Support NeoGAF

[Mejilan]

Meijlan,
Thanks for the description. Any Meijlan-approved tutorials on it? Or is it a no-brainer with 5.00 m33-6? ... I just upgraded to 5.50 GEN-B, though :-(

Tutorials on what, exactly? The 6.00 OFW Flashed/5.00 M33 CFW Emulated method?
I've never done it, because I'm content to wait until 6.00 CFW hits. But it should be no harder than how you would normally set up a Pandora. Any halfway decent/modern Pandora menu supports dual-boot batteries (Pandoras that can boot to the normal OS by default, and the Pandora menu by holding down L -or whatever- as you boot up the PSP). Likewise, any halfway decent/modern Pandora menu will include DC8 at least as an option.

The idea is that once the Pandora and memory stick are properly set up, you kill your CFW by installing OFW 6.00, and run your newest games (via UMD) that way. Whenever you want to access your PSOne games, emulators, or older/compatible ISOs, you can hold L (or whatever) to boot into the Pandora Menu, and utilize DC8's Test M33 function to boot into a temporary instance of 5.00 M33. I do not think it's fully functional. I hear that there's no way to set up plugins, and that PSN license information is not recognized, so your demos and PSN/PSOne Classics purchases won't work. Not 100% on this, though, since I have yet to test this method on my own.

But setting it up is pretty straightforward for anyone that's ever worked with a Pandora battery. And, of course, if your PSP is Pandora-compatible, then using the Pandora to kill 6.00 OFW in favor of 6.00 CFW, once it comes out, will be a fairly trivial matter.

That explains why you're never on during the day! You should watch Office Space--it'll give you an inspirational plan for how to be a good worker.

No time for TV, or TV shows, alas!

Is Gen even compatible with the PSP 3000, though? Although I have a PSP 1000, I have a hard time returning to it as a result of the massively improved 3000 screen. I really can't stand using a non-3000 PSP at this point.

No CFW is "compatible" in the sense that later 2000s and 3000s cannot flash CFW. As to whether or not 5.50 Gen works with Custom Firmware Enabler 3.60... I honestly don't know. But I don't see why it wouldn't be.

I've never had cause to test that either, because I'd never downgrade from a hacked 2000 to a 3000. ;p

 

[riskVSreward]

Is Gen even compatible with the PSP 3000, though? Although I have a PSP 1000, I have a hard time returning to it as a result of the massively improved 3000 screen. I really can't stand using a non-3000 PSP at this point.

I'm only speculating here, but I bet you could swap a 3000 screen into a 2000 PSP. I looked on Google and can only find articles complaining about the 3000 screen lol ) but if I had the means I would test it out myself.

 

[Jonny The Pie King]

So, I guess this is the end of the line for CFW for me. I have a v3 2000, so all I could do was use ChickHEN to get 5.03 M33-6. Only thing I used it for was playing Persona 2 on the go, but I have a PS3 so I guess I could still do it at home.

Oh well...hey, now at least demos will work again for me :lol MGS: PW demo is pretty sweet.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Not big on signing in and responding from the office, but people need to chill out, IMHO.
CFW is not "seriously lagging behind" anything. We're 1 major firmware revision behind, which is quite the common occurrence, historically speaking. You're only further behind if you foolishly stick to M33 instead of upgrading to Gen, but that's entirely on you.

5.51 was not a major (or necessary, IIRC) revision, and 5.55 will never see a proper legal CFW release because it remains a UMD-only FW. Never having gotten a free, download-able distributable (which is necessary for installing CFW), you're not going to see a real 5.55 CFW come out; and you were never going to.

So we're at 5.50. Sony's at 6.00. Realistically speaking, we're one major FW behind, and the new firmware has only been out for about a week or two. 6.00 has been fully dumped and decrypted, so the major barriers to seeing it converted into a CFW are behind us. Gen aren't the fastest on the block, but with a bit of patience, we're very likely to see 6.00 Gen-A hit in the near future.

Also, please keep in mind that 5.55 and 6.00 represent a new generation of encrypted UMDs, so there are stumbling blocks to the development of a fully working CFW. Patience, folks. And for those lacking it, other options exist.

If you really can't wait and have a Pandora-friendly PSP, then go for the OFW 6.00 NAND / 5.00 M33 emulation route that a decent Pandora setup can hook you up with. It's cumbersome and annoying, but it WILL allow you to play the newest demos and the newest UMDs (only from disc, not ISO) in the interim and load up a temporary (and somewhat barebones) CFW instance for playing the most of the rest of your ISOs, emulators, PSOne games, etc.

