[!DA!]

Table of Contents-
===============================================================
1. Intro
A. Benifits of CFW
B. Using new Features
2. Obtaining and using media
A. Games
B. Appearance Related (backgrounds, themes)
C. Video
D. Applications

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1.-Intro: What you can learn from this guide

This guide is intended to show you the benifits and uses of Custom Fiwmare on the PSP. This guide
Provides general instruction on how to obtain different media and files and how to use them with
your PSP for anyone new to the PSP or CFW scene.
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1.A- Benefits of Custom Fiwmare:

So, custom firmware. What is it? What's the point? What can it do for ME?

Picture it this way:

The way a computer runs on an operating system (Windows Xp, Linux), the PSP
runs on a Firmware. CUSTOM firmware is a modified version of Sony's official stuff. This allows
for the PSP to do things not currently possible on the official version provided by Sony.

How it came about:

PSP users were dissatisfied with the features offered with official firmware, so developers took
things into their own hands. Taking Sony's firmware and tweaking and changing it, they produced
a version capable of running homemade programs, or "homebrew". Before long, people started writing
applications and programs for use on the PSP, enabling it to do things Sony hadn't yet released.

What it can do for you:

There are many things that custom firmware can provide that don't yet exist on official firmware:

-The ability to back up your UMD games and movies to your memory stick
-Access to the 4th screen brightness level, previously only usable while charging
-Access to a plethora of useful applications, menus and homebrew, including

*Recovery Menu
*Emulators: Allow you to download and play N64, GBA, NES, PS1 games, on your PSP!
*Universal Remotes (operate TV, VCR, DVD player, etc. from a fat psp)
*Watch YouTube on PSP
*Instant Message on PSP
*Manage files w/o a computer
*Transfer music/movies/games to another PSP wirelessly w/o a computer
*VOIP on both fat and slim psp's
*Awesome themes! (much better than those lame .ptf themes you're used to!)

And much more!
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1.B- Using new Features

Now that you have custom firmware, there are a few things that you'll need to familarize yourself
with. Most PSP tutorials or guides mention the Recovery Menu somewhere, and its important for you
to know what that is.

Sometimes (particularly while trying to install a flash0 theme, more on that later) you can
accidentally put files in the wrong place while customizing your PSP. Depending on the severity
of the error, you could brick or semi-brick your psp. A bricked PSP is completely useless*, but a
semi-brick allows you to access the Recovery Menu. (can you guess why its called recovery?)

Providing you placed the files on your memory stick (no worries if you didn't, you can access USB
from Recovery Menu!) you can select an option to recover your PSP to its normal state.

Also in the recovery menu are various settings menus. Settings I recommend you change:

Configuration-> Skip Sony Logo: (disabled)
Hide corrupt Icones: (enabled)
Game Folder Homrbrew (1.5 Kernel)
Autorun Program at ... (disabled)
UMD Mode: (m33 driver -NO UMD->)
Fake region (disabled)
Free UMD region (disabled/enabled) <-depends on your personal preferences
Hard Reset ... (disabled)
Use Vshmenu (enabled)
Charge Battery ... (enabled) <-might not be there
Use m33 Network Update (enabled)

-ADDITIONAL MENUS-
Plugins- Activates .prx files (plugins), usually to start an application upon turning the PSP on.
CPU Speed- Changes the system's speed. Increase this if games are running laggy (Speed in UMD/ISO)
but beware- this consumes extra battery power. This option is accesible without completely shutting
off, from the PSP's main menu, by pressing select.

-M33 UPDATE-
Assuming you enabled the feature in the recovery menu, as shown above, pressing Network Update
(if it is present on the main menu, it might not be if you're using a .ctf theme) will update your
PSP to the next CUSTOM firmware, rather than Sony's official firmware.

*Reversible with the use of Pandora's Battery, etc.



