Is it possible to downgrade your PSP version?
By semicolonp
@semicolonp (518)
Philippines
September 30, 2008 6:31am CST
My brother's PSP is on the 4.01 version right now. He's wondering if there is an online means to downgrade the version from the current one to a 3.8 version because he's been told the game he haunted all over for only works in that certain version.
(Sorry if it's vague; I'm not really all that aware about these things. What he tells me is that when he's trying to downgrade by himself, the PSP rejects it because he's already on a higher version... or at least, that's how I understood the story he told me)
Do any of you know if this is a possibility? And do you know if there is a way to do this without dispensing money, if possible? I'm not really sure how these things work, but any troubleshooting would be very much appreciated.
Thank you for your time! And thank you for reading up to this point. :)
1 person likes this
3 responses
@ratyz5 (7808)
• Philippines
30 Sep 08
Your brother has his PSP running on a 4.01 firmware? Would that be an official firmware or a custom firmware?
At any rate.. on my case, I thought I had to upgrade my PSP to be able to play a certain title that was also one of the reasons why I got myself a PSP, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. The firmware that I have on my PSP is still 3.71 M33-4, a custom firmware. At first, I couldn't get the game running smoothly but, after reading a few online guides on how to make the game run smoothly, it reassured me that an upgrade was only necessary for other games that would be coming up later on.
It gets me wondering why your bro needs to downgrade his firmware when his current firmware version should cover all other games that came before that upgrade. That's how it should be when it comes to official firmwares I suppose.
The only thing that I could think of would be that your brother just needs to adjust certain settings on his PSP or the copy of the game should be CSO or an ISO to get that game running.. that's if your brother's PSP is running on custom firmware..
To downgrade a PSP, your brother seems to need another PSP that is running on custom firmware so that it can create a service battery (called by some as a Pandora Battery for some reason..) which would flash (or reset the unit in case your wondering what flash means) your brother's PSP down to a firmware version of 1.5
The reason why the service battery usually downgrades a PSP to 1.5 is because from that firmware version can you get it to upgrade to any version that you prefer.. be it official or custom firmware. So if your brother really likes it down to 3.8, he may do so even though he already has a higher version..
So.. anyversion -- Downgrade to 1.5 -- anyversion not lower than 1.5
Though be warned, recent PSPs have been developed to be undowngrade-able and it would take more than the usual service battery to fulfill his desires...
Has your bro went to pinoypsp.com? Has plenty of members who are friendly enough to have your bro's PSP modified without costing him a peso... well, you just have to meet up with a member who is willing to do what your bro wants with his PSP.. be courteous enough to treat the bloke perhaps?
1 person likes this
@ratyz5 (7808)
• Philippines
5 Oct 08
I have also spent a lot of time online when I first had my PSP.. wanted to know what I had to know so I could very well admit that I know PSPs in some way than just copying games into the Memory Stick.. though I've only been doing that thing up to now with my PSP (^0^ )
Hmmm, what's the title of that game your brother wants so hard to play that he even considers downgrading it? I have also gone through certain games that seem to now work at all at first, often bad game copy that would show have persistent problems when loaded into another PSP. However, with custom firmware PSPs, you sometimes just have to do some tweaks on the Recovery Menu (This menu is accessible when you hold on the R trigger of the PSP running on custom firmware while turning it on from shut down or hold the select button while your on the PSP's menu screen - usually called XMB for some reason) for some games to work.. just use the search feature of that site I mentioned and threads would probably come up regarding that game and possibly, have in them hints on how to make that game title work..
Hope everything works out for you two owning that PSP, I mean, if you can have a say on it, its better to have your say and suggest that a downgrade is unreasonable for just a single game title while there are other games already available and would work with the current firmware that you have. (^_^ )
@semicolonp (518)
• Philippines
1 Oct 08
Wow. This post took a lot of thinking (and grilling, my phone bills must be high this month :P) but thanks a lot for all the infodumps. I'll definitely remember this post so I can use it if I ever need it in the future.
I've been told it's custom firmware. The games he wants to play are fine up to the intro part. Once we choose the NEW GAME option, though, the game stops. It ends up just being a blank screen and nothing else happens no matter how long we wait (I originally thought the game was just slow). Skimming various forums told my brother that these games are compatible for the 3.8 version, so he's wondering if downgrading is possible to play them. ishralene (above) has given me a fair deal to think about, though, and I don't know whether I should allow him to downgrade or not (I mean, the PSP is both ours, after all, even though he uses it more and has more knowledge on how it works).
re: pinoypsp—I don't think he has. I don't know where he gets his stuff (I just play the games, lol), but I'll ask. That's a really excellent site, though! I never knew we had one of our own, hehe. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks again! :)
1 person likes this
@thepheonix (349)
• India
30 Sep 08
i dont think that there is a downgrade available mostly if master reset is made then it could be possible by chance....
@semicolonp (518)
• Philippines
30 Sep 08
Ah, I see. Thank you for the response. I'm not really all that knowledgeable about stuff like this but thanks a lot of your comment.
By the way: do you know what a master reset entails? I mean, how do you do that? Is there something I need to remember before I do that? Anything I can't do?
My brother must know a lot more about these things, but it's nice to know certain things about these too. :)
Thanks again!
1 person likes this
@semicolonp (518)
• Philippines
30 Sep 08
@ishralene: lol, really? wow. I don't think we have the means to do that. Thanks for clarifying about the master reset, though. I think it'll benefit me to know about this in the future. Thanks again!
