Sony's PSX emulator for PSP hacked to run any old PSX ISO

From just about day one, the holy grail of the PSP homebrew scene has been PSX emulation, and while much has been accomplished on this front, the spiffiest emulator yet happens to come courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment Itself. Of course, that emulator entails a pay-per-download scheme, limited catalog and requires a PS3 to make it all work, right? Not so much anymore, thanks to hacker extraordinaire Dark_AleX and his new Custom Firmware 3.02 OE-B, which lets you convert your very own PSX ISOs and run them at full speed on the PSP. OE-A worked as a hack for Sony-released download titles by stripping the DRM, but it sounds like OE-B is the real deal here. Sure looks like those PSP fanboys are going to be having some happy holidays this year. Keep reading to spy an incredibly blurry vid of the hack in action.

Read - DCEMUuk
Read - QJ.net

[david @ Dec 25th 2006 4:47PM]

rpg lovers rejoice !

now to get
a) a hd based psp/mod
or
b) cheaper memory stick
or
c) a way to have FFVII on a memory stick under 1GB

merry xmas

[Ray Valdez @ Dec 25th 2006 7:34PM]

Yeah, I just converted some of my old PSX isos to the PSP's eboot file. It works great.

While i hardly EVER donate to things...I gotta say, Dark_AleX deserves a papypaled fiver.

[4cr JaXs @ Dec 26th 2006 12:06AM]

http://us.codejunkies.com/news_reviews.asp?c=US&cr=USD&cs=$&r=0&l=1&p=18&i=9012&s=8

[Eh @ Dec 25th 2006 5:03PM]

Wow this was engadget'd (is that a verb?).

This is indeed a joyous occasion for PSP users and perhaps the biggest thing to happen to the PSP since it came out.

david: All PS1 games are under 1gb since they are on CD's. Multi disc games are still multi files, so you can put one "disc" on a 1gb memory card then when you get to disc 2 just save and replace the file with "disc 2" then reload the game.

[david @ Dec 25th 2006 5:42PM]

While on the go, i find it preferable to have the least amount of cards possible with me considering i already have other gadgets and stuff (that uses flash based cards too) to carry. Not to mention it s less of a hassle and less time "wasted" having it all on one memory stick.

i know prices have dropped a lot, however just having the minimum on oneself is nice (how 'bout a umpc that will actually be worth it ???).

[Jonathan Zencovich @ Dec 25th 2006 5:07PM]

Nice high-res pictures.... Better/clearer pictures would be appreciated next time.

Otherwise this is pretty cool news. I don't have a PSP though :(


--Jon Z

[BoBo124 @ Jan 17th 2007 8:06PM]

OK. Where do I put the ISO file. I tried X:/PSP/GAME150/xxx.iso and X:/PSP/GAME150/xxx/xxx.iso
the first time, it didn't show up.
the second time it said corrupted data

[syu @ Dec 25th 2006 5:15PM]

also, the program included to hack together a pbp file is in its infancy. it does not compress the games like the sony downloads do

[syu @ Dec 25th 2006 5:15PM]

as a side note, not everything will work, i'm sure you can find a forum with updated list, but i can tell you resident evil 3 did not load for me

[Alex @ Dec 25th 2006 5:36PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTuTjW4awbo

FFVII on PSP FTW?

[Crossed @ Dec 25th 2006 5:46PM]

@David
well i've found the datasheet for the memory stick pinout so maybe somebody can make a circuit to convert the signals from the memory stick port to example ata 33.
Warning. long link
http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:9O4ocQYj2egJ:www.technick.net/public/code/cp_dpage.php%3Faiocp_dp%3Dpinconmem_memorystick_10+memory+stick+sdio&hl=da&gl=dk&ct=clnk&cd=1

[Veritas II @ Dec 25th 2006 6:35PM]

Playing Legend of Mana right now. Only problem that I can see with it at the moment is that it all revolves around the 3.02 firmware licensing scheme that Sony has changed since the 3.03 update. So basically you can only have one game at a time unless you can get a hold of another key file, but it's still probably the greatest achievement of the homebrew community so far. Dark AleX FTW!

[Pal @ Dec 27th 2006 7:38PM]

I have two games on the stick right now, they both load fine. I just put the two games in two different folders with the key file in both folders. The problem is that they both save into the save folder...so I'm scared to save the game with the second game I added! I'll backup my save files now and test it out. If it doesn't work, I suggest the second game being a racer/fighter/etc. that doesn't need saving :P

[tudor @ Dec 25th 2006 7:08PM]

The ATA 33 trick can be done using the Compactflash to memory stick duo adapter.

