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” →

If [Fluke]’s comment is correct, then the Sony PSP 2.01 firmware is already in the wild. Here is a handy Hack-A-Day guide so you can tell at a glance whether you should upgrade your firmware. All you have to do is compare the firmware version number to the previous release:

• If the first digit has changed (1.5 -> 2.0) then Sony has gotten around to adding a major feature that should have been available since the product’s initial release (web browser). Thanks to the magic of firmware upgrades manufacturers can leave lots of features out of product launches.

• If the second digit has changed (1.0 -> 1.5) then Sony has released the hardware in your country. The games aren’t region-locked so there is really no reason for the launch delay.

• If the third digit has changed (2.00 -> 2.01) then Sony has decided that you’ve been having entirely too much fun with your hardware without their help and are determined to re-break it.

Continue reading “PSP Firmware Guide” →

UPDATE: Since this how-to was first written things have changed. Sony has released firmware 2.01 which makes this downgrade impossible. A PSP bricker trojan was released because of this antivirus software will classify both the good and bad downgrade files as harmful. You should do more research into the current state of the downgrade before attempting. As far as we know our firmware links are still good, we are not hosting them so we can not vouch for their safety.

C.K. Sample, III, TUAW / WIN Blogger and author of the forthcoming book, PSP Hacks, got his hands on the version 2.0 downgrader and wrote up a thorough how- to complete with pics for us. He even takes the extra steps to upgrade and downgrade yet again, just to make sure such a thing is possible.

Continue reading “HOW-TO: PSP 2.00 To 1.50 Downgrade” →

I usually don’t get to run PSP hacks as features because everyone else snatches them up so quick (Is anybody actually buying games?). XyTec found this hack to connect multiple controllers to the PSP. The project uses an ATMega8 microcontroller to monitor the controller’s state and then transmits that to the PSP’s IrDA port. There is a nice discussion of how the communication works. There’s a video demo of the controller being used to play Doom also. The project isn’t quite finished, but it does include source. Time for some two-player emulation.

Continue reading “PSP External Controllers” →