[FAQ] Basic FAQ for PSP/PSP-Slim owners
July 17th, 2023
Q = Question.
A = Answer.
Q. Do i need custom firmware to play CSO/ISO games?
A. Yes (see below)
—————————————————– Q. What custom firmware should i get?
A. The latest stable custom firmware is 3.71 M33 which is for PSP ‘phat’ and ‘slim’ models.
Custom firmware guides for PSP slim and phat models:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/569423
—————————————————– Q. How do i play my CSO/ISO games once i have custom firmware?
A.
Put your PSP into USB mode (in the settings menu of the PSP XMB menu, you will see ‘USB Connection’. press x to activate that.)
Windows should now see your PSPs memory stick as a removable USB device, you then place your .iso or .cso files in the \iso
directory of your PSP. e.g F:\ISO, G:\ISO.
You can select them on your PSP by going to Game then Memory Stick.
—————————————————–
Q. When i try to start my .iso/.cso game my PSP gives the error ‘The game could not be started. (80020321)’ A. This is because you havent got a UMD in your PSP, dont worry as one isnt required if you enable the M33 UMD driver, To do this:
Hold the power switch on your PSP till its fully turned off, then as you hold down the R button turn the PSP back on.
You will then be taken to a ‘recovery menu’ for your firmware, You should see ‘Configuration ->’ highlight this and press x.
You should then see the option ‘UMD Mode (currently: Normal -UMD Required-)’ highlight and press x on this option and it should change to say:
‘UMD Mode (Currently: M33 driver -NO UMD-)’ If so then your done, go to ‘back’ and then ‘exit’ and your PSP will start and you can play your games. —————————————————–
Q. How can i use homebrew applications on my PSP?
A.
To run Homebrew Apps you will need custom firmware (see above), if you have that your good to go.
Just extract the homebrew folder and place it into \PSP\GAME directory of your PSP memory stick.
E.G G:\PSP\GAME\ would be where you place the folder so you would have G:\PSP\GAME\my-homebrewapp0.1
Then to select the homebrew on your PSP, go to Game and then Memory Stick and you should see it.
(***NOTE to PSP slim 3.71 M33 users, you cannot run 1.5 kernel mode homebrew, check your desired homebrew has a 3.x kernel mode version and use that. ***)
—————————————————–
Q. What is a pandoras battery?
A.
Your probably reading this if your a PSP slim owner, Yes the PSP slim can currently only be downgraded with a Pandoras battery.
There is 4 methods to go about this.
1. Send it off to be flashed for you. (more common than you would think as people do it for free aslong as you pay postage).
2. Make a pandoras battery yourself. (hard and requires good soldering skills and guts)
3. Use a pre-made pandoras battery from someone else. (most easy way)
4. Buy a Commercial pandoras battery (Datel make a commerical version that works just the same for around 13 GBP)
IF you wanna go with steps 1 or 3 or 4, use google or common sense
Step 2 tutorial is here:
http://www.pspmod.com/forums/psp-hardware-guides/23428-guide-making-pandoras-battery-new-method.html
—————————————————–
Q. Is there an Action replay or cheat system for the PSP?
A.
Not really much in the way of this commercially.
But there is a homebrew app called ‘cwcheat’ that has a massive PSP game cheats database
the cwcheat app also has many other features such as screenshot, popsloader cheats (for converted PS1 games).
*** Note to 3.71 M33 users, you will require to install the 3.71 M33-3 update to use cwcheat ***
—————————————————–
Q. I tried to flash or change flash files on my PSP but it went wrong and my PSP will not start.
A.
Woo. you just semi-bricked your PSP in most cases.
Just try the flashing again if it was a firmware flash or if it keeps doing this, get another set of firmware files as those ones are curropt. If it was an update install, flash back to your original custom firmware and same as above.
If you was installing a theme or manually playing with flash0 or flash1 files, you need to restore your backup using the USB toggle in recovery mode
(hold R while powering up the PSP), If you cannot get into recovery mode, youll need to flash your PSPs firmware again.
I tried to keep this FAQ basic for people who arent gunna go hacking the registers of their PSP and just want a game to play and maybe a custom theme.
If you want to add anything to it or anything is wrong/missing/dead, just post.
Thank you for the tutorial
I just bought PSPs to my kids and still playing around
I am just scared to mess it up beyond recovery
Any tip or suggestions how to be safe and install the right firmware?
I noticed that there are way too many problems
EDIT: Never mind, I went to the link you suggested
Thank you again
No Problem, If anyone needs any help with the firmware or homebrew, dont hesitate to reply here or pm me.
Hey,
i just got my psp I have heard about different methods but which would be the best way to go through?
I don’t know which P\SP I have.. The firmware is v3.52 I think..and it’s the Star Wars edition.. If its Pandora’s battery I need to have an emulator.. is it really risky? Is there no alternative?
hello,i did as the snes emulator told me to but it gives me an error of 8001 and says this game couldnt not be started i have a phat 3.71m33-4..
Thank You Check Out My Clan Site www.freewebs.com/444clan
more info read here
http://www.google.com?t=930643
Sorry, ive been away.
but in answer to questions for the sake of it.
@ :
Yes youll need pandoras battery, no its not too risky. It goes fine 95% of the time , if it doesnt you just try to flash again, itll never give your PSP a full brick.
@
Never seen a plain 8001 error before, thats a libc/standard kernel error.
Which is usually followed by more stuff such as:
80010010
Try with and without a UMD in the PSP.