Can I roll back or downgrade my Sony PSP firmware upgrade?Hey Dave. I just upgraded from 1.5 to firmware version 2.0 on my Sony PSP device and now all the games I grabbed off the net don't work any more. That stinks. Is there a way I can roll back my unit to the 1.5 Sony PSP firmware? First the bad news: no, as far as I am aware, there's no legitimate method of backing up a firmware version, whether you're going back from 2.0 to 1.5 or 2.5 to 1.5, or whatever. I'm sure that's deliberate on Sony's part with the PSP, but in general, no you can't do that. Now the really bad news: there are some sites that are claiming that they have firmware 1.5 downgrades you can run on your Sony PSP and have it magically go back from firmware 2.x to firmware 1.5. Be Highly Suspicious of Sony PSP Firmware Downgraders! They might well be cleverly disguised trojan horses, programs that are actually written to destroy your PSP unit. If you run one of these downgrade applications, it can actually remove some key files from your PSP and render it inoperable, which would definitely ruin your day. As far as I have read, there's also no way to send your PSP to Sony or otherwise have someone clone their OS onto your system as a recovery mechanism (though theoretically you should be able to accomplish this task with some simple programming). If you run this trojan, known in antivirus circles as Trojan.PSPBrick, you'll have a dead, throw it away, nothing you can do to fix it Sony PSP unit. Quoting from a ZDnet article on this subject: "Basically the (PSP) is completely inoperable, and you've lost your device," said Eric Chien, the principal software engineer at Symantec Security Response. "It's called 'bricking.'" If you've upgraded to the 2.x firmware release, I am afraid that you're stuck with it. Just don't get stung by this trojan while trying to fix your unit. Update: To be fair, I have heard from a number of PSP owners that they have successfully downgraded their PSP firmware, from 2.6 back to 1.5, 2.5 back to 1.5, and so on. I imagine you could flip a coin and hope that a given PSP firmware site has a legit and trustworthy downgrader that you can run on your Sony PSP with good results, but to me this is still a pretty risky move because while the odds of success might be pretty good, the cost of failure is pretty darn high too. As with anything to do with computing, you need to decide for yourself. If you can find a credible, trustworthy site and believe the postings from other folk that they've had success with the downgrade, go ahead and try it. Whether you succeed or fail, please do pop back here and let us know too, but, again, how will we know your posting is legit, not a trick intended to get others to download a "brick" application? Round and round. You can see the basic dilemma here. Good luck, whatever you choose to do.
Help others find this article at Del.icio.us, Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and Simpy.
Categorized:
Sony PSP, MP3 Players, Etc.
(Article 4222)
Tagged: Sony Playstation Portable, Sony PSP Previous: How do I copyright my Web site? Next: My PC asks me what version of Windows I want to run? Subscribe!
Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader. yup, I've too heard of ppl successfully dowgrading from 2 to 1.5. However, I don't think the update to 2.01 or 2.5 works. Posted by: free ipod nano at October 15, 2005 9:20 PMyou can downgrade from 2.0 to 1.5 but not from 2.5. the downgrader i used was the MPH Downgrader. it worked and i was so happy. it was so cool i had to do it again, so i upgraded and downgraded again and my psp is fine. Posted by: Devon at December 20, 2005 3:16 PMi had upgraded 1.52 to 2.0 then down to 1.5 not bricked i used the mph downgrader, it is not a virus or trojan etc. Posted by: jon at January 12, 2006 4:49 PMI havent tryed anything and i dont know what to belive if someone just could give a good reason!!! Please someone be honost can i do it with MPH? Posted by: Michael at January 26, 2006 8:05 AMI want to fix my PSP because it frozen by when I was going to upgrade my PSP to 2.6 sm I turn it off and took out the battery and when i was going to turn it on you see the green light that means it is on but i don't see anything in the screen. How do I fix it? Posted by: Odette Haddock at March 