatever reason, choose that option

5a) If you are wanting to perform NAND operations, choose that, although that is not recommended for beginners (it's best to leave it alone)

5b) If you are wanting to view your hardware info such as what motherboard you have, choose that option

5c) If you are wanting to test M33 before you install it, choose test M33

5d) If you are having second thoughts about changing to Custom Firmware, choose the Shutdown option

6) If you have chosen to install a firmware, a loading bar should appear. When the loading bar gets to 100%, the PSP will auto shutdown



7) When your PSP has shutdown, you may now remove the Pandora's Battery and Memory Stick and insert your normal ones, or if you used your normal battery as the Pandora's Battery you can plug in the AC charger and use your PSP that way

8) Enjoy Custom Firmware

NOTE: If your PSP shuts down during your installation (or you remove the battery or something), your PSP will be bricked. Don't worry, just take out the battery and put it in again and DC will load and you can try to install Custom Firmware again. If your PSP is bricked, you can also use the battery to unbrick it.