PSX Games on PSP - Guide/FAQ/Tutorial

[ttl11]

DISCLAIMER: "OE-X" just refers to any of the Open Edition firmware by Dark AleX, be this OE-A,
OE-B or OE-C. So don't be confused when I say it later. Follow the links and all will be well. ^.^


INTRO
I browse this forum several times a day and I see at least three new "Help psx!?!?!?!"
posts every time I check. I answer these posts. I do this because it is the one field
where I happen to know what I'm talking about, because it is the one field where I
happened to encounter every single possible error in existence while trying to make
my psx games work. However. I hate answering the same questions a million
times over.

"omg! corrupted data icon!"
"heeellp, how do i play psx gmes?!?!?"
"psx games on PSP?! Omg, how??!?!?!"



I don't care.


So, I decided to make this "Complete Newbies Guide" to getting psx games to work
on the psp. I'll go through absolutely everything and answer every error that I know
about. I'm sorry if this has already been posted somewhere else, but this way I can
ignore said posts with alacrity. Conscience free.

Alright, here we go.



PORTING PSX TO PSP *The Complete Newbie's Guide to Everything*


I. In order to run psx games on your psp you'll need to install the OE-X
custom firmware by Dark AleX. To do this you must:

1. Upgrade to 2.00, 2.71, 2.80, or 3.03 *New*
   
   In order to install OE Firmware on your PSP, you need to downgrade
   to firmware v.1.50. You can only do this from Firmware versions
   2.00, 2.71, 2.80, and 3.03. So you need to upgrade to one of these
   versions before continuing. You can download the official updates [Only registered and activated users can see links. ],
   obviously you want to update to the lowest Firmware version possible.
   
   Note: To check what Firmware you have go to Settings ->
   System Information. It'll be next to "System Software". Those of
   who already have v.1.50 (lucky you) can skip straight to step 4.
   
   Note2: To use an update, just create an "UPDATE" folder in
   \PSP\GAME on your memory stick and stick the downloaded EBOOT
   in it. It should show up under the "game" menu on your psp.
2. Determine your motherboard model
   
   To do this, open your UMD case and look inside at the top right part
   of your motherboard. If there are numbers there, you have a TA-082
   motherboard or higher, if there aren't numbers there, you have a
   TA-079 motherboard. Here's a picture of a motherboard with numbers.
   
   Note: This is very important. Below I'm going to link
   you to some guides, be sure to read these CAREFULLY. You will be
   doing different things depending on what motherboard you have. If
   you follow the instructions for the wrong motherboard you will
   brick your psp.
3. Downgrade to firmware version 1.5
   From (your firmware)...
   • [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
   • [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
   • [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
   • [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
   Note:You can download "MPH Downgrader" (for those of *New*
   you with v.2.00) from pspcrazy's "downloads" section.
   
   Note2: Those are hyperlinks, btw....
   Note3: For extra info go [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
   
   
4. Install Custom Firmware OE-X
   • Go [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] or (if that doesn't work) [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] for detailed guides.

II. Now that you've got the most current (probably) OE firmware, you'll need
to set up your computer to rip and convert psx games to eboots. To do this, you'll
need three things:

1. A CD ripper, I recommend [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
2. The [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
3. A psx game (I'll leave this one up to you)

Note: I'm pretty sure the most recent Popstation only works for 3.03 OE-C and *New*
higher, so if you have 3.03 OE-B or lower, download v.2.21 beta when you
get there (I know that works).

III. Once you have the affore mentioned software, you can port psx games to your
psp in three simple steps.

• Use IsoBuster to copy your psx game (in .ISO format) to your hard-drive.
• Use Popstation to convert the .ISO file to EBOOT.PBP and KEYS.BIN
• If you downloaded the linked GUI, it will ask (once its finished) if you want to
  transfer the file to your PSP right away. Say "yes" to ensure that it is placed in the
  proper directory.

Note: If you have a different version of Popstation, be sure to place EBOOT.PBP
and KEYS.BIN in a folder named whatever you named your game in Popstation and
then place that folder in the \GAME folder.


IV. You're done!!! Is that the end? Heck no! That's just the beginning, that's why I have the....


Common Errors Section

Error: 80010002

• Description: This is a common error and can occur in any number of areas, I've had
  this problem in up/downgrading, playing psx games, and have even heard of
  people who have this problem when they try sending pictures, or changing fonts. As far
  as I can tell, this is a routing problem. I've already posted this solution elsewhere, so I'll
  just re-hash that.

• Solution: Alright, Error: 80010002 is a routing error i.e. the program cannot find a
  file in the directory it's searching. This is true for any program on the PSP be it an
  update, emulator, or eboot file. If the program is searching a nonexistant folder, or
  cannot find the item its looking for in an existing folder, the psp will give the 80010002
  error message. Got it? Good.
  
  To solve this problem you must find out what directory the program is searching, what
  file it's searching for, and then you must put that file in that directory. For example, I
  recently had a 80010002 problem playing a PSX game on my psp, I had this problem
  because the PSX emulator on 3.03 OE-B (or maybe the eboot itself, I'm not sure) was
  searching for the EBOOT.PBP in a folder called Thousand Arms [Disc 1 of 2], and I didn't
  have a folder named that. Too fix this, I created a folder named that and put the
  EBOOT and KEYS in it.
  
