Hacking [Release] ARK-4 CFW port for PSP.

[Acid_Snake]

ok. version you gave me still crash the psp, so i decided to turn off all my vsh plugins and left only xmbih and it works.
weird, it means it is not a xmbih problem probably but other plugin
im going to set my plugins on one by one and then i post an update

alright, good, lets see what the offending plugin is.

 

[xFlesk]

its absolutely horrible category lite plugin (categories_lite-1.7-js1) is the problem. only this one breaks psp.
i think i know why. category lite also creates new menus in xmb setting menu, maybe this is the problem? maybe your xmb menus somehow collide with category lite menus.

category lite is crutial i have got 128gb sd card full of games, without this plugin title load will take forever

 

[Acid_Snake]

its absolutely horrible category lite plugin (categories_lite-1.7-js1) is the problem. only this one breaks psp.
i think i know why. category lite also creates new menus in xmb setting menu, maybe this is the problem? maybe your xmb menus somehow collide with category lite menus.

category lite is crutial i have got 128gb sd card full of games, without this plugin title load will take forever

Where can I find version 1.7? I can only find 1.6

Edit: ok I got it, and yeah got the crash.

 

[xFlesk]

https://www.gamebrew.org/wiki/GC_Lite_PSP

Post automatically merged: Feb 10, 2023

but it is also weird. on the begining when i used 4.19.9 main, console starts normal with categories lite and xmbctrl working properly, only xmbih was not working.
now, on the latest nightly and your custom xmbctrl plugin everything works exept categories lite
its getting complicated

 

[Acid_Snake]

https://www.gamebrew.org/wiki/GC_Lite_PSP

Post automatically merged: Feb 10, 2023

but it is also weird. on the begining when i used 4.19.9 main, console starts normal with categories lite and xmbctrl working properly, only xmbih was not working.
now, on the latest nightly and your custom xmbctrl plugin everything works exept categories lite
its getting complicated

It's just a matter of figuring out how to patch things so that there's no incompatibilities.
Here you go, it's fixed now (you only need XMBCTRL.PRX):
https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/v1676046624

 

[xFlesk]

great stuff now everything works fine
i asked so many questions that im afraid to point one more thing which apear
extras icon before when i set my psp region to europe (in recovery) extras icon disappears. now stays all the time

 

[Acid_Snake]

extras icon before when i set my psp region to europe (in recovery) extras icon disappears. now stays all the time

I removed the patch that did that because I deemed it useless (the patch is to change VSH region code to DEBUG, same thing as in PRO when you do Fake Region, but it doesn't help with anything regarding actual UMD Region Free playback so I got rid of it).

 

[V800]

I've got a question: when I start my psp, the xmb keeps loading and I have to open the umd to try so to continue. This behaviour is not restricted to ark-4, mind you, but to all cfw

 

[Acid_Snake]

I've got a question: when I start my psp, the xmb keeps loading and I have to open the umd to try so to continue. This behaviour is not restricted to ark-4, mind you, but to all cfw

there's plugins to disable the UMD drive to fix these issues.

 

[V800]

there's plugins to disable the UMD drive to fix these issues.

Thanks. I'll look them up

 

[Acid_Snake]

New version here with lots of bugfixes and goodies.
https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r41910

 

[Magician]

Would be interesting to know if it's a known bug in other CFWs first. In any case I will look into it.

I've just finished testing this with 6.60 2.3 ME CFW on both 1000 and 2000 psp models. I can confirm it's not an ARK bug since I've obtained the very same results regarding the "exiting the game without closing the cwcheat plugin menu first" issue: both consoles will freeze and shut down. Thanks for ARK, as usual

-snip-

 

[SnomxIsKindaOK]

Super duper cool! Maybe I should get a PSP!

 

[SkullHex2]

I keep reading about this `Ark-Settings` app, but I don't understand how to access them? I'm on PSP by the way, not PS Vita. I updated ARK yesterday and would like to know if the update was successful or not, apparently `Ark-Settings` also displays a version string so it would be perfect for my use case

 

[Acid_Snake]

I keep reading about this `Ark-Settings` app, but I don't understand how to access them? I'm on PSP by the way, not PS Vita. I updated ARK yesterday and would like to know if the update was successful or not, apparently `Ark-Settings` also displays a version string so it would be perfect for my use case

You can find the settings just above the original System Settings in the XMB or you can press select to bring up VSH menu and go to Recovery Menu.

 

[SkullHex2]

You can find the settings just above the original System Settings in the XMB or you can press select to bring up VSH menu and go to Recovery Menu.