The gist of the process involves flashing 6.00 official to your PSP, effectively killing your CFW, AFTER having set up (or updating) a Pandora battery and paired magic memory stick to call on Dark-Alex's Despertar del Cemeterio 8 (DC8) for its "Test M33" functionality. This allows you to load an instance of CFW from the memory stick (instead of from the flash, as per the norm). It's by no means a perfect solution, but it is viable for any PSP that supports a Pandora battery, that is to say, all 1000s and most early 2000s.

Bless you!

 

[criesofthepast]

Mejilan, is it possible to update the OP with this GEN A/B bullshit because I don't even know what it is. I'm on 5.00 M33-6 and don't know what I should be doing here. I haven't played my PSP in a few months but i'm about to order Persona and don't know whether or not it will work on my current firmware. I just want to be up-to-date that's all and don't know what I should be doing here. Is the GEN cwf made by someone else other than DARK ALEX? Are most new games not working on 5.00 M33-6? Is PSN access blocked now? I haven't tried the store in months so I don't know.

 

[xero273]

Mejilan, is it possible to update the OP with this GEN A/B bullshit because I don't even know what it is. I'm on 5.00 M33-6 and don't know what I should be doing here. I haven't played my PSP in a few months but i'm about to order Persona and don't know whether or not it will work on my current firmware. I just want to be up-to-date that's all and don't know what I should be doing here. Is the GEN cwf made by someone else other than DARK ALEX? Are most new games not working on 5.00 M33-6? Is PSN access blocked now? I haven't tried the store in months so I don't know.

If you are on 5.00 M33-6, you won't be able to access psn. Gen is made by a different team. Most new games that require 5.55 do not work on Gen or DA fw. The exceptions are EU Dissidia and Soul Calibur. These games require swapping out certain files to work. These are the current ones I can think of. Persona currently does not work on CFW.

 

[Chairhome]

Thanks again, Meijlan, I'll give it a try if I pick up any newer games. Newest one I'm playing is Dissidia, which thankfully works fine.

I got the MGS: PW demo working, by the way. I upgraded to 5.50 GEN-B2 then did the version.txt edit and it worked awesomely!

 

[Fuzzy]

Not big on signing in and responding from the office, but people need to chill out, IMHO.
CFW is not "seriously lagging behind" anything. We're 1 major firmware revision behind, which is quite the common occurrence, historically speaking. You're only further behind if you foolishly stick to M33 instead of upgrading to Gen, but that's entirely on you.

I bet many people have stayed on 5.00 M33-6 since that's the CFW that's in the thread title.

 

[criesofthepast]

If you are on 5.00 M33-6, you won't be able to access psn. Gen is made by a different team. Most new games that require 5.55 do not work on Gen or DA fw. The exceptions are EU Dissidia and Soul Calibur. These games require swapping out certain files to work. These are the current ones I can think of. Persona currently does not work on CFW.

That blows and thank you for the explanation. Still buying persona even if it means going back to OFW for now.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

I bet many people have stayed on 5.00 M33-6 since that's the CFW that's in the thread title.

Good point, although I was personally waiting for a 6.0 CFW to hit to update the title. But in the meantime...

That blows and thank you for the explanation. Still buying persona even if it means going back to OFW for now.

Buy Persona -> Wait a few weeks -> Install inevitable 6.0 GEN -> Enjoy

 

[Super_Chicken]

This.

I'm on 5.00 M33-6 and no end of version.txt alterations is giving me Peace Walker goodness. Is there an easy way to change to 5.50 GEN-A, which apparently works?

EDIT - Indeed there is. You just download the 5.50 GEN-A Update file (found here here, stick it in the Game folder on your memory stick and run the sucker. Very easy:lol

From there, go into the recover menu, and Enable Version.txt (under Configuration). Then, with your PSP USBed to your computer, go to Advanced -> Toggle USB (flash0). This'll open a folder on your computer with a text file named 'version' in it (it's under 'etc', you'll find it eventually). Replace the text in there with this:



and save. Back on your PSP, go up to Advanced Configuration, disable the plugins in there, and exit the recovery menu. When you get back to the XMB the Peace Walker demo should work perfectly.

Thanks man works great! Upgraded from 5.00 m33

 

[Midou]

For the technique of switching between 5.55 and 5.00 or whatnot, could I make a Pandora battery from an old battery that only works for about 15 minutes (then drops from 100% to about 80%, and acts as if its run out)? Could the process work just while plugged in?

And whats this about a Pandora that works both as a regular battery and pandora just by holding L? I heard for that process you hold L to activate the pandora battery and to go to 5.55 or 5.00, do you have to make the battery in a special way for it to work as a real battery every other time, or does this process mean something else?

 

[Fafalada]

I'm only speculating here, but I bet you could swap a 3000 screen into a 2000 PSP.

I used to think that way before 3k was released, but they changed a lot of things including the display controller IIRC.

I looked on Google and can only find articles complaining about the 3000 screen

Funny that, I have the same problem as Dark - since getting a 3k, I can't tolerate the 2k/1k screen anymore.

