PSP Slim Questions and FirmwareQuestions.

1. No, Slim can now do everything the Phat can and more, see 2.
2. No, other than having Skype etc.
2.5. No, there is only one CFW which works for all. PSPs are region free anyway (except for UMD movies, but who buys those)
3. Yes, Slims can only go as low as 3.60 [m33]
4. It hasn't been for ages! All CFW let you play ISOs, 3.XX homebrew and if you're on a Phat, 1.50 homebrew
5. ediblebird's guide, essential psp games.

 

If you liked the flatness of the back of the DSL, you'll like the Slim's flatness. Even better is the corners don't dig into your palms. (ugh, DSL ftl) I prefer the slim.

The grip is fine, obviously it isn't console controller good, but good enough for a portable.

UMD hatch is better IMO too. Just open it with a finger nail (even if you have none), but if you get your Slim to CFW you'll never even need to touch it.

IIRC, they have the same battery life with their respective batteries. Put a Phat battery in a Slim (it'll stick out some so you'll need a special cover) and you get more life, but on the other hand (literally) it'll make the Slim feel lopsided.


Oh, and:

6. If you get a Slim, Pandora's Battery is the only way. If you get a Phat with older firmware (harder to find and more expensive) you might be able to downgrade via GTA or Lumines etc, but I don't know too much about those. I'm a Slim dude.

 

Pros of Slim:
Double the internal memory (up to 64MB - important for certain homebrew)
TV Out
Slimmer, lighter, with speakers and WLAN switch relocated to be out of the way
Slightly less likely to break when you drop it

Cons of Slim:
No native support for 1.5 kernal (although Time Machine seems to remedy this)
THEREFOR no support for v1.5 homebrew (including downgraders)
No InfraRed port
The UMD is slightly more fiddly (but I don't use it anyway)
Feels like cheap plastic (I've never cared - it's lighter to hold!)

Generally, the S/L is everything the Phat is, without the phat. I have both (due to a whiney brother who made me pay for his one) and the one thing I miss from the Phat is the IR port (to act as a remote control for my TV). Aside from that, I prefer the S/L in every way that matters - the playing of games!

 

I only played online for a bit, but it seems to work fine.

 

1. Max is 1.5GB, it REALLY depends, some shovelware 2d crap could be 10MB with no music etc. And, ISOs can be compressed to CSOs, trading size for speed (really only slows down streaming games, like GTA)
2. It will usually be even faster, flash memory>>>>laser reading disk. Most people recommend SanDisk Ultras, I recommend anything that is not fake. (tons of counterfeits on eBay)
3. Yes, but again it depends, you might be able to play a game at 133MHx (Phoenix Wright on the GBA emulator) or it may even require 333MHz (God of War Chains of Olympus, GTA to get tolerable speeds)
4. Yes, there is always a tiny, tiny risk that something might go wrong, or you'll accidentally trip and remove the battery and the power cord while it is flashing etc. But it is a tiny TINY, risk.
5. idk
6. Almost all 1.50 homebrew has either been ported to 3.XX or can be run through eLoader, so the Slim is good to go. Latest CFW is the best, IIRC Dark_Alex fixed the problems with 8GB+ cards, but I am not 100% sure. Any PSP with either 1.50 or any CFW kicks MAJOR ass.
7. Yes, as said above, there used to be some problems with 8GB+ cards, but I believe they were fixed. I was not even aware that there was a 16GB card out

 

1. The only thing that can go "terribly wrong" is the flash data where the system files are located. If they get corrupted or deleted without any new files to replace them, then your PSP becomes what is belovedly known as a brick. To recover from this, use a pandora to return your PSP to v1.5 (Phat online) or to manually install CFW directly (S/L only). As far as I know, this works with all cases aside from actual hardware damage, where you need to rely on warranty.

2. I've never actually seen someone post their NAND backup online. As far as I can tell, they're only useful as a way to quickly restore the settings you had, so using someone else's NAND wouldn't be so helpful. Otherwise, using a Pandora to restore corrupted files is all you need to worry about.

 

I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't be doing this but its better to ask in here instead of just making a new topic.

I read places that GTA (CSO, ISO, or Official game) for PSP bricks it (or causes the blue screen of death, I forgot which) is it true? If so, is there anyway to prevent this?

 

There are NAND backup programs out there (some are included in UPMS, google it) that will partially restore your NAND. They will restore everything but your private IDStorage keys, which are unique to your PSP.

 

I've never heard of it, but more importantly, I've never seen it. There are very many YouTube videos (mostly demos or tutorials of CFW installation) that involve either of the GTA games, and if they work live, then they certainly don't brick. Also there is no reason why a game should brick a PSP - it should only be able to write to the memory card, and nowhere else (at least, if you run the game and not the accompanied OFW patch on the UMD).

Something I have heard though is that "streamed" or "live-updated" games such as GTA (i.e. games that don't use loading screens everywhere) are largely incompatible with PSP S/L TV-Out unless you use the composite cable (even with FuSu). This is due to the graphics being "progressive" instead of interlaced, for higher quality - something that can't be transferred to anything less than the 3 video ports used in composite. However, there are few of these games that I know of, so FuSu will usually make games work with TV-Out, no matter the cable.

 

It wouldn't function without your keys.

The NAND contains the firmware. It's a 64MB chip on the slim and 32MB on the fat. When you make a backup, you effectively copy the entire contents. This includes the firmware, the PSP's settings, all your security keys, and some applications (Skype).

 

I've heard mixed reports about exactly how it is used. Some say (recently) that all your settings, key files, and certain applications (Skype) are located there. Some say (Sony I think it was) that it's used for predictive UMD reading to lower loading time (and makes the UMD spin less, lowering battery usage). Some say it's the equivolent of RAM in computers, allowing you to run bigger/more complicated/more processes at the same time.

If someone knows specifically how it's used, take their word for it over mine.

EDIT: I misread the question. I thought you said "How does...?" instead of "Does...?". Yes, some homebrew (e.g. IR Shell) do make use of the doubled memory. Some homebrew don't, either because S/L didn't exist then, or to ensure backwards compatability to PSP Phat. It all depends how it is written.

 

The PSP has a NAND flash, which is non-volatile RAM. Meaning: data saved to it stays when you turn off the power. It also has normal RAM which is faster and is used like normal PC RAM is used. On the fat, it had 32MB of NAND Flash and 32MB of RAM. On the slim, it has 64MB of each.

Everything I mentioned about what's in the NAND is true. Sony also uses some of the NAND for UMD caching.

If you were curious, you can access the contents of the NAND flash using custom firmware. Instead of having your USB connection linked to the memory stick, you can set it to point to Flash0, Flash1, Flash2, and Flash3. These are the 4 NAND flash sections. The fat, I think, doesn't have all 4, but I could be wrong.