Dark Alex has done it again! What should we ever do without him. The most awaited custom firmware has finally been released. Now, I know this post might be a bit late, I’ve been having problems with my DSL connection and I haven’t been online for days, but I know a lot of you guys are still waiting for this.

So what are the new features of this custom firmware? This new custom firmware has all the features the 4.01 official firmware has plus a few extras. Many people are asking me if it’s worth installing it and my answer is a YES. I have 4.01 M33-2 custom firmware installed already on my phat PSP and I haven’t encountered any bugs yet. But don’t take my word for it. Try it yourself. You can always revert back to your old 3.90 M33-3 if you want.

So much for the rambling. Here are the instructions on how to install the new custom firmware on your PSP.

Requirements

As always, please do check that you pass all the requirements before you can do the installation.

• A Fat PSP or Slim PSP already installed with a custom firmware. At least 3.52 M33-4 custom firmware must be installed on your Fat PSP and 3.60 M33 for the slim.
• A fully charged battery. I know it will run on 70% battery but 100% battery with the AC adapter plugged is the safest setup.
• A USB cable to transfer files from your computer to your PSP.
• The 4.01 M33-2 installer pack that I created for easy install. Download the 4.01 M33-2 installer pack and unzip on your computer.

The Steps

The steps are divided into 3. Please follow the directions carefully. I will not be held responsible for any bricks. Do this at your own risk! But I’m 100% sure you won’t brick your precious PSP if you follow the instructions carefully.

Step A - Installing the 4.01 M33 custom firmware

1. Connect your PSP to your computer using the USB cable. Open the Step A folder and copy the UPDATE folder to ms0:/PSP/GAME/. After copying, disconnect the PSP from your computer.
2. On the XMB menu on your computer, navigate to GAME > Memory Stick and run the 4.01 M33 update. When you run the update, the screen turns black. Follow the text instructions. It will take you to the Official Sony Update screen. That is normal. Continue with the process following the instructions.
3. The Sony Updater will run. Don’t turn off your PSP or interrupt the update. After the Update, you will be asked to press a certain button to restart your PSP. Do so.
4. Congratulations, your PSP is installed with 4.01 M33 custom firmware now. On to Step B.

Step B - Installation of the 4.01 M33 update

1. You can only do this if you are successful with Step A. Connect your PSP to your computer. On your memory stick, navigate to PSP/GAME and delete the UPDATE folder.
2. Now open STEP 2 folder to your computer and copy the UPDATE folder to ms0:/PSP/GAME/. Disconnect your PSP from the computer once you are done.
3. On the XMB menu, scroll to GAME > Memory Stick and run the 4.01 M33-2 update. Just follow the onscreen instructions and you’ll be safe.
4. After the installation, you will be returned to the XMB screen.
5. Congratulations on your 4.01 M33-2 PSP.

Step C - 1.50 Kernel Add-on Installation Guide

1. This last set of steps is optional. You may do this or not. The next set of steps will be instructions on how to install the 1.50 Kernel Add on for the Fat PSP. Sorry slim owners.
2. Connect your PSP to your computer. Open Step C folder and then copy 150.PBP file from your computer to the root directory of your memory stick. And then copy 4XX folder from your computer to ms0:/PSP/.
3. Exit the USB mode and on your XMB, navigate to GAME > Memory Stick and then run the 1.50 Kernel Add-on program. Follow the onscreen instructions.
4. After the installation is successful, you will be taken back to the XMB.
5. Congratulations. Your PSP is now the same as mine, a full battle gear handheld. Place your 1.50 homebrews on the PSP/GAME150 folder.

Whew! That was long. I really enjoy writing these kind of stuff. If you have questions or comments, scroll down and leave your message. Thanks to the M33 team for the goodies especially to Dark Alex!

*Update: The screenshot plugin also works with this new custom Firmware!

Finally, the most awaited PSP firmware has been released by Sony. I know this news is kinda late but it’s still worth posting here.

So is this news really good or bad? For me this is kinda good, because it’s a major update. It’s 4.0! The disappointing thing about this new update is that there are very few features added. There’s the new Internet search feature and an option of slowing up or speeding up playbacks of movies. I mean who needs those? We could use a new XMB design for the PSP. Or maybe an email client.

