S.O.S for the PSVita released – Simple to use Life Insurnace for HENkaku Ensō 3.65 if you mess up VitaShell!
If you’ve been following the PSVita scene for the last couple of weeks, you’ll know that TheFlow managed to hack firmware 3.65, run HENkaku Enso on it and release an updater for FW 3.60 to the public. While this is great for a good deal of us since we can now play games that require FW 3.61-3.65 on hacked consoles, it has a catch which is not letting you reinstall VitaShell if you lose it. Thanks to developers ‘ChelseaFantasy’ and ‘HWNJ’, that catch will no longer be something you have to worry about!
What is S.O.S and why should I install it?
This homebrew utility can not only save you big headaches but it also has a nice UI to go along with it!
Due to the fact you can’t reinstall VitaShell easily if you didn’t make a CMA backup or don’t have access to a computer, losing VitaShell can prove disastrous since you won’t have any way to install VPKs, copy files to your Vita and do some other tasks nor any way to get VitaShell back easily. To fix this problem, S.O.S has been created and it has the following features to make your life easier:
- It installs VitaShell 1.82 on its own. This means that if you have this application already installed on your Vita, reinstalling VitaShell will be as easy as opening up this application!
- It has FTP server functionality which lets you copy files to/from your Vita and potentially fix issues yourself if you know what’s gone wrong.
- If VitaShell is already installed, you can tell it to replace the EBOOT.BIN (the executable file) with that of VitaShell 1.82 so that you can fix it if something went wrong.
- It can be installed from both FW 3.60 and 3.65.
- It has English and Spanish translations included.
- It works on the PSVita and PSTV as it doesn’t use touch screen controls.
In which situations is this useful?
S.O.S can be useful in many situations such as:
- It can reinstall VitaShell if you manage to accidentally (or deliberately) delete it!
- It can fix VitaShell if an update accidentally breaks it or if you incorrectly updated it.
- S.O.S can save your back if you forget to update VitaShell to 1.82 or newer before updating to FW 3.65 with TheFlow’s updater. This is particularly easy to do since the automatic updater found in versions of VitaShell up to 1.82 is broken!
While this homebrew utility is very useful, you should still make a CMA backup of VitaShell just to be 100% safe!
To make things quicker, this homebrew lets you replace the binary file of VitaShell only, which is what could break it if something unexpected occurs!
Conclusion
To get this homebrew, simply follow the link below and install the VPK through VitaShell (yes, you must have VitaShell already installed to install this). This, unfortunately, won’t be available on VitaDB as it uses ONELua as its interpreter so don’t hold your breath for that.
If you have any issues, report them on the GBATemp thread below!
GBATemp release thread (includes download link): https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-s-o-s-a-simple-tool-that-will-help-you-if-you-have-an-emergency-on-henkaku-enso-3-65.499044/
How I wish this app had been developed sooner. Regardless, thanks for this amazing homebrew. This will save others the frustration of restoring VitaShell should they lose it while in 3.65 HENkaku Enso.
Yo dothackjhe, how’s it going? Long time no see
tnx
In the past I installed molecular shell by going to henkaku.xyz and then reinstalled vitashell.
Yup, that works on FW 3.60 but not 3.65
oh ok, haven’t updated yet 😀 will do when everything is ported and reported working fine.
Really useless though… This app saves you from manually uninstalling VitaShell, but the people who install this app would know not to uninstall the app in the first place.
Well it is nice to know that you have a safety net.
i format my enso 3.65 everything gone but the henkaku setting still there i use vitatooldev to create henkaku then install it on qcma and it work 😀
Cn u teach me details? Huhu i hve same problem, now i cant play any games huhuhu
This is useless. Make a backup 1x with qcma (binaries for linux/windows/mac and others are available) and you don’t have to worry ever again.
This new tool won’t solve the problem magically if you removed vitashell and didnt make a backup beforehand. No reason to install this. Sorry.
whats funny here is that, you need Vitashell to install this homebrew..
SOS Windows Ports first
Wine3.3.apk ported to vita wine3.3.vpk
This is what i have been waiting for so can finally do the update
ASK fitgirl todo wine3 friendly releases?
Currently wine crash in unarc
Maybe there needs to be an updated version of VitaShell that makes it part of the system or something. That might prevent people from deleting it.
I forgot the name but there’s an app in the homebrew browser right now that let’s you swap out the Sony *** apps for vitashell which, even if you format will still take the place of them. Near for example is now vitashell 1.83 for me.
What if I lost S.O.S for the PSVita? Please someone make S.O.S for S.O.S for the PSVita
Why do people have to make this seem so complicated. Restoring Vitashell is so *** easy, you don’t even need a CMA backup.
how?
There was also a post here on wololo, previous to the GBATemp one…
http://wololo.net/talk/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=48941
Chelsea will release a v1.1 fixing a issue with people who damaged VitaShell with a wrong 1.83 installation on 3.65, also, will have an option to update VitaShell safely!
I didn’t see it as it should be placed in the HENkaku sub-section of the Homebrew section.
hey I got an unrelated question. What happens if I put my 3.65enso vita card on my other 3.67 vita console. Will any legit purchased game work on it? will it work if I put it back on my other vita?
also if I put another card on my hacked vita I can install vitashell with sos yeah?
yess…
Still on 3.36 and with ark and haven’t touched my vita in over a year. Up to date will all hacks method but still curious as to why they haven’t port henkaku to the earlier release as an optional thing.