TN-V4 is coming out soon and the forums are flooded with questions asking if one should update to 3.00 or if they should stay on X.XX firmware. Since this is somewhat repetitive (and truly, there isn’t anything big to lose) I will be outlining what the differences will be if you are on 1.80 etc vs if you’re on the latest firmware.

So, TN-V4 is a huge update compared to TN-V3. A complete changelog was released some time ago. But people keep asking if it is worth updating for TN-V4. Essentially, it comes down to your own choice and how you plan to use eCFW.

High memory support

This is most likely the one main difference between different firmwares. Firmware 2.12 supports high memory, which basically means that you have 64mb RAM instead of 32mb. If you’re on anything below or after 2.12, it’s best to update.

If you guys want to have high memory, please update to 2.12. As on FW’s below, there are incompatibilities with PSP Emu flash0 files (in example the OSK would not appear).

-Total-Noob ( Source )

High memory isn’t a really big thing because all PSP games will work fine using just 32mb RAM. 64mb RAM will only make some emulators work faster but other than that, there isn’t really anything special about it. However, if you want high memory support and are on a firmware lower than 2.12 AND have a PS3, you can get the exploited game or any exploit released on or after 2.12 (like the Arcade games) update manually and transfer the exploit game to your Vita.

PS4 Link and psn access

If you happen to be the lucky lot who have a PS4, the PSVita and PS4 remote play is an amazing thing to try (from what I hear). However, the PS4Link app was only added with OFW 3.00 which means you’ll have to update if your interested in giving it a try.

Also, you only have PSN access on the latest firmware i.e. FW 3.00 which means if you want to grab some games before getting ‘blocked’ you’ll have to update. I’d say it’s worth it, with titles like Killzone Mercenary and Tearaway, it is really worth updating to grab them.

Why do we need to buy a game to get tn-v4?

This is another question I see a lot. Why do I need to pay for a game to get an exploit, be it VHBL or TN-V4?

Basically, because we can’t run unsigned code on the PSVita or the PSP Emulator, we need a sort of vector to start up our code, that’s where the game comes in. By finding a ‘mistake’ in the way a PSP game works with it’s resources (usually the savedata file) we are able to hijack the game and jump to our own code where we can do whatever we want (there are some limits which make the difference between user mode and kernel mode but those are outside the scope of this article).

With almost every firmware update, Sony patches a few games, usually ones which we release on this website so for each new firmware we need to use a new game.

when is tn-v4 coming out? The PS4 is already out!

Lately I’ve seen quite a lot of posts and comments along these lines. We promised that TN-V4 would come out soon after PS4 so why isn’t it out yet?

Quite simply speaking, it will come out, you just need to wait. Remember that the developers are human beings too, they have their own life to concentrate on and anyway, who doesn’t like a bit of suspense? You wouldn’t want a bad release where the exploit is patched before you can get it would you?

So please, respect the developers and coordinators for giving their time for everyone in the scene. Spamming the board or the blog won’t make the release happen any sooner (in fact it might even delay the release 😉 )