iPod with Video Conga Open!

- Thank You to those of you signing up for our Conga Lines here at PSP-Files.com. (If you haven't signed up yet, check out the links below!)

- With less than one month until the Xbox 360's release, you should be getting excited about getting your hands on one.
- This is just an update to see if we can help you get that Green verified symbol on your account, getting you one step closer to your Free XBox 360. Once you complete a listed offer on the site you signed up for, you can be queued on our Conga. That means you will be next to recieve all the referrals coming into the Conga lines until you have enough for that prize, with no effort.
- Visit the Xbox 360 Conga page to see details on how to get credited for an offer you may have already completed. Otherwise, head to the site you signed up for (or sites... we have more than one 360 offer and there is no reason to not sign up for them all!) and choose an offer soon to get a better position in the Congas!

- Those of you working towards a Free iPod Nano should be happy too. The little black and white wonders are proving hugely popular and you should be getting excited about slipping one in your pocket soon.
- Same deal as the 360. Visit the iPod Nano Conga page for help.

- Don't forget we also have a Free Sony PSP Conga page too!

- The big news today though is the opening of our newest Conga line, the iPod with Video Conga.
- With this offer you have a choice of 30GB or 60GB models in black or white or a PayPal payment of $300!
- Enjoy your free stuff. Thanks!

Location Free Review

- A user on The Official Sony PlayStation Message Board has posted a quick review of the Location Free service added to firmware v2.5 for the PSP.
- Images are up too, so if you don't know what Location Free is yet, this may help explain it.

SonyxTeam Releases

- SonyxTeam have been a busy bunch recently, putting out the following PSP Apps:
- SXT Version Changer V2.02

"Yoshihiro and SXT are proud to bring you The First Firmware Trickz for Gamez that need Firmware 1.52 2.00 or 2.X to run on your PSP and Cant Run UPDATER 1.52 or 2.X. The System think it's a PSP v1.52 ,v1.0 ,v2.0, V7.50 and not the v2.50. Why ever wait a new version for update the changer :=) even if its a v1.5 or 1.0."

- SXT Firmware BFM v0.2 Beta

"Yoshihiro and SXT are proud to bring you The most advanced Firmware loader ever created for psp. It's been tested to boot successfully :
- firmware 1.0 debug unit (the bogus 1.0 update from sony), 1.0 retail,
- 1.5 retail and 1.52 retail.
Firmwares 2.0, 2.01 and 2.50 do not boot yet on this version because the flash1 is corrupted when the firmware 2.X boot. This version is useful to devlopers and firmware hackers.
What's new compared to existing FW loaders :
- 1.52 can now load flash1 correctly (there was a bug on the BFM 0.1 beta that had been fixed)
- Totally coded from nothing by Yoshihiro from SXT. (although the original idea of running a firmware from a memory stick comes from MPH)
- Unlike other loader that patches like 3 prx, BFM (the SXT version) patches them all !! It means unlike other fw loaders BFM does NOT load prx modules from the flash unit but only from the memory stick ! It also means less risks of freezing, and no chances of bricking your psp while playing with your tweak fw (or untweaked ones)
- prx modules are patched on the fly !
- Improved stability"

- They are also extending their Skin Design Contest to end on October 31st 2005, so you still have time to enter.

F.E.A.R. Downloads For Your PSP

- While searching for the patch for newly released PC title F.E.A.R. (a fantastic game by the way!) I came across the following download on Vivendi Universal Games' website: PSP Gear - 77MB

"The F.E.A.R. PSP Gear contains PSP wallpapers; the F.E.A.R. hi-def trailer, the F.E.A.R. Director's Edition trailer, and all four episodes of P.A.N.I.C.S. for use on the PSP; and inserts templated for use with the Logitech® PlayGear Pocket™ case.

For some features to function properly, owners should be using the PlayStation® Portable firmware version 2.5 or higher. For instructions on installing the latest firmware update, please visit http://www.playstation.com."

- If it is mostly just movies, I don't see how firmware v2.5 will be necessary, so try getting it anyway if you are interested. They are probably just talking about switching out your wallpaper.

Warning: Fake PSP Unbricker

- A user named "new psp movies" on The Official Sony PlayStation Message Board posted the following:

"This rumor has been spreading fast in the scene, so we decided to post this warning.

