Posted by multippt
Sony UK has recently annouced that they will release firmware 2.10 today. The update is available here.
The update adds a few enhancements:
-Ability to choose “Type 3″ as an option under Bitmapping settings.
-DivX (which is the main feature of the update) and VC-1 support
-Some refinements to Blu-ray features
Posted by multippt
Dark_Alex (yes, the same person who “announced his retirement” a few months ago) has released a new universal unbricker for both the new and old PSPs. This means that you can save your PSP slim as well in the event that you did something you are not supposed to.
The unbricker will downgrade/upgrade your PSP to 3.71 M33 (custom firmware; this firmware works on PSP and PSP slim). You can further downgrade the original PSP (not the PSP slim) using Pandora’s battery. The unbricker makes use of Pandora’s battery.
Note that this unbricker works depending on the extent of bricking. For severe cases where dumping of the original PSP’s firmware is not possible, the PSP still remains bricked. Note that you need an original firmware dump of the PSP; using others will result in a brick. Thus the unbricker should be used with care.
Posted by signup
Like a lightning bolt out of the blue, Team M33 strikes unexpectedly with their fourth update to their very own Custom Firmware 3.52. It’s not as major as the previous one, as it’s mainly a bugfix that takes care of a few nagging issues the team must have missed after they rolled out their highly-anticipated third update. In any case, let’s get to the changelog and see what’s new!
Changes in M33-4 (mainly bugfix)
* Fixed the bug that caused CRC error when writing to flash usb in the XMB. Now writing is OK.
* Added the new speeds to vshmenu and core, because we forgot in recovery.
Also, a few notes from Team M33:
* As we didn’t want to release a new update without something new, we worked in making 3.10/3.11 to work with popsloader, and that’s it, the new popsloader plugins supports them.
* Instruction for 3.10 and 3.11 are same as 3.30: you need pops.prx, popsman.prx and pafmini.prx with the correct names in popsloader directory. And remember that savedata of 3.10-3.30 are incompatiblewith those of 3.40+. We’ll research if a solution for this is possible.
Not a very long list of changes, but very considerate of Team M33 to put out an update so that PSP homebrew enthusiasts would have a better time with their CFW. As usual, please, please, read the relevant readme files included in the zip archive before you do anything. Installing something that tinkers with your PSP’s firmware without the required knowledge and information could result in a bricked handheld, and loss of portable gaming joy. It will not be pretty.
And as always, if you have some cash to spare, why not make a donation to Team M33’s Paypal account? It’d certainly help.
Posted by multippt
Homebrew has pretty much unlocked the PSP and enabled it to be utilized beyond what Sony has ever done. In fact, it is not too surprising that Sony themselves actually got inspired by some things homebrew managed to do, say the RSS feature in firmware 2.60. This time, word has come from the top “wise men” (i.e. the heads) of Sony, that they may allow for homebrew in the future. Quoted from Jack Tretton (top of the top Sony management): “I think it is something that is in the works; We will certainly see some of the stuff that has been done via homebrew, and it’s incredibly creative. I think we’d like to try and tap into that a little bit more.”.
Sony, normally seen as a large antagonist to the homebrew scene, isn’t all that anti-homebrew after all. While they have been releasing patch after patch to stop homebrew in its tracks, they did it to protect the consumer’s precious gadget. Dave Karraker (Senior director of corporate communications with Sony) stated that there is one big problem to overcome before they can enable homebrew - figuring out how to support the new content yet not putting the PSP at risk. After all, “some hacker wants to brick your baby for fun”.
Posted by multippt
Looks like Sony is still keeping up with its firmware updates. With its release of the PS3’s new firmware - 1.90, a PSP update usually follows, and this time its 3.52. This firmware changelog (compared to 3.51) is as followed:
-Increase in performance of PlayStation Network titles (probably)
This update is available from the official Sony Japan site.
*The update, just like the previous firmware 3.51, does not support homebrew.
Posted by signup
French PSP news site PSP-Generation has posted some pretty big news - both good and bad - concerning the PSP homebrew scene.
The bad news is that according to Mathieulh, Dark AleX will not be releasing custom firmware 3.50 OE, so those who have been waiting for it won’t ever get it. The good news is that Dark AleX will be rolling out custom firmware 3.51 OE instead to keep abreast of Sony’s most current firmware version for the PSP handheld system.
There has been no time frame yet for when 3.51 OE will come out, but rest assured that we’ll be reporting it as soon as it does. Keep checking back here for updates. Thanks to bhattsan for the heads-up on this news piece.
Posted by signup
Sony targets Lumines-led loophole with incremental update.
PSP launch title Lumines received an unexpected shot in the arm last week, when it was revealed that the puzzle classic contained an exploit that allowed users to run homebrew applications on the 3.50 system firmware. Amazon.com reported a 5000% increase in sales for the title, and as of press time, it remains the most popular game across all platforms.
However, it may be a short-lived phenomenon, as Sony today released the 3.51 firmware update for the PSP. Next Generation is reporting that the firmware simply overwrites the exploit and adds zero functionality to the system. Until a game is released that requires the 3.51 firmware, users may continue to run 3.50 or whichever iteration currently rests on their handheld.
Those who feel the need to stay current can grab the 3.51 firmware via the Network Update option on the PSP.
