Brewology

I have a PSP 1001 with Firmware version 3.95 and no motherboard ID #'s. (1st Generation)
I also have a PSP 2001 with Firmware version 3.95 and no motherboard ID #'s.

Back when I got my PSP 1001 I was able to run a Sega Genesis emulator (DGEN) on it with no problem until they started includeing a new patch with every game you buy. I am trying every downgrader I can find online to return it to Firmware version 1.5, everything out there is a hoax. I have a backup of all PSP Firmware versions.

What is the best Sega Genesis emulator for PSP?

Lol, I can reassure you that pandora is not a hoax. Just because it works for everyone else and not you doesn't mean it's a hoax.

Did you try looking at our tutorials section and follow a tutorial such as darkpacman's guide on creating a pandora's battery? Also 1.5 is not the BIOS version of a psp, it is the firmware version. That and you will need to upgrade to a custom firmware, 1.5 is outdated and custom firmwares offer many more features.

~moved to help~

So if I'm running official firmware version 3.95, what custom firmware do I need to install to get started?

There's really no "best custom firmware" since there's only 1 dev, DAX, releasing them. Just get yourself a pandora setup and use the latest custom firmware, which I believe is 5.01. For your fat you will need to also install the 1.50 kernal add-on.