Sony says 5.01 PSP firmware update will fix Memory Stick problems

Sony got a lot of things right with its 5.0 firmware update for the PSP, with the PlayStation Store and its direct downloads making a long awaited appearance, but it looks to have caused a bit of a problem for folks with high-capacity Memory Sticks -- namely, it was reporting that 8GB or 16GB cards are full when, in fact, there's plenty of free space left on 'em. Ever the one for a do-over, Sony now says that it's aware of the problem and that the 5.01 firmware update will sort everything out when it's released "soon."

[Via PSP Fanboy]

[Jamma @ Oct 22nd 2008 3:55PM]

Dang it, i sold my PSP about 6 months ago, and now they improve it. Oh well, gives me an excuse to get the 3000 xD

[phanbouy @ Oct 22nd 2008 3:59PM]

i didn't realize critical bug fixes were "improvements"

[Shunnabunich @ Oct 22nd 2008 6:33PM]

Well technically, yeah, it is an improvement over still having the bug. Not quite "oh, now they go and improve it!" material, though.

[Das Boot @ Oct 22nd 2008 4:02PM]

Bug Fixes are "new features"

and its funny because my card is only 1 gig and it kept telling me it was full when there was half a gig full. i haven't updated my psp yet so we shall see if this does the trick.

[mohammad7410 @ Oct 22nd 2008 4:18PM]

No, PSP 3000 screen interlacing issues are new features

[tom @ Oct 22nd 2008 7:35PM]

It is a feature to encourage you to get more MS. Sire Stringer, you've done it again.

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 22nd 2008 4:16PM]

The limits were entirely arbitrary anyway.

Figures they trip up now that it's time to ditch THAT scheme.

[phanbouy @ Oct 22nd 2008 4:33PM]

good thing it has MagicGate technology. it can open up wormholes and shit.

[simon @ Oct 22nd 2008 5:22PM]

I think you're getting your RDF's mixed up.

[Vagrant @ Oct 22nd 2008 5:35PM]

The update is out. I'm grabbing it now on my PSP. 16GB stick with 600MB empty.
(I hope it also fixes the 1SEG TV issue I was having before since 4.5, but it's not listed)
...installing...confirm, downloads from store work.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Oct 22nd 2008 7:54PM]

Funny how they update three days later after the LATEST Custom Firmware 5.00M33 has come out. Seems like a trend to me. Also 5.00 Sony Brew came out just last Monday or Tuesday. Took 4 days to get hacked. Yeah update for memsticks. Right...

[Ruben @ Oct 22nd 2008 10:19PM]

@SOOPERGOOMAN:

Sony, the sneaky devils they are, surprisingly didn't include anything to block Dax's custom firmware with 5.01.

The only thing they do have is firmware restricted access to the PStore. You must, for example, have the latest firmware to access it. Otherwise, this update was entirely to fix the MSProDuo problem.

Either way, there's an unofficial update to 5.01 hacked:
http://pspupdates.qj.net/Unofficial-CFW-5-01-M33-simple-workaround-to-bypass-PS-Store-FW-check/pg/49/aid/125236

[Backlin @ Oct 22nd 2008 5:42PM]

The funny thing is, there was only one file that needed to be fixed.

[chris fredette @ Oct 22nd 2008 7:05PM]

99% of the reason I don't buy Sony products is that they insist on using memory stick crap. If the PS3 had been that way I would not have bought one. I like their phones, laptops, and camera's but will never buy one if this crap is all they support. How much money can they be making off this with lost sales. They could be selling sony SD cards people would still buy.

[frank @ Oct 22nd 2008 7:29PM]

Memory stick problems have plagued my PSP experience from the day I got it. If I use whatever lame-o card it came with (it's something ridiculous, like 32 MB), it's fine. As soon as I started trying to use an 8 GB card, it would inevitably corrupt the data if I filled it with MP3's. I tried both a SanDisk and a Sony card, both did the same thing. If all I do is store game save data, it's fine. Since all I use it for is games it's not the end of the world but I desperately wanted it to be my MP3 player when my real MP3 player broke.

