Most of these guides aren't essential, but can come in useful if you've gota friend or family member you want to impress.
Converting videos to MP4 format for playing on your PSP
This is so easy. First, you'll need to decide whether you're going to use the fairly reputable freeware transcoder, 'PSPVideo9' or the shareware but very effective one, 'Xilisoft PSP video converter'. Both are great applications. If you want simplicity, go for the Xilisoft one; if you want advanced options that affect all aspects of the video, go for PSPVideo9.
You can find the Xilisoft one [HERE], whilst you can find PSPvideo9 [HERE]. Both programs include utilities to transfer video files into the correct places on the PSP with speed and ease.
An overall guide for using PSPvideo9 can be found [HERE], whilst I'll explain how to create PSP-compatible videos in Xilisoft:
- First, open the program entitiled 'Xilisoft PSP video converter'.
- Click the 'Add' button about 2/3 of the way down, and select your video file.
- Select
your video format and quality at the bottom. I wouldn't recommend
minimal size, as the quality is terrible. If it's a music video or
something short, use excellent quality if possible. For movies, etc,
just use standard PSP MP4. Select MP3 format if you want the audio
extracted from the video in MP3 format.
- Select the output directory at the bottom. The end-result videos go here when finished.
- Click 'Encode'!
The video should start encoding, and depending on the size of the movie and your CPU power, will take up to about
2 hours. (On a 2.66GHz processor with 512mb RAM, a 15 minute video,
originally 30mb, took 17 minutes). Sometimes you'll get a 'Failed'
message where the progress bar is, shortly after the start of the
encoding process. This is fairly common, as the program may not have
understood the codec or header; use PSPVideo9 or convert the original
movie to another video format first.
To transfer the videos accross in Xilisoft, connect your PSP to your PC with USB, and press Tools>PSP Video Manager.
To watch them, go to the PSP's XMB (main menu), and press [X] on Video>Memory Stick. If you see a corrupted data message, then you should try re-encoding the video, perhaps from or to another format. If you don't see any videos, the file or containing folder doesn't have a compatible name.
Have fun!
Converting PSX games for use on 3.02 OE-B (or later) custom firmware
In Dark_AleX's newest custom firmware, you can use ANY PSX game or downloaded ISO you have lying around. Note:
it is preferable to use ntsc games; pal games cause graphical errors
and may not work. Though, you can convert between PAL and NTSC with the
GUI converter I mention below.
First, if you're staying legal and not downloading the game, you're going to need to rip the game. Go [HERE].
Ignore the bits about needing a Modchip, and anything about burning;
and only go so far as til you've got a BIN or ISO file that's a few 100
mb's.
If you're being a total muppet and downloading your PSX ISO from a torrent or something, make sure you're using an NTSC game. (PAL games work 80% of the time, but usually have graphical problems). Google for 'PSX ISOs' and the first couple of results should point to a decent download site.
Once you have your ISO or BIN file, place it in a safe directory. Choose one of the following converter options:
- The original offical Dark_AleX converter; good for a simple, no hassle conversion. Requires simple command line knowledge.
- A GUI version of the above. Still packs the same functionality, just there's no command line involved. For me, they're not as simple and quick but pack features like nothing else. If you don't mind a few menu's, they may be just the ticket. A cool GUI is PSX2PSP. It even has the ability to convert PAL ISOs to NTSC ones.
Next, you'll need the 'Hot Shots' Golf' official PSX EBOOT (that's the one you get from the Playstation store). You can find it with a quick google for 'hot shots golf PSX torrent' should churn up something useful.
Place the KEYS.BIN and the EBOOT.PBP from the download in the same directory as the program's executable, renaming the EBOOT.PBP to BASE.PBP. Read the readme from your particular converter, and convert the file appropriately. With the GUI, you can replace the pictures, labels, and even add sounds to the EBOOTs. (Yay, no more pictures from Hot Shots Golf!).
