The past week has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for 2.5 and 2.6 users. Once again they have raised hopes and faith in the homebrew community due to the exploit found in 2.5 and 2.6 firmwares that allows kernel mode access. Then came hope again with a test downgrader being released by Dark_Alex. Although this hadn't been tested and would only work theoretically, a few of our brave forum members still tried the downgrader which resulted in bricked PSPs.

The test downgrader didn't work and resulted in a 0% success rate. This video follows the endeavours of PSPfanboyUK trying Dark_Alex's unfinished downgrader. Of course the result was a bricked PSP, but this video shows just what it would look like using the downgrader test. Take heed of this video warning - attempting to downgrade with unverified programs can be fatal!

Thanks for the tip konquer!

Latest Update: 6/29, 2:45pm EST

Yesterday we got the breaking news that Kernel mode in 2.5 and 2.6 had been unlocked by hitchhikr of "hitchhikr SoftWorks" and demo scene group Neural. This was a incredible accomplishment that was previously thought impossible. Fanjita and many other members of the PSP homebrew community have come together and been testing the functionality of the proposed exploit.

So far a few interesting things have surfaced. Fanjita has shown his progress with the newly found exploit and today we bring you another. Dark_Alex from our forums has released a "Downgrader Test" for 2.50 / 2.60 PSP's. We have been watching carefully over this downgrader since its release and have got the entire scoop for you.

Dark_Alex's Downgrader Test for 2.50 / 2.60 version firmware requires a few very specific steps to be taken in order to get a glimpse at the doorway to success. As listed in the title this is TEST software and by no way 100% functional on all PSP's. With that said, we have heard a number of test reports on this Downgrader and have the brick count results after the jump.

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Update #1: A new update has been released. This fixes a problem with the downdater not creating directorys. The creation of directorys is now fixed, however the iomanager check still needs to be handled for further progress.

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Update #2: Dark_Alex has released the source code for his latest progress on the 2.50/2.60 Downgrader. This release is meant only for developers to analyze and possibly take it further so it is a functional process.
The downdater is mostly confirmed not to work. I update a slightly modified source code. It should be relatively more secure. I don’t provide the binaries.

I found two glitches in the code:

1) The restart function… Originally it was intended for a restart, but it did nothing, making possible that if some premature error before doing the real thing failed to continue the real downdate process. Now it will cause an on-purpose exception (this only will happen either at the begginiing before the unsecure code begins or at the end, when all is finished)

2) Now I’ve re-assigned the flash device after the logical format. Probably more secure.

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Update #3: Dark_Alex has released v0.4 of his source code, containing the following changes:

1) Removed display: pspDebugScreen functions can freeze the psp 2.XX in kernel mode in any random moment.

2) A little bugfix. Tthe first file couldn't be correctly created because the first directory was not created.

3) Removed the check for the AC adaptor. It will be added later again.

Current bugs: if the ioassign fails, it will result in a brick, because the flash was previously formatted.

Forum Release Thread: [ Downgrader Test 2.50 / 2.60 ]
Download: [2.60 Downgrade Test v0.4 - Source Code]

Note: In the current state this 2.6 to 1.5 Downgrader WILL brick your PSP. Do not try it unless you would like to have a PSP for a paper weight. While the prospect sounds quite attractive, we urge you to wait until a final version is completed so you can play it as well.

Read the Full Article for more details!