need tips on how to mod PSP, sad story inside

[ADG566]

Okay the sad story is that I had non GH versions of FF7, FF8, FF9, and Chrono Cross for PSX. Well I paid someone craigslist to mod my PSP and convert my games onto memory sticks. Turns out he stole everything I sent him...

so anyway, after a few weeks of being pissed off, I bought a new PSP off billmelater, and I'm bidding on FF7 FF8 and FF9 on ebay to get those games back. So I have a few questions,

What do I need to mod my PSP slim, what tools should I buy? Also, how do I mod my PSP myself so that I can play FF7, FF8 and FF9? I have a 2 GB memory stick and a 4 GB coming.

How do I convert FF7-FF9 onto the PSP? From the CD?

Second question is, I also have final fantasy anthology and chronicles which includes FFIV, FFV, FFVI, and Chrono Trigger, I have these on PSX ---- so how do I convert all these games onto PSP? Since music is the best part of these games, does the music remain in tact?

I want to make sure I get it right this time. Do these games all play well on the small screeN? I was going to play the games this summer, was pissed off when it was stolen but now I'm just going to do it myself. Thanks for your help!!!

[staxx]

Well since you have the slim PSP it is not the easiest task to mod it. Easiest way is to use the Pandora's battery. If you don't know what you are doing, it is easy to brick your PSP, though the Pandora's battery can fix that. Plus getting PS1 games to work on a PSP slim can be a pain, it is much easier on the older PSP version.

[ssjlance]

Yeah, if possible you should by a fat PSP. If that isn't an option for financial reasons, find someone who has one to make you a Pandora's battery. They work on slims, but I think they made it so you can't make one yourself.

[ProgrammingAce]

short of smashing it with a hammer or erasing the NAND chip, you can't brick a PSP. So don't worry too much.

If you can get a spare battery, i'd just hard mod the battery into pandora. It's the easiest method.

http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=81424

[ADG566]

Yeah I already just ordered the PSP slim from jr.com instead of the fat one, however, I might buy this ebay auction, selling a pandora battery, they said it will work with PSP slims:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PANDORA-BATTERY-WITH-MAGIC-MEMORY-STICK-HURRY-BUY-NOW_W0QQitemZ220237801131QQihZ012QQcategoryZ139969 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

So I would just put these in and it would go to the right setting?

Since you said it's hard to burn my PSX games to it should I download the roms? Probably with FFIV, FFVI and Chrono Trigger I would have to rip the games because i don't wnat to experience the SNES slow down of d/l rom. I'm not sure what the factory firmware of PSP slim is, agh

thanks for your tips!

[Richter Belmount]

Wow You had way to much trust in just doing that , I rather do the mod myself rather than shifting it off to some stranger.

[zektor]

I am selling a Pandora Battery and just listed it yesterday in the buy/sell forum. Complete with the "magic" stick you need to do the mod. PM me if you are interested. You can check my feedbacks on here or ebay (same name) if you want to feel at ease :)

[Jimid2]

I've played FFVII, VIII and IX on my PSP, and I'm currently playing FFV and Metal Gear Solid on it. I'd love to give you detailed instructions, but I haven't really got the time, so I'll point you at the resources I've used to figure all this stuff out:


Here's a guide to installing Custom Firmware on a PSP Slim:

http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=78542

Here's a tutorial on getting PSX on PSP - a little dated but generally accurate, though the firmwares and popstation versions have advanced:

http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=51852

This forum is dedicated exclusively to running PSX games on the PSP:

http://forums.maxconsole.net/forumdisplay.php?f=212

Other than MaxConsole.net, I've found these forums very helpful:

PSP-Hacks.com (http://www.psp-hacks.com/forums/)

The QJ.net PSP forums (http://forums.qj.net/f-qjnet-sony-psp-forums-48.html/)

And this excellent tutorial from the AfterDawn forums will help you get popsloader running on your modded PSP so you can load the appropriate POPS for the game you are playing (eg: FFVII runs best on 3.80 pops, but MGS runs best on 3.71 pops - you'll understand by the time you get to this point)

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/628073

There's lots to read and research, but it's worth it, and I can guarantee you from experience that everything you need to know is here - just start ploughing through the tutorials and guides, and after a bit of reading, it will all start to come together.