18, 2006 1:58 PMman i hope sony comes up with some umd that can downgrade your psp from v.2.5 to v.1.5, or some download or something Posted by: Jito at April 3, 2006 12:55 PMhey i live in the u.s.a and i just came back from hong kong and i bought a psp tv adaptor and i play my psp on the tv it looks awesome! and i bought like 20 umd rewritables, man hong kong is where you wanna go if you got a psp!!!! Posted by: Jito at April 3, 2006 1:02 PMwhy would I want to down grade my psp wouldn't that be a bad thing to do? Posted by: ry at May 7, 2006 11:49 AMI DOWNGRADED MY PSP 2.6 WORKED FINE. JUST DONT UNPLUG THE AC ADAPTER WHILE DOING IT. Posted by: BEN at May 11, 2006 9:31 AMOdette Haddock, you've successfully bricked your psp! Posted by: td at May 17, 2006 9:32 AMis it possible to downgrade psp fware 2.6 Posted by: abu at May 25, 2006 9:16 AMBEN WHAT DID YOU USE TO DOWNGRADE YOUR PSP 2.6 THANK YOU WES Posted by: WALEX1P at May 28, 2006 4:21 AMI just bought a psp from eb games (CW) and it was pre installed with darn firmware 2.5 DAM DAM DAM! I have a psp 2.71 what can i use to downgrade it please send me at sallal9@gmail.com Posted by: Mo at August 26, 2006 2:56 AMGoto PSP blender and look at their information on downgrading from 2.5/2.6 to 1.5. Might work!! Posted by: Trac at September 17, 2006 10:29 AManybody knows how to downgrade 2.8 firmware to any lower version?? HELP!!! Posted by: marciuzz at October 31, 2006 1:17 AMhey guys i bought the new scarface game and my psp said i need to up grade it to version2.6 so as i did it froze on me then i took the disk out and took the battery out becuz it wouldnt go bak to the main screen but now it wont even turn bak on if anybody can help me thanks alot Posted by: larry at November 19, 2006 2:20 PMHey, I know that this probably sounds totally useless 2 U, but if ur ever in China, "Shanghai", it is the perfect place to get ur PSP downgraded, U just go to any little shop where they chip anything from PS2's to Gamecubes with chips that enables them to play "Illegal" Games. Anyways, this is also the perfect place to get it "Degraded"!!!!!! (I know that this info is probably totally useless but maybe 1 day u will come to China" Posted by: eric at December 25, 2006 6:44 AMI have a 1.53 version.. Dont know anything about it. can someone tell me where I can find out about it's capablilties..or is it just a stagnant as a 2.0 and higher? thanks Posted by: skyjuice at December 30, 2006 3:34 PMcan you downgrade a 2.81 i need 2 downgrade my psp from 2.71 to 1.5 any 1 hav any ideas? Who wants 2 downgrade? FW2.00 - 3.03 is possible, if u have FW2.00 upgrade 2 FW2.60 and then 2.81 and 3.03.(if u have any oda FW update 2 3.03) I was try to upgrade my psp from 2.8 to 3.1 till it froze while on the process. I took out the batterys, tryed to do anything to turn it back on but all it shows is the green light on the bottom right in the front.Please help! Posted by: drew at March 17, 2007 10:08 PMBad news, I'm afraid, Drew: you've "bricked" your PSP by having it fail during the upgrade process. There's not much you can do other than send it in for repair, as I detail here: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/broken_sony_psp_fixed.html Posted by: Dave Taylor at March 17, 2007 10:19 PMcan anyone tell me if it is possible to downgrade my psp ( 2.81 ) to enable me to play homebrew i need to downgrade to 1.5 from 3.11 Posted by: chris at April 7, 2007 12:34 AMand i also was wondering if anyone has suggestions about my mouse on the psp. it moves on its own! Posted by: chris at April 7, 2007 12:43 AMit IS possible to successfully roll back psp's from all versons 3.03 and below to 1.5 check out pspiso.com Posted by: michael at April 9, 2007 2:31 AMHi guys i am new at this but the site www.psp-hacks.com is great and everything on there seems to work loads of downgraders Posted by: adam3276 at April 23, 2007 2:39 PMhi,plz help me i wanna downgrade my psp(P770)to 1.5 tell me is it possible??? every body saying 2 me that i can't play games on this version by copying on memstick????is it write? Posted by: Ali at May 5, 2007 10:36 AMI don't know what a P770 is but what i do know, as others have said, you can indeed downgrade a psp which has been upgraded to 3.03 to 1.5. It isnt hard to upgrade to 3.03 as it's simply a safe sony