this is pretty cool. thanks.

psp is a waste of money

You guys are lucky to have one. They should have better games for the Psp because the ones they have now is kinda crappy.

thx for the info !!!!!

You should stick to emulation on the computer, until it can play emulation on a current firmwire. It is actually pointless to downgrade your system, for some half-assed emulation.

actually, I think its worth it.

Downgrading your system, actually prevents you from playing some PSP games. Because you have to have the latest version (2.60). To play some of them. So I save emulation for the computer.

That is true, that is why you should have two psps that is right, two.

"Yeah, lets go waste 500 dollars on two PSP's"

Nice faq I made one long time ago in spanish but know is outdated, anyway theres no need to buy 2 psp anymore thanks to the devhook.

The psp comunity has increased a lot in terms of homebrew.

kewl thanks for the info on the emulation

White Smoke was completely wrong, even back in august -_-

What ridiculous comments he obviously knows nothing (or knew nothing) of the PSPs capabilities.

There's nothing wrong with downgrading and there never has been. Even on the lower firwares could still play the newer games as long as you use the hacks. And they are, and were, always comming up with ways of getting around "mandatory firmware upgrades"

Hmm i own a 3.03 psp, and when i get lc:s my psp is gonna rock out in 3.03-C

Try this:

KingBK's PSP Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Firmware
II. PSP Purchase Guide
III. Downgrading
IV. Memory Stick
V. Modified Firmware
VI. DevHook
VII. How To Play Downloaded Games
VIII. Important Links

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I. Firmware

The firmware for the PSP is the most important piece of knowledge you will have to learn, so lets begin there! The PSP's firmware is comparable to your computer's operating system. Updates and security fixes are constantly released. Here is a list of all the firmwares available.

1.0
1.5
1.51
1.52
2.0
2.01
2.50
2.60
2.70
2.71
2.80
2.81
2.82
3.0
3.01
3.02
3.03
3.10
3.11
3.30
3.40
3.50
3.51
3.52


All games require a certain firmware version or higher to play. That means if you want to play the game "Pursuit Force", you will need 2.50 or higher to play. If you have a lower version, you will have to update. To play homebrew (downloaded games), you will need to have 1.5 on your PSP. Don't worry, all will be explained in the rest of the guide!

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II. PSP Purchase Guide

If you haven't purchased a PSP yet, then read here if you want to make homebrew easy for you. On the side of the PSP box you will see this.

See the circled letter? That letter will tell you what firmware version the PSP is inside. Here is the letter guide for most of the firmwares.

No letter = 1.0 (Japanese Release) OR 1.5 (North-American release)
A = 1.5
B = 1.51
C = 1.52
D = 1.52
E = 1.52
F = 2.0
G = 2.01
H = 2.50
I = 2.60
J = 2.70
K = 2.71
L = 2.81
Unknown = 2.82
Unknown = 3.00
Unknown = 3.01
Unknown = 3.02
Unknown = 3.03
Unknown = 3.10
Unknown = 3.11
Unknown = 3.30
Unknown = 3.40
Unknown = 3.50
Unknown = 3.51
Unknown = 3.52

If it's possible purchase 1.5 (or at least the lowest possible) , but don't worry if you are unable to. FW 3.50 and lower can all be downgraded to 1.5! Downgrading is slightly risky because it could possibly break (AKA brick) your PSP, but the risk is quite low if you follow the directions exactly.

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III. Downgrading

To play any downloaded games, you will need to have firmware 1.5. To check what you have on your PSP, turn it on and go to "Settings > System Settings > System Information". If you do not have 1.5, you will need to downgrade. Like I have said before, downgrading is slightly risky. Most people that brick their PSP's do so because they didn't follow the directions properly, so read directions thoroughly to avoid becoming a victim! There are many downgraders that exist, so I can't list them all. Here are a few downgraders that most people will need at this point in time.

3.50 Downgrader (Requires unpatched Lumines UMD)

3.03 Downgrader (Requires unpatched GTA:LCS UMD)

2.80 Downgrader (TA-082 Motherboard)

2.80 - 2.71 Downgrader (TA-079 - TA-086 Motherboard)


If you have a lower version of firmware on your PSP than the downgrader, you will have to update to the downgraders required firmware. If you think you need another downgrader that is not listed, check out this link.


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IV. Memory Stick

To play all those great downloaded games, you will need a decent memory card. I recommend atleast 1GB, but if you can afford a bigger card thats better. One thing to watch out for is fake memory cards on Ebay or unre****ble sites. Only buy from trusted sources to be safe (Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, Newegg, etc). Here are some good products and their average price.

SanDisk 512MB Memory Stick PRO Duo -> $35.00
SanDisk 1.0GB Memory Stick PRO Duo -> $44.00
SanDisk 2.0GB Memory Stick PRO Duo -> $80.00
SanDisk 4.0GB Ultra II Memory Stick PRO Duo -> $100.00 - $150.00

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V. Custom Firmware

Personally I recommend Custom firmware to play homebrew, but some might dislike it because it requires you to flash your PSP. Once installed, modified firmware is extremely easy to use, unlike DevHook which is your other option. One of the upsides is that you can play PS1 games without the need of a PS3!

What do I need?

