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[brain_stew]

-NOTE: DO NOT INSTALL THE RECENT 6.30 UPDATE IT ADDS NO FEATURES AND ONLY TAKES AWAY HOMEBREW CAPABILITIES-

It is however recommended that you upgrade to official firmware 6.20 as this can increase compatibility. Finding a download link for this firmware rlease shouldn't be difficult. You can still buy PSN content using a PS3 or a PC with the Media Go software installed.

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Introduction

Its about time GAF had a thread about the fantastic Half Byte Loader which enables an incredible amount of fantastic homebrew applications to be played on any PSP device including the Go and the 3000 without any scary firmware hacks which may restrict the retail games you can buy and play. The only significant things this hack can't achieve is the running of UMD backups and PS1 ISOs. Most other major uses of PSP homebrew are now covered, personally I'm happy with that level of compromise as it keeps away the pirates yet still lets me run nearly all the stuff I'd ever want to anyway.

This "hack" is in "usermode" so there's absolutely no way of it bricking your PSP and it also is running completely off your memory stick/PSP GO memory, so its easily removed. Compatibility is increasing all the time but for me the recent R95 release really was when this thing turned the corner. Now its actually more likely that your chosen homebrew will work

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Installation

Its quite simple really you just need to transfer a few files to the proper place on your memory card, these are:

Patapon 2 US demo: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=065F7OL2
Half Byte Loader(Use HBL REV 95 for now): http://wololo.net/wagic/hbl/
Hacked save file: Follow the above link or http://www.megaupload.com/?d=83TVP8U1


Basically, you want to copy the Patapon 2 demo folder to: PSP/GAME/

The hacked save file to: PSP/SAVEDATA

The "hbl" folder and h.bin to your memory stick or internal memory's root directory not the PSP folder. So x:\ (where x is the drive letter of your PSP)

By default your homebrew goes into: PSP/GAME (this can be changed by altering the config file in the "hbl" folder, recommended as otherwise you may get lots of "corrupt data" icons in the XMB.


There's a full readme included which explains everything and there's a useful video tutorial on Youtube here (not mine).


After that its as simple as booting up the Patapon 2 demo, choosing not to create a save file and then booting up the included save and pressing "R" a couple of times. From there you'll be brought to a menu which lets you pick which homebrew to launch. Most homebrew should exit back to this menu as well, don't use the XMB's "Exit game" option that pops up when you press the home button.

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Recommended Homebrew

I've only been using this for a few days so I've only touched the surface of what's available. Conveniently the creator of the exploit made a list of his top 15 homebrew applications, so that's a nice place to start:

http://wololo.net/wagic/2010/07/18/15-essential-homebrews-that-run-on-half-byte-loader/

I've found this to be most comprehensive records of compatiblity so check it out to see what's available: http://advancedpsp.tk/foro_es/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=425/


Cave Story Download (RC 1)
Probably the most famous freeware game ever released and imo the PSP port is the best way to experience it, the game looks fantastic on the system's screen with pin sharp pixel art. Works flawlessly with HBL.


Quake Download 1 Download 2
Tips: Download 1 runs in hardware mode and runs at a smooth ~60fps but lacks any of the nice lighting effects.
Download 2 runs in software mode which means blurrier graphics and a low framerate but it does have lots of moody lighting effects and more customisation options. The folder you want to use is "SW_UM." I personally prefer the software rendered version.
For both versions you want to copy the "ID1" folder from a fresh Quake 1 install to the folder as well. Alternatively you can use the free shareware version and place it in the same place.

Open Tyrian Download
The open source PSP port of the classic Amiga shooter works perfectly on the HBL.

SCUMMVM Download

SCUMMVM doubtless needs no introduction, play classic point and click adventure games like Sam & Max or the freeware Beneth A Steel Sky on your PSP.

Doom / Doom 2 series
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Emulation


There's a fantastic selection of emulators available for the HBL, including SNES, NES, SMS, GBC, Mega Drive/Genesis, CPS1, CPS2, PC Engine, GBA, Mega CD, Spectrum, Lynx and more and the vast majority of these run at full speed or very close to it. One thing to note is that the HBL can be picky which version of each emulator it works with, so here I'll try and highlight which emulator to use for each system.