Nope, can't find it. There's just `Photo Settings` above `System Settings`.
I think something is wrong with my install, because even the `PLUGINS.TXT` file is ignored: I've basically merged `GAME`, `POPS` and `VSH` into `PLUGINS`, then renamed them to something else (I've simply added a `.bak` extension), but no plugin is enabled now. Should I try with a clean install? Can you guide me through it if I'm not asking too much?
Here are the contents of `PLUGINS.TXT`, maybe there's an error somewhere

Spoiler

always, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/Brightness-Control/brightness.prx, enabled
always, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/LEDControl/LEDControl.prx, enabled

game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/PSPEText/pspetext.prx, enabled
psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/PSPEText/pspetext.prx, enabled
game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/TempAR/tempar.prx, enabled
psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/TempAR/tempar_lite.prx, enabled
game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/in-Game_DayViewer/dayviewer_game.prx, enabled
psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/in-Game_DayViewer/dayviewer_game.prx, enabled

game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/noumd.prx, enabled
xmb, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/noumd.prx, enabled

game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/prxshot/prxshot.prx, enabled
game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/pspstates/states_menu_pict_mod.prx, enabled

psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/popsloader/cdda_enabler.prx, enabled
psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/popsloader/popsloader.prx, enabled

xmb, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/Game-Categories-Lite/category_lite.prx, enabled
xmb, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/XMB-item-Hider/xmbih.prx, enabled
xmb, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/macrofire.prx, enabled

ULUS10160, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/Brightness-Control/brightness.prx, disabled

(there's an empty line at the bottom)

 

[Acid_Snake]

Nope, can't find it. There's just `Photo Settings` above `System Settings`.
I think something is wrong with my install, because even the `PLUGINS.TXT` file is ignored: I've basically merged `GAME`, `POPS` and `VSH` into `PLUGINS`, then renamed them to something else (I've simply added a `.bak` extension), but no plugin is enabled now. Should I try with a clean install? Can you guide me through it if I'm not asking too much?
Here are the contents of `PLUGINS.TXT`, maybe there's an error somewhere

Spoiler

always, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/Brightness-Control/brightness.prx, enabled
always, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/LEDControl/LEDControl.prx, enabled

game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/PSPEText/pspetext.prx, enabled
psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/PSPEText/pspetext.prx, enabled
game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/TempAR/tempar.prx, enabled
psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/TempAR/tempar_lite.prx, enabled
game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/in-Game_DayViewer/dayviewer_game.prx, enabled
psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/in-Game_DayViewer/dayviewer_game.prx, enabled

game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/noumd.prx, enabled
xmb, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/noumd.prx, enabled

game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/prxshot/prxshot.prx, enabled
game, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/pspstates/states_menu_pict_mod.prx, enabled

psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/popsloader/cdda_enabler.prx, enabled
psx, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/popsloader/popsloader.prx, enabled

xmb, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/Game-Categories-Lite/category_lite.prx, enabled
xmb, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/XMB-item-Hider/xmbih.prx, enabled
xmb, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/macrofire.prx, enabled

ULUS10160, ms0:/SEPLUGINS/Brightness-Control/brightness.prx, disabled

(there's an empty line at the bottom)

The plugins file seems fine to me. It's strage that you can't see the Custom Firmware settings, are you using the latest version? Also make sure ARK is running by going to System Settings and System Information, it should show ARK's version.

 

[godreborn]

The plugins file seems fine to me. It's strage that you can't see the Custom Firmware settings, are you using the latest version? Also make sure ARK is running by going to System Settings and System Information, it should show ARK's version.

he needs to restart, I think. the same thing happened to me after install. a hard reset fixed it.

 

[SkullHex2]

The plugins file seems fine to me. It's strage that you can't see the Custom Firmware settings, are you using the latest version? Also make sure ARK is running by going to System Settings and System Information, it should show ARK's version.

Ok then I have never installed it I guess? The system information implies I'm using Pro infinity.
I'm gonna try installing everything again, just a question though: what does this mean?

Install `Infinity` using Official Firmware”

(from the GitHub README)

Do I need to do this, considering I'm already on Pro infinity?
if I do, should I 'uninistall' the CFW and go back to an OFW?
Never been too much into the PSP scene, I need some directions even with the basic stuff :3

 

[godreborn]

Ok then I have never installed it I guess? The system information implies I'm using Pro infinity.
I'm gonna try installing everything again, just a question though: what does this mean?


(from the GitHub README)

Do I need to do this, considering I'm already on Pro infinity?
if I do, should I 'uninistall' the CFW and go back to an OFW?
Never been too much into the PSP scene, I need some directions even with the basic stuff :3

hold home at boot to install ofw. I do recommend using ofw to install additional cfw's. then, install infinity for each one to add them to its list iirc. I have my system booting 4 firmwares if you include ofw. I can change them through infinity. I think infinity is compatible only with 6.60 and 6.61.