Hacking [Release] ARK-4 CFW port for PSP.

[FPSUsername]

I wiped the IPL from the storage card with PSP Tool, and the games still don't work (I tried Assassin's Creed and Corpse Party).
The PSP just freezes while booting up and then shuts off.
I disabled overclock and memory speedup (and high memory layout), but no luck.
It's difficult to figure out where the problem lies if there's no stack error screen, I even disabled all plugins.

 

[Jacobh]

Probably a dumb question, but the main advantages over Pro/LME are that ARK is open source / actively maintained and has the ability to use custom menus?

 

[Acid_Snake]

Probably a dumb question, but the main advantages over Pro/LME are that ARK is open source / actively maintained and has the ability to use custom menus?

That and also that the CFW itself is simpler to use so it's overall better for noobs.

 

[fate6]

@Acid_Snake

Think it would be possible to have the system scan for plugins? like you place your plugins in "ms0:/seplugins/XMB" or GAME/PS1 then the VSH or recov menu will look and list whats in those?
IDK was thinking about what QoL stuff could be done.

Also noticed PRO actually has an option to turn on or off its ef0 patch, IDK if you took a look to add that to ARK.

 

[Acid_Snake]

@Acid_Snake

Think it would be possible to have the system scan for plugins? like you place your plugins in "ms0:/seplugins/XMB" or GAME/PS1 then the VSH or recov menu will look and list whats in those?
IDK was thinking about what QoL stuff could be done.

Also noticed PRO actually has an option to turn on or off its ef0 patch, IDK if you took a look to add that to ARK.

From what I recall the ef0 patch is only applied when using ark custom menu, vsh itself doesn't do the patches (or maybe it's viceversa?). The CFW is done to have minimal patches, which can only be extended externally.
As for plugins, there's tons of homebrew apps that already do that, but I'll look into adding the ability to install prx plugins from the file browser of the custom menu.

 

[fate6]

From what I recall the ef0 patch is only applied when using ark custom menu, vsh itself doesn't do the patches (or maybe it's viceversa?). The CFW is done to have minimal patches, which can only be extended externally.
As for plugins, there's tons of homebrew apps that already do that, but I'll look into adding the ability to install prx plugins from the file browser of the custom menu.

The idea for the plugin thing is less for enabling them and more for not having to write them into a config, like you just place a prx into a set location and the recov menu or some form of plugin manager will check that location and add it to its config on its own.

 

[Acid_Snake]

The idea for the plugin thing is less for enabling them and more for not having to write them into a config, like you just place a prx into a set location and the recov menu or some form of plugin manager will check that location and add it to its config on its own.

There's just one very basic problem with an automated system: how can the program detect if the plugin is for game, vsh or pops? There's enough plugin managers out there that let you install and configure plugins on the psp itself without having to change the plugins config file.

 

[fate6]

There's just one very basic problem with an automated system: how can the program detect if the plugin is for game, vsh or pops? There's enough plugin managers out there that let you install and configure plugins on the psp itself without having to change the plugins config file.

Less auto selection and more just auto listing, the user would still need to enable and set what mode the plugin is for but would not have to type in the location of the prx anymore.

 

[Acid_Snake]

Less auto selection and more just auto listing, the user would still need to enable and set what mode the plugin is for but would not have to type in the location of the prx anymore.

But there's already a good deal of plugin managers that do this already. I wrote one myself ages ago.

 

[fate6]

But there's already a good deal of plugin managers that do this already. I wrote one myself ages ago.

I don't know of any but I also never looked into it so guess I missed them. :/

 

[Kernelgm]

Hey guys, I try to run snes emulator on this ark-4 latest version, but this always reboot my PSP GO when I open the snes file. Someone know how to fix this?

 

[Acid_Snake]

Hey guys, I try to run snes emulator on this ark-4 latest version, but this always reboot my PSP GO when I open the snes file. Someone know how to fix this?

Which version of the snes emulator are you using?
Do you have any plugin or settings enabled?

 

[Acid_Snake]

Hello guys, new release here: https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r92
Version 9.2:
- Added UMD game support for custom launcher.
- Fixed memlmd patches.
- PRO Updater has been deprecated.

There is still one major issue with the CFW where it gives an Unsuported PRX Type error (0x80020148) on certain games, homebrews and plugins. I am still investigating this issue.

For the next release I plan on adding the following functionality:
- Built-in FTP server and client in the custom launcher so you can copy files wirelessly.
- In-game menu with extra functionality (savestate, media player, game launcher, multitasking, etc).