GBA Download(Kai v3.20 Test 2)

This emulator runs at full speed in the vast majority of GBA games, compatibility is incredibly high and while sound emulation isn't perfect in all titles, the rest of the emulation is spot on.

Tips: You'll need to place a GBA BIOS in the folder along with the eboot.PBP. This is ~16KB large and should be named "gba_bios.bin"
By default games run with a load of frameskip. Each time you boot a new game press triangle to access the menu and disable frameskip.
If the game runs slow you can try setting frameskip to "manual" and "1" this should make the game run at full speed while dropping some frames which is better than running in slow motion!
Exiting to the HBL menu will crash your PSP, don't worry just switch off your PSP and it will boot back to the XMB just fine.


Mega Drive/Genesis and Mega CD Download (1.51)

Yes full speed Mega CD emulation is indeed available on the PSP GO!

Tips: Sound must be set to 44100 otherwise it will be garbled.


SNES Download (TYL 0.4.2)

Tips: This isn't quite full speed but try reducing the sound sample quality, maybe add a small frameskip and one or two "speed hacks" depending upon the game and most games should be near enough full speed


CPS1 Download (2.0.6)

Tips: Most games should run fullspeed without issue, if they don't reduce the sample rate to 11025 and you'll be good to go. Damn near perfect, full speed CPS1 emulation, with 1:1 mapped pixels is a sight to behold on the PSP's screen.
Start+Select to access the menu


CPS2 Download (2.0.6)

Tips:This actually runs faster than the CPS1 emulator, most games can be played at full speed without even needing to use the 333mhz CPU option, so you can save on battery life.
Roms must be processed first with the included "cache" tool or they won't run. Once you've done this make sure you copy over both your "roms" folder and "cache" folder to your PSP.
Again, using a lower sound sample rate can gain you a decent amount of frames without having any noticable difference, thus making it possible for you to run the emulator at full speed with your PSP clocked at 222/266mhz.
START+SELECT to access the menu


Neo GeoDownload (2.2.1a adhoc)

This allows you to run games in both AES (home console) and MVS (arcade) mode. Most games will have little issue running full speed as long as you use this revision.

Tips: Roms must be processed first with the included "cache" tool or they won't run. Once you've done this make sure you copy over both your "roms" folder and "cache" folder to your PSP.
You must place the BIOS file "neogeo.zip" in your "roms" folder.
START+SELECT to access the menu.

NES Download (v1.13 beta 2)

Tips: A CPU speed of around ~266mhz should be enough to run everything at full speed.
This emulator actually includes a "fast forward" option which lets you run games at any speed you want, perfect to zip through slow sections of old RPGs.


PC Engine/TurboGraphX Download (v0.83)

Tips: You'll need to use the 333mhz setting but this should allow pretty much everything to run at fullspeed. I've had a couple roms (like Bonk 3) crash on me but the vast majority of the good stuff (like Soldier Blade and Alien Crash) are compatible at run at full speed.

Amiga (v0.80 BETA 3) Download

C64 (2.1.1) Download

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I will be updating this post with links to the best homebrew and emulators available as time goes on, any posts that detail the best version of each homebrew/emulator and tips on getting them running will be highly appreciated. I also realise this isn't the prettiest OP, I'll try and sort that when I can.

 

[pje122]

What the heck! Why no replies? He put so much work into this.
I think this is really cool, and its so awesome people with non-hackable PSPs will be able to finally get some homebrew and emulators going on their systems.

 

[Synless]

I was actually surprised no one responded yet as well. Either way, I'm at the newest fw on my 3000 so this wont work for me.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Holy shit wow. Homebrew on my Go! Awesome.

 

[V_Ben]

Bugger, I updated my go to 6.30 yesterday. Hopefully they'll find a new way in soon, as this sounds awesome

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Yeah, I read about this, but not until after I'd updated to 6.30

 

[brain_stew]

I wish I knew more about it before the recent 6.30 release as I'd have made this post earlier and stopped some of you from upgrading. As long as you haven't upgraded your firmware in the last week or so, this will all work fine. Its really come on a great deal in the last week or so, emulation in particular is really fleshed out now, CPS2 games look utterly fantastic on the Go's screen and you can even play vert. shooters in TATE mode!

