This guide has been updated. Original guide here: https://pastebin.com/6Nd6qY2L

Last updated: 29 april, 2017.
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Update history:
- A guide to fixing the C2-12828-1 error has been added.
- A guide to installing DLCs, Updates and Patches has been added.
- Essentials section added with links for all of the essential files.
- The outdated section of the guide has been removed in order to prevent confusion and to make it cleaner and easier to read and understand.
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HOW TO PROPERLY INSTALL GAMES ON THE VITA

1- GENERAL INFORMATION:
2- ESSENTIALS
3- TRANSFERRING THE FILES:
4- INSTALLING WITH MAIDUMPTOOL:
4.1- Installing Mai dumps:
4.2- Installing .VPK:
5- INSTALLING UPDATES AND DLCS WITH MAIDUMPTOOL:
5.1- INSTALLING UPDATES AND DLCS WITH MAIDUMPTOOL:
5.2- INSTALLING VITAMIN/VPK UPDATES AND DLCS:
6- FIXING THE C2-12828-1 ERROR:

==================== READ THIS SECTION FIRST ====================

1- GENERAL INFORMATION:

- You DON’T NEED TWICE THE SIZE OF THE GAME to install
- You can backup pirated games from your Vita to your PC using QCMA
- You can OPEN .VPK FILES with WINRAR/WINZIP or similar
- You can connect your Vita to your PC via USB through the latest VITASHELL version
- You can install Vitamin games(VPK) with MaiDumpTool by extracting the game's content inside the .VPK file and putting it inside the game's titleID folder(You can locate the correct title ID for the game inside Param.sfo file inside sce_sys forlder of your game, open it with Notepad++ on your PC or simply by pressing x over it inside VITASHELL on your Vita)


2-
==================== ESSENTIALS: ====================

- VITASHELL:
Advanced File Manager for the Vita, allows for FTP and USB transfers
https://github.com/TheOfficialFloW/VitaShell/releases

- MaiDumpToolEN:
English translated version of the latest MaiDumpTool, allows for Dumping and Installing Games, Updates, Patches and DLCs
https://github.com/LioMajor/MaiDumpToolEN/releases

- Filezilla:
FTP client for your PC, allows transfer of files between your PC and Vita via FTP
https://filezilla-project.org/

3-
==================== TRANSFERRING THE FILES: ====================

FTP:
- Open MolecularShell or VITASHELL on your vita and press select
- Copy the IP address shown in your vita and paste it into your FTP client (filezilla) on your PC
- Drag and drop files from your PC to the ux0: folder on your vita inside filezilla

Note: This method is simple but transfer speeds are slow. This is only recommended for transferring the latest Vitashell so you can connect via USB and for small files such as emulators, roms and other smaller homebrews.

USB:
- Open VITASHELL on your vita and press start and then switch from FTP to USB
- Connect your Vita to your PC using a USB connection
- Drag and drop files from your PC to the ux0: folder on your vita

Note: This method is much faster than FTP but requires your Vita to be connected to your PC via USB.


4-
==================== INSTALLING WITH MAIDUMPTOOL: ====================


4.1- Installing Mai dumps:

- Download and install the latest MaiDumpTool (english translated version preferred)
- Extract your Maidump game if necessary and make sure you have the game's content inside a "TITLEID" folder. Example: PCSB00000
(You can locate the correct title ID for the game inside Param.sfo file inside sce_sys forlder of your game, open it with Notepad++ on your PC or simply by pressing x over it inside VITASHELL on your Vita)
- Transfer your TITLEID folder via either FTP or USB and move your TITLEID folder into your mai folder in ux0:
(If there's no mai folder inside ux0: open MolecularShell/VITASHELL and create a new folder inside ux0: and rename it to mai)
- Close MolecularShell/VITASHELL and open MaiDumpTool on your vita
- Select the second option "Install game from folder" and press Circle to install the TITLEID folder
- After installation is complete close MaiDumpTool and the game should be working now

4.2- Installing .VPK:

- VPK files can be installed inside Vitashell by simply pressing X
(this requires twice the space, you can bypass that by doing the following)
- Extract the VPK using Winrar/Winzip or similar on your PC and put the contents of the file inside a "TITLEID" folder. Example: PCSB00000
(You can locate the correct title ID for the game inside Param.sfo file inside sce_sys forlder of your game, open it with Notepad++ on your PC or simply by pressing x over it inside VITASHELL on your Vita)
- Transfer your TITLEID folder via either FTP or USB and move your TITLEID folder into your mai folder in ux0:
(If there's no mai folder inside ux0: open MolecularShell/VITASHELL and create a new folder inside ux0: and rename it to mai)
- Close MolecularShell/VITASHELL and open MaiDumpTool on your vita
- Select the second option "Install game from folder" and press Circle to install the TITLEID folder
- After installation is complete close MaiDumpTool and the game should be working now

Note: It's preferred to install your games using MaiDumpTool as it doesn't require DOUBLE THE SPACE to install, it's rather fast and has much higher compatibility for DLC, Updates and Plugins.


5-
==================== INSTALLING UPDATES AND DLCS WITH MAIDUMPTOOL: ====================


5.1- INSTALLING UPDATES AND DLCS WITH MAIDUMPTOOL:

- The game must be installed prior to installing Updates and DLCs for it
- Transfer the Updates and DLCs into mai folder inside ux0:
- The folder containing the files for the DLCs must be named TITLEID_addc and Updates must be named TITLEID_patch
(You can locate the correct title ID for the game inside Param.sfo file inside sce_sys forlder of your game, open it with Notepad++ on your PC or simply by pressing x over it inside VITASHELL on your Vita)
- Open MaiDumpTool and select the options to install either Patch for Updates or DLCs

Note: You need to switch the Game Loading mode to Load Mode 5 inside MaiDumpTool for the games you installed DLCs. This only works for games that were dumped using MaiDumpTool.


