PlayStation Portable homebrew refers to the process of using exploits and hacks to execute unsigned code on the PlayStation Portable (PSP).
PlayStation Portable homebrew refers to the process of using exploits and hacks to execute unsigned code on the PlayStation Portable (PSP).
Additional features added including the ability to emulate and play the ROMs of other consoles, play homebrew games, share music, print photos, watch videos from streaming sites such as YouTube, and run additional video formats originally unsupported by the device. [1]
Homebrew emulators were created for NES, SNES, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 console systems among others. Numerous different emulators were created for the most popular consoles. [2] PlayStation 1 emulation was native, made by Sony.
The reverse engineering process to understand the PSP hardware started shortly after the advent of homebrew unsigned code execution. This effort led to development of Toolchain [3] and SDK [4] by enthusiasts and paved the way to utilise vector floating point co-processor, GPU and audio capabilities of the device without asking Sony for permission. Several demoscene non-interactive creations were released targeting PSP such as Suicide Barbie, [5] [6] [7] purely to demonstrate optimisation skills of the developers and the power of the handheld.
Soon after the PSP was released, hackers began to discover exploits in the PSP that could be used to run unsigned code on the device. Sony released version 1.51 of the PSP firmware in May 2005 to plug the holes that hackers were using to gain access to the device. [8] On 15 June 2005 the hackers distributed the cracked code of the PSP on the internet. Hackers refused to apply updates which would render their hacks unusable so Sony attempted to convince users that there was a benefit to upgrading by including new features in the firmware updates, such as a web browser, and not just security patches to plug the vulnerabilities. BusinessWeek dubbed this the "carrot-and-stick" approach. [1]
In August 2005 Sony released version 2.0 of the firmware which included the web browser, file compatibility updates and other features. [9] Hackers and other homebrew enthusiasts then encountered the first trojan for the PSP. Symantec called this trojan "Trojan.PSPBrick". Users attempting to downgrade their PSP using this software instead found that it was rendered inoperable as this software deleted mandatory/important system files. [10] Over the course of 2005 Sony released six different versions of the firmware and hackers typically responded to it by downgrading to avoid the new security updates. [1]
In mid-2006, after several months of problems in defeating the PSP's firmware a file was posted online which allowed new PSPs running firmware version 2.6 to downgrade to 1.5 so they could then be hacked using older methods. This reportedly caused more buzz in the community than any recent official offerings for the device. [11]
Dark AleX (aka Dark_AleX, Dax) was a Spanish programmer who wrote homebrew applications for the PlayStation Portable. Dark AleX, as well as other variations of the name, is a pseudonym under which he worked. [12] One of the drawbacks of downgrading the PSP is that new official media may require the presence of a new firmware edition. Dark_Alex had released a Custom Firmware called "Dark Alex's Open Edition firmware" or "Custom Firmware (CFW)" which opens the firmware and allows users to use the existing feature set of the current edition. Sony quickly patched the firmware again, continuing the cat-and-mouse game with the hackers and users. [13] In 2006, Sony released six updates to the system firmware and in 2007 they released another six updates. [9] In July 2007 Dark_AleX officially stopped his work on the PSP, citing perceived problems with Sony as one of the reasons for his departure. [14] Some people even suggested that Dark_AleX was paid by Sony not to release any more custom firmware, but Sony denied this. [15]
Custom Firmware allows the running of unsigned code such as homebrew applications and UMD backups, emulators for other consoles, as well as PlayStation games when the disc images are converted into PSP format. [16]
Half Byte Loader (also known as HBL) is an open source software project that aims at loading homebrew for PlayStation Portable handheld console through user-mode exploits. It does not provide any mechanism for loading official games or ISO images. HBL was built from scratch to be easily portable to any user-mode exploit. The project was created and started by m0skit0 and ab5000. [17] [18] It is currently maintained by wololo. [19]
HBL was created initially for the Medal of Honor Heroes exploit. An alpha version was released as open source by m0skit0 and ab5000 in November 2009, which ran very simple homebrews. [17] When the Patapon 2 demo exploit was found and leaked, wololo joined the project and proposed to port HBL to this new exploit. [20] The AdvancedPSP forums, which hosted the project, were shut down by the hosting and the project moved to wololo/talk [21] forums. wololo also created a new public SVN repository for HBL at Google Code. [19] Other PSP hackers such as Davee and neur0n joined in to help the development of this port. HBL for Patapon 2 passed to beta version, and can be considered the first useful HBL version, released in March 2010. HBL was subsequently ported to several other user-mode exploits, and also served as base for other projects, like the PRO CFW project.