 

[Sipowicz]

You're only further behind if you foolishly stick to M33 instead of upgrading to Gen, but that's entirely on you.

mejilan, i've left m33 on because it makes the memory stick run fast. if i dont have that then i might as well run it off umd for as much as it slows down

 

[Mejilan]

Rubbish. The difference isn't even close to that dramatic.
Well, not on Sandisks, anyway.

 

[MechaX]

Buy Persona -> Wait a few weeks -> Install inevitable 6.0 GEN -> Enjoy

If you have a 1000 or 2000, you can just update to 5.55/6.0, beat Persona/Peace Walker demo, then use the Pandora to flash back to M33 or Gen without losing anything of value, right?

 

[Chairhome]

The MGS demo is kinda slow when loading... but it doesn't matter cause I can play it with GEN firmware :-D

 

[Doublethink]

I just upgraded to 5.50 Gen-B and I want to start ripping some of my old PS1 games. Would the process described in the OP still work for Gen-B?

 

[Mejilan]

Yep. There's a new version of POPSLoader specifically for 5.50 Gen, but it works identically to Dark-Alex's last 5.00 M33 POPSLoader, and supports exactly the same versions of POPS.

 

[Red Blaster]

Alright, need some help here.

I've been out of the CFW loop for a while. I've got a launch PSP that's still on 3.80 M33-4. I'd like to play the Peace Walker demo and Persona, is it possible for me to upgrade to OFW 6.0 and then downgrade back to CFW without the Pandora battery or whatever?

 

[Mejilan]

Nope. Given that there are no working exploits beyond firmware 5.03 (to my knowledge), you can't update to OFW 5.55 or 6.00 and then revert back to CFW without a Pandora.
That said, you could upgrade to 5.00 M33-6 or 5.50 Gen-B2 and still play the MGS PW demo, using the version.txt trick to spoof OFW 5.55. Or so I've read. No dice on Persona, though. Yet.

 

[Kadey]

I updated two of my JPN PSPs to 6.0. I can't really tell any differences but I needed them to play FFVII and stuff.

 

[Shadowlink]

So did dark alex stop with these CFW updates or it's what we assume happened?

 

[gregor7777]

You can definitely play MGS PW with GEN-B using version.txt.

 

[xero273]

So did dark alex stop with these CFW updates or it's what we assume happened?

Last update to the wiki was no plans for 6.00 CFW. No clue if he's not doing CFW updates anymore. His website was down for maintenance last week.

 

[Mejilan]

The more or less official line is that Dark-Alex is on break, and the other developers associated with Team M33 are no longer around.
This from Mathieulh, as of the last time he spoke to Dark-Alex.

It bears mentioning that while his static home page is "down for maintenance" for the past few days, his Wiki and IRC are still very much up. He openly admitted to taking down his forums due to the financial burden. Curious about the static front page, since "down for maintenance" can only mean some sort of redesign/relaunch, considering that nothing else is down.

 

[Red Blaster]

Is there any disadvantage for going GEN-B versus M33?

 

[xero273]

Is there any disadvantage for going GEN-B versus M33?

Offhand:
1) No LEDA support. Not relevant for 1000 users.
2) No memory stick speed up hacks (probably irrelevant if you're using SD card adapters).
3) No 1.5 kernel support (largely irrelevant, even on 1000s that support it, due to most homebrew having been ported to more modern kernels ages ago).
4) No DARK-ALEX IS MY LORD AND SAVIOR!! bragging rights, which honestly seems to be the biggest issue with most idiots "in the scene" if you ask me.

Gen CFW is a little rough around the edges in certain respects. If you don't follow the proper upgrade path, you can potentially brick your PSP. But I successfully made the jump from 5.00 M33-6 to 5.50 Gen-B2, and I can still play all of my old PSP and PSOne games without issue. Hell, I can play MORE now. And access PSN. I'm content.

So not really any disadvantages

 

[Red Blaster]

Alright, GEN-B is it. Can I jump straight to 5.50 from 3.80?

 

[Mejilan]

Yeah, you should be fine.
Just be sure to go from your current CFW to the full 5.50 Gen-A first.
Then from there do the incremental 5.50 Gen-B and 5.50 Gen-B2 patches.
You might actually be able to skip 5.50 Gen-B and go straight to Gen-B2 from Gen-A, but I did both and am doing fine.

 

[drizzle]

I don't get why people are so up in arms about no CFW6.00.

Nobody is gonna release something before the PSP Go hits stores. Hell, I bet nobody is going to release something a couple weeks after the PSP Go hits stores.

Just stay put and one/two weeks after the PSP Go hits, somebody is gonna release something (and I bet Dark Alex will return from his "break").

