Gaming Help, what do I need to install

[Mangofett]

OK considering how I can't find any good starter guides I have a few questions

I have a slim PSP, I want to run commercial store bought UMD's, backups, emulators and homebrew, such as PSPtube and the NES, SNES, and PS1 emulators.

I downloaded a PS1 eboot. What is an eboot? Do I still need to load the PS1 emulator first?

What firmware should I install?

How do I know whether or not something works with my firmware? Will homebrew designed for "OE" firmware work for "M33"?

 

[myuusmeow]

Eboots are basically the PSP's .exe files. No, IIRC the actual emulator is in the PSP's firmware.
3.90 M33-2 (I think thats the latest one) Always go with the latest Dark_Alex release.
If it is a homebrew, if it's 1 folder it'll probably work, if it actually says made for Slim it'll work. If it comes in 2 folders, eg %FOLDER and FOLDER, it is 1.50 only, you can try eLoader 1.000.