Good luck!

[ADG566]

Okay, so if I understand correctly,

I have to place a memory stick and pandora battery in the PSP slim, and then it will download the custom firm ware. But in the future when I power up the PSP, will I have to keep using the pandora battery and that memory stick or can I just take it back to the normal ones?

Then I have to convert the games using a program and then it's good to go? Is there a site where I can just download FF7-9 without using the program? Since I have the actual games but am not a mac so can't d/l the ISO programs which are windows only.

Thanks for the help!

[zektor]

Okay, so if I understand correctly,

I have to place a memory stick and pandora battery in the PSP slim, and then it will download the custom firm ware. But in the future when I power up the PSP, will I have to keep using the pandora battery and that memory stick or can I just take it back to the normal ones?

Then I have to convert the games using a program and then it's good to go? Is there a site where I can just download FF7-9 without using the program? Since I have the actual games but am not a mac so can't d/l the ISO programs which are windows only.

Thanks for the help!

Installing custom firmware is like installing an updated original firmware. You do not need the battery/stick after install is complete. It will be modded at that point. Without getting into an grey area here, you can back up your store purchased UMD games using just the custom firmware psp and a USB cable, no matter what computer you have. If you search (or ask privately) you can easily find out how to do this, but I won't go any further in that direction in the forums.

[kentuckyfried]

If you happen to be in Vancouver, you can stop by and I'll mod your system for free :)

[zektor]

I think what a lot of people do not realize (or do not practice) is to back up your original firmware BEFORE modding and keep that backup in a safe place. If your system keys ever corrupt for some reason, this is the only way to restore the console. If you ever see PSP units that have been modded, work, but cannot read UMD discs...it is most likely because the system keys were corrupted. And you CANNOT restore another PSP's original firmware to yours, as each PSP has it's own unique key. So, keeping a backup and a pandora set is mandatory in my honest opinion. Also, if you have that original backup, you can restore the system to it's factory unmodded state should you ever have to send it in to Sony for repair.

[davidbrit2]

Since you sent the stuff to him, I'm assuming you've got his address. You might consider having a little chat with the police department in his locality.

[thetoxicone]

Since you sent the stuff to him, I'm assuming you've got his address. You might consider having a little chat with the police department in his locality.


Or find another dp member in his area to "rough him up" a bit.

[ADG566]

I considered talking to his PD but it's NYPD they have bigger fish to fry. I also considered taking him to small claims court but it is too much, even though he jipped me for close to $1000 including he asked for 3 8 GB memory sticks and a $250 fee, I will let karma deal its hand to him.

One thing I have done is I have put his name on some websites so if any girlfriend, family members or employer googles his name they will see that he is a thief. At this point I am done wasting energy on my anger toward this man so have to leave it up to karma and move on, hopefully soon I will be playing FF games on PSP like was my plan and forget about this whol thing!

[Oobgarm]

I considered talking to his PD but it's NYPD they have bigger fish to fry. I also considered taking him to small claims court but it is too much, even though he jipped me for close to $1000 including he asked for 3 8 GB memory sticks and a $250 fee, I will let karma deal its hand to him.

All I can say is that if someone screwed me out of close to $1,000(!!!!), I'd find a way to get some restitution of some sort.

I seriously wouldn't shrug that off, and I don't think you should, either. Even if you think NYPD has better things to do, a large monetary figure like that might be a clincher in getting them to look into it.

[norkusa]

I considered talking to his PD but it's NYPD they have bigger fish to fry.

Even if it's only $100 worth of stuff you got scammed out of, it's still a misdemeanor and the cops will have to look into it.

About 5 years ago, someone on Usenet ripped me off on a Virtual Boy display unit that I paid $75 for. I contacted his local police (Chicago PD) and they ended up sending a detective to his home. That scared him straight and a week later I got my display in the mail along with a handwritten letter of apology.