Lots of people are asking how to update to firmware 3.60 without the risk of going “too far” to firmware 3.63 or above. Asking your PS Vita by default will only give you firmware 3.63 (or above), so we have to be a bit sneaky. There are lots of tutos out there including here on wololo.net, but they are a bit outdated. So here’s one dedicated to firmware 3.60.

Note that this tutorial is about upgrading to firmware 3.60, not downgrading to it! If you’ve installed firmware 3.61, 3.63, or above, you’re pretty much sc*** for now and will have to wait until a new hack is released for the PS Vita. This tutorial applies to people who are currently on lower firmwares and want to go up to firmware 3.60.

Updating your PS Vita to firmware 3.60, the easy and safe way

Yifan Lu, one of the authors of HENkaku, wrote a system on the HENkaku servers to help you simply upgrade to firmware 3.60:

Set your DNS to 212.47.229.76 and choose to update from Wi-Fi. Proceed only if the message says “A new version of the system software is available. Firmware 3.60 (変革 Compatible)”. That’s it!

If you’re having issues with this easy way, check the detailed steps at the source here.

Old technique to update your PS vita to firmware 3.60

If, for some reason, the technique above does not work for you, you can still use the “older” and more complex technique, described below:

We’re basically tricking the PS vita into thinking it found the latest update on our PC through the use of QCMA.

Download the PS Vita 3.60 firmware from this page. If you own a PS TV, stop here and check the official process to get an update from a USB Key (you basically need to copy PSVUPDAT.PUP to a folder named PSVITA/UPDATE/ on your usb key). You’re done. Download and install QCMA (you’ll need that tool a lot now that firmware 3.60 is mpot the latest version!) The firmware you downloaded is named PSVUPDAT.PUP. Rename it to PSP2UPDAT.PUP Copy the file into your QCMA Updates Folder (you can see that folder by launching QCMA and opening the settings). On windows that’s typically c:\users\[your username]\Documents\PSV Updates Download this file and put it into the Updates folder as well. (link down? Try this one) Important: This file is for the us version of the PS Vita. For other regions, you will need to update the xml and replace <region id=”us”> with <region id=”xx”> where “xx” is your region. You can do this with any text editor. On your PS Vita, make sure to go into airplane mode in the settings. Launch QCMA from your PC, then plug in your PS Vita via USB. In the Vita’s Settings, go to System Update, and Update from PC Triple check that the update says Firmware 3.60, and nothing else (in particular not firmware 3.61/3.63, or anything above 3.60!) Update!

Note for those of you who have downloaded (but not installed yet) firmware 3.61/3.63, or anything above 3.60: you can allegedly delete it from the bubble at the corner of your PS Vita. Then reboot and you should be good to start this tutorial.