Another good thing is that the 4.0 firmware has been decrypted already by Team GEN. Is that a good thing or what? While it’s a good thing, I also feel sad about DAX not making any steps for it. Well, we can’t blame it. The firmware update isn’t worth the trouble of hacking it. So does this mean that 4.0 M33 won’t be released soon? Well, it seems that’s the case but the good part is Team GEN is working on it. So let’s just wait for Custom Firmware 4.0 GEN.

Meanwhile, I’ll stick with my 3.90 M33 firmware.

Update: If you are thinking of installing this custom firmware, I recommend you to go straight to 4.01 M33-2.

So they finally did it. 3.95 GEN, the most awaited custom firmware to date is ready for download. I was about to write a tutorial on how to install 3.95 GEN-1 when 3.95 GEN-2 came out. So to save me some time on writing, I’ll just go straight to writing a tutorial on how to install 3.95 GEN-2 on your PSP.

Warning from the custom firmware author:

“Installation of this custom firmware is at your own risk. It has been tested and verified to be safe but nobody is to be blamed if something goes wrong.”

I have installed it on my PSP with sweaty hands ( which means I was nervous doing the process) and was successful.

Requirements:

• PSP Fat or Slim installed with Dark Alex’s 3.71 M33 or higher. Higher means, if you have 3.80 M33 or 3.90 M33, you have passed the requirement.
• USB Cable
• Computer
• Fully Charged Battery
• Patience and Understanding (Why? Because some people tend to brick their PSPs getting too excited on installing. So have patience my beloved readers.)

Instructions:

Download the 3.95 GEN-2 custom firmware update pack that I’ve prepared for you and extract the file anywhere on your computer. Deactivate the active plugins on your PSP via recovery mode.

If you have already installed 3.95 GEN-1 on your PSP follow these steps:

1. Connect your PSP to your computer computer via USB cable. On your PSP XMB menu scroll to Settings > USB Connection.
2. Copy the PSP folder from your computer to your PSP (root directory). If it prompts you to overwrite the file folders, select Yes or Yes to All.
3. After copying the files, exit the USB mode.
4. On your XMB navigate to Games > Memory Stick and then run the 3.95 GEN-2 update program. Follow the onscreen instructions and let the installer do it’s stuff.
5. Voila! Grab a Pepsi or Coke and then celebrate. If your a smoker, light a cigar.

If you have a M33 custom firmware higher than 3.71, do the steps below:

1. Connect your PSP to your Computer via the USB cable. On your PSP XMB menu scroll to Settings > USB Connection.
2. Copy the PSP folder and the 395.PBP file from your computer to your PSP (root directory). If it prompts you to overwrite the file folders, select Yes or Yes to All.
3. After copying the files, exit the USB mode.
4. On your XMB navigate to Games > Memory Stick and then run the 3.95 GEN-2 update program. Follow the onscreen instructions and let the installer do it’s stuff. It will take you to the Sony Updater so that’s normal.
5. After the update finishes, the program will ask you to reboot by pressing X or O. Do so or else you’ll end up with a brick.
6. Voila! Grab a Pepsi or Coke and then celebrate. If your a smoker, light a cigar.

What about the seplugins folder?

If you are playing PS One games on the PSP, copy this folder to the root directory of your memory stick. Activate it on the recovery mode.

Thanks to the GEN team for working on something new for the PSP. Thanks also to Dark Alex for the inspiration and power.

Update: If you missed my note above, read this. If you are thinking of installing this custom firmware, I recommend you to go straight to 4.01 M33-2. It will save you a lot of time and headache.

Months have passed by since the last release of Dark Alex’s custom firmware. The last custom firmware Dark Alex released was 3.90 M33 and right now we’re still waiting for him to release 3.95 M33 that is if he’s working on it. I checked out Dark Alex’s website and I found out that he’s working on the PS3 too. That’s uber cool.

