One of the questions that seems to fill my inbox lately is people asking me if they should update their PS Vita in order to prepare for the upcoming “Rejuvenate” hack.

PS Vita Hack – Should I update my PS Vita?

Long story short, the only thing you need to do at this point is make sure you have the PSM Dev App installed and running on your PS Vita. This is done in two steps: Register to the PSM Dev portal (if you haven’t done this before, do it now!), then download the app. The rest, including what firmware you are running on, is a bit less relevant.

Nevertheless, Yifan Lu has indicated that firmwares 3.xx are recommended to run the tools he has been building. In theory the exploit is valid for any firmware at 1.69 and above, but most tools have only been tested on 3.xx.

Some people have refrained from updating so far, either because they’re expecting development from the Webkit exploit, or because they’re running one of the many VHBL/ePSP exploits.

My answers to the various use cases would be:

If you’re on firmware 3.xx (including 3.50, 3.51, etc…)

There is in theory no reason for you to update, unless you think it might help you to install the PSM Dev App. So, if you do not have the PSM Dev App now, go and get it. If it means you have to update, then do update!

@kalashnik0v23 describes how he installed the app without updating his PS Vita:

Very simple procedure (I used CFW 4.75 Habib Starbucks)

1. Grab the PSM Original package (you don’t even need a proxy!)
2. Copy it to a flash
3. Put flash in your CFW PS3 and install the package. It will come as a bubble (lol) Once you’re safely signed in to PSN use the QCMA Trick to connect your Vita to your PS3. It will automatically detect the PSM package. You don’t even have to have it on your download list afaik
4. Once it copies over open the Dev Assistant but it will prompt you to update via LiveArea. Don’t. Just use the Package Installer & QCMA To install the 1.14 PSM Dev update. And boom, you’re done! You need a proxy only if you’re on OFW. Mission complete! 😀

Yes! I got PSM Dev Assistant Installed! 😀 And I’m still on 3.18 ***! pic.twitter.com/lOkg8w9eW7

— Jyoshil Pitamber (@kalashnik0v23) June 16, 2015

If you’re running an ePSP exploit (VHBL, TN-V, etc…)

Here again this depends on your firmware. If you have the PSM Dev app installed, stay put. Update only once YifanLu releases all the necessary tools. In particular if you do not plan to develop anything on this platform, and are “just” an end user, you’ll want to wait for homebrews to be available anyway.

If you don’t have the PSM Dev app installed, update if you need to, or try the method in the section above.

If you’re running an old firmware for the sake of the webkit exploit

YifanLu has stated that the webkit exploit opens much fewer doors than the PSM one. At this point, it is pretty safe to assume that most Vita homebrew development, exploits, and hacks, will surface through the Rejuvenate platform. If the webkit exploit is the only thing that has prevented you from updating, at this point I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet to update. Again, it is up to you, and it assumes you have the PSM Dev App available on your account.

Conclusion

What matters is that you manage to install the PSM Dev App. It’s a matter of hours now for Sony to remove the tricks mentioned to help you install it, and then it will most likely be gone forever. If it means you have to update your ps vita in order to safely get the app, my personal take on this is that it’s worth it.

Additionally, this PS Vita hack was revealed and runs on the latest firmware, 3.51. Any firmware above that will most likely have a patch to prevent the hack from running. So, one thing that is important is to *not* update past firmware 3.51 (if you read this in the future, that is 🙂 )