To crack, or not to crack? {PSP advice, please}

By **JVCA**. 09/12/08, 01:57 pm

So, I'm getting a PSP slim and lite for xmas (limited edition Crisis Core psp = love), and I don't know whether or not to get it cracked. I know very little about both what the cracking process involves, as well as what it can achieve. Nor do I really know all that much about what can and can't be done on a non-cracked PSP when compared to a cracked one.

I guess what I'd like to know is information, more than anything else. A little bit of googling reveals lots of jargon, and lots of info about new versions, but it's suprisingly hard to find any layman's terms info on the whole thing. :/

I've bought a few games already (when they were on special - Valkyrie Profile for $15 brand new ftw!), and I plan to buy more games (...when on special, hahah) - the ones I really really want to play, like Disgaea, and War of the Lions - but there are others like FF1, FF2, and Lemmings which I'd like to play but don't really deem worth paying for, so I'd rather download them. I'd also like to be able to watch anime on my psp to keep me occupied on long bus trips from home to uni and back next year.

My questions:
1) What are the advantages of a cracked psp?
2) What are the disadvantages of a cracked psp?
3) What can go wrong when cracking one?
4) Do you need anything special (like a special type of battery?) to crack them? (Keep in mind I'm talking about the slim n lite psp here)
5) I read something about custom firmware meaning that you can't play new umd games (bought ones) because the software wasn't up to date enough - is this true?
6) I read something else (a forum post) saying something along the lines of needing an 8gb memory stick to crack their psp? Did I just misunderstand this or what? Do you have to store the firmware on your memory stick or something?

Okay, I think that's all I have to ask for now. <_> Also: keep in mind this is my first PSP and I've never used one before, so I need info that even the n00biest of n00bs could understand. :3 Thank you!

**Guest** Guest

1 you get your games/movies/hombrew games for free and allows you to run things on it you usually cant
2 it is very illegal other than that none
3 some one walking off with your psp??
4 nope bring your psp to a technician and thats it (you probably want a 4gb memory card cause games are big
5 false
6 no having an8gb means you can store more games though

By Doughtnut_Bandit. 10/12/08, 01:35 am

I Dont advise it as it voids your warrantee and it is highly illegal! If found out you could end up with a $50,000 fine and possibly go to prison. It also means if you do, you wont be connecting it online due to the fact that they can find that out very easily, its the same as a modded xbox 360, they can find out due to online services too.

**Guest** Guest

Doughtnut_Bandit wrote:: I Dont advise it as it voids your warrantee and it is highly illegal! If found out you could end up with a $50,000 fine and possibly go to prison. It also means if you do, you wont be connecting it online due to the fact that they can find that out very easily, its the same as a modded xbox 360, they can find out due to online services too.

not with the new firmware as it is too similar to the psp 3000 firmware. also you can turn the crack on and off very esily. and if you dont walk around saying "hey look i have a chipped psp" no one will care

By Kitten Slave. 10/12/08, 03:28 am

Well, not that Im any authority on the PSP (not being much of a console person myself), but by the sounds of it, chipping only seems to offer the added benefit of being able to run downloaded stuff that is acquired nefariously.
You dont sound like this is your motivation (at least not yet), so I would suggest not rushing ahead and chipping unless you really need to. This is based largely on that I have heard that once chipped, you cant exactly get it unchipped, and if damaged, Im guessing you wont get much warranty if it needs repairs.
You cant put broken eggs back together.
If you decide later to chip it, then cool.

All said, I dont know what the unit can do, but If it cant play anime... Id get it chipped Razz

By IcyRose. 10/12/08, 04:40 am

If you're like my friend who likes pretty much every earlier gen console you can get the PSP to run emulators and effectively make your PSP a GBA, SNES, Mega Drive, PSX, NES and consoles. Other than that, the only other benefit is obviously playing downloaded games and various homebrew programs.

If you want to run videos from your PSP, I'd probably suggest against cracking just because the amount of space the games will take up will probably limit videos quite a bit.

By Doughtnut_Bandit. 11/12/08, 01:25 am

lord balmung wrote:: not with the new firmware as it is too similar to the psp 3000 firmware. also you can turn the crack on and off very esily. and if you dont walk around saying "hey look i have a chipped psp" no one will care

Whats not with the new firmware? Are you saying it doesn't void the warrantee? Because if thats the case you are wrong, I used to work at The Gamesman and we would turn away anything modded or with firmware that is not official.

Also another way you could aquire all the games and thing you like would be saving for them and buying them.

Modding and chipping and downloading are part of the reason they've got so expensive over the years.

By **JVCA**. 11/12/08, 08:28 am

This post contains a long rebuttal aimed at Doughtnut_Bandit. I do actually have other questions in this post, which I'd like answered - if you don't wanna scroll through my rebuttal, scroll down to the dotted line. :3

@Doughtnut_Bandit: He means the online service part. He was saying that the PSP 3000's firmware is similar to the newest custom firmware, so they don't detect that your psp is cracked anymore coz they just think it's a PSP 3000. Or at least I believe that's what he meant.

Games have always been the same price. *shrug* The only thing that has gotten more expensive is the console itself. Also: I know you don't mean to sound condescending with this line: "Also another way you could aquire all the games and thing you like would be saving for them and buying them." but you really do - especially after what I've written in the first post.

JVCA wrote:: I plan to buy more games (...when on special, hahah) - the ones I really really want to play, like Disgaea, and War of the Lions - but there are others like FF1, FF2, and Lemmings which I'd like to play but don't really deem worth paying for, so I'd rather download them.

Ie., there are some games which I'd never pay for, coz I don't think they're worth the price - if I didn't download them, then I just wouldn't ever play them. If I wasn't going to pay for them anyway then what's the loss, really? :/ Worst comes to worst, I play the illegit copy, find out that it was one I'd like to own a legal copy of, and go buy the game. Or I find out that it was one that wasn't worth the money afterall and am glad I didn't waste $80.

And what about things that are out of print, or not available on the PSP console? I'd love to watch anime on it, but I haven't even *seen* anime UMDs around. Lemmings in particular, is an example of an out of print product - I had been eyeing it up at the gamesplanet store (now mightyape) to buy, and they don't sell it any more, so by that logic I couldn't play it even if I was going to pay for it. Same story, different console - FF7 is out of print, but I'd love to play it without spending $100 on a second hand years-old game, and the PSP is a console that that'd work well with.

I find the instant assumption that I'm a giant web-pirate just because I asked for the pros and cons to be very insulting, given that I *am* someone who spends hundreds of dollars on legit games. Just to put this into perspective for you: I don't even *have* the PSP yet, but I've already bought about $200 worth of games for it. I understand that you're passionate about this topic, but that doesn't mean that everyone is a villain. :/ To assume is to make an ass of you and me, as the saying goes.

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With that aside: on the topic at hand - can a non-chipped PSP play video files off the memory stick? Because that's probably the biggest thing for me - being able to watch anime on it on the bus to and from Uni next year. (grah, two hours of bussing every day. <_>)

Also - on the non-cracked topic - Do I need to get a memory card reader to stick music on my memory card/s, or does the psp come with a cable? :) As I said, I know nothing about the PSP other than the fact that I want to play a lot of the games on it. XD

Thank you for your replies so far, by the way. :)

By IcyRose. 11/12/08, 11:06 am

Yes a PSP can play mp4s straight off the memory stick naturally. It can also play music and store images. You do not need to crack it to do so. If you're wondering how to get other video files to play on the PSP there are plenty of programs available on the net to convert avis or other files into mp4

Also you can hook up your computer to a usb drive of your computer. But you'll need to get the usb cable yourself.

By **JVCA**. 11/12/08, 02:30 pm

Ah, okay. I have a program to convert avi's to mp4s already, so that's that sorted.

What sort of issues do the PSPs generally come across that might mean I need to get it repaired? How likely is it that I'll need my warranty, is what I'm asking, I guess, hahah.

At the moment I don't know that I will get it cracked - at the very least, not straight away - the anime issue was the biggest one for me. But I'm still interested in hearing more about it. *looks ponderous*

By IcyRose. 11/12/08, 03:02 pm

I haven't had any issues with the PSP itself, don't think any of my friends have had any either, the only issues I've seen are from the memory stick itself, apparently a couple of my friends had bad memory sticks which corrupted their save data and such. Although it might have also been related to a bad crack. (There's a con against it I suppose) I can't really remember.

By creature124. 11/12/08, 04:34 pm

Okay, quasi-expert here. I know the process, tho not how it all works per-se.

1) Emulate almost anything less powerful than a PS2. I only have experience with PS1, but I have seen working installations of many other platforms. Also, the ability to play ISO's of downloaded UMDs. In general, the custom firmware (henceforth reffered to as cfw) is more flexible, as rather than a whole new firmware it is more akin to an unlocked version of the offical firmware (henceforth referred to as ofw).

2) I have noticed that a few of the picture zooming functions have disappeared. Not sure, why, but I would assume theu will be added in with later releases of the firmware. Once its in, its dead easy to update, so thats no issue. Also, this will void your warranty, so dont break it ^_^ As far as I know, this process is irreversable, and sony will not service a psp with cfw. There may be away to but the ofw back on before sending it in (hence avoiding getting caught) but I have no experience and have done no research on the fact.

3) Irreversablity aside, nothing. I have unbricked PSP's on which the firmware was totally broken (wouldn't even boot up) in the past, so even if the process is interupted midway or somesuch, I can just start over with no issues. Of course, I can make no guarantees, but I see no possiblity for failure.

4) The process (at least the process I use) needs a modded battery to unlock the service menu and allow access to the PSP's internal flash memory. Once the process is done, it can be played on a normal battery. I have a modded battery for the PSP phat (the original size), and it fits in my slim just fine (tho the cover wont close of course), and is totally fine for the process. I have no idea about the PSP 3000, but then, I don't know anything about them or if there is even cfw available for them yet (are they even out? I dont know).

5) I too have read this, but have never experienced it myself. However, when such an incompatablity is found, it always the first priority for the devs, so chances are you wont be stuck for long. I have yet to see a game that needs firmware so close to the bleeding edge that the cfw wont play it, but I believe there have been/are cases of this.

6) Total crock. I crack PSP's with my 1GB (which is used almost exclusivley for that purpose, since I ahve invested in a 4GB in the US). The cfw is stored on the PSP's internal flash, same place where the PSP's ofw would normally reside. It will work independant of memory sticks (though most emulators and the like require you have files on the memory sticks to operate, that is a seperate issue)

(The follow questions and subsequent answers were derived from a msn convo between JVCA an me)

7) "How do you use it?"
Every different thing that cfw allows has its own method to setup and access, but in general:
-Downloaded UMD Isos need to be placed on the memory card in the PSP -> GAME directory. You may need to create this folder. Once they are there, you can run them on the PSP by scrolling down to Memery Card on the Game menu on the XMB, then choosing from the list of games you have insalled. This process also works for popsloader (my PS1 emulator of choice) once the emulator has been installed (which is a whole process in itself, I wont cover that here).
-Most Emulators/Homebrew have good documentation on how to set them up included in the readme files. If they do not then A) The people who released the package are idiots and B) Look for doco on the internet or c) give me a buzz and I might be able to muddle my way through it. You begin to develop a feel for this kind of thing if you muck around with them long enough ^_^

For all standard functions, it operates just like a normal PSP. Same old XMB, all new power ^_^

8 ) "Can you turn it on and off?"
As far as I know the process is irreversable, though I could be wrong as I have never looked into it. Even if it is reversable, it would not be a simple on/off switch, it would involve breaking out the modded battery again etc. The plugins and emulators you install on cfw can be turned on and off easily enough, but the switch between firmwares, if even possible, would not be nearly so simple.

Also, when it comes to watching anime and such on your PSP, it must first be converted to a size/codec that the PSP likes. Thereare numerous ways of doing this, and many applications to do it with. I wont go into that here though, thispost is long enough as it is ^_^ If I recall, an average 25 min ep of anime re-encoded to h264 is between 100 and 150 MB, tho im a little vague on those numbers as it has been a little while since I did it.

Any other questions, just ask, and I will answer as best I can ^_^

By Yami. 11/12/08, 05:52 pm

^
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and this is the story behind him being called the dark master

By **JVCA**. 11/12/08, 05:59 pm

xDDD Admittedly this thread was just one giant bait to get him to answer my Qs. XD

By Doughtnut_Bandit. 12/12/08, 06:09 am

JVCA wrote:: Games have always been the same price. *shrug* The only thing that has gotten more expensive is the console itself. Also: I know you don't mean to sound condescending with this line: "Also another way you could aquire all the games and thing you like would be saving for them and buying them." but you really do - especially after what I've written in the first post.

That wasn't aimed at you, sorry about that. That was for Lord Balmung.

I would never assume someone is a pirate, espcially someone just enquiring about something. Asking never made me think you'd do it.

I apologise. (small note, I'm not on the forums much, hence why my posts will be few and far between)

By **JVCA**. 12/12/08, 06:16 am

It's alright - admittedly I think I may have taken it a bit too personally, hahah. *feels somewhat sheepish now* So no worries. n_n chuu~!

On the topic at hand, I think I'm probably going to give my psp a test drive first, and then maybe after a month of so decide whether or not to get it cracked. :3 Thanks for all the help, guys! Very Happy

By Doughtnut_Bandit. 12/12/08, 06:37 am

No problems =D

Thats probably the best way to go about it, good luck with it!

By creature124. 12/12/08, 08:24 am

You made JVCA rage. You should be proud of yourself. Thats no mean feat.

By iwuvanime. 31/12/08, 10:10 am

I have my two cents to add to this and here it is.

First of all I would like to say that I have a PSP and it was cracked/hacked *gasp* but I was not one of those people who went and downloaded every game I ever wanted.

The reason I got mine hacked was because I was able to get emulators on it and play the games I used to own on old old olllllllllldddddd system (hell yeah for Original Sega Sonic).

Yes it does void you warrenty but I didn't really worry about that considering when I had it done I only had a month left of warrenty anyways. Yes things can go wrong and you can be left with a very expensive paperweight but this can be reversed.

and heres the thing some people may not know. Yes is can be reversed O_O as I said mine used to be hacked, but it's not anymore. I only ever downloaded one game I didn't own the original of and that was Disgaea:Afternoon of Darkness (though I do own the PS2 version XD). Now when I went and bought an original copy (like the good little girl I am) I wasn't able to play it as I had to update my system to the latest firmware and that my friends is how you unhack your PSP XD so Poof no more Sonic for Me sad

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