Hacking the PSP Blog

LuaPlayer PS2

Here's something interesting: PSOne, after being around for so long, just got its own PSP emulation program - and it's far from being 100% playable. How about PSP homebrew games emulated on a PS2? Now, that got your attention.

Even though the PS3 just got out, we're pretty sure nobody would be throwing away their current-gen consoles. And with the number of actual units that are available for now, we know that not everyone was able to get one. You can't see for yourself how the much talked about PSP-PS3 connection works, why not play around with a PSP-PS2 tie-up?

This program is called LuaPlayer PS2 and was coded by PS2DEV's Evilo. As the name implies, "the player is almost compatible will all available Lua games." The file can be loaded to the PS2 via USB connection. Also, as far as we understand, the file also allows for lua games creation in the PS2 itself.

This is a great development for the dying PS2 homebrew scene. It also gives our Lua coders around the opportunity to make Lua games compatible with PS2. At any rate, we're including the file for download below as well as a link to a game compatible with it.

Download LuaPlayer PS2

Source: PSPUpdates

DevHook 2.71/2.80 Hybrid for 1.5 & 2.71 SE-B

Have you read about the DevHook Hybrid mod? I’m not sure who discovered this but essentially it corrects compatibility with many 2.80 required titles under DevHook. And when the same method is used (flashed) with 2.71 SE-B'’ you can directly load 2.80 ISOs from the PSP XMB. You can read more about this mod here, and here.

The safest method is with DevHook — all on the memory stick and nothing is written to flash; however, if you wish to go the FW flashing route, be careful. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Download DevHook 2.71/2.8 Hybrid Installer

Source: PSP-Hacks

Dark_Alex impostor site brings bricks to homebrew

Let's call this a public service announcement. If you're a part of the homebrew community, then you know who Dark_Alex is. To put it simply, make sure you know you're getting your Dark_Alex homebrew goodness from a trusted site, or you could end up in the clutches of a nasty bricker.

According to the MaxConsole forums, a site called dark-alex.com is posing as the official site for Dark_Alex homebrew. Unsuspecting fellows will find the site to be an exact double of Dark_Alex's, hosting files with identical names, including the newly-created Homebrew Enabler Revision D (HEN D) and the 2.71 SE-C customized firmware. These files, however, are fakes.

After a comparison of the file sizes on the impostor site to the ones from Dark_Alex's website, it's been determined that these aren't the same files to begin with. Forum-goers are also noting that the files are PSP brickers, so be warned.

Read the full text here...

Source: PSPUpdates

Dark_AleX's SE-C Custom Firmware released!

Just a few short minutes after releasing HEN D, Dark_AleX has just released 2.71 SE-C Custom Firmware, the update to the new golden firmware.

And while the changelog is small to say the least, the great thing is that the newly released SDK along with it will make sure that all the new updates will actually be rolled out in the form of modules.

Changes:

• The ability to load modules from the memory stick

The installation this time isn't a simple upgrade. You will have to install the firmware from scratch, though the install method is pretty simple and all those who've installed 2.71 SE before will feel right at home. Here's the instructions to get 2.71 SE-C on your PSP.

• Extract seupdmaker, seupdmaker%, 271seflasher and 271seflasher% from the NEWINSTALL folder into your GAME150 Folder (GAME folder on 1.50 or if you've changed it from the Recovery menu in 2.71 SE)
• Download the 1.50 and 2.71 Firmware updates.
• Rename the update PBP files to 150.PBP and 271.PBP
• Move them to the seupdmaker folder.
• After that, run the Update Maker application from the GAME menu. Once it's done making the DXAR file, move the newly generated DXAR file to the 271seflasher folder.
• Run 271 SE Flasher from the GAME menu to install 2.71 SE-C.
• Once installed, you can delete all the four folders.

You can check out our previous 2.71 SE release coverage for more detailed instructions.

Note: Before installation, you should probably check if the generated DXAR file is the correct size and clean. You can do that by downloading any app which generates a MD5 checksum and comparing it with the one given below.
SHA1 of DXAR: A283CFC4EFA274A1A41C7A11E7EFF8FE1A59473A
MD5 of DXAR: E51EFACDAAF088F0308857FFDA6C18FA

Download 2.71 SE-C Custom Firmware
Download SDK for HEN-D and SE-C by Dark_AleX

Source: PSPUpdates

Dark_AleX's Homebrew Enabler for 2.71 - RevD (HEN D)

While almost all of the PSP crowd has migrated to the 2.71 SE custom firmware by Dark_AleX, there exists a small group of unlucky people (TA-082ers) who can't enjoy that on their PSPs. For them though, Dark_AleX makes sure that they can enjoy most of the kernel mode homebrew using Homebrew Enabler, or HEN.

And in the latest iteration of the holy grail for TA-082ers, there seem to be a lot of fixes and improvements:

• Fixed a bug in a patch bad done in a delay slot that caused some umd games not to work when HEN was running (this issue was fixed in SE before)
• Fixed a bug in the loading of big user prx's, that affected a plain prx of socom2 umd, and some homebrew prx's.
• Bypassed a crappy SCE protection that prevented the umd to be mounted if the application was run from the memory stick.
• USB mass storage couldn't be loaded by homebrews in non-devhook version because semawm.prx is sign checked. HEN now applies the algorithm to reverse the sign check, letting this and the rest of firmware
• Modules to be loaded by a homebrew.
• Added a SDK for HEN/SE.

