Custom Theme for 3.71 M33

An interesting custom theme that I've found for custom firmware 3.71 M33: Mini Lines.

This theme looks a lot different from the other PTF themes that are available. While the XMB layout is still the same, the use of words as icons gives the XMB a very minimalistic feel.

IMPORTANT:
This theme can be used with cXMB, or it can be flashed straight to flash0. Installing straight to flash0 can only be done on 3.71 M33-2! On 3.71 M33 files flashed to the PSP will end up corrupted, which will probably brick your PSP. Once again, only flash to your PSP if you are on 3.71 M33-2!

For cXMB, make a folder "cxmb" in the root of your memory stick. Inside it, make a "vsh" folder, and inside the "vsh" folder, make a "resource" folder. It should look like this: ms0:/cxmb/vsh/resource. Place the RCO files inside that directory and you're good to go. The PNG files can be placed into your ms0:/PICTURE or ms0:/PSP/PHOTO folders and set as wallpaper.

Also, cXMB v2.5 has been released. It now features support for 3.71 M33. cXMB is a custom plugin, so install it the same way you would for any other custom plugin. Remember to enable it in the recovery menu.

Get the Mini Lines custom theme: Removed by MediaFire
Updated cXMB - v2.5: Download

PSP's Directory Structure Explained

Are you a new user of custom firmware? Baffled by the many different folders available on your memory stick? Fret not, I've put together a short and simple guide to explain to you the folders and their uses.

if you don't have the default set of folders on your memory stick, simply format your memory stick using your PSP. Go to Settings > System Settings > Format Memory Stick. ALL DATA WILL BE LOST, so remember to make a backup before formatting. You can still continue reading this guide without formatting your memory stick, just take note of the folders you want and create them manually on your memory stick.

Connect your PSP to your computer now, or insert your memory stick into your card reader. If you've formatted your memory stick via the PSP, the default folders should have been created, and it should look something like this:

ISO: Your PSP games go into this folder. Acceptable formats are ISO and CSO. Simply put the whole file inside this folder, and the game will be available from the GAME menu on the PSP.

MP_ROOT: Your MP4 videos have to be placed into this folder. Only then will you be able to play them from the VIDEO menu on the PSP. It's subdivided into two folders inside, but more on this later.

MUSIC: All music files should be put here if you want to play them via the MUSIC menu on the PSP. You can organise your music files in folders as well, but only one level of folders is allowed. The PSP can only play MP3, MP4, ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus, WAV and WMA formats only, so check before you place music onto your PSP.

Acceptable sub-folders: 1 level only

2 levels of sub-folders is not allowed

PICTURE: You can place picture files here for viewing in the PHOTO menu on the PSP. The PSP can only read JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF and BMP formats, so make sure you have converted your pictures to these formats before you attempt to view them. This folder supports up to one level of sub-folders, just like the MUSIC folder.

PSP: This folder contains homebrew, saved games and browser data. It'll be covered in more detail below.

seplugins: Plugins for custom firmware go inside this folder. I've already covered installing plugins in a previous post, so refer there to learn more.

VIDEO: This folder is supposed to be able to play videos, but if you've converted your videos to MP4 format using software like PSP Video 9 or 3GPConverter, they won't work in this folder. I advise you leave this folder alone and just use the folders in MP_ROOT.

MEMSTICK.IND & MSTK_PRO.IND: These files are created when you format your memory stick with the PSP. You can either leave them there, or delete them. As far as I know, they don't affect the operation of the memory stick with the PSP.

Now let's get back to the MP_ROOT folder:

Inside the MP_ROOT folder, you'll see two other folders, 100MNV01 and 101ANV01. Regular MP4 videos go into the 100MNV01 folder, while AVC-encoded videos go into 101ANV01. If you're not sure which format your MP4 is encoded in, just try putting them into 100MNV01. More often than not it should work, else just simply move them over to the 101ANV01 folder. Videos have to be named like this: M4Vxxxxx.MP4 for regular MP4 videos and MAQxxxxx.MP4 for AVC-encoded videos, where xxxxx is any 5-digit number.

You can sub-divide your videos into different folders as well. Simply create new folders in this format: xxxMNV01 for regular MP4 videos and xxxANV01 for AVC-encoded videos, with xxx as any 3-digit number.

Lastly, the PSP folder. This contains the most sub-folders as compared to the others:

GAME, GAME150 and GAME3xx: These folders are reserved for homebrew and PSX games. Homebrew in GAME will be executed using the kernel set in the recovery menu, while homebrew in GAME150 and GAME3xx will be executed using 1.50 kernel and 3.xx kernel respectively.

COMMON: You can use this folder to store portal pages for your PSP. Portal pages are just HTML pages that have been put together for viewing on the PSP.

PHOTO: This folder can store picture files as well. You can choose to put your pictures in either this folder or the PICTURE folder. Like the MUSIC and PICTURE folder, the PHOTO folder also accepts one level of sub-folders.

SAVEDATA: As the name implies, this folder stores all your saved data for PSP and PSX games. Each save data is stored in its own folder, with the game ID as the folder name.

SYSTEM: In here, you will find a file ISOCACHE.BIN and another folder, BROWSER. ISOCACHE.BIN stores the names of the ISOs available on your memory stick, allowing them to be displayed faster in the GAME menu. In the BROWSER folder, you will find files that store your browser history, as well as bookmarks.

These are the basic folders, but there are actually more folders that can be accessed on the PSP. I won't be covering them here, instead I'll just give a brief overview.

PSP/SYSTEM/RSSCH: You can find RSS channels that you have subscribed to here. The folder will be created automatically once you subscribe to your first RSS Channel.

PSP/MUSIC: This folder works the same as the MUSIC folder in the root of your memory stick, but it's been removed from the default folders.

DCIM/101MSDCF: This will create a "Digital Camera Images" under the PHOTO menu on your PSP. You can copy images from your digital camera straight to this folder and be able to view it on the PSP. The images have to follow this strict naming format: DSCxxxxx.JPG, where xxxxx can be any 5-digit number.

Now that you know how to use the different folders, try playing around with them and maximize the full potential of the PSP!

Silent Hill: Origins (Demo) Review

I've just tried out the demo of Silent Hill: Origins, and I'm quite pleased with this PSP version. Set before the original Silent Hill game, Origins will explain to the player how Silent Hill became the creepy place it is now. You control Travis Grady, a trucker who saved a girl from a burning house when he made a pit stop at Silent Hill. The demo throws you straight into the hospital, where Travis goes to find out what happened to the girl he saved last night.

Along the way, he meets a rather shady doctor, who suspiciously deflect his questions and hurries off without giving Travis an answer. Travis follows the doctor to the second floor, where he finds a portal to the alternate world via the mirror in the operating room.

The portal to the alternate world

With frequent traveling between the two worlds required, the developers have made sure to include different visual effects for both worlds, so as to be able to tell them apart. Here are two shots of the same room in the two worlds.

In the normal world


In the alternate world

As you can see, the normal world looks normal, of course. The alternate world, however, is mostly covered in a blood-red visual effect, adding to the eeriness of this game. In fact, a tip at the start of the game advises you to play this game using headphones and with the lights off. With the superb background music and spooky visuals, it's got to be one gaming experience you'll never forget.

If you thought monsters were only found in the alternate world, think again. Your very first monster encounter in the game happens right in the normal world.

That's one freaky nurse

Combat in Silent Hill: Origins is a very simplified process. Equip your weapon in the menu, hold R-trigger to make Travis enter combat stance, and press Cross to swing your weapon/fists. There is an automatic target lock-on so you don't need to mess around with complicated targeting controls. In this demo there's only a limited choice of weapons, such as the sledgehammer and scapel. Weapons also break after a limited number of uses, so you might have to count on your trusty fists most of the time.

Yes, a TV is a weapon too

Once the enemy is down, it'll continue writhing on the floor until you go up to it and finish it off. Do remember to do this for all enemies, else they'll get up after a while and come back to hunt you down.

Finish off the monsters...


...else they'll come back to haunt you

The audio in this game is done up quite nicely, with appropriate music to build up the atmosphere of spookiness as you move around in-game. For example, the buildup of the drum and bass as you approach the elevator at the start of the game. Visuals in this game really bring out the full experience of Silent Hill, with your flashlight lighting up the dim corridors and casting realistic shadows on every object. Frame rate remained constant throughout the demo, with no noticeable slowdowns.

Notice the excellent lighting effects

In this short demo of about 30 minutes, Origins has given us a pretty good glimpse of what to expect in the full version, due to be released in about a week's time. With monsters showing up at unexpected corners, baffling puzzles to be solved, and an air of mystery around the place, Silent Hill is all set to give players an experience they'll never forget.

Making ISOs Smaller: Part One

Welcome to Part One of Making ISOs Smaller. As you know, PSP games can be up to 1.80GB in size, as that's the maximum capacity of the UMD disc. For people with only 1GB MSPDs, it's impossible to squeeze those larger games, like Crisis Core or DJ Max Portable 2, onto the memory stick. Hence, I'm here to share with you ways of shrinking the size of the ISO, so that you can fit more games onto your memory stick.

The simplest way is via compression. Normally, when you rip a UMD, you'll get a ISO. This ISO can actually be further compressed to another format called CSO and still run on the PSP, allowing you to save precious space on your memory stick.

Yet Another CSO Compressor

One program I recommend is Yet Another CSO Compressor. This program allows you to compress ISO to CSO and decompress CSO to ISO. While it also supports DAX and JSO format, those formats are no longer able to be used under the latest custom firmware.

YACC also supports the use of CISOPlus!, which has additional benefits over the normal CSO compressor by Booster. It supports multithreading for those with dual-core CPUs, as well as non compressed (NC) areas for video and audio, which was available in the DAX compression method. Sometimes putting video and audio into the NC areas help to speed up certain games, but most of the time you can just compress everything and still run the game without problems.

The CSO compression method works two ways. First, it removes all the excess padding in between the files. On a UMD, data on the outside of the disc is read faster than on the inside. Game developers used to put lots of empty space in the front of the disc, so as to push all the data to the outside edge of the disc and improve read timings. On the memory stick, we no longer need this padding. In fact, this excess padding is taking up our valuable storage space! CSO compression will eliminate this padding to zero, potentially reducing the size of the ISO by as much as 50%.

Secondly, CSO compression compresses the files inside the ISO, much like how WinRAR or WinZIP compresses files. The compression rate depends largely on the type of the files. Generally, video files (PMF) and audio files (AT3) compress much less than other files in the ISO image.

With a combination of the two methods above, CSO compression is able to compress your ISOs into a much smaller file to save you space on your memory stick. Here are some figures to illustrate my point.

Jackass
Original size - 1.80GB
CSO size - 700+MB

Test Drive Unlimited
Original size - 1.40GB
CSO size - 800+MB

DJ Max Portable 2
Original size - 1.60GB
CSO size - 1.40+GB

As you can see, the compression rate varies among games. DJ Max Portable 2 contains a lot of video and audio files, hence the compression rate was much lower than the other games.

Here's another problem: What if you have a 1GB MSPD, and the game in CSO format is still larger than 1GB?

Answer: You've got to rip some files from the ISO.

I'll be covering ripping of ISOs in my next part.

Start compressing your ISOs with YACC: Download

Despertar del Cementerio V3 Released

Dark_Alex has released another update for Despertar del Cementerio, bringing the current version to V3. For those who don't know what this is, it's the Universal Unbricker for both the old PSP and the PSP Slim.

Not only does it install 3.71 M33-2 straight, it also displays text on the screen for the PSP Slim! Dark_Alex has coded a display driver to support the PSP Slim in the mixed 1.50/3.40 kernel, so there's no need for guesswork while using it on the PSP Slim.

For those who don't know the significance of this, this is one step towards unlocking the 1.50 kernel on the PSP Slim. We all thought it was impossible, but Dark_Alex has proven us wrong once again.

Installation instructions are the same as the previous release, so please refer back to my earlier post.

Get it now: Download

CWCheat v0.1.9 Rev F Released

Another version of CWCheat has been released by weltall, bringing the latest version to Revision F. This version now comes with support for the latest custom firmware, 3.71 M33. Here's a complete changelog for Revision F:

[ALL] Added support for 3.71 M33 firmware
[ALL] added prxes for the 3.71 M33 kernel lite and full for pops and game. Also an iRShell one, although iRShell is not available right now. For 1.50 homebrews use the prx for 3.52 M33 even if on 3.71 kernel.
[GAME] fixed a little glitch in the function checking the code type if pointer codes were used. Now the pointer codes will work also if not alone in the db
[ALL] Removed a delay in the manual cheat apply which resulted in the application waiting 30 seconds before letting the user gaining back control
[ALL] Reworked operations being made just before PSP reboot (eg: home menu exit). This avoided crashes during this procedure as seen in the betas for 3.71
[PACKAGE] Added an MS_ROOT_371 for easy installation on 3.71+ firmware
[PACKAGE] now the prx for the various firmwares are on the 3.60- and 3.71+ folders

Most of the changes probably don't affect the normal user, but what's good is the 2 folders made for installing CWCheat on PSPs with firmware 3.60 M33 and below, and on PSPs with firmware 3.71 M33 and above. Users with 3.60 M33 and below are to use the files inside the "MS_ROOT" folder, while users with 3.71 M33 and above are to use the files inside the "MS_ROOT_371" folder.

I'm also taking this chance to share with you the cheat db download homebrew. This can be found in the package as well, in the folder "dbdownload". Place that folder into your GAME folder and run the homebrew from the GAME menu to download the latest cheat db from CWCheat's website. Of course, you will need access to the Internet for this to work.

Latest version of CWCheat: Download

Problems with 3.71 M33

Many people have been facing problems with the latest 3.71 M33 custom firmware, from bricks to their Wifi malfunctioning. This is not an indication that 3.71 M33 is unstable. There is no such thing as unstable firmware. If the firmware was truly unstable, then your PSP would be doing things like shutting down and rebooting randomly. Instead, all these things are just bugs in the code.

For example, there was a chance of bricking when installing 3.71 M33. People reported bricks on entering the Settings menu after they had just installed 3.71 M33. This bug was easily fixed by simply restoring default settings before you updated your PSP.

One bug that I've seen many people complain about is their Wifi breaking down on installing 3.71 M33. Unfortunately, this is a bug even on official Sony firmware, so we can only wait for Sony to fix it, before we can possibly get a fix for it in the next custom firmware update.

Note that this is a very interesting bug, as only some people encounter it. Most people have no problems with their Wifi even after updating to 3.71 M33. If you're using the old PSP, you might want to try updating first, since you can still go back to 3.52 M33-4 if you wish to. For PSP Slim users, I don't think it's possible to go back to 3.60 M33 from 3.71 M33, so think before making your choice.

If you still have an old PSP, I'd recommend you remain at 3.52 M33-4 for now, until the bugs in 3.71 M33 have been ironed out. If you have a PSP Slim, stick to 3.60 M33. Of course, if you have updated your PSP Slim to 3.70 or 3.71, or you've bricked it, the Universal Unbricker will automatically install 3.71 M33, so you don't have a choice there. Not to mention the fantastic custom theme support on 3.52 M33-4 which isn't available on 3.60 M33 and up.

Is your PSP fine after updating to 3.71 M33? Or did your Wifi stop working? Please leave your comments here!

TV-Out on the PSP Slim

Here's some background information on the TV-Out feature that's available on the Sony PSP Slim. As you all know, one of the new features available on the Slim is the ability to output videos, pictures and games on a TV set, using a TV-Out cable that's sold separately.

However, what Sony conveniently forgot to mention is the fact that the choice of TV-Out cable is important. Here's three TV-Out cables that are currently available in Singapore.

Component cable

AV Cable

S-Video Cable

All three cables allow you to output pictures, videos and music to your TV set, but here's the difference: Only the component cable will allow you to output PSP Games to your TV screen. The AV cable and S-Video cable will not let you play games on your TV.

This means you'll need a TV with component input to be able to play your games on your TV! At least an Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV) or High Definition TV (HDTV) is needed so as to be able to use the component cables. Sony wants the graphics to look its best even on the TV, hence this requirement for a good TV before games can be displayed on the TV.

So if you have an old-school TV, like me, take note that you won't be able to play your games via TV-Out until you get a newer TV with component input.

Memory Stick Testers

Have you always wondered how fast your memory stick truly is? With these 2 memory stick testers, you can finally have a gauge of how fast your memory stick is compared to others.

First up, we have PSXReality's MStick Tester.

This homebrew tests your memory stick's read and write speeds for different file sizes up to 20MB. As such, the benchmarking will take up to 5 minutes to finish. Different file sizes are written and read for a few times to get an average, which supposedly makes the test more accurate.

At the end of the tests, the results are plotted onto a graph, showing you the read and write speeds for your memory stick over the different file sizes.

PSXReality's MStick Tester has a very mathematical feel to it, with all the number calculations and graphs. While it offers detailed statistics, it might be hard to compare it with the performance of other memory sticks at a glance. Still, it's a good homebrew to have if you're very particular about the exact read and write speeds of your memory stick.

Secondly, we have blackSPEED v2.

blackSPEED v2 is a simpler homebrew than PSXReality's one. Instead of a long list of numbers and graphs, blackSPEED simply compares the performance of your memory stick using a simple scale. The speed of a 32MB Sony memory stick is given 100 points on a Performance Index, and the performance of your memory stick will be compared to that and given points accordingly. So if the Performance Index of your memory stick is 200, it has double the read and write speed of a Sony 32MB memory stick.

Compared to PSXReality's MStick Tester, blackSPEED v2 is a lot simpler and cuts out all the figures, giving you an easy to read Performance Index instead. This makes it easier for comparison between different memory sticks. Testing time is only about 15 seconds, which comes in handy if you need a quick calculation for a memory stick.

If you want to get a screenshot of your results, for PSXReality's MStick Tester, press SELECT to save a screenshot. In blackSPEED v2, just leave it there for a while when done, then press Cross and it should save a screenshot as well. Both applications also generate a log file in the root of your memory stick, which contains the numerical figures for the tests.

Generally, expect Sandisk memory sticks to be faster than Sony ones, even if the Sony ones are High Speed. That's why I'll recommend you get a Sandisk MSPD for your PSP to minimise lags when loading games, as well as to be able to transfer games over in a shorter time. Also, plugins may have problems loading if it's a big plugin (like CWCheat) and you have a slow memory stick.

Here's the results from my 4GB Sandisk MSPD on both applications, just for comparison with your MSPD's performance. If you want to contribute a picture of your MSPD's performance, just email it to me and I'll put it up.

My 4GB Sandisk on PSXReality's MStick Tester


My 4GB Sandisk on blackSPEED v2

Get PSXReality's MStick Tester: Download
Or go for blackSPEED v2: Download

3.71 M33-2 and 1.50 Addon v2 Released!

Edit: Slight updates to the instruction for 1.50 Addon v2

Great news! Dark_Alex has released an update for his 3.71 M33 custom firmware, as well as the 1.50 kernel addon for old PSPs! This release brings the latest custom firmware version to 3.71 M33-2, correcting some bugs that were present in the previous release.

Here are the updates in 3.71 M33-2:

1. There was a bug that caused corruption when writing files of more than 32256 bytes using usb flash. The bug has been corrected, and now the implementation is as reliable as it was when it was based on 1.50 kernel. (tested with a full restoration of a dump)
2. Psp Slim: a functionality to let the charge of battery when connecting a usb cable has been added. This feature is based on Noobz plugin code. By default is not enabled, you can enable it in recovery. Note that the charge of battery may be delayed some seconds since the moment you plug the cable.
3. After installing this update, program at /PSP/GAME/UPDATE will always be executed on 3.71 kernel, despite configuration.
4. VSHMenu: vshmenu will not be executed when onscreen keyboard is active, to avoid the lost of the select button function in the keyboard.
5. An option to reset the psp has been added.
6. VSH plugins are not longer executed anymore in recovery mode, that was the cause of pseudo-bricks.

Here are the updates for 1.50 Addon v2:

1. When returning from sleep mode, 3.71 ipl was executed causing an inmediate crash. Fixed.

There are still two bugs remaining, however:

The WLAN network error, and the PSP Slim psx game change of brightness.
These two bugs are copyright of Sony :) happens too in OFW.

The WLAN network happens when there is no network available, so it's not a big problem.

Installation Instructions for both
A fat PSP with 3.71 M33
OR
A PSP slim with 3.71 M33
Official Sony 1.50 firmware file.

1. If you have the 1.50 kernel addon (old PSP), ensure that the kernel of the GAME folder has been set to 3.71, else you will not be able to run this homebrew.
2. Copy the files to /PSP/GAME/UPDATE and run it.
3. To install the 1.50 Addon v2, you need to extract the 1.50 firmware update EBOOT to the root of your memory stick and rename it "150.PBP".