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2. Obtaining and Using Media- This section of the guide will teach you where to get files, and how
to use them. Included in this section:

*Games- Obtaining, Playing, Backing up UMD disks to playable files.
*Music- Obtaining, Playing, Organizing, Streaming music from Itunes to PSP
*Appearance Related:
-Backgrounds- Obtaining, Viewing, Using
-Themes- Obtaining, Using both .ptf, .ctf, Installing Flash0
*Applications/Tools- Obtaining, Installing, Using
*Video- Obtaining, viewing Mp4/ Other file types
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-MEDIA INTRODUCTION-

Now that you have obtained custom fiwmare, files to store media need to be created on the memory
stick. These files can be created manually (USB connect, right click-> New-> Folder), or you can
back-up all important data from your memory stick to your computer's hard drive, and reformat your
memory stick (RECOMMENDED). This will create all neccessary files for you:

1. Back up all important data
2. From your PSP, scroll left to the settings column on your PSP's menu.
3. Scroll up or down to "System Settings", press X.
4. Within "System Settings", scroll up or down to "Format Memory Stick"
5. You wil be asked if you wish to format. Select "Yes"
6. You are warned that all data will be lost. Select "Yes"

Folders have been created! Proceed with the Guide!

-GETTING CONTENT-

To get multimedia content, it is helpful to have an online resource.

A PSP site I personally recommend is http://www.psperspective.net.

Here is a generic tutorial for downloading content from a site similar to psperspective.net:
=================================================================
-REGISTERING-

Most sites will require you to register for an account before you can view content. Registration
usually consists of you entering a few fields of mandatory data, like your email adress, desired
username and password to access the site. Sites will often ask for your age, as some content might
not be appropriate for younger children. Most sites provide options to conceal personal data you
may enter from the rest of the board, such as location, email address, etc.

"Why do they need my email address?!"- A question asked by many

For some reason, lots of people I have come across are very reluctant about giving out their email.
I encourage you, however, to stifle your spam paranoia and enter a valid email address, as boards
often send an email with an activation link for you to click, and fake email addresses obviously do
not work because of this. Administrators may need to contact you, regarding security, your account's
status, etc.

I assure you there is nothing worse than missing an email warning you of improper board behavior or
etiquette, which can result in a banned IP address. That means no more access to the site. Ever.


-USING THE SITE-

After registering, I strongly recommend you review the rules and post around a little to make sure
you're familiar with how everything works. Most PSP download sites are set up as forums, with rep
systems and other services you should familiarize yourself with. Once you feel you know what you're
doing, you can begin downloading.


-DOWNLOADING INSTRUCTIONS AND ETIQUETTE-

WARNING: Simply registering to a site and downloading away can be considered rude, and in many
cases, offensive. People refer to these users as "leechers", and behavior like this could result
in a ban.

Posting content to the site can be rewarding in itself, as many sites offer a V.I.P or Mod status
to outstanding members, giving them access to the best content.
It is wise to post and contribute content of your own, in return for what the site gives you.

To download content, log-in to the site you have registered to and navigate to the section with
your desired content. Select a post with a title that seems to be what you want, and click it.

The post will open, usually with a description of the file(s) to download, and sometimes with
information such as the size, quality, and the means by which it was obtained. If you decide that
the content is what you are looking for, thank the poster in the appropriate way, as stated in the
rules of your site.

Click the provided link, and a page will open. Usually, the link will be to a file stored in a file
sharing site, like megaupload.com or rapidshare.com. Most sites will provide an image with letters
depicted of different shape and color. These letters will need to be entered into a given text box,
to certify that you are in fact a human being and not a downloading bot.

Once you have entered the letters, a page will appear, usually with a time countdown, after which
the file will become available. Save the file to your hard drive, in a location you will be able to
access later. (the desktop works just fine). If, in the post you obtained the link from, there are
links for a "Part 1" and a "part 2", wait until the first part is finished downloading before you
select the second, third, so on.

More often than not, the file will be compressed into .ZIP or .RAR format. I recommend downloading
a free program called WinRar to extract the content from the compressed state.

If your file was in multiple parts, you should now have all the parts saved to a location on
your hard drive. once you have WinRar downloaded and installed, use ctrl+click to select (highlight)
all parts. Once all parts have been selected, release ctrl, and right click on a part. In the drop-
down menu, select "Extract" or "Exctract to ..." to extract all of the parts into a single file.

Place the resulting file in the appropriate location on your PSP's memory stick, as listed in the
respective part of this guide.
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2.A- Games

PSP Games:

You can get PSP games from two places: The internet, and rips of UMD disks you may already have.

