How to get your hands on a PS Vita running firmware 3.60 or lower

wololo

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107 Responses

  1. FlappyJesus says:

    First!

  2. lawthugg says:

    I got lucky 2 weeks ago and had Spain cash and managed to get 2 vitas for 150. One had 3.55 and the other had 3.18

  3. Rolenzo says:

    I see them for 75 bucks at pawn shops. You can ask them to confirm the firmware on them before you purchase.

    • Sangaz says:

      Yeah. I’d just go with this method (if I didn’t already have one). Did the same when buying a couple of 3DS for gateway card use. The shop guys just let me boot each one up and check the FW.

  4. Quade321 says:

    I disagree with the buying used statements. Maybe on eBay it wouldn’t be the best idea, but buying it at a local shop… More likely than not they’ll just let you turn the thing on and see what firmware it has. And no one is buying Vita’s so they sit on that shelf for a long time after they’re updated and restored. I remember going to a store around here and buying my first Vita. It was below 3.18 when 3.36 was the newest. Of course results may vary, but even so.

  5. troll says:

    funny that we got all the good hacks and stuff and then rumors of a new sony handheld start showing up lol

  6. Sladey says:

    Is there a likelihood of a 3.61 exploit for those who missed out?

  7. Rahx says:

    I got my Vita months ago, got updated to 3.60 when it was the latest but now I’ve been reluctant to use it. I’m waiting for the scene to get a more solid way to modify like the 3DS. I’m glad to see the scene reviving by now, my Vita was collecting dust also.

    • asdyxc says:

      It’s pretty solid.
      3DS is kind of a clusterfuck if you realize what it is doing. The installation of A9LH also requires multiple tries in more than just one step.

      Since there’s also an offline installer for PSVita I don’t see any issue.

  8. Dydou78 says:

    I got my ps vita days ago pack lego in 3.52 🙂

  9. NoName says:

    Keep in mind that the display of the slim version is awful…

    • thousandyoung says:

      Enjoy your burn-in and low battery idiot. One of the advantages of slim is that you can fully disable the sleep mode with the registry hack and dump big *** stuff without risking damaging the screen. Freaking OLED model is for short sessions of play, not worth it for hardcore gamers. Sony is never going to make oled models again anyway. The slim is also much more comfortable. I own both and the oled is only for show.

      • SomeGuyWhoIsntAFry says:

        Own 76 games and counting and I played all of them on my original OLED vita over the years for hours-upon-hours and no burn-in. This includes playing Minecraft for 8+ hours sessions (bottom bar didn’t burn-in). The burn-in issue has been greatly exaggerated in my opinion. The battery life issue is true, but can be dealt with easily by owning battery packs. Also, personally, I don’t see a display difference between the original and slim, so I’m not going to defend that either which way.

      • Sneax673 says:

        My original Psvita 3G Model screen is doing just fine after having HUD bars up for hours in multiple games. Idk where people get this burn in thing from

      • Zeke says:

        Screen burn-in? Seriously? I had VitaShell up and running with an FTP server loaded (dialog box still up) for nearly 24 hours and none of it burned into the screen on my Phat Vita, no sign whatsoever. Low battery is BS too, it only lasts about one hour less than the Slim, believe me at one point I owned both so I know. Five hours is enough, anyway. They can both stay in sleep mode for weeks, too.

        Slim’s LCD screen is indeed horrible: *** contrast ratio, terrible viewing angle, the milkiest blacks I’ve ever seen. IMO also it’s too thin leading to hand fatigue more easily, and it’s conspicuously cheap in look and feel, whereas the original Phat has a real premium aesthetic, always notice and appreciate it when I pick it up and start a game.

        I had a Slim. I now have two Phat models. There is a good reason for this.

    • troll says:

      I know right! people say the change it because of the burn it , but that is BS, it was just to make it cheaper. I have yet to see a case of burn in after all this years. OG model all the way!

  10. DSpider says:

    Cool. But how bad is the “always run the same steps with a non-100% success rate after you power off the console” thing? I hear the PS Vita has better sleep power management than the PSP had, but it still slowly drains the battery.

    • asdyxc says:

      Not bad. It feels like 90%, and is fixed all the time by restarting the browser max. 2 times (closing by dragging the corner down, nothing more)

      Also, there’s an offline installer.

  11. GoVitaGo says:

    good awareness post.. although I doubt dealers will take the little pain to update and ship.. cheers.. enjoying my vitamin dumped games.. thanks all hackers (the flow, Mr. gas. tom, etc) and wololo himself

    • DSpider says:

      Most pawn shops probably won’t update them, even after repairs, but in 99.9% of pawn shops you can get you can check the OFW version yourself, while in the rest 0.01% you can instruct the person behind the glass to do them for you, else you’re not gonna buy it. They’re usually happy to comply, at least in my experience (only visited 2 pawn shops, but for completely different reasons :P).

  12. Uncreated says:

    I haven’t updated my two Vitas since 2.02. When will there be a PSP eCFW compatible with Henkaku, if it’s even possible?

  13. CycloneFox says:

    Great advice. From my own experience, I can say, that PS Vitas are always shipped with an extremely old firmware. I would buy always buy a new Vita with warranty and everything, anyway.

    Like written at the end of the article, after getting your firmware 2.xx Vita, just update it manually to 3.60 with the linked guide.

  14. Matrix says:

    I went into GameStop, they had 5 PS Vitas pre-owned in a cabinet. Asked to look at them and found a mint condition 3G version with firmware 3.60 on for $149.99.
    When I asked to try them I turned it on. Set it all up and went straight to settings. If you make conversation with the guy whilst talking you can check the settings and ask to buy it. Takes about 5 minutes.
    Good luck 🙂

  15. andoryuu3 says:

    I got lucky on eBay– I was looking to buy a PSV2000 as my “online” vita, and picked up a Japanese (PSV2006, officially a South Asia) black and hot pink one. Was in pristine condition, and shipped with a 3.5X firmware! Now I don’t know which to keep for HENkaku and which to use online! (other is a Japanese Wifi + 3G PSV1000)

    Remember, you can always ask the sellers on eBay what firmware version it’s on. Be sure to state that if it’s on anything higher than 3.60 that you do not want it and will demand a return. eBay staff are able to read all communications between buyers and sellers in the rare chance you get sc***. If you were told the system was on 3.60 or lower, eBay will most likely honor the return.

  16. Guilhas says:

    I just a brand new in Portugal and it shipped with 3.60. Golden.

  17. Cr8zy says:

    I just ordered two Vita’s 3 days ago, one refurbished from walmart for 109 bucks, and another used like new but missing the charger from amazon for 154 bucks. I got two just in case one is updated! *crossing fingers*

  18. E.N.D says:

    I Did The Same Thing I own 2 ps vita both original version I update my other 1 to 3.61 so what I did trade it on best buy with a slim 1 ask the guy to check what inside then he let me then 3.53 I trade it only pay like 70$

  19. E.N.D says:

    Sorry GAMESTOP not bestbuy

  20. You guess it says:

    “Refurbished” and “used” the best way I recommend them, from eBay. However, before buying ask the seller what’s the FW version.

    OLED PS Vita >

    • mixedfish says:

      As a tip, Ebay don’t cover you if the FW version is different since software differences is never covered. So if the seller is lying you’re pretty much sc***.

  21. lol says:

    Lol my vita wasnt updated for just over 2yrs, just manually updated it to 3.60 now

  22. Scythe says:

    I have 2 vitas on 3.60. Just played the witcher 3 with moonlight last night. Love everything henkaku has opened up.

  23. YNA_p4u7 says:

    So was the vita hacking scene on wololo and out just full of *** when they said they didn’t condone piracy or want to use hacks to enable piracy?

  24. Matthew Barlup says:

    I have two for sale right now on ebay. They are black and white wifi 3g models. 1 is 3.01 and the other 3.15. My ebay user name is Matt.n.sara167

  25. Andrew Farrack says:

    What version do brand new PS Tv’s have?

  26. OLED says:

    I recommend getting a new OLED demo unit off eBay and converting it to CEX. They can still be had for less than $100 and they’re in mint condition.

    To convert, get a http server app for your android phone, put the 3.60 fw somewhere on your phone, set that directory as root with the app.

    Download the current henkaku-server android app and side load install it on your phone.

    Download idu-mode.vpk and have on computer ready to transfer with Filezilla.

    Block all incoming and outgoing traffic on your router (all services). Double check that you have no Internet connectivity and that there are no open wifi networks from your neighbors.

    With a new or formatted memory card inserted, power on the Vita while its plugged into power, once on LiveArea at the same time press Up + L trigger + R trigger + Start and hold for a few seconds until more icons appear. Go to settings and connect to YOUR wifi network. You can also manually set the primary and secondary DNS to 1.1.1.1 for an added layer of no Internet protection.

    Enable the http server on your phone app and take note of the given ip address and port.

    On the Vita, open settings, IDU settings, content downloader. Enter the IP address and port number as specified by the Android app and connect. Select the 3.60 fw file on your phone and download it. Your can check the download progress from the blue bubble in the upper right corner of the LiveArea.