I'm currently working on fleshing out the homebrew section, going to add info on PSP Quake soon once I test each of the different versions so I can decide which one works best.

 

[Stumpokapow]

The only significant things this hack can't achieve is the running of UMD backups and PS1 ISOs.

Doh, those are my two major usecases on my current CFWed PSP-1000.

 

[Diebuster]

System Software Version 6.20

YEEEAAAAHHH

I'm glad I was lazy and didn't update, time to try this out!

 

[Corto]

Sorry if this is mot the best place to post my question, but I would just want to have multiple accounts support on my psp. This hack or cfw can give my psp that abbility?

 

[brain_stew]

Sorry if this is mot the best place to post my question, but I would just want to have multiple accounts support on my psp. This hack or cfw can give my psp that abbility?

This hack certainly doesn't (or ever will) as its just a user mode hack, dunno about custom firmware.

I've just added Quake and Cave Story info to the op.

 

[donkey show]

NICE!!! Will check this out on my Go when I get home. Thanks for the links!

 

[SamBishop]

The only significant things this hack can't achieve is the running of UMD backups and PS1 ISOs.

Fantastic. I wish there were more homebrew options that sidestepped these two very obvious sticking points. Justify them however you want, the inclusion of either can be bent and twisted just as quickly back to piracy. With this, you truly have access to all (okay, most) of the benefits that homebrew has given the PSP scene and none of the controversy.

Sadly, like so many, I upgraded to 6.30 a while back. No soup for me.

 

[Synless]

I wish I knew more about it before the recent 6.30 release as I'd have made this post earlier and stopped some of you from upgrading. As long as you haven't upgraded your firmware in the last week or so, this will all work fine. Its really come on a great deal in the last week or so, emulation in particular is really fleshed out now, CPS2 games look utterly fantastic on the Go's screen and you can even play vert. shooters in TATE mode!

I'm currently working on fleshing out the homebrew section, going to add info on PSP Quake soon once I test each of the different versions so I can decide which one works best.

I blame MGS5 for making me update to get the dlc.

 

[Shaneus]

Holy fuck! I only just bought a phat and was pissed off with how much effort one had to go to to get homebrew running on the thing. Pandora batteries, custom firmware, loaders... ugh. You've just made the post of my dreams.

Thank you, OP. Subbed.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Fantastic. I wish there were more homebrew options that sidestepped these two very obvious sticking points. Justify them however you want, the inclusion of either can be bent and twisted just as quickly back to piracy. With this, you truly have access to all (okay, most) of the benefits that homebrew has given the PSP scene and none of the controversy.

I have no idea on earth how PS1 ISOs could be considered more intrinsically connected to piracy than NES/SNES emulators.

 

[Erasus]

Still using my CFW psp-1000

Maybe time for a GO before its too late?

 

[brain_stew]

I blame MGS5 for making me update to get the dlc.

Could have got it through a PC or PS3, surely?

I've started adding some images to the op to spruce it up!

CPS1 and CPS2 games look so damn good there's never a poor excuse for spamming the forum with images from them great games. I was shocked when I found out I could get full speed CPS2 emulation at 266mhz, the game's just look so damn good when 1:1 pixel mapped to the PSP screen. Some of the nicest looking games I've ever played on my PSP.

 

[RobertM]

Holy fuck! I only just bought a phat and was pissed off with how much effort one had to go to to get homebrew running on the thing. Pandora batteries, custom firmware, loaders... ugh. You've just made the post of my dreams.

Thank you, OP. Subbed.

Better going through all that trouble than launching a demo, then loading half byte loader, and having limited homebrew.

 

[brain_stew]

Better going through all that trouble than launching a demo, then loading half byte loader, and having limited homebrew.

All you have to do is just load the demo, takes 20-30 seconds, then you're straight into the HBL menu and your homebrew will exit back to that menu so you don't have to boot up Patapon again to switch from one application to the next.

You can always put your PSP into sleep whilst on the HBL menu if you don't want to do the whole process the next time you boot your PSP. I'd probably prefer a more permanent solution myself but then again there is something nice about a hack that is not permanent, can easily be removed and still lets you run up to date official firmware. Its definitely a lot more "noob friendly" imo, if you can copy a couple files to a memory card, you can run this hack.