I've been faithfully updating the firmware every time a new one comes out for like what, 3 years now? and it's never solved the problem. I'll be pretty shocked if 5.0 helps. Nothing would make me happier than seeing the MemoryStick format fail but the PSP does rock. God damn Sony!

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Oct 22nd 2008 7:57PM]

You sir then do not enjoy emulators at full speed on your psp. I play N64 games, sega genesis, nes, snes, turbo graphix 16, have free gps, skype, msn messenger, facial recognition programs. Sure update to the latest Sony firmware. What are you really missing out on. Heck only 8% of psp users really know what their psp is really really capable...

[frank @ Oct 22nd 2008 10:02PM]

Well spoogerman, you are absolutely correct. Inbetween official firmware updates, I've installed 5 or so hacked versions and have run emulators for pretty much every console I had back in the day, hoping to rekindle the glory of R-Type, Zelda, Space Harrier, and Mario Kart, among others. Unfortunately it's never happened for me. The only "retro" experience I've enjoyed in the last 5 years was the original Legend Of Zelda on the GBA which IMO is the only reason to own any Nintendo handheld console. However, I most definitely do love many modern PSP games that happen to take advantage of its hardware.

[Ruben @ Oct 22nd 2008 10:27PM]

@frank:

Dax is so fast with his custom firmwares, I tend to think he works for Sony.

So far, there is yet a game i have not been able to play on the various custom firmwares ive gone through.

Dax even overrides the update service on the PSP and it applies the updates to the firmware he creates as if it was a Sony official firmware. The guy has defined how custom firmwares, from now on, should be made.

If i were you, i would give them a shot again. They are better then official firmwares. They can let you do so much more with your PSP then just play emulators (as if that wasn't enough). I store all my UMD's on my MSProDuo and carry my entire catalog of games (it isnt much) on my PSP at all times, and one PSOne game for nostalgia. That alone is the reason i would never go back.

[crunkMonkey101 @ Oct 22nd 2008 7:47PM]

Do you think it will address the problem of no one else supporting them? No, I don't guess so either.

[nxp3 @ Oct 22nd 2008 8:36PM]

The folks at psp-hacks.com tells me their 8gig card and 16 works just fine. Not that I hang around there very often. Just to check what's I'm missing out on.

[nxp3 @ Oct 22nd 2008 9:37PM]

I got a SDHC to MSPRO adapter, it works great and SDHC are half the price of mspro. Get the class 6 though.

[super-sic @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:21AM]

the firmware was released today in the US.

[suriya @ Oct 26th 2008 11:08PM]

but it does not allow you to run homebrew

[mrChin @ Oct 27th 2008 2:20PM]

funny how this was released and it does NOT fix the memory stick issues. i mean, i have a 1gb in my psp with over 400mb free, yet it still won't let me download beats (200+mb) because the memory stick is allegedly full. mad irritating.

[topgyal @ Nov 2nd 2008 2:03PM]

i have updated my psp firmwire 5.01 and after that i can not open my games. so what to do? is there any solution other than downgrade .

[Evil @ Nov 2nd 2008 8:25PM]

I updated, and i just recently wanted to install emulators on my psp. Can anyone tell me how or where to go? Do i need to downgrade? you can email me at [e-mail].

[Rae @ Nov 21st 2008 5:35AM]

i just updated my psp and now i can't get it to play any games pllllllzzzzzzzzzzzzz help me i wouuld do anything to get the games to work so plzzzzzzz reply if u know how to solve this problem

[omhg @ Dec 30th 2008 12:50PM]

uhmm.. excuse me. I upgraded my CFW from 3.80 m33-5 to 5.00 m33 to 5.00 m33-4. I noticed when I tried playing 2 of my games (namely: FF:Dissidia and FIFA 09) they both showed the error: "Load failed. The data is corrupted. (80110306) What seems to be the problem? I've already seen people saying that the mem stick might be the problem, but I'm really not sure. Please help! Almost all my saved data are in this mem stick. And the worst part is I forgot to back up! D: