As many of you may no NEO Flash is holding a homebrew competition on their website. Two entries there, one under the game and one under the apps categories are made by dev\’s I know personally, who are definately more than worthy of recieving the prize. The first, Ahman, entered under the APP category with his brilliant homebrew iR Shell is arguably one of the best programmers for the PSP, and his shelli s nothing short of brilliant. Same goes for AnonymousTipster, who is entered under the Game category for his homebrew ThrottleX which is a very nice 3D game with great physics! So please, I encourage all users of this site to go out and vote for these two programmers, they more than deserve it!

Here is the link to the poll for PSP Apps division:
http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php/board,74.0.html

Here is the link to the poll for the PSP Games division:
http://www.neoflash.com/forum/index.php/topic,3048.0.html

NOTE: You must be a registered user, its very simple to become one however. 

The downloads have been fixed

Looks like we once again have another HUGE development on the PSP Scene, it sure is making for one hell of a July! Dark_AleX, the amazing PSP Dev/Hacker and author of such programs as the PRX Decrypter, DAX zISO Loader, and of course the Downdaters has done it yet again. Today hes given us the very first custom firmware on the PSP. Though he considers it only a Proof-of-Concept, I personally think it still has very practical applications. Below is the information from the readme:

Custom Firmware – The proof of concept by Dark_AleX

There has been lately some discussion about if custom firmware in the psp are posible
(note: custom in the sense of writing our own executable code in the system, and not only data
like fonts, videos,…)

Even a lot of developers doubt that this is possible due to the protections in the psp.
Well, i\’m here with this simple proof of concept to show the contrary

Instructions:
(Note: this thing only works for 1.50)

- Copy the PSP folder to the root of your memstick.
- Execute the program "Custom Firmware – The proof of concept"
It will write to the flash some executable files.

Now you are done.

This program has ben tested on my psp. However, as all programs that write to the flash, there is
always some risk of bricking the psp. Use it at your own risk.
IMPORTANT (to avoid confussion): the program includes a file called vshmain.prx. This file is
NOT of Sony, it comes from me, the source of everything is released.

The features of this custom firmware – proof of concept are:

- Execution of normal pbp\’s (1.00 ones, no-kxploited)
- Posibility of hiding corrupt icons. (note: by default it\’s not enabled, look at the file
/PSP/SYSTEM/config.txt to see how to enable it)
- Posibility of skipping the SCE logo at the startup. (and in this way avoid the annoying auto-execution
of the UMD). Like the previous one, this is not enabled by default.
- "Recovery mode:". If you keep R pressed while starting the psp, it will enter in "Recovery mode".
Recovery mode is not more than a simple application that will let you to use the usb, and execute a
program under ms0:/PSP/GAME/UPDATE/EBOOT.PBP, that could be, for example, a sony updater or the
1.50 -> 1.00 downdater.

This would allow to recover potential bricks caused by the writing of bad fonts/videos/sounds… to
the flash.
(Note that this wouldn\’t allow to recover critical things like the overwriting of critical prx\’s)

- Autoexecution of a program at the startup. See the configuration file at /PSP/SYSTEM/config.txt
to see how to use it.

Yep, the time has finally come folks. I understand this is a few days late, but I just got back home and have internet access for the first time since I wrote the previous article. Looks like the info from my article was right on cue, and we got to see a working beta downgrader not long after all the bricking paranoia. Soon after that, we saw a FINAL version, which pretty much guarantees a 100% success rate. Anyways, I\’m happy everything turned out the way it did, and we at PSPBrew are prepared to take on the flood of noobies bound to come from this. To get to the point, here is an excellent .exe installer which will put all the required files perfectly on your PSP and has the instructions included with the installer. I dont feel like writing a novel about this so I will just throw you guys the links to the easy installers:

http://www.7ech.com/blog/PSP_Downloads.html

or

http://psp.xtrusion.es/content/descargas.htm

Welcome everyone to "One Day Later" an article chronicling the events that rocked the PSP Scene from 06/28/06 to 06/29/06. In this article I will review all the ins and outs of the new exploit, the truth behind DarK_AleX\’s Downdater, the real culprit behind epidemic of bricked PSPs, and of course the most important part of all – The information you will learn tomorrow… TODAY!

