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  • My PSP died during an upgrade and now it’s dead?

My PSP died during an upgrade and now it’s dead?

June 24, 2006 / Dave Taylor / iPod & MP3 Player Help / 82 Comments

Hi Dave!!! Yesterday i was updating my psp to the new firmware version but it suddenly ran out of power and turned off. Now when i turn it on there is no response, just the power indicator light on. What do i do???

Oh, do I have bad news for you. I have heard from many people that have unplugged their PSP accidentally during an update, got bored during the slow download, or had some other glitch interrupt a network update or processing a downloaded update just to end up with a completely dead Sony PSP device.
The only advice I can offer you and other people in this situation is to call Sony and talk to them about how lame it is that you can kill your expensive Playstation Portable device by a relatively random or unlucky event during a firmware update. It seems to me – though I’m definitely not a part of Sony and cannot speak with any authority here – that Sony should replace PSPs that are killed during a failed firmware update. I don’t know if they do, but they should.
Which makes me think: if you have had this experience and call Sony about your dead PSP, please leave a note here to tell us who you called, what your experience was like and how it turned out. That is, did they make good on the problem or did they just say “ah, bummer, dude.” and hang up?
I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to:

  • plug your PSP into the wall during the entire firmware upgrade process, and
  • don’t interrupt it during a download, even if it’s taking a long time

lest you “brick” or otherwise kill your unit.
Also note that you can likely minimize the problem of slow or stalled downloads by actually downloading the firmware update package on your PC or Mac. In that situation nothing bad will happen if you kill the download halfway. Then all you have to do is copy the downloaded firmware package onto your Sony PSP and run it. Elapsed time once you’ve finished the download? Just a few minutes. Much less risk.
Here’s my article on the subject: Download Sony PSP firmware update
Hope that’s useful. Again, call Sony or contact them through their customer service area (select PSP –> Troubleshooting from the popup menu on the bottom of the page, then click “Continue”), find out what they’ll do, and let us know how it works out!

About the Author: Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. Author of over 20 technical books, he runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor.

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Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!
dead psp, failed psp firmware upgrade, psp bricking, sony psp

82 comments on “My PSP died during an upgrade and now it’s dead?”

  1. cosagne says:
    November 3, 2014 at 11:58 am

    my psp 3001 can’t trun on; because i trun it to off when i was updating it. what can i do to fix it?

    Reply
    • abbad abdennour says:
      February 16, 2015 at 1:21 am

      hey please friend if u fix it tell me how 🙁

      Reply
  2. wulalaz says:
    June 15, 2009 at 4:05 am

    Hi All…
    my psp 3k whn i turn on my psp 3k got green light but the screen is black any 1 can help me plz

    Reply
  3. angel says:
    June 3, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    hi!
    my psp 10000 is just connected to the pc while i was looking for ctf themes..but im not doing something with my psp..it’s just plugged in..but the moment i was to remove it, i noticed that it’s already turned off so i charged it..after an hour it’
    s still not booting up..i tried to turn it on with the adapter only but it’s also not working..
    im not doing any updates or upgrade with my psp at that time but is it still possible that it was bricked?
    hoping for your response..
    thanks

    Reply
  4. hoobie360 says:
    May 5, 2009 at 7:16 pm

    if you guys don’t know, you can make a special memory stick/modified battery combo and unbrick any psp. send me e-mails for instructions. hoobie360@yahoo.com

    Reply
  5. Ondox says:
    April 23, 2009 at 11:05 am

    Hey , I think , maybe I can solve problem of everyone .. There are many PSP servicemen out of sony that can fix this . I gave it to one , and after 5 mins he did it . He just did something with service battery , runned PSP in safe mod connected to PC deleted firmware and instaled new . Im not 100% sure he did it like this but you can fix it 🙂 ..

    Reply
  6. dj sman says:
    March 29, 2009 at 7:31 am

    u will need a pandora battery to unbirck your psp 🙂 if any probz with battery buy a new battery:)

    Reply
  7. mo says:
    February 2, 2009 at 4:26 pm

    so if i have a warranty that didn’t go out would the store or sony replace it for me??( if not i’ll kick their a#@)

    Reply
  8. Camron says:
    January 23, 2009 at 4:04 pm

    I was playing my psp which was pluged into the wall, i got up to change the TV channel and when i tutched it i got a static show, this shock turned off my psp and now no matter how long i hold power button it wont come on

    Reply
  9. johnathan garcia says:
    October 14, 2008 at 9:27 pm

    hey my psp is messing up.i really dont know what happend my power light will come on for a limited time only and then will turn off and the screen will not show turn on or any thing and its fustraing turn on and i need help………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. screen wont turn on ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..please help me

    Reply
  10. Tom Pearson says:
    June 27, 2008 at 12:28 pm

    Here is the correct link 😉 HAVE FUN!
    http://forums.noobz.eu/downgrader-support/people-who-can-help-you-unbrickdowngrade-a-psp-using-pandora/0/

    Reply
  11. Tom Pearson says:
    June 27, 2008 at 12:25 pm

    Hey, have u guys heard of a pandoras battery? it reflashes the PSP system in order to unbrick. More info can be found on N00bz.eu

    Reply
  12. luke says:
    June 20, 2008 at 12:52 pm

    my psp is bricked and the backlight won’t even switch on. Will a pandora battery still work

    Reply
  13. Jonadab says:
    June 2, 2008 at 7:44 pm

    I followed all instructions provided on Sony’s website to the letter, and my update still failed, and now I can’t use any UMDs. Sony tells me that even if thay saw me buy it yesterday if I don’t have a receipt… $89. So even if you are doing things “by the book” it doesn’t guarantee a good outcome.

