While the PSP homebrew scene prides itself on being a huge multi-cultured community of people from all over the globe, the big majority of people who own a PSP have never tried out homebrew. Funny as it may sound, it is a fact that the homebrew community is nothing more than a niche area which generally doesn't receive much mainstream coverage apart from dedicated PSP homebrew sites.

Because of that very reason, we were pleasantly surprised to find a very nice article over at BBC covering the PSP homebrew scene. Now we'll be frank here. Generally, when any mainstream site/news agency decides to cover the homebrew scene, we tend to read it for entertainment purposes because reporters generally don't know what they're talking about. Either that, or they only have statements from the big corporations which means that their "research" is generally biased toward the bigwigs. This is precisely the reason why we found this article a pleasant surprise.

Now rather than trying to describe the article itself, we'll quote parts of it here:

Fanjita - real name David Court - is very different from the popular hacker stereotype of the socially inept teenaged geek working all night in his bedroom. A married man of 34, he is an accomplished professional programmer who writes server software for large telecommunications companies for a living. He spends an hour or two a night hacking PSP software in his Edinburgh home, and is also a martial arts enthusiast.

Dark Alex fits much more comfortably into the hacker mould. A student from Spain, his hacker moniker derives from his real name, Alejandro, and a liking for all things gothic, he says. His interests are Japanese Manga comics and cats, but PSP hacking is his main hobby.

The article is actually peppered around with statements from Fanjita and Dark_AleX, the two people who're the faces of the PSP homebrew scene right now. That reason alone is enough to force any homebrew lover to go over and check it out.

Thanks to Reggie for the heads up!

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Update: This morning at 07:50 GMT, the BBC World Service Radio had a chance to talk with Fanjita over the phone. The interview was telecast live on radio and the internet. At the bottom, we've linked the file so you can download it as an MP3. If you want to listen to the original stream, you can do so from the linked page.

Download: Fanjita's interview by the BBC (audio)

 

After almost two months of no releases, Booster has come out today with a brand new release of Devhook, v0.52.0100. While there aren't any new exciting features in the latest release, the main difference is the ability to boot Firmware 3.11 from Firmware 1.50. While I've preferred to stay with Dark_AleX's OE releases, I know quite a few people who would rather stay at FW 1.50, probably for nostalgia sake. The changes are so minor that there aren't any new changes in the Devhook files itself, just a new folder called 311 in the dh folder.

Once downloaded, extract the contents of the MS_ROOT/dh folder into the already existing dh folder in the root of your Memory Stick. This means that if you don't have an older version of Devhook on your Memory Stick, the upgrade files are useless. For that reason, here's a link to the previous version.

Installing the previous version is as simple as following the instructions on the linked page. Then, just dump Firmware 3.11 using the dumper here, using the previous devhook's firmware dumping instructions as a reference. Once it is dumped, just move the dump to the proper folder inside the dh folder and extract this devhook's new files in there.

Download: [Devhook v0.52.0100]

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UPDATE - Thanks to your comments, we found out that for some reason, the download link is broken. Anyhow, it's already fixed so go ahead and download it from here. We apologize for that snafu.

You might think I've gone bonkers. But bear with me here, I'm not kidding. A lucky find by my friend MaTiAz seems to point towards some form of VoIP functionality in upcoming firmwares. This reference to Skype is hidden in the decrypted version of vshmain.prx from Firmware 3.10, basically the latest firmware if you don't count 3.11. Nobody has yet checked the presence of its reference in the latest firmware (3.11) but it's most probably there since not much has changed between the two firmwares.

Anyways, I did get a look at the decrypted version of the prx and as expected, this string pointing to a non-existing prx was present. To save you guys the hassle of having to do it yourselves, I've taken a screenshot which shows the same. If you're interested in finding it yourself, the reference is present as a string at offset 0x000344C4 in the decrypted vshmain.prx.

Checking the dump, there was no actual PRX by that name which means that the actual functionality is still being worked upon at this stage. And I don't think anyone's bluffing either. There have already been cases of Camera, GPS, and POPS PRXes being in the firmware long before the functionality was opened up. In the case of Camera and GPS, references can be found as far back as Firmware 2.70. POPS references were found in Firmware 2.80 dumps.

While this is all good to hear, the question begs to be asked - "What happens to the Sony Mylo?" You know, the PSP's sibling which came out a while ago with features like VoIP and Google Talk support. Is Sony thinking of burying the Mylo and making the PSP into "a lot more than a handheld" whose main functionality until now has been gaming? After all, the Mylo never quite took off in the same manner as the PSP, which itself has been lagging far behind the DS. We don't have any figures to back us here, but the Mylo was, in my opinion, a complete failure.

So while killing off the Mylo might not sound so good, it's probably a good move by Sony to move over a lot of its functionality to the PSP which still has a firm ground to stand on with over a few million users. It's all speculation since Sony hasn't announced anything yet, but then again, would you expect an official announcement from Sony about this?