I got up this morning and saw an “unbricker” email lying in my inbox. I was impressed and followed the link to the post.

A guy named “12step” posted in the forum saying his method and Eboot would unbrick the accidentally bricked PSP, no matter what the reason and version it was. What a salvation!!! A couple of guys were yelling that this thing worked. This thing seemed really promising!

But after I downloaded it and checked the Hex code… “4D 5A” for the first 2 bytes… I wonder when PSP started to support Windows executive. You can also see the typical “This program cannot run in DOS mode.” I was curious and renamed it to .exe and… A winamp installer revealed its form.

We believe that one day a REAL unbricker will be done. But now liars, just stop hurting the unlucky users who has a bricked PSP even deeper. Let them rest in peace… or repaired for a 2.50 one"

Quake 2 Being Ported

- Hurricane Wilma knocked me off the Internet for a day and a half right in the middle of a site update, so sorry about that. Let me just finish off what I was doing.
- McZonk, a member of Team Emergency Exit, is working on porting Quake 2 to the PSP. - Here is what he had to say:

"I'm working on a port of Id Software's Quake 2 for the PSP. It's far away from being finished, but the biggest part of the work is already done. The only thing is missing, is the graphics port. I hope I can release a first preview within the next two or three weeks which allows single player gaming. Not all graphic effects will work at this state. Sound and multi player will definitive come, but later. It's possible to start a game in single player mode at the moment, but you have no output, because I hade to rewrite the graphics port completly (I tried with pspgl, but there are to many problems with it). The 2d stuff is working (menus, console, etc) and I will try to render a 3d model preview in the player options menu next and play cinematics and demos. This will be a big step forward. I will post another news if something interessting happend."

- It must be Quake season! Quake 1 has already been ported, 2 is on the way, id released the source to 3 and 4 just hit store shelves for PC!

Sony Tries To Make PSP Trendy In London

- PSP Updates have posted some images of some new stores that have been popping up around London to promote the PSP.
- They seem to be temporary locations setup for Christmas in a kind of boutique style similar to other shops in the area.
- I really can't imagine how effective something like this must be since the PSP is not a fashion item, despite what Sony may imagine. What kind of person are they hoping will walk into one of these "galleries"? It can't be that cheap an exercise.

10 Million PSPs Shipped

- Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI) announced a few days ago that they have shipped 10,000,000 Playstation Portables around the world.
- So far, shipments have hit the following in each region:

* Japan and Asia: 3,000,000 (Release Date: 12th December 2004)
* North America: 4,470,000 (Release Date: 24th March 2005)
* Europe: 2,530,000 (Release Date: 1st September 2005)
* Total 10,000,000

- Not these numbers are shipping quantities, not the amount purchased by players.
- Sony plans to sell around 3 million PSPs in its first North American holiday season, Kaz Hirai, the head of SCEA, said.

"We're going to try to double the installed base between now and the end of the year."

PSPGBA v1.0

- Coder psp298 has released a new Game Boy Advance emulator for the PSP, aptly titled PSPGBA v1.0.
- psp298 says:

"PSPGBA is a GBA emulator for PSP with GUI for game management like RIN and optimized for speed. Although not 100% as fast as GBA but with playable speed for some of the games."

NeoFlash PSP Memory Card Adaptor

- NeoFlash have posted the final specs for their memory card converter for the PSP.
- It will be called the "NEO-MS 4in1 PSP Pad" and will support the following functions:

Use the following Memory Cards:
* Any Sony MS
* SD/MMC
* CF/MicroDrive
* Up to 4GB

Battery:
* Optionally Use 4xAAs
* Can recharge batteries
* Charge through AC/DC or USB

Also:
* Ergonomic PS2 style grip
* Kickstand
* Car mounting bracket

- IC2005 have them available for preorder right now for $99, with an expected release date of November 2005.

