Want custom firmware on Phat PSP w/ OFW 3.50

[Chu]

Hello, I want to install a custom firmware on a PSP Phat that's currently running official firmware 3.50.

A few conditions:
1. I would like to run homebrew and play iso backups
2. I only have a 32MB Memory Stick Pro Duo
3. I do not want to go with the Pandora Battery + Magic Memory Stick route unless it's the safest way to install a CFW
4. I can buy another Memory Stick
5. I have Lumines so downgrading to 1.5 via Noobz 3.50 downgrader is an option

What is currently the best CFW for homebrew and playing backups, and what is the best solution or solutions to getting CFW on my PSP, safely and painlessly?

Many thanks in advance!

[ThreeDog]

It seems you did a fair amount of research nice work.

First of all i am going to say that while the risks are minimised downgrading is always considered risky, if that worries you i would suggest you go the pandora route since you'll be able to flash any firmware, unbrick, downgrade and even backup your nand in the future (everyone should have one of these things)

If you're still determined you should downgrade to 1.50, then since i assume you want to play the latest backups upgrade the psp to 5.50 GEN its considered the most up to date cfw right now.

[Xenogears V]

Hello, I want to install a custom firmware on a PSP Phat that's currently running official firmware 3.50.

A few conditions:
1. I would like to run homebrew and play iso backups
2. I only have a 32MB Memory Stick Pro Duo
3. I do not want to go with the Pandora Battery + Magic Memory Stick route unless it's the safest way to install a CFW
4. I can buy another Memory Stick
5. I have Lumines so downgrading to 1.5 via Noobz 3.50 downgrader is an option

What is currently the best CFW for homebrew and playing backups, and what is the best solution or solutions to getting CFW on my PSP, safely and painlessly?

Many thanks in advance!

1) Buy a new Memory stick. 4 or 8GB, above all because manu iso game are really big, also 1.6Gb for some games.

2) For a full compatibility install 5.00 M33-V6. But it don't play lastest game. If homebrew are less important install 5.50GEN-B2 http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=140769 and decrypt new game with yoshihiro tool:
http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthr...hlight=5.50GEN

3)Here official thread to downgrade with Lumines. (Remamber, you must have a lumines unpached umd version)

PSP Downgrader for v3.5 lumines firmware PSP released by Noobz!!!
http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthr...3.50+downgrade

It seems you did a fair amount of research nice work.

First of all i am going to say that while the risks are minimised downgrading is always considered risky, if that worries you i would suggest you go the pandora route since you'll be able to flash any firmware, unbrick, downgrade and even backup your nand in the future (everyone should have one of these things)

If you're still determined you should downgrade to 1.50, then since i assume you want to play the latest backups upgrade the psp to 5.50 GEN its considered the most up to date cfw right now.

"Amount of research", not for me, I am SENIOR HELPER.

[ThreeDog]

1) Buy a new Memory stick. 4 or 8GB, above all because manu iso game are really big, also 1.6Gb for some games.

2) For a full compatibility install 5.00 M33-V6. But it don't play lastest game. If homebrew are less important install 5.50GEN-B2 http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=140769 and decrypt new game with yoshihiro tool:
http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthr...hlight=5.50GEN

3)Here official thread to downgrade with Lumines. (Remamber, you must have a lumines unpached umd version)

PSP Downgrader for v3.5 lumines firmware PSP released by Noobz!!!
http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthr...3.50+downgrade



"Amount of research", not for me, I am SENIOR HELPER.

lol and the mod failed to read about his dinky memory stick
Id forget about recommending M33 now at least if you have a fast memory stick.

[Chu]

Thank you guys very much for the info.

I will be ordering a 8GB MS shortly. I would also like to note that I have a soldering station so I can make my own Pandora battery.

I have a few more questions:

I read here, forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=141960, that it's also possible to install a CFW by:
1. Updating to OFW 5.03
2. Run ChickHEN R2 to put the PSP in HEN mode
3. Run HellCat's Recovery Flasher v1.60 to downgrade/install CFW 5.00 M33-6

Now, is this method better than downgrading from OFW 3.50 to 1.50 via Noobz downgrader and then installing a CFW?

Also, is HellCat's Recovery Flasher able to create a good enough NAND backup so that I can use it in case of a brick (to unbrick with a Pandora Battery)?

Since there seems to be no CFW with full capability with homebrew and iso games, I would like to go with the best CFW for homebrew. Is CFW 5.00 M33-V6 the right one for me?

Thanks again!

[Xenogears V]

Thank you guys very much for the info.

I will be ordering a 8GB MS shortly. I would also like to note that I have a soldering station so I can make my own Pandora battery.

I have a few more questions:

I read here, forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=141960, that it's also possible to install a CFW by:
1. Updating to OFW 5.03
2. Run ChickHEN R2 to put the PSP in HEN mode
3. Run HellCat's Recovery Flasher v1.60 to downgrade/install CFW 5.00 M33-6

Now, is this method better than downgrading from OFW 3.50 to 1.50 via Noobz downgrader and then installing a CFW?

No, it is only another trick to downgrade psp. You can choose your favorite, Noobz downgrader, Chickhen R2 with hellcat's, or pandora.

Also, is HellCat's Recovery Flasher able to create a good enough NAND backup so that I can use it in case of a brick (to unbrick with a Pandora Battery)?

It is a good thing. If you use pandora you can un-brick psp also after a full-brick.

Since there seems to be no CFW with full capability with homebrew and iso games, I would like to go with the best CFW for homebrew. Is CFW 5.00 M33-V6 the right one for me?

Thanks again!