While most of the updates are just fixes to make a great app even better, the fact that an SDK has been released for HEN/SE means that making mods for them has become a lot more easier. Expect to see a lot of great mods by people. Secondly, since the SDK is common between HEN and SE, it means that most of the mods will work flawlessly on either firmware (2.71 w/ HEN or 2.71 SE). Now that this release is out of the way, I'm waiting for the next version of 2.71 SE with bated breath. It is in development and is rumored to come out very soon. Enjoy HEN D for now!

Download Homebrew Enabler for 2.71 - Revision D (HEN D)
Download SDK for HEN-D and SE-C by Dark_AleX

Source: PSPUpdates

Firmware 3.00 Clocked Higher Than 222mhz?

There has been some discussion about the new firmware 3.00 running some games at a clock speed higher than 222mhz. While these are merely observations from gamers, it does raise an interesting question. A couple of different QJ users (Columbian Cartel and psp093) have observed noticeable performance increases in Metal Gear Acid and Metal Gear Acid 2 under FW 3.00. Has 3.00 somehow more efficient at 222mhz or has Sony bumped the clock speed up? Has anyone else had similar results?

Via PSPUpdates

PSP FW3.0's Music Visualizer Shows Off

And here comes the big three-point-oh with all its bells and whistles, and we mean that in a semi-literal kind of way. In any case in this video which was kindly uploaded by tuesdayafternoon, we see a PSP which is running on FW 3.0, and basically showing off its spanking-new music visualizer.

Besides the five visualizers, the video also shows several new icons which include Remote Play (presumably for working with a PS3), Camera, Online Instruction Manual, Certificate Utility and UMD Auto Start.

Of course, this may all just be nothing else but bells and whistles to those who aren't fans of firmware updates, though we think that the new features may actually be pretty nifty additions, especially once Fanjita, or 0okm, or Dark_AleX, or Booster finally cracks the Sony Code and comes up with an appropriate DevHook some time soon (bad Dan Brown reference, I know).

Watch the video here...

Source: PSPUpdates

PS1P-Alpha 1: PSOne emulator for the PSP

Presumably the one big disappointment with Sony's FW 3.0 PSOne emulator is that you need a PS3 to download the game files to begin with, and those aren't exactly a dime a dozen. So, that leaves the stand-alone homebrew PSOne emulators from the scene. Anonymous Coder has just released his PS1P-Alpha 1 PSOne emulator for the PSP. Not to be confused with the almost similarly-named PSX-P (PS1) emulator by Yoshihiro (now v2), but looking forwards to the same functionality. There were rumors that this emulator was to be made to support only a single game. That concept was discarded as the author decided to write a single emulator to support multiple games. You can read a few words from the Anonymous Coder below.

• The wait is worth it. I'm releasing a version that will run anything. ISO, BIN, Z and ZNX. The rest you know. scph1001.bin and images in the __SCE__ps1p directory.
• This version has some compatibility problems which I plan to fix soon, for example the FF7 intro movie doesn't run. You can play the game though, just get past the intro using a standard PC emulator (PCSX, ePSXe, ...) and copy over the memory card file ( mcd001.mcr or mcd002.mcr).
• Use L+R+ up/down to tweak the CPU timing. I think L2 and R2 aren't working at the moment too. --A.C.
• P.S.: to make things clear. This emulator has nothing to do with PCSX, psx4all or any other emulator already released. The only thing I did was use for the game selection screen, the same font code that psx4all uses--it's from some GP2X demo/app.
• The CPU thing is adjusting the counters relative speed. Note it has a % at the side. It's like making the PS1 CPU run faster or slower. The right value is at 100% (obviously) but the default is 700% (good for FF7 :P). Lots of games runn better at something lower than 700. It does nothing to the PSP CPU so you can set it as high as you want. But after some point it actually starts to be slower.
• There's save state, L+R+left to save, L+R+right to load (or the opposite).
• Analog can be used for controlling (as if it was the d-pad).
• The BIOS must be called scph1001.bin and be placed in the __SCE__ps1p directory along with the BIN, ISO, IMG, Z or ZNX images. Other BIOSes should work too but rename them to scph1001.bin because the emulator looks for this file specifically.
• People can use PocketISO (google for it or the FPSEce page) to compress images to Z and ZNX.
• The ePSXe memory cards must be renamed to mcd001.mcr and mcd002.mcr and placed in the __SCE__ps1p directory.

The app isn't perfect yet, but they're getting there. Something else to add to the list of homebrew PSOne emulators floating around teh interwebs.

Download PS1P-Alpha 1

Source: PSPUpdates

PSP to benefit from new EMI Music deal

The PSP has received a boost from major record label EMI Music UK, with a deal that will allow users to download music videos direct to the Sony handheld.

Admitting that the performance of the PSP has been disappointing, MD of HiFi Entertainment Bela Molnar, the company offering EMI content via its online store, believes this deal is what the format needs to revive flagging interest in the machine.

"The quick downturn of the UMD market has left many of the big believers of the format disappointed, including us," said Molnar.

"We knew that the PSP market is huge, but it needed a different platform to provide content to users."

EMI Music UK's entire music video library will be made available to users of psp-playlist.com, downloaded directly to the a memory stick and priced between GBP 1.89 and GBP 2.19.

"PSP owners are substantial in number and content hungry," said Graeme Rogan, commercial manager of digital media for EMI Music UK.

"This deal will give consumers of the PSP format access to videos from EMI Music UK's rich back catalogue, generating incremental sales for our artists," he added.

With unit sales of Sony's handheld slowing compared to a triumphant Nintendo DS, some are beginning to question the longevity of the format.

Developer Climax recently told GamesIndustry.biz that it was concerned for the future of the handheld, and wants Sony to act quickly to revitalise the machine, which only launched in Europe last year.

Matt Martin
November 27, 2006

Source: GamesIndustry.biz