PSP-Forum n00b Friendly Guide to PSP Jargon

[psplayer]

Here is a list of jargon which n00bs to the psp (And sometimes people who know alot about the system) will read and think "What does that mean?" They will then proceed to ask us what it means. This will help them find out what they want (and more) quickly. I have tried to keep it as n00b friendly as possible.

• OFW - This means 'Official Firmware.' This is the bog standard Firmware That you will get when you buy your System (When it is NEW, We cannot gaurantee that you will get OFW if you buy a second hand psp.)
• CFW - This means 'Custom Firmware.' This has all the features of OFW with some extras added in, such as the ability to play Homebrew and 'Unmentionables.' This can be easily obtained through with the help of a MMS, Pandoras Battery and a little bit of patience (in some cases.)
• Firmware (FW) - In Order to understand the above two pieces of Explained jargon, you will need to know what Firmware is. It is basically the software installed onto the system in order for it to boot up and run. Think of it as the Operating system on your computer (XP, Vista, etc). Without it you would have useless piece of junk.
• MS - This simply means 'Memory Stick' The PSP Uses a 'Memory Stick Pro Duo' But you can use other kinds of cards (such as a Micro SD or a M2 card), but only with the help of an adapter.
• MMS - This means 'Magic Memory Stick.' This is one of the two tools you will need in order to 'downgrade' your PSP and install a CFW.
• Pandoras Battery - This is the second of the two tools which you will need to install CFW onto your psp. It is a modified battery which makes the psp boot from the MMS instead of where it usually does. You can make one of these yourself or buy one online.
• Downgrade - This is simply to install a firmware of a lower version than the one you are currently on. The most common case is to Downgrade to OFW 1.50 in order to Upgrade to CFW.
• Downdate - Another Term For Downgrade (See Above)
• Upgrade - This is simply installing a Firmware of a Higher version than the one you are currently on.
• Homebrew - These are pieces of software made at home by anybody. Some of it is made professionally and some of it is made by some random person with barely and knowledge on such things. Some 'Homebrew' software is briliant, some of the other pieces of homebrew are not so good. This is availible freely on many different websites around the net and is perfectly legal to download and play.
• ISO/CSO - These are images of retail games which again, are availible all over the net. These are ILLEGAL to download as it is piracy. On that note i will stop talking about them as it is against forum rules.
• XMB - This is the main menu of the psp, when you turn on your system, this is what you are greeted with. It is where you launch your games, movies and music from, and change all your settings. It Stands for 'Xross Media Bar.'
• UMD - This is the disc that your games come on. It stands for 'Universal Media Disc' Although it is in no way Universal as the PSP Is the only system which uses it.
• POPS - This is 'Playstation One Portable System,' this means that you can paly PS1 games on your PSP as long as you have 'posloader' correctly installed. Unfortunately we can't tell you any more about where to get the ps1 games or anything as again, this is piracy.
• EBOOT - When you download a Firmware update, (Custom Or Official), An OFFICIAL game demo or SOME Homebrew, then you will get a file named 'EBOOT.PBP.' It is kind of the psp,s version of a RAR Archive or a ZIP folder. Instead of you having to download a folder and make sure that you copy ever file in the folder to the correct location, you get one file which makes it alot harder to mess up.
• Exploit - This is what allows us to run Homebrew when on CFW. When under Firmware 3.5, you can use an exploit to downgrade the firmware of your psp instead of using a Pandoras Battery and MMS.
• Flash - You may be familiar with 'Adobe Flash' However this is completely different. The flash memory is where all the information needed for the PSP to run is held, it also holds all your setting's. The main flash folder to be modified by people as it is the folder which contains the most part of the information, (such as gameboots and the XMB waves). However, if you do not know what you are doing then you will most likely brick your psp.
• Brick - This is common amongst the psp world. It commonly happens when people run a corrupt firmware update file or when trying to modify flash themes and such. What happens is, you delete (or modify to an extent that the psp can no longer recognise) a critical file in one of the flash files. Usually, if you are already on CFW and are trying to install a Custom Flash theme, then it will probably only be a 'semi-brick' and you will be able to fix it by entering the recovery menu and replacing any file which you modified.
