Sony PSP News and Tips

Will Sony firmware updates toast your PSP homebrew?

Most Sony Playstation Portable owners are familiar with the term "custom firmware." Sony officials will be quick to label such as a weapon used by pirates for their illegal activities. However, most Sony PSP owners consider such a firmware as a tool of liberation, one that bypasses Sony's restrictive -- and sometimes counter progressive -- security checks that hinder the Sony PSP from reaching its full potential as a multimedia machine.

Sounds confusing?

Let's take a closer look at the subject at hand.

Sony often releases PSP updates that upgrade the firmware of the system. Firmware must be updated regularly so that the PSP unit itself will be able to cope up with the demands of newer games: demands which become more and more complicated as the years go by.

Sony, however, also uses these PSP updates to install security checks in the system. The company deems this as necessary because of the way PSP piracy is carried out, i.e. reducing UMDs into digital files that can be stored in memory cards and read by the PSP unit as it would read a downloaded demo.

Hence, if official PSP updates are installed in the unit, that unit will not be able to play pirated games.

If only pirated games were affected, then everything will be alright. Unfortunately, official PSP updates also read -- and consider -- homebrewed programs as pirated games, hence blocking the PSP from playing them. Homebrewed programs are games and utilities developed by players, like you and me, who have mastered or are learning to master programming for the Sony PSP. Homebrews are perfectly legal as they don't trample on anyone's intellectual property rights. Homebrews, in fact, extend the value of the Sony PSP by adding -- for free -- some functions that it wasn't even designed to perform.

Sadly, official Sony PSP updates treat homebrews as illegal, much like pirated games.

Enter custom PSP updates, or custom firmware as they are more popularly known.

Custom PSP updates mimic official PSP firmware, without the layers of security checks. Hence, when a custom PSP update is installed, your unit will be able to perform the extended functionalities made possible by the official firmware it corresponds to. However, you can still enjoy the software programs developed by the members of the PSP's dedicated homebrew community.

There is a custom firmware for every major PSP update release. Installing these custom PSP updates is very easy and detailed instructions abound on the net. These custom PSP updates even allow users to switch from custom firmware to official firmware very easily. This is necessary because while the PSP is using custom firmware, it won't be able to play UMD games.

The only downside when it comes to using custom PSP updates? Sony will not honor your warranty, assuming that your warranty is still valid.