Which CFW is best for you? [PSP]

[Drageuