For all you PSP slim experts out there, could I get some help?

Did you purchase Disgaea 2 and Gran Turismo leagally?

Im going to guess its because the firmware for those two games are a one than the one your currently using. (ran into this problem way back when i had one) but i really couldnt tell you for sure since i havent had one since firmware 3.2 ish

What Grisaille said. I had the same issue with my older psp because I added some game illegally. They didn’t work properly and basically ruined my psp. Lesson learned.

I’d suggest poking around on some forums. Heres a good site. But like everyone else said it’s probably a firmware issue. Though I have had this happen to me with some games and it does have the “latest” firmware and other things. Try it with a game you know works before doing anything drastic. GTA Chinatown wars works fine on mine and it’s one of the more recent games out there.

@Grisaille Unfortunately…my answer is no – I did not purchase these games legally. Being a student, and running a tuition tab at approximately $7G a year…I don’t have much left for personal entertainment, sooo…you get the point. (And if anyone’s going to burn me on this issue, please just save it. haha I know its wrong…but sometimes you gotta do, what you gotta do…)

@uberbatman I also highly likely think that it’s a firmware issue, but I don’t know what to do! haha infact, I really dont know the difference between a kernel update, and a firmware update. Upon that, for all the forums I visit, there’s always a criteria for each type of firmware/kernel update, and I never know which one my own PSP falls under (ie. PSP version), so I’m afraid to be messing around with it.

@Haroot Adding the fake game shouldn’t of ruined your PSP. From the readings that I’ve done, highly likely you “bricked” it due to updating your software in the wrong way…(but don’t take my word for it)

@Bugabear Thanks for the site. I’ll poke around later haha I’m hoping that someone here could answer my question so I wouldn’t have to find the answer myself, and still be hesitant to do it

Everything i ever learned about the psp was from this site. Check around on their forums for the solution.

@uberbatman lol Thanks. I’ll look into it when I have time.

By the way, does anyone here own a PSP Go? Is it just me…or…they looks atrocious? lol

@uberbatman +1 for quickjump that’s where I learned all I needed for my PSP.

@allergictoeverything You do realize that Gran Turismo is encrypted and requires 6.00 firmware right? I am not aware of an M33 6.00 CFW yet so I am using 5.50 GEN-B firmware and patched Gran Turismo to run on 5.50 firmware. I can’t say anything for Disgaea 2 but I suspect there is a similar problem. The only problem with this method is that GEN does not allow 1.5 or 2.71 kernel mode so any old homebrew doesn’t work.

@shuttle128 LOL I am so sorry, but I have no idea what you’re saying. Can you explain to me what firmware and kernels are?

Really? Firmware is the proprietary software that Sony uses to run everything on the PSP, it’s sort of like an OS but it goes a bit deeper (firmware is in stalled to your PSP’s flash memory thus it is booted anytime the PSP is started).

A custom firmware (CFW) is a hacked version of Sony’s software that removes restrictions to allow you to use homebrew (a program written by an author that is not authorized by Sony to produce for the PSP) or to play backed up games (games that are copied from the original disc and are read from the Memory Stick) or to tweak the performance of your PSP.

A kernel is the central part to a computing device, it is a software that transmits and translates information between memory, CPU, higher level applications, and hardware interfaces.

The kernel is different for each firmware. Older PSP firmware kernels (1.5 especially) allowed certain exploits to be used in order to execute unsigned code (homebrew). With the newer firmwares Sony eliminated the ability to use these exploits by changing the kernel. In order to play homebrew on a PSP for a long time the only option was to use a PSP with original 1.5 version firmware. Because of this a large majority of homebrew programs were based on the 1.5 kernel. Later on when custom firmwares started becoming popular older kernels were being incorporated into the custom firmwares to allow people to still use the old homebrew that relied on the 1.5 kernel.

Sony combats custom firmware advocates by releasing newer firmware and making new games require this new official firmware. Gran Turismo was released encrypted (a way of making information unreadable except by firmwares that know the code). The 6.00 firmware allows the PSP to interpret the information in the game; however, there is an alternative which is to patch the game by decrypting it so it can be used by the 5.50 firmware.

Only one reliable 5.50 custom firmware exists that I know of. M33 is usually the homebrew team I go to when I want a reliable custom firmware, it is headed by a guy that has been making reliable CFW’s for years. Because M33 is not making a 5.50 or 6.00 CFW the 5.50 GEN custom firmware is all there is right now. 5.50 GEN allows a modded PSP to run decrypted 6.00 games and some homebrew that was made for later kernel versions; however, this CFW doesn’t have the option to install the 1.5 kernel so the old homebrew doesn’t work on it.

I have to ask: How did you get this far without knowing what any of this means? Did someone just give you a modded PSP? Surely you’ve looked into some of this before trying to install and play games on your PSP?

@shuttle128 hahaha Well, first off, I didn’t mod the PSP myself. I live in Toronto, Ontario (Canada), and we’re pretty well known for having…blackmarket stuff. When you buy a PSP, you’re not only paying for the PSP, but the price you pay includes the service of having it modded by a professional – you dont have to do it yourself. AND SO! when I bought my PSP slim, it was ready to play outta the box. All I had to do was download the ISO/CSO’s; link it up with a USB; and stick it in the corresponding folder. Pretty simple stuff. Firmware updates and kernel updates on the other hand, I honestly just kinda fluked. Whenever my games didn’t work, I automatically assumed that it was due to an update in the firmware, ‘cause that’s always what happened with my Nintendo DS (which is alot more simple to update, considering there’s not many versions of the DS). Upon that, it was alot easier to update your PSP back then; you didn’t have much choices to pick from – you either had a PSP fat, or a PSP slim haha. And now there’s SO much more lingo you gotta know, like: the different GENs (generations, I assume?); whether you have a 2000 or 3000; etcetc.