    Reply
  14. Dave Taylor says:
    June 1, 2008 at 8:28 am

    You can have your perspective, “Educated”, and others have their perspectives. In my view, any upgrade process that can destroy the machine is a badly designed process.

    Reply
  15. Educated says:
    June 1, 2008 at 1:30 am

    Please research before posting nonsense. There is no defect when PSP’s are bricked during an update. If you didn’t have your PSP plugged in like the update tells you to, it’s your fault. You need to understand the technicalities of the process before calling it a defect. The update writes files from the memory stick to internal flash memory needed to boot the PSP, which is similar to updating the BIOS on your PC. Surprise! If there is an error or you lose power during a BIOS update, you’ll also brick your PC.

    Reply
  16. Alex says:
    April 22, 2008 at 9:21 pm

    Yeah, from what I’ve been looking up online, all you need to fix your shiny new brick is an extra battery 11.00$ american shipping included off of ebay, and a 1 GB memory stick 9.00$ american off of ebay, simply create a pandora’s battery and magic stick and you’re set, however, I would suggest doing this before even modding your firmware in the first place, otherwise you’d have to buy a pre-made pandora’s battery and magic stick off of e-bay, which isn’t a bad idea, only the battery ID won’t be the same as the original, which might cause some small issues. Also keep in mind that once you’ve un-bricked your psp you are running a custom firmware (most probably Dark_Alex’s 390 M33-3 at this point in time) which is a great thing if that was what you were attempting to install when you bricked your psp, however it might be against your values to use such a genius’s free hacks, if so (I am sad for you) but you will have to buy another PSP instead of using my suggestion… Morals are good and all, but frankly, sony should know better, in this case, I feel no remorse.

    Reply
  17. ACE GAME WIZURD says:
    April 16, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    I WAS ON MY PSP AND I CLOSED THE BROWER, HOWEVER IT JAMED SO I TURNED IT OFF BUT THE POWER LIGHT WAS STILL ON,IT WAS A BLANK SCECEN. WHEN I TURNED IT ON IT CAME WITH A LINE ACROSS THE SCECENWHAT DO I DO?

    Reply
  18. Chris says:
    April 13, 2008 at 9:49 am

    PSP’s can be unbricked at http://www.psp-repairz.co.uk

    Reply
  19. Syrione says:
    March 10, 2008 at 2:42 pm

    One of two things anything with a flashrom is sensitive device even your PC equipment with firmware updates can “brick”. 2nd thing a pandora battery is a solution to this the pandora can be created through custom firmware GoogleIYF and it’s based off Sony’s method so people saying Sony can’t unbrick your PSP your lying. A PSP bricking is fixable by Sony under warranty they’ll even fix it for free more than I can say for the Xbox360 whose red ring of death has no solution except sending the unit back and getting a replacement.

    Reply
  20. Wheelz says:
    February 16, 2008 at 5:22 am

    ok if u have bricked ur psp through the netwrok update or !@#T like that all u do is contact sony ok but when u do dont tell them u messed it up through the update u say i had enough money to buy a ps3 or fix my psp so i chose to buy a ps3 so i cant fix it could you do it? i heard this online quote “they should buy this because its kind of like saying to sony fix this n ill buy a ps3 or dont fix it an ill buy a xbox 360” unquote

    Reply
  21. Jacobdead says:
    February 4, 2008 at 6:16 pm

    HEY IF SONY WONT FIX IT THERE IS ALWAYS THE PANDORA UNBRICKER.

    Reply
  22. Smith says:
    January 27, 2008 at 2:39 am

    why upgrade then…. and waste monet on buying games my psp is modified so i download games for free and that so just get modified psp..

    Reply
  23. Ibraheem says:
    January 18, 2008 at 5:01 am

    PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ
    VERY IMPORTANT
    Hey guys I found a way to unbrick the psp just go to this website http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcCnrswzETI and watch how to unbrick the psp.
    I haven’t tried it because my brother’s psp is not bricked but you’re not losing anything so try it. If the website link didnt work go to http://www.youtube.com and search for (unbrick psp).
    Hope I helped.

    Reply
  24. Gerard says:
    January 8, 2008 at 9:38 am

    All you need now to fix your bricked PSP’s is a Pandora’s Battery and a Magic Stick. Search Ebay or Google for some.