What We Know

Well, it has been an eventful 24 hours here on the PSP Scene, with some developments that can be considered nothing less than extraordinary. We started yesterday on Wednesday June 28th, 2006 with hitchhikr releasing his proof-of-concept of kernel memory access on a 2.5 or 2.6 PSP. Without a doubt the biggest exploit since the GTA eLoader, immediately upon its release several devs took to work. Some of the biggest names in PSP Homebrew took their crack at making a practical application of the brand new exploit, including DarK_AleX, Fanjita, Yoshi, Mathieulh, and 0okm. The first to note any progress was Fanjita, releasing a very early attempt at using the newfound exploit. Below is the exact quote of the release from PSPUpdates, followed by an exact quote of their "exclusive" email from Fanjita:

Update #1: Fanjita has released the "source" of his work so far today on this newly discovered exploit. If you would like to take a look at it and continue investigating where he left off for today, have a look!
Only for v2.5 / v2.6.

Based on Proof of Concept code by Hitchhikr / Neural.

Diags: Writes a log of operations to ms0:/GTALOG.TXT.
If LoadModule fails, writes the error code to ms0:/failload.trc.
If StartModule fails, writes the error code to ms0:/failstart.trc.

Check out the included readme for more info! (Thanks for the tip, gangsta_psp!)

Download: [Fanjita\'s Exploit Source - Day 1]

Update #2: Fanjita has taken a moment to respond to some of the many questions being asked in our forums regarding the update above and his "source":

Rumour clear-up time : this was posted in the pspdev IRC, so that people who know what they\’re doing can play with it if they want. I don\’t mind it being spread around, but if you don\’t understand how sceKernelLoad* apply security checks, then it\’s probably not for you.

It\’s work-in-progress, it\’s not an eLoader beta, it\’s just a more convenient way of experimenting with the exploit (maybe), and also an effort to test some in-RAM hacks to remove some security checks.

It doesn\’t seem to work at the moment, and the main thing that needs to be done is to investigate why – presumably, there\’s a problem with the format of the ELFs being loaded.

Kernel.elf is just an arbitrary ELF – nothing I\’ve tried so far has worked, feel free to try your own.

The source that\’s given is just the source of the function that\’s attempting to do stuff with the exploit – it doesn\’t show any of the exploit code, and is not a complete app in its own right.

He also went on to say that the main focus right now is to replicate a "nokxploit functionality" making 2.50/2.60 PSP\’s behave the same way that 1.0 PSP\’s do in regards to homebrew. He says that a "kernel eLoader" would be possible but more cumbersome than a nokxploit approach.

We will be debunking his statements later on in the article, but for now we will proceed to the next set of releases that came from the exploit, the ones from none other than the man behind the Downdater, DarK_AleX. He started all of us off by releasing the first real progress in the form of his PRXDecryptor TEST for Firmware v2.6 (though it was only partially effective). It was after this release however, that the real fun began. At around 9:30 PM on 06/28/06 DarK_AleX released the first version of his now infamous "Downdater". Before continuing on, I suggest everyone read DarK_AleX\’s official unmodified post, here.

Without doubt one of the biggest developments that could have possibly came from the new 2.5/2.6 exploit, it was a ray of light for the 2.0+ PSP community. And after a few successful reports early on, the program soon made it to PSPUpdates where it was eagerly accepted (perhaps to eagerly), and the result turned out to be a large number of yep, you guess it, BRICKS. After that things began getting ugly on the PSPUpdates forums, with several angry members blaming their newfound bricks on DarK_AleX and few even taking advantage of the situation. Anyone present on the PSPUpdates forums last night knows what I am talking about. However, later in this post I will reveal the truth behind this frenzy, and clear up who was truely behind the bricking, and who is taking advantage of you.

Regardless of the wonderful flame-job countless users provided for DarK_AleX, he continued his work on the Downdater after teaming up with Yoshi and Mathieulh to releases three subsequent versions of the program, v0.2, v0.3, and v.04. Thanks to Yop2k5 from the PlanetPSP iRC channel\’s bravery (he tested THREE times until ending up with a brick) we are now even closer to a working version.

And last but not least, we have the unconfirmed downgrader by 0okm, the creator of the Die Hard Firmware v1.0 Downgrader. All there currently is in proof of this is three posts in broken English on the PSPUpdates forums.

