Hacking I just bought a PS Vita - has 3.51 FW

BLCKBLuR

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So I bought an Original PS Vita from gamestop, it's preowned but it's on 3.51 firmware. So I have looked through alot of threads, I am just wondering, do I NEED a memory card to upgrade the firmware? or can I upgrade it from 3.51 to 3.60 without a memory card?

I ask this because ALL the stores within 20 mile radius of my house had no PS Vita memory cards. So I ordered one last night from the gamestop website.

Also, if I CAN upgrade the firmware without my memory card, how do I do that? Do I just follow these instructions?

This is for users still under 3.60 looking to get a piece of HENkaku quickly and easily, without any hassle. This guide will take you all the way to the golden firmware, 3.60, through the use of Yifan_Lu's DNS server! It's seriously a very easy process, and extremely noob-friendly!

1) Go to Settings -> Network -> Wifi Settings -> Advanced Settings
2) Under DNS Settings, select 'Manual', and set the Primary DNS to 212.47.229.76.
3) Now you may go back to the root Settings menu and choose 'System Update' -> 'Update using Wifi'.
4) Only update if it says "Firmware 3.60 (変革 Compatible)", otherwise you should follow these steps again and ensure any other settings are not conflicting the process!
5) After you have downloaded and installed the 3.60 update, you are now free to start setting up HENkaku!


Last question, upgrading my firmware from 3.51 to 3.60 using the above process, is there ANY POSSIBLE WAY that it can break/brick my Vita? I don't have money to buy another.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Alex658

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EDIT: I don't know if you can update without a memory card (using the internal memory of the vita) I believe the Vita's internal memory becomes unusable if it ever had a memory card inside.
You should first manually update to 3.60 using QCMA or these instructions from that guide:
This is for users still under 3.60 looking to get a piece of HENkaku quickly and easily, without any hassle. This guide will take you all the way to the golden firmware, 3.60, through the use of Yifan_Lu's DNS server! It's seriously a very easy process, and extremely noob-friendly!

1) Go to Settings -> Network -> Wifi Settings -> Advanced Settings
2) Under DNS Settings, select 'Manual', and set the Primary DNS to 212.47.229.76.
3) Now you may go back to the root Settings menu and choose 'System Update' -> 'Update using Wifi'.
4) Only update if it says "Firmware 3.60 (変革 Compatible)", otherwise you should follow these steps again and ensure any other settings are not conflicting the process!
5) After you have downloaded and installed the 3.60 update, you are now free to start setting up HENkaku!

This guide gives you pretty much any instruction you may need.

And you can even get Adrenaline or ARK (PSPEmu) running if the epsp bubble activator - ARK fast installer works for your vita. Why not give it a try?
For a game that doesn't work on one of the custom pspemu's, it should work on the other. You get an official like XMB with adrenaline and a pure list folders with ARK.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-th...a-pstv-hacking-guide-check-here-first.403035/
 
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No chance of bricking at all since you are basically just updating using the official 3.60 update file.

Just follow the guide to set up the DNS, and you should be completely fine. No memcard required at all, since the update is downloaded and extracted to the system storage.
 
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BLCKBLuR

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Okay thank you both SOOO much.

I have another question now!

I own Sword Art Online - Lost Song, and I would like to play it but like I said, I am waiting for my memory card I ordered last night, and it has 4-7 day shipping from gamestop website. So after I update to 3.60, I will turn on SOA - LS and play. would it be safe to leave my Vita in sleep mode whenever I am not playing, for the next 4 days or so, until the memory card comes, then I will plug in the card, save the game and turn off my Vita? Or is it too unsafe to leave my Vita on for 4 days, and in sleep mode when I'm not playing?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

And you can even get Adrenaline or ARK (PSPEmu) running if the epsp bubble activator - ARK fast installer works for your vita. Why not give it a try?
For a game that doesn't work on one of the custom pspemu's, it should work on the other. You get an official like XMB with adrenaline and a pure list folders with ARK.

http://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-th...a-pstv-hacking-guide-check-here-first.403035/

Also, I don't understand what you are trying to say here.
 

Alex658

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Okay thank you both SOOO much.

