UNO Exploit: Installing homebrews and Isos on Vita 2.02 with TN Menu
Preparing and installing homebrews on your Vita for the recently released 2.02 CEF port by Frostegater is not an easy task. All menus have different ways of handling the installation packages, but, more importantly, Sony made the Vita in a way that copying anything to it is almost impossible, which is why the copy steps always look so convoluted. Tools exist to make your life easier, but here is a how to to understand how it’s done by yourself. I promise, once you’ve done it once, it all becomes simpler.
Note: all the steps below work with all versions of TN’s CEF and TN Menu, but the example are taken from Uno’s exploit on the 2.02 firmware (more precisely, with the European version of the exploit).
1.A Preparing Homebrews
The homebrews we will run on the 2.02 Uno exploit are PSP homebrews. Most PSP homebrews will run out of the box on your Vita with the UNO exploit, but you might often need to package them in a ZIP archive (unless you got a friendly download link which already has it pre-packaged for you.) . Note that in some cases you will have to create the ZIP archive yourself, for example most emulators will not ship with any rom, and you will have to add those yourself to your ZIP file.
Before you start!
The basic thing to understand is that the Vita will not accept any filename. The files you can copy to your Vita with the content manager need to be all uppercase, the “body” of the filename (anything before the “.”) needs to be 8 characters or less, and the extension (anything after the “.”) needs to be 3 characters. Accepted characters are also limited, so I suggest you li,it yourself to letters and numbers. In particular, do not put spaces in the file names.
For example, WAGIC.ZIP is good, but Wagic.zip is not (not uppercase), WAGIC.zip is not (not uppercase), Wagic the homebrew.zip is not (not uppercase, and more than 8 characters before the “.”). A very typical mistake for windows users is that your file will end up being named WAGIC.ZIP.zip because Windows will by default hide the extension for you. You will see it named “WAGIC.ZIP” but in reality the name will be WAGIC.ZIP.zip, which will not work.
When you have a problem in the filename, the vita will silently not copy it, and will not give you any form of error message. The only way you have to realize you made a mistake at this point is if the size of your savedata on the memory stick is smaller that what you’d expect.
Read the “before you start” section above 5 times, because this is the root cause of 99.9% of the issues people have installing homebrew with CEF.
I’m not kidding, read the paragraphs above!
Ok, so, let’s move on to prepare your homebrew. All homebrews have an EBOOT.PBP file. You need to create folders so that that EBOOT.PBP will end in a series of subfolders PSP/GAME/[your homebrew game]/EBOOT.PBP.
For example, PSP/GAME/WAGIC/EBOOT.PBP.
Don’t forget of course to include all the files from the homebrew in that folder structure. Once this is done, zip the “PSP” folder you created, and name it whatever you like, following the rules I described above (all uppercase, less than 8 characters, etc…). I personally suggest to use the “store” option for creating your zip, but I believe TN Menu handles all formats of compression. Do not use an other format of file that you would rename in .ZIP, this will obviously not work.
Once your ZIP is ready, copy it to the UNO exploit savedata folder in your CMA folder on your computer. It will look like PSAVEDATA/[random letters and numbers]/NPEH000DATA02 (this might vary depending on your exploit).
1.B Preparing Isos
Preparing isos and cso files follows the same naming conventions as the homebrews above, and you have to put the files in your UNO savedata folder just like for homebrews above, but you don’t ZIP them. Instead, you copy them “as is” to your UNO savedata, but keep in mind that the filename body must be 8 characters or less, and the filename must be all uppercase.
2. Copying your prepared Homebrews/isos to the Vita
Copying stuff to your Vita is done using the Content Manager. We recommend you use OpenCMA to avoid bad surprises. To do this, you will connect your Vita to your computer, run the Content Manager like you would usually do to copy PSP Savegames to your Vita, and copy over your Uno savedata.
At this point, your UNO savedata contains two types of things: the exploit required to run CEF, but also your homebrews and iso files. You can have as many homebrews and iso files as you want in this folder, as long as they follow the naming rules described above. Also note that you will likely repeat this process several times, and that it is not necessary to keep in the UNO savedata isos/homebrews you have already installed. As a matter of fact, it is better to delete them from your Uno savedata on your computer to avoid copying them once again next time.
The Vita will most likely ask you if you want to overwrite the existing UNO savedata, and this is ok.
