Modchips for Handheld?

[xcrimsonstormx]

I never hear about a modchip or hardmod for a handheld device why is that because I hear about modchips for regular consoles are the time is it because the motherboards too small or because it there isn't a solder small enough to solder the chip on the board? Just curious why no one ever makes modchips for handhelds.

 

[redact]

I never hear about a modchip or hardmod for a handheld device why is that because I hear a bout modchips for regular consoles are the time is it because the motherboards too small or because it there isn't a solder small enough to solder the chip on the board? Just curious why no one ever makes modchips for handhelds.

modchips seem to (most commonly) be used for circumventing checks on optical drives where as usually handhelds have other forms of storage for games (flashcards/carts for nintendo handhelds, pandora battery+memcard for psp)

having said that...
http://www.modsupplier.com/catalog/psp-undiluted-platinum-mod-chip-p-201.html
http://gbatemp.net/threads/ps-vita-capture-unit-via-usb.345350/

Wow I've never seen that before pretty much it's a secondary NAND/Flash for the PSP just in case it becomes bricked correct me if I'm wrong.

yeah, the same can now be done with just a memstick and pandora battery but at the time it was a good way to swap between cfw and ofw on older psps

there are also similar dual flash solutions for ps3 for the same reasons

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

It's usually because soldering a modchip on the motherboard would be ridiculously hard for the end user, and most likely would require a modified case. There are situations like the PSP's Pandora Battery that sort of is a hardware exploit, you have to cut a line on the battery's board in order to use a Magic Stick.

 

[xcrimsonstormx]

Hmm I figured that would be the case but still if the Modchip is small enough it probably can be done and that would open up tons of possibilities for the hackers/homebrewers.

 

[decemberchild]

http://www.softunlimited.com/VideoGames/modchip_gbaspdimmer.htm Gba modchip and before you say it isn't the same thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modchip

 

[war2thegrave]

There was a modchip for the fat psp before the first custom firmwares were released.
http://www.modsupplier.com/catalog/psp-mod-chips-c-32_46.html

Back then, you had to decide if you wanted to stay on 1.50 for the homebrew, or upgrade for the new games.
The chip added a second flash bank that allowed you to have 2 different firmwares to choose from.
It could also be used to bypass the psp's flash chip in order to repair a brick.

It was somewhat expensive and was a pain in the ass to install, so it did not catch on.

 

[xcrimsonstormx]

Sounds interesting does anyone still have one of these PSP's because I'm sue now there worth something because of collector value? Maybe?

 

[war2thegrave]

You can still get the chip.
It's just no longer very practical.

The pandora battery exploit was leaked shortly after, thus making the chip obsolete.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I never hear about a modchip or hardmod for a handheld device why is that because I hear about modchips for regular consoles are the time is it because the motherboards too small or because it there isn't a solder small enough to solder the chip on the board? Just curious why no one ever makes modchips for handhelds.

It's just because they're typically not neccessary. No one would buy a modchip if there's a solderless solution.
Also, the obstacles with piracy are not the same with handhelds as with home consoles. With home consoles it's usually just an issue of the optical drive rejecting burned media, but with handhelds the issue is a bit more complicated and may not be so easy to create a modchip for. You need to somehow make it accept another media than an original game cartridge and there are multiple layers of security making this harder.
There are also issues with space constraints, but there have been "modchips" of sorts to add various functionality to handheld consoles. Like the already mentioned dimmer chip for GBA SP, there's also the GBAccelerator overclocking chip for GBA and DS. These are both very small, and are probably near the limits of what can fit inside the consoles. Modchips tend to be larger and more complex.

 

[ii-c-going]

(Going in for the potential flame-bait)

OP: For the love of costello, please use some punctuation marks.
Am I the only one who finds this really hard to read?

 

[xcrimsonstormx]

Modchips tend to be larger and more complex.

That is true but with the more advanced technology we have I would think it is possible just not practical like the new Google glasses those microchips cant be any bigger than my pinky toenail. So I think it can be done its just something hackers haven't explored yet.

 

[xcrimsonstormx]

The pandora battery exploit

Yeah I guess that would make it impractical.

 

[gazsweet]

they are great.