HBL was also ported to run on Sony PlayStation Vita's PSP emulator with very little modifications. This project was named Vita HBL (VHBL) and was uploaded to HBL's public repository by wololo in March 2012. [22] [23]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification .(March 2024) |
Nowadays, the most used and recent PSP CFWs are PRO, LME and ARK-4.
An exploit called Infinity allows the user to permanently run a previously installed CFW (like PRO, LME and ARK-4) on a PSP, i.e., after restarting the PSP, the previously installed CFW remains activated without the user having to do any previous step.
Hackers have stated that the motivation for unlocking the PSP has nothing to do with piracy, but allowing individuals full access to the products they've purchased and the freedom to do what they want with the item as well as the interest in exploring something unknown. [1] [24] Fanjita, a member of the hacker group "N00bz!", stated,
"Everyone has the right to do what they want with their own hardware. Piracy does upset me, and because what we are doing opens the way to piracy it's harder to justify it morally. But our stance on piracy is clear, and we hope to be role models. Sony have never been in touch with me, so I am confident that what we are doing is legal." [13]
Sony has told the media that any issues resulting from running modified code on the device would void the warranty. [8] [1] They have also stated that the problem is not with homebrew but piracy. [13] However their constant firmware updates have been seen as attempts to hamper homebrew development. [25] According to Phillip Torrone from Make magazine, this hampering could be due to the attempts to curb piracy and may cause more harm than good. He thinks that "the really smart companies should release their products to the alpha geeks for six months and let the alpha geeks play around with them. It seems to me they'd save a lot of money on R&D, and they'd come out with much more solid products." [24]
However, Sony has also said that, when questioned about homebrew game support, Jack Tretton, who was Sony Computer Entertainment America's President and CEO at the time replied with,
"I think that is something that is in the works. We certainly see some of the stuff that has been done via homebrew, and it's incredibly creative. And I think we'd like to try and tap into that a little bit more." [26]
In computer science, dynamic recompilation is a feature of some emulators and virtual machines, where the system may recompile some part of a program during execution. By compiling during execution, the system can tailor the generated code to reflect the program's run-time environment, and potentially produce more efficient code by exploiting information that is not available to a traditional static compiler.
The GNU toolchain is a broad collection of programming tools produced by the GNU Project. These tools form a toolchain used for developing software applications and operating systems.
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, and is the first handheld installment in the PlayStation line of consoles. As a seventh generation console, the PSP competed with the Nintendo DS.
Privilege escalation is the act of exploiting a bug, a design flaw, or a configuration oversight in an operating system or software application to gain elevated access to resources that are normally protected from an application or user. The result is that an application with more privileges than intended by the application developer or system administrator can perform unauthorized actions.
A softmod is a method of using software to modify the intended behavior of hardware, such as video cards, sound cards, or game consoles in a way that can overcome restrictions of the firmware, or install custom firmware.
Homebrew, when applied to video games, refers to software produced by hobbyists for proprietary video game consoles which are not intended to be user-programmable. The official documentation is often only available to licensed developers, and these systems may use storage formats that make distribution difficult, such as ROM cartridges or encrypted CD-ROMs. Many consoles have hardware restrictions to prevent unauthorized development.
Import gamers are a subset of the video game player community that take part in the practice of playing video games from another region, usually from Japan where the majority of games for certain systems originate.
Remote Play is a feature of Sony video game consoles that allow the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 to transmit video and audio output to another device; previously this could only be a PlayStation Portable or PlayStation Vita. In 2014, it was expanded to include the use of PlayStation TV, Xperia smartphones and tablets, and PlayStation Now. In 2016, it was expanded to Microsoft Windows PCs and macOS. In 2019, support for Android and iOS devices was eventually added. Support for remote play of PlayStation 5 games to other devices was added in November 2020 just prior to the new console's launch.
