So I just got a PSP Slim, the Crisis Core edition

[yasagani]

It's been a while since I've run any custom firmware on my old PSP Phat and I've completely forgot what to do and what the advantages are save for running PSX games. So if anyone could give me a rundown as to what they do, that'd be greatly appreciated. Any differences between what the Phat and Slim can do regarding running homebrew.

I am mostly aiming to play my UMD backups, my PSX games and some emulators on my PSP. And I'd like to know how and what to do. I've no idea how to do it mind you. I'd also like to design custom icons with small animations like the UMD games have for my PSX games. I'm looking into playing Final Fantasy 7 so I'd also like to know how to run a multidisk game as well. Probably also run a some IM applications, mostly MSN, iRC and Yahoo.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[eelbowel]

First you'll need to downgrade...
http://forums.exophase.com/showthread.php?t=648

Then you'll need a custom firmware..

http://forums.exophase.com/showthread.php?t=1504

As far as specifics as to any topic in particular, go to the help forum. But with a little effort and concentration i'm sure you can get it done on your own with those two guides.

 

[yasagani]

Thanks for that but the link you gave me doesn't have any topic regarding 3.60 firmware.

 

[x3sphere]

Thanks for that but the link you gave me doesn't have any topic regarding 3.60 firmware.

You'll need to follow this guide in order to install custom firmware on your Slim:

http://forums.exophase.com/showthread.php?t=3780

It requires use of another PSP running custom firmware, though. Do you still have your Phat? If so, you can use it to convert your battery to Pandora and install the magic memory stick files.

The only other option is to buy a pre-converted battery or ask someone you know who has custom firmware on their PSP to do it for you.

 

[yasagani]

Thanks, x3sphere. Yes, luckily I still have my phat. I've misplaced my memory stick tho, hopefully I haven't lost it.

Do Slims require an addon for 1.5 kernels? I've read they're incompatible with the motherboard.

One question tho, I'm planning on giving my phat away. Will I need a pandora battery for future custom firmware updates or can I convert it to regular usage afterwards? Thing is I don't want to risk converting my slim battery to pandora, I'll be using my phat battery, but since I'm giving the phat away I won't have the battery anymore.

I'm also wondering if after converting to pandora I'll be able to return the memory stick to regular usage but keep the phat battery in pandora mode for future unbrickage and updating in case my friend needs it. Does it work without a mem stick for unbricking/updating?

 

[d1ddy]

slims dont have 1.5 becuase sony is ghey

 

[yasagani]

I've updated my Slim to 3.90 M33-3.

I tried running a Duke Nukem 3D port and it didn't work, regardless of which folder I put it in (game, game150, game380), I also changed the firmware being run back and forth 1.50 in the recovery menu but that didn't work either.

I've tried running the m33xever plug-in, that didn't work either. The instructions were straight-forward "put it in your root/activate from recovery". did that, waves still the same.

Is there something my Slim is missing? What do I need to get some emulators started on it? Am I missing some add-ons or plug-ins? So many things these days for it I'm all lost and confused. What is the most efficient program that converts ISO to CSO or a smaller file size these days?

Are there any bugs that I should know of and watch out for?
What should I do to have my PSP run at it's fullest, software-compatibility-wise?

 

[Cheezeball99]

I've updated my Slim to 3.90 M33-3.

I tried running a Duke Nukem 3D port and it didn't work, regardless of which folder I put it in (game, game150, game380), I also changed the firmware being run back and forth 1.50 in the recovery menu but that didn't work either.

It probably requires 1.5 kernel support. I would suggest using TimeMachine, it should do the trick.

I've tried running the m33xever plug-in, that didn't work either. The instructions were straight-forward "put it in your root/activate from recovery". did that, waves still the same.

Did you activate it within the recovery menu?

Is there something my Slim is missing? What do I need to get some emulators started on it? Am I missing some add-ons or plug-ins? So many things these days for it I'm all lost and confused. What is the most efficient program that converts ISO to CSO or a smaller file size these days?

There is nothing MISSING, but one thing you could use is TimeMachine- I already saw you posted there. I'd suggest installing it.:smile: You're really not that confused, you've got it all down, you just needed a bit cleared up. And as far as ISO=>CSO compression, most people use UMDGen, but personally I use CiSO Converter.

Are there any bugs that I should know of and watch out for?
What should I do to have my PSP run at it's fullest, software-compatibility-wise?

Any bugs would be specific, and they're not very common, so just report them in the forum and we'll help ya the best we can when/if they arise.:wink: And your PSP is at it's fullest, aside from having TimeMachine.

 

[yasagani]

Yes, I did activate it from the recovery menu. The problem was not because of that, apparently the archive of version 3 featured on Red Squirrel's site was missing the text file that specified the location of the plug-in. I just downloaded the first version and copied that missing file onto my memory stick, problem solved. My PSP looks like it has a pulse now :laugh: . To tell you the truth tho, I was pretty fooled by the background picture into downloading it. I thought I'd get those specific waves hehe.

Now regarding Duke Nukem. You said it requires kernel support. Wouldn't that normally be resolved by placing the file within the GAME folder and going to the recovery console and changing the folder's setting to 1.50 mode? I recall doing that but it gave me the standard "app won't work error (80...etc.)" after I tried running it. And isn't GAME150 supposed to be a folder with 1.50 kernel support always on? Kinda confused here. Placed Duke there, that didn't work either, same error as above. I will try TimeMachine once I manage to understand it enough.