__________________________________________________

sorry
it is unstable
i test 10pcs FW2.60 PSP
8pcs OK
2pcs have error

i can\’t share it
i don\’t want to have Dark_AleX\’s condition

__________________________________________________

yes
i can confirm can use hitchhikr\’s concept to "downgrader" old ver. hardware PSP with FW2.60 to FW1.00
i was use another method NOT Dark_AleX\’s Downgrader"

"if "ookm" is "0okm"
i can tell you
i try my way with hitchhikr\’s Great Work ^o^

__________________________________________________

i test 10pcs FW2.60 psp
reflash them to FW1.00
8pcs OK
2pcs have error
but never mind
i have multi FW Module ^o^"

__________________________________________________

And with that, we have reviewed EVERYTHING that has happened in the last day concerning this great new exploit, which leaves the fun stuff. In the following section, I will debunk all of the information above (you people deserve the truth!), and give you a little preview of what\’s to come.

What You Don\’t Know

Well, here goes, I\’ll start by talking about the first thing I discussed in this article, Fanjita\’s attempts with Kernel memory and the eLoader. I do not intend to demean his work in any way, but there is definitely some things you eLoader hopeful\’s and downgrader bashers should hear about.

1. The exploit for Kernel access itself is unstable, as noted by one of the developers of the Downdater in the following statements:
• [Mathieulh] because the exploit itself is unstable.
• [Mathieulh] the point is lots of functions f**k up for no reason using the exploit
• [Mathieulh] and we don\’t know why
• [Mathieulh] for instance using printf will freeze the psp in kernal mode
2. The Kernel access exploit doesn\’t allot very much RAM for use on a 2.6 PSP, once again as noted by a Downdater developer:

• [Mathieulh] we also found out that the ammount of available ram on 2.60 using the kernel exploit is very small

Well, now that that is out there, we can move on to the next issue I promised to address – DarK_AleX\’s nickname as the "BRICKER". Last night on the PSPUpdates forums was literally a spam fest in which countless updates members called out DarK_AleX and blamed their bricks on him. This really disappointed me, as I am personally seeing residual effects of this portrayal on my own site, www.pspbrew.com. DarK_AleX is an amazing asset to the PSP Community, and it truly saddens me that some sceners would damage his reputation so severely. Thus, it makes me proud to bring you the TRUTH about the real culprit behind the bricks that resulted from Downdater v0.1! As it turns out, the true culprit behind the devastation was none other than the very first person to try the Downdater, PSPXnax. To lend validity to my case, I interviewed an eyewitness who watched the first KNOWN downgrade play out, and also an exact quote of PSPXnax\’s live confession on ProjectPSP\’s iRC Chat, here it is:

Birdman\’s Eyewitness Account: "we were all excited when the downgrader came out, even us with 1.5\’s were glad to finally be able to accept more members into our family, but of course dark_alex didnt test it so we eventually found someone who was willing and able to test it, PSPXnax. We explained how to set it up and all, and he ran it on his first psp and told us that it ran compleatly fine and the downgrader was a complete success. Well of course when we heard this we were overjoyed but at the same time we were a bit sceptical, but he continued to insure us it worked. he seemed like a very nice trustworth guy, so after pspxanx confirmed we happily went about telling sites all over the internet that pspxnax had tested it and that he claimed it worked fine. After that everyone who followed this knows the horrific events that happend afterwards, mass brickage, people were so eager to have 1.5 that the heard it had been "confirmed" and imeadiatly rushed to test it. so i mean its really for you to decide. dark alex told everyone straight up that it was untested and unconfirmed, but whos the real culprit? the dev or the devil?"

PSPXnax\’s Live Confession: [PSPXNAX] ok guys i admit it i am very sorry i did lie …. but u should also thank me for 2 things …. firstly i gave u a all hope second i gave people the courage to try it on their own psp\’s if i didnt do wt i did we would have never ever have know wheather this downgrader is going to work or not i am very sorry for all those that got their psps bricked but it also did save potentially thouhsands others from getting bricked thank u brave people