supported update. It's the downgrading which is a little sketchy (though possible). Also you need a nolonger produced version of gta liberty city stories which goes for about $200US or more on ebay.. Also you cant run games from memory stick unless you're at version 1.5 or using custom firmware, which can only be installed if you have version 1.5. Posted by: Nick at May 6, 2007 8:58 PMif i downgrade my psp, wouldnt that mean i cant play my umds anymore, and that i can only downlaod the games that are homebrew or watever, need help on this stuff Posted by: Talha at May 15, 2007 4:53 PMI need to know, is it possible for me to downgrade my current PSP version-3.40 to 3.10. Thanks. Posted by: Ahmad at May 19, 2007 9:41 AMi need 3.40 downgrader... Posted by: sHuA!B at May 22, 2007 3:21 PMmy psp firmware is 3.40 can i downgrade my psp to 2.71 or lower Posted by: yusef at May 28, 2007 6:56 PMmy psp firmware is 3.40 can i downgrade my psp to 2.71 or lower i need a 3.40 downgrader. Posted by: yusef at May 28, 2007 7:06 PMsame here... i have 3.40 and it sucks... Posted by: miguel at May 29, 2007 1:31 AMyeah we r all stuck with 3.40 i upgraded to 3.40 after i got my psp back from reapirs lol, the battery connector was dodgy and it shortcircuited my psp halfway thru an update, errr anwyay ull just havta w8 till sony release a firmware that contains an exploit, once thats done it shudnt b long before i can downgrade to 3.03 and then little but more downgrading and upgrading back to custom firmware wewt! Posted by: Jon at June 7, 2007 1:35 AMFirst of all, it is currently impossible (but it isn't granted that DEV teams will find a future exploit) to downgrade a PSP with 3.10 and UP due to the fact that all TIFF and GTA exploits have been patched by Sony. It is impossible to downgrade 1.51 of 1.52. Course of action: Hint to downgrade.... Download HEND, it runs 1.0 firmware games (and downgraders) for 2.71. Posted by: StarFX100 at June 9, 2007 6:33 PMcould you help me on down gradding my psp it is running 3.51 Posted by: Amy at July 22, 2007 2:42 PMi have the same problem as the post above me and when and if u get the answer then plz send it to my email in case you can't see it here it is again bobbyjoebilly473@lycos.com Posted by: bob at August 7, 2007 4:30 PMmy psp is version 2.60 nd i want to get it to 1.5 if ther is any way you can without it getting bricked please tell me! i should have downgraded huh?? can i downgrade my psp version 3.52? Posted by: James at September 8, 2007 1:31 PMI have version 3.11 and would like to downgrade to 1.5 i cant seem to find a firmware downgrader. someone please hook me up! Posted by: levi at September 9, 2007 6:57 PMATTENTION!!! For all new comers to the psp scene, if you guys want to downgrade your psp to 1.5, just remember to downgrade to ver 2.0 first. I have been on the scene for many years. So I know what I am talking about, be careful when reading some comments from people who have no idea hat they are talking about and leading you straight into bricking your psp. I have all the software needed for any version to be downgraded, just email me for free support and software. Posted by: Jedi at September 12, 2007 2:05 AMI have a PSP version 3.52, and when I went to a website trying to download games, "because my friend has" it said that they can down grade anything 3.50 and under. But that means that I can't. If you know how to downgrade the PSP from 3.52 to 1.5 please tell me. Thank you Posted by: vernon wright at September 16, 2007 9:14 AMi have psp but the fw is 3.60.what can i do to downgrade to 1.50? in the moment is no downgrader for 3.52 :(( i need it too :(( but they come out a little bit later...i cant say when.... Posted by: bogdan at October 2, 2007 12:31 PMhello people i wanted to know how to downgrade my psp version 2.81 to 1.50 sipple instructions pls sum1 i need help thanks alot Posted by: pspgman at October 5, 2007 5:39 AMheya i have just brought home a psp with a 3.40 firmware. Is there any way to downgrade it to 1.50? Posted by: kalian at October 9, 2007 12:08 AMhey i have just came home and checked the firmware on my psp it is updated to 3.51 which totally suckz, if there is a way to make it all the way down to 1.5 can anybody please email me the tips i really need help...thanks -marcuzz Posted by: marcuzz