Internet connection (I will assume if you are reading this you have one)
PSP running 1.5 OR any OE / M33 custom (If you don't have a PSP with 1.5 there is still hope if you have not upgraded past 3.5. Search around how to downgrade)
Battery 75% or better
M33 3.52
USB Cable or Card reader / writer

Installing on 1.5


1.Copy kxploitpatcher and kxploitpatcher% to X:/PSP/GAME/ on your PSP
2.Copy M33CREATOR to X:/PSP/GAME/ on your PSP
3.Download the official 3.52 EBOOT and rename it 352.PBP
4.Download the official 1.50 EBOOT and rename it 150.PBP
5.Copy 352.PBP & 150.PBP to X:/PSP/GAME/M33CREATOR/ on your PSP
6.Now disconnect or reinsert your PSP memory card
7.On your PSP home screen goto the game folder and run kxploitpatcher
8.Once done run 3.52 M33 CREATOR
9.Now run 3.52 M33UPDATE

Once finished you should have a healthy 3.52 M33 Custom Firmware (scroll down for update)



Installing on 3.xx OE or 3.5x M33 Custom Firmwares


1.Copy M33CREATOR to X:/PSP/GAME150/ on your PSP
2.Download the official 3.52 EBOOT and rename it 352.PBP
3.Download the official 1.50 EBOOT and rename it 150.PBP
4.Copy 352.PBP & 150.PBP to X:/PSP/GAME150/M33CREATOR/ on your PSP
5.Now disconnect or reinsert your PSP memory card
6.On your PSP home screen goto the game folder and run 3.52 M33 CREATOR
7.Now run 3.52 M33UPDATE
Once finished you should have a healthy 3.52 M33 Custom Firmware (scroll down for update)

Installing Update 2 for 3.52 M33 (This assumes you already have 3.52 M33 installed with no problems)

1.Download this
2.Copy M33Update to X:/PSP/GAME150/ on your PSP
3.On your PSP home screen goto the game folder and run M33 UPDATE 2

Once finished you should have a healthy 3.52 M33 Almost up to date Custom Firmware (3.52-2 M33) Scroll Down For Update Once Again)

3.52 M33-3 update

Do The Same Thing You Did To Update To 3.52 M33-2 But Use This

QUOTE

File Description
Team M33 called the shot, and they made it with a picture-perfect finish. Yes, PSP homebrew development fans, it's the promised third update of their own Custom Firmware 3.52, with all the awesome bells and whistles to make your PlayStation Portable all that more tricked out (can you say popsloader?). Let's cut the chit-chat and get right to what's changed in this update!

Changes:

* Added more speeds: 75 and 133.
* Added flash2 and flash3 usb to recovery
* Added a setting in recovery to change the usb device to which XMB will connect.
* Added "vshmenu", which is a menu that will appear when HOME is pressed in the XMB. It will interfere with existing
* XMB plugins that use HOME, so it can be disabled in recovery.
* - Added umd video iso support. The umd video isos are playes using vshmenu. Video isos go in
* /ISO/VIDEO folder. They require an UMD inserted because NO-UMD does not work.

Changes in popsloader:

* Support for 3.30 firmware. Instructions are same as in previous release, except 3.30
* firmware did not have libpspvmc.prx, so just ignore that file.
* Warning: There is an incompatibility between 3.30 savedata and later ones. If a savedata exists from 3.40+, the emulator will freeze.

A few notes from the M33 team about vshmenu and UMD video ISOs:

* vshmenu cannot be loaded when the browser is active. If you exit the browser, the firmware will still keep it in memory until you enter other area of xmb, until you do so, you will not be able to access vshmenu again either.
* video isos and the game isos show in xmb use the same core. Due to this, when you enter in game menu and there is some iso, if a video iso was currently mounted, it will automatically be unmounted.
* cso format is not supported for video isos.
* UMD audio isos are theoretically supported, but not tested. They go to /ISO/VIDEO.

As always, read the relevant readme files included in the zip file before applying the update to your PSP. This is custom firmware business, and tinkering around with it without proper information and knowledge could lead to bricking. And if you're having fun using their custom firmware, why not send the M33 team a few votes of encouragement for their hard work via a donation or two to their Paypal account? It'd help loads for future firmware development!

Click here to Download


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[b]VI. DevHook

For people who are either nervous about flashing there PSP with modified firmware or just want to keep there PSP at 1.50, the answer is DevHook! There is little to no risk of bricking your PSP while installing DevHook, so this might be the best choice for newer PSP users. The other wonderful part about using DevHook is that it comes with an automatic installer (easy for beginners)! The downside to using DevHook is that you will be unable to play PS1 games, only the "OE" and "M33" firmwares can play them.

Devhook.52.0100 installer


Instructions for Installation


After the installation you can delete the following from your memorystick...

ms0:\psp\game/150\%__SCE__302_dh_fw_installer
ms0:\psp\game/150\__SCE__302_dh_fw_installer


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VII. How To Play Downloaded Games

Hopefully you now have the modified firmware running on your PSP, so I bet you can't wait to play games, right? The great thing is that you can play both PSP and PS1 games. To play your downloaded games, load the ISO or CSO of your game into the "ISO" folder on your PSP. If you would like to play a PS1 game, you will find many PSP-ready PS1 games in Warez-bb's console games section. Just place the PS1 eboot into the "GAME" folder on your PSP.

To play your games, turn on your PSP and go to "Game > Memory Stick > YOUR GAMES LISTED HERE".


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VIII. Important Links

Misc PSP news/downloads


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I know that this guide can be filled with more information, and I will update it as often as possible. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to say them in a comment. I just want to give a shout out to ThePSPHackers for being the best forum on the web, so I wrote this guide to give a little back to the community!!

NOTE: Please do not PM me for help, I have been receiving far too many. I love helping people, but I can't help everybody. If you have a question please feel free to ask in this topic.

Great tut even though I already know that... lol