According to QJ, the new 3.95 custom firmware was reverse engineered from Team M33’s work. Does that mean Team 33 isn’t working on the new custom firmware? If it is, then who is working on 3.95 custom firmware. Also, QJ reports that the new custom firmware will not support Popsloader. If so, then what good is a custom firmware without Popsloader?

There has been no reported date yet when this next firmware’s gonna be released yet but the question here is, is it worth the wait? According to rumors PSP Official Firmware 4.0 will be released this May and maybe PSP OFW 4.0 will be released first than 3.95 CFW.

I’d rather wait for Dark Alex to work on 4.0 M33 which I think is more worth the wait than to grab 3.95 CFW with only a few additional unimportant features added. Well, that’s just me. If you have something to say about this then please feel free to make the comments below.

To all those who have upgraded to 3.90 M33-3 before on or before April 2, if you checked your System Information, you’d be surprised to see that all your System Info has been changed! Not only that, even the date has changed. Instead of showing 4/2 on the date on the top right corner of the screen, it displays 3/33. The XMB waves also move faster than normal. Below is a screenshot from darwin v.’s PSP. Notice that everything has changed into 3s. The System Software is 3.33 m33-3, the nickname is March 33 and Even the mac address has changed to 33:33:33:33:33:33!

I’m sure you guys all freaked out when you saw that. It isn’t a bug or an error. So don’t be afraid and don’t go restoring your PSPs to the previous firmwares. All those 3s are there for one reason, it is to remind you of the anniversary of the M33 Custom Firmware. And I also thought it was DA’s April Fools joke. Dark Alex has sure got good sense of humor.

So if you guys are wondering on how to fix that, all you have to do is restart the PSP after April 2 which means you can just change the date to any day after April 2 and then restart your PSP. But the thing is, you don’t even have to.

If you checked out Dark-Alex’s website, you’ll find out that he has already released the latest update for the 3.90 M33 custom firmware. There’s still no news if he’s still planning to work on the 3.93 M33 custom firmware update since the 3.93 update has really no major features added. Just a support for a few games. So what was fixed on the 3.90 M33-3 update? Here are the changes.

* March33 NO-UMD driver compatibility has increased to support games like Coded Arms, Patapon, Harvest Moon Innocent Life and probably others affected by same errors.

There are two ways on how to install the update. But like all of my guides, there’s always a requirement to follow before you can do the update.

The Requirements

• A fat or slim PSP installed with custom Firmware 3.52 M33-4 or higher.
• A WiFi connection
• A USB Cable

The Easy and Painless Way

Important: This procedure is only applicable to folks who have their PSPs installed with 3.80 M33 custom firmware or higher.

1. Turn on your PSP and on your XMB, scroll to Settings then go to Network Update. Select your Wifi access point. The PSP will search for an update and it will automatically download it.
2. After the update has been updated, it will ask you to run it now or execute the update later. If you want to run it now, press the corresponding button. If you have chosen to go back to the XMB, you can access it by scrolling to Game > Memory Stick > 3.90 M33-3 update.
3. Run the update. After the update has finished your PSP will restart by itself.
4. Congratulations, you now have a 3.90 M33-3 custom firmware. Go grab a soda or something.

The Not-So-Hard Way

This not-so-hard procedure was made for PSPs installed with 3.90 M33 or higher custom firmwares. If you don’t have 3.90 M33 custom firmware yet, follow this guide.

1. Download the 3.90 M33-3 update from Exophase forum. Unzip the file anywhere on your computer.
2. Connect your PSP to your computer via USB Cable. Copy the UPDATE folder from your computer to your PSP in this directory:/PSP/GAME
3. On your XMB, go to Game > Memory Stick and then run the 3.90 M33-3 update. Watch the update do it’s thing.
4. Follow the last step from The Easy and Painless Way procedure.

I’ve been very busy the past few weeks I wasn’t able to post any updates. So I think you’ve heard a bit of the news already that Dark Alex has release the 2nd update of 3.90 M33. Haven’t upgraded mine yet since I don’t have my PSP with me. But I’m guessing you could update your PSP thru the native Network Update. Just go to settings and choose Network Update. The update will be automatically updated and you will be asked to install. Not only that, the second version of the 1.50 Kernel for 3.90 M33 is also out. I’m guessing that the installation will be much the same as installing the first version. But for newbies out there, I suggest you wait till I find time to write on a tutorial.

