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Noob firmware questions.

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Old 17-02-2008, 3:52 PM   #1
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Noob firmware questions.

I realise a few of these will have been asked a million times before, for that I apologise, but I can't find the answer to all my questions, hence the post.

I bought a slim psp with 3.70 M33 on, as soon as I got it I upgraded to 3.70 M33-5 and all was good. Then when 3.90 M33 came out I decided that I'd upgrade, since then some games seem to stutter as I'm playing, it gets so bad the game becomes unplayable. I'm half way through Test Drive Unlimited and can't play it any more because it stutters so badly. Not all games do this, just some.

So, my question is, If I buy a datel tool battery and make a magic mem stick, is it possible for me to downgrade to 3.70 M33? If so, how simple is the process? Since I'm a complete and utter noob here (most technical thing I've done with the psp is upgrade firmware, which lets face it, a trained monkey could do). I have no idea how to go about it.

I have read that you need another PSP with custom firmware on to do this, would that be essential if I wanted to downgrade?

Lastly, how big does the memory stick for the magic mem stick need to be? Can I use my existing 4gig card then just reformat it and use it as normal?

I think that's it lol.

Thanks for any help.

Last edited by mabo; 17-02-2008 at 11:28 PM.
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Old 17-02-2008, 4:35 PM   #2
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

What you're experiencing is the change in memory card access which Sony has implemented in the firmwares 3.80 and 3.90 in it's np9660 driver. Since this is part of the ofw itself there is no simple way for it to be completely fixed. (This is why you didn't have the issue on 3.71 M33-4). Firstly have you tried changing the No-UMD mode in the VSH menu to the M33 option rather than the np9660 one? That may be an easy fix for some of your games.(Push select in the XMB and scroll down to the relevant option)

Alternatively Dark_Alex has released a patch to somewhat remedy this slowdown/lag in 3.80 and 3.90. You can get it from www.dark-alex.org (look for Patch to Load 3.71 fatmsmod on 3.80/3.90 M33 at the bottom of the page). The read me is pretty explanatory but you'll also need to download and use the PSARdumper on his webpage too. I've heard that this really does make a difference to the lag.

Downgrading is easy...yes you could use your 4gig memory stick and reformat it once you're done (i think that you're better off using memory sticks of 256Mb and up for the procedure to incorporate a backup). Since you have a cfw psp you can create your own pandora battery and MMS and downgrade without the need of another PSP. Alternatively if you signed up to Scotty's Pandora kit list you could do it in a way you'd probably be more comfortable with. However as i said you have everything you need to go on your own.
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Old 17-02-2008, 7:43 PM   #3
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Thanks for the reply.

I'll try the patch before trying to downgrade. I'll buy the datel battery anyway, since I have a tendency to mess with things I'll no doubt need it eventually to unbrick my psp. Does the datel battery work with the slim PSP? just noticed codejunkies have one for the slim and one for the fat. I had thought it would work on both?

I've downloaded the patch but to be honest it all looks like greek to me, I have no idea how to use PSARdumper. I did however search and find an installation guide written by Scotty on another thread (Here). But it says I need to download Sony's 3.71 OFW and I can't find it anywhere to download it.

Anyone know where I can download it?

Last edited by Lyceum; 17-02-2008 at 8:06 PM.
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Old 17-02-2008, 8:14 PM   #4
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Did you try the M33 driver instead of the np9660 option...did it make any difference?

(Official 3.7x firmware here.)
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Old 17-02-2008, 8:42 PM   #5
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xist View Post
Did you try the M33 driver instead of the np9660 option...did it make any difference?

(Official 3.7x firmware here.)
Thanks for the link. Just installed the patch (no idea which one, just downloaded from DA's site and followed Scottys tutorial) and it's sadly not made a difference. So looks like I'll have to downgrade.

So my next question, I imagine, is pretty obvious lol, can someone point me in the direction of a total idiot proof, noob like guide on how to make a magic mem stick and downgrade my slim to 3.71.

One last question, the datel tool battery will work with the slim PSP wont it? I know there's a slim one but that doesn't work on phat PSP's and I have a few family members with phat psp's who want to use it after me. Gameseek says it's universal but I just want to double check.

Thanks.

Last edited by Lyceum; 17-02-2008 at 8:54 PM.
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Old 17-02-2008, 8:48 PM   #6
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

You'll be wanting Despertar del Cementerio v3 (NOT v4)...since you have a cfw PSP already it should be straight forward and if you managed the PSARDumper you'll definitely find it simple! In the past i found that this post has everything i've needed in your situation.
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Old 17-02-2008, 9:30 PM   #7
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Thanks. I'll book mark it for when the battery arrives. I assume I miss the part about creating the battery as the datel is already done?

LOL is still looks really complicated, Scottys guide was pretty much step by step so I couldn't go wrong.

I'll give it a go anyway, since most of the games I'm currently playing are been effected by the lag.

Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.
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Old 18-02-2008, 12:21 AM   #8
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyceum View Post

Lastly, how big does the memory stick for the magic mem stick need to be? Can I use my existing 4gig card then just reformat it and use it as normal?

Thanks for any help.

Any memory stick over 32mb and as long as its a Pro Duo and yes you could use a 4GB and reformat it after although you don't have to you could just use it as normal.

The original easy installer used 3.71-2 firmware I just updated it, I’ll see if I can find the original link, then you can follow my original instructions if it’s easier?
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Old 18-02-2008, 1:28 AM   #9
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Thanks Scotty. Step by step guide was just what I was hoping for, most others assume you have at least some knowledge of what you're doing lol. Being a total noob here, I don't, can't wait till the datel tool arrives and I can get back to 3.71 now.

Thanks.
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Old 18-02-2008, 8:13 AM   #10
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

As you’re already on CFW you can convert your existing battery to a Pandora Battery, flash the PSP with 3.71m33-2 then convert it back to standard, you don’t need a Datel tool
There are a couple of pre requisites you must have a PSP fat and you must have installed the 1.5 add-on

Then
1. The Pandora Software you need is installed with the Easy Installer used to create the magic memory stick
2. Run the Pandora creator from the PSP’s XMB
3. you now have a Pandora Battery
4. Now with your Magic Memory stick re-flash the PSP with 3.71m33-2
5. When flash complete, remover the Pandora battery and connect the mains power supply.
6. Switch on your PSP and it will boot as normal
7. Now insert your Pandora battery and run the application again to covert it back to a normal battery
8. Switch off the PSP and remove the external power supply and reboot
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Old 20-02-2008, 7:42 PM   #11
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Thanks Scotty, thanks to the instructions I'm happily running 3.71 M33 again. Had a few hickups When the PSP first rebooted after flashing, the screen seemed to freeze for a few seconds then the PSP would turn itself off, searched psp hacks and found this solution:

Quote:
After installing the custom firmware to your psp slim, many users are reporting that the psp fails to boot.
To fix this you need to do the following...

* Boot PSP into recovery mode by pressing the R button at startup
* Going to Advanced in recovery mode
* Formatting flash1 and restoring settings
* Your PSP will now boot
That seemed to do the trick, then when I tried to play a game I got a 'Game could not be started 80020321', so more searching lol.

But I got there in the end, thanks to your guide. So thanks, the helps much apprecieted.

Just one more question, my nephew has a phat PSP with 2.xx firmware (I will find out then exact firmware tomorrow), will the same solution work to put 3.71 M33 on his PSP? Or is the process different?

Thanks
Thanks.

Last edited by Lyceum; 20-02-2008 at 7:47 PM.
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Old 20-02-2008, 8:24 PM   #12
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Ok Short answer - Yes, the same process with the Pandora battery and Magic Memory stick will work on ANY PSP to install 3.71 M33-2 cfw.

However with the lower firmwares often there'll be an alternative way. I believe that with OFW lower than 2.8 you'll just need to get a downgrader onto your MMS and go from there. And for ofw's up to 3.50 you can use and unpatched Lumines or GTA:Liberty City Stories to facilitate the downgrading(there's more to this as one game does some fw's and the other the rest).

However as noted this is all surplus to your requirements. Just whack the Pandora battery and MMS into your nephews PSP and away you go. Simple.
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Old 20-02-2008, 11:03 PM   #13
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyceum View Post
Thanks Scotty, thanks to the instructions I'm happily running 3.71 M33 again. Had a few hickups When the PSP first rebooted after flashing, the screen seemed to freeze for a few seconds then the PSP would turn itself off, searched psp hacks and found this solution:



That seemed to do the trick, then when I tried to play a game I got a 'Game could not be started 80020321', so more searching lol.

But I got there in the end, thanks to your guide. So thanks, the helps much apprecieted.

Just one more question, my nephew has a phat PSP with 2.xx firmware (I will find out then exact firmware tomorrow), will the same solution work to put 3.71 M33 on his PSP? Or is the process different?

Thanks
Thanks.
The Pandora way is far the easiest way to get CFW, it doesn’t care what’s already on the PSP it just re-flashes it with the CFW.

In the good old days you could use the Lumines and the GTA LCS trick but this is far more risky and a higher possibility of a bricking, believe me I’ve been there and done it

As for the delete Flash 1 method on the Easy installer it only seems to happen the odd occasion with that version of the installer, something wrong with the registry file I think.
I must admit I didn’t create that one so not sure how he created it, when I get chance I’ll recreate it with a set of clean files.

Glad you got it sorted
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Old 21-02-2008, 11:46 PM   #14
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Re: Noob firmware questions.

Thanks to you both for the help. You probably hear it a lot, but I'm surprised at how easy it actually is once someone explains in noob terms lol.

Thanks.
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