GWJ "No PSP Left Unhacked" Project!
(If this is your first look in this thread, scroll down to the words "ORIGINAL POST:")
The List: (current destination/possessor in bold, happy ex-recipients now enjoying their hacked PSPs in italics)
DrunkenSleipnir
rabbit
Podunk
jonnypolite
dhelor
Cod
nsmike
Fanatka
Vrikk
Stryker
Inioth
Poor Old Lu
bluerobot
tanstaafl
DirtierParsley
Dave172
ORIGINAL POST:
Are you the owner of an unhacked PSP? Do you wake up in the middle of the night with strange feelings of inadequacy, but aren't sure why? My friend, these two things just might be related!
But fear not! For my universal hack care platform will ensure that there is No PSP Left Unhacked! *Legion* 2008: Hacks You Can Believe In!
*ahem*
Anyway, thanks to poor DrunkenSleipnir looking for the old Pandora battery/stick combo that was circulating, and coming up empty-handed, I decided to dig out my Pandora bits and get them updated. My memory stick still had the original PSP Slim 3.60 M33 hack on it (eek!).
Now, I have updated my stick to run Despertar del Cementerio v4 (aka "Universal Unbricker"), which can be used to install hacked firmware on ANY PSP, fat or slim. So, I'm offering it up to any GWJ PSP owner who still needs their PSPs hacked.
Along with the battery and memory stick, I'm including a CD with everything needed for PopsLoader (including the pain-in-the-ass to dump .prx files), and a few other things I can't remember right now because it's 3:00am. Also, some handy step-by-step instructions on how to install everything and get up and running (as well as making a backup dump of your PSP's NAND memory, in case of emergency)
I've just completed a massive PSP hacking guide on my website, which contains HOWTOs on damn near everything, as well as links to all of the emulators and homebrew you can stand (which can be a pain to find if you don't know where to look!)
I'm assembling the kit and sending it out to DrunkenSleipnir this week. Anyone else that wants it, step right up. 
EDIT: Once you have a hacked PSP, join us in the PSP homebrew thread for more homebrew discussion. Let's keep this thread focused on the battery/memstick circulation.
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB
Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-0
Fresno State Bulldogs: 1-0 (Rank AP/Coach: 21/21)
Wow. Very nice. Makes me want to get a PSP now.
In Ultima Online I used to poison hams and leave them on the ground in cities for people to pick up and eat. I can't believe how many people thought street ham was a good thing to eat. -Elliottx
Thanks for the thought and all, but I still don't really see why I'd want to hack my PSP. Every time there's a new game for it I've got to update the firmware, so wouldn't this just present a yearly hassle for me?
(see what I did there?)
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
BF2142 Stats
This is very excellent of you, *Legion*. Nothing much else to add, other then those props, and my thanks.
Kat on Cally wrote:
Boötes's Photo Blog
Ooo, ooo, hook me up! I've been putting off hacking mine because tracking down a Pandora battery/stick sounds like a pain in the ass, but now, thanks to your awesomeness, I feel empowered!
Xbox Live: CrankyBaby
baggachipz: Who cares about Japan, let them have their silly pointless dog games and countless re-hashes of anime-based dragon princess super lucky crapitty crap.
I presume this is US based? I'd volunteer to distribute it around Europe, if there was enough demand.
However, thanks very much for the guide, *Legion*. I've been looking into the PSP hacking scene (ideally for ScummVM and viewing PDFs), and it is as you say, a black hole of misdirection. At least I'm now confident enough to buy a Datel Tool battery and unlock my Slim with your guide.
Nice guide, if I ever get the courage to hack mine, I'll use it.
hilarious.
Once you update to CFW, you can then effortlessly update to each new hacked CFW... in fact, the newest versions include an auto-update feature which goes to the Dark Alex website (instead of the Sony site, as you'd get with a regular firmware).
Most games have a pretty long lag between firmware updates... I'm still on 3.72, and GOD OF WAR works with that version. Demos, on the other hand, tend to be very current with firmware requirements... even so, the official firmware is 3.90, and the hacked CFW is 3.90. Not a whole lot of issues here.
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
Look up, you won't hear them, but the black helicopter are circling Legion's house right now.