• Recovery Menu - The Recovery menu is a special menu which you can access once you have CFW. To open it up you must completely turn off your psp and then turn it back on again, however, to access the recovery menu you must hold the 'R Trigger' while you turn it on. This menu has some options such as allowing access to the flash files, allowsing you to enable (or disable) plugins and features. And change some other 'settings' which you normally can't change.
• TA-*** - This is just the code used to identify which motherboard you have. The eariler ones can be hacked but the latest ones cant.
  (*** is substitued for numbers)
• DevHook - This is a Firmware emulator, nowadays it is not very common to find somone who still uses this as its purpose was to allow the user to keep their psp at FW 1.5 (So that they could run Homebrew) but still run games designed for a higher FW. It would fool the game into thinking your psp was running the correct firmware.
• KXploit - This is an Exploit which only works with a firmware of 1.5 or below. (Again, it will be rare to hear someone who uses this or to hear this in forums.) It tricks the psp by making it run an "Empty" EBOOT which contains no code for the Homebrew, just valid metadata. This EBOOT is held in a folder which includes a '%' in the name and the actual code for the application is held in a folder named identically just without the %. The psp tries to run the "Empty" EBOOT and accedentally runs the wrong folder, so in turn, it runs the homebrew code by mistake.
• ModChip - Currently there is only one Modchip availible for the psp and chances are, there will only ever be one. This is classed as a "Hardmod." The Modchip availible for the psp is called the "Undiluted Platinum." All it does is add a second flash memory to the psp allowing for two different firmwares to be installed. (Usually 1.5 for Homebrew and the latest firmware for UMD Games.) You can also backup your flash memory using this chip so it can save you if you brick your psp by running a dodgy firmware update or modifying the flash.
  NOTE: This Chip CANNOT be installed on any motherboard model after "TA-082".
• Hardmod - Modifying the features of your psp by fitting a 'chip' is called a Hardmod. (See Above.) You Modify the Hardware.
• Softmod - This is the opposite of a hardmod, instead of fitting a chip to the device in order to modify the features, you run code through the system which re-writes the flash and allows you to have CFW. You Modify the Software
• Boot Screen - This is the first screen you see when you turn on your psp. As standard it is waves in the background with "Sony Computer Entertainment" Shown in the foreground. You can change this by editing files in flash0.
• Coldboot - Coldboot means to turn the system on (From completely off not from standby.) However in the psp world it is generally used as a different name for the Boot Screen. (See Above)
• Gameboot - This is the screen shown when you launch a game. It is the first screen you see after the XMB (Or boot screen if you have your psp set-up to auto launch a game.) Again, you can modify this from flash0.
• Boot Sound - This is the sound you hear before you reach the XMB when you turn on your psp. Again, these can be changed by modifying a file in your flash.
• Root - The root of the memory stick is what you might call the 'summary' or the 'home page' it is the first thing you see when you open your memory card on the computer. Go to My Computer>*Your Memory Card*>**THIS IS THE ROOT**

• DaX - This is Short for "Dark AleX." He is one of the main people in the psp community. He is the person who is "In Charge" of m33 firmwares. He was also in charge of some of the older custom firmwares which have now stopped.

If Anybody notices and incorrect information within this, please notify me and i will correct it as soon as i can. Also, if you notice anything here which i have missed out, then notify me and i will add it in.

Thanks
psplayer

[mikesta99]

Nice one...

Youll probobly have to add a lot of things to this later on.

[psplayer]

Yeah. I added all the stuff i could think of and i had a look around for other Jargon that i had forgotten about... (To try and have as much content in it as possible...)

P.S. Thanks

[mikesta99]

haha love the new avatar

and why you calling it Jargon ??

[psplayer]

Cos people who dont understand it would call it Jargon... (I also thought it sounded cooler than other stuff

[The Juggler]

Hey Graeme... great posting... thank you for this... I appreciate the time and effort you put into it and I bet it will be of use to many newbies.

Thread stickied.

[psplayer]

I bet it will be of use to many neebies.

What are they then

hehe

[mikesta99]

haha neebies

[The Juggler]

ok ok newbies.... a neebie a baby bumble bee for someone with a speech defect

[High Roller]

GREAT POSTING G!!!

Keep it up Mr player