As you probably realize, it was not just for so many people to flame DarK_AleX and hurt his reputation. He did not intend to break any PSPs, and ultimately it is not his fault that any were bricked. If you want to blame anyone other than yourself, you now know who to flame, not DarK_AleX, but PSPXnax. This now leads us to the next thing you should be informed of, the people taking advantage of this situation to steal your money. Though there are legit cases out there like Josh\’s PSP from PSP-Hacks, there are also definitely bad ones out there. I will only use one for this article, and you can use your judgment if your considering donating to any other people left with bricks. The example of the day is none other than TMK or TheMarioKarters from PSPUpdates. The user had allegedly "bricked" his PSP with the downgrader and was asking for donations. The sad part was that even if he had tried the downgrader, he had not read the readme at all, because he apparently had a TA-082 PSP. I just want to get this out in the public, and warn people to not donate to scammers like this. Oh, and I also should throw a few things in for good measure. I congratulate the PSPUpdates admins for making people remove the TMK donation links from their sigs, and also that it seems what goes around as TMK\’s PayPal account has apparently been hacked and the money removed. Sweeeeeeet Justice! Anyways, now we can move on to the really fun stuff, what you will be seeing today from the Downdater!

Downdater Beta (coming soon): For this I felt it was best if I just copy/pasted the iRC chat about this topic directly, here it is strait from the devs keyboard to your monitor:

[Mathieulh] and finally we will tomorrow have a beta version to test
[Mathieulh] with sceioremove instead of logical format (to check out wether it works or not)
[mrweeeedbirdman> will the beta have any chanse of wroking?
[Mathieulh] if not we will stick to logical format
[Mathieulh] yes it will
[mrweeeedbirdman> cool
[Mathieulh] but it will also have chances of brickinf
[Mathieulh] bricking*
* fettesbumsen acts like he understands.
[Firey21] pl
[Mathieulh] as it\’s a beta
[Mathieulh] lol
[Firey21] ok
[mrweeeedbirdman> yea i just wondering if its chances are higher than that of .4
[Firey21] beta = 60% sucvess
[mrweeeedbirdman] cool
Firey21] or thats how it should be
[Mathieulh] lol I can\’t really tell, anything can happen on the psp especially with an unstable exploit such as the one we are using

Well folks, that’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed the show and I hope you enjoy the developments that are sure to be coming in the near future!

I encourage all PSP Sites to use this article, feel free to quote me word for word, but make sure you give credit to Terdinglage and of course Birdman for his interview and all of the information he gave me live from the PlanetPSP iRC chat channel! Here is the .doc which hopefully works to copy and paste into most word editors: [link]

 (This screeshot is of the DownHelper when run on a PSP v1.5)

Update 5: Looks like v0.4 produced another brick, so its back to the drawing boards.  Also, 0okm, the dev responsible for the 1.5 to 1.0 downgrader has apparently been able to downgrade 8 of 10 PSPs sucessfully down to v1.0 from v2.5/2.6.  Here are the only quotes of his progress, from the latest quote to the oldest:

"sorry
it is unstable
i test 10pcs FW2.60 PSP
8pcs OK
2pcs have error

i can\’t share it
i don\’t want to have Dark_AleX\’s condition "

"yes
i can confirm can use hitchhikr\’s concept to "downgrader" old ver. hardware PSP with FW2.60 to FW1.00
i was use another method NOT Dark_AleX\’s Downgrader"

"if "ookm" is "0okm"
i can tell you
i try my way with hitchhikr\’s Great Work ^o^

"i test 10pcs FW2.60 psp
reflash them to FW1.00
8pcs OK
2pcs have error
but never mind
i have multi FW Module ^o^"

Update 3:  Looks like DarK_AleX and some other devs have been hard at work debugging the new downgrader, and now they have hit version v0.4!  There is a willing tester ready to try it out, so I will keep you updated and post the video as soon as its available.  In the meantime, check out the changelog for all the versions:

Yep, you heard me, DarK_AleX, the same person behind the NethostFS PRX, USBhostFS ISO playing, Firmware v2.6 Decryption, and of course the infamous DAX zISO Loader has done it again!  While Fanjita has been feebly trying to get his eLoader to be able to operate with kernel memory access, DarK_AleX has blown him out of the water by releasing a downgrader for PSP users with Firmware v2.5 and v2.6!  Currently considered TEST, it is in a state I would call use-at-your-own-risk-with-a-non-sony-extended-warantee.  There have been two successful attempts reported (though with some unknown quirks), and two unsuccesfull ones which were probably the result of negligence in following the rule of making sure the PSP does not have a TA-082 motherboard.  Anyways, I encourage our brave members who have nice solid extended warantees to try this out and report back in our forums with a thorough report, it would be awesome if someone could make a video of their entire attempted downgrade.  Once again however, I will remind you that neither DarK_AleX or PSPBrew assumes any responsibility for a bricking, so make sure you carefully read the entirety of the following readme and follow it to the "t".