Create a folder in the \PSP\GAME folder of your PSP's memory stick, named whatever is appropriate. Copy the newly made EBOOT.PBP and the KEYS.BIN to that directory. In 3.02 OE-B or later, go to the Game>Memory stick area on the PSP's XMB. Find the ISO you just converted (if you haven't applied any extra options, it'll be of Hot Shots Golf). Press [X] on it, and it'll launch with a message (no gameboot movie). If you get an error, check you're on 3.02 OE custom firmware (B or later), and try moving the folder you've put the PSX ISO in, over to the GAME302 folder on the memory stick instead of GAME. If it STILL doesn't work, try it in GAME150).
Emulating Windows 95 or Linux on a PSP
This is cool. It's a port of the OS emulator 'BOCHS' to the PSP, allowing us to emulate either a Linux or Windows 95 operating system image. You can't do very much because there's no keyboard (apart from Windows virtual keyboard), it's immensely slow because of the PSP's weak CPU and the measly 8mb of RAM availible, and the mouse in Windows is very awkward due to the pointer boosting feature.
The official site is [HERE], so read the 'What is this?' section before we continue. Also, remember that you'll need to be using either firmware 1.50 or one of Dark_AleX's custom firmwares to do this, as it requires kernel mode.
I'm not going to bother writing a full guide when he does it for you on the site, and no-one knows a program better than it's author! The downloads are below the instructions. Here we go:
1) Create your bochs image and configuration files. I highly recommend installing the OS on a PC before moving it to the PSP (unless you want to spend the next 10 years staring at a progress bar). You can also download some readily available images from here.
2) Download and unzip the files below.
3) If you have 1.0 firmware put the EBOOT.PBP file under the GAME directory (e.g X:\PSP\GAME\BOCHS where X is the PSP drive). If you have a version 1.5 firmware you need to repackage the file using KXploit. I haven't tested it on a v1.5 firmware so I hope it works. It won't work on newer firmwares (v1.51, v1.52, v2.0) because it's impossible to run homebrew applications on them at this time.
4) Create a directory named VM in the root of the memory stick (e.g X:\VM).
5) Copy the disk images and bios files anywhere on the PSP.
6) Edit the bochs configuration file so it will point to your disk images and bios files correctly. Note that on a PSP you have to use the "ms0:/" prefix as the root of your filesystem (see the example configuration in the downloads). Also set the amount of memory your VM will use. Be sure to set it to about 8MB as the PSP will crash if you try to use more (the PSP has about 32MB of RAM total).
7) Rename the bochs configuration file to "bochsrc.bxrc" and put it under the VM directory. This is the only real requirement as the path to the configuration is hardcoded. You can put the rest of the files wherever you want as long as the configuration file points to them correctly. See downloads section for sample script.
8) Run bochs and hope for the best.
Download
Important note:
By downloading the file you agree that I am not responsible for any damage caused by this software. I use the "overclocking" feature the PSP has to make the CPU work full speed at 333mhz. Nobody is sure how it affects the PSP. Also, the virtual machine sometimes writes a lot of data to the flash memory stick which could shorten it's life.
Bottom line, If your PSP starts bursting into flames after running this, don't blame me.
PSP binariesSamples bochs script for DLX Linux
- - -
Hopefully, you did not find that too difficult, but I had quite some trouble setting everything up first time. As the guide said, you can download some legal pre-made linux or BSD disk images [here].
The author, Matan Gillon, has said that he'll add improvements such as speed improvements by using 3D hardware acceleration instead of a software-based scaling algorithm, but that was over a year ago, so don't expect to see any updates too soon.
I said that I'd tell you how to run Windows 95, so I will go so far as to stay legal. First, you'll need the disk image. It's around 100mb, and it's notoriously hard to locate if you're downloading it. To get it legally, you need a Windows 95 disk, then you'll install it onto a PC, then piece together the file needed, then build the image. It's quite hard, and I've never found a tutorial on the web to do it, so I'll just leave it there. Search some torrent sites or some PSP ISO forums and you may find one.