Coding Competition

- Not sure if I mentioned this already, but there is a PSP Coding Competition going on right now over at DCEmu.
- The contest will end 11.59pm GMT, November 7th 2005.
- The winner will receive all of the following:

Logitech PlayGear Amp
External 3200mAh Battery Pack
Power Charging Cradle
Hori Portable Pouch Style (Ash Black)
Airform UMD Pocket (Black)
USB Transfer/Recharge Cable (2in1)
Liquid Crystal Filter

Movie Website Designed For PSP

- Joystiq mentioned a few days ago that Paramount have launched 50psp.com, a website for 50 Cent's new movie "Get Rich or Die Tryin'".
- What makes this news relevant s that the site is specifically designed for the PSP, which is apparently a first.
- Download trailers and wallpapers right now. Webisodes are supposedly coming soon.

More "PSP on TV" Details

- PS2 Cover now have the PSP on TV available for preorder for $100.
- They also have some images up, showing Lik-Sang's artist impression was a pretty good one.
- The device actually works using mirrors, so I can't imagine the quality being too high with something like this.
- Team Xtender, who are creating a similar product named PSP2TV, posted a response on their site.

Web Server Running On A PSP

- PSP Project nave been serving a web site from a PSP.
- Unsuprisingly, its down right now.

Video Of PSP Being Bricked

- Anti-Virus company F-Secure have made a video of themselves bricking a PSP by using one of the trojans floating around out there on that Internet thing.
- Watch the video here.
- Now you don't have to do it yourself, saving you about $250. Be safe.

PSP Giga Pack

- Sony will start selling a new PSP bundle next month titled "Giga Pack" for $299.
- It includes:

* 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
* Battery pack
* AC adaptor
* USB cable
* PSP stand
* Firmware 2.0

- You should save yourself a little bit of money buying this pack rather than buying a 1GB stick separately, plus you get the bonus of the stand and USB cable.

Cracking v2.5

- Efforts to crack the v2.5 firmware continue. SonyXTeam have been taking a look at it and have issued the following warning to other would-be crackers out there:

"SonyxTeam News We want to warn any team creating version changer programs that the 2.50 index.dat encryption pattern has changed, therefor you have 100% chances of bricking your psps if you try to use it in your flash.
That’s also why we are not using it on our version changer.

The reasons why sony would do such a thing are

- To prevent people from creating version changers (they failed to do so, since we know how to create our own index.dat)

- To prevent people on 2.50 from downgrading using an earlier index.dat version

- Because they think we are dumbasses that would brick some of our psps in the process (that’s too bad since we didn’t brick any of our psps as we tested the 2.50 index.dat using BFM firmware loader).

Also Sony wouldn’t imagine us sniffing in their IPL and figuring out that the Version information is now located into the 2.50 IPL whitch means that the index.dat is now useless and has just the purpous to fool us (yeah $ony just failed mouhahaha, we are way smarter than they imagine, next time I do hope for their sake that they do better….)"

New Trojan Warning! PSafeP Updated

- Dark Killer has put a new version of PSafeP out on the web to combat a new trojan floating around.
- The trojan claims to be a program named DPixy that will cure dead pixels. What it really does is turn your screen off. To get it working again you will have to get to the System Restore option in the PSP OS without being able to see it.
- PSafeP v1.2 includes the following updates:

* Improved flash read/write detection algorithm (flash0 access for wlan drivers isnt detected as suspicious anymore)
* Added Drag & Drop support
* Bundled COMDLG32.OCX (fix "missing dependency" error)

Basilisk II PSP Macintosh Emulator

- ChaosKnight has ported Basilisk II to the PSP, calling it Basilisk II PSP Macintosh Emulator.
- Basilisk II is an open-source 68k Macintosh Emulator which will run systems 7.5.5 through 8.
- P-Sprint support is in there for keyboard input and there is varying sensitivity for the mouse input too using the D-Pad or the analog stick.
- You need a legal copy of mac.rom to run this however.

Another TV Adaptor - This One Without Modification To PSP

- Lik-Sang also mention a new TV adaptor for the PSP from the people that made the TV de Advance (the TV adaptor for the GBA.)
- This one requires no modification to the console, unlike Team Xtender's version.
- This one seems to have a camera film the PSP's screen? Strange.

Lik-Sang Review Datel 4GB HDD

- Import gaming web store Lik-Sang, have a review of Datel's 4GB HDD for the PSP.
- They have an unconfirmed price of $200 listed right now.
- Pictures are included of the packaging, the unit itself, connected to the PSP, busted apart and how the PSP reacts to it (3803 MB free space!)
- They say it is small and quiet, but transfer and loading times are considerably longer than from a regular MS Pro Duo. It also seems to consume more power, but it comes with the 2x Battery, so that is taken care of.
- Replacing the MicroDrive inside with any other Compact Flash card will work, but format it on the PC first. Other MicroDrives will work too, as long as they are not bigger than 4GB.