Downgrader Test For PSP 2.50/2.60 Firmware
by Dark_AleX

Download link:
http://rapidshare.de/files/24404395/downdater_test.rar.html

Password: I_Use_This_at_My_Own_Risk

To be used at your own risk. It is an UNTESTED software!
This is an *experimental* downgrader for 2.50/2.60. Experimental means here that it has not been tested on a real device, althought it has a theoretical base that it could work.  This software is free and untested, and i\’m not responsable if it causes damages to your PSP. If you use this software, you agree that you are using this program at your own risk and that you won\’t blame the author for that.

"Someone told me that a downgrader for 2.50/2.60 was impossible. How does this work?"
This one uses another more risked technique (and i repeat: untested) than the MPH downgrader. It uses some sony libraries found in the 1.50 updater to perform the most critical steps, the logical format of the flash, and the ipl writing. See technical details for more info about how it works.
This software requires that someone with a 1.50 runs a little program and send you the output so you can init the downdate process. The 1.50 program is TOTALLY safe, it only dumps the flash of a 1.50 user and it also extracts some special prx\’s found in the 1.50 updater.
If you do not wish to have someone with a 1.50 do it for you, you can use the included MS_ROOT folder with the files in it instead.  Inside is the "DOWNDATER" folder you can use with a 2.50/2.60 PSP to test the downgrade.

Instruction for the 1.50 user
—————————–
1) Copy the folders downhelper and downhelper% from the folder 1.50 HELPER folder to
/PSP/GAME/ in your memstick.
2) Obtain the 1.50 update EBOOT and put it in /PSP/GAME/UPDATE in your memstick.

Download link:

http://www.psphacks.net/files/PSPFirmwares/1.5/
http://dl.qj.net/PSP-Firmware-1.50-File-(EBOOT)-North-America-PSP/pg/12/fid/163/catid/163

3) Init the downhelper program.
It will dump your flash and some files from the updater eboot to the memstick.
4) After that, the program will exit. You can now delete the updater from /PSP/GAME/UPDATE
5) You\’ll notice that you have a new folder in the root of your memstick called "DOWNDATER".
That\’s the folder you\’ll have to send to a 2.50/2.60 to let him test the downgrade.

Instructions for the 2.50/2.60 user
———————————–
1) Copy the folder the DOWNGRADER/2.50/DOWNDATERTEST if you have 2.50
or DOWNGRADER/2.60/DOWNDATERTEST if you have 2.60 to /PSP/GAME/ in your memstick
2) Wait someone with 1.50 to pass you a folder called DOWNDATER and copy it to the root of your memstick.
3) Init GTA and the GTA Loader
4) In the GTA Loader menu, choose the downdater test. WARNING: the program won\’t output any display
and any warnings, it will init the downgrader process inmediatelly.
5) You\’ll see the your memstick flashing. That means that your PSP is being flashed from the memstick.
You won\’t see any type of output in the screen (this is for safety). When the memstick finishes of
flashing, WAIT at least a minute, and then reinit your PSP by holding the power button.
6) That\’s all. If all went right, you\’ll have 1.50. If it went less good, you\’ll still have
 2.50/2.60. If all went wrong, you\’ll have a broken PSP (except in the case you have
the mod-chip) Remember that you have accepted that risk.

Technical details
——————
This program performs the following operations.
- It loads the ipl_update.prx and lflash_fatfmt.prx from the 1.50 updater.
- It performs a logical format of the flash0 partition using the function
  sceLflashFatfmtStartFatfmt found in the lflash_fatfmt.prx
- It writes a dump of the 1.50 flash0 to the flash0.
- It writes the Initial Program Loader (Ipl) using the functions sceIplUpdateClearIpl
  and sceIplUpdateSetIpl from the ipl_update.prx module. The ipl is embedded in that module.
Other considerations:
——————–
- Users with TA-082 psp\’s shouldn try this. Also, it may be better that at the beginning, only users
with a 2.50/2.60 NOT from factory (they updated from a below firmware) try this. 