PSP games will come in one of two possible formats, .ISO or .CSO.
Both go into the ISO folder on the root of the memory stick. (This folder was created when you
formatted your memory stick)

To rip a game from a UMD, you need the PSP application UMD Dumper and the PC Application UMD Gen.

With the disk inserted into your PSP, run UMD dumper to dump the disk's contents to the memory
stick. Then open the resulting UMD.ISO file with UMD gen to remove unneccessary files and compress
it to save disk space. More in-depth tutorials can be found online.

Your PSP site should give the size of games they offer, and if not, the site the file is hosted on
most likely will. This allows for you to fit as many games as possible onto your memory stick, but
keep in mind that things will have to be removed from the rip for the size to shrink. (cutscenes,
music, etc.)

Homebrew games operate like regular PSP applications, and most come with instructions in the form
of a README or folders.
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2.B- Appearance Related:

PSP Backgrounds or Wallpapers:

PSP wallpapers can often be found and saved from your PSP's web
browser using Google Images or by logging into the PSP site of your choice via PSP. Once you
have found a picture you would like as a background, hover your mouse over it and hit triangle.
In the browser menu that pops up, scroll over to file and press X. Select "Save Image" and save
ir in the "picture" or "photo" folder. Exit the broswer, and from your PSP's Menu, scroll over to
"Photo" and select "memory stick". The photo you saved should appear here. Press x on it to view,
and whle viewing it, press triangle and the Photo menu will appear. scroll to the icon that looks
similar tot he PSP's menu, and follow the given instrctions to save it as your background. Once
an image is saved as a backgreound, it can be deleted from the photo portion of your memory stick
and it will still remain saved as your background, but beware, if you save another picture as the
background, the first one will be gone. (unless you left it in your Photo folder)

Themes:

If you were familiar with official firmware before you installed custom firmware, you might know
about .ptf themes. These still work with custom firmware, but there are many better-looking
alternatives available to you now:

Themes known as flash0 themes are installed by accessing your
PSP's internal memory (where your firmware and that backround you saved are stored) and replacing
the files that make up your menu (icons, gameboot) with custom ones. This process, however, is
fairly dangerous as you could easily brick your psp, (rendering it completely useless) and is not
recommended for newbies.

A worthy alternative to flash0 themes are .ctf themes, which are just compressed versions of the
flash0 themes themselves. Unlike flash0 themes, hoewver, .ctf themes are stored on the memory
stick. To install these themes, you need a mini-application called CXMB (C standing for Custom, and
XMB being the PSP's main menu). Chances are this mini-app can be found on the PSP site of your
choosing.

====================================================================
-INSTALLING CXMB-

Following the instructions given at the beginning of section 2, download CXMB from the source of
your choosing. Extract the CXMB folder, and place it on the root of your memory stick. (the first
file level you come to when accessing your memory stick, right alongside the MP_ROOT and PSP
folders). Within the CXMB folder, you should find a folder called "seplugins" with a text file
(vsh.txt) inside. Check your memory stick to see if the seplugins folder already exists on the
root. If it does not, create it or simply "cut" the "seplugins" folder form the CXMB directory on
your hard drive and place it on the root of your memory stick. Now place the "cxmb" folder
(the one that has cxmb.prx in it) to the root of your memory stick.

Now that you have the application
itself installed, you need a .ctf theme from the PSP site of your choice. Download the theme using
the method described at the beginning of section 2, and place it in the "theme" folder on your
memory stick. (This should already exist) Exit USB mode and hold your power switch up until your PSP
turns off. Now turn it back on, holding R, to access the recovery menu. Navigate to "plugins".
You should see a plugin there called cxmb.prx. Enable it. Select "back", and then "exit". From
your PSP's menu, scroll over to the "settings" column and find "theme settings". Select "theme".
The theme you put on your memory stick should be there. Select it and wait for it to install.

Your PSP should now reboot, with the new theme installed.
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2.C- Video


As usual, with custom firmware you can play mp4 and mpeg-4 movies (mp4="video" folder, mpeg-4=one
of the folders in "MP_ROOT"), but there are lots of other formats that can be saved/played. For
example, with the application PSPtube, you can watch and save YouTube videos directly from your PSP!

Other movie formats, like .AVi, .WMV, etc. can be played with other applications you can run. MP4
movies, TV shows and clips can be found online at psperspective.net. (or most likely the PSP site of your
choice)

UMD Movies can be ripped just the same as UMD games, but the resulting files are placed in the
"video" directory within "ISO".

