Guide To PSP Downgrading Method - II (Hardware Mod)
Hardmodding is a way or modifying something through hardware
This tutorial doesnt require the use of a second psp! Just some spare time and a little skill.
Material Required:
# A psp
# 2 psp batteries.
# A memory stick pro duo with 512MB or more, NO LESS
# A mini USB or Memory Card Reader
# A computer (ofcource ) with an internet connection (doubley ofcource)
# A knife/exacto knife (1)
# A needle, safety pin, tooth pick, etc
# Winrar
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Process #1:
Creating the Magic Memory Stick
(NOTE: This is for working psp's. so if your psp is bricked, you dont have to do this one. just skip to the next one)
1) Turn on the psp and go into USB mode.
2) When your computer detects the psp, go to "My Computer".
3) Right-click on your psp's drive and select "Format"
4) Format the memory stick.
5) Next download the "universal unbricker" (
RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting)
Note: Contains files for CFW 3.71
Look up for ur corresponding firmware.
6) Place all the files inside of it onto your psp's drive. These files should include:
==>three folders called "PSP", "kd", and "registry"
==>three eboots called "150.pbp", "340.pbp", and "371.pbp"
==>one bin file called "msipl.bin"
Once done with that, move to "Process #3: Moving the Partitions"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process #2:
Creating the Magic Memory Stick with a bricked psp:
In order to do this, we are going to need a Memory card Reader/Writer.
1)Plug your Memory Stick in via Card Reader.
2)Follow the above tutorial from step 2-7.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process #3:
Moving the Partitions:
(NOTE: Keep your memory stick in through USB or card reader)
1) Download the partition mover
2) Extract the folder "msinst" to your hard drive (C:\)
3) Go to "My Computer" and find your PSP drive letter (Removable Disk ?)
4) Go to "Start"
5) Go to "Run"
6) Type in "cmd" and press OK
From here, there should be a Black and Silverish White screen. If so, your all good and are ready to continue.
7) Type this in: "cd C:\msinst"
8) Next, type in "msinst ? msipl.bin" (remember No quotes) (also, replace ? with your removable disk letter)(also, use a capital letter to represent your drive. example: C:\msinst>msinst J msipl.bin)
9) It will show some stuff and give you 2 options. 1)Y=Yes 2)N=No........of course, press Y and then enter
10) You should receive a confirmation that the partitions were successfully moved
Thats it! You are done with your magic memory stick and partition moving !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process #4:
Hardmodding the battery:
1) Take your battery and open it using a knife or exacto knife.
2) Look on the main board for the display "ICO4" or "CO4" (depending on your battery)
3) Now, take a needle or something like that and remove pin #5
here is a diagram (sortoff):
__ (pin 4) __ (pin 8)
__ (pin 3) __ (pin 7)
__ (pin 2) __ (pin 6)
__ (pin 1) __ (pin 5)
(NOTE: you can find pin #5 easily when the ICO4 or CO4 display is facing you!!!!)
a better diagram of it can be found on ben hecks page (
benheck.com Forums :: View topic - TUTORIAL: Make a Pandora's Battery without a homebrew PSP!)
4) After that, put your battery back together.
Congratulations, you just softmodded your battery!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Testing your battery:
Your will know if you successfully made your battery when:
1) You inert the battery and the green power LED comes on
if it doesnt come on, you did not make it correctly!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Running the files:
Once your battery and your memory stick are being used at the same time, you will now have a "Pandora's Battery"
1) Put in your magic Memory Stick
2) Put in your softmodded battery
*if you see your wifi LED and memory stick LED blink, you have it working!
as though in most occasions your screen wont light up but if it does, thats always good too*
3) When your LED's are done flashing, press "[]" (square) to dump your nand flash (just in case you brick. be warned, the file is anywhere from 32MB-64MB depending on your psp)
4) After that is done, you will be required reboot, so press X (cross) when your LED's are done flashing (or when instructed to)
5) Re-put in your battery and the pandora menu will load
6) Press X (cross) to install the latest custom firmware.