  I am by no means an expert, and if you know this is wrong please PM me and I will
  change it. The above solution has always worked for me, though.

Corrupt Data Icon

• Description: This is by far the most prolific and irritating problem that can
  occur while trying to reach psx bliss. It can occur for several reasons and is almost
  impossible to fix.

• Solution: There are only two ways that I know of dealing with this. You can
  try converting the .ISO into an EBOOT again (this worked for me) or you can try
  turning off the corrupted icons in the Recovery Mode of your PSP. This latter solution
  has its own dangers associated with it, so be sure to disable it again before you play
  non-psx games. It probably won't work, anyway, but you can get into recovery mode
  by pressing (and holding) R2 at startup, then go into configurations and choose "hide
  corrupt icons". On a side note, corrupted data icons will appear if you have extraneous,
  unecessary folders stored on your memory card.

Freezing

• Description: Occasionally you'll be playing your psx game and *gasp* it'll
  freeze. And you'll have to reset you're PSP, occasionally the hard way. Sux.

• Solution: None. Lol. I have no idea why this happens. It happened to my FFVIII
  game at different points and I would just have to keep restarting until I got past it. If
  you have a solution to this problem PM me or make your own post. Much appreciated.

Black Screen of Death

• Description: You choose the game from your game folder, the
  Sony "diamond" shows up, everything is going fine...and nothing
  happens. You're left staring at a black screen for 2 minutes, 10
  minutes, an hour... and nothing happens.
• Solution: The problem here lies with the ISO you used to make
  the EBOOT file. Either it was corrupt, incomplete or bogus to begin
  with, either way you're pretty much screwed. There are a few things
  you can do. If you actually own the psx game you can re-rip the cd,
  choose to extract an image of the ENTIRE DISC, and then convert
  that to an EBOOT. Rinse, wash, repeat until it works (you should give
  up after about 5 times). If all you have is a .ISO file, or if the previous
  advice fails to work, then hurry up and make fifty posts and try
  downloading a different ISO from this site. Or from bit torrent.
  
  Basically the problem lies with your ISO file and you need to remake
  or get a new one. The problem does not lie with your psp. I know.
  This happened to me, and my psp now plays psx games just fine.

Screen Hang

• Description: You select the game from the menu and your psp
  freezes (you usually have to reboot the hard way) before even the
  Sony "diamond" (at the wavy-line screen).
• Solution *Aphex13*: This problem may occur for several
  reasons, for Aphex13 it was the opening_plugin.rco that screwed
  with his psx playing abilities. The solution to this is to downgrade back
  to v.1.5, which I believe you can do from the recovery mode menu
  in 3.03 OE-C, and then upgrade again. Problem solved! ^.^

Note: Many of the affore mentioned errors (screen hang, black screen, *New*
freezing) may be due to your psx game's incompatibility with popstation,
go [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] for a popstation-compatibility guide. It's in the "Direct Downloads"
section, though, so you might need 50 posts to access it.

FAQ

-"Wherr cann I get de ISO'ss?!?!"

• You can rip them from your psx games, download them from torrents, or
  download them from this site (after 50 posts). If you do the last two without
  owning the game, though, you're a thief.

-"So I can just play the EBOOTs just like that? I don't need an Emulator?"

• Yes, you can just straight up play them.

-"What kind of memory card do I need?"

• A 1 gig would be enough, but 2 and 4 gigs are superior. You can have more than one
  game on them at any one time. Scan Disk or Sony are both legitimate memory card
  producers. I'd suggest whatever is cheaper.

Comments/Conclusion

-The guides hotlinked here were not created by me, and I give all props to their
creator's, you guys rock!

-*Member_Name* means it was submitted by somebody other than me.

-If any link goes down or is not what I claim it is or is not helpful, please PM me and I'll change it.

-If you have any questions/complaints/suggestions please post or PM me, thx

[ttl11]

Reserved....Why not?

["Extras" Section comming soon...]

[FifteenthPeak]

LAHL U PHAYL

jk

Good job.

[AznMetalHead]

Nice! but do you now anything about compressing them? XD

[ttl11]

Lol. Ummm... Get a bigger memory card? Heh. Not really. Popstation gets them down to about half a gig, and I tried that "incredible compression" thread, but it didn't work for me. Maybe you'd have better luck.

[loligo]

Is this method compatible with TA-082????:newblush:

[ttl11]

This method should be compatible with every PSP, once you've gotten it to 3.03 OE-X. The hyperlinks I've mentioned should take care of TA-whatever (its only really a problem when installing the firmware), if you can't find anything to help you, post again and I'll put up some more TA specific websites. Thx.

Sidenote: I don't have OE-C yet (I'll get around to it) but I don't think there's a change as far as psx games go. At most you'd probably just have to put the EBOOTs in a different folder.

^.^


-tt

[Darkatomz]

not bad. sticky maybe..?

[ttl11]

Made a few updates. Got the motherboard section written and uploaded hyperlinks to more user-friendly guides.

Regarding that previous sidenote: I just updated to 3.03 OE-C and it is identical to OE-B (as far as psx games are concerned), so the guide is still valid.

^.^


-tt

[aphex13]

Everytime I try to play a psx game, it just locks up after I select the game from my xmb. Has anyone else ran into this? I'm running 3.03oe-c.