at November 1, 2007 3:34 AMdoes anyone know the SAFEST way to degrade firmware 2.81 to 1.5 so that i can hack my psp Posted by: gabe at November 13, 2007 4:31 PMcan sum1 tell me how 2 downgrade from version 3.52 to 1.5?? plz e-mail me if u can help ty! Posted by: yo-muma at December 5, 2007 4:30 AMi have a psp fat with fw 3.80,is there anyway i can downgrade ? Posted by: jrock6st at December 29, 2007 3:52 PMHe can anyone tell me how to see what is my firmware version??? Umm you may now downgrade your psp from ANY and all firmware versions to 3.71m33 which is a custom firmware that allows you to play all your 1.5apps. but in order to do this you need help from a friend that has a psp under 3.52 i think and you have to kill a psp battery but after that you will be fine. I dont have time right now to explain it myself so you will just need to go to google and type in "pandora's battery" also this will unbrick all your psp's as well. Posted by: Psp savor at January 30, 2008 8:25 AMThere is actually an unbricker for the PSP. It also downgrades the PSP to firmware 1.5, more info here http://www.noobz.eu/joomla/news/unbricker-for-all-firmwares.html Posted by: theflashmaker9985 at February 13, 2008 12:06 PMi downgraded my psp from 3.71 m33-2 to 1.5 using a guied found on youtube. worked like a charm, no problems Posted by: DIEProphezeiung at February 15, 2008 3:44 PMHelp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hi all. why does everyone want to downgrade to 1.5???????? i am quite confused by this %-( why is 1.5 more desireable than higher firmware? do some games not need the 2.6 > to run? Posted by: dr.quirky at March 14, 2008 7:55 AMhi i have version 3.90 anybody knows how to downgrade it without bricking it????if you fool me and brick it i wil kick your ...... and your........please help!!!! Posted by: erik at March 21, 2008 8:10 AMI bought my daughter one a ci=ouple days after christmas it is a version 3.71. A friend gave her about 60 games that are JNES and SNES Is there anyway I can get her PSP to play them? Plesse help!!! games are expensive and there aren't very many that a 11 year old takes interest in. 200 bucks later mom Posted by: Tanya at March 28, 2008 1:21 AMHow to play Final Fantasy IX in psp?? Ok, so I just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here. So, as someone has stated before, there is the Pandora Battery. This could be the greatest piece of reverse engineering in the PSP's homebrew history. Now, if you want to roll back firmware, that's a difficult one. You can only downgrade a 2.0 and 2.71 without the use of a Pandora Battery or an unpatched game. If you want to downgrade other versions, you will have to use either an unpatched copy of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories or an unpatched copy of Lumines, depending on what firmware you have. Your best bet is to use the Pandora Battery. Then, google Dark Alex and upgrade to 3.90 M33 firmware. Also, download iR Shell after you get the M33 firmware. It's extremely helpful. Posted by: Taylor at May 15, 2008 7:32 PMI have a lot to say, but ...
I do have a comment, now that you mention it!
|
Search
Find just the answers you seek from among our 1700+ free tech support articles by using our Lijit search engine.
Help!
Subscribe to
Ask Dave Taylor! 
Free Updates!
Sign up and get free weekly updates and special offers on books, seminars, workshops and more.
Articles and Reviews
Auctions and Online Shopping Blogs and RSS Feeds Building Web site traffic Business and Management Cell Phones and Mobile Phones CGI Scripts and Web Site Programming Computer and Internet Basics d) None of the Above HTML and CSS Mac OS X Help MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Social Network Help Pay Per Click (PPC) Search Engine Optimization Shell Script Programming Sony PSP, MP3 Players, Etc. The Writing Business Unix and Linux Help Video Game Tips and Help Windows Help
Recent Entries
Join the List!
Book Links
|
Note: This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site.
![[whiteboard marker tray]](/Graphics/marker-tray.gif){kind=small}
Looking for all your Sony PSP answers in one place, organized as a convenient quick reference work? Then you need Dave's Everything Guide to the Sony PSP, a 150-page ebook ready for you to download right now!