Hacking How to play PSP ISO's "the proper way"

[superspudz2000]

im not talking about CFW, there are enough tutorials on that.
assuming you allready have a hacked PSP;
you will also need at least a 1TB empty usb drive, and a 16gb pro duo card.
(might need 7-Zip, for files that are game.001, game.002. game.003)


1. when searching for a PSP ISO, make sure to get official SCENE RELEASES!
a good rom/iso will have: release number, name, then, Release group and region
for example """1234 - Wad of Gore EUR PSP PLAYASiA"""
see advanscene.com/ for more information

find a website that searches within file hosting sites, filegaga, filetram, filestube, etc.
or if you use a Rom site, a good one will probably be in Europe in another language.
first you will need to know the release number and release group from advanscene.com/
search Name And Group, for example; "Wad Gore Playasia", or "wad gore 1234",
that way you know its an official scene release.

the Europe and USA version usually have different Release Groups, but check
both regions release group to make sure. EU and US Save files are Not Interchangeable,
Sometimes USA roms are smaller, sometimes EUR roms have more content.
Europe has more Language files, but there are Extra Levels for Europe only. (Lemmings)
sometimes games are censored, in Germany you must show Green blood in games.


2. Verify your rom collection.
Get Offlinelist and Dats from Advanscene. unfortunately, Offlinelist only works with Zip files
at the moment. so you will need to make 4 copies of each game, Zip, ISO, ISO modified, and Cso.

extract the RAR, Delete the Rar files, ZIP the ISO, run OfflineList.EXE, Load PSP or PSN Dats,
go to tools/options/renamer, Uncheck "move unknown files", set Roms folder. uncheck show missing
in view, Put Zip file in Roms folder. refresh rom list. if the game shows up in list your golden, if not
you have a Bad ISO delete and redownload it somewhere else.


3. Shrink the Game.
its a good idea to modify the ISO first to make it smaller. Hot Wheels ultimate can be shrunken down
to 88MB from a whopping 826MB!! and Medal of Honor goes from 1.1GB down to only 368MB

-Get UMDGen v4.00. Load UMDGen. open ISO file. under "UMD Properties" Click Optimize button.
however in some rare cases Optimize button deletes important files. "Mana Khemia student alliance"
cannot be optimized, and "Cube" breaks if you touch it, because it searches for update files.
you should always optimize no matter how small it is. you just might need 30mb for a PSN Mini.

-Under Explorer Tab, click PSP_Game folder. right click SND0.AT3 and select DUMMY.
this will remove the annoying loud Music at the XMB game selection menu.

-you can also remove/relink movies and sounds but Dont Even Bother, it dosent really make much of a
difference either way, at most you will save maybe 35mb. and it Ruins the game experience.

-even though its only like 2mb you should relink Foreign Language files anyways. there might be files with
EN, JP, SPA, ITL, GER, FR. in the name. just select the EN glish file as source, then relink all
corresponding languages to the similar EN file.

-Finally, create an ISO first And then a CSO. Use the Lowest compression value, 1. the difference
between 1 and 9 is almost nothing. the higher compression is not worth the Lag and Slowdown and Wait
time.

-if the CSO is only 100MB smaller, USE THE ISO. its not worth the Lag and Wait Time.
note; PSN Minis, do not need to be Compressed, as there so small it dosent matter,
but removing the excess padding from a PSN Mini saves 100MB every time.


4. delete the files you dont need. keep the origional file and 1 modified file on your computer.
i keep 3 files for each game, a zip file plus a untouched ISO plus a Optimized file.
if compressing it to CSO dosent really do much, then use the Optimized ISO, and delete the cso.
CSO sometimes breakes the game because of LAG. but other times there is absolutly no Lag
as is the case of Hot Wheels.cso which is actually too fast anyway.



so to sum up;
-get only a untouched verified scene release ISO, ""0001-Gamename_PSP_(USA)_Group.rar""
-always remove excess padding with UMDGen
-remove annoying XMB menu Music via SND0.AT3
-dont bother deleting any files it dosent change the size much.
-only use CSO if it saves a considerable amount
-and use Lowest compression value, 1. no difference between 9 and 1.
-CSO may cause Lag and Wait Time
-keep an untouched ISO somewhere for later.
-dont patch a game because your CFW is old, just get newest firmware.
-decide US or EU before you play, save files cannot be converted between regions.

 

[MadHouse38]

Yeah,great tutorial. Someone should add this to sticky or make this sticky =D

 

[prowler]

>how to play PSP ISO's the proper way
>compressing games

what
if you want to play it the proper way, you'd not touch the ISO at all.

