A.K.A how I grew to hate the Vita intro video after re-watching it hundreds of times

Hello,

This is the culmination of two tricks, coldswapping (which I discovered recently) and registry hacking to be able to run FULLY ENCRYPTED AND PLAYABLE GAMES from any backup on the Vita. Essentially, a free version of BlackFin but for digital games. Most notably, you will not need the target owner's PSN account for this. Ironically, thanks to other memory card unslaving tricks, you can use this on any firmware and any single Vita after the deed is done, with some limitations.

I want to give full credit to whoever found the original USB swap trick.

Also, if you already know the target account's credentials, just game share instead; it's a lot easier than this method.

The requirements for this are very specific:

• A Vita on an exploitable firmware that can use MailWriter (3.52 max)
• QCMA
• Everything you need to hack a backup
• The PS3 linked with the corresponding AccountID of the current hacked backup of your Vita (for example, if you hacked a friend's backup, it would be this friend's PS3 that you will need to use for this trick) logged into the correct account

Explanation

Vita has a very secure defense system (both card related and digital.) The only way to bypass that system is to think outside the box and fool the Vita.. By hacking a backup, then transferring games from the PS3 linked to that backup, we can effectively install packages unrestricted.

You can see this method requires a lot to do: you can't just simply hack a backup and get free games; you also need the PS3 that is linked to that account. However, note that you only have to transfer a game once to activate the Vita , and the rest of the backed up games will instantly work. For this guide, the owner of the backup will be referred as the target.

Hacking the backup

First, have the target Vita owner pack whatever content you wish to use on his Vita, then have him send you the backup and hack it. You will now have his backup partially restricted.

Coldswapping, activation, transferring games

For the initial activation, you will need access to the target owner PS3 logged in into his account (you don't need his account credentials.) If you have the credentials the account, you can just do this on your own PS3 (although this pretty much removes all the purpose of it, and you should share accounts instead.)

If you have hacked the backup right, you should be able to connect to a computer via
QCMA.

From there on, you have two options: either use the original USB swap trick (to do so, connect to the PC, unplug the Vita without saying OK on the error message, then connect it again, press OK and select PS3 > USB), or a coldswap.

Follow this guide to execute a coldswap, while making sure the PS3 is logged in the target account, else you won't be able to transfer packages. Coldswapping has a tricky timing: press the PS button once the second "Please Wait" message (the one in a smaller box) is fully faded in.

Once you have coldswapped or USB swap trick-ed, you will now be in the PC interface for CM, but with the PS3 client in the case of a coldswap, or simply in the PS3 interface if USB swapped. Select "Copy Content PC => Vita", then select "Applications", and you will be booted into the PS3 CM.

The hard part is done. Now simply transfer content that the target account owns (make sure he owns the content, or you will get the usual nag message) and the Vita will be activated, on a hacked backup that you don't own, with games that you don't own. After the initial activation, the rest of the stored games on the backup will also be activated and fully unencrypted.

Getting new content

To get new content, proceed as you would transferring content from a PS3, except that you will have to coldswap and use the target's PS3 each time for each game, and he must own the game.

Alternatively, you can use a PC, recieve/download one of the target's games as a CM backup, then simply transfer it using QCMA.

Transferring an hacked backup to another Vita

Follow this guide to unslave the memory card, allowing you to use it on any Vita for one use. Note that if you put it on a 3.52+ Vita, you will be unable to go back and unslave it again!