PSP and UAE

[Floid]

XDelusion wrote:

 On top of this they did not mention in the tutorial that some batteries are encased in a silver bagging.
 I figured to get to the circuit board they showed in there tutorials I would have to remove the silver bagging...

...well low and behold, something dripped out, burned my hand, gave my nose a bit of stress, then began to smoke.

 Guess I'm out to lay down $45 for another battery to mess up.

 :shocked:  :getmad:  :shocked:

Yikes!

Kids, Datel / Codejunkies have been selling a commercial 'service tool' battery for ages.  Looks like they now also have a slightly cheaper device to flash existing batteries back and forth.  (Note that the color code is orange based on the color of the original "Pandora's Battery" Sony accidentally leaked out with a repaired unit.)

http://us.codejunkies.com/Departments/PSP.aspx
http://uk.codejunkies.com/Departments/PSP.aspx

These shouldn't be particularly illict -- IIRC, it's a magic serial number that enables the service mode, and the magic serial number is something like all-zeroes.  

It'd be hard to even interpret that as a DMCA violation here in the US, since it's a general service mode, not a direct circumvention of a copy-protection mechanism.

Of course, once you have the ability to pop the PSP into service mode, the only useful thing [for an average user] to do is install firmware that allows unsigned/homebrew code to run, and distributing a full firmware image based on hacked-up Sony code is pretty much bound to violate their copyright.  [In other words, I don't think you become a criminal until you pass that binary on.  The creators of the binaries are cagey because, for the convenience of the world, they're distributing full images that include Sony code.]

If you could get that as a cleanroom diff to apply to an image of the firmware that came with your unit, everything would probably be kosher -- you're just making use of the hardware you paid for -- at least until you start making "backups" of UMDs.  I don't remember having to agree to any EULA to open the box and start playing, so I think basic copyright law is what applies here.  Of course, I am not a lawyer, YMMV, check with yours before making a business model out of this. :-D

...

As noted, the battery hack applies to the Slim'n'Lite because the old models come with firmware that can be exploited through simpler means.  Again IIRC, you can always back out to the 'factory' firmware through some reset mechanism (definitely confirm this first, my memory is rough), so an upgraded original model shouldn't require a trick battery but the Slim'n'Lite will, and will again if you revert it back to the factory baseline.

The above is my understanding as of a few months ago.  I picked up a Slim'n'Lite but haven't actually tried any of this myself, since I barely even have time to play games on it!  (Anyone have docs on using Sony's paid downloads from *NIX / without the silly Windows 'loader' software they require?)

[Floid]

amigadave wrote:

PSP has wifi, right?  It also has a web browser, correct?  My wife's oldest child from another marriage has one, but I never looked at it closely.  If the PSP has a few utilities, like a calculator, date book, address book, email capability, web browsing, etc. such that it could replace my very old Palm Zire that I use seldom, I would consider getting one.  The Zire does not have wifi, internet, or email, but I use the weak camera and the date book/alarm features some times.

It does have 802.11 (b in the original, the Slim may be g?) and a browser.  There might be a calendar and alarm clock buried somewhere but it's not really geared to the other utilities (until you go homebrew), which is a shame.  Also, the camera is an addon that, as of many months ago, hadn't made it out of Japan.

You could try using web-based apps for contacts, etc., but the input system is roughly as much fun as entering your name on a high score screen.

Edit:  Now that I think of it, there are rumors of a third-generation one in the works, though it may not be out for quite some time.  Given the magnitude of the changes in the Slim'n'Lite -- double the RAM, though mostly used for disk cache right now, the possible wifi improvement, and the way they went from bundling a few-MB of Memory Stick flash to a full 1GB  -- I think they're feeling it out as a 'platform'/application and thinking about integrating it into a phone, which would probably have the applications you want on the phone side.  Of course, we heard all this during the last round of convergence hysteria, but these days the hardware is condensing that much faster than software can keep up, and with the race down to Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, I don't think Sony will have a reason to ship an entirely new-and-incompatible handheld until developers actually take advantage of what they've provided here.  (See also: the gripes about compatibility between the PS2 and PS3 when they pulled the silicon out of the export versions of the latter, and the extraordinary longevity and profitability of the original Game Boy through its compatible incarnations.)  
At least, that's the excuse to use to keep your money in your pocket if you don't need a shiny but marginally-useful toy.