The hardware in the PSP is good enough to handle the extra additions and the feature set of the Mylo was pretty much a subset of what you found on the PSP, plus a few additions. As for the firmware features, my opinion is that you should see some of the Skype functionality coming out in Firmware 3.50 or thereabouts. This would give Sony at least a couple of months to fine-tune everything and integrate it with the rest of the stuff already there. Stay tuned, we will have the latest on this as soon as we know more! A big thanks to MaTiAz for telling me about this find!

 

Dark_AleX has just released a bugfix version of his Open Edition custom firmware, 3.10 OE-A'. As expected, the A2 release is a small update which fixes a simple bug in games like Metal Slug 6 and the others. This bug was because the static ELF wasn't being patched correctly in some cases.

There's nothing else apart from that, so if those selected games aren't in your list, you can skip this update altogether. Though, if he releases a new update (rev 3) and you have to upgrade to it, getting this latest version will be a safer option. Anyways, here's the file. Thanks to vb_master/vulpix for the heads-up!

Download Link: [Dark_AleX's 3.10 OE-A']

Yes guys, I'm not kidding! Remember when I said that the newest firmware required some magic on the part of Team C+D? Well, I guess it didn't take them very long to finish their work. And in this case, it was another fine piece of work- You can call it the Firmware 3.10 decrypter by the way!

So now that we have the firmware decrypted, on Day 0 no less(!), the main focus now shifts to guys like Dark_AleX, Mathieulh, Booster and the Noobz team who will be responsible for turning this firmware on its head in a few days. Great things are coming, you just wait! Anyways, here's their info in its full glory:

With that out of the way, we can now patiently wait for things like Devhook, a new custom firmware by Dark_AleX and if someone can find and exploit in the firmware, even a downgrader! OK, so the downgrader part is speculation, but I don't think you guys will have to wait long for a new version of Devhook or DAX's CFW.

Anyway, I'll stop talking now. The file has been uploaded and it also contains the source. Start decrypting your firmwares and get ready!

Download link: [ 3.10 Firmware Decrypter by Team C+D ]
View: [ Forum Release Thread ]

 

Not one to be forgotten, DickyDick1969 has just released an update to his great video streaming homebrew, PimpStreamer. Now at v0.77, the application is mature enough to not require any fixes which is why this version has a few new features:

• Updates Windows DLLs, latest ffmpeg svn build.
• You dont have to copy the SUB (subtitles) file any more. PimpStreamer will detect the SUB file on the PC and copy it to your mem stick. (Note: only SUB not SRT, just convert it with various tools)
• Image pause

Dick would also like to thank all the donators who've donated about 400-500 Euros in total! This means that he will be buying a new PSP specially so that he can test his work on a 3.03 FW PSP (His current one will stay at 1.50). He also said that his latest version allowed him to stream a whole concert without any stuttering. And it seemed that minimizing the application (server) in Windows helped a bit. Anyways, have fun with PimpStreamer!

Download Link: [PimpStreamer 0.77]

Adding to the hectic day, we have news that there might be another modchip in the works, coming out soon. While not much is known at this point, the webpage lists the supposed features in the modchip:

• Flash your PSP using the internal USB Port
• No additional USB Port required
• Latest ACTEL ProASIC 3 technology
• Low power consumption
• Works on all available PSP versions incl. TA-082 and TA-086
• Custom BIOS with a lot of cool additional features
• Easy to install
• Just a bit of soldering skills required, no hardcore installation

A friend of mine did a bit of digging and found out that the official page is registered to a certain guy called Michael Eichhorn. This Michael is from Gamefreax.de, a German modding store/site. I'd say that this adds a bit of credibility to the claims of the modchip guys. On top of that, another source said that he had been expecting this around the holidays, but it might have gotten delayed. When asked if this could be 0okm's multi-firmware module, he was quick to deny it.

Another bit of info I noticed is that Gamefreax had/has been supplying Mathieulh, Dark_AleX, and Yoshihiro with hardware supplies. While I would have doubted the claims of these guys, the amount of info and links here point that this isn't just another fake, and that we could be having another modchip soon. Stay tuned as we'll have the latest updates and info on this bit of news. Thanks to Jeff, Jordan, and Sam for the tip!

Just a little while back, Fanjita wrote a small article on what the people with non-homebrew-able PSPs should do. In my opinion, waiting for an exploit was the most sensible thing to do. And boy, you guys didn't have to wait very long! The Noobz team has just come out with an exploit that works on all firmwares up to 3.03, which is the latest firmware Sony has been able to come up with! This means that every firmware available currently is hackable and hopefully, downgradeable soon!

As of now, the only homebrew that runs through the exploit is a simple Hello World proof of concept, but we all know what the PSP scene can come up with in a very short while. And that's exactly what's gonna happen since Fanjita himself said that a 3.03 Downgrader will be coming soon!

Here's what Fanjita had to say:

You remember that the only thing holding us back from a downgrader for v3.03 was the lack of a user-mode exploit?

Well, we don't like to be held back from anything, so we went back to basics and looked over some of the old exploits. And what do you know? We found one! We did a little digging into the old GTA exploit, and discovered that it hadn't been properly patched after all.