Xbox Live | Steam | Last.fm
Fixed for accuracy.
XBL / Art / Blog / Buy me!
I'm of the same mindset.
The idea of hacking my PSP fatty is enticing, but I'm apprehensive of the upkeep involved. That's kind of why I got out of PC gaming about five years ago.
It's too bad because virtually the only reason why I'd want to hack my PSP is so that I could play the SNES classic, Zombies Ate My Neighbors!. Outside of that, there's not too many classic ROMS that I feel like I "have" to play...Maybe X-COM: UFO Defense or something, but that's about it.
Consider me subscribed to your newsletter of awesomeness.
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | WoW: Cait (Warlock) on Blackhand | Twitter
Right, sorry.
Like I said, 3:00am. 
Luckily, with Despertar del Cementerio, it doesn't matter one damn bit what your existing firmware is.
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB
Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-0
Fresno State Bulldogs: 1-0 (Rank AP/Coach: 21/21)
The upkeep has become very little. Like Matt said, updating to new custom firmware is now done exactly the same way as updating official Sony firmware - the Network Update app in custom firmware has been hacked to download updated custom firmware instead of the official Sony stuff.
Plus, if you ever were to "get tired of it", you just install the latest official Sony firmware, and you're back to normal, vanilla, non-hacked PSP life.
(I know what the first addition in guide version 1.1 will be!)
Most of the emulators have settled in to fairly stable states, so you don't have to do a ton of updating (most of my emulators are the ones I installed when I bought my PSP Slim last October. And new versions will be posted in my wonderful guide so's nobody else has to go hunting for them.
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB
Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-0
Fresno State Bulldogs: 1-0 (Rank AP/Coach: 21/21)
a list of other apps I think are worth using if you have a hacked PSP (some of these might be "fat" only):
PSPcomic -- CBR/CBZ reader; also will read any image file in any zip or rar archive.
AFKIM -- best IM program I've used for the PSP... multi-service, links to everything including google talk. Comes with a built-in keyboard interface that uses the analog nub... so much better than Sony's crappy keyboard interface.
bookR-- ebook/pdf viewer. Not the best range of file-types (mostly only TXT), but works in a pinch. This requires the 1.50 kernel, I believe.
trigonometry wars -- Geometry wars clone; not the greatest, but a fun time waster.
-------------
There might be a few more, but I'll have to get home to check.
I also think you should link to the homebrew database at qj.net--That's the most comprehensive source I've come across. PSPupdates is probably the best source of news and updates, IMHO.
EDIT:
checking out the various NeoFlash coding contest entries usually yields a few gems.
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
btw, the idea of "upkeep" is almost beside the point at this time. Wanna talk about "upkeep"? Try running homebrew using the bootloader/TIFF exploit, or the GTA-save file exploit. Now THAT was a hassle.
Since the Dark Alex CFW came along, nothing could be simpler than installing and running CFW/homebrew/ISOs. Takes a few minutes to get started, and then is very low maintenance to update. You have full Sony functionality, plus the ability to run all this other cool stuff listed in the article. There is literally no downside (other than having to wait a few days when a new official firmware is released to get the "hacked" version).
Trust me-- CFW will allow you to use your PSP in ways you never imagined.
(cue the smart-ass "like what, find a good game?" comments)
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
I'll check those out. I knew of most of them but haven't actually used them yet.
Providing some more links is a good idea, I'll add a section for that in the Conclusion (seems an appropriate spot for a "further reading" part)
EDIT: Aahh! You mentioned the TIFF exploit! I'm pretty sure I said something somewhere about nobody ever bringing up that nightmare again...
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB
Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-0
Fresno State Bulldogs: 1-0 (Rank AP/Coach: 21/21)
forgot to mention-- great guide.
there are a few typos and things, but still... a Herculean effort.
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
Feel free to email/PM me and point out any you find. No typo left unfixed!
I forgot to add instructions on how to change the clock speed on the PSP, so that's getting added in there sometime soon too.
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB
Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-0
Fresno State Bulldogs: 1-0 (Rank AP/Coach: 21/21)
you might want to do a whole section on the recovery menu... the speed, as well as the different "No-UMD" loader options, etc.
also, maybe a section on video... PSP9, other encoders, etc.
another interesting homebrew: LightMP3. Very low energy MP3 player. Looks like the new version has gotten quite the graphical update. I've never used this, since I have my iPod, but seems like something worth investigating.