 

[superspudz2000]

>how to play PSP ISO's the proper way
>compressing games

what
if you want to play it the proper way, you'd not touch the ISO at all.

it might be the proper way but definitely Not the LEGAL way.
no choice, really. UMDs are too cumbersome, and 8GB cards are too small,
you really need to remove padding and compress games to get anything on a tiny 8GB

i buy PC Games, i Buy XBox games, i Buy iPhone games, i buy WiiWare titles, i buy DSi ware titles,
i will even buy PSP Vita, when it comes out. i pay my dues.

as far as im concerned the PSP should have been obsolete years ago.
usually i wait until a year after a system is discontinued, before i get into homebrew,
but Sony is Taking so freakin long to release the VITA.

 

[prowler]

you really need to remove padding and compress games to get anything on a tiny 8GB

You can fit plenty of untouched games on an 8GB.
It's just funny how you're saying how to play ISOs the proper way when you're going on about ripping data from the ISO and compressing it.

 

[xist]

Proper way => Dump own UMD's to ISO.

Lol 1TB HDD and 16GB Pro Duo

 

[Ryupower]

many good psp game are less the 1gb
on my 8gb

9 psp games(7 before i removed one that one was not playing)
3 ps1 games
homebrew/roms/music/pics

 

[Axl.]

If you are going to use ISO`s you use a CFW or HEN.

And PRO-ME have MS Speed up so using CSOs is acceptable.

I use my own games in CSO format.

 

[Foxi4]

From my own experience... as far as CSO's are concerned, if the game contains compressed audio or video (.mp3's in case of Project Diva, FMV movie sequences in case of other games) then compressing it will cause lag. SEVERE lag.

There are games that you can compress to save space, there are also games that you shouldn't compress at all.

As far as "touching ISO's" is concerned, I see no reason as to why useless partitions like Updates shouldn't be removed. They're not an integral part of the game, and if you REALLY need them then you still have the UMD, right?

@AXL MS Speed Up screws up reading speed altogether, actually. Using it is not recommended as it often causes plugin errors.

 

[superspudz2000]

"touching" the Update Files Does nothing to affect games, in fact,
Update Files are a Bad thing because they can override your CFW.
imagine your nephew uses your PSP and now you cant run CFW
because the OFW is too high.

i Did say in the post that you should NOT mess with videos or sounds,
important files that affect gameplay. and i Did say Keep the Original File,
in case something goes tits up.

CSOs on the other hand only work 50% of the time, 30%Lag, 20%not needed.
but when CSOs work BOY are they useful. Medal of Honor! runs fine and saves almost 1GB!

10 PSP games is nothing. by comparison, NES and Gameboy pirate carts had 100-in-1.
also i found DS Games are 1/4 the size of PSP games. i guess im spoiled.

one thing i forgot, NEVER POST MODIFIED GAMES ONLINE!!
i heard one guy downloaded a game, it had no sound or movies,
and the menu icon was a drawing of a penis.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Even if CSO only saves 100MB per game, that still means you can fit an additional game or two depending on the size of your memory card, so I would do it unless the game lags.
Most games I've tried work fine with high CSO compression levels without lag.

 

[xist]

"touching" the Update Files Does nothing to affect games, in fact,
Update Files are a Bad thing because they can override your CFW.

Given this indicates you've never heard of LBA protection all your credibility (or what there was anyway...) has just left this topic.....

Plus there's so much wrong here anyway....statistics conjured from nowhere, facts that are incorrect (compare Daxter without sound and movies, thanks to relinking, to the full game). Plus you're actually ENCOURAGING PIRACY....not just saying use CFW but download Scene ISO's.

Save files can be converted between regions. It's not foolproof but it's possible. There's also no reason NOT to patch your games rather than update.

All in all i'm not a fan of this topic.....

 

[prowler]

Update Files are a Bad thing because they can override your CFW.

No, it can't. Update folder is there so when you insert the UMD, you get another icon for that update the game needs.
It doesn't activate ingame, you can't even get to it when you launch the game, you specifically need to launch the update yourself.

All in all i'm not a fan of this topic.....

I don't think anyone is

Edit:

10 PSP games is nothing. by comparison, NES and Gameboy pirate carts had 100-in-1.
also i found DS Games are 1/4 the size of PSP games. i guess im spoiled.

I like how you're comparing the size of NES, Gameboy and DS games to PSP games.

 

[chaosdarkneo]

*choke*

You have no credibility whatsoever.

Encouraging piracy, too...

 

[superspudz2000]

LOL, i like how people pick apart everything you say, trolls.
everything i said was true

-Removing Update is Good idea. my bratty nephew selected Update and
ruined my setup, i had to downgrade OFW, then reinstall CFW again.

-converting save files is too complicated for the common N00b.
its much easier to just re-play through the game. or accept your fate.