    Reply
  25. Ryan S says:
    December 31, 2007 at 10:04 pm

    BUYERS BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I’m so upset with SONY right now! As I own many Sony products and I must say most of all my Sony products I own my old Sony Trintron T.V., my Sony Vaio desktop computer, my Sony Vaio Laptop, my Sony Wega HDTV, my Sony PS2 and Sony PS2 Slim, Sony PSP, Sony PS3 80gig, my Sony Walkman, Sony Cybershot Digital Camera’s. I am not thinking twice before I make my next Sony decision.
    I’m in the same situation as you all. I have a PSP that just now shows a green power light without the LCD working at all. The unit ran fine for a few months. I only have 18 hours of game play being the first game ever used on the system was the first Need for Speed game made for PSP. For the next few months I stored my unit hardly ever used it not even a scratch or scuff on the unit itself and I still have the original box and everything it came with. On Christmas day I got a gift from my brother in law it was the Need for Speed Carbon video game.
    Keep in mind this unit is practically mint and brand new never abused, dropped, as I’ve had it stored with no time to play with it. As excited as I was receiving the game I took it with me on my vacation for this year. As I got in my hotel room I charged the unit as I always do. The orange light would indicate charging and go out when it’s completely charged.
    Anyway, once the battery was charged I unwrapped the new video game loaded it in my PSP. It asked me to updated to a new Firmware. I begin to follow the instructions during the next few minutes I get a screen saying can not download do to power being low. But the power was completely charged from what the power indicators told me. So I try it again this time the system turns on loads the main PSP screen and enters the same update Firmware menu. I follow the instructions and continue to update the Firmware. It goes through with the download and the next thing you know status shows 1%, 7%, 10% complete. SHUTS OFF without completing the entire download.
    Once I turn the unit back on. All it does is light up the green light stays on for 15-20 seconds and shuts off. This is very upsetting I hardly used this damm PSP and paid good money and not i’m stuck with a damaged product. I don’t know what to do whether to throw this unit in the trash. I am out of warranty and never once enjoyed this unit. I don’t even want to try to hack into it or go through the troubles. I’ve read so much it’s just been a headache.
    I’m great with electronics but I will not repair this nor will I try to hack it. Sony needs to fix all these glitches in this system. Why would my unit just shut off??? I’m thinking the cheap power cord was defective, the cheap battery was defective, and the stupid updating of firmware was not clear in the users manual that sh*t like this would happen in the event of a battery failure?
    My suspects are the cord end and battery somewhat not being able to hold a full charge??? What is the life expectancy on normal conditions of these cheap batteries? And the programming software that’s built into the motherboard not being able recover to protect the unit for these causes. Much like a cheap cell phone that shows a full charge when a broken power cord is inserted or a battery no longer can hold the charge. SONY needs to make serious repairs regarding this issue.
    This is very unfair how this all happened and now I’m here with a shinny piece of junk that I want to throw at the wall. Sony will be hearing from my lawyers, along with the B.B.B, consumer affairs, and all the gamer forums. I can’t believe I waited in line until the morning for the PS3. Now what do I do if my PS3 gets damaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I am very frustrated with this situation. It only takes one bad experience to loose many valued customers. I hope everyone who uses the PSP use it with caution. It is not a good gift to give to a young kid yet alone an adult. Was it my fault I have a defective cord, battery out of the box? trying to find an answer online figuring out what the term “BRICK & Pandora Battery meant”????

    Reply
  26. david says:
    December 29, 2007 at 7:56 am

    oops
    @ Jeff
    The battery must be at least 75% charged when updating the firmware, even with the AC plugged in, otherwise you will not be able to update.
    Posted by: david at December 29, 2007 7:53 AM

    Reply
  27. david says:
    December 29, 2007 at 7:53 am

    @ martin
    The battery must be at least 75% charged when updating the firmware, even with the AC plugged in, otherwise you will not be able to update.

    Reply
  28. Jeff says:
    December 27, 2007 at 9:55 pm

    My son has a psp and I bought him 2 new games , when he tries to play them it says he needs a download 3.51 so he enter yes and it says battery is to low, evev if its plugged in. Is that a battery issue or is it bricked

    Reply
  29. Martin says:
    December 26, 2007 at 9:22 pm

    Do you think there maybe grounds for class action lawsuit?

    Reply
  30. Ibraheem says:
    December 23, 2007 at 7:24 am

    Hi guys. My little brother have a psp and I want to upgrade it to the 3.52m33 firmware and I am totally freaking out of the bricking thingy and of course since the psp is not mine I am very afraid of bricking it. The psp is still new still under warranity. I guess bought before 2 months ago(not shure of the date which we bought it but shure its under warranity). Should I have a pandora battery to upgrade? Please help me its the first time I am going to upgrade. Pls pls pls help me.

    Reply
  31. Liam says:
    December 22, 2007 at 3:31 pm

    i have just bricked my 5th psp and sony are cumin xmas eve to replace it again lol

    Reply

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