7) After thats done, you will need to reboot again (press X (cross) when instructed to or when the LED's are done flashing)
8) Now, remove your battery
9) Plug in your charger
10) Turn on the psp
11) Put in your battery
12) Remove the charger
13) And you should now be running the latest custom firmware!
[
NOTE: The unbricker here has the files for CFW 3.71.. so the latest CFW here is accordingly referring to 3.71.. do look up for the latest unbricker files according to ur psp's official firmware.. which shouldbe be too diff to google.
This tut is gonna give u a pretty close idea as to how to go abt all this.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tips and tricks:
1) Run the v3 universal unbricker when your done so you can see the text (on slim psp's or fat)
2) Buy a new battery
3) Remember NOT ALL homebrew is compatible with the psp slim!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Questions:
Q: Can i ever dual boot my XMB and my battery
A: Yes! you can do this only one way. you need to buy a switch and solder on the + and - connector to the batter and to the switch. This will allow you to choose when you want to boot into pandora's battery or into your XMB
Q: When i insert my softmodded battery, the psp turns on but i cant see anything
A: Thats because your probably using a psp slim which in that case, just press X and then install the V3 unbricker
Q: The light comes on but my MS LED and my wofi LED doesnt do anything
A: This is a common problem when you dont follow the instruction EXACTLY, you have to re-create the magic memory stick
Q: Did you create this?
A: No, i did not. Ben Heck did and all details can be found on his site
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information Links:
Ben Heck's web site:
The Official Site of Benjamin J Heckendorn
Ben Heck's work on this project:
benheck.com Forums :: View topic - TUTORIAL: Make a Pandora's Battery without a homebrew PSP!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Download Links:
Partition Mover:
RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting
(includes the msipl.bib, msinst.exe, and a readme)
Universal Unbricker:
RapidShare: 1-Click Webhosting
(includes the eboots, folders, bin file, etc listed in the tutorial)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For nerds ONLY, how this works:
Divided into 2 parts.
Part 1 will be the significance of the magic memory stick
Part 2 will be the significance of the battery.
Part1:
The magic memory stick just contains all the files necessary for the hack. it doesnt really become a major role until you make it bootable by moving the partitions. When you move the partitions, you making the psp boot up the memory stick instead of its default EEPROM.
Part2:
The battery is the most important part in this whole operation. The battery controls the psp. have you ever wondered why there is a motherboard on a batter pack? well thats because the battery tells the psp to boot its EEPROM (thus why you can only start the psp when a battery inserted) Now, the ICO4 or CO4 connector is the chip that tells the psp to load its most bootable partition.
Normally, this would be the EEPROM because it auto select this. But when you make the memory stick bootable, you are swapping the partitions (in a way)
and both of these ultimately lead to the booting of the memory stick which will allow you to hack your pap.
i hope this update helped some of you and trust me, this complete redo took me more than a hour so my hands are killing me right now. let me know what you think of the new tutorial
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
TUTORIAL:
Upgrading Your Custom Firmwared PSP
When you complete this tutorial, you will be at 3.71M33 which is a decent firmware.
In order to upgrade this firmware to the latest and greatest firmware :
1) Plug in your PSP and enter USB Mode
2) Open "My Computer" and then your PSP drive
3) Open the folder "PSP" then open the folder "GAME"
4) Go here and download the update:
PSP Hacks · Hacks, PSP Downloads, Cracks, Mods, Homebrew, Utilities · Hack Sony PlayStation Portable
5) Once the update is done, open it (if it didnt already open)
6) Ignore the folder called "sdk" as its not important to people who arent interested in PSP Programming
7) Move the folder called "UPDATE" to your GAME folder
8) Go back the the root of your PSP drive (when you first opened it)
9) Move over the "seplugins" folder to your PSP
10) If asked to replace, do so.