Great homebrew!
Some newbies may be struggling as to what homebrew is useful and fun to have on your PSP. Well, I've compiled a list. To find one, search for it at http://www.psphomebrew.eu first, because that has thousands of links, but if you can't find it go to http://dl.qj.net.
1. iRshell / iR Shell - All-in-one connectivty center, homebrew launcher, media player, file manager, and UMD launcher. You can even listen to music while playing UMD's or homebrew!
2. Attack of the mutants - Fun 2D space shooter
3. PSP Quake - A Quake port for the PSP
4. KETM - kill every thing that moves - A cool 3D air fighing game
5. 48 hour pong - A pong game that's first release was coded in 48 hours; features score submission to an online database
6. Devhook - Firmware and UMD/ISO emulator; supports up to firmware 3.03 currently
7. Links2 - A port of the web browser 'links2' to the PSP. Faster than the offical browser, but doesn't always show the page properly.
8. 'SmashGPSP' - A clone of the N64 game, Super Smash brothers
9. PSPRadio - Wi-fi music player that streams from the shoutcast servers
10. Daedalus - N64 emulator, not full speed though it's very good
11. GPSP -GBA emulator, almost always full speed
12. Nem's hello world - The first ever PSP homebrew. Cool to have lying around!
13. PSP soldier - online 2D shooter
14. Frogger - Frogger clone for the PSP
15. X-flash - Awesome flash modification tool; runs only on 1.50, 2.71 SE, or 3.02 OE
16. Squarez - Addictive endurance game
17. PSPlayerMT - Movie player supporting AVI, MPG, etc
18. AFKIM - IM for MSN, AIM, ICQ
19. Install-o-tron - Automatic homebrew downloader and installer
20. PSP Revolution - Clone of the infamous, addictive 'Dance, Dance Revolution'
21. Jump Gunnar Jump - A cheesy but fun jump n' shoot game
22. PSPool - A Pool game for the PSP (By pool I mean the ball game)
23. PSP Filer - A cool file manager that supports copying to/from Flash and RAM
24. Lua Player - Run Lua scripts
25. PSP PDA - All-in-one utility including a text editor, image viewer etc, for the PSP
That's all I've got here for now, but I'll update it regularly. The list is seperate from PSPG revisions, so you don't need to wait for the next full update to see the latest and greatest applications.
Links / Further exploration
There are loads of places you can go for extra help and guidance.
PSP3D - My place to hang out and help people, it's the friendliest and most helpful PSP forum around. Loads of people there will be willing to assist you. Just please don't ask about ISO's, as PSP3D prides itself with its' high links with Sony, and therefore are very against piracy. Thisbenefits the members, as exclusive demo's and content can pop up.
PSPupdates (Qj.net)
- Again, it's a helpful forum, but the people here are usually either
unprovoked flamers or very proffessional people. The second is so much
more common though, and this does not take away from the site's
reputation. This is one of the places to be if you're a developer. The
news updates here are usually pretty fast.
PS2Dev - Don't be fooled by the name. They are very good with the PSP, and a fantastic place for learning new development skills or having intelligent discussion. Check out the forums!
MaxConsole - Check out the PSP section of the forums. This is another cool place for Dev's; Dark_AleX and other well-known people like to spend their time here.
DeviantPSP - Here you can get some regular up-to-date news. The site has a couple of coder's that release programs under the site's name. (EG, DeviantFlash).
0okm's blog - 0okm is one of my personal favourite developers, not sure why. This is his blog.
Noobz! - This is the homepage of the 'Noobz' team.
Dark_AleX's site - This is Dark_AleX's site. You can keep up-to-date with his projects here. Beware of dark-alex.com, it's a duplicate site that is full of brickers. (Applications that corrupt your PSP's firmware).
Lan.st - A forum with some relatively intelligent people.
PSP-Programming - A cool place to start learning C for the PSP; great tutorials.