One typical mistake there is that some people will delete some files critical to the UNO exploit by manipulating the UNO savedata. If this happens, the best is simply to redownload the UNO exploit and start from scratch 🙂
3. Extract and run the games
At this point your homebrews are in zip form, on your memory stick, and need to be extracted before they can be used. The isos, them, are in their “final” form, but need to be moved by TN Menu in order to be used.
Of course TN Menu provides functionality to do both of those. Simply select the homebrew/iso you want to install, and press X. The homebrew will then be extracted. To run an installed homebrew/iso, press X as well, it will simply run. The TN menu interface is relatively simple so there shouldn’t be any issue.
4. Troubleshooting and alternatives
If you don’t see your homebrews zips, or isos in TN Menu, the most likely reason is that you messed up the naming convention of your zip files or isos. More unlikely, but it happens again: make sure you copied your homebrews/isos in the exploit’s savedata, and not in an unrelated savedata (this technique used to work for example with VHBL, and might work with alternate menus for CEF, but not with TN Menu as I type this).
It is also possible to copy homebrews with FTP For Vita. This is much more convenient that the whole technique described above, as you don’t need to zip anything, etc… but this also assumes you have FTP For Vita up and running, and a wifi router.
Please note that we do not support piracy. Asking for or providing psp iso download links will get your comments deleted and your account banned.
Thanks man .
Works perfectly 🙂
when i put wwe all stars in it and pressed x on the uno start screen, it just shows me a black screen and after sometime says an error has occured C1-2858-3 please help and reply
thanks gona do this now been waiting for months for an exploit to come along
it works ! Thanks!
Only problem, I already put an ISO in the TN menu and I have more than 4 GB on space – but it said I have only 86 mb available and wont let me move the file. I can start the game tough, is this normal?
Same problem here. I have over 12 GB free but its not letting me move a 735 MB game.
ME TO WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Try compressing the ISO games into CSO to reduce the file size.
I had the same problem before when downloading from the psn but it turned out that the file had already been moved but it wasn’t showing on the system or the card but it was there
I FIND A WAY TO FIX IT. IF YOU HAVE 5G, BUT IT TELL YOU YOU HAVE 300 MB. YOU GO TO PSN AND DOWNLOAD A DEMO MORE THAN 300 MB.
TRY IT!
1GB ,DOWNLOAD A DEMO MORE THAN 1 GB
OR DOWNLOAD MORE THAN 1 DEMO
I’m having the same problem as you Vitauser… I tried putting a PSP game on that was about 735 MB in size and it said I only had 435 MB of storage. The problem is that I had 12.86 GB free on my Vita’s memory stick. I installed a smaller game of 100 MB fine. My worst fear is that SONY incorporated a file size limit somehow in the newest firmware (2.02) — Can anyone else test this out and try installing large PSP games. 700 MB or larger in size. Also, I tried installing a couple emulators and once they extract they aren’t visible to try loading on the TN menu. This all worked fine on firmware 1.81 using the Mad Blocker exploit. Any suggestions would be welcome!
I don’ think so? I just installed a 1.4GB game and its working fine —
Everything works. over 700mb file also works fine.
You need to prepere the way to install the emulator. instructions:
First, you need to create a folder colled PSP, inside PSP’s folder you need to create another folder colled GAME, Inside GAME’s folder you put the emulator’s folder for exemple: PICODRIVE.After all you will zip the PSP’s folder and put this PSP.ZIP At save of exploit from UNO.
I Hope help you.
I FIND A WAY TO FIX IT. IF YOU HAVE 5G, BUT IT TELL YOU YOU HAVE 300 MB. YOU GO TO PSN AND DOWNLOAD A DEMO MORE THAN 300 MB.
TRY IT!
1GB ,DOWNLOAD A DEMO MORE THAN 1 GB
OR DOWNLOAD MORE THAN 1 DEMO
Delete something from mc, than run cfw – it worked for me after i do that. Dont know what was wrong – i have 32gb and onle few demos on it.
Thanks man, that did the trick for me 😀
Yes, thanks for the tip. Deleted a Vita Demo and now it seems to be successfully moving large games to the ISO folder. Weird!
Is there any list over compatible homwbrew with this exploit? i tried snes9xTYL, following the instructions explicitly. But after i extracted the archive it just disappeared.
Nevermind. apparently using winrar to create an archive from a folder, doesn’t make the root folder the archive. fixed 🙂
After installing the ISO Game – Can I delete the ISO backup on the UNO SaveData?
On PC I think yes, you can.
would like an answer to this also.
yes u can..
I also have a problem copying over games.
I’m trying to copy a 1GB CSO file and it kept saying “some files cant be copied over” and stops the transfer.
So I changed the savegame with the CSO and it works. I’m using the old Ubanix savegame to copy ISOs and it works fine but UNO refused to have CSO in the directory.
SO, to others if you are having problems copying over ISOs/CSOs just use a different savegame then use whatever homebrew to move it over to the ISO directory.
redo teh file transfer i.e retry and it will wotk. I had the same problem but I triee again and it worked.
I tried 5 times and still get the same error.
I used the old savegame to move it over then I used Filer to move it to the ISO dir and its all good now.
Just forgot to backup my CWCheat and TempAR last time and have to set them up again manually.
I’m not sure what it was but that game didn’t like being transfered using that savegame but another savegame copied it fine.
I tried both ISO and CSO and neither worked.
I did try other ISOs and CSOs and they transfer ok.
I think – it looks like – the game has to be in one(continuous) fragment – am i right?
Do i have to make a legit UNO save first(Run the game and actually play it) before attempting all this?
No, you shouldn’t need to
Will vHBL come out soon or can I put it on already? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I don’t understand vHBL much.
OK, yes, seems everything is working now. The only emulator I haven’t been able to get working is Snes9xTYLmecm. That is the by far the best SNES emulator for the PSP. I am assuming it has something to do with the way it was coded to tap into the media engine and / or extra RAM on the PSP Slims. I want to believe its possible to run on the Vita. Does anyone know how? Or perhaps a future CEF with improved compatibility may allow that emulator to run?
works for me. cant use the one the utilizes the psp media engine (its a hardware in the psp thats not in the psp). sorry i dont know if im allowed to post the link for it.
hardware in the psp thats not in the psv
is there an easy installer or some kind?? im having trouble following the tut lol
Followed the simple procedures and working perfectly
Thank you so much for this 🙂
All copy/ transfers works fine. But the games do not start. I tried Burnout legends hangs on loading screen and Prince of Persia gives a black screen :{.. anyone having similar issues?
u probably use the patch version..use the clean version. it should work unless ur iso backup is corrupted.
i tried the ymenu and some ISOs are working now without even asking me to move the game to ms0:/ anyway i didn’t get the patched/ clean version, I just download from the CEF links on this website.
Every time when I move the ISO to MS0:/, always get an error (C1-2858-3) and the CFW just goes black and wont boot again (same error). I have to remove everything and transfer everything again. Any idea how to move ISO properly with the error ? Thanks in advance!
use vita ftp homebrew which much simpler & faster. U can just transfer ur files direct to the MSO:/ISO. Dont forget to create ISO folder 1st at MSO:/ before tranfering ur backup using http://ftp..
Same here =/
Yes, change the system language to English and then Works fine
Not for JP EXPLOIT UNO ><
Once extracted, will the homebrew stay on the system?
If I delete the zip archive from the save data.
Using gameboy advance emulator, will the save files of the roms be saved in the system or the zip archive?
In addition, if I would like to add roms, could I just create an zip with
ROMS.ZIP/PSP/GAME/GPSP/roms/xxx.gba
without anything else inside knowing that the system will already have all the other files. In other words, will the rom be copied to the same directory as the previously extracted homebrew if the paths are the same?
GREAT THANKS FROM FRANCE!!
Can I Use .RAR file instead of .ZIP file?
No u cant at this moment.
The heck… I have a 32gb and tried putting Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep and Duodecim. I could install one or the other but can’t install both. It says that I need more space available when I have well over 24gb left.
Try deleting some demo if u have on ur vita. At worse, try to format ur vita mmc. it should work from clean state.
That ended up doing the trick. I still don’t get why the error would show up, though. There’s no real reason for that to happen.
Wonderful guide that helped very much. Time to relive my teenage years of PSP Hacking!
can some one make a video on how to do this more clearer then the described info given cuz im have trouble putting home brew games on my vita
everything work like charm …thank u guys great work
How can I change the CPU Speed in the TN Menu? I saw it a while ago in a Z Video
Followed the instructions to a T but something is still going wrong. Wagic shows up in TN menu and extracts, but then doesn’t show up anywhere.
