Is your PSP Hackable?

Almost a year ago I published a small chart giving a summary of the “hackability” of PSP based on the model and the firmware. Things have changed over a year, and with the recent announce of a 6.20 Kernel exploit (and associated HEN) by Total_Noob, they will probably change again very soon. But if you just bought a PSP, all the current possibilities are probably a jungle to you, and you are wondering what your options are. Here’s a quick chart with the current status:

Overall I think it looks way better than the chart a year ago, don’t you think? Below are details for each model.

PSP Phat and PSP2000 (except ta88v3)

If you own a PSP Phat (PSP-1000), or a PSP Slim (PSP 2000) that is NOT a Ta88v3, then your PSP, independently of its firmware, is 100% hackable with a pandora battery. It’s been the case for many months now, and it will not change as the exploit used for the pandora batteries is a hardware exploit and cannot be fixed with a new firmware.

PSP-3000 and TA88v3, Firmware 5.03 and below

If you are the unlucky owner of a “doomed” motherboard, but happen to have a firmware 5.03 or below, your PSP is “half-hackable” through the laughing man tiff exploit and the associated Homebrew Enabler, better known as “ChickHEN”. “half-hackable” means that your PSP can have all the features of fully hackable PSPs (homebrew, plugins, customizable themes, ISOs,…), but unlike fully hacked PSPs, if your hard-reboot your PSP, you’ll have to run the hack again. (For those who still don’t know, putting your PSP in sleep mode works fine and is the best thing to do to keep the HEN in Ram)

PSP-3000, PSP Go and TA88v3, Firmware 5.05 up to firmware 6.20

Half-Byte Loader allows you to run most homebrews on these models, through a vulnerability in the Patapon2 Demo. Additionally, Total_Noob announced yesterday that he was working on a HEN for these models. A HEN will basically bring you most features a Custom Firmware can have, but you’ll have to be patient (like the rest of us).

PSP-3000, PSP Go and TA88v3, Firmware 6.30/6.31

Half-Byte Loader allows you to run most homebrews on these models, through a vulnerability in the Hots Shots Golf game. Total_Noob’s HEN is not planned for these firmwares, but he mentioned that a downgrader to 6.20 might be doable. There’s still goog hope to get kernel access on these firmwares in the foreseeable future.

Vocabulary

Homebrew: User made (non official) applications. These include games such as Wagic, utilities, emulators…
ISO: In the PSP world, digital copy of a game, most of the time unencrypted, preventing it from running on an Official firmware. ISOs are often associated to game piracy.
plugin: Homebrews that are loaded in the Ram of the PSP to extend its functionalities. For example, the music plugin allows to play MP3s while playing a game or a homebrew on the PSP.
HEN: Homebrew ENabler. A program that patches the PSP Ram to allow running unsigned code (Homebrews). unlike eLoader, a HEN is in the Ram and therefore doesn’t require to be launched everytime you want to run unsigned code. To do this a HEN usually requires a Kernel exploit.
TA88v3 :A Model of Motherboard that was introduced on the PSP2000 in summer 2008. It fixes the vulnerability used by the pandora batteries. Several techniques exist to identify your PSP Motherboard. If you have a PSP 2000, the easiest way to identify if it has a “doomed” motherboard is to try a pandora kit (battery + memory stick) on it.