=======================================================================
-TIPS FOR DOWNLOADING MOVIES-
-Never try to watch the movie before it has finished downloading. The part you have already saved
will play, but chances are the download will screw-up.

-Videos are organizable just as music is on your PSP. Using folders within the "VIDEO" folder to
organize your content (i.e- season 1 episodes in a season 1 folder) will help keep things nice and
tidy.
=======================================================================
-RIPPING MOVIES FROM DVD-
Ripping movies from a DVD to MP4 format for your PSP or Ipod is easy, providing you have the right
software. Free downloadable software, like PSP Video 9, can be found on the internet. DO NOT,
however, spend $30 on a program that claims to be able to rip DVD's, like PSP Media Manager, as this
software is unwilling to remove the copyright to burn from the disk, and insits that you only make
copies of home-made movies. (ewww!)

What's great about ripping your own movies is the fact that you can choose what size/quality you
want the movie to be, depending on the space you have on your memory stick. The general rule of
thumb is the higher the quality=bigger file, the lower the quality=the smaller the file. Whether
you are looking for quality or size, you control it all! (Even stuff I didn't know you could)

Anyways, familiarize yourself with your software, so you know you can get the audio and video
matched up right, BEFORE you take your movies on vacation, because chances are that on your first
time, they will be a little off.
====================================================================
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2.D- Applications

There are many applications out there, doing just about everything you can think of. The tough thing
about applications is this: Chances are, the versions on any PSP site(s) that you use are out of
date. A great site to get applications off of is the site [http://www.dl.qj.net]. This site provides
many of the latest versions of popular working applications, and some cool ones you've probably
never even heard of before. (not to mention the massive collection of emulators)

PSP applications come in many different shapes and sizes, from a single EBOOT.PBP file to hundreds
of folders and files. These applications will generally come with a README or instructions via
folders, depending on the download source. These files will typically be placed in the GAME150 or
GAME380 (sometimes GAME, but not very often), or a combination of the three, with additional folders
on the root of the memory stick. It all depends on what the application was designed to do, and
the complexity of said program.

I have found from my personal experience that applications copied from one memory stick to another
generally do not work, and result in errors (notice I say SOME, but not ALL. For example, PSPTube
works every time!)

If an application isn't working, it could be for a number of different reasons. You could have
the wrong firmware, wrong recovery menu settings, be lacking the right patch, not have all the files
needed (which is why dl.qj.net is great), or you could just need a fresh copy! Applications configured
and adaptedfor one PSP tend not to work on others. This is even the case with simple two-folder
EBOOT apps,for reasons I cannot explain. Many applications are customizable with skins, and easy to
tweak to your own preferences. Features available to Official Firmware PSP's from other countries
can be easily accessed as well. For example, the application Go!Messenger can be run from an
American PSP through a few easy steps!

If an application is giving you trouble, chances are someone on your PSP site can help you.
=======================================================================
-TIPS FOR DOWNLOADING APPLICATIONS-
SCAN EVERYTHING FOR VIRUSES!
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That about covers it for now, I hope I didn't leave out anything important >.<...

As for any questions you may have about the content of this guide, or annything you feel should be
added, feel free to PM me on psperspective.

Later!

!DA!
[/quote]

[DemØnik]

If You Dont Mind Please Post Some Pictures To Go With It Because Hard To Understand After Reading All That, Adding Pictures Would Help

[archer19]

Nice tutorial man

[MichaelT1412]

its pretty good too bad i don't know where to get custom firmware =(

[Drizzle02]

Great tutorial man. This will come very useful to those who are new to the PSP world.

Thanks!

[docrock]

Thanks, great intro to the world of psp

[RequiemSkyler]

Nice but hard to follow , I'm a Really newcomer in PSP World , so some images wouldn't be that bad ^^''

[lebcar]

you just answered alot of my questions. thanks

[Rusky_Peon]

Nice tutorial, I wish I found this when I was just starting out with custom firmware. Great job.

[GamerOver40]

could you do one of these basic tutorials for upgrading from M33-5.0 to the Gen series? thanks for taking the time to show us noooooobies!

[maddie]

thanks so much for this. totally helpful. =]