[Crossed @ Dec 26th 2006 11:03AM]

lol didn't notice that. well let's just wait for someone to reverse engineer that adapter so it can be used the other way

[Darius @ Dec 25th 2006 7:10PM]

Thank God, someone's finally done it. And using Sony's own stuff against them. Brilliant.
And Symphony of the Night for an example? This guy kicks more ass just for that.

Cheers,
Darius

[Jon Graft @ Dec 25th 2006 7:36PM]

I have firmware 3.00. Can I still do this or do I need to have the hacked version of the firmware? What's the dealio?

[Pal @ Dec 27th 2006 4:51PM]

You need to have Firmware 1.50, or up to 2.71 to downgrade to 1.50, then back up to 3.02 OE-B. You'll have to wait till a new downgrader is out, so don't upgrade your firmware!

[chris @ Dec 25th 2006 8:04PM]

umm i bricked my psp today using 3.02oeb if anyone has any idea how to fix it using recovery mode plz email me at [e-mail]

[JRA219psu @ Dec 25th 2006 10:18PM]

allllllllllllllllriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

giggidy giggidy goo

merry Christmas indeed!

[Noa @ Dec 26th 2006 6:38AM]

memory sticks are freaking cheap. you can buy a 2gb off ebay for $30

[samk64 @ Dec 26th 2006 1:26PM]

ebay sells many counterfeits of 2gb memory sticks... for example this guide lists several differences between the real and fake pro duos

http://reviews.ebay.com/FAKE-Sony-Memory-Stick-Pro-Duo-MagicGate-Cards-Exposed_W0QQugidZ10000000001236041

[George @ Dec 26th 2006 9:23PM]

What Sony should do is just add their emulator as a feature and package an iso converter with the psp. This would give you the ability to play your old psone games, while the PS3 store probably wouldn't take a hit. An emulator option would be a great feature to tack on to the already feature-rich PSP, and would give it a sense of backward compatibility.

[y2julio @ Dec 27th 2006 3:12PM]

wooo sweeettt

[Veritas II @ Dec 27th 2006 11:23PM]

Yeah, that was my point: Not that two games won't run, but that they'll write over each other's saves. I generally play RPGs, so I wouldn't put multiple games on there without the ability to save - hence my phrasing in the other comment. Sorry for the confusion, and good luck!

[Pal @ Dec 28th 2006 9:51PM]

Not sure if you've seen it, but there's a tool out now that will let you rename the GameID so that you can have multiple saves. It's called...PSX GameID Changer! Yes, to the point.

[Tim @ Dec 28th 2006 3:51AM]

Has anyone played Einhander with it yet?

[Pal @ Dec 28th 2006 9:51PM]

Funny you ask, I was just converting it. Let me see...

*5 minutes later*

Works flawlessly, no slowdowns or skips in music!

[Veritas II @ Dec 28th 2006 10:22PM]

Yeah, just got it off of QJ. Now running Xenogears and Final Fantasy Tactics with separate saves. Sweet!

[destrux @ Jan 5th 2007 12:44AM]

Reminds me of the SuperGameboy plugin for the SNES, except there you got to play your portable gameboy games on a non-portable system (and in a two tone color scheme of your choice!). Hmm... wonder why that never caught on....

[cparker @ Feb 4th 2007 10:37AM]

Ok... the PSX is a multimedia version of the PS2. It seems like you're referring to original PlayStation titles, not the PSX. Say what you mean and mean what you say!

[Damo @ Feb 10th 2007 11:47PM]

@cparker - yes and no. The industry still refers to the original Playstation/PSOne as the PSX (apparently due to the internal name being 'Playstation Experimiental'. This is prior to that PS2 that was actually named the PSX. You can be assured when most people mention the PSX, they are indeed talking about the honourable grey-box unless they state otherwise.

[ZeRoX @ Mar 13th 2007 8:55AM]

hey where do i get that emulator if u hav it on this page or this site i cant find it please let me no

[Jhersson @ Sep 3rd 2007 8:34PM]

Can anyone help me how to find the PSX emulator for the PSP i been looking everywhere but i can't find it. If anyone know how to please contact me at [e-mail]

[Jordan @ Apr 15th 2008 4:32AM]

I've downloaded, one and it seems to have invalid copyright information, will this perhaps help encode it in some sort of way?