Well. On 5.00M33-V6 Phat, installing 1.50 kernel addon, you have 100% homebrew compatibility. While in 5.50GEN-B2 no, because it don't run homebrew with 1.50 kernel. If you haven't old homebrew, (homebrew with 1.50 kernel), install 5.50GEN-B2.

Other thing for iso. 5.00M33-V6 can't run lastest games. Only 5.50GEN-B2 can, after decrypting iso with yoshihiro tool.

[ThreeDog]

Thank you guys very much for the info.

I will be ordering a 8GB MS shortly. I would also like to note that I have a soldering station so I can make my own Pandora battery.

I have a few more questions:

I read here, forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=141960, that it's also possible to install a CFW by:
1. Updating to OFW 5.03
2. Run ChickHEN R2 to put the PSP in HEN mode
3. Run HellCat's Recovery Flasher v1.60 to downgrade/install CFW 5.00 M33-6

Now, is this method better than downgrading from OFW 3.50 to 1.50 via Noobz downgrader and then installing a CFW?

Also, is HellCat's Recovery Flasher able to create a good enough NAND backup so that I can use it in case of a brick (to unbrick with a Pandora Battery)?

Since there seems to be no CFW with full capability with homebrew and iso games, I would like to go with the best CFW for homebrew. Is CFW 5.00 M33-V6 the right one for me?

Thanks again!

I'm still recommending pandora over the chickhen method since there's not a 100% chance it will work every time you try to execute it. Second best would be 3.50 to 1.50. The brick protection and the abilities granted by a second battery that has been made into a pandora is second to none although the 8gb ms may not work with DC8 etc.
Most homebrew is re-written for the 5.xx kernel i really don't see the need for the 1.50 addon anymore so im still going to recommend GEN since M33 won't play most of the new games even when they're decrypted.

Here's a list of the games that work with GEN http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=143463

[B2K24]

Not to mention if user has AC adapter he can make his own pandora then install the Time Machine IPL to his memory stick so he can have a Pandora and still boot normally.

[Chu]

I'm still recommending pandora over the chickhen method since there's not a 100% chance it will work every time you try to execute it. Second best would be 3.50 to 1.50. The brick protection and the abilities granted by a second battery that has been made into a pandora is second to none although the 8gb ms may not work with DC8 etc.
Most homebrew is re-written for the 5.xx kernel i really don't see the need for the 1.50 addon anymore so im still going to recommend GEN since M33 won't play most of the new games even when they're decrypted.

I read that ChickHEN didn't execute 100% of the time from that thread I linked, but what are the side effects of ChickHEN not working? Do I have to turn the PSP off and on, then try again?

How come DC8 might not work with an 8GB Memory Stick?

I don't really care about playing the latest PSP games. I just want to store my old games on a MS so I don't have to use the UMD. Full homebrew capability is what I need so I'll probably be installing CFW 5.00 M33-6.

Does DC8 dump a better NAND dump than Hellcat's Recovery Flasher?

Thanks a lot everyone. =)

[MaxMouseDLL]

I read that ChickHEN didn't execute 100% of the time from that thread I linked, but what are the side effects of ChickHEN not working? Do I have to turn the PSP off and on, then try again?

Failure to boot ChickHEN results in a crash, then the PSP will power off after a short time.

How come DC8 might not work with an 8GB Memory Stick?

Because of MS partitioning the maximum reliable size is a 4GB, however you *might* be ok.

Does DC8 dump a better NAND dump than Hellcat's Recovery Flasher?

DC8 dumps/restores a physical NAND dump, there are tools that perform logical dumps, but either one is normally fine.

Physical: Reads/Writes NAND AS IS, doesn't care about bad blocks
Logical: When writing data back to NAND will attempt to re-map and write around bad blocks.

So.. my $0.02

Options (You have many):

• Use your game exploit with n00bz downgrader to go to 1.50 then install custom firmware from there (Xenogears can post step by step information on that should you want him to, there are rather a lot of steps though)
• Install 5.03 Official + Use ChickHEN + Softmod your battery from the HEN, create an MMS with DC8 installed, install CFW from Pandora + MMS Combo
• Install 5.03 Official + Use ChickHEN + HellCat's Recovery Flasher to go directly to CFW.

If you can get ChickHEN to work correctly (There are tutorials out there to do that) then i would use ChickHEN + HellCat's recovery flasher, it's the quickest and easiest (Assuming ChickHEN will boot, if you follow the tutorials i see no reason it shouldn't, and that's something you can test with your current 32MB MS)

[Chu]

Thanks a lot for the info! I got ChickHEN R2 running on OFW 5.03. =)

How big of a memory card do I need to do a NAND dump with Hellcat's Recovery Flasher?

[MaxMouseDLL]

Thanks a lot for the info! I got ChickHEN R2 running on OFW 5.03. =)

How big of a memory card do I need to do a NAND dump with Hellcat's Recovery Flasher?

32MB for a fat and 64MB for a Slim.

[Chu]

Does Hellcat's Recovery Flasher 1.60 need the OFWs (5.00, 4.01, and 3.71) in it's "RECOVERY" folder to run? I just realized that I can't fit all those firmwares in my 32MB Memory Stick.

Thanks!

[MaxMouseDLL]

Does Hellcat's Recovery Flasher 1.60 need the OFWs (5.00, 4.01, and 3.71) in it's "RECOVERY" folder to run? I just realized that I can't fit all those firmwares in my 32MB Memory Stick.

Thanks!

Why don't you just try it? simply put the official firmware you wish to install in the required folder and execute the recovery flasher, see what happens.

Either way you will have answered your own question.

[WaltersMarrian]

this is cool