Is your PSP Hackable?
Almost a year ago I published a small chart giving a summary of the “hackability” of PSP based on the model and the firmware. Things have changed over a year, and with the recent announce of a 6.20 Kernel exploit (and associated HEN) by Total_Noob, they will probably change again very soon. But if you just bought a PSP, all the current possibilities are probably a jungle to you, and you are wondering what your options are. Here’s a quick chart with the current status:
Overall I think it looks way better than the chart a year ago, don’t you think? Below are details for each model.
PSP Phat and PSP2000 (except ta88v3)
If you own a PSP Phat (PSP-1000), or a PSP Slim (PSP 2000) that is NOT a Ta88v3, then your PSP, independently of its firmware, is 100% hackable with a pandora battery. It’s been the case for many months now, and it will not change as the exploit used for the pandora batteries is a hardware exploit and cannot be fixed with a new firmware.
PSP-3000 and TA88v3, Firmware 5.03 and below
If you are the unlucky owner of a “doomed” motherboard, but happen to have a firmware 5.03 or below, your PSP is “half-hackable” through the laughing man tiff exploit and the associated Homebrew Enabler, better known as “ChickHEN”. “half-hackable” means that your PSP can have all the features of fully hackable PSPs (homebrew, plugins, customizable themes, ISOs,…), but unlike fully hacked PSPs, if your hard-reboot your PSP, you’ll have to run the hack again. (For those who still don’t know, putting your PSP in sleep mode works fine and is the best thing to do to keep the HEN in Ram)
PSP-3000, PSP Go and TA88v3, Firmware 5.05 up to firmware 6.20
Half-Byte Loader allows you to run most homebrews on these models, through a vulnerability in the Patapon2 Demo. Additionally, Total_Noob announced yesterday that he was working on a HEN for these models. A HEN will basically bring you most features a Custom Firmware can have, but you’ll have to be patient (like the rest of us).
PSP-3000, PSP Go and TA88v3, Firmware 6.30/6.31
Half-Byte Loader allows you to run most homebrews on these models, through a vulnerability in the Hots Shots Golf game. Total_Noob’s HEN is not planned for these firmwares, but he mentioned that a downgrader to 6.20 might be doable. There’s still goog hope to get kernel access on these firmwares in the foreseeable future.
Vocabulary
Homebrew: User made (non official) applications. These include games such as Wagic, utilities, emulators…
ISO: In the PSP world, digital copy of a game, most of the time unencrypted, preventing it from running on an Official firmware. ISOs are often associated to game piracy.
plugin: Homebrews that are loaded in the Ram of the PSP to extend its functionalities. For example, the music plugin allows to play MP3s while playing a game or a homebrew on the PSP.
HEN: Homebrew ENabler. A program that patches the PSP Ram to allow running unsigned code (Homebrews). unlike eLoader, a HEN is in the Ram and therefore doesn’t require to be launched everytime you want to run unsigned code. To do this a HEN usually requires a Kernel exploit.
TA88v3 :A Model of Motherboard that was introduced on the PSP2000 in summer 2008. It fixes the vulnerability used by the pandora batteries. Several techniques exist to identify your PSP Motherboard. If you have a PSP 2000, the easiest way to identify if it has a “doomed” motherboard is to try a pandora kit (battery + memory stick) on it.
Wow first comment
nice summary, i have mixed feelings with this news because i wish that this will come true but when that happen i´m gonna miss the hbl
cool thanks,sony’s on crack if they think they can stop us.
il still use even if cfw comes out i have 3 psp now hbl r99 is on psp 3000 6.20
psp 1001 5.00 m33-6 and psp 3006 with i got of ebay for 38 pounds so if it will brick i wont care im gona use it to test the tn cfw
yea hope we get a new hen then i will have a reason to not sell my psp go
Is the Blue Madden 2009 PSP hackable
Also don’t forget Magixien suggested he would release the 6.20 GEN later this year…
Source: http://www.pspgen.com/forums/half-byte-loader-r100-compatible-avec-la-faille-d-everybody-s-golf-t215325-24.html
but the version of hot shot golf in psn is still hackable using HBL?
Chinese Verison:
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you mean 6.31 will never ever ever have the HEN???? not fair at all
@ wololo, wont the SAME kernel exploit for 6.20 also work for 6.31?
It’s not a never, if you had bothered to read the article at all. A downgrader may or may not be released for 6.3x, or the HEN itself might get ported to 6.3x. It’s not really certain at this time.
you guys should not have updated your psp to 6.3xx wololo told you guys not to update but you didnt listen because you wanted to use psn surve you right but there a good chance 6.30 or 6.31 will get a hen maybe in january
@yellow: some people didn’t quite have a choice.
if i wouldn’t have updated to 6.31 i wouldn’t be able to play any games besides homebrew.
@thedicemaster: this isn’t true. Almost no game requires 6.30/6.31 at the time being. The only choice you have to make is being able to access the PSN or not.
@Caio: 6.20 Gen will not be useful for people who have unhackable motherboards (more than half of PSP owners nowadays). And it will not be much more than 5.00m33 + prometheus modules
awsome… and I just sold my go for a vadar slim a couple of months ago.
maybe if they get an iso loader working I’ll buy it back… the gamestop I sold it to probably still has it.
@wololo : Dear wololo, the only reason this is known to be more unstable in 6.30/6.31 is because HBL in 6.30/6.31 cant load snes9xtyl and audio keep brakeing (more compatability) , i can garentee you if you were able to fix these 2 things the HEN might be concidered stable!!!
So please, please, please fix these soon, a new reversion hasnt relased for HBL in ages :'(
wow nice chart. i just bought a psp 1000 and as soon as i get my pandora i hope to put cfw on it
@ cameraguy256 aka.terminator157
lol, because you know better than wololo
@wololo: you’re forgetting about the PSPgo.
every game requires PSN and as such requires the latest firmware to install it.
@thedicemaster : no. For the psp go, you can stay in 6.20, and use a ps3 OR mediaGo to download and install games.
My sister almost killed me when we discovered about chikHEN. I updated her “piano black” PSP 2000 (yes, the doomed one) to 5.5 for playing Dissidia: FF about one year ago. Neither of us knew of chikHEN and we thought there was no hope for it. Later I got a PSP 3000 but sadly I realized too late that it was at 5.51. At least, there’s hope now thanks to Total_noob and wololo =).
Time to change the chart wololo you are the best