It might take a while for the next release to appear as I don't have much time to work on this, but I will continue to support this CFW.

 

[Acid_Snake]

Good news guys, a new release that fixes issues with some games like God Eater Burst and others:
https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r93

 

[SacredMilkOG]

It's usefull, saved a ton of PSPs using Recovery Flasher.


Registry hacks, plugins manager etc.

Indeed. CFW PSP users ought to make better use of the "/PSP/Game/Recovery" features with their CFW. I put PSP Filer 6.6 in there so I can edit/delete things when they go wonky. Super useful actually

I've still been using PRO and older firmwares- I just now discovered this ARK CFW post. Had no clue before today. It should be fun to play around with I have a couple of TA-85 Slims so it'd be perfect to test this on... I almost sold my spare. Not now! I love the PSP handheld.

Edit 12.18.2021: I tested out ARK version 9.3 for the first time yesterday. I used a TA-85v1 PSP 2001 and did so with no other CFW installed. I haven't tested much else besides loading a few homebrew and backups.

I ran into two different errors/bugs:

The first one was when I chose to load custom launcher as 'always' in the ARK recovery menu which upon returning to the vsh lead to a soft brick with the memory stick inserted- it was in a continuous loop of reads. Fixed it by carefully removing the card in between read signals and did the same while loading recovery again to get back in and switch the option back to disabled.

The second of these bugs was when playing Twisted Metal Head-On via ISO, it played the game fine bug the sound effects were glitched and didn't play most of them. It played the bf music still though and most functions including saves worked. I'm gonna keep proding around with this and doing some tests.

I haven't figured out how to use the plugin features properly yet. That's probably the next thing for me- I want to get category_lite plugin and cxmb working if possible.

Also, any better/preferred place to report bugs?

✌

Edit2: I just got plugins and such sorted out. Successfully using cxmb, category_lite and prxshot. I'm enjoying these tests and the firmware I've yet to use a Vita of my own, so ARK has been a refreshing new firmware to 'play' with on my PSP systems. I'm curious- can the vsh menu for ARK be customized? It's pretty bare rn imo. I know some games run better on the Sony NP9660 engine, are there plans to implement it? I realize I can use xmbcontrol and a few other plugins too- I will be testing them soon. Is there anything in particular that needs testing?

 

[Acid_Snake]

The first one was when I chose to load custom launcher as 'always' in the ARK recovery menu which upon returning to the vsh lead to a soft brick with the memory stick inserted- it was in a continuous loop of reads. Fixed it by carefully removing the card in between read signals and did the same while loading recovery again to get back in and switch the option back to disabled.

Yes this is a known bug, no idea when or how it happened but I'm looking into it.

The second of these bugs was when playing Twisted Metal Head-On via ISO, it played the game fine bug the sound effects were glitched and didn't play most of them. It played the bf music still though and most functions including saves worked. I'm gonna keep proding around with this and doing some tests.

Perhaps it's the memory stick speed up, that one can have some bad side effects on certain games. Try playing the game without any setting or plugin.

Edit2: I just got plugins and such sorted out. Successfully using cxmb, category_lite and prxshot. I'm enjoying these tests and the firmware I've yet to use a Vita of my own, so ARK has been a refreshing new firmware to 'play' with on my PSP systems. I'm curious- can the vsh menu for ARK be customized? It's pretty bare rn imo.

You can replace VSHMENU.PRX in the ARK savedata folder with your own.

I know some games run better on the Sony NP9660 engine, are there plans to implement it?

ARK doesn't include NP9660 patches (Galaxy driver) since I found Inferno to work better for ISO games while NP9660 is best for PSN eboots. Can you tell me which games specifically work better on NP9660?

 

[SacredMilkOG]

Yes this is a known bug, no idea when or how it happened but I'm looking into it.


Perhaps it's the memory stick speed up, that one can have some bad side effects on certain games. Try playing the game without any setting or plugin.


You can replace VSHMENU.PRX in the ARK savedata folder with your own.


ARK doesn't include NP9660 patches (Galaxy driver) since I found Inferno to work better for ISO games while NP9660 is best for PSN eboots. Can you tell me which games specifically work better on NP9660?

Noted. I will try that out soon with the memory stick speed-up- pretty sure it was disabled when it happened though.