As for typos... a few nitpicks, mostly. I'd probably translate "despertar del cementario" as "rise from the GRAVE" (sounds better), but that really makes no difference. I remember some error with the page attribution for the Pandora battery, but it looks like you fixed it already (or else I'm going insane). Same thing with the others I noticed (or THOUGHT I noticed) the first time through...
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
I'll ditto this statement. Go ahead and append my name to the list.
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
Fantastic idea, definitely something that belongs. I even grabbed a screenshot of the recovery menu for this purpose, but got distracted with finishing other entries.
Also a great idea. I use my iPod for video and not my PSP (got lots more space there), so I kinda forget about that.
I don't know a lick of Spanish, so I searched and just went with what other people claimed it to translate to, including this entry on Wikipedia.
You're not going crazy, I fixed some things as I swept through the pages again earlier today.
I appreciate the tips, and I'll give LightMP3 a look too.
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB
Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-0
Fresno State Bulldogs: 1-0 (Rank AP/Coach: 21/21)
Also... I haven't messed with it, but "PSPTube" might be worth checking out.
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
Ok...I've got an unhacked fat PSP & it saved my sanity on my last transatlantic flight via the magic of JdA and NCAA Football. This sounds like a good way to add to the list of games I can play, plus you make it sound simple enough, so I'm in.
*Legion* wrote:
OK, I've got everything packed up and ready to go.
The package will include:
* One (1) Pandora battery
* One (1) memory stick with Despertar del Cementerio v4
* One (1) CD-R, containing PopsLoader (including the .prx files for ALL PopsLoader supported firmwares, so you can skip the hassle of having to rip them yourself), OpenTTD-PSP (including the necessary files from the original Transport Tycoon Deluxe), and a legit GBA BIOS for use with GBA emulators - the things I wouldn't be comfortable with hosting on my webspace.
* Instructions on how to do everything - easy, breezy, beautiful.
Because the battery and memory stick are already made, and the PopStation .prx files are already ripped from PopsLoader, all of the hard and time-consuming stuff from my guide will be skipped right by. The process is little more than a couple of button presses and a few files copied, and then you go out there and download the homebrew you want.
I've appended the list of people to get the package in the first post. jonnypolite, I can't tell if you meant to sign up, or were just praising my name (as most posters should really do from time to time
).
amswong: If you don't go ahead and do it yourself with a Datel battery first, maybe we can figure something out. We'll circulate it around to these guys first and then go from there.
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB
Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-0
Fresno State Bulldogs: 1-0 (Rank AP/Coach: 21/21)
Absolutely, Legion, sign me UP!
Thanks for doing this! I had some inklings of a thought of doing something like this, but that required free time. Not happening. You are a saint among gamers.
XBox Live / PSN: jonnypolite | WoW: Cait (Warlock) on Blackhand | Twitter
I do it for purely selfish reasons, I assure you... to maintain my vaunted status as one of the forum's most badass members.
Added you on the list in your rightful position. Hope you guys have a blast with this. I just ordered another 4GB memory stick for my PSP, one wasn't enough.
Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB
Jacksonville Jaguars: 0-0
Fresno State Bulldogs: 1-0 (Rank AP/Coach: 21/21)
I'm considering doing the same (once I've got a job), considering that I've loaded almost half my stick with music. I'll wait until the 16gb stick comes out though, since the 4gb's are sure to drop in price at that point.
"I'm absolutely retarded. Not 100% sure why." - atom
"Dhelor + intarwebs = Great ideas." - wordsmythe
"Do I what I do: hate everyone." - Quintin_Stone
Where did you get your 4gig? I see them for $45 with Fry's online, but they're sold out, the bastards.
Kat on Cally wrote:
Boötes's Photo Blog
i've posted at least 2 deals for 4GB sticks @ $35 over the last few months.
xbox LIVE: NatsuMatto
That's What She Said -- A Podcast About NBC's THE OFFICE
I got the PSP a week and half ago. I'd wager they are sold out of those deals, by now.
Kat on Cally wrote:
Boötes's Photo Blog