[wraggster] was first to send in the latest news on PSP hacking. Yesterday a firmware downgrader was released to take PSPs running v2.71 down to the homebrew friendly v1.5 firmware. The authors took advantage of a tiff expolit to get it working and apparently bricked four PSPs in the process. Looks like it’s working, but there are plenty of caveats to read up on before giving it a shot.

Continue reading “PSP Firmware Downgrader” →

[deniska] is working on a real-time GPS map viewing application. The application will determine the location using this simple PSP GPS setup. Deniska modified the connector on a $100 Holux GPS unit so that it could be read through the PSP remote port. A test program that works in kernel mode is provided. Deniska notes that this will probably work with older (read: cheaper) Holux units as well.

[thanks Will]

Continue reading “Simple GPS Setup For PSP” →

This PSP remote interface article gets submitted from time to time, but keeps falling through the cracks for some reason. [XyTec] submitted it most recently and I finally remembered to post it. It’s a guide from last July on interfacing with the PSP’s remote port. The port is a serial interface at 2.5V so you need to do some level shifting. Once the cable is complete you can use it get a serial console, add GPS or dump debug info along with many other possibilities. A remote emulator program is provided.

Continue reading “PSP Remote Serial Interface” →

C.K. has always been the goto guy around here when it comes to testing out new PSP hacks. Firstly because he was writing a PSP Hacks book and had plenty of hardware laying around; Secondly because it kept me from having to field questions in the excessively long firmware threads. The book has been published and O’Reilly has posted some sample chapters. Thomas Novotny wrote this chapter on interfacing the PSP with peripherals over IR (PDF). It’s similar to our previous entry, but has better documentation and doesn’t assume that you are experienced with microcontrollers.

Continue reading “Building IR Peripherals For The PSP” →

Thanks go to sometimes hacker, C.K. Sample, III, author of PSP Hacks for contributing this how-to.

So you’ve heard about this homebrew thing that all the cool kids have been doing, but you have already upgraded to version 2.6 of the firmware so that you could play all the latest and greatest games on the PSP. Fortunately for you, some very diligent hackers have been working round the clock to discover ways to get around the limitations put in place by the latest firmware.

The solution isn’t in the form of a downgrader, but rather in the form of an eLoader (EBOOT loader) that lets you use Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories to run homebrew on a PSP with version 2.0, 2.01, 2.5, and 2.6 of the firmware. Not all homebrew will run via this method, but there is a rather easy to read compatibility chart and I’m sure more things will begin working in future releases of the eLoader.

To help you along in your quest to homebrew, here’s a step by step (with pictures!) guide to using the eLoader:

Continue reading “How-to: PSP 2.00-2.60 Homebrew With ELoader” →