PS Vita/PSP: ARK (PSP/ePSP Custom Firmware) 10 released
ARK, the Custom Firmware for PSP (compatible with both PSP/Vita) has been back in activity (thanks to Acid_Snake) for about a year now, and is regularly getting new updates. Today, Ark v10 was released.
What’s ARK for PSP/PS Vita
The PSP is one of the best homebrew devices. It had a striving community, and a lot of developers pushed it to its limit, in particular with emulators that achieved incredible performance for those days (ok, I won’t pretend it’s the best way to play emulators nowadays though, but it still works great for older generation consoles such as the NES, SNES, GBA…).
Running a Custom firmware on the PSP turned a decent console into an insane beast. And the same remains true on the PS Vita: As the Vita has a full fledged PSP emulator embedded, it is possible (and recommended!) to install a PSP Custom Firmware on the PS Vita.
That’s where ARK comes into play, being a custom firmware that works for both the PSP and the PS Vita. It comes with impressive features (from the readme):
Features:
- Core system for unsigned code execution on every PSP device based on 6.60 kernel.
- Inferno driver Version 2 compatible with ISO, CSO, ZSO, JSO and DAX format.
- Popcorn controller for custom PS1 games.
- Stargate No-DRM engine.
- Plugin support for PSP games, PSX games and VSH (XMB), including per-game plugins.
- Compatible with all PSP models on firmwares 6.60 and 6.61.
- Compatible with all PS Vita models on firmware 2.10 and up.
- Minimalistic: only 6 files installed on PSP flash, CFW extensions are installed on memory stick.
- Custom game launcher with built-in game categories file browser, FTP server and client, modernized look and more.
What’s new in ARK 10
Here’s what’s new in Ark since 9.7r2, which was the last time we talked about it:
Release 10
- Heavily improved SystemControl and Inferno Driver.
Release 9.8
- Added DAX and JISO support.
- Improved core compatibility.
- Several improvements and bugfixes.
Release 9.7 Rev 5
- Now using an updated savedata folder provided by Yoti.
Release 9.7 Rev 4
- Several fixes to the FTP Client and overall improvements to the custom launcher.
Release 9.7 Rev 3
- Added FTP client to custom launcher’s file browser.
You can now browse and copy entire files and folders from another PSP.
And you can use the FTP client and the FTP server simultaneously.
This release only affects the custom launcher.
Download and install ARK for PSP/PS Vita
To get Ark V10 stable, go to this specific release.
alternatively, if you want the latest and greatest (automated builds with each commit), head over to the release section of the developer’s github to get the latest release.
Installation instructions in the readme.
Can this coexist with Adrenaline?
Wondering about this too! There’s a “clone game” option in fastark purportedly to allow to install Adrenaline, but no idea how/if it works!
First. Awesome to see still getting updates
First. Awesome to see still getting updates
I own both a PSP and a PSV. Given how awesome this cfw has become, someone please give me a good reason why I should not toss out the PSP already?
First!l at last!
Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrssssssstttttttt!!!!!!!
Alpha
Is there a special way and/or method how this should be installed on PS Vita? Not referring to how to upload it to the Vita, but how to install it once I have it on my sd2vita mem card? But also, how to utilize it?
You can use this Vita APP to simplify the installation process:
https://github.com/theheroGAC/ArkFast/releases/
Once installed just copy every file in the ARK_01234 folder into ux0:pspemu/PSP/SAVEDATA/ARK_01234/
Then copy the file H.BIN from the VitaBubble folder into the savedata folder and you should be good to go.
Great article as always!
Just for some clarifications:
– DAX and CSO Version 2 work, but these formats are very experimental and buggy.
– For the best possible performance, ZSO and JSO are the goto formats. They provide close to ISO speeds (almost no lag in GTA games) and work flawlessly.
– Leda technically works but it doesn’t and I have no idea why.
– Popsloader V3 from Team PRO works, but V4i from Popsdeco doesn’t work as it detects ARK as ME and applies the wrong patches.
Other than that the CFW is pretty stable and should have pretty much full compatibility with most plugins and homebrews.
First
So what’s the difference between this and adrenaline
The automated builds also have nightlies integrated but it also checks if the last commit is the newest before building another release.
Right now I only have it setup for pushes and PR’s because that is mainly what we deal with so far. I plan on doing a rehaul of GH actions to make the workflow a bit cleaner.
hello can someone explain the part where it says “copy latest release into save data folder” in detail please?
Do I copy the zip file or the folders inside the zip file?
and where is the save data folder?
In the ARK4.zip:
copy ARK_01234 into PSP/SAVEDATA/
copy ARK_Live into PSP/GAME/
For reference https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4#on-psp
Is problem in 3.65 enso. 🙁