Get M33-2 Update: Download
Get 1.50 Addon v2: Download

Jackass: The Game Review

It's unlikely that there'll be another TV show or movie based around Jackass, but the series lives on thanks to a new PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable video game. Developed by the New Zealand outfit Red Mile Entertainment, the game features 35 minigames based around various Jackass stunts, all of which star the voices and likenesses of the ragtag bunch themselves. We sat down with the PSP version at this year's Leipzig Games Convention to find out if this tie-in can retain the indie cool of the original series.

The single-player game breaks its stunts down into a series of episodes, all of which are presented in the same manner as the TV show. This will take the form of the MTV Story Mode, with seven episodes and 35 stunts in total. The majority of stunts are based on famous video games including Road Rash, Duck Hunt, and even Katamari Damacy. Each stunt has five separate objectives. Complete three of them and you'll progress to the next level; complete all five and you'll open up bonus content. You can usually complete two or three in a single go, but opening up the rest will take at least a couple more tries.

The first game we saw involved rolling Steve-O in a trash can down a San Francisco street. The idea is to perform stunts while missing the oncoming traffic, the success of which is shown by cuts and scratches to Steve-O's face in the bottom corner of the screen. As if that wasn't enough, there's a time limit to contend with as well, meaning that you have to keep up the pace while pulling off tricks and avoiding injury. Failure is as much a part of the game as it is the series though, so you can choose to perform a spectacular bail at any time to lose the challenge but hopefully still win some points.

Our preview session also revealed a few more of the stunts from the finished game. Jackass wouldn't be Jackass without someone eating raw eggs and throwing up into a bucket, so this game is included for the sake of completeness. There's also a game where Steve-O is rolled down a snow-capped mountain to become a giant human snowball, and one where you fire paintballs at a topless Knoxville on a spinning wheel. Our favourite, though, was a game of trolley dash where you race the guys down a San Francisco hill, smacking them in the face along the way.

The creators of the series were apparently reluctant to get involved with the game, but as it progressed they gave more and more direction to the team in order to stay true to the license. For example, Steve-O indicated a couple of changes to his character's tattoos, and was also involved in picking bands as The Datsuns for the soundtrack. All the main cast apart from Bam Margera have contributed voices to the game, too, so the intros and outros feel genuinely authentic throughout. The motion-capture work has been handled by Oscar winners and fellow New Zealand outfit WETA Digital.

Pictures of loading screens

The PlayStation Portable version will differ slightly from the PlayStation 2. First of all, there'll be a director mode that will allow players to create their own machinima-style animations. The characters in the game can be manipulated both physically and vocally, allowing you set up a variety of different situations to commit to virtual film. You can then save these files to a memory card, transfer them to a PC, and theoretically upload them to the Net from there. The team also hopes to provide post-release downloadable content for the PSP version of the game.

While we only got to preview the PSP version of Jackass: The Game, both versions will be hitting store shelves in November. From what we've seen, the game looks to have accurately retained the feel of the show while adding some clever gameplay elements that should be familiar to seasoned gamers. We'll see how well Knoxville and the gang hold up in our full review later in the year.

-Gamespot

There is definitely lots of slapstick humor in Jackass, so for players that don't appreciate this brand of humor, you might wish to stay away from this game. With only 35 episodes in total, you might finish this game in only a couple of days. It only took me less than 5 hours of play to finish the first episode with all Gold stars. That aside, the graphics and sounds are impressive, especially the voices that have been added in. Also interesting is the director mode that's only available on the PSP, where players can make their own film and upload it for everyone to see.

Website with 100+ PTF Themes

Edit: Updated website link

I've stumbled upon a website with well over 100 PTF themes for your PSP! There are themes like Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy XI, Windows XP, Crisis Core, Neon, Loco Roco, and many other assorted anime themes. The PTF files are even available for direct download on your PSP! Of course, these PTF files are only for use with either 3.70 or 3.71 firmware.

This site is in Japanese, but it's pretty simple to navigate. Just click on the theme name, and then click the big button to download the PTF file. Go to the Theme menu on your PSP to activate the theme that you have just downloaded.

Here's the site: http://psp.themesup.net/

Enjoy customising your PSP!

English Translation for Sony's Theme Converter

An English translation of Sony's Custom Theme Converter manual has been done by zmcnulty of PSP Vault. Now even those who don't understand Japanese will be able to come up with their own custom themes for firmwares 3.70 and above.

