PSP firmwares 2.0 - 2.80 hacked for homebrew

PSP fangirls and boys unite! It looks like you can now run homebrew apps on your PSPs that have version 2.00 to 2.80 firmwares installed -- no more downgrading! Apparently it involves a simple viewing of an image file on your mem stick. And for you überfans, you'll probably want to know that according to QJ.net: "This application runs in 'User Mode,' but kernel mode will be achievable on all firmwares except 2.80." We'll give it a spin and report back soon with our findings.

[Thanks, Crome T.]

Update: Oh yeah, this thing works alright. It works so well ou don't even need to actually load the image on 2.8 -- just scroll down to it, and the thumbnail read takes over the homebrew hack. Nice.

[psxp @ Aug 28th 2006 4:02PM]

whoa!! so does this mean we can also run "backup" games from memory stick soon?!!

[Tim Quernmoen @ Aug 28th 2006 4:03PM]

Who are these people that are obsessed with running homebrew?

[shirizaki @ Aug 28th 2006 4:06PM]

People that would like to make their PSPs useful.

[page @ Aug 28th 2006 4:20PM]

I'd love to know as well Tim. I'm guessing its two three maybe four very loud (aka get posted on engadget/joystiqs often) people.

[page @ Aug 28th 2006 4:23PM]

shirizaki, just out of curiosity in what way is your PSP useless? Did you break it? Maybe you don't know how to use it 'cause I like millions of others have no problem with it.

[Krishan @ Aug 28th 2006 4:25PM]

Wahey I can download the latest Tekken ISO! My PSP is saved from the dust in my cupboard!

[tjken33 @ Aug 28th 2006 4:28PM]

Wo0!

[soopergooman @ Aug 28th 2006 4:43PM]

This is just an exploit, it DOES NOT run homebrew as of yet, but will in the near future. So dont go upgrading yet, wait for the REAL news, also stay tuned to pspupdates.qj.net for all ur psp needs and answers.

[Abe @ Aug 28th 2006 4:47PM]

page, not everyone gets quite the same pleasure as you might from only watching umd movies and playing downgraded ps2 games

personally, I very much prefer to play homebrew games on my psp rather than any umd games

however, this does make me wonder why I spent so much money on the thing

[Korexz @ Aug 28th 2006 5:06PM]

IF there were any good games for the PSP I wouldn't be running any homebrew games.

Instead my PSP collects dust while I watch the MYLO get released. The MYLO that does all the things the PSP was supposed to do outside of gaming... thanks $ONY!

This doesn't change my mind... I am still selling my PSP to buy a Wii and some DS games. Everytime the EMU community catches up $ony releases a new firmware and I am back to square one. I want to play the legacy games... because they are still fun... say that about GTA in 5 years.

[James @ Aug 28th 2006 5:06PM]

The only reason why I bought my PSP was for homebrew....

[sinjinn @ Aug 28th 2006 5:24PM]

im finding the psp is a lot more usefull when its a 1.5 this is what i use it for: games, divx movies, bookreader(i have about 50 or so on the psp and its better than a book because i look less like a geek), comic book reader , and occasionally music player. if i wasnt running homebrew the only thing i'd be able to do is play games , and watch poor quality mp4 movies.
thats why homebrew is always being talked about.

[Alex @ Aug 28th 2006 5:40PM]

If Sony is so afraid of people bootlegging PSP games, all they need to do is make a new memory stick storage format that will only work with PSP, which has a hidden partition for games that is only readable by a PSP. That partition can be used for storing what's on UMDs today.

Whatever space that's left on that stick can be used for reading/writing other files for PSPs, cameras, PCs, etc.

Forget about blocking homebrew and DivX, as that will only hurt the sales.

[Alex @ Aug 28th 2006 5:51PM]

By sales, I meant PSPs, not UMD movies. PSP's audio output is not good enough for lossless audio formats to make a difference, but the screens are nice.

P-TV is a very nice attempt of Sony to try and get people to buy DRMed video for PSP. But they should offer those video in higher quality (equal of UMD movies) and offer a non-DRMed version and charge more. Say, for example, pay 300yen to watch it for 7 days, or pay 4500 yen to own it forever, no DRM.

[Bobby Chapman @ Aug 28th 2006 6:00PM]

Wow, you people dont get much use out of your PSP if it's just a game player. I feel sorry for people who haven't branched out into it's other amazing features. I currently have a 1 gb card with 167 MP3s, and 4 full length DVD quality movies, as well as a myriad of games and movies I can play. They fit wonderfully into my laptop case. When not replacing my portable DVD player, MP3 player, and functioning as a portable game console, I can check my email, check my RSS feeds and download podcasts/music/movies play Flash games, and soon we'll have GPS and a camera.
I'm sorry you feel that (now) $199 is too much for such "limited" functionality, but I happen to really enjoy the "watered down PS2" games(although I dont own a single game that's a direct port or even an attempt at such), my movies both downloaded to the memory card and on UMD, my MP3s, and internet browsing little device I can slide in my pocket and be on my way.
But what do I know?
-Bobby

[jasafar @ Aug 28th 2006 6:02PM]

The person who had the comment about making your PSP useful .. right there with you. I had a 1.5 PSP and once the excitement wore off of playing homebrew and games from the memory stick, I sold it for a high premium on eBay. The DS scene is so much hotter and more fun then the PSP scene despite the graphical capabilities of the PSP.

