PSP firmware 2.71 can now emulate Firmware 1.5

[Hoagie_one]

It's not a complete downgrade, but emulates it

Details here

[Hoagie_one]

Update

Now if you have 1.5, you can emulate 2.71 and still runhomebrew right in the 2.71 XMB instead of booting back to 1.5

[pointdablame]

Update

Now if you have 1.5, you can emulate 2.71 and still runhomebrew right in the 2.71 XMB instead of booting back to 1.5

great news.. I'll have to give that a shot later on today.

[ChadTower]

That's mighty circuitous... downgrading the bios only to emulate a later version of the bios.   

[pointdablame]

That's mighty circuitous... downgrading the bios only to emulate a later version of the bios.   

You don't have to downgrade in order to use this.  There are 2 different announcements in the thread.   The first allows you to downgrade a 2.71 PSP to 1.5.

The second just says that you can now emulate 2.71 on a 1.5 PSP, but still load homebrew through kernel mode like you do in 1.5.  It's not "emulating" 1.5 in the emulated 2.71... it's just added the 1.5 functionality to the 2.71 DevHook.

[TapeWurm]

How realistic is bricking? As in, how often would this occur, do u think, on average?

[pointdablame]

How realistic is bricking? As in, how often would this occur, do u think, on average?

Going solely on what I've read online.... next to never.

The only time I've heard of the PSP bricking is when the battery died mid-flash (which is why its recommended that you plug in your power adapter), and by someone who had literally flashed and reflashed the PSP quite a few times... dozens, if not 100 times.

It really shouldn't be much of a concern.  Plug yourself in and make sure your battery is charged.  Beyond that, just don't keep upgrading and downgrading, and you will be fine.  Plus, nowadays, there really is no reason to upgrade/downgrade anymore like previously... so once you're at 1.5, you shouldn't ever have to upgrade/downgrade back to 1.5 again.

[ChadTower]

And does it really become a brick?  Wouldn't you just be able to replace the bios chip?  Or is it surface mounted?

[pointdablame]

And does it really become a brick?  Wouldn't you just be able to replace the bios chip?  Or is it surface mounted?

It can be fixed using the modchip that was announced, but I'm unsure how easy/plausible it would be to replace the chip.

[ChadTower]

Any chip can be replaced.  The issue would be how good a person has to be to replace it.

Or if it's a high # of pads surface mount chip, which would mean how much $$ in equipment do you need to have.

[Hoagie_one]

It would be easier to attach the mod chip with its $90 price tag and 24 solder points than to desolder the chip and solder a new one, me thinks

[ChadTower]

Depends how many solder points the original chip has.

[Samstag]

It's a custom BGA chip with RAM and NAND flash.

If you can find a replacement you still need to be able to solder/desolder BGA devices.  They're surface-mount chips with the contacts under the device.


[from wikipedia]

[ChadTower]

Modchip it is, then. 

[horseboy]

Modchip it is, then. 

Pansy.

[ChadTower]

If there are pads away from the edge then it's not even possible to manually solder those chips.

[Samstag]

New BGA chips have solder-balls on all the contact points.  You'd need to clean the board up and provide a flat surface for the new chip, then put it exactly in place and stick it in an oven.

Judging by the low percentage of people using the modchip or willing to do installs I think it's extremely difficult to do at home also.  The best option is to get a 1.5 PSP.  They're fairly cheap and plentiful right now.  Certainly cheaper than paying for a modchip and professional install.  With a 1.5 you can run any homebrew, games, and movies available at the moment.  The only risk of bricking is if you start screwing around with customized firmware flashing.

Also don't forget to pick up the latest version of my Vectrex emulator. 

[Hoagie_one]

Updated this mod to revision C

Now it can run not kernal Static Elf files (i.e,most homebrew)

[Hoagie_one]

Now you can downgrade a 2.71 firmware to any firmware you choose now.

Unless you have one of the TA-082 MoBo's, then you can only go back to 2.5 without bricking your PSP.

[Goz]

So now all the TA-082 owners wait for a way to run home brew on a 2.5

[richms]

If you brick one and its still in warentee then just stun gun all the accessable contacts so it ends up totally dead and then return it... Not that I would ever do something like that myself

[Samstag]

So now all the TA-082 owners wait for a way to run home brew on a 2.5

I think now they upgrade to 2.71 instead.  There's a new custom version of the firmware that seems to run everything a 1.5 can.  I'm not sure if I have that right or what limitations there may be.  I have a 1.5 so I don't pay much attention to higher stuff.

[DYNAGOD]

theres indeed a modified 2.71 firmware that has a 1.5 kernal, however it WILL still BRICK a TA-082.

[Hoagie_one]

Yeah, those TA082 people are still waiting.  Wont be long though.  I'm sure some hacker will get it all worked out