We'll leave it as an exercise for the interested reader to figure out exactly how we got past the patch (and to give Sony a little while longer before the head-slapping "Doh!" moment :P)

I did have a talk with Fanjita and what surprised me the most was that "the only reason it took so long to find is that no-one thought they'd fix it so *badly*"! The most important question right now would be the availability kernel mode, and in Fanjita's own words, "It's a bit tricky, but yes, the kernel mode hole found by Team C+D still works from the Goofy exploit." The downgrader will use this to perform its magic.

The only catch is that you need an unpatched GTA:LCS UMD. Yes GTA Liberty City Stories, NOT Vice City Stories! The new UMDs being sold in shops are already patched, so you'll be better off finding a used one or asking your friends if they have one.

Here's the usage instructions:

• You need an original, unpatched GTA:LCS game. The new copies that you find in the shops now will not work.
• This only works for Liberty City Stories, not Vice City Stories.
• Extract the files from the ZIP into the /PSP/SAVEDATA folder on your memory stick.
• Start the GTA game, and enjoy the feeling of freshly-minted homebrew :D

Download: [Goofy exploit & Hello World Proof of Concept]

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UPDATE: Now we're sure all of you have been itching to give this exploit a try. Sadly, not everyone is fortunate enough to have the unpatched GTA: LCS UMD needed. Thanks to brandon6199 we can all have a look at "how this exploit works and what it looks like" (his very words).

Out of the blue, Dark_AleX has once again released the latest update to his 3.03 Open Edition custom firmware. And this one's a major upgrade, which means that you will have to install it the long way. And yes, the feature list has been beefed up again, with a lot of new things and updates. Without further ado, here's what's changed in the latest version:

• AVC videos bitrate limit patched. The firmware limited the bitrate of avc videos to only 768 Kbps. OE now forces the limit to be 16384 Kbps. (Note: this doesn't mean than the psp can handle such a high bitrate, this means than they won't show error. I don't know which is the real maximum bitrate than the psp can handle at full speed)
• Speed of OE boot is now ~3 seconds faster than previous versions. (without plugins)
• CPU speed of XMB can now be changed.
• Wifi can now work at 333 Mhz!
• Added access to flash 0 and 1 via usb in the recovery menu, based on the great idea of USBSSS by Booster. Note that writing is enabled, so this is intended only for advanced users that know what they are doing in each moment.(It is not a great idea to change anything from the kd folder). Because of this addition, the rest of flashing options were removed.
• PSP isos can now be deleted as any normal memstick games. (also the size of the iso now shows fine when you press triangle->information).
• When formatting memory stick, GAME150, GAME303 and ISO directories will be automatically created!
• Changes in internal HEN core:
• If a EBOOT.PBP with a plain DATA.PSP had a data.psar, modulemgr took as size of the executable the size of data.psp+data.psar. Fixed. (this fix enables psx games to have plain data.psp without causing a memory error).
• Added a couple of patches found by Tyranid. One allows syscalls instructions to be used in kernel mode without causing a crash. The other allows sceKernelQueryModuleInfo to work with sceInit and previous modules.

And this is just the stuff in the actual firmware. Dark_AleX has also updated the popstation with the following things:

• The writing is now a bit different. This will avoid "Memory stick blinking too much" bug when using the plugin to load the 3.02 pops.
• popstation now lets the use of non-encrypted DATA.PSP. If data.psp is in the same directory as the app, popstation will use that as the DATA.PSP of the eboot.pbp. Otherwise, it will use the one from BASE.PBP. A DATA.PSP that imitates the original sony one is included.
• EBOOT.PBP generated with a non encrypted data.psp won't need the file KEYS.BIN at all. (Note: these EBOOT.PBP cannot work in versions prior to 3.03 OE-C due to a bug that those versions had.)

Since this is a major update, you have to do the full update by generating a DATA.DXAR using the OEUPDMAKER and then using that DXAR and flashing it using the 303oeflasher in the archive. Please refer to the readme for the full instructions. As always, please be careful with this mod. Since it modifies your PSP's flash0, there is a minor chance of bricking. Neither Dark_AleX, nor QJ.NET can be held responsible if something happens to your PSP as a result of flashing this firmware. With that said, here's the download.

Download Link: [Dark_AleX's 3.03 OE-C Custom Firmware]

Dark_AleX has just released an update to his custom firmware 3.03 OE. Now at A'/A2, here's the list of changes:

• Added cpu clock selection for umd/iso games. (not for vsh yet)
• Fixed various bugs regarding the recovery menu, one of them made "rare text" appear when entering in plugins if pops plugins existed, the other one caused a crash when pressing triangle.
• Fixed a small part of code in umd emulation that was not multithread safe.

While not a full blown update like 3.03 OE-A itself, it does fix a couple of things and also adds the ability to overclock up to 333MHz. Again though, it seems that the overclocking wants to play spoilsport with Wifi play, so if you play wirelessly with your friends, it's better to give overclocking a miss. Again, like the earlier upgrades, you can't update directly to them from a lower firmware, you have to upgrade to 3.03 OE-A first, then use this small upgrade. After downloading, just unpack it to the root of your Memory Stick. It will place itself in the correct folder hierarchy. Then just exit USB mode and run the updater to upgrade your firmware.

Download Link: [Dark_AleX's 3.03 OE-A']