Gaming New to PSP scene and got couple of questions

[kalmis]

Thanks to Sony's E3 conference I've gotten interested in PSP again. I have had the original phat version for years now. Not using much lately though, thanks to DSi. Anyway the PSP hacking/homebrew is bit more easier than it was in the days of 1.5 being the OFW to be in. I got my PSP to CFW 5.00 M33-6 with easy Pandora battery and all the backups I've thrown at it have been working just fine.

Enough babbling and on with the questions. I did read the FAQs and stickies and did some googling but could not get direct answer for these.
The battery I got is getting bit tired and I was thinking of replacing it. Question here is, do I need my Pandora enabled battery to run CFW?
Second thing, the CFW seems to be running from the memory card and my PSP wont start without the memory card. This is normal I assume? If I replace the memory card all I need to do is to replicate what I have in my old memory card to the new one?
And last thing, what's the deal with MagicGate type Memory Stick? I understand that it needed to be a magic stick to be able to get CFW running, but can I get normal (cheaper) memory stick now that I got CFW enabled?
Many thanks in advance.

 

[knoxvillz]

1) No, you can use any battery once your psp has cfw
2) Huh? the cfw doesn't run from the memory card, it's installed on the psp itself And your psp should start even without the memory card unless you done something wrong??
3) Any memory card works, you just need to make a magic memory stick to install the cfw first then you can just erase the files

 

[kalmis]

Thank you sir

2) Huh? the cfw doesn't run from the memory card, it's installed on the psp itself And your psp should start even without the memory card unless you done something wrong??

Yeah I though it was bit strange. Defeats the meaning of firmware. Will give it a second try today. Thanks again.

 

[xist]

It's because you're still using a Pandora battery and have the Time Machine IPL on the Memory Stick. You need to convert the battery back to normal if you don't want to have any worries about preparing Memory Sticks. Otherwise you'll need to inject the Time Machine IPL onto every memory stick you use for the battery to work as normal.

So far every fake MS i've tried hasn't been able to accomodate this repartition, so if you plan on buying fake stick's i'd advise you to revert the battery first (google OSPBT). Fake sticks are a false economy anyway...

 

[kalmis]

Thanks xist, that did the job. Now I am able to boot the PSP without the MS.

Just one thing I don't get. What is a difference with real and fake MS? I though that my 1gig Sony brand (that game with the PSP) can surely not be a fake one. But it must mean something else?

 

[Seven]

Fake memory cards are simply memory cards that aren't brand name, and are usually of lower quality. They're known to have snail-paced transfer speeds and deterioration over a long period of time, and they're generally less reliable than authentic memory sticks. As xist says, they're a false economy and chances are you'll buy an authentic one or get a nice alternative (e.g. Photofast adapter) to replace it in the long run.

 

[Spawk]

Don't use your main memory stick as a pandora! Personally, I got a cheap 512mb stick which stays as my magic memeory stick for pandora permanently... that way if anything does go wrong with your psp, you won't have to worry about making a new magic mem stick.

 

[xist]

Making a MMS is so ludicrously easy with today's GUI's that's it's silly to waste a Memory Stick on keeping it as one.

 

[67birdman]

You're not supposed to use a pandora battery after modding...

 

[kalmis]

Ok cool, I did not know this. Thanks for the replies guys. The idiot's guide I had didn't give out those details

 

[2yugimoto]

when u use pandora it only turns on with a maguic memory but u can se a normal basttery and normal memory stick and it will work

by the way the cfw is installed on ur psp itself , not the memory card or the pandora..... there only used to install it.

 

[kalmis]

Thanks 2yugimoto, but questions were already answered.

Anyway I got another question. Can you guys recommend a good PSP scene release site. Similar as Gbatemp or ds-scene.net is for Nintendo DS releases. Also any good PSP links I should know about? Not asking about iso sites ofc.
I am aware of dl.qj.net that has good amount of homebrew news.

 

[xist]

There isn't really one unless you count AdvanceScene. But it's nowhere near rapidly updated and, to be honest, since the rate of PSP releases is pretty slow a release site isn't really necessary. Just use Gamefaqs.

 

[kalmis]

Right, thanks mate