HOW TO RUN THE ISO/CSO THAT I INSTALLED? ITS NOT WORKING WELH PLS..
Can anyone confirm you can put an ISO larger than 1 GB? I put in a few ISOs (Less than 1 GB all together) and wont let me move anymore ISO even I still have some room (4 GB left) on my stick. Any suggestion ?
DID U TRY YOUR ISO CSO GAMES?
I can indeed confirm that ISO/CSO larger than 1gb do work. A few posts up, Frostegator suggested formatting the MC which for whatever reason ended up working.
But it was indeed weird.
I put KHBBS which was about 1gb
Installed it, worked fine.
Then proceeded to transfer Duodecim which is 1.25gb CSO
Tried installing it, said I needed more space
Deleted, KHBBS, retransferred Duo over, worked fine.
Had to format in order to get both working.
does the stuff work on 2.01 fw?
I CANT PLAY ANY ISO CSO GAMES WHEN I RUN THE GAME IT SAYS “AN ERROR OCCURED” ? HELP WOLOLO
use the unpatched ISO. Retransfer again, this time use ftp which is much easier.
It works fine, try with FTP. But some games might not work just like previous CFW’s.
DO I NEED A WIFI CONNECTION FOR THE FTP?
No..u dont..just connect ur psvita cable tu usb of ur pc.
sorry my mistake..u must have wifi for this to work
My Game says “Memory Stick Pro Duo has been removed.”
So i can’t save?
Just ran the exploit. Forgot to set system language to English, but it worked fine for me.
My system language is Dutch so this language seems to work fine also 🙂
I got the C1-2858-3 Error… What can i do? I got install the Game Uno new -> Error… I installed the Savegame new -> Error…
Plz hlp =(
check make sure name of the file is in uppercase including extension. I had the same issue and that was the problem.
Change ur language of ur vita to english. For homevrew & iso installation please follow the above instruction in post.
In the U.S. system language everything worked wonderfully. THX 🙂
Where are you from? I mean, I had the same problem because I had the system language different from English (US). Try put this language, then retry! 😉
Windows will by default hide the extension for you. You will see it named “WAGIC.ZIP” but in reality the name will be WAGIC.ZIP.zip, which will not work.
Linux will do the same thing
it does work on EU version, thanks a lot. happy new year
I get ‘An error has occurred (C1-2858-3)’ fairly regularly. Mostly when an item is done decompressing in TN Menu after a few seconds pause. Or when I’m scrolling through the items in the menu and there’s a gap where an icon should be; same brief pause and error. Also when I try to remove a compressed file after I have installed it. Is there anything I can do to lessen these occurrences or is this just included in the homebrew experience?
I’m so grateful for all the work that’s gone into this. Cave Story is a dream on the Vita! 😀
If u follow the instruction as posted above, it should be no problem unless the files(ur backup or homebrew is corrupted).
I need to give you money.
Hi everyone and thumbs up for the very detailed guide 😀
But there’s one problem… I’m Italian, so I have my Vita’s system language in italian, and the exploit won’t work just because of that! I verified it by changing the system language in english (U.S), and it works perfectly.
The only little problem is that I can play my backup PSP files only in english, because the system sees the english language in the settings… I guess that I’ll have to wait patiently a new savegame file for the others languages (italian, french, german, spanish) am I correct?
P.S
I really appreciate your work! 🙂
In German it is not working well. If I switch to U.S., it works wonderfully. Could someone check the EU version again?
Hey could anyone please help me?
Every time I extract/install the Zip files on the TN menu they just disappear, I cant execute them because there are no icons
what can I do ?
Make sure ur content and structure inside the ‘NAME’.ZIP file is valid. u should not have a problem if u follow the steps in the post above.
I get the same problem 🙁
Have you zipped a folder called for example Wagic with a folder called PSP inside it? Thats what I did by accident. What you need to do is zip the PSP folder and name it WAGIC.ZIP
Are you making your Zip file with the PSP folder as root? I Accidentally did it with WTH as the route and it did the same thing as you’re seeing.
Thanks so much for this! Your probably increasing vita sales with this.