Brewology

I have a PSP-2001 with the official 3.95 fw. I saw a few things that piqued my interest that required custom firmware. I'm not a total newb with PCs, but when it comes to flashing firmware, I've been a little wary.

I've got what the psp came with(usb cable, battery, 1gb memory stick) and a 4gb memory still i purchased after. Would I be able to get any of the custom firmware on my PSP without having to buy anything more? I saw something about a pandora battery(and that it could be reversed, hopefully letting me get away with only having one battery). I'm trying to do whatever research I can and find as specific instruction as I can before trying anything, so I don't brick my PSP. heh

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately if your going to make a pandora's battery without another psp that has custom firmware on it, you are going to have to hard mod the battery. Take a look at these two tutorials:

http://pspbrew.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11076
http://www.pspbrew.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10797

They are on creating the battery and making one with a switch. If you are going to make one with a switch then you will need some way to control the switch, possibly buying a pinheader like in the tutorial. The short answer is no, you cannot make a pandora's battery without buying a single thing.

I love the way that works. lol You need CFW to make a pandora's battery, and you need a pandora's battery to install the CFW.

I just found a video on youtube that says it should work on the battery I have, but, like you said, it's a hard-mod. Basically opening the battery housing and removing a pin contact with a soldering iron and razor. I'm trying to avoid something as delicate as that since i'm rather tight on money right now and don't want to risk ruining a battery like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpYBzq8GxLI

edit: actually.. after reading the description again.. the battery i have(1200mAh 3.6v) is one of the few that WON'T work. But that may be a useful method for those that have a compatible battery.

edit 2(rather than double posting): I didn't really think before posting that last link. I'm not sure if the link I posted was against any rules or not. Sorry if it was. I was going to post another of someone who was selling pandora's batteries(sony batteries and supposedly able to turn back to a normal battery), and came with a 512mb memory stick for about $45(after shipping). I, again, don't know if questions like this are against the rules... but was wondering if anyone knew of something cheaper? I've already got a 1gb card that came with the psp that I could use so... I just need this pandora's battery, i'm assuming?

To be a little more specific; I'm trying to get 3.90m33(or what ever is better?) on my psp. Will I be able to upgrade to any of the newer cfw on my own after getting the battery? or am I going to have to purchase a new battery every time? I know that sounds like a stupid question, but i thought i'd ask anyway.

If your tight on money then why are you going to buy a pandora's battery? lol. Just buy a compatible battery from like walmart or ebay, and make it yourself. Just follow the tutorial that I provided you, and you shouldn't have a problem. Most of the tiem people trying to sell pandora batteries are over priced. But whatever. THe link you posted is fine, and if you have a question about the person who is selling the pandora's batteries then you can ask us but otherwise don't post to it. Advertising is against the law here. But you can ask if someone on the forum can make/sell you one. If you alreayd have the memory stick then all you need is a battery. The only thing that isn't reversible is the battery unless you make it with a switch on it. And yes, you can upgrade to whatever custom firmware you want (I'd suggest 3.90M33-3).

But anyways, all the stuff I just said is probably in the tutorial that I linked to anyways. But if you have any more questions just ask.

You can get a pandora battery for cheap from deal extreme
10.50 free shipping from Hong Kong, they have good reviews; just takes about 2 weeks for it to show up.
(still waiting for mine)

I'll check into getting a second battery. I don't want to risk getting a fake, overpriced battery. I also don't want to try adding the switch(because i don't have the same in the images and i haven't done enough in electronics to just look at mine and know what's the same), i'd rather have the second one handy in case I want to use it and not worry.

I did have one question. I saw it said "The older the better". I have the PSP-2001(silver slim), it came with a 1200mAh 3.6v(PSP-S110) battery. Should I buy the same as i've got or get the 1800mAh 3.6v battery, or is will it not fit? I know i'm likely bothersome with questions like these, but i'd rather ask and be sure than waste money on something that won't work in system.

found both from BestBatt(seemingly out of US. , i know how those Hong Kong shipments are. That's how I got my 4gb memory stick. took forever.), the 1800mAh was 10.50, and the 1200mAh was 17.90(hoping this isn't considered advertising), that's why i asked if the 1800mAh battery would work. No point in spending more on a battery i'm not going to use regularly if i don't have to.

Oh sorry about that, I thought the tutorial stated what kind you could use. I hope you haven't bought the 1800mAh yet because you do need to buy the oldest battery that you can. You can use the old ones that fit in phat psps, but I believe all you need to do is look for a phat psp battery that says like made in china on it. Someone else can probably clarify which one is better though than me.

no, I haven't bought anything yet. The tutorial actually shows the one i'm currently using. I can get the same that i already have(or i'm assuming it's the same), but i didn't understand exactly what needed to be done in that tutorial. It said to cut the PCB copper where the arrow was pointing(second to last image). While i'm not fully comfortable taking a soldering iron to anything that small(though i've already got two soldering irons and precision tips from something else i did), I at least understand what needs to be done with lifting the 5th pin on the other batteries. lol

But, that's why I decided to post here, to make sure I do things right. I'd rather it take time and be done right than rush though it and screw myself.

And the premodified battery at dealextream sounds like it doesn't hold a charge(i don't see how that works) and it's the same 1800mAh battery(hangs out of the psp, but if that's how it needs to be, i can live with it since it's only being used for a short time.)

Edit: well.. the dealextreme one says it works for both the 1000/2000 PSPs ... $10.50, free shipping.. so, if anyone can confirm it being good, I can stop being an annoyance(hopefully i'm not really)

Mine showed up today and it worked fine. It cant hold a charge because its a third party recovery mode booter, not an actual battery. They just call it a pandora battery because thats the generic term.

So long as it works as it should, I'm happy.

So, this is going to need to be placed in he battery space and then I plug it into the wall or something? I've already placed the order. Let the count down begin! (12 - 17 days )

I know I should probably wait, but.. I figure while waiting for this thing to get here, I could use that time to prepare the memory stick so I can just get to it as soon as it get's here.

I'm using ofw 3.95 at the moment. Am I going to need to downgrade to 1.50 like I've seen mentioned or is will it go directly from 3.95 to 3.90m33-3?

I'm sorry for asking so many questions.

You can upgrade directly to 3.90M33 if your using a pandora's battery.

If you use a cementaro(sp) magic memory stick it will put you at 3.80-m33

the most Recent Despertar Cementerio upgrades to 3.90m33-3 which is the latest m33