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

[SkullHex2]

hold home at boot to install ofw. I do recommend using ofw to install additional cfw's. then, install infinity for each one to add them to its list iirc. I have my system booting 4 firmwares if you include ofw. I can change them through infinity. I think infinity is compatible only with 6.60 and 6.61.

When running Ark Loader from OFW, the PSP fails to reboot.
When running Ark Loader from PRO-C, the PSP reboots but the system information stays the same (i.e. PRO-C). Running infinity now causes the PSP to shut down.
Should I uninstall PRO-C?
Thanks for the help, very appreciated

 

[godreborn]

run chronoswitch with the firmware you're on. it will undo your cfw, but it's easy to get back. that will start you fresh. I had a similar issue where I got a black screen for everything, but one cfw, and I think it was a dirty patch that didn't work right.

 

[SkullHex2]

run chronoswitch with the firmware you're on. it will undo your cfw, but it's easy to get back. that will start you fresh. I had a similar issue where I got a black screen for everything, but one cfw, and I think it was a dirty patch that didn't work right.

Ok, everything seems to be working now. I think my PSP wouldn't reboot because of a plugin, namely MacroFire. Can anyone else test this?
One more question, can I check whether the system is actually being overclocked while I'm playing something? Just to make sure everything is set up correctly.

 

[godreborn]

Ok, everything seems to be working now. I think my PSP wouldn't reboot because of a plugin, namely MacroFire. Can anyone else test this?
One more question, can I check whether the system is actually being overclocked while I'm playing something? Just to make sure everything is set up correctly.

of that, I'm not sure for me personally. I've never tried overclocking on any system.

 

[Acid_Snake]

Ok, everything seems to be working now. I think my PSP wouldn't reboot because of a plugin, namely MacroFire. Can anyone else test this?
One more question, can I check whether the system is actually being overclocked while I'm playing something? Just to make sure everything is set up correctly.

The best way to do it is to use a GTA game with cheat device remastered to show FPS. On a normal system those games run at between 20-25 FPS. On a overclocked system they should reach 30FPS more often. The load times are also noticeably better (specially in CSO format).

 

[Happy1337]

Hey, thanks for all the nice updates

I found the workaround for infinity with some psp models (in my case psp street)
And it works !

(just tried the regular way before -> 6.60OFW->6.61OFW->ARK 4.19.10->Infinity from Ark - that is still not working and crashing infinity)

Best regards

 

[Acid_Snake]

Hey, thanks for all the nice updates

I found the workaround for infinity with some psp models (in my case psp street)
And it works !

(just tried the regular way before -> 6.60OFW->6.61OFW->ARK 4.19.10->Infinity from Ark - that is still not working and crashing infinity)

Best regards

Yeah infinity has to be installed on OFW first, then install ARK and configure infinity to autoboot ARK.
BTW it doesn't matter if you're on 6.60 or 6.61, there should be no difference between the two.

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

Hey guys, new release here:

https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r41911

This one packs a bunch of new interesting features.

First one is the ability to install plugins from the file browser. No more having to modify or work with PLUGINS.TXT, just copy your plugin, open the file browser (in recovery or launcher) and "open" the PRX file, a menu will pop up asking how to install the plugin (always, game, pops, vsh, etc) with the option to enter a Game ID via keyboard for per-game plugins.

The other feature is a new Advanced VSH Menu that can be optionally installed for some extra features. Mainly the ability to mount Video ISO files (previously you'd have to use the file browser), being able to change the USB device (to UMD, flash0, etc) and the creation of pandora batteries.

 

[xFlesk]

very nice great new features
i was testing expanded vsh menu and the first thing i noticed is doubled Inferno 2 driver (there is sony driver and two times inferno 2 driver to choose).
now im confused i choosed one of the inferno 2 drivers hoping this one is correct (i have this strange feeling that one of "inferno 2 driver" is not the right one )
cheers

 

[Acid_Snake]

very nice great new features
i was testing expanded vsh menu and the first thing i noticed is doubled Inferno 2 driver (there is sony driver and two times inferno 2 driver to choose).
now im confused i choosed one of the inferno 2 drivers hoping this one is correct (i have this strange feeling that one of "inferno 2 driver" is not the right one )
cheers

The ISO drivers thing is purely for information purposes, you don't really change the driver, ARK chooses the correct one based on format.

 

[Acid_Snake]

Hey guys, new release here with more features and improvements:

https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r41912

• fixed ISOs with non-latin1 characters (only on XMB though, launcher/recovery still has issues with them).
• launcher and recovery will now hide options that aren't available depending on device and model (ftp, ef0, etc) and CFW settings.
• added option to change VSH region.
• added support for DLC and Updates on ISO files.

 

[N7Kopper]

I'm gonna cross-post my own thread because no matter where I ask or search, nobody seems to have a solution, and I wonder if it's actually an incompatibility on the ISO Loaders' ends, if even this new CFW doesn't make it work.