 

[Shig]

-NOTE: DO NOT INSTALL THE RECENT 6.30 UPDATE IT ADDS NO FEATURES AND ONLY TAKES AWAY HOMEBREW CAPABILITIES-

D'OH

 

[Pai Pai Master]

SNES Emu doesn't seem to wanna load for me. Anyone else having problems?

 

[plagiarize]

not that i still have a PSP, but if Scumm VM works in this, you need to state so in the first post. when I had a PSP, the PSP version of Scumm VM was my favourite thing about it.

 

[brain_stew]

not that i still have a PSP, but if Scumm VM works in this, you need to state so in the first post. when I had a PSP, the PSP version of Scumm VM was my favourite thing about it.

SCUMMVM is indeed compatible! I'm just working through adding as many apps to the op as I can. SCUMMVM is actually included in that list of "top 15 homebrew." I haven't tried it myself yet so I didn't want to give second hand advice.

 

[AgentOtaku]

If you just want to use the emulators (i'm already running CFW), can you and will they still run well?

Basically I'm looking for the top emulators out there

 

[spats]

Damnit, my psp is fully updated.

I wish I had spare cash for a Go, would make a perfect emulation machine.

 

[brain_stew]

If you just want to use the emulators (i'm already running CFW), can you and will they still run well?

Basically I'm looking for the top emulators out there

Yep, emulation is the one aspect the HBL really has down. All the emulators listed in the OP run at full speed apart from the SNES emulator but that isn't far off. Even GBA emulation works at full speed if you disable sound and there's a whole bunch of emulators I haven't yet put into the op yet.

This hack is currently work in progress and is being updated at least a couple time a week atm and compatability is increasing with each release. The amount of progress made in just the last couple of weeks is tremendous.

 

[Corto]

...and still, another thing to add to the pure awesomeness that is Patapon! What surprises will bring us Patapon 3?

 

[Weenerz]

This is making it difficult to not get a PSP Go. I don't want it for psp games, I want it for the old emulated games. Arg!

 

[SamBishop]

I have no idea on earth how PS1 ISOs could be considered more intrinsically connected to piracy than NES/SNES emulators.

For whatever reason, pre-32-bit stuff always seems to get a pass, apparently in my mind too. I think part of it might be the fact that there are PS one games up on the Store right now. They're still associated with a retail product in some sense, even if it's purely digital at this point.

 

[Mileena]

Couldn't get this to work on my 2000 last night. I setup everything like it said and when I went to start it I got "This game could not be started"

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I think part of it might be the fact that there are PS one games up on the Store right now. They're still associated with a retail product in some sense, even if it's purely digital at this point.

There are 8 and 16-bit titles up for sale on the Wii VC right now.

 

[brain_stew]

This is making it difficult to not get a PSP Go. I don't want it for psp games, I want it for the old emulated games. Arg!

Where are you based? If you're in the EU I'd say go for it, the 10 free game offer coupled with retailers slashing its selling price has made it a fantastic deal.

I picked mine up for ~£140!

 

[brain_stew]

Couldn't get this to work on my 2000 last night. I setup everything like it said and when I went to start it I got "This game could not be started"

What said that? Did you load Patapon and then its save file OK?

 

[plagiarize]

For whatever reason, pre-32-bit stuff always seems to get a pass, apparently in my mind too. I think part of it might be the fact that there are PS one games up on the Store right now. They're still associated with a retail product in some sense, even if it's purely digital at this point.

obviously emulation remains a grey area, but the likelihood of someone ripping a PS1 game they own seems drastically higher than someone doing a rom dump from one of their carts.

for me, emulation from the last couple of gens is LESS dodgy, but then perhaps that's because on PC i can boot right from my disks in the case of PS2 and PS1 games, and easily rip gamecube/wii games through a modded wii.

scumm vm lets me play the games i legally own on multiple devices

same with a lot of quake ports (where you need the full version to play the full version, but the shareware works if you don't).

 

[jaydogg691]

If I can get this to work on my Go, I think I'll use my Go everyday. Thanks for all the info.

 

[Mileena]

What said that? Did you load Patapon and then its save file OK?

