custom firmware PSP random questions

[nickfil]

bare in mind- i'm totally new to the psp and psn. Just got the psp last month so i'm trying out some new things on it.

I'm currently running 500 m33-3 on my psp and i was thinking of signing up for PSN on it just to claim a screen name for when i eventually have a ps3. I was curious if that was safe or if my psp is going to be bricked somehow. Will sony will detect the custom firmware?

Also- i ripped a handful UMDs that i had- but only got a couple to run. Do games need to be patched at all, or did i just rip them poorly? I would prefer to not carry around a stack of umds if possible.

[skate323k137]

It's my understanding that you're safe on PSN, you may check pspmod.com which is where I read that, but I'd bet D_A wouldn't have put it in if it wasn't safe.


edit;
good news from :http://alek.dark-alex.org/pspwiki/index ... e#5.00_M33

5.00 M33-3

23 October 2008 Download: [30]

Another update was released: 5.00 M33-3. This update fixes a big bug in M33-2 that made some homebrew and games not to work. Also, PSN version check is now automatically bypassed without need of touching any setting.

if you're not on 5.00 m33-3, you can just do a network update over wifi to get it. thats how i upgraded from 4.01 m33-2. there is a post from a user on D_A's message board stating 5.00 m33-3 can access the PSN store without having to adjust any settings.
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I haven't had any problems with UMD's that i've dumped; I have however had many problems getting them to copy the whole file back to the memory stick... perhaps check file size after each transfer to ensure the whole file got there. Maybe it's just my laptop but i've found psp's to have finnicky USB connections. also in the 'select' menu from the home screen, make sure m-33 driver is on for ISO mode. i'm sure you already did that or none of them should run.

[nickfil]

I haven't had any problems with UMD's that i've dumped; I have however had many problems getting them to copy the whole file back to the memory stick... perhaps check file size after each transfer to ensure the whole file got there. Maybe it's just my laptop but i've found psp's to have finnicky USB connections. also in the 'select' menu from the home screen, make sure m-33 driver is on for ISO mode. i'm sure you already did that or none of them should run.

great news on the psn. I'll check that out.

I double checked the file and it was the right size, so that isn't the issue. It is all there.
Then i figured i ripped it poorly, so i downloaded a new file from bitgamer. One that i know works.
i set up the driver and actually tried it with every different one.

Still nothing. Are some games just unrecognizable on the psp? I don't even get an icon for the game.
I have the file in an ISO folder in the root of the card. The weird thing is that others worked on my first try without any kind of problem at all.

****************!!!!EDIT!!!!****************
WOOOOO figured it out!

the 4 GB card i had was a "magic memory card" used for the downgrades/upgrades/custom firmware. That worked fine, but my 8GB card that I was just using in general wouldn't run some games.

Thanks for the help on the PSN stuff though, skate323k137!

[skate323k137]

Thats strange... I've had no problems with my 8gb card. Either way, glad you figured it out, and you're welcome.

random cfw breakthrough for me, i just got remote joy lite working. not only does it let me use my laptop (or any computer with the driver/program installed) as a display for the PSP via USB, it let's me use my arcade stick to control the PSP! total pain in the ass to map the buttons on the stick the first time, but i can play PSP exclusives with my PS2 arcade stick via a USB adapter. remote joy lite doesn't seem to work with PSX games, but oh well, thanks to 5.00 i can play them on my interlaced TV anyway.

[nickfil]

Thats strange... I've had no problems with my 8gb card. Either way, glad you figured it out, and you're welcome.

random cfw breakthrough for me, i just got remote joy lite working. not only does it let me use my laptop (or any computer with the driver/program installed) as a display for the PSP via USB, it let's me use my arcade stick to control the PSP! total pain in the ass to map the buttons on the stick the first time, but i can play PSP exclusives with my PS2 arcade stick via a USB adapter. remote joy lite doesn't seem to work with PSX games, but oh well, thanks to 5.00 i can play them on my interlaced TV anyway.

nice! I want to get that and (i think this is the program...) popsloader500 to run psx games on my psp. Like the xbox, I was super super resistant to the psp for a long time. Then i started reading about all this great homebrew stuff- and how it could handel neo geo without a problem. After that i checked it out at a local gamestore and the display blew me away. The psp is a visual tank compared to the ds. Not knocking the ds- both have strengths and weaknesses. After having the psp for about a month or so I've been really happy with it.

are there any other homebrew/emulation programs i should look into? I do have the snes running on my psp even though I also have it running on my ds, and i'm not too keen on emulation for sega only becuase the button layout kinda ruins it....

[skate323k137]

PSX emulation is built in, so there isn't really anything special you need to do for popsloader, at least i've never had to mess with it. some people change the version of pops for compatability issues, but again, i've never had to mess with it. all i do is use popstationGUI to convert playstation cd images to PSP Eboots (you end up with eboot.pbp and keys.bin, both of which you put into a new folder within the /psp/game/ directory), and you're ready to play. it helps to create a 144x80 pixel .png image as a thumbnail icon for the game menu, and provide it to popsloader before pressing convert. otherwise, on your psp you have press triangle and go to information to see which game it is (annoying). The only game i couldn't convert myself is dodonpachi, but theres a good copy floating around on demonoid and bitgamer now.

i highly recommend the CPS2PSP emulator. there is a phat version and slim version, both are awesome. I love having mars matrix, gigawing, and vampire savior on my PSP. it even supports 2 player over wifi, button mapping, and auto fire. if you have an old phat psp there are tools included with the emulator to create necessary cache files. There is also MVSPSP for neo geo arcade roms, which also comes with a romconv tool. Masterboy works fine for me with sega master system roms, haven't gotten other systems to work with it but that's all I wanted it for anyway. I also have a GBA emu (gbSP) that works great.

a fun little app is PSPtube, lets you watch youtube movies, and download them to your memory card. works with google video among other sites as well.

[nickfil]

I think i must have gotten a bum memory card. Although it takes files- now can't get one single game to work on my 8gb memory card. I used to run like 3 out of 10 or so... but now nothing. I turned it into a "magic memory card' and now it doesn't run anything, emulators or games.

[executioner]

Get IRshell (don't know if it runs on 5.00 you would have to confirm) it has built in apps like pdf reader, comic reader, infrared remote functions, in-game screenshots and more. You can get all those things to run separately but its a better all-in-one solution.

[Ramatut4001]

I have to check out remote joy lite and and psptube, both sound awesome! I have CFW on my phat and keep my slim clean. But if I can use an arcade stick I'd like to use my slim so I can output to a TV. Hmmm.

[skate323k137]

You may be able to accomplish the arcade stick/tv combo a couple ways. remote joy lite uses the USB cable to allow you to use your windows pc as a monitor for the PSP, and at the same time allows for joystick support.

I'm unsure if you can make the PSP output to a TV and remote joy at the same time, allthough I could check if you'd like. of course you'd have to CFW your slim to use remote joy in this case. on the other hand, if your PC outputs to a TV, or your PC monitor is big enough for you, then you'd be all set with your phat and remote joy.