Some of you might remember the uprising as the first signed homebrew for the PSP appeared.

Some of you might remember the first betas of the permanent patch, which worked surprisingly well (for most of us, at least).

The current permanent patch is, as of now, the number one thing to install, if you have one of the newer PSP devices, since it enables you to automatically boot into a CFW, no (manual) launcher required.

Something (similar enough) that has only existed (while being far superior, by the way) in the form of a custom IPL for the older PSP devices exclusively.

How about this would be available for the latest PSP firmware, version 6.60? How about this would now natively support the previously ‘unsupported devices’ – 3000 07g*, 3000 09g (no enforced downgrades anymore) and the PSP E1000?

If this interests you, then keep reading! Davee has a surprise up his sleeves!

Hardware & Software talk – Different PSP models

This is the current state of the most recommended things you can do with your PSPs (made by myself – You can see this on the emphasis of the ME/LME CFW recommendations, hehe).

While the enforced downgrade method for the PSP 3000 09g is not the cleanest and most secure thing to do, all other recommendations are safe to follow and should work without problems.

This currently leaves us with 3 categories: Old devices, new devices and too new (or rare) devices.

The first category contains the PSP 1000s and PSP 2000s (except for the ‘doomed TA-088v3’ series), that are fully capable of using a full CFW, a CFW that uses a cIPL to load the custom firmware modules. Those are also the only devices that can use (and create, depending on the motherboard) a Pandora battery.

The second category contains most of the newer PSPs. The PSP 2000 with the TA-088v3 motherboard, the PSP 3000 03g, the PSP 3000 04g, the PSP 3000 09g (only as forced downgrade, though) and any PSP Go. Those devices are fully capable of using a permanent CFW, a CFW that uses the current version of the permanent patch.

The permanent patch loads the modules of the custom firmware very early in the boot chain (not as early as & good as cIPL, but get what you can), which will slightly lengthen the initial boot time of your PSP, but will automatically load the CFW on the startup and provides you a method to recover your device, if you (only) semi-bricked it.

A full brick will still be fatal and unrepairable on these new devices. The current version of the permanent patch works up to firmware 6.20 and has been (randomly) patched as of firmware 6.30, due to new security checks.

The third category contains only (2 devices), depending on personal opinions and technicalities, 3 devices, the PSP E1000 (due to its inability to run a firmware other than 6.50 or 6.60), the PSP 3000 09g (while being capable to perform an enforced downgrade to firmware 6.20, which is below its intended lowest firmware limit of firmware 6.30) which should stay on firmwares 6.30 to 6.60, due to firmware stability and IDstorage reasons, and the 09g’s similar twin sister, the PSP 3000 07g (a very rare model of the PSP, which shares the same motherboard characteristics as the 09g), a PSP so rare, that we were unable to properly investigate it (this is also the reason why the 09g supports the enforced downgrade and the 07g does not).

Devices of this third category are unable to use the current version of the permanent patch, since they lack the ability to natively support the PSP firmware 6.20, which is (as of now) required to use a permanent patch CFW. These devices only support the firmwares 6.30 to 6.60 (3000 07g & 09g) and 6.50 to 6.60 (E1000 11g).

Back on track: A permanent 6.60 CFW

While I’ve talked a lot about the different hardware models of the PSP, their restrictions, their current best possible software, and a lot of other stuff, lets head back to Davees surprise and a potentional ‘permanent patch’ for the latest PSP firmware, version 6.60 – Which would enable any PSP device, old or (too) new, to run a cIPL or permanent CFW, respectively.

While the old PSPs can already run a full CFW (something better than a permanent or temporary CFW), the newer PSPs can not (yet).

Developer Davee, well known for his 5.03 ChickHen exploit (Scene old-timers might remember this) and his Chronoswitch Downgrader for the 6.xx firmwares, has one more trick up his sleeves, which supposedly will enable any kind of PSP to run a permanent CFW on the latest firmware, version 6.60.

While this still has to be fully debugged and tested on ALL the different hardware models (one of each generation – 0Xg – should be enough), Davee seems to be confident in his knowledge, which is more than enough to call this a ‘secured thing’.

Since this method is not necessary on the PSP 1000s and most PSP 2000s, which means 2 less devices to fumble with, it will be necessary on all the other devices, which will leave us with 7 different devices: A PSP 2000 TA-088v3, a PSP 3000 03g, a PSP 3000 04g, a PSP 3000 07g, a PSP 3000 09g, a PSP Go and a PSP E1000.

I myself donated my PSP E1000 to Davee, so he is able to port his work to this new PSP. Davee himself bought a refurbished PSP 2000 TA-088v3, which still leaves 5 devices left.

I have already talked about the rarity of the PSP 3000 of the ‘7th Generation’, so this one will only be covered theoretically, which would still mean that 4 different hardware models are left.

This is exactly the moment where my good friend Nzaki comes into play. He is such a generous person that he offered Davee all missing devices (as long as he has access to them).

And believe me, when I say this man has a lot of PSPs, then I mean it! Nzaki offered Davee a PSP 3000 03g, a PSP 3000 04g, a PSP Go (05g) and a PSP 3000 09g, which will complete the missing pieces of the hardware scavenger hunt.

This brings me to the end of this blog post.

Conclusion: Permanent 6.60 CFW soon?

Yes and no.

We can definitely say that Davee has something up his sleeves, and that he, most likely, does have, what he tells us he is having – a solution to bring the permanent patch to firmware 6.60.

While neither I nor you can say how long Davee will take to fully finish his work on this, I can say that this would make a good Christmas present for the PSP users among us.

Since the annually PS Vita kernel exploit has already been released for firmware 3.18, some months ago, this pretty much leaves us with nothing for this Christmas… Or does it?

Stay tuned for this masterpiece of the post-mortem PSP hacking scene, and more hacking news regarding the PS Vita!

Paypal Donation:

Do you like the work that Davee has done in the past? Do you like this news about a 6.60 permanent CFW for all PSP devices? Do you want to buy a well known and talented PSP & PS Vita developer and hacker a beer?

In that case you might want to consider donating to Davee via PayPal.