[evan @ Aug 28th 2006 6:27PM]

u really say u dont want to run downgraded ps2 games so what are u gonna play on the go, downgraded n64 games on ur DS? Its great for someone who travles bc last i checked u couldnt bring a ps2 with u

[dasickis @ Aug 28th 2006 7:26PM]

For all the homebrew addicts have you ever heard of GP2X? That's meant to be homebrewed(?) for. It's based of linux so all the proclaimed hackers are always busy messing with it. It's pretty tight I should have gotten that instead of the PSP. You can use SD cards and it can act as a USB-host so you can directly upload pictures to it or use the iPod as its hard-drive or any other portable hard-drive.

Conclusion: PSP != Homebrew. GP2X == Homebrew Only!

[jedd @ Aug 28th 2006 7:56PM]

>If Sony is so afraid of people bootlegging PSP games, all they need to do is make a new memory stick storage format that will only work with PSP, which has a hidden partition for games that is only readable by a PSP. That partition can be used for storing what's on UMDs today.

'Ya really think that's gonna stop people? The UMD can only be read by one publicly available device - the PSP. Yet there's an ISO download for probably every commercially released PSP game.

Let's see, functionality added by homebrew programs to the PSP... There's a file manager, pdf/ebook viewers, NES/SNES/GB emulators (lol), ShoutCast/IceCast support, and streaming video. Granted, I bought my PSP for on the go gaming but the selection of games leaves much to be desired so for now, my PSP's keeping me entertained with fanfic reading using Bookr. Tekken and Bleach 3 (which are relatively recent releases) are pretty addicting so those are keeping me entertained, too, when they're not with my brother.

[Alex @ Aug 28th 2006 8:52PM]

jedd,

yes you're right, but at the same time movies/games on memory sticks won't make the situation any worse than it already is. The advantage of putting things on memory stick would be longer battery life over UMD.

I don't know where you live but in NYC it's not easy to find free wireless on the streets, so even though I know the streaming and whatever else web-related functions are there, I can't take advantage of them on the go yet... Not PSP's fault though.

[Jen @ Aug 29th 2006 12:11AM]

This has been out for a while now... I've been running it for months. You guys are usually on top of these things.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Aug 29th 2006 3:58AM]

Strange. Nobody's screaming "vulnerability! security breached!"

If that's possible with image off flash drive, theoretically it's possible with image from internet - iow plain web site viewing.

I bet some script kiddiz would love to trash PSPs so that they would pick them cheap later on flea market.

[Blair @ Aug 29th 2006 5:38AM]

So how do I go about doing this? as im running a 2.8 psp

[craig @ Aug 29th 2006 5:48AM]

Why do sites link to the spam engine that is the QJ Network a network who has ripped off the Engadgetjoystiq look and worse off the official site to this news is here http://noobz.eu/

All the QJ Network want is your money :(

[ai @ Aug 29th 2006 6:10AM]

it says just scroll to it and it starts.
but when i go to photo, idont move the cursor and it starts so i cant view my pictures unless i use another memory stick

[pableu @ Aug 29th 2006 6:31AM]

> People that would like to make their PSPs useful.

I don't know.. If I want something useful, I don't buy a game console ;-)

[ai @ Aug 29th 2006 6:56AM]

what is kernel mode and why cant 8.1 (or the latest firmware) do it

[Jay Vaughan @ Aug 29th 2006 8:33AM]

Its like this: would you rather listen to canned music, or make your own?

The same goes for games. With the PSP, you can only be a POP Consumer. With a GP2X you can easily become a Star Producer.

Either you're a consumer or a producer. Many people are entertained by their own productivity more than they are by simply buying pre-fabricated, mass-marketed product designed to do only one thing: sell.

In the GP2X world, there is such a wide diversity of talent and interesting new projects .. with an opened-up PSP, this world can come to the PSP drones currently enslaved by The Man into only buying what is approved for them by The Man.

In short: Produce or Die!

[Gonzalo Zuniga @ Aug 29th 2006 3:59PM]

How do I do this? I really want to have homebrew on my 2.80 psp.where do I go?

[Sponge @ Aug 29th 2006 6:20PM]

Bobby Chapman, you actually found flash games that can be played on the PSP? I know I can't.

[darkjak101 @ Aug 30th 2006 12:03AM]

how do i get the img to run homebrew?

[darkjak101 @ Aug 30th 2006 12:03AM]

how do you grt this i really want to run homebrew on my psp v2.8? Does this also mean no more bricking when trying to use homebrew?

[PUNKIN @ Aug 30th 2006 10:13AM]

i'm lookin forward to seeing what you can do (if anything) w/ v2.80... they tricked me into upgrading...damnit! now im stuck, downloading all these homebrew, and cant use ANY, i've paid 2 different "unlimited gaming psp sites" (Total a/b 60.00) just to find that it shows up "corrupted data"

so the question is:
IS THERE A WAY TO "HOMEBREW" OR PLAY ANY "HACKED" GAMES ON PSP v2.80??

[Ted @ Sep 10th 2006 7:49PM]

!!!! IT DOESN'T WORK ALL IT DOES IS SHOW THE PICTURE AND I CAN'T DO ANYTHING BUT TURN IT OFF!!!!!

[Zach @ Nov 14th 2006 9:45PM]

i hate homebrew, i at 2.80. I have the whole yu yu hakusho dark tournament coded, 40 music tracks, and 34 photos and 9 games all fit nicely on a 2 gb card! i hear these fools whining for a 2.80 downgrader it's not gonna happen bobby was right get more use out of ur psp....

[BOB @ Nov 14th 2006 9:54PM]

SCREW U MAN I LOVE HOMEBREW 1.50! LIVE ON

[Zach @ Nov 14th 2006 9:52PM]

heres a site for psp homebrew:

lemonparty.org