I just used PSP Iso Converter and it seems to do the trick. My backup of Final Fantasy 20th works great at compression level 9. I've also tried to convert it to JSO but it was bigger than the CSO one, and with google not even knowing what JSO is and no apparent benefit I stuck to CSO. The UMDGen link looks very funny and does not work btw. I will be trying CiSO Converter soon. Is it the one that allows you to create a custom picture and animation for your PSO games?

One last question before I stop bugging you. I also have a phat PSP and I pandorised its battery to get M33 on my Slim. Then I used the magic mem stick to pandorize the Slim's battery which worked fine. However, when the magic ms isn't inside the Slim, it won't start up. So I had to normalize my battery. Is there a way to keep my battery in pandora mode without having to use my magic mem stick? I have a second 2g mem stick which I plan to use regularly and the other 1g mem stick will remain magic for future usage.

Thanks for all your help. :smile:

 

[Cheezeball99]

Now regarding Duke Nukem. You said it requires kernel support. Wouldn't that normally be resolved by placing the file within the GAME folder and going to the recovery console and changing the folder's setting to 1.50 mode? I recall doing that but it gave me the standard "app won't work error (80...etc.)" after I tried running it. And isn't GAME150 supposed to be a folder with 1.50 kernel support always on? Kinda confused here. Placed Duke there, that didn't work either, same error as above. I will try TimeMachine once I manage to understand it enough.

There IS no 1.5 kernel support for PSP slims. It's a lie, it doesn't exist. >.> But the option has to remain for phat PSPs. Only way to run 1.5-specific homebrew on a slim unit is TimeMachine... And the eLoader, but TimeMachine is MUCH more reliable. Don't worry, if you pandora'd your slim PSP TimeMachine should be well within your boundaries.:wink:

I just used PSP Iso Converter and it seems to do the trick. My backup of Final Fantasy 20th works great at compression level 9. I've also tried to convert it to JSO but it was bigger than the CSO one, and with google not even knowing what JSO is and no apparent benefit I stuck to CSO. The UMDGen link looks very funny and does not work btw. I will be trying CiSO Converter soon. Is it the one that allows you to create a custom picture and animation for your PSO games?

JSO is a less-compressed format, and it isn't natively supported in PSP CFW. CSO is the best way to go. The UMDGen link isn't there because of the filter filtering out PEE-ESS-THREENews.com. That's what happened there- Just Google UMDGen if you want to use it. All CiSO Converter does is convert ISO>CSO, ISO>DAX, and DAX>CSO. That's it, DAX being another outdated and unsupported format. If you can already create CSO files then you don't need CiSO Converter.

One last question before I stop bugging you. I also have a phat PSP and I pandorised its battery to get M33 on my Slim. Then I used the magic mem stick to pandorize the Slim's battery which worked fine. However, when the magic ms isn't inside the Slim, it won't start up. So I had to normalize my battery. Is there a way to keep my battery in pandora mode without having to use my magic mem stick? I have a second 2g mem stick which I plan to use regularly and the other 1g mem stick will remain magic for future usage.

As far as I know you can't keep your battery in Pandora mode and still use it normally... I might be wrong, though. I've never had the need to keep one in Pandora mode... My suggestion would be to just return your battery to normal- you can always switch it back with the magic memstick, even if you brick one, since you have two PSPs.:smile:

 

[yasagani]

Thanks a million. Now I understand the need for TimeMachine. Your reply to my comment in the other topic didn't manage to clear it up. (it's probably my fault, I haven't slept in two days).

But now I don't understand why Phats need an addon that enables 1.50 kernel support if they already support it. I can only surmise that all the new M33 CFWs that came after the Slim was launched had to drop 1.50 support so they could work on Slims. Now logic dictates that instead of making two versions of CFWs, DAX made an addon for Phats to save time. Amirite or do I epicly fail?

Actually, now that I have my Slim I no longer require my Phat so I'm giving it away to a friend. My brother has a Phat so he doesn't need another one. Now, that would deprive me of unbrickery in case of fail. I guess I'll just have to buy a new original battery and give it to my friend and keep the old phat battery pandorised and ready to use.

I have to go die of sleep now, but before I go, what should I use to combine my multiple-iso PSX backups into one iso, so that I don't have to switch images when I play FF7 and the like?

Oh, right and also, I have a 4th FF7 CD that only has artwork, making-of and related digital paraphernalia on it. Would I be able to use it just like a PSX game? (i.e. view the artwork etc. by making it into an iso?[but not combining with the first 3]).

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Cheezeball99]

But now I don't understand why Phats need an addon that enables 1.50 kernel support if they already support it. I can only surmise that all the new M33 CFWs that came after the Slim was launched had to drop 1.50 support so they could work on Slims. Now logic dictates that instead of making two versions of CFWs, DAX made an addon for Phats to save time. Amirite or do I epicly fail?

Part right. He started making the M33 firmwares before the launch of the slim, but yeah, you got the rest, the 1.5 kernel addon isn't defaultly in there because that would make it incompatible with slims. Exactly.

I have to go die of sleep now, but before I go, what should I use to combine my multiple-iso PSX backups into one iso, so that I don't have to switch images when I play FF7 and the like?

Refer HERE, use the link for the PSX games, that converter is made for multi-disc EBOOT support.:wink:

Oh, right and also, I have a 4th FF7 CD that only has artwork, making-of and related digital paraphernalia on it. Would I be able to use it just like a PSX game? (i.e. view the artwork etc. by making it into an iso?[but not combining with the first 3]).

If it worked in the original Playstation it SHOULD work no problem in Pops.