Update 3: Dark_AleX has released a PRXDecrypter Test For PSP 2.6 today, so it looks like we may be seeing a v2.6 DevHook soon, props go out to AleX for his fast work!

---

Update 2: Once again we have an update as to Fanjita\’s progress, and it looks like he will be going for a 1.0 approach to homebrew.

Fanjita has taken a moment to respond to some of the many questions being asked in our forums regarding the update above and his "source":

Rumour clear-up time : this was posted in the pspdev IRC, so that people who know what they\’re doing can play with it if they want. I don\’t mind it being spread around, but if you don\’t understand how sceKernelLoad* apply security checks, then it\’s probably not for you.

It\’s work-in-progress, it\’s not an eLoader beta, it\’s just a more convenient way of experimenting with the exploit (maybe), and also an effort to test some in-RAM hacks to remove some security checks.

It doesn\’t seem to work at the moment, and the main thing that needs to be done is to investigate why – presumably, there\’s a problem with the format of the ELFs being loaded.

Kernel.elf is just an arbitrary ELF – nothing I\’ve tried so far has worked, feel free to try your own.

The source that\’s given is just the source of the function that\’s attempting to do stuff with the exploit – it doesn\’t show any of the exploit code, and is not a complete app in its own right.

He also went on to say that the main focus right now is to replicate a "nokxploit functionality" making 2.50/2.60 PSP\’s behave the same way that 1.0 PSP\’s do in regards to homebrew. He says that a "kernel eLoader" would be possible but more cumbersome than a nokxploit approach.

---

UPDATE 1: Once again, right from PSPUpdates is some information on Fanjita\’s progress.

Fanjita has released the "source" of his work so far today on this newly discovered exploit. If you would like to take a look at it and continue investigating where he left off for today, have a look!
Only for v2.5 / v2.6.

Based on Proof of Concept code by Hitchhikr / Neural.

Function : Attempts to load ms0:/kernel.elf using sceLoadModule/sceStartModule when in kernel mode, after writing a NOP to 0×8801A5B4.

Diags: Writes a log of operations to ms0:/GTALOG.TXT.
If LoadModule fails, writes the error code to ms0:/failload.trc.
If StartModule fails, writes the error code to ms0:/failstart.trc.

---

UPDATE: We have some new reports on this startling development, and here they are, right from PSPUpdates talk w/ Fanjita:

"Speaking of eLoader, Fanjita is already working with hitchhikr on incorporating this new exploit into an easily executable means via eLoader. After a brief chat with Fanjita, he\’s told us that you can expect some generic application for developers to hopefully be released in the next 24 hours. It will take a bit longer before something useable for non-devs will be released.

The exploit takes advantage of an added security check in 2.50/2.60 Firmware for sceKernelLoadExec, which is responsible for loading EBOOTs, but Sony also accidentally added an overflow bug, which means this exploit will not work with 2.0 and 2.01 Firmware.

The article goes on to suggest people not to update their PSPs just yet, and frankly I agree, as we do not know how long it will take, if ever that this is implemented in a user form.

---

There has been what I would consider a HUGE development on the PSP scene today, as Hitchhikr has released a new app for the PSP, a Kernel Memory Dumper for v2.6.  Here\’s what the folks at ps2nfo had to say:

Quote:

Yep, you heard right, we are now VERY close to fully unlocking v2.6- PSPs and also to getting firmware v2.6 for use with devhook on the PSP. Now, all thats left to do is cross your fingers and wait, because the PSP scene may once again be taking on a large aquisition of noobs.

Welcome to the new and improved PSPBrew.com.  Our forums have just been completely revamped in favor of a more clean and coherent format, and we hope everyone likes the new layout.  As for the site, keep checking in as we will be putting in some major new features, including a new BrewPack – The irShell BrewPack Generator.  Plus, soon all of the homebrew in our current BrewPack! Beta will come preloaded with tips and tricks built into their launch image on the XMB (the PSP dashboard).  Hopefully I will get all of these new features integrated in the coming weeks, but until then be sure to check  out and contribute to our new forums!  You can start by voting on the layout at this [link]

UPDATE 2:  Several bug fixes have came out and DevHook is now on v0.41d.  For those that want the most updated FULL version, heres a download link: http://rapidshare.de/files/23636317/DevHook_v.41d.rar.htm 

UPDATE: A new version of DevHook has been released, v0.41a. According to Booster, the version brings a few fixes, sadly not 333 MHz wifi.

