This thread has been sanctioned by mm.
A Spanish team has discovered an “exploit” in the PSP firmware version 1.5 (the latest firmware is 1.52 IIRC, so I hope you have not updated to either .151 nor 1.52 because this exploit only works with firmware version 1.5 as of now!)
This exploit lets you boot up any homebrew apps that works with firmware 1.0, that means emulators, home made games (someone ported Doom which runs pretty well, I have also seen some Chess games), other forms of programs and so on. The only downside is that in order for this exploit to work you have to have TWO memory cards, why? The exploit requires swapping. It’s not so bad though, swapping is easy once you’ve got a hang of it.
The best place to get all the info is:
http://www.psphacker.com/They has all the guides and software you need (no ROMS though)..
Here is the download site for the PSP-DEV (the guys that discovered the exploit) software:
http://www.only4.info/psp-dev/ (Tip: Download both versions 0.1 and 0.2. The 0.1 has a Tutorial in PDF format which is useful when you start out.)
If you find that difficult to understand (the English in the PDF tutorials if a bit broken) there is a guide in plain English (thx to PSPhacker).
PLAIN ENGLISH GUIDE TO MAKING THE SWAP TRICK WORK
For those who are having difficulty getting it to work, follow these simple steps (edited from PSPhacker for GAF-related confusion):
Make sure your PSP version number is 1.50
Make sure you have two mem sticks.
Go to PSPhacker.com before Sony\'s lawyers get there in their black van.
FIRST - get the Swaploit app. Install the motherfucker. Actually needed a restart on my PC for some reason, may not on yours, mmkay?
Now:
Download any homebrew app/game including the emulators. Good idea to get some ROMs too.
Run the MSwap Tool
Click the "..." button to Select the EBOOT.PBP you wish to use - an EBOOT.PBP is the file you want from say, your SNES emulator zip file extraction.
Select an Output directory (the place the NEW files will be saved to. All the files end up with the same name (so that the PSP can recognize them) so it\'s a good idea to think about where you\'re putting this. and for the purposes of clarity, let\'s pretend we\'re installing a SNES emulator, so we\'re going to name some folders SNESEM - but you could call the last mem stick folder location anything you like, as long as you use the first part of the folder hierarchy.
Click “Generate files”
You’re now left with two directories - MS1 and MS2 in the location you chose.
Copy the EBOOT.PBP (a very small file) from the MS1 directory to your first memory stick (ideally, your smaller, crappier mem stick) (MS) - X:\\PSP\\GAME\\SNESEM
Remove the first Memory Stick and insert the second one (ideally, your fat 1GB megastick)
Copy the EBOOT.PBP file from the MS2 directory into X:\\PSP\\GAME\\SNESEM (note you are exactly replicating the folder hierarchy to trick the PSP into thinking both memory sticks are the same one.
It would be a good idea to get some suitable ROMs on memory stick 2 at this time. They go IN the same folder as the emulator you\'re using. In this example SNESEM
Remove Memory Stick 2 and insert Memory Stick 1 again.
Go to the Game menu on your PSP and select Memory Stick
Select the PSP-Dev Launcher - this will be a very obvious icon. If you see an icon claiming to be corrupt data, you\'ve either done it wrong, or you currently have memory stick 2 in by accident.
The moment PSP logo screen comes on, swap memory sticks - you have time, but be quick and careful.
Voila! You’re playing an emulator on your 1.50 PSP!
It looks complex, but if you follow it step by step, it\'s EASY and it\'s kind of a one time deal.
So far I’ve gotten the SNES, NES, NeoGeo, PC-Engine and the Doom game to run on the PSP.
SNES: Pretty good performance once you run the games in 333MHz mode, might require that you set it to skip a few frames though. I’ve had some compability issues however.
NES: Very good performance.
NeoGeo: This emu is still very early. No sound and the games run very slow, even in 333MHz mode.
PC-Engine: I’ve only tested one game (Outrun) and it ran fine.
Doom: Runs great, sound problems however the guy who did the porting is aware of this, expect new updates.