Firmware v2.5 Out Now

- Firmware v2.5 is now available from the PSP's Network Update option.
- This release actually adds some decent features, including the Location Free Player which lets you stream TV over the Internet (from a Base Station you have to buy separately).
- Sony's JAP website and the Sony's USA website both have the update available to download if you would prefer.
- Don't forget, this new firmware is not able to run unsigned code, so you lose access to all emulators etc. so be sure you want to update.

Updated Details On Datel's 4GB HDD

- An update on Datel's upcoming HDD attachment for the PSP:

"We can now confirm the following:
It is a physical hard drive (Micro Drive) not solid state/flash memory.
It does connect with a small cable to the memory stick slot.

More details and updated pictures here"

PSPHelp v1.0

- pud from the PSP Updates Forum has created a help file for Windows (a CHM file) titled PSPHelp v1.0.
- PSPHelp details how to get things done with/on your PSP, which is especially useful to beginners in the PSP homebrew world.
- pud obviously put alot of time into this, explaining things such as:

- Transferring files to the PSP
- Understanding PSP folders
- Video in firmware 1.50
- Network setup
- Homebrew, and how to use it

- Grab it if you have questions about your PSP.

Conga Line Reminder

- Just wanted to let new readers know about our Conga Lines. Conga lines allow you to earn free gifts from trusted companies like FreePay much faster than trying to get them on your own.
- Join our congas to earn the following gifts:
- Free Xbox 360 Conga Line. Get it for launch day! In fact, we have 2 up for grabs and you can get both!
- Free iPod Nano Conga Line. Apple cannot keep up demand for these things!
- Free PSP Conga Line. Mine came preloaded with firmware v1.50!
- You can sign up for all the lines we offer, you are not limited to choosing just one, so go crazy and earn them all!

Remove Background Lines In PSP OS

- PSP-Hacks have put up news from Fluff (a.k.a. NaoNeo).
- He/she has shown a way to remove the wavy lines animating in the background of a PSP, so that you only see a picture:

"It's a lot of hype over a single byte change?, i can'’t beleive that crap, anyway if you feel like removing the wavey lines from your background, all you have to do is go open this file:

flash0:\vsh\resource\system_plugin_bg.rco

Go to offset 0x—00000646 and change the value from 35AF to 37AF, simple!, basically what it does is break the code for the actual lines, thus disabling them, but as with all firmware 'mods' i highly suggest you only do this using MPH'’s firmware loader or with Flash0 emulation enabled in umd emulator 0.8, Flashing edited files to your firmware can brick your psp, so do the sensible thing okay people? :)

Now why on earth, after telling canti exactly that, does he/she go around like it'’s some sort of special discovery?..

You can download the original video of the file modification in action right here.

Going into greater detail, thar be basically two versions :

Fluff'’s : Go to offset 0x—00000646 and change the value from 35AF to 37AF
pyro's : Go to offset 0x00001B74 and change the value from CCBC to 00BC

While the edits are indeed in difference places the overall results remains the same, you could do a simple byte edit in a thousand places of the file and it would break the lines just like the two above edits! how dull.

Enjoy either way ~"

PSP Media Player Now In English

- sHard>> has been working on the source code to PSP Media Player v0.0.5 (PMP).
- He says the following:

"Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I skinned up a nice version for end users until I can get this thing to compile smoothly (almost there) and help out on the programming end. Check it out if you want a more "polished looking" version. I also whipped up a nice little readme with more complete control information. It's in English, and uses jockyw2001's updated source.

Binary: http://nerisoft.com/psp/PMP_skinned.zip
Source: http://rapidshare.de/files/5913386/pmp-sourcecode.tgz.html

Enjoy while you wait for new features!"

- PMP is originally a Korean app from JiniCho. You can open AVI (DivX and XviD), OGG and WMA files.
- The best thing about this media player is that DivX AVI files can be played at 480x272. That full screen resolution on the PSP finally!