Great work on it, by the way. I see new features and I likey, even if I don't know what they all do yet. (I already restricted a certain Final Fantasy Tactics plugin to only load when I play Final Fantasy Tactics.)

 

[Happy1337]

• added support for DLC and Updates on ISO files.

That sounds nice.
Any more details on how to use this ?
Do I have to build ISO files with dlc and updates myself ?
Could not find anything on the readme

 

[Acid_Snake]

Hey guys, new update here, this one allows you to remove installed plugins (only remove them from PLUGINS.TXT file, not actually delete them) using the Plugin Manager in the XMB or Recovery menu. It also lets you edit text files with the .txt, .cfg or .ini extensions.

https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r41913

• added support for DLC and Updates on ISO files.

That sounds nice.
Any more details on how to use this ?
Do I have to build ISO files with dlc and updates myself ?
Could not find anything on the readme

Updates can be downloaded in pkg form and extracted. Once extracted they are installed as ms0:/PSP/GAME/<Game ID>/PBOOT.PBP (plus whatever other files alongside the PBOOT.PBP), you don't need to rebuild the ISO (how would that work on UMDs anyhow?), ARK will detect that you have installed ms0:/PSP/GAME/<Game ID>/PBOOT.PBP and it'll apply the update, completely transparent to you.

Edit: I forgot to mention that loading DLC and updates might require plugins:
https://github.com/lusid1/nploader_mod
https://github.com/lusid1/npdrm_free_mod

 

[xFlesk]

did some testing and its great, soon i might to switch to your file manager completely
averything works superb. i can install plugins, delete, edit per game plugins etc
the new feature to edit text files is great. works almost good for some reason when i open my "spoofer_config.txt" file (v0.7.1 translated to english with no special symbols used) it not show it properly (i see blank lines only).
other few config files i have checked works great with a new editor.

it would be great to have an option to set overclock etc options per game as well
cheers

 

[Acid_Snake]

Hey guys, new release here, and this one packs a punch:
https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r41914

• You can now use slim colors on PSP 1K.
• Added partial support for files with non-latin1 characters in recovery/launcher.
• Added new CFW setting "Block hibernation deletion on PSP Go", available in XMB and recovery menu.
• Fixed issues with "Skip Sony Logos", such as compatibility with Testing Tool and Development Tool firmwares.
• Renamed launcher/recovery settings file from ARKMENU.CFG to ARKMENU.BIN to prevent confusion since it's not a text file.
• Added new features to Advanced VSH Menu: USB Readonly mode, background color, activate flash and wma players, swap X/O buttons and delete hibernation.

it would be great to have an option to set overclock etc options per game as well
cheers

You can already do that but you have to manually edit SETTING.TXT and put your custom settings after the normal ones. You can do stuff like this:

ULUS01234, overclock, on
ULES01234, powersave, on

Basically control which games get overclock and which don't. For now you can't disable settings per game as you can with plugins but that feature is soon to come.

 

[xFlesk]

You can already do that but you have to manually edit SETTING.TXT

yes yes, i know i just thought about it when i saw nicely done plugins managment
of course editing "by hand" is not a problem at all
cheers

 

[Acid_Snake]

yes yes, i know i just thought about it when i saw nicely done plugins managment
of course editing "by hand" is not a problem at all
cheers

Yeah I get what you mean, I might give it a review to see how it can be improved.

Post automatically merged: Feb 22, 2023

And another one, fixing a long time issue:
https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r41915

 

[Liminal]

Ok trying to update on the vita after a few months, I can't get it to work.
Where's the H.bin in the vita bubble folder? since it's this one we're supposed to replace and not K.bin now
edit: Nevermind got it working finaly by replacing K.BIN
AND YES AUTOLOAD/AUTOSAVE NOW WORKS IN STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 3 MAX!!
thank you
edit2: there's a launch issue on the vita tho unless I am doing something wrong ARK will get a kernel exploit error at launch pretty often.

 

[Acid_Snake]

Ok trying to update on the vita after a few months, I can't get it to work.
Where's the H.bin in the vita bubble folder? since it's this one we're supposed to replace and not K.bin now
edit: Nevermind got it working finaly by replacing K.BIN
AND YES AUTOLOAD/AUTOSAVE NOW WORKS IN STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 3 MAX!!
thank you
edit2: there's a launch issue on the vita tho unless I am doing something wrong ARK will get a kernel exploit error at launch pretty often.

Yes the kernel exploit is known to have stability issues (similar to some webkit exploits that require several attempts).
It will mostly work, but if you ever get too many issues running it just reboot the system and try again, that solves it most of the time.

Post automatically merged: Feb 24, 2023

Small (but nice) update:
https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/releases/tag/r41916

 

[xFlesk]

im having problems with recovery and custom launcher (ark 4.19.16). im getting an "Error, missing file TXT.PNG" and could not start it at all

Post automatically merged: Feb 24, 2023

ok, false alarm. i forgot to update the theme i currently use to the latest version
everything working now