And cool, I think it's about time we have a new UltimateVSH menu again. The best one was on 5.00 Prome-v6 with the ability to change the colors and such. The final version for 5.50 didn't include that feature anymore

I'll keep it in mind about the Inferno vs. Galaxy driver

I actually got a bsod from trying to use the xmbctrlmod plugin by lman for 6.61 yesterday (which kind of makes sense when I think about it. It supports cfw features that aren't present on ARK.) I attatched the blue screen it gave me

Can report that livepatch works fine, as well as pspstates_kai

But traditional Popsloader doesn't work nor does the cdda_enabler plugin. (Needed for games like Twisted Metal 2 and Vigilante 8 2nd Offense. In fact- V82 will freeze during play after a while on any other pops version besides 5.50)

Will let you know if I run into anything else

(sorry about the typos- experiencing character losses and empty/broken keystrokes while typing fast in the browser on my phone here _-_ super annoying)

Re-edit: So hey, I went to load up Twisted Metal again tonight and I actually got a BSOD on initialization. Just reporting it- it didn't drop an error or stack info- it just went blue then popped. Actually- it seems that the firmware currently does not like CSO versions of backups. Twisted Metal is buggy as an ISO- but as a CSO it doesn't even load. It just hangs on the loading screen. (Same exact copy works fine on the other models I use.)

Not trying to overload you guys- just trying to be as helpful as possible.

 

[SacredMilkOG]

Probably a dumb question, but the main advantages over Pro/LME are that ARK is open source / actively maintained and has the ability to use custom menus?

To be honest, to me it's just something fresh to use. I've become so accustomed to using Pro/Infinity (even 5.00M33 and 5.50Gen/Prom) that I feel I know my way around like 80%+ of the mods available. Those firmwares work damn near flawlessly on any compatible model I have used- but I like using different stuff and having mods to explore and test. And on a PSP that's perfect because I'm confident I can fix them in most cases. (At least the 1K and 2K models anyway... I probably won't test this on a 3K until I can get my hands on one of those new Pandora jigs that are around now. Reallllyyy would like to have one on hand- then I would test more of this on my 3K model.

But yeah, ARK is just something fresh to use on PSP in my opinion. Looks like there's gonna be a lot of new fun stuff to customize while using this firmware too. I love the PSP system.

Edit 12-23-2021: So yeah- this firmware seems to really hate certain CSO backups. But it really does not like Twisted Metal. I got a BSOD from running it as a CSO- it just won't play it. And as an ISO I still get that weird sound effects disappearing bug. Eh

Attatching the BSOD shot below

 

[SacredMilkOG]

New bug found, I am going tpo test this in a few other games but it seems that pops games don't ike to enter sleep mode. I had put my PSP into sleep while on Final Fantasy VII and when I turned it back on I was presented with the home menu and a message that says "the memory stick wasn't inserted could not be accessed'. Tried all sorts of fiddling with it but I had to leave the game in the end. Happens everytime actually. I tried it with a few different posp games and it does it no matter if a multi-disc or single disc eboot.

There was something else new I found too.... it'll come to me. Be sure to check out my other edits for a couple other things I reported.

Also, seems like the ability to rip new UMD with almost any of the tools doesn't work in ARK. Just tried to use ARK to rip some new stuff and discovered the tools didn't work.

 

[Acid_Snake]

New bug found, I am going tpo test this in a few other games but it seems that pops games don't ike to enter sleep mode. I had put my PSP into sleep while on Final Fantasy VII and when I turned it back on I was presented with the home menu and a message that says "the memory stick wasn't inserted could not be accessed'. Tried all sorts of fiddling with it but I had to leave the game in the end. Happens everytime actually. I tried it with a few different posp games and it does it no matter if a multi-disc or single disc eboot.

There was something else new I found too.... it'll come to me. Be sure to check out my other edits for a couple other things I reported.

Also, seems like the ability to rip new UMD with almost any of the tools doesn't work in ARK. Just tried to use ARK to rip some new stuff and discovered the tools didn't work.

Interesting. The fact that it was made for PS Vita means it lacks some essential functions that some of these tools use.
I will have to go over these tools and see what's missing.
As for CSO games, I am experiencing problems launching them with the custom launcher on latest release (but that's to be expected as it's an early beta with some new features are that not yet finished), but I am not having any issues when launched from the XMB.
Also make sure you test your stuff on official sony memory sticks, my experience with chinese sd adapters is that they tend to get corrupted and games start failing (specially with those dual sd adapters). You should make sure to have both ARK and PRO installed to be able to switch between them, it's the best way to determine if its really an issue with ARK and not corrupted files.