More Emulators

- Team XBOS have released an Apple II Portable Emulator, appropriately titled Apple II Portable v0.1 for PSP.
- c64PSP v0.1 is a port of Frodo C64, a Commodore 64 Emulator.
- PSPVice v0.2b is another (better) Commodore 64 emu.

Python Ported To PSP

- After the Lua port come news of a Python port for PSP.
- Python is a scripting language which is very popular for quick and robust coding.
- PSP Updates have a demo of a rotating, shrinking and coloured sphere written in Python if you want to check it out.

Launchers For Small v2.00 EBOOTs

- toc2rta's v2.00 exploit has been used by abu to create a new EBOOT loader for v2.00 PSPs.
- AstralDragon from PSPri.it has posted another app which appears to do the same thing.
- It is nice to know you have a choice for your v2.00 EBOOT launching needs :)

Symantec Name Fake Downgrader "Trojan.PSPBrick"

- Symantec, makers of Norton AntiVirus, has labeled the recent release of the fake PSP downgrader "Trojan.PSPBrick" according to a story on ZDNet News a few days ago.
- Someone already beat them to the punch of releasing antivirus software for this threat however, as mentioned previously.

Put A D-Pad Over Your Buttons

- PSP Updates posted a nasty looking hardware mod which puts a D-Pad from an old NES controller over the Circle, Square etc. buttons.
- The creator did it to help him play Ghost In The Shell, so others may be interested.
- I wouldn't be suprised if a commercial addon appears sooner rather than later since alot of people complain about sticking Square buttons.

P2P Network For PSP

- More old news, (I'm catching up,) Team Zero created a P2P Networking for the PSP called XChange, which uses a browser on the PSP.
- No illegal content is allowed and this is moderated to be sure not to happen. You will be banned if you upload anything illegal.
- The site seems to be moving around since it is still a WIP, but try this link: XChange

Serve iTunes To Your PSP Via WiFi

- An old hack I never got round to posting, but if you want you can serve your iTunes library to your Sony PSP using WiFi and the Internet.
- The method listed requires a Mac running at least OS X 10.3, a shareware application called Dot Tunes and a PSP with v2.00 firmware (or other means of running a browser such as the WipeOut hack.)

Datel Create 4GB HDD And 2x Battery Combo

- I found a listing on dark planets for a new product from Datel, creators of the Action Replay/ GameShark.
- And I quote:

"Up until now, the largest storage that has been available to PSP owners was the 1Gb Pro Duo Memory Stick. Then within the last week or so, we have seen the emergence of the 2Gb Memory Sticks, with their large price tags!
...
[Datel] have gone one step further! 4GB of storage and an X2 battery combined! That’s right double the storage and double the playing time. But wait there’s even more! Believe it or not, they are even throwing in one of their other ground-breaking products for the PSP - the Get Connected Media Cable and it’s media software."

- Price is still to be confirmed but is currently listed at £149.99 for preorder, with an expected release date of 20/10/2005.
- Action Replay/ GameShark is also available for PSP and comes with code and media manager software, a USB cable and a 64Mb memory card.

Macintosh System 7.5.5

- Neisha Stadelhofer has gone through the painful process of getting Mac OS 7 on the PSP.
- It runs via the Bochs emulator, running vMac in FreeDOS... so thats:

"an x86 emulator running a 680x0 emulator on a handheld gaming console"

- Boot time is around four hours so, I wouldn't bother doing this yourself!

Antivirus For PSP Files

- Dark Killer has released PSafeP, a program for Windows which scans Sony PSP executable files (EBOOT.PBP) for suspicious code.
- Use it to check out files you download before running them on your PSP.
- The author notes the following however:

"Important Note: Due to PSafeP scanning for any and all access to the flash memory, some legitimate software (ex: LUA Player, PSPInside) that accesses flash0 to load certain prx modules will fail the scan even though they are 100% percent safe."

IGN Has Hands On With Multiplayer GTA On PSP

- IGN got a chance to play some of the multiplayer modes in GTA for PSP.
- It sounds good to me. A bit of a shame it doesn't work over WiFi routers and only allows ad-hoc, but if you can find 6 players it would be great fun I'm sure.
- Please Sony, don't put firmware v2.xx on the disc!!

