Massive update of the “PS Vita CFW For Dummies” page!
Our PS Vita Custom Firmware For Dummies page was getting a bit stale, so this is just a heads up that I’ve massively updated it today.
Although the information on the old page wasn’t inaccurate, it fell short of its original goal of being an all-encompassing Vita CFW guide.
Do we need yet another Vita CFW Tutorial?
While I recognize that there are lots of great Vita Custom Firmware guides on other sites out there, and that the documentation of tools such as h-encore² or Modoru is pretty much self explanatory and very well written, it felt off to be one of the most popular PS Vita scene sites, and not have a proper tutorial on Jailbreaking the Vita.
I’m not sure how useful people will think this is, but at the very least now they won’t land on our Vita CFW page and just get a few confusing links to Modoru and h-encore²’s github pages.
While huge chunks of the guide are direct copy/paste of TheFloW‘s great Installation guides for many of his tools, I did correct a few links, or emphasize a few things for people who are completely new to the scene. For example, using VitaShell for the first time can be a bit intimidating, in particular when the goal is to install a permanent CFW such as Enso.
If anything, writing this guide has been a very good refreshing course for me, as I decided to reinstall everything from scratch on my Vita. This was to confirm all the steps worked as expected, for someone who comes with a “fresh”, unmodified retail console.
The old page, despite being dusty, still contains a good chunk of history on PS Vita hacking, and has been kept here for reference.
Hopefully some of you will find this guide useful: PS Vita Custom Firmware for Dummies. Of course let me know if anything in there is inaccurate!
Thank you!
Thank you very much! I was looking to finally install permanent enso, your guide seems like a good excuse
Very nice, that you make all the work, to bring this nice Tutorial to the year 2022. Thanks a lot 🙂
can u downgrade to stock firmware 3.20 when 360 was just in few million years ago ?.?
I think, I think I remember when it was 59 million years a go that /talk was still visible. it got extinct If I’m correct
Yes bro you can do you need a guide or can you find it yourself.
well no matter here is one i hope its enough : https://vita.hacks.guide/downgrading-firmware-(3.60).html
if not hit me up on mail nemolol2052@gmail.com
Looks a bit complicated for a “dummies” guide… any reason you don’t include finalhe app? or is there a reason why a user shouldn’t downgrade to 3.60 as opposed to 3.65? 3.60 can be jailbroken from a website.
Great guide, just wondering why these few things in there. Thanks for the guide by the way.
Good points!
About why I don’t include finalhe: I personally believe it’s best to use the tools as they were provided by the original hackers, for a better understanding of what you’re doing. Finalhe adds a layer of “stuff” that to me hides a lot of things under the carpet. On the surface it makes things easier, but it also makes it harder to troubleshoot if you run into any problem. So, although the guide can appear to be “long” and not very “dummy like”, the guide targets people who like to understand what they’re doing, and doing it step by step, rather than trusting a GUI to do all the job for them. This is a very personal opinion of course, and I know lots of people use finalhe.
About 3.60: I felt that given how far the Vita is in its own lifespan, going to higher firmwares is the way to go moving forward: I’m thinking there will be less and less people on 3.60 moving forward, so it’s easier to be on 3.65 and 3.74, where the majority of people will be.
But to be clear: finalhe is a good tool, and 3.60 is a good option for people who want it.
Gotcha. As mentioned in the article there are a ton of sites with guides, nice to see a focus on more “behind the scenes”. Love the site, love the work you guys do to bring us the gaming news. And Thank you for everything.
I don’t really agree with your choice, this just makes everything more complicated for the end user. Going to higher firmware is definitely not the way to go forward. Not when the current scene is empty.
Vitasdk only include 3.60 nids so writing stuff for 3.65 and especially 3.74 requires more work. Let alone the fact that 3.74 is absolutely not a target. Sharkf00D, adrenaline and many other tools don’t support that firmware and don’t plan to support it.
3.60 is still the golden firmware that is recommended by devs, the biggest work has been done there, and full support for any tools. The webkit exploit especially makes it easier to troubleshoot issues than hencore. Which is why when people will stick to 3.74 and request help wherever it is in reddit or discord, they will immediately asked to downgrade.
3.60 will not have less and less people over time. and it is absolutely not easier to be on 3.74
I don’t fully disagree 🙂 Note that in my guide I recommend 3.65, not 3.74.