PSP 2.0 Firmware Downgrade Available

PSP News | Homebrew can now be run on Australian and European PSPs.

Over the past few days, there has been much excitement in the PSP homebrew community. A PSP hacking group by the name of 'toc2rta' have found a buffer overflow exploit relating to how the PSP displays picture files. This has opened the door for homebrew applications on PSPs with 2.0 firmware.

The website PSPUpdates is now reporting that another hacking group, named MPH, has used the buffer overflow exploit to develop a firmware downgrader. This will take 2.0 firmware and downgrade it to version 1.50. For several months, this has been the holy grail for PSP hackers, due to the security hole in 1.50 version of the PSP firmware that allow homebrew programs to be run from a memory stick. However, it’s now likely that in the next few weeks we’ll see the buffer overflow exploit used to run previous homebrew programs directly from 2.0 PSPs without even needing a downgrade.

It is highly recommended that you do not downgrade. Firstly, if something goes wrong during the downgrade, your PSP will become permanantly unusable and it's not likely Sony will come to your rescue. Secondly, you will lose access to all the features of the 2.0 firmware, such as the web browser and AVC movie playing codec - things most people definitely won't want to lose. Finally, many games actually require the latest version of firmware to be installed in order to run. While there are programs that bypass this, it can be difficult to set up if you’re not experienced with this sort of thing.

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14 Comments

Quin

6 years ago

Am I the only person who finds that the interest surronding the "homebrew" aspect of the PSP to have changed PALGN's traditional anti-piracy stance. Considering how the issue has been dealt with in the past, it seems kinda..."u-turnish"

Spanca

6 years ago

^ Nope, I too find it odd.

Chris-Leigh

6 years ago

I'd have to disagree guys. There's nothing in the article that suggests we support homebrew applications, and if anything the following paragraph actively discourages downgrading (an act that would allow homebrew applications to be played):

'PALGN has confirmed that the downgrade will work on an Australian PSP. However, for most people it is highly recommended that you do not downgrade. Firstly, if something goes wrong during the downgrade your PSP will become permanantly unusable and Sony is unlikely to be sympathetic. Secondly you will lose access to all the features of the 2.0 firmware (such as the web browser and AVC movie playing codec). Finally, many games require the latest version of firmware to be installed before they can run. While there are programs that bypass this, it can be difficult to set up if you’re not experienced.'

James

6 years ago

Homebrew are programs that are unsigned by Sony. - i.e. you or me could write a homebrew app for the PSP. It's not piracy in the traditional sense of running a retail program which you've downloaded from the net on your PSP. It's more like running modifying your dvd player to be region free or importing a PSP from another country. It's a bit of legal grey area. Notice we didn't actually give details on how to do it.

We certainly don't condone piracy.

Quin

6 years ago

*Shrug*

I just think its the implication.

Then again, I don't claim to be a guru on what the PSP is capible of, homebrew or not. I might still look into a PSP in the future, particually if a price cut occurs here in Japan before christmas.

GroovySamurai

6 years ago

Downgrading is in no way difficult and tricking the PSP to thinking you have a higher version is even easier - its just a click of a button within the program

Kloppy

6 years ago

Talking about firmware holes is about the same as talking about PS2 memory card exploits*. Both allow homebrew and (at least potentially on the PSP) pirated software also.

This doesn't support piracy. Your computer can run software unsigned by either Microsoft, IBM or Apple. Giving your console the same ability is not the same as running pirated software.

*If PALGN has had a policy against this or swapmagic etc, then it would seem like an about face.

plufim

6 years ago

I think the problem is, the vast majority aren't using this exploit for "homebrew" in the traditional sense - they're using it run ROMs. You can argue that the downgrader itself is not necessarily illegal, but the reason the damn thing was made was to run unsigned programs, the majority of which are NES, SNES, and GBA ROMs.

James

6 years ago

Ok, Well I've been doing some research

Technically I don't believe it's illegal to downgrade in Australia. The sticking point is that the downgrade process actually modifies the internal PSP firmware first to make the 1.50 upgrade think the system is running the 1.0 firmware. The same sort of thing occurs with the homebrew programs which change the text on your PSP, the startup image etc.. They're all changing internal bits of the firmware.

Now in the US under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) this is illegal. Thanks to the 2004 free trade agreement with the US, Australia has plans to implement a very similar law that would make this illegal, but it has yet to occur. So for now the actually downgrade process is legal as far as I can tell.

By the same logic the homebrew that “customises” the PSP by modifying the internal firmware is also legal. In fact the only thing that isn’t legal are all the emulators made to run on the PSP. Australia does have the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 which prohibits a device (including a computer program) having only a limited commercially significant purpose or use, or no such purpose or use, other than the circumvention, or facilitating the circumvention, of an effective technological protection measure. As such all the emulators (including the UMD emulators that allow you to run pirated PSP isos) are illegal.

So to summarise – don’t use emulators of any kind and you should be ok.

Hyperworm

6 years ago

I don't see how an emulator falls under that definition. An emulator just "emulates" the system instructions of a piece of hardware, and executes the code on the ROM as if it were that original piece of hardware. It doesn't do any "circumvention of an effective technological protection measure".

James

6 years ago

They play roms. Roms can't be the original software. In Australia it's not legal to even make copies of software you own. It's the same reason why mod chips are illegal in Australia.

armageddon12

6 years ago

Uh ROMs can be original software. There's a few sites that I know of where people have made their own games that run on emulators. Certain development companies have made their software public domain when they went bust. So ROMs are legal, unless they are a copy of something that shouldn't be being copied.

Emulators are perfectly legal, as long as they are not sold commercially.

Anyway my brother did this, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Not sure if I condone his usage, but who am I to judge.

James

6 years ago

"Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 which prohibits a device (including a computer program) having only a limited commercially significant purpose or use ... other than ... facilitating the circumvention".

The UK may be different.