Hacking Can someone help me understand

[coopmaster123]

Okay so i just bought a PS vita and will be getting it shortly.
1. What can i do if the vita is not activated?
2. Installing HENkaku is temporary, so when you power off the device do i have to reinstall it each time?
3. Do i need an activated PS vita to be able to use psp part of the device.
4. I dont have a ps3 will that affect me at all?
5. How does it work installing .vpks?
6. Is there anyway to block updates so even tho the yes button was pushed, that it would fail or something?
Thank you for the answers in the short while.

 

[Deleted member 333767]

Okay so i just bought a PS vita and will be getting it shortly.
1. What can i do if the vita is not activated?
2. Installing HENkaku is temporary, so when you power off the device do i have to reinstall it each time?
3. Do i need an activated PS vita to be able to use psp part of the device.
4. I dont have a ps3 will that affect me at all?
5. How does it work installing .vpks?
6. Is there anyway to block updates so even tho the yes button was pushed, that it would fail or something?
Thank you for the answers in the short while.

1. After installing henkaku, download and install a homebrew called "Vita Activator" This is incorrect, Vita Activator no longer works.
2. Yes, henkaku disappears when you power off your PS Vita. Reinstall via the browser or there is a "henkaku offline installer" via the email application.
3. Adrenaline (PSP eCFW) requires a legitimately purchased PSP demo or game from the PSN. But PSN access is unavailable to 3.60 henkaku users.
4. You shouldn't need a PS3 at all, we'll I haven't needed one yet, anyways. Perhaps you'll need one to transfer a legit PSP game for Adrenaline? I'm wrong again. Looks like you'll need one to activate your vita.
5. VPKs are the container format (basically renamed .Zip extension) that homebrews and some pirated PS Vita games come in. VPKs install via MolecularShell or VitaShell. The other game format is "Maidump" which are installed by a homebrew called "MaiDumpTool"
6. The PS Vita does not update itself without input from the user first. And it won't automatically download updates if you disable the auto update feature in settings. There's no reason to be paranoid about accidental firmware updates unless you let children or friends use/borrow it. It's always good practice to turn wi-fi off when not in use and always operate your PS Vita in flight mode.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Corrected Misinformation

 

[coopmaster123]

1. After installing henkaku, download and install a homebrew called "Vita Activator"
2. Yes, henkaku disappears when you power off your PS Vita. Reinstall via the browser or there is a "henkaku offline installer" via the email application.
3. Adrenaline (PSP eCFW) requires a legitimately purchased PSP demo or game from the PSN. But PSN access is unavailable to 3.60 henkaku users.
4. You shouldn't need a PS3 at all, we'll I haven't needed one yet, anyways. Perhaps you'll need one to transfer a legit PSP game for Adrenaline?
5. VPKs are the container format (basically renamed .Zip extension) that homebrews and some pirated PS Vita games come in. VPKs install via MolecularShell or VitaShell. The other game format is "Maidump" which are installed by a homebrew called "MaiDumpTool"
6. The PS Vita does not update itself without input from the user first. Not does it automatically download updates. There's no reason to be paranoid about accidental firmware updates unless you let children or friends use/borrow it. It's always good practice to turn wi-fi off when not in use and always operate your PS Vita in flight mode.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the reply. So after you install a vpk do you have to reinstall each time or will that work regardless of rebooting? Can you explain what adrenaline is? So also is there a way to get it without PSN or ps3 access?

 

[Deleted member 333767]

Thank you for the reply. So after you install a vpk do you have to reinstall each time or will that work regardless of rebooting? Can you explain what adrenaline is? So also is there a way to get it without PSN or ps3 access?

Henkaku (i think it is known as 'taiHen' now?) is just the exploit required to load pirated software and homebrew. When a VPK/MaiDump game is installed, it appears on the home screen just like it would if you purchased it legitimately on the PSN. But, without launching henkaku/taiHEN first, the game simply won't load. So no, VPK/MaiDump games/homebrews do not need to be reinstalled every reboot.

Adrenaline is the current method of CFW for the PS Vita's inbuilt PSP emulator (if you were around for the early days of the PS Vita scene, it's essentially the same thing as TN-V and ARK, but for firmware 3.60) PSP ISO's and homebrews can be played.

It requires a legitimately purchased PSP game or demo to be installed. Since PSN access is broken at the time of writing, this is impossible. However i think there is workarounds. You should check out wololo.net for anything related to the PS Vita, there's a tutorial on how to install adrenaline without PSN access,

Good luck. however, the PS Vita scene is still in it's infancy and it's not as polished and refined as other console hacking scenes. Games that require firmware higher than 3.60 can't be played currently, there's a lot of bad/not-working game dumps floating around. And there is games with malicious code that brick your PS Vita (but these days MaiDump and VitaShell check for malicious code before installing)

The general consensus of the PS Vita community is that MaiDump is a better solution for playing PS Vita backups over a VPK installed via VitaShell. It offers better compatibility amongst other things. But it's a little more technical than simply pressing X to install a VPK.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

1. @Jao Chu is wrong. Vita Activator stopped working after PSN spoofing broke. The only way to activate your Vita is if you have a PS3 to transfer a game over.
4. You will need a PS3 if you want to activate to play PSP stuff.
6. The Vita does download updates automatically, but only if you have it set that way in the settings.

 

[Deleted member 333767]

1. @Jao Chu is wrong. Vita Activator stopped working after PSN spoofing broke. The only way to activate your Vita is if you have a PS3 to transfer a game over.
4. You will need a PS3 if you want to activate to play PSP stuff.
6. The Vita does download updates automatically, but only if you have it set that way in the settings.

Ahh, my apologies. Thanks for the clarification. I edit my post in case anybody stumbles across this thread from google.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

No worries. You're also sorta wrong about there being a lot of bad dumps, since Vitamin 2 and the various Maidump updates there are only a small list of games that don't work, most being 3.61+ games and some just being problem games (like Axiom Verge, unfortunately ).

And, a bit of an update, a new ARK PSP eCFW released for 3.60 now a couple days ago. It doesn't require Henkaku (so it's a normal PSP kexploit) but it still requires a PSP game and doesn't offer all the benefits Adrenaline does.

 

[Deleted member 333767]

No worries. You're also sorta wrong about there being a lot of bad dumps, since Vitamin 2 and the various Maidump updates there are only a small list of games that don't work, most being 3.61+ games and some just being problem games (like Axiom Verge, unfortunately ).

And, a bit of an update, a new ARK PSP eCFW released for 3.60 now a couple days ago. It doesn't require Henkaku (so it's a normal PSP kexploit) but it still requires a PSP game and doesn't offer all the benefits Adrenaline does.

Oh yeah, for sure, i agree totally It's pretty good now. But google searches for some games routinely link me to posts from late august/early september when all the plebbitors were uploading broken game dumps without testing them first. Just something for the newbies to watch out for

 

[coopmaster123]

Thank you both for answer my questions.