11) Disconnect your PSP and go to the memory stick under GAME
12) Load the update and press X when prompted to
13) The update will finish and you will be at the latest custon firmware
Information:
If your using a fat PSP, you will notice you wont be able to play your old games! Dont worry, it has nothing to do with the firmware, it just means you havent installed the 1.50 kernel which you can download here:
PSP Downloads | M33 1.50 Kernel Addon #2
you install it the same way as updating. Once thats done you will be able to use all the PSP homebrew games and have the highest custom firmware out to date! Unfortunately this update doesnt work with the PSP Slim BUT you can use the Pandora's Elf Loader to load about 98% of all the homebrew games, the only problem, its extremely hard to find.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Error Fixing:
1) This does NOT work on 8gb memory sticks (technically speaking the format which is listed below will work but the msinst will not seeing as though the partitions are moved. the same applies to SOME 4gb memory stick)
2) If this doesnt work, your jut out of luck or your using Windows Vista, linux, or a Mac OS.
Getting started!
Materials Req:
1) mspformat (download here:
Send big files the easy way. Files too large for email attachments? No problem!)
2) PSP hooked up through card reader or USB
3) About 5 minutes of time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process:
1) Download the mspformat (its listed above in the Materials section above
Send big files the easy way. Files too large for email attachments? No problem!)
2) Extract the mspformat folder to your hard drive (C:\)
3) Same process as using msinst. Go to "Start"
4) Then "Run"
5) Type in "cmd" (no quotes remember that!)
6) At the Command Prompt, enter "cd C:\" (no freaking quotes im not playing)
7) Then enter "cd mspformat" (quotes=death)
8) Find your PSP drive my plugging in your PSP through card reader or USB (drive letter can be found in "My Computer")
9) Go back to the Command Prompt and type in "mspformat ?" (replace ? with a CAPITAL letter of your PSP's drive also, no quotes)
10) It will tell you your about to format blah blah blah, just put a "Y" in when prompted (please listen no quotes)
11) In the end it will say "Drive succesfully formatted, and partitions moved" if so your all good! now you can use the msinst process to finish with the battery.
Again if there is any questions, complaints, suggestions, etc dont be afraid to ask me.
Ok everyone, here is the part some of you have been waiting for!!!
Windows Vista:
---------------
There are NO technical drivers/executables for Windows Vista as of yet. BUT there is a way of running this on Windows Vista.
NOTE:: This will ONLY work with the "msinst" and NOT the "mspformat" so if this still doesnt work, your out of luck unfortunately.
1) Right-Click on your Desktop and create a new shortcut
2) Type in "CMD" and click next twice. (no quotes)
3) When completed, right-click on the new shortcut and select "Run As Administrator" and choose continue (no quotes)
4) Now a DOS prompt will come up with this title: "Administrator: cmd.exe" (no quotes)
5) Type in "cd C:\msinst" (no quotes)
6) **Make sure your PSP is plugged in through USB or memory card reader and that you know the drive letter**
7) Type in "msinst ? msipl.bin" (no quotes)
if all went well you should be given the option for "Are you sure? [Y]", just press Y and it should say "Write MS BOOT CODE"
Your memory stick is now Bootable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[
NOTE: The unbricker here has the files for CFW 3.71.. So the latest CFW here is accordingly referring to 3.71.. do look up for the latest unbricker files according to ur psp's official firmware.. which shouldnt be be too diff to google.
This tut is gonna give u a pretty close idea as to how to go abt all this.]
PS: I found this tut a few weeks before.. and i was supposed to write this just before my RAM went bad .. maybe some final buffer overflow made it kick the bucket..
i ll try to lookup for the site from where i got it.
the credits.. wotever i had saved are provided below:
GUIDE TO::Making Pandora's Battery (*new method*) - PSPMod.com - Sony PSP Mod & Hacks Forums
::GUIDE TO::ManHunt 2 - PSPMod.com - Sony PSP Mod & Hacks Forums
::GUIDE::How To Put Games On Your Memory Stick - PSPMod.com - Sony PSP Mod & Hacks Forums
::GUIDE::1.50 Kernel On The PSP Slim - PSPMod.com - Sony PSP Mod & Hacks Forums