The guide has all the information you need to make your very own custom theme, giving you the dimensions of the XMB icons that are accepted and how to put them all together to make your own PTF file for use on your PSP.

Get it now and start making themes: Download

The Recovery Menu Explained

Today I'll go through the recovery menu that's available in custom firmwares. It's been around ever since the very first 1.50 Proof Of Concept firmware by Dark_Alex. Although there's been minor changes as the custom firmware has evolved, the recovery menu still retains its one purpose: to allow you to recover your PSP in the event of a semi-brick.

I'll go through the recovery menu from top to bottom.

Toggle USB: This allows you to have USB access to your memory stick from the recovery menu. Useful when you need to run a recovery EBOOT to restore your PSP from a semi-brick.

Configuration
Skip Sony logo: This allows you to skip the intro when you switch on your PSP. Setting it to enable will let you cut down a few seconds from your boot time.

Hide corrupt icons: KX-ploited homebrew require 2 folders to be able to run. The problem is, one of the folders would show up as corrupted data. This option lets you hide those corrupted data icons.

Game folder homebrew: This sets the kernel which is used to run homebrew in the GAME folder. However, homebrew placed in the GAME150 folder will always run using the 1.50 kernel and homebrew placed in the GAME3xx folder will always run using the 3.xx kernel.

Autorun program at /PSP/GAME/BOOT/EBOOT.PBP: The last I heard, this option was still broken. But if it works, it will run the EBOOT at that location automatically when the PSP is turned on.

UMD Mode: You can change the NO-UMD mode here. Choose from Normal (UMD Required), M33 Driver (NO-UMD), Sony NP9660 (NO-UMD), or OE isofs legacy (NO-UMD).

Fake region: This lets you change the region of your PSP. It's suppose to be used with video ISOs, but it's not very popular so this option is largely useless.

Free UMD Region: This is suppose to unlock the region protection for the PSP, allowing you to play Video UMDs from all regions on any PSP. Unfortunately, it's still broken.

Hard Reset on homebrew: This forces the PSP to restart everytime you quit a homebrew. I didn't find a use for it, so I left it disabled.

Use VshMenu: Leave this enabled, it lets you access the VshMenu by pressing HOME, where you can change CPU speeds, NO-UMD modes, and XMB USB access.

XMB USB Device: Changing this will affect which device is accessed when you select USB Connection in the XMB. So with this, you could directly access flash0 via USB in the XMB.

Run program at /PSP/GAME/RECOVERY/EBOOT.PBP: Use this to run any recovery EBOOT.PBP to restore your PSP from a semi-brick. You can run a custom firmware installer to reinstall everything, or a homebrew like PSP Filer v3.8 so you can copy the missing files back to your PSP's flash.

Advanced
Advanced Configuration
Plain modules in UMD/ISO: Leaving this disabled is fine most of the time. You only need to enable it if you're experiencing problems with plugins in games.

Execute BOOT.BIN in UMD/ISO: Leaving this disabled usually works. If you ever have problems running games, check that this is set to disabled.

Toggle USB (flash0): Allows you to access flash0 via USB. Useful for flashing files to your PSP via your computer.

Toggle USB (flash1): Allows flash1 access via USB on your computer.

Toggle USB (flash2): Allows flash2 access via USB. Flash2 is usually not touched.

Toggle USB (flash3): Allows flash3 access via USB. Flash3 is usually not touched.

Format flash1 and reset settings: Use this if you keep on getting a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). It will format flash1 (where settings are stored) and reset all your settings to default.

CPU Speed
Speed in XMB: Lets you change the default CPU speed in XMB. Not really useful as you can use the VshMenu to change the CPU speed.

Speed in UMD/ISO: Lets you change the default CPU speed in games. Not really useful as you can use the VshMenu to change the CPU speed.

Plugins
This is where you can enable and disable your plugins for your custom firmware.

Registry Hacks
Button assign: You can change the button for enter. Choose either Circle or Cross.

Activate WMA: You can activate WMA without needing to connect to the Internet.

Activate Flash Player: You can activate Flash Player without needing to connect to the Internet.

Exit: Leaves the recovery menu

Hope that gives all you custom firmware users a better understanding of the recovery menu and what its options can do.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Japanese Game Manual

I've found a soft copy of the Crisis Core game manual online, the only thing is that it's in Japanese. Nevertheless, it might come in useful to you, and especially for those that know how to read Japanese.