Patapon wouldn't load. I'd get the Sony logo on startup then it would just back to XMB with an error saying the game could not be loaded.

 

[SamBishop]

There are 8 and 16-bit titles up for sale on the Wii VC right now.

Absolutely. I'm saying ROMs are piracy, and that I guess the prevalence of emulators for older consoles just sort of excused it away in my mind, which isn't right at all. It seems one of the first things any homebrew community does is try to get an NES/SNES/Genny emu up and running. Maybe it's something about getting the games to run on hardware that's nowhere near related to the original platform or something, I dunno. The two are linked at a base level, and there's really no separating 'em, which is a shame.

 

[brain_stew]

Patapon wouldn't load. I'd get the Sony logo on startup then it would just back to XMB with an error saying the game could not be loaded.

Well the copy of Patapon you use for this hack is just a standard copy, it isn't altered in anyway and should boot up on any PSP. Try re downloading a copy either from the PSN (though not from your PSP!) or using the link in the op. Its the US demo of Patapon you want and it should put the folder in PSP/GAME.

You could try using Media Go or a PS3 to transfer it to your PSP, you might have more success that way.

 

[H_Prestige]

For whatever reason, pre-32-bit stuff always seems to get a pass, apparently in my mind too. I think part of it might be the fact that there are PS one games up on the Store right now. They're still associated with a retail product in some sense, even if it's purely digital at this point.

What? Who cares if some games are also sold on the PS Store? That doesn't stop ps3's from playing retail ps1 CD roms. It's completely legit.

 

[brain_stew]

What? Who cares if some games are also sold on the PS Store? That doesn't stop ps3's from playing retail ps1 CD roms. It's completely legit.

Honestly, the whole legality/morality aspect of emulation is a well tread ground and the forum's rules on this are pretty clear. I'd rather people not discuss that here, there's been enough topics dedicated to the subject and it just gets in the way of the good help/info.

 

[SamBishop]

Honestly, the whole legality/morality aspect of emulation is a well tread ground and the forum's rules on this are pretty clear. I'd rather people not discuss that here, there's been enough topics dedicated to the subject and it just gets in the way of the good help/info.

Yep, I misspoke and recant what I said before. As I can't really take part in any of the homebrew fun regardless, I'll just back out now and leave you guys to gush about all the cool stuff you can play. Forget I brought up the issue; they're nowhere near as detached by this release as I'd originally thought and it was wrong of me to say they were in any way.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Wow, lucky Go users! Welcome to the very wonderful world of PSP homebrew.

Also, if you're up to the task, you can make your own PSP homebrew.

 

[DiscoJer]

Let me point out that 6.30 does add new features. Not very useful ones. But they are there: PSN+ support (which basically seems to consist of the + icon next to the free items they can get) and Neo Geo support (if it wasn't in there already, at least this rate there are folders for the games).

 

[SonOfABeep]

Finally, a way to get all the brilliant PSP homebrew without enabling piracy.

I would actually consider buying a cheap PSPgo in addition to my PSP 3000 to use this.

 

[jayb]

Sweet, I'm going to have to try this on my PSP 2000. The last time I looked into homebrew, it required some sort of scary battery hack, which I wasn't willing to try.

I see that corkscrewblow had trouble getting this to work on his PSP 2000. Has anyone successfully gotten this to work on a 2000?

 

[A.R.K]

wow this sounds pretty simple to do unlike previous homebrew where I gave up just after reading the instructions. Will try this tonight.

Is there a C-64 and/or Amiga emulator for PSP? Does it work with this loader?

 

[brain_stew]

Sweet, I'm going to have to try this on my PSP 2000. The last time I looked into homebrew, it required some sort of scary battery hack, which I wasn't willing to try.

I see that corkscrewblow had trouble getting this to work on his PSP 2000. Has anyone successfully gotten this to work on a 2000?

It should work fine on a PSP-2000.

 

[brain_stew]

wow this sounds pretty simple to do unlike previous homebrew where I gave up just after reading the instructions. Will try this tonight.

Is there a C-64 and/or Amiga emulator for PSP? Does it work with this loader?

Not sure about Amiga but there is a C64 emulator that works with this exploit called "Vice"

Try this download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I9JWI3E8

 

[Blablurn]

I updated my GO. Fuck Me.