• Various fixes when browsing ISOs from the XMB with Home + L/R in ANYUMD mode – 2.6 ISOs also now can be read from the XMB.
• Fixed a bug which wouldnt restore wallpaper properly after returning from sleep mode.

Current new PSP titles now compatible/working include:

• Astonishia Story (USA, works- replace the PRX files with 2.5 ones from Street Riders)
• Breath Of Fire 3 (use PGS release, with Save working)
• Bust-A-Move Ghost/Deluxe (EUR, USA- works now without the patch. Press START to quicky bypass the intro hang)
• Cabelas Dangerous Hunts: Ultimate Challenge (USA, works with StarWars BattleFront 2 & Street Riders PRX files)
• Capcom Collection (WiFi works- with 1.5 PRX files renamed)
• Colin McRae Rally 2005 (works CSO\’d)
• Daihoukaijidai IV: Rota Nova
• DJMax Portable (all stages fully working now)
• Dragonballz (WiFi works)
• Eureka Seven (JAP, Save works)
• Exit (USA, works now without the patch)
• EyeShield 21 Portable
• Field Commander (WiFi Infrastucture works)
• FIFA Street 2
• FIFA World Cup 06 (works with StarWars BattleFront 2 PRX files)
• Fight Night (remove update, and delete the .pad file OR compress to CSO format via CiSO v1.00- you can leave it as .cso too, no need to rename back to .iso)
• Genso Suikoden I & II (works with Street Riders PRX files)
• Gottlieb Pinball Classics
• Gradius Portable (now works without the patch)
• GTA: LCS (WiFi Multi-Player works- no errors now from iSO and UMD- remember you\’re not using your flash1 setting, so you\’ll have to make a new connection)
• Infected (USA) UMD (v2.00 working with WiFi and Save)
• Initial D: Street Stage (JAP)
• King Kong (USA)
• Lemmings (EUR)
• Lord of The Rings Tactics (EUR)
• Major League Baseball (working with WiFi and Save using Street Riders PRX files)
• Me And My Katamari (EUR and USA, work with PPF Patch)
• Megaman: Powered Up (WiFi works- you can download maps on-line now)
• Metal Gear Acid 2 (JAP, working with WiFi and Save using Street Riders PRX files)
• Midway Arcade Treasures
• Monster Hunter Freedom (WiFi working)
• Mutajuice (KOR)
• MX vs ATV: Unleashed (with Save working and Sound)
• Naruto Portable (WiFi works)
• NBA 06 (USA) UMD (v2.00 working with WiFi and Save)
• NBA Ballers Rebound (WiFi works)
• NeoPets, Pinball: Hall Of Fame
• Pac Man World 3 (USA) UMD (v2.00 working with Save)
• Piposaru Academia 2 (with Save working)
• Puyo Puyo Fever (EUR, use JAP PRX files)
• Race Driver 2006 (working with SOCOM PRX files)
• Sakura Taisen 1 & 2
• Sangokushi VII (JAP)
• Shanghai (JAP)
• Shin Bokujou Innocent Life (USA) / Harvest Moon (JAP) (works with PPF Patch)
• Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner
• Simple 2500 Series Portable Vol. 1: The Table Game (JAP, replace with PRX files from Eureka Seven)
• Simple 2500 Series Portable Vol. 2: The Tennis (JAP, replace with PRX files from Eureka Seven)
• Simple 2500 Series Portable Vol. 4: The Unou Drill (JAP, replace with PRX files from Eureka Seven)
• Simple 2500 Series Portable Vol. 5: The Block Kuzushi Quest Dragon Kingdom (JAP, replace with PRX files from Eureka Seven)
• SOCOM (New Campaign Mode and Save now work)
• SOCOM FireTeam Bravo (USA) UMD (v2.00 working with WiFi and Save)
• Splinter Cell Essentials (EUR and USA, works- replace the PRX files with 2.5 ones from Street Riders)
• SpongeBob SquarePants (works- replace the PRX files with 2.5 ones from Street Riders and CiSO it)
• Street Fighter Alpha 3 (WiFi and Save working)
• Street Riders
• Street Supremacy (USA, aka Tokyo Extreme Racer JAP WiFi working)
• Talkman (JAP and KOR)
• The Dog Happy Life: Vol 1 (JAP, apply PPF patch)
• The Sims (USA, can be CiSO\’d to 461MB via full compression with Save working)
• Tombraider (works with Worms PRX files)
• Untold Legends: The Warrior\’s Code (use 222 MHz, works past gatekeeper now)
• Vulcanus: Seek And Destroy (KOR)
• World Championship Poker 2 (USA, WiFi and Save working)
• World Championship Poker 2 (USA) UMD (v2.00 working with WiFi and Save)
• World Series Of Poker (USA) UMD (v1.52 working with WiFi and Save)
• World Tour Soccer
• Worms: Open Warfare
• WWE Smackdown! Vs Raw (EUR, USA working via UMD- press START to quicky bypass where it hangs)
• WWE Smackdown! Vs Raw (KOR, iSO working untouched CiSO\’d, needs 2GB MS, run at 333 MHz)

