3.40OE-A custom firmware released

Posted Apr 20th 2007 5:35PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News, Homebrew

So soon? Less than two days since the arrival of Sony's latest firmware upgrade, Dark_Alex has released a new custom firmware for homebrew users. 3.40OE-A brings the functionality of Sony's official release and opens it to the world of homebrew. Users must already have a homebrew-ready system to install 3.40OE-A. (PSP systems with new firmware, such as 3.00, will not be able to switch.)

Some improvements include a crucial patch that resolves a memory writing bug that has been plaguing recent releases of Dark_Alex's custom firmware. The potential for bricking has also been reduced. Download the latest update from Dark_Alex's website.

[Via DCEmu]

Custom firmware 3.30 OE-A now available

Posted Apr 15th 2007 4:45PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News, Downloads, Homebrew

Homebrew users are celebrating today: custom firmware 3.30 OE-A is now available to the masses. As predicted, there are no major upgrades to be found in the latest revision of Dark_Alex's custom firmware. Those with homebrew-capable PSP systems will be able to install 3.30 OE-A, which enables both homebrew and legal PSP games to play on one machine.

Interested individuals can go to PSP Gen to download the upgrade file.

3.30 OE won't have new functionality; reprogramming necessary

Posted Apr 8th 2007 12:00PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News, Homebrew

Dark_Alex was debating whether or not to release an OE firmware with or without additional functionality. It looks like he chose the latter. Previous versions of Dark_Alex's homebrew-enabling firmware allowed users to watch full-resolution movies, remove region-encoding, and overclock their systems. The upcoming OE version of 3.30 will not feature any additional upgrades, because it appears that a major reprogramming is necessary for the increasingly unstable code. PSP Spot translates a forum post by the coder:

"3.30 OE at first will not have any innovation except the fact of being 3.30. It will take time due to problems with the hardware. Right now the priority for the future is to radically change the core of OE, to eliminate the instability of the programming (that is especially evident in 3.10) and to gain some more space for the ram. But this probably will take several versions before it is finishing, due to the complexness of the process."

While homebrew users wait for the "next big thing," will Sony be able to provide a truly worthwhile feature in their upcoming official releases? Free wi-fi was just one step in this continuous battle between Sony and the homebrew community.

[Via PSP-Vault]

[Update: DCEmu reports that Dark_Alex may have broken his PSP. Whoops--he's purchased a new one and is going to continue working soon.]

To release 3.30 OE or not to release 3.30 OE

Posted Apr 3rd 2007 7:45PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News, Homebrew

Ever since firmware 3.30 was decrypted, many fans have been wondering: when will a new version of Dark_Alex's custom OE firmware come out? OE firmware typically contains all of the functionality of Sony's official firmware, but with a few additional perks. Obviously, the ability to run homebrew is a must. However, previous renditions of the OE firmware have included the ability to play full-resolution video and play ISO files (regardless of legality).
3.30 OE may not be as fully-featured as previous editions of the custom firmware. It appears that if Dark_Alex's team prepares the OE within the next 72 hours, it will be void of any extra functionality. Working on a more fully featured release will take a longer time--but the team notes that they are running the risk of running out of internal flash memory if the firmware becomes too large.

So, the homebrew coders are asking: to release 3.30 OE or not to release 3.30 OE? Some may want it now, but others may want a better version in time. We believe that, because 3.30 isn't supported by any retail games yet, that the team take their time to make a stronger, more feature-loaded firmware.

[Via DCEmu]

Dark_Alex working on 3.30 OE [Update 1]

Posted Apr 1st 2007 7:00PM by Steven Bailey
Filed under: News, Hacks

Homebrew users banned from upgrading [Update 1]

Posted Mar 29th 2007 3:15PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News, Homebrew

Members of the QJ forums seem upset that they can't upgrade to Sony's latest official firmware. Why? Because they've been using custom firmware on TA-082 PSPs. The 3.30 firmware installer doesn't seem to run on these modified systems, giving a mysterious 'DRNffffffd7 error code." These glitches seem to mirror the many found when Ratchet & Clank was released. So much for respecting the homebrew scene, huh?

Firmware 3.30 gives users some important functionality, such as official support for full-resolution videos and free internet access at T-Mobile Hotspots nationwide. For now, it seems as though users of custom firmware will have to wait until Dark_Alex and the rest of the homebrew community work their magic again.

[Via PlayStation]

[Update 1: A patch has been released for those with TA-082 motherboards. You must restore your system to 1.50, then run this patch, in order to run Sony's official upgrades. Via PlayStation.]

Play Ratchet on custom firmware

Posted Feb 18th 2007 10:45AM by Steven Bailey
Filed under: News, Homebrew, Ratchet and Clank

Run 16Mbps video on PSP ... sorta, with 3.03 OE-C

Posted Jan 25th 2007 12:00PM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: Homebrew

Does Dark_Alex ever sleep? I don't think so, as he's updated his open-edition custom firmware yet again. The last edition unlocked full resolution video, and now Dark_Alex has lifted the bitrate limit, making it even easier to run high-quality video off your homebrew-enabled PSP. Word to the wise, however: just because your system will be able to recognize video up to 16Mbps doesn't mean the system will be capable of actually displaying it. 768Kbps is more than enough for PSP video, but being able to increase the quality even a little is a nice option. Shouldn't Sony be taking notes?

Other changes include a faster OE boot, changeable XMB speed, and functional wi-fi at 333MHz. Sony looks like its sleeping when compared to the impressive work Dark_Alex has done so far.

[Via DCEmu]

Using your own PSone games for emulation [Update 1]

Posted Dec 25th 2006 12:01AM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: Homebrew, Video

PSone games hacked in custom 3.02 firmware

Posted Dec 23rd 2006 11:30AM by Andrew Yoon
Filed under: News, Homebrew

It looks like Dark_Alex has done it again. His latest custom firmware release will allow your PSP to emulate the 3.02 firmware while running homebrew as if you have a very homebrew-friendly 1.50 PSP. Of course, the custom firmware goes even beyond that: it'll strip region encoding off of UMD movie playback, and more importantly, it'll get rid of the DRM protection of the current lineup of downloadable PSone games. The 3.03 firmware most likely protects the system from such vulnerabilities, but it's clear that the homebrew community is furiously fighting Sony.

There's no doubt that this is a very huge and crippling blow to Sony's anti-piracy efforts. While we don't support piracy here at the Fanboy, we can understand the huge frustration of the gaming community with Sony's PSone download efforts: stop making a PS3 required, please?

[Via Opposable Thumbs]

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