Hacking ELI5: Upgrading from 5.00 M33-6 to 6.61

[Nicholas Noble]

Please explain to me like I'm five (or, at least, a precocious 12 year-old) how to permanently upgrade my early PSP-2000 from the 5.00 M33-6 CFW to the latest CFW (6.61, as I understand).

Context: I installed my current CFW on a factory PSP a few years ago by ordering a Pandora Battery and Magic Memory Card from PandoraSales.com . They included printed instructions explaining step-by-step how to use these items to install the included firmware (5.00 M33-6). This has worked fine for me for playing most PS1 games and some fan-translated ISOs, but there are a lot of ISOs and Eboots that just don't work with it. I want to upgrade to the latest CFW so I can play everything, but I don't understand anything about the process, and every guide I've followed so far dead-ends me when the files they tell me to install trigger error messages.

I know there are a lot of guides already out there; that's part of the problem, since they're either obsolete, written for hackers who know the subject inside and out, or only work temporarily / under very specific circumstances. I don't work in technology or computer stuff, I'm just a gamer who knows just enough to get this far.

An ELI5 for my specific circumstances would be very much appreciated.

(I still have my Pandora Battery and Magic Memory Card, if that helps any)

 

[DinohScene]

I believe it's as simple as downloading the latest ME or Pro CFW and installing it.

 

[Nicholas Noble]

Oh, wait, you know what? The reason it didn't work the last time I tried this (like, over a year ago), was because I had misplaced my Pandora Battery and Magic Memory Card, and wasn't willing to install the official firmware over my CFW, that stonewalled me, and I completely forgot that detail over the intervening 18 months or so... All I remembered was I need to find my PB and MMC so I can try again, but totally forgot what the main problem was. It wasn't that I didn't understand how to do it, it's that I wasn't willing to do it...

LoL, yeah, I just found the official 6.60 update on my card, which I obviously never ran. I'm running it now, then I'll run the other installers I have on there. I'll bet that'll do it. Wow, LoL, sorry about this absurd thread...

 

[Nicholas Noble]

OK, yeah, I've got 6.60 PRO-C2 running now, and I can restore it with FastRecovery anytime I need to. I've tried a few of the things that didn't work on my last CFW, and they all work now. On the recommendations I'm reading online, I think I'll stick with this, unless someone tells me there's a benefit to a permanent install of something else.

Man, that was so easy, I should have done this from the start!

 

[DinohScene]

A jigkick battery and magic memorystick make a Pandora tho (old old scene name for it)
Their obsolete.

The benefit of installing it permanently is that every time you boot the handheld, it'll boot into the CFW.
Seeing a PSP 1k and some 2k's can do that, there's no real reason not to so it.
CFW at boot is always better then booting into a CFW after booting into the XMB.

 

[Nicholas Noble]

Yeah, I've realized that permanent install is what the cIPL file is for. Debating whether to do it or not. It looks like I'll need to use 6.60 PRO-C instead of 6.60 PRO-C2 if I want to play Japanese PSN games like Depth and EoS. Will need to read/experiment more to see what the best configuration will be...

 

[Nicholas Noble]

OK, I just flashed 6.60 PRO-C fix 3 permanently onto my PSP-2000. I think this meets all my CFW needs for the forseeable future. Thanks DinoScene for your support and the pushes you gave me while I figured this out.

Just in case - any reason I might want to dabble in the 6.61 stuff if all I'm mainly interested in are fan translations and Japanese PSN titles?

 

[m4rc0]

that cfw it's bugged and obsolete, there's an unofficial fix somewere.
Remove that CFW, update to 6.61 and install "6.61 ME-2.3 ofw" wich is the cfw for your model of PSP.
No need to install cipl flasher due it's a native CFW for full hackable psp like your model.