The PSP Camera is a digital camera peripheral by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable handheld video game system. In Japan, the PSP-300 was released as the Chotto Shot on November 2, 2006, and was released in Singapore in the same year. For PAL regions, it is named the Go!Cam and was released May 25, 2007. A lower resolution version, the PSP-450x, was introduced in 2009. The PSP-450x camera was released in North America bundled with Invizimals on October 12, 2010, and was also bundled with EyePet on November 2, 2010.
OtherOS is a feature of early versions of the PlayStation 3 video game console, allowing user installed software, such as Linux or FreeBSD. The feature was removed since system firmware update 3.21, released on April 1, 2010.
The PlayStation 3 system software is the updatable firmware and operating system of the PlayStation 3. The base operating system used by Sony for the PlayStation 3 is a fork of both FreeBSD and NetBSD known internally as CellOS or GameOS. It uses XrossMediaBar as its graphical shell.
The PlayStation Portable system software is the official firmware for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). It uses the XrossMediaBar (XMB) as its user interface, similar to the PlayStation 3 console.
The PlayStation 3 technical specifications describe the various components of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console.
The PlayStation Portable's hardware consists of the physical components of the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and its accessories.
A video game console emulator is a type of emulator that allows a computing device to emulate a video game console's hardware and play its games on the emulating platform. More often than not, emulators carry additional features that surpass limitations of the original hardware, such as broader controller compatibility, timescale control, easier access to memory modifications, and unlocking of gameplay features. Emulators are also a useful tool in the development process of homebrew demos and the creation of new games for older, discontinued, or rare consoles.
The 2011 PlayStation Network outage was the result of an "external intrusion" on Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, in which personal details from approximately 77 million accounts were compromised and prevented users of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles from accessing the service. The attack occurred between April 17 and April 19, 2011, forcing Sony to deactivate the PlayStation Network servers on April 20. The outage lasted 23 days.
Video game piracy is the unauthorized copying and distributing of video game software, and is a form of copyright infringement. It is often cited as a major problem that video game publishers face when distributing their products, due to the ease of being able to distribute games for free, via torrenting or websites offering direct download links. Right holders generally attempt to counter piracy of their products by enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, though this has never been totally successful. Digital distribution of pirated games has historically occurred on bulletin board systems (BBS), and more recently via decentralized peer-to-peer torrenting. In terms of physical distribution, Taiwan, China and Malaysia are known for major manufacturing and distribution centers for pirated game copies, while Hong Kong and Singapore are major importers.
Homebrew software was first run on the PlayStation 3 by a group of hackers under the name "Team Ice" by exploiting a vulnerability in the game Resistance: Fall of Man. Following various other hacks executed from Linux, Sony removed the ability to install another operating system in the 3.21 firmware update. This event caused backlash among the hacker communities, and eventually the group Fail0verflow found a flaw in the generation of encryption keys which they leveraged to restore the ability to install Linux. George Hotz (Geohot), often misattributed as the genesis of homebrew on the PS3, later created the first homebrew signed using the private "metldr" encryption key which he leaked onto the internet. Leaking the key led to Hotz being sued by Sony. The court case was settled out of court, with the result of George Hotz not being able to further reverse engineer the PS3.
The PlayStation TV, known in Japan and other parts of Asia as the PlayStation Vita TV or PS Vita TV, is a microconsole, and a non-handheld variant of the PlayStation Vita handheld game console. It was released in Japan on November 14, 2013, and Europe and Australia on November 14, 2014.
Custom firmware, also known as aftermarket firmware, is an unofficial new or modified version of firmware created by third parties on devices such as video game consoles, mobile phones, and various embedded device types to provide new features or to unlock hidden functionality. In the video game console community, the term is often written as custom firmware or simply CFW, referring to an altered version of the original system software inside a video game console such as the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita/PlayStation TV, PlayStation 4, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch. Installing custom firmware on some devices requires bootloader unlocking.
| Hardware and Accessories | |
|---|---|
| System software | |
| Games |
|
| Related | |
| |
