How do you properly back up your PSVita’s activation files!
Activation for PSVita users is very important and for some people, a Vita without activation is just an expensive brick. Without a doubt, one of the most important things that activation lets you use is Adrenaline, the eCFW hack for the PSVita, that allows you to play PSP/PSX games.
Why should I back up my activation files?
Backing up your activation files is very important since you won’t be able to play any PSP games, digital PSVita games and use PSVita apps that you got from PSN without it. This also means that there will be no Adrenaline/ARK/VHBL for you!
Sony decided to mess up activation on the PSVita for those on firmware 3.60 a few days so even ePSP bubble installer won’t be able to activate your Vita! You also shouldn’t log into PSN since some have reported that Sony has been nuking activation data… The PS3 activation method doesn’t work either!
How do I backup my activation files then?
First of all, you need the following:
- An FTP client, such as WinSCP, on your computer (you may use an Android device or a jailbroken iOS device). USB via VitaShell won’t be enough since you can only view ux0: with that.
- Your PSVita/PSTV at hand.
- A little bit of time (shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes).
- Make a folder (I called mine “Vita Activation Life Support”) for the files you need to get from your Vita as listed below.
After connecting to your PSVita via FTP, grab the following files:
- tm0:/npdrm/act.dat
- vd0:/registry/system.dreg
- vd0:/registry/system.ireg
- ur0:/user/00/np/myprofile.dat (not needed for activation but it’s needed if you want to use Remote Play even if you can’t use PSN)
While most sources tell you to just backup “tm0:/npdrm/act.dat”, some have reported that it’s not enough to get your PSVita’s activation back if you do a full restore (thus you can’t run Adrenaline). If you have multiple Vitas/PSTVs, you have to repeat the process for every console even if they are on the same account! Keep backups of your files on external media and cloud services like Dropbox/Google Drive.
Conclusion and consolation for those who lost their files/didn’t get a Vita on time
If you had used Account Switcher before, your activation files are safe (if you hadn’t deleted them)! Just get them from “ux0:/data/AccountSwitcher”
If you had used Account Manager before, your activation files are safe too. Just get them from “ux0:pspemu/PSP/SAVEDATA/ACTM00001”
For those who can’t get their Vita activated because they just got it or because they lost their files, TheFlow has said that he could make Adrenaline work without needing activation so not all hope is lost!
For the time being, avoid changing accounts and connecting to PSN (you can’t download games anyway – backup any legitimate digital games to QCMA if you still want to use your legitimate copy)! Connecting to Wi-Fi and using it without connecting to PSN is still perfectly safe. Don’t deactivate your Vita please..
WinSCP download link: https://winscp.net/eng/download.php
Reddit post where I got some info for this article (thanks goes to Reddit users “Tech_Tomas”, “nota16er” and “wmxp”): https://www.reddit.com/r/vitahacks/comments/6qh2pv/how_to_backup_activation_so_you_never_need_to/
Reddit post where TheFlow mentioned that he could make Adrenaline work without needing activation (don’t bother him for an ETA or a quick release please!): https://www.reddit.com/r/vitahacks/comments/6qi4d8/why_does_adrenalin_require_activation_cpu/
I’ve just backed up my activation files. First I had enabled Airplane Mode, disconnected from PSN, and then backed up the files. As I was disconnected from PSN and was on airplane mode, The Treasures of Montezuma Blitz didn’t work, asking to be logged to PSN. I did, and then activated airplane mode again and it worked fine.
Must note that the date of the activation file is from 20170716. Also I had enabled PSN network spoofing, but didn’t browsed the store.
Looks like PSN Network spoofing works fine, but would need to browse the store or try to download a game, which I won’t do.
“USB via VitaShell won’t be enough since you can only view ux0: with that.”
Just use vitashell to copy those files into ux0: first.
Worked for me that way!
Thanks PoliteTimesplitter!
thank you so much. i had no idea this was so important, i just backed up my vita, and not the pstv is next…
Can I copy the files to my vita which? Would it activate the vita or does it only work with the device I got the files from?
So i backed up my activation files. Can i format my vita now? I dont want to use my main psn account on my vita anymore. Afraid of getting banned. 🙁 help?
I’m not an expert on the subject matter, but I know that you at least will need the activation files for the account you wish to switch to. You need to have already had that account active on the vita and backed up the activation files for it. Then the you would switch them.
Hi,Im a new one here.After longer time I decide to buy again Vita(before just OFW).I have offer to buy Vita but was broken and when I bring her home from service there was I think 2.26 firmware so I dont activate anything,install CFW-is it working;-) but I cant now download anything from psn even if I have it downloaded already and installed on memory card which I used with my old Vita.Which possible choices or what I have to do now?Just wanna say,the same like is written before,I can connect to PSN,PS store,still incoming PS messages,but not download or play OFW games from my account.Thanx for reply
does this mean that when i get a ps vita to get into home brew, i fix it in such a way its running 3.60 and i activate it, im faburnucked anyway?
damn you sony!!
What are one’s options if they have multiple activated and < 3.60 PSTVs, a 3.63 PSVita, a 3.60 Unactivated Vita, and a PS4 on current FW? I used to have a few 3.60s activated but they are no longer in my ownership
Is this activation problam apprears on 3.60? Or on lower fw-s as well?
I have a Vita TV with 3.52 OFW, I could register my profil earlier. But i didn’t intall anything on it from store, so it is not activated.
I would like to activate my ps tv on 3.52 with ps3 method, than i would offline update to 3.60. Than intalingl henkaku and adrenaline!
Do you think this could work?
Well I done *** up! Lost my activation files cuz I wasn’t thinking when I had to do a restore because my SD2Vita wasn’t working properly…..oh well……my life I guess.
Should’t we backup id.dat as well?
no, this is just the memory card lock.
I got a new Vita with 3.60 can i activate it now or wait till someone say its ok to activate?
You if you like? The Flow is going to release a new adrenaline anyways, but you can activate it for remote play.
If my activation data has been nuked, how will I know? Will my Vita no longer appear in my list of devices on playstation.com?
I’m getting that error, but I still see my Vita and PSTV as activated on the Sony account website.
files got nuked before i could back them up, rip gg
I’m so glad I read this. I just installed HENkaku Ensō today. Then saw people talking about backing up the activation files. Had connected to the PSN Store a few days ago to browse new content but never attempted to download anything. Guess I got lucky that my Vita was never deactivated. So now my 4 activation files have been backed up. Time to do the same thing with my PSTV and backup the activation files and install HENkaku Ensō. Thanks!
so if you couldn’t back them up, what will happen now? , I still can play digital ps vita games, the store game an error, when I try to download my purchase games so what I did, was sing out
What if I don’t have a “npdrm” folder in tm0: ?
I backed up my activation data. How can I activate my Psvita with it when I get nuked by Psn?