I'm guessing the PSP GBA emulator runs exactly the same as the Virtual Boy? IE no Pokemon day/night cycle etc?

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Step-by-step guide to turning your 2.71 non TA-082 PSP into a 3.02 OE-B PSP[/size]

Yesterday, after spending like 4 hours trying to navigate through a bunch of pages and getting some assistance from Izekeal, I managed to downgrade my PSP to 1.50 and then back up to 3.02. Some people have requested that I write a guide on how to do this. This is to help people who don't want to spend hours and hours searching the web for guides and files required to do this, especially when a lot of the links are dead.

NOTES
- While doing this upgrade, it's highly advised that you do not have an UMD disc inserted in your PSP.
- Your PSP's firmware MUST be version 2.71.
- Your PSP must NOT have a TA-082 motherboard. Details on this later.

RESULTS
By doing this, your PSP will now be capable of:

- Playing PSX games
- Playing PSP games that you have downloaded.


The guide

Step 1: Preparation

Your PSP needs 2 things installed to be able to downgrade to 1.50. One is the downgrader itself and another is HENC. But first...

Checking your motherboard
Okay, this is very important. This guide will NOT work if your PSP has a TA-082 motherboard. Do not even think of doing it if you have one of those.



You need to look for some codes. They're written in bronze color and can be a little hard to see.

- If the code "IC1003" appears on the right (red circle), your motherboard is a TA-082, and you should not follow this guide.
- If the code "IC6001" appears on the left (blue circle), your motherboard is a TA-081, and updating using this guide is perfectly fine. The number was upside down for me.


Installing HENC
1. Download HENC here: http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/24569/hen_c.rar
2. Extract the files somewhere using WinRAR.
3. Copy the files from the MS_ROOT directory to the root of your memory stick.
4. Back to your PSP now. Enter the photo viewer and open the folder called HENB.

Now, the first time you do this, the screen will be blue. After that, you will see one of two results. Your screen will either be red or green.

RED: The files could not be written to the flash. This will happen more frequently if you have an UMD disc inserted. If it happens, just keep trying until you get it right. It took me 4 tries until I realized that I had an UMD disc inserted. When I removed it, it worked at once.
GREEN: The operation was successful. Your PSP will then reboot and HENC is installed.

Note that you won't have to do this process anymore. If you turn off your PSP, you'll have to run the program again, however there will be no writing to the flash. So you'll only see a blue screen and a reboot.


Step 2: Downgrading to 1.50 firmware

1. Download the downgrader here: http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/24569/updateflasher.rar
2. Extract the files somewhere using winRAR.
3. Copy the files from the MS_ROOT directory to the root of your memory stick.
4. Now you want the 1.50 EBOOT.PBP. Since this is a rather large file, I cannot host it. However, you can download it here: http://www.psphacks.net/files/PSPFirmwares/1.5/
5. Rename the EBOOT.PBP you just obtained to UPDATE.PBP and copy it to /PSP/GAME/UPDATE/.
6. Run the program from the memory stick submenu under the game menu on your PSP.

NOTE: Make sure you save the EBOOT.PBP you just downloaded for later use. It will be required in the process of updating your PSP's firmware to 3.02.

Once this process is complete, you will be met by a screen showing a bunch of different languages once you start your PSP up again. This indicates that your PSP has been reset back to 1.50 and you have to set it up all over again. Once you've done that, go to the system menu and check out the system information to confirm that you've successfully downgraded to 1.50.


Step 3: Updating to 3.02 OE-A

A 1.50 PSP is fine and dandy, but you really want to update to 3.02 if you want to achieve the full experience.

1. Download the updater here: http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/24569/11867_302OE.rar
2. Extract the files somewhere using winRAR.

The next step needs to be done only once provided that you save the file that you obtain.

Generating DATA.DXAR
1. Copy the folders oeupdmaker and oeupdmaker% to /PSP/GAME/.
2. Obtain the 1.50 and 3.02 EBOOT files. You should already have the 1.50 one if you saved it like I described earlier in this guide. These files need to be renamed into 150.PBP and 302.PBP. Once that is done, place them in the oeupdmaker folder.

NOTE: I am not able to provide the 3.02 EBOOT. It's another large file and I cannot afford to host it. However, for premium members and staff, Izekeal has uploaded it to the zoo. You can find it at /Games/_Izekeal's Games&Stuff/302.PBP. (Hopefully this won't get purged too soon)

NOTE 2: dark_crystalis managed to successfully make this work with the Japanese version of the 3.02 firmware. I haven't tried it myself, but if you want you can give it a try. Download it here: http://dl.qj.net/PSP-Firmware-3.02-JP-PSP/pg/12/fid/11627/catid/163

3. Run the oeupdmaker program just like you ran the downgrader program from the games menu. This process will take a long time. As long as the memory stick LED is flashing, it's still working on this task and you should remain patient. This step will generate DATA.DXAR and put it in the oeupdmaker folder. Save this for later use if you want to skip this step.