I have another question now!

I own Sword Art Online - Lost Song, and I would like to play it but like I said, I am waiting for my memory card I ordered last night, and it has 4-7 day shipping from gamestop website. So after I update to 3.60, I will turn on SOA - LS and play. would it be safe to leave my Vita in sleep mode whenever I am not playing, for the next 4 days or so, until the memory card comes, then I will plug in the card, save the game and turn off my Vita? Or is it too unsafe to leave my Vita on for 4 days, and in sleep mode when I'm not playing?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Also, I don't understand what you are trying to say here.

Additionally to having Henkaku which is the PSVita native side of things (be it running backups or VITA homebrew) you can also run Adrenaline or ARK from henkaku, which are "pspemulators" that let you play your PSP backups on a Vita. ARK also allows PSX eboots but without sound.


As for having the vita on sleep mode, it's okay to do it. The vita's sleep mode lasts a LONG time, i charge mine after about a week or two of not using it (sleep mode). Just make sure the game doesn't make you update to 3.61.
 
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BLCKBLuR

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Additionally to having Henkaku which is the PSVita native side of things (be it running backups or VITA homebrew) you can also run Adrenaline or ARK from henkaku, which are "pspemulators" that let you play your PSP backups on a Vita. ARK also allows PSX eboots but without sound.
Gotcha, Thank you so much, I would LOVE to run my PSP Backups, I have been running them on PPSSPP on my PC, but I would love to be able to bring them outside with me again (My PSP Broke).

Okay thanks so much for the info!!!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Additionally to having Henkaku which is the PSVita native side of things (be it running backups or VITA homebrew) you can also run Adrenaline or ARK from henkaku, which are "pspemulators" that let you play your PSP backups on a Vita. ARK also allows PSX eboots but without sound.


As for having the vita on sleep mode, it's okay to do it. The vita's sleep mode lasts a LONG time, i charge mine after about a week or two of not using it (sleep mode). Just make sure the game doesn't make you update to 3.61.

I also wanted to ask, is there ANYTHING ELSE that I need to do BEFORE updating from 3.51 to 3.60? I see people talking about "activating the PS Vita" and stuff like that. I just don't want to mess ANYTHING up, or forget to do something.

Or maybe I should be asking How do I activate my Vita, and Do I NEED to activate my Vita? As I said, I bought it USED from Gamestop.
 
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Alex658

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Gotcha, Thank you so much, I would LOVE to run my PSP Backups, I have been running them on PPSSPP on my PC, but I would love to be able to bring them outside with me again (My PSP Broke).

Do you have any advice or a response to my original question in my last post?

EDIT : I also wanted to ask, is there ANYTHING ELSE that I need to do BEFORE updating from 3.51 to 3.60? I see people talking about "activating the PS Vita" and stuff like that. I just don't want to mess ANYTHING up, or forget to do something.

Get on 3.60 first, to activate a PSVita now you need to transfer any downloaded content from PSN-PS3 to PSN-Vita by connecting the vita to an updated PS3. Both must use the same psn account. I believe sony let's you configure a PSN for the first time if you fully format your Vita from the settings applet (without forcing you to update) but other than that it will nag you to update if you try to use any of the online functions of the Vita other than the browser.

Adrenaline Easy Installer / Ark Fast Install now have the epsp bubble installer embedded on it. (that was an app that created a "dummy" psp base game to install the emulators on, and as of version 2.0 it even worked for activating your Vita without the PSN crap! It doesn't seem to work for anyone but try it anyway.
Adrenaline/ARK won't work if you don't have an activated Vita, I believe.

Remember to buy a big memory card if you intend on keeping both your Vita and PSP backups at the same time.
Adrenaline includes custom GPU filters that ARK does not, and has the XMB look like i said.
 