5.2- INSTALLING VITAMIN/VPK UPDATES AND DLCS:

For DLCs:
- Create a folder named addcont_plain inside ux0:
- Copy the folder with TITLEID containing the DLCs to the addcont_plain folder
- For example: ux0:/addcont_plain/PCSB00000/[DLC folders here]

For Updates:
- The game you're updating/patching must already be installed
- Create a folder named patch inside ux0:
- Download and extract the Update files using Winzip/Winrar or similar
- Put the files inside a TITLEID folder
- Copy the TITLEID folder to the patch folder inside ux0:
- For example: ux0:/patch/PCSB00000

If this doesn't work try extracting the contents of the update directly into the Game's folder under app folder inside ux0:
- For example: ux0:/app/PCSB00000


6-
==================== FIXING THE C2-12828-1 ERROR: ====================

- Follow this guide if the game refuses to load and gives you the C2-12828-1 error after installation

Possible solutions:
1- sce_modules
- Check if your game needs the correct sce_module files on the internet
- Download the sce_module files: http://www117.zippyshare.com/v/p4WJhw5D/file.html
- Add the files to your game's sce_module inside, for example: ux0:/app/PCSB00000/sce_module[files here]
- If you can't find any info about your game try different modules

2- Disable plugins:
- Try disabling your plugins one by one or the entire folder altogether

3- Other options:
- Try reinstalling the game
- Try a different dump
- Try rebooting and rebuilding database after going into Safe Mode(Turn off the Vita then press and hold the R button, PS button and Power button for 5 seconds to activate Safe Mode)

 

[VitaType]

@Chary I think that belongs to here https://gbatemp.net/forums/ps-vita-tutorials.237/.

Edit: Thx

 

[Spore2]

Trying it now. Thanks

 

[KyoMaxy]

THX so much man thats make my life alot easier, i was transfer games using the mp4 method but its nots so good like yours

 

[CeruleanVita]

(Nevermind, I missed a step)

 

[Spore2]

Trying it now. Thanks

Works great. Thanks again

 

[Reploid]

Everybody should use vita organasier by now and forget about those pack-unpack nonsense.

 

[CeruleanVita]

Everybody should use vita organasier by now and forget about those pack-unpack nonsense.

VitaOrganizer is FTP-only (and I can't get it to connect to my Vita, but aside from that)

 

[Abu_Senpai]

When one opens a vpk with winrar and if it says "Arhive damaged or corrupted". Would that mean that as a Vpk the game wouldnt work if transfered over the the vita.

 

[thealgorithm]

Its a corrupted ZIP (VPK is a zip file renamed) hence will not work when transferred over to the vita and installed. The other issue is that it may start depacking the files and then result in some files being left over and occupying space.

 

[leonmagnus99]

i should have posted in here, i use the QCMA savedata method (even if i get my 64gb card later on) i will still use this method because it is the best method, except that games with a large amount of files will still probably take an hour or 2 to copy onto the vita =_=

if anyone has tried YS celcetat, they will know what i mean.

(unless they had a memory card already inserted and that way letting qcma copy them faster,that i dont know because i dont own any memory card atm.) would be glad to know that even if certain games contain over 1 - 10k files still copy fast, would be nice..

 

[gokuz]

To make your guide complete, here's an update:
1) You need to register psn at least once to use qcma
2) Some vpks has 2 steroid.suprx in the sce_module folder so you can't use the skeleton method for them. It will overwrite one steroid.suprx over the other. Which is important i suppose.

 

[Condarkness]

Brilliant! Just Brilliant. No more running around trying to find different guides. Its all right here. Thank you very much!

 

[ChrisN8]

Thanks for the advices, your pspsave method & qcma method are the fastest to quickly swap games when you have a small memory card.

 

[qq12345]

hmm...transfer completes for me but the files just dont seem to actually move to the memory card:/

 

[Safy]

I am getting lost when you need to create a new folder on psp savedata, When I go from PC to Vita nothing appears. I refreshed the data as the steps says.

 

[Sheik]

Can I delete the TITLEID folder after installing it on MaiDumptool?

 

[SmellyPirateMonkey]

Can I delete the TITLEID folder after installing it on MaiDumptool?

Maidump will move the game folder from ux0/mai to ux0/app when it installs it if that's what you mean

Also I hope you mean just deleting it from your memory card. Can't tell you how many times my game became corrupted from installing an update and had to reinstall it again.

 

[71r3n]

Wow, good guide but u forgot the easiest method (since installing extracted vpks through maidump can give u hard problems):
USB through Vitashell and (if the games are to big so u dont need double size) just open the vpk (check param.sfo for title ID) with winrar (or similar) extract everything except the sys folders and the eboots, then delete every content in the vpk except for the sysfolders and the eboot.
Now transfer the minimized vpk (with only the sys folders and the eboot in it), install it through vitashell, and connect the vita back through usb.
Now copy the content from the vpk you backed up earlyer to the ux0/mai folder, switch to the vita, open vitashell, and copy the content in the mai folder to ux:0/app/"you games titleID".
Thats it.