Workaround For Madden Crashes

- Tiburon, the Florida based EA company that produced Madden 06 for PSP, have posted a workaround on their forum to fix the problem some users have experienced with game crashes.
- Looks like the games will not be recalled then. Here is what they said:

"Guys,

Here is the work around I just got from Tiburon. Please post if you have tried it and are still having issues:

We have thoroughly investigated the shutdown-issue re: Franchise mode that some of our users have experienced with Madden NFL 06 for the PSP. While this isn't a widespread problem, we have identified the following work-around for the issue:

1. Clear all memory sticks of any saved Franchise files where the problem existed.

2. From the Franchise Main Menu select Play Week.

3. The user is then presented with the options of Weekly Schedule, Team Schedule, Standings.

4. Select Team Schedule and proceed into game from there.

Upon exiting any game, the user will be taken back to the Weekly Schedule. The user will then need to select the "back" button (triangle) to bring them back to the Play Week options. From here the Team Schedule can be selected again and the user can continue with the game scheduled for that week.

In summary, the user should enter any game they wish to play within Franchise mode from the Team Schedule option menu.

While not widespread, we are sorry for the inconvenience that this issue has caused and hope that this solution will allow you to enjoy Madden NFL 06 for the PSP. We greatly appreciate your continued support of our products."

Firmware v2.01 Now Released In USA

- Sony have put firmware v2.01 on thier US Website now.
- It was previously available via the Network Update feature on the PSP itself, or from the JAP website.
- In any case, you should not download this update. All it does is block the v2.00 exploit and does not add any features.

More WipeOut Pure Content

- WipeOut Pure Classic Pack 3 is now available from the in-game browser.
- The following goodies are inside:

* Vohl Square (Track)
* Icaras (Ship)
* Icaras (Skin)
* Classic Tunes 3 - Cold Storage - Messij
* Classic Tunes 4 - Cold Storage - Operatiqu

PSP-PDA

- Notepad by Rob_PSP has been renamed PSP-PDA thanks to all the added functionality in the program now, including music player, image viewer, address book, calendar, and calculator.
- PSP-PDA v1.0 replaces Notepad version 1.3 and adds the following:

* Added: Calendar
* Added: Calculator - a mathematical expression evaluator
* Added: Bookmarks are auto-loaded and saved
* Added: Music plays while viewing pictures, but scaling and rotation is disabled.
* Added: MOD and XM support, TGA
* Added: Keyboard Settings - select analog, digital, and 2-cursor keyboards Change cursor and button sensitivity
* Added: Cursor can be moved in text fields with the pad. Text fields can be selected with the pad.
* Fixed: Toggle Bookmark crash

DevKitPro Adds PSPSDK Docs

- devkitPro Updater 1.1.0 adds the PSPSDK Doxygen Documentation to its list of downloads.
- Go and get it if that is how you installed your SDK.

PSP-Files.com Starts Coding

- I've finally had a chance to sit down and try coding some stuff for the PSP.
- So far I'm just tinkering with the demos that come with the SDK and have successfully got a textured cube moving and rotating around at your command by combining two of them.
- I've been moving the code around into a more manageable format to make it easy to start new projects when I want to, without having to reinvent the wheel each time.
- I'm trying to mess around with the texturing abilities right now, but hopefully I'll get a chance to write some small tutorials and post up the code when I get a little further down the line.
- Just mentioning that since updates here may be a little slower while that stuff gets worked on.

Subway Map Images

- Joystiq have a nice post up linking to subway maps from around the world formatted for the PSP.

Barcelona
Berlin
Boston
Chicago
Frankfurt
Hamburg
London
Mexico City
Milan
Moscow
Munich
New York City
Nuremberg
Oslo
Osaka
Paris (Metro + RER)
Rome
Santiago
Stockholm
Stuttgart
Sydney
Tokyo
Washington DC Metro

Firmware v2.01 Now Released

- Don't go and install it since you won't be able to run any unsigned code anymore, but Sony have put out a new firmware which prevents the v2.00->v1.50 downgrader from working.
- PSP Updates have pictures up of the user agreement you have to accept when installing the firmware.
- In related news, there is apparently a fake downgrader floating around... "PSP Team patcher." Don't use it unless you want to have your PSP transform into a paperweight.