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Tom Bombadildo

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Get on 3.60 first, to activate a PSVita now you need to transfer any downloaded content from PSN-PS3 to PSN-Vita by connecting the vita to an updated PS3. Both must use the same psn account. I believe sony let's you configure a PSN for the first time if you fully format your Vita from the settings applet (without forcing you to update) but other than that it will nag you to update if you try to use any of the online functions of the Vita other than the browser.
This is no longer required, the ePSP Bubble installer was updated to include a method to activate your Vita, so we don't need to use a PS3 anymore.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-activating-your-unactivated-vita.460577/
 
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BLCKBLuR

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This is no longer required, the ePSP Bubble installer was updated to include a method to activate your Vita, so we don't need to use a PS3 anymore.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-activating-your-unactivated-vita.460577/

I mentioned it because some people have reported the bubble activator not working for them, so...

But it's nice knowing somebody made a workaround for that. Thanks.

Okay so either way, my Questions are...

1. Do I HAVE to Activate my PS Vita? I bought it used from gamestop so idk how that all works or if its already activated.
2. Can I use my Vita WITHOUT activating it?
3. If I DO HAVE TO activate it, then what order should I do the Activating/Updating from 3.51 to 3.60/Installing HenKAKU?
4. Can I install Offline HenKAKU without my memory card? or does offline HenKAKU get installed to the memory card and not the internal memory?
 

Tom Bombadildo

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If you want to use PSP mode hacks, yes, activation is required. You can use Vita VPKs and homebrew, though.

If you do have to activate it, you can either use the bubble method I posted, or use a PS3 to transfer a PSP demo/content to your Vita.

If you have a slim Vita you can install things to the internal storage, but no with the phat Vita (at the moment without a memory card).
 
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BLCKBLuR

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If you want to use PSP mode hacks, yes, activation is required. You can use Vita VPKs and homebrew, though.

If you do have to activate it, you can either use the bubble method I posted, or use a PS3 to transfer a PSP demo/content to your Vita.

If you have a slim Vita you can install things to the internal storage, but no with the phat Vita (at the moment without a memory card).

Okay thank you SO much, so for now I am not going to activate it, because I won't have my memory card until it gets here in the mail in 4-7 days. So no need to activate it yet. But I would like to update to 3.60, so I guess I am just going to follow this guide, right?

This is for users still under 3.60 looking to get a piece of HENkaku quickly and easily, without any hassle. This guide will take you all the way to the golden firmware, 3.60, through the use of Yifan_Lu's DNS server! It's seriously a very easy process, and extremely noob-friendly!

1) Go to Settings -> Network -> Wifi Settings -> Advanced Settings
2) Under DNS Settings, select 'Manual', and set the Primary DNS to 212.47.229.76.
3) Now you may go back to the root Settings menu and choose 'System Update' -> 'Update using Wifi'.
4) Only update if it says "Firmware 3.60 (変革 Compatible)", otherwise you should follow these steps again and ensure any other settings are not conflicting the process!
5) After you have downloaded and installed the 3.60 update, you are now free to start setting up HENkaku!
 

BLCKBLuR

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Yes, just use the DNS guide to update.
Thank you So much @Tom Bombadildo !

Thank you also @Alex658 and @Voxel !

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

WAIT! One more thing, it says go to "Settings->Network->Wifi Settings->Advanced Settings".

But when I go to Settings->Network->Wifi Settings I don't have an "Advanced" settings...

EDIT : Nevermind, I had to select the wifi network I was connected to, THEN choose "Advanced Settings" menu. I figured it out, I am currently updating to 3.60! Thanks SO MUCH EVERYONE!

If any of you know of any REALLY useful or good/unique homebrew apps I can use once I get my memory card, PLEASE let me know! ;]
 
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BLCKBLuR

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Okay I am having an issue, My download got to 39% and then it gave me an error saying something along the lines of "The System could not download the file in the time limit" and it had 2 buttons i could click "suggested actions" or "Okay". So I hit okay and now I restarted the update.

Is that normal?

EDIT : It said this "Could not connect to the server or device within the time limit". But it gave me that error, after it already hit 39%. Now I restarted the update and it went RIGHT to 39% and its stuck.
 
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Nevermind everyone, The install finally worked, I had to restart it a couple times. I am on 3.60 FW now though, so thats GREAT! But I still can't play my SAO - Lost Song game because it says it REQUIRES a PS Vita memory card to start the application ;'[ I guess I will just have to wait 4 - 7 days for it to come in the mail ;'[
 
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