Flashing DATA.DXAR
1. Copy the folders 302oeflasher and 302oeflasher% to /PSP/GAME/.
2. Copy the generated DATA.DXAR from oeupdmaker to the oeflasher directory.
3. Run the flasher program just like you've run the previous programs through the games menu. Note that this has to be done with 75% or more battery.
4. The program will continue showing an agreement. Press X to accept and flash the custom firmware, or R to cancel and exit to the XMB.
5. Once this process is done, shut down the PSP manually. Once you start it up again, you will now have 3.02 OE-A firmware.

Having 3.02 OE-A firmware implies that you can now play PSP ISOs that you've downloaded. However, to play PSX games, you will need to update to 3.02 OE-B firmware.


Step 4: Updating to 3.02 OE-B

1. Download the updater here: http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/24569/11867_302OEB.rar
2. Extract the files somewhere using winRAR.
3. Make a directory in your /PSP/ folder called GAME150.
4. Put the OEB_UPDATE folder in the /PSP/GAME150/ directory.
5. Run the program from the memory stick game menu.

This process will be really short. Check out the system information to confirm that you've updated to OE-B.


Playing downloaded PSP games

If you download a game in .cso or .iso form, you can put it in /ISO. If you do not have this directory, create it. You can then load the game from the memory stick submenu under the game menu.


GUIDE EXTENSION: Updating to 3.03 OE-C

Requirements
- Firmware version 1.50, 2.71 SE, 3.02/3.03 OE (Any version)

Results
- The ability to play PSX games without having to obtain KEYS.BIN

Notes
- I have not tested if emulators works with this version, but it's highly likely that they do.

Alright, so this update allows playing PSX games without having to obtain KEYS.BIN. You will have to turn the ISO in question into a PBP file using AutoPopstation4 (I chose that because it comes with a BASE.PBP).


Step 1: Updating to 3.03 OE-C

This is another full install of a firmware. Like before, you need to obtain a DATA.DXAR. Note that none of the files from the previous update are required (Except 150.PBP), so if you don't want a clogged up directory, you can either delete them or move them somewhere else.

1. Download the updater here: http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/24569/12396_303oe_C.rar
2. Extract the files somewhere using winRAR.

Generating DATA.DXAR
1. Copy the oeupdmaker and oeupdmaker% directories to /PSP/GAME if you're on 1.50 firmware or /PSP/GAME150 if you're on any of the other firmwares mentioned above.
2. Obtain the 1.50 and 3.03 firmwares and rename them 150.PBP and 303.PBP. The 150.PBP file that was used earlier in this guide is fine to use. 3.03 can be obtained from http://dl.qj.net/PSP-Firmware-3.03-PSP/pg/12/fid/11844/catid/163 Put these files in the oeupdmaker directory.
3. Run the program from the memory stick menu under the game menu.

Flashing DATA.DXAR
1. Copy 303oeflasher and 303oeflasher% to /PSP/GAME if you're on 1.50 firmware or /PSP/GAME150 if you're on any of the other firmwares mentioned above.
2. Copy the generated DATA.DXAR from oeupdmaker to the 303oeflasher directory.
3. Run the program from the memory stick menu under the game menu.

This process will take a long time as usual. Once it's done, reboot and confirm that you're now on 3.03 OE-C firmware in the system information menu.


Step 2: Making PSX games work

Okay, for this you need a program for your computer. It's called AutoPopstation4 and is a modification for PopStation. Basically, it makes your life easier by providing a BASE.PBP and game codes for a lot of games. It also guides you through the process instead of making you manually do the command line stuff.

AutoPopstation4 can be obtained here: http://dl.qj.net/AutoPopstation4-PSP-Tools-Utilities-(on-PC)/pg/12/fid/12400/catid/193

Using AutoPopstation4
1. Put the ISO of the game you want to convert into the root AutoPopstation4 directory (Where AutoPopstation4.bat is).
2. Run AutoPopstation4.bat

It will then guide you through making a PSP image of your PSX image. Now the only catch here is finding the right game code. This can be done in 2 ways:

1. If you're sure of which version your game is, search for the game in the game code list when prompted to and obtain the code from there.
2. Mount the image with Daemon Tools. When you access the virtual drive, you will find the code in the root directory.

I have not tested #2 on more than one game. I downloaded Suikoden 2 from the zoo and I found this file:

SLUS_009.58 (Which makes the gamecode SLUS00958)

I don't know if this is a consistant theory, but it works as a backup solution if you for some reason can't find the code in the code list provided with AutoPopstation4.

When the process is finished, you will be directed to the Results dir where you will find your generated PSP game folder. Copy that folder to /PSP/GAME and your PSX game is ready to be played.

Read the readme provided with AutoPopstation4 for instructions on how to make custom graphics, etc.