 

[Mejilan]

It's only a matter of time. While I don't expect an explosion of activity immediately after the Go hits, I have no doubt that new CFW is in the works.

 

[Red Blaster]

Alright I'm trying to the modify the version.txt but it's not letting me save it, tells me that the path doesn't exist.

 

[Fuzzy]

Alright I'm trying to the modify the version.txt but it's not letting me save it, tells me that the path doesn't exist.

Same thing happened to me so I just made a backup of version.txt on my PC then deleted it from my PSP and saved the new one.

 

[Red Blaster]

Same thing happened to me so I just made a backup of version.txt on my PC then deleted it from my PSP and saved the new one.

That did it, thanks!

 

[Mejilan]

Or you could right-click on the file, access the properties, and uncheck the read-only property.

 

[Fuzzy]

Or you could right-click on the file, access the properties, and uncheck the read-only property.

Sure, if I even thought of that.

 

[Super_Chicken]

My pc said it was "read-only" so I immediately knew what the problem was :lol

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Okay, so somehow I got a BUNCH of dust and crap under my PSP screen. Which makes it amazingly annoying to play, as you can well imagine. So my question is...is there any good solution for playing the PSP on a TV screen? I use RemoteJoy right now to play it on my PC monitor, though I'm just wondering if there's a way to play it on a proper TV screen (SDTV, not HDTV...I know of Sony's official solution but I can't afford an HDTV).

Would using the S-Video out on my video card to hook my PC to my TV work? Like, RemoteJoy -> TV? Or is there perhaps some sort of homebrew solution to my dilemma? I mean, using RemoteJoy is fine for now, but it's pretty uncomfortable sitting at my PC for hours on end during those long Monster Hunter sessions. :lol

 

[Red Blaster]

Has anyone here ever gotten Front Mission 3 to work fine? It had that notorious Leg HP glitch in the earlier CFW days and was wondering if it's been fixed now.

 

[filopilo]

So not really any disadvantages

I got all my converted videos ( maqxxxx in mproot) unreadable with 5.50gen.

 

[Marty Chinn]

I got all my converted videos ( maqxxxx in mproot) unreadable with 5.50gen.

What? That's terrible if true. I've got a ton of video converted since I use my PSP as a portable video player regularly.

 

[Triple Da G.O.D!]

I think I'll need some instructions to get from m33 to 5.50GEN-B. I see all sorts of builds and with that fear that you can brick it if you fuck it up has me a tad spooked. So if somebody could give a nice detailed process so I get it right would be nice.

 

[dark10x]

Okay, so somehow I got a BUNCH of dust and crap under my PSP screen. Which makes it amazingly annoying to play, as you can well imagine. So my question is...is there any good solution for playing the PSP on a TV screen? I use RemoteJoy right now to play it on my PC monitor, though I'm just wondering if there's a way to play it on a proper TV screen (SDTV, not HDTV...I know of Sony's official solution but I can't afford an HDTV).

Would using the S-Video out on my video card to hook my PC to my TV work? Like, RemoteJoy -> TV? Or is there perhaps some sort of homebrew solution to my dilemma? I mean, using RemoteJoy is fine for now, but it's pretty uncomfortable sitting at my PC for hours on end during those long Monster Hunter sessions. :lol

1) The PSP2000 and PSP3000 models both have native support for TV output using component video cables. The PSP1000 does not support this.

2) You can actually remove the face plate on your PSP and clean the dust out. I've done this once before. Just be careful while doing so.

 

[toneroni]

I think I'll need some instructions to get from m33 to 5.50GEN-B. I see all sorts of builds and with that fear that you can brick it if you fuck it up has me a tad spooked. So if somebody could give a nice detailed process so I get it right would be nice.

i googled it and found a pretty easy one on qj.net i think?

 

[Seraphis Cain]

1) The PSP2000 and PSP3000 models both have native support for TV output using component video cables. The PSP1000 does not support this.

2) You can actually remove the face plate on your PSP and clean the dust out. I've done this once before. Just be careful while doing so.

Yeah, I know about the component cables thing. I just don't have an HDTV, so that method is out.

I guess I'll have to try to get the face plate off. Even though my attempts so far have all been fruitless (screws in too tight, screwdriver not small enough, etc).

 

[luoapp]

What? That's terrible if true. I've got a ton of video converted since I use my PSP as a portable video player regularly.

Me too. What format(s) does 5.50Gen support?

 

[McBacon]

This is not related in the slightest, but I just wanna say how cool Play TV on PSP is, and how excellent the picture quality is.

 

[Triple Da G.O.D!]

i googled it and found a pretty easy one on qj.net i think?

Never mind. Took like 5 minutes. I'm on B2 now and everything is OK so far. I gotta track down some things to tweak it too my liking.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Whats the difference between 5.50GEN-A & 5.50GEN-B and B2.