    Once the download finishes, hold the power button for a few seconds to power off the Vita. Once shutdown completely, hold the power button again for a few seconds to turn it back on. The downloaded update will prepare the update and install it.

    Once the 3.60 update has been installed and restarts, press the same aforementioned button combo to get more icons.

    Turn off the http server app, and open the henkaku-server app on your phone and press the circle to start it. On the Vita go to the web browser and type in the IP address and port specified by the henkaku-server app in the browser address bar and install Henkaku.

    Once installed, open molecular / Vita shell and start ftp with select button. On PC transfer the idu-mode.vpk to ux0 and install it with Vita shell. Run the idu-mode app and press the appropriate button to exit IDU mode and once done exit app.

    Shutdown and restart the Vita.

    Congrats you know have a OLED CEX Vita in mint condition for cheap that runs homebrew.

  27. deepak says:

    I own 6 ps vitas all at 3.60 with henkaku.& Off course all with 8,16,32 gb cards.

  28. OLED says:

    Of course,be sure to ask the seller for a low firmware version before purchasing.

  29. Psxvita says:

    I have a Vita slim but I picked up a PSTV on ebay for no more than $30 for Henkaku, but now that backups are now possible this thing rocks. PS3 controller and lan cable transfers are also great.

  30. Snake Plissken says:

    I’ve been sitting on firmware 3.18 for some time now. I run the usual eCFM, PSX emulation ect. I picked up a second psvita specifically to install henkaku. It arrived with firmware 1.6?? Very old firmware. Any suggestions? I’m keen on checking out Henkaku.

  31. SofahGamer says:

    I purchased a used PS tv bundle with a controller, 8gb memory card and the Lego Movie game voucher two days ago. Have Amazon prime so I got it today. It has firmware 3.20 and the Lego box is beat up and tape peeled some of the Lego man, but other than that, everything is just as new as a new one. The vita tv was even asked for the date, time, language, so it was probably reset.

  32. yunaffxqq says:

    hackers ,3.61 y’all can not break, really useless all hackers so rubbish.

  33. ddxcb says:

    I got my vita from an ebay user is brand new with 1.51 fw for $75 USD shipped.

    They are going for that much.

  34. Zeke says:

    General rule is, it’s easier to find a Phat Vita with lower firmware due to age. I have two, the first one came with 1.06(!) and the second was 3.18. My Slim came on 3.52 I think. Just as well, as the OG one is the best, unlike the PSP where I’d consider the 3000 series the best model.

    • MK says:

      Not the 2000? The 2000 had the better Display, just like the phat Vita has the better Display.

      • Zeke says:

        I’d have to disagree there. As someone who owned 1000, 2000 and 3000 series PSPs and kept the blue 3000 before upgrading to a Vita, I can report that the 1000 series has the nicest build quality but worst screen/performance, the 2000 series improved things a bit but the screen was bright and completely washed out looking with desaturated colours, and the 3000 series had that scanline issue but overall was easily my favourite because the screen looked vivid and it was very comfortable in my hands.

        Moving that idea on, I consider the Slim Vita to basically be a 2000 series PSP, in that it has the flimsier build quality and washed out looking screen, while the Phat Vita is basically like a 1000 series meets 3000 series, i.e. best build quality combined with best screen.

        All just personal opinion though, I know plenty of people still consider the PSP-2xxx models the best 😉

  35. haugh645 says:

    Another method go onto ebay and get just the motherboard for $25 and swap it out. Thats how i did mine that I accidentally updated. But do keep in mind if your not skilled at disassembling small devices dont even bother the cables are very delicate. Also if you successful you can resale the updated motherboard and break even.

  36. Xaver says:

    Henkaku site is down:( is another site to replace the Henkaku on ps vita?

  37. Galaxia Chaos says:

    I’m looking to trade a 3.55 fw for something lower than 3.18 for pay emulation. Would you trade?

  38. Raul says:

    You don’t need to buy new packed Vita to have 3.60 or below. I just found one used Vita with firmware 1.06! And there are plenty more pretty much not used on sale, which I guess half of them (about 100) has lower firmware.

  39. fmj77 says:

    I bought a phat Vita at my local pawnshop for $120 that came with 2 games and an 8GB memory card. Had 3.51 FW and managed to update it to 3.60 only after using recovery mode and QCMA. For some reason It would not update in regular mode.

  1. September 3, 2016

    […] get me wrong: people who want free games will pirate. Some of them will get a 3.60 PS Vita to get the best of both worlds. But at the end of the day, what matters is that Sony now has a good […]