• No time left after killing Zombies in Left for Dead and Left for Dead 2.
• Kids like to spend time with their dad.
• My obsession with mobile devices had me otherwise occupied.
• All of the above (and more).

Well there you have it. You’ve got my attempt at explaining away the lack of posts, but thanks to a post by the Hansel-Man the fires have been re-lit. Heck, I’ve even downloaded and installed Visual C# 2010 Express. I might even write some cool new code for home and fun. Stay tuned…

I am back with another “How-To” post.  I know it has been a long time since my last post but I have been busy with school, work, and most importantly playing all the new PC games that have come out in the past month and a half.  Its a great time to be alive!

Anyway, today we are going to install custom firmware on a PSP 2001 (the Slim).  This will allow you to copy “back-up” copies of your games to your memory stick and play them from there, rather than lugging around all those UMDs.

On a difficulty scale of 1 thru 10, this project is about a 2.  If you can read, then you can do this project.

Tools and Materials:

PSP Slim 2001

Pandora Battery

Memory Stick (with custom firmware on it) – For this project we will be installing 4.01M33

I recommend checking out pandorasales.com.  I bought the pandora battery and a 512MB memory stick with the firmware on it for $25.  Follow link here.

OK, let’s get started.

Step 1:

Open battery cover and remove factory battery.

Open cover and remove original memory stick.

Step 2:

Insert new Magic Memory Stick and close cover.

Insert Pandora battery and close battery cover.

Step 3:

Turn on the PSP.  Let PSP boot to this screen.

Step 4:

Highlight the first option:

Install 4.01 M33

Press the X button

Step 5:

Sit back and relax while the firmware installs itself.

Step 6:

When installation is complete press the O button to shutdown PSP.

Step 7:

Open battery cover and remove the Pandora battery.

Open cover and remove Magic Memory Stick.

Step 8:

Insert original memory stick and close cover.

Insert factory battery and close battery cover.

Step 9:

Boot PSP into Service Mode.

This is done by holding down the Right Bumper and turning PSP on.

You should get a screen that looks like this.

Hit the down arrow button and select Configuration

Press the X button

Step 10:

Highlight Hide corrupt icons (currently: XXX)

Ensure that this is set to Enabled

If not, press X button to cycle through options

Step 11:

Highlight UMD Mode (currently: XXX)

Ensure that this is set to M33 driver – NO UMD-

If not, press X button to cycle through options

Step 12:

Highligh Fake region (currently: XXX)

Ensure that this is set to Disabled

If not, press X button to cycle through options

Step 13:

Highlight Back

Press the X button

Step 14:

Back on the Main Menu highlight Registry hacks

Press the X button

Step 15:

Highlight Activate WMA

Press the X button to activate (Notice at bottom of screen activation message (not pictured here))

Step 16:

Highlight Activate Flash Player

Press the X button to activate (Notice at bottom of screen activation message (not pictured here))

Step 17:

Highlight Back

Press the X button

Step 18:

Highlight Exit

Press the X button

The PSP will now restart

Step 19:

Lets confirm the successful install of the new custom firmware.

Once in the PSP OS navigate to:

System

System Settings

System information

Press the X button

Ensure that System Software = 4.01M33-2

If not, you must have had an ID 10 T error!

There should be no reason this would not work.  I have tried it several times and it works flawlessly everytime.  From here you can load your “back-up” copies of your games and movies to your memory stick and have fun!

Stayed tuned for a “How-To” on formatting the Memory Stick and loading games and movies to it.

Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoy this tutorial.  If you visit, we encourage you to leave comments on the post.

Shawn