Anyhow, this site has been down for a day. I contacted the hosting provider and they didn’t tell me what the problem was. The important thing is this site is up again. Officially today, I’m already a fulltime freelance Web Designer slash developer. So if any of you guys out there need a special advice on Web Design, I’m here to help ya all out.

Now that my time is really mine, which means I’m in control of it, I’ll have time to update this site’s look and functionality. I hope you guys are still rocking out there with your PSPs. Dark Alex has been cooking a lot of things for your PSP.

A Custom Firmware without the 1.50 Kernel add-on is only half a Custom Firmware. Without the 1.50 Kernel on your PSP, the whole purpose of the custom firmware is defeated. 1.50 Kernel is all about the homebrew apps. I have already installed the 1.50 kernel add-on on my PSP and it’s awesome. I could still use the remote control, the WiFi sniffer and a lot more homebrew applications. So how do you install it? It’s quite easy.

The Requirements

• A Phat PSP with 3.90 M33 custom Firmware installed. This one does not work on a PSP slim but don’t fret, because there is one coming.
• A USB Cable. This is used as a connectivity tool between the PSP and the computer.

The Installation Guide

1. Download the 3.90 M33 Addon from Dark Alex’s website.
2. Unzip and you will find the 150k_addon folder. Copy the 150k_addon folder from your PC to PSP in this directory: PSP/GAME/
3. Download the 1.50 Firmware and place it into the root directory of your PSP.
4. Disconnect your USB cable and then on the XMB, go to GAME>Memory Stick then run the 1.50 Kernel Add on update.
5. Follow the onscreen instructions and wait. The PSP will restart automatically after the update has been installed.
6. Congratulations. Go and get your homebrew applicatons now.

So I have updated my PSP to 3.90 M33 already. It works kinda faster now. The installation process just only took me less than 5 minutes. So how did I do it? Well here you go. Another great tutorial for all PSP lovers out there.

The Requirements

Everybody must read this. This is very important. I don’t want any of you to brick your PSPs so please read this. Thank you.

1. A PSP (Phat or Slim) with installed custom firmware 3.52 M33-4 or higher. My PSP had 3.80 M33-5 custom firmware.
2. A USB Cable to connect your PSP to your computer
3. 100% fully charged battery. This is just to be sure your PSP won’t turn off in the middle of the update. It’s also good if you have your PSP plugged into your AC Adaptor.

The Installation Guide

1. Grab the 3.90 M33 installer pack and unzip it anywhere on your computer.
2. Using the USB Cable, connect the PSP to your Computer then copy the UPDATE folder from your computer to your PSP in this directory: ms0:\PSP\GAME
3. Disconnect your PSP from your computer then on your PSP XMB, go to GAME>Memory Stick then run the 3.90 M33 update. The update will verify your 3.90 eboot file and after verification you will be asked to execute the update. Execute it.
4. Follow the instructions on the SCE updater. After the update, press X or O to manually reboot.
5. Congratulations. You now have a 3.90 M33 Powered PSP.

Sony has just released a few days ago, the latest official firmware for the PSP. It’s 3.90 and I think it mostly benefits the PSP Slim users. Phat PSP users like me won’t really benefit anything from it. The new firmware has the Skype application now. Skype enables you to call using your computer to any phone around the world. Now you can call your friends from PSP to computer or PSP to PSP or PSP to phone via Skype. But you would need to buy the PSP mic and headset though. But that’s not great news. The great news is Dark Alex has done it again. You can go to his website now and download the new 3.90 M33 custom firmware and install it on your PSP.

But wait, there’s more! Dark Alex has also released the 1.50 Kernel for the 3.90 M33. You can grab it from his website too. If you have problems installing the latest custom firmware, do not worry because I will write a guide as soon as i have installed the latest update on my PSP.

I also heard that you can install 1.50 kernel on the slim now. Don’t get too excited because I’ll be writing a guide on that too.