-removing movies makes no sense, you would have to play halfway through,
then waste time modifying iso, then copy it over to produo again, for maybe 100mb.
and when your finished the game your just going to delete it anyway.

-you should update to latest CFW. its way easier than finding a patch for each game.
and, why post a patched game online if the latest CFW runs it fine. Just Friggin Wait.

LOL, this forum is called PSP Hacking and Homebrew!, NOBODY here is
offended by Piracy. anyway 90% of people know about CFW by now.
nothing i say here will encourage anybody to pirate, if they havent allready.

if a system is over 6 years old it automatically becomes public domain.
the PSP is going on 8 years now, its time to let it go. even the GameGear lasted 5 years or so.

isnt it better for people to get proper scene releases, for archival purposes.
than to get hacked crap that has icon changed, rom sites on the XMB preview.

 

[xist]

LOL, i like how people pick apart everything you say, trolls.
everything i said was true

-Removing Update is Good idea. my bratty nephew selected Update and
ruined my setup, i had to downgrade OFW, then reinstall CFW again.

-converting save files is too complicated for the common N00b.
its much easier to just re-play through the game. or accept your fate.

Deleting Updates always being a good idea and doing so the way you suggest is WRONG. If a game has set LBA positions congrats you just broke it.

You say in your first post " -decide US or EU before you play, save files cannot be converted between regions." which is also WRONG (i.e not true) which you even admit in the post above.

-removing movies makes no sense, you would have to play halfway through,
then waste time modifying iso, then copy it over to produo again, for maybe 100mb.
and when your finished the game your just going to delete it anyway.

-you should update to latest CFW. its way easier than finding a patch for each game.
and, why post a patched game online if the latest CFW runs it fine. Just Friggin Wait.

LOL, this forum is called PSP Hacking and Homebrew!, NOBODY here is
offended by Piracy. anyway 90% of people know about CFW by now.
nothing i say here will encourage anybody to pirate, if they havent allready.

isnt it better for people to get proper scene releases, for archival purposes.
than to get hacked crap that has icon changed, rom sites on the XMB preview.

You've obviously got no idea about relinking and removing video files and audio if you can make the statements about it that you do....simply removing/relinking is no more difficult that removing the update files.

Again, seems you've never heard of ISO Tool. Something else you're wrong about when you say finding a patch is difficult.

Knowing about piracy and telling people to actively do it and where to look are two very different things. Encouraging people to drive a console out of existence is a bad thing and anyone who believes CFW is solely for piracy really does have a lot to learn. If you're talking about archival purposes then you'd dump your UMD's, NOT go hunting around ISO sites.

 

[Foxi4]

Deleting Updates always being a good idea and doing so the way you suggest is WRONG. If a game has set LBA positions congrats you just broke it.

I thought scrubbers overwrite the partition with 0's rather then remove it altogether to prevent that from happening?

 

[xist]

Off the top of my head i can't name specific games, but in those cases without taking measures to ensure that ISO modification doesn't interfere with the intrinsic securities you'll end up with a non working game.

Most cases of Update removal are fine but in some cases it's not and having a dummy file present instead doesn't remedy the situation.

 

[Foxi4]

Off the top of my head i can't name specific games, but in those cases without taking measures to ensure that ISO modification doesn't interfere with the intrinsic securities you'll end up with a non working game.

Most cases of Update removal are fine but in some cases it's not and having a dummy file present instead doesn't remedy the situation.

I've never heard of such an instance tbh, usually dummy 0's "did it" for me. On the other hand, I only ever compressed about 8 games, so I'm inclined to believe that there is some form of internal structure check going on. It wouldn't be related to LBA if a dummy is present though, since the structure itself wouldn't be modified, just the content.

That said, if you have the original UMD, even in case of "screwing up" you can always make a re-dump.

 

[superspudz2000]

im sorry i usually dont like to argue but i have to say this,

how exactly do you "break" a game?

you dont delete the original untouched file without testing your work.
you start game, if it crashes, delete it and just use Untouched File.
no harm done. i tried "CUBE" before.

also i played through "Lemmings" Twice. because i realized the
EUR version had Level Packs available. it was Easier to play
through the entire game over again than figure out Save Conversion.

Too hard = Impossible for N00bs

same for Movies, its Easier better in the long run to buy a 1Gb produo
for daxter than try to squeeze every possible MB out of a game.
when i just delete it after completion.

why is anybody still on 5.50 m33? lazy.

BTW, i own the original UMDs, meaning its Legal to have a digital copy.
OFFLINELIST 0.7.2 wont recognize personal Dumps, only SceneReleases,
therefore i have to download scene releases from somewhere.
its not fair that we have go through hell, getting viruses, and hacked copies.
to get Copies of UMDS THAT I OWN.

Megaupload is still there whether i say anything or not. ignoring it does nothing.