All of the above games tested using the same settings as follows: UMD Select: Select Your iSO File, UMD Mount: ISO ANYUMD (set it), Firmware: 2.50+2.00 (set it), Boot Select: Reboot XMB (set it), UMD Version: 2.XX -> 2.00 (set it, or you will get a 2.6 error), and CPU Clock: 333 MHz / 166 MHz. NOTE: If you want wifi to be enabled, be sure to put your CPU Clock to 222 MHz/111 MHz, instead of the latter option.

Via [ps2nfo]

It looks like the first potential firmware hack has originated for the new PSP Modchip the Undiluted Platinum. A team has been hard at work on a flash replacement for the PSP which they have deemed Epsilon BIOS. In development for some time now, the team had originally been developing the firmware on their hardware modded PSPs with dual firmware, but now, with the announcement of the Undiluted Platinum, their dream can now become a reality for the entire PSP scene. The firmware replacement will essentially be the newest version of the PSP Firmware, minus all security features. They will even be modifying so that you can play any ISO strait from the PSPs Games – Memory Stick menu, just by putting the PSP ISO in a given folder. All homebrew will work fully, with absoulte access to the kernel memory. If this is real, it is truely a monumentous moment for the PSP, and the team deserves a thank you for truely opening up the world of PSP Homebrew. Oh, and sorry this isnt on time, I was away for the weekend.

Epsilon BIOS Team Statement
Epsilon BIOS is a custom flash "replacement" for the Sony PSP which unleashes the full potential of your handheld, allowing you to both use homebrew software and run UMD ISO games from your Memory Stick on the latest firmware releases while also enjoying the impressive features built into the operating system such as RSS feeds, WMA support etc. Currently the 2.71 firmware release is supported – thats right, this means we have cracked the new encryption methods and developed the operating system hacks necessary to allow unsigned code to run, even in kernel mode.

We have been developing Epsilon BIOS for quite some time, but due to the fact that it requires a dual-flash system (one flash is used to bootstrap our code, the other stores the normal PSP firmware) we have been unable to release it – until now, with the appearance of the Undiluted Platinum modchip. Previously we had been using our own custom hardware for development, however about a week ago we received Undiuluted Platinum prototypes and have since modified our code to work with their hardware – its working great, despite a few bugs which we need to iron out before the release. For those who are wondering, yes, you will need an Undiluted Platinum installed in your PSP to take advantage of this.

As mentioned above, using Epsilon BIOS its possible to launch homebrew software from the memory stick, kernel mode access is also available for software which requires this. Both 1.0 and 1.5 style EBOOTs are supported. UMD ISO loading is almost transparent, simply copy your ISO files into a directory on your Memory Stick and they will appear under "Game -> Memory Stick" in the operating system menu alongside your homebrew applications. Simply launch them from here, no need to use a seperate ISO loader application. Furthermore, since the games are actually running on 2.x firmware you dont need to worry about strange loading methods or patching the ISO files – they will simply work, in their original state. We have also developed our own compressed ISO format and will be distributing a packing tool.

We will be releasing a video over the next few days showing Epsilon BIOS in action – keep an eye out for this! As for the actual release, this depends on how soon we can resolve the remaining issues but we hope to have it out within 1-2 weeks.

Via [MaxConsole]