forums.ps2dev.org

Xalthorn · Joined: 07 Jun 2008 Posts: 7

Hello everyone,

I recently bought myself a nice shiny PSP slim (Version 3.90 of the System Software).

I've always loved the homebrew scene and was keen to get involved with something this powerful and portable.

So, I started googling for what I would need to get going. Some simple searches brought me to pages that were shouting that there was no way my modern firmware would let me run homebrew. For example:

http://www.psp-homebrew.eu/faq/index.php

I decided to soldier on regardless, hoping that the site was just a little out of date and someone had solved the problem. That's when I found this forum. A quick search gave me this:

http://forums.ps2dev.org/viewtopic.php?t=10418&highlight=slim

Which was someone who appeared to be in the same position as me, and even better, the post was only a few days old. I figured that I would need to do something to my PSP to allow it to run the homebrew and in that post, '3.90 M33-3 firmware from Dark Alex' was mentioned.

Back on the web and I think I found the correct site:

http://www.dark-alex.org/index_psp.php

So I dutifully downloaded the firmware and tried to load it, and was faced with 'The game could not be started. (80020148)'. I know the readme file said that the upgrade required '3.52 M33-3 or higher' but I'm not convinced that if I try to roll back to a previous firmware it will work any better.

Whilst I was messing around with this, I knew I'd need an SDK so I searched on here and got things set up so that I could at least compile an EBOOT just in case I got the PSP ready to accept a homebrew.

So now I'm stuck. I post this with trepidation as I have seen the type of responses that are common to people who ask beginner questions.

Please don't shout and flame, I've searched and I've followed the instructions I can find but either my PSP is doomed to not running homebrew or I'm missing something obvious.

If it's the latter, please point it out politely rather than laughing and calling me names.

One thing that has been bugging me though...

Why do we need a custom firmware? We can download official game demos and copy them to the memory stick and run from there without any strange alterations made to the PSP. Why can't we do the same with homebrew?

I know that with the Gameboy, you had to ensure that the header and checksums were correct so that the console would accept the code and I'm curious why we can't work out what tells the console that the code is okay to run and simply make our code conform rather than messing around with the console each time.

hlide · Joined: 10 Sep 2006 Posts: 750

the google key is "pandora battery"

Xalthorn · Joined: 07 Jun 2008 Posts: 7

Thank you for replying.

I found what appears to be the official guide to Pandora's Battery (http://www.noobz.eu/joomla/news/pandoras-battery.html) but to use this method, I would have to find someone who had a custom firmware to start off with.

A bit more searching and I found this from Datel:

http://uk.codejunkies.com/Products/PSP-MAX-Power-TOOL__EF000536.aspx

The way I read this is that I can pop that into my PSP and then just load homebrew games from the memory stick.

If this is true, I like the idea that I can buy a battery that will let me do this without messing around with firmwares.

I've fired off an email to codejunkies asking the question and I sit here with crossed fingers hoping it's positive.

jean · Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 489

It's not an hardware question, but a software one: sony applies digital signatures on executables because they don't want us to code something that could lead to piracy. A custom firmware (that can be installed through a trick that exploits PSP battery's eeprom) allows you to execute unsigned arbitrary code from memory stick. But these are thing even noobs know very well...i don't think you've searched that much before asking.

Xalthorn · Joined: 07 Jun 2008 Posts: 7

I appreciate that it is a software issue, as the firmware is key to the whole affair. However, my searches didn't provide much more than:

1. It can't be done beyond 2.51 at all
2. You should have 3.90 M33-3 (which wouldn't install as the instructions implied)
3. You need an existing modded PSP to create a Pandora Battery

It's very possible that I am not that good at selecting the correct search terms, but please don't assume I did a couple of searches and gave up. I spent half a day searching and going around in circles hitting dead ends and sites that said it simply couldn't be done.

When I finally find what appears to be a good place to join in the community (these forums) I am also disappointed that there isn't a sticky post that details how to prepare your PSP to accept homebrew code.

The forums would benefit greatly from sticky posts that covered the following:

1. Preparing your PSP to accept homebrew
2. Setting up your development environment (in assorted ways)

The majority of posts that people complain about are asking about these initial steps. If they were sticky and available then the questions simply wouldn't be asked, leaving the forum open to proper discussions about actual coding issues.

I want to get past the hassle and complications of preparing the setup so that I can get on with actual coding. When I learn to drive, I don't want to have to change the engine or fit the pedals and steering wheel. I want to get in and learn how to drive.

It's the same with coding, the days of obfuscating preparation details should be far in the past. I wonder how many talented coders have been put off by the initial hassle of simply getting things ready.

KickinAezz · Joined: 03 Jun 2007 Posts: 328

whistler · Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Posts: 40

all the information you could possibly need...including making a pandora battery without a homebrew capable psp (hardware mod)

check this thread
http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=76186

Wally · Joined: 26 Sep 2005 Posts: 672

jimparis · Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Posts: 1179 Location: Boston

It is not legal to distribute the files generated by the Pandora memory stick creation process, so you need to make them yourself. That's why you need a homebrew-capable PSP for starters. You'll need to find a friend that has one, and then you can use it to create a memory stick and battery to convert your own.

Xalthorn · Joined: 07 Jun 2008 Posts: 7

Thank you all for the constructive responses, that's certainly bridged some gaps in my understanding of what I need to do.

Xalthorn · Joined: 07 Jun 2008 Posts: 7

Okay, I'm all sorted now. I bought a magic battery from datel, and followed the instructions on the DCv* page.

Thank you everyone for not shouting at me for asking very basic questions. I've posted a guide to getting your PSP ready for homebrew and I would appreciate any corrections to it and perhaps if it could be made sticky, people won't ask the same annoying questions that I did again, and again, and ...