For those who don't know what Crisis Core is, it's the latest Final Fantasy VII action RPG released on the PSP. It's part of the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" project, and currently only the Japanese version is available. However, come March 2008 the English translation will be released, so hang in there!

Uploaded in the file archive: Download

Sega Rally Revo Review

Sega Rally Revo, developed by Bugbear, has finally come to the PlayStation Portable. They've done a good job porting it over to the PSP, retaining the flavour of the original game released on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, and adding in some nifty features that come in handy on a portable console.

In Single Player, you're presented with three championships: Premier, Modified and Masters. Each championship comes with a different choice of cars available. While I've not unlocked the Modified and Masters championship, the Premier championship features familiar rally cars like the Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Evo. Each championship is also split into Amateur, Professional and Expert leagues, each containing around three or four races and a final race that is unlocked once you've scored the required points for the league. That makes quite a lot of races for you to play in the Single Player mode, probably enough to occupy you for weeks.

Selecting a rally to play in


Terrain breakdown of the tracks


Just before the race




The selection of cars

Quick Race mode is similar to that offered on the other versions, providing a quick fix when you don't have enough time to play one whole league. On the other hand, Time Attack mode is vastly different on the PSP. Most noticeably is the removal of all online features, with the focus put onto a simple rally mode where the timer counts down and you have to pass through checkpoints to gain more time.

Some tracks available in Quick Race

Thankfully, Multiplayer mode offers four player infrastructure and ad-hoc modes, allowing you to race with your friends and online with other players. Also, unlike other games, their Game Sharing feature is very well done, allowing you to race with up to three other players on three different tracks. The multiplayer support on Sega Rally Revo is pretty good, and it might be a selling point for this game. Not many games can boast of such a good multiplayer mode like this game. However, when I tried going online, I wasn't able to find any games to join. Guess infrastructure gameplay hasn't taken off yet.

Infrastructure mode

While the range of vehicles remain the same from the PC and console versions, the tracks have been slightly modified. The track types - Alpine, Arctic, Canyon, Safari and Tropical - still remain the same, but the track design has been revamped on the PSP version. For those who have played Sega Rally Revo on other consoles or on the PC, don't expect the same level of graphics given the PSP's hardware limitations. While the graphics are not top-notch, they truly utilise the full graphics power of the PSP to deliver the best gaming experience possible. The cars leave tyre marks on the road surface as they drift around corners, with the marks remaining there on the next lap. The wheels and undercarriage of the cars also slowly get covered in dirt or snow, depending on the track you're racing on. There are also various objects like traffic cones and oil drums that scatter across the track when you collide into them.

Details on the undercarriage and wheels



Skid marks on the track

If you are someone who's played many racing games, the handling of the cars might need some time to get used to. Cars don't react instantly to your steering and it's easy to oversteer while you attempt to drift around corners. One tip to note for drifting is to release the accelerator when you enter the curve and steer through the corner while tapping the accelerator button, before accelerating straight at the end of the curve.

Now we come to the nifty features that have been added for the PSP version of Sega Rally Revo. One is the ability to select a type of tyre at the beginning of each set of races. You can choose from three types of tires that suit three different types of terrain - Road, Dirt and Snow. A terrain breakdown of each circuit, as well as an overall breakdown, is shown to inform you of the proportions of the track that are road, dirt and snow. Using this, you'll have to make a choice of tyre to ensure you get the most advantage through the races. Using common sense, one should always choose the tyre type that takes up the most proportion of the terrain in the circuits.

Road tyres


Rally tyres


All-terrain tyres

Another of the nifty features for the PSP version is the ability to save halfway through a championship, unlike the other versions, where you can't save and quitting halfway results in you loosing your progress in the championship. This feature is definitely welcomed, as you're most likely to be playing only for short periods on the PSP, as compared to playing on consoles or on the PC.

The overall rating for this game is pretty good, with the graphics and sound effects fully harnessing the PSP's hardware power. The introduction of unique features for the PSP also make this game feel fresh, rather than a straight port from the console or PC version. Loading times are also acceptable and do not slow down the pace of the game. If you're a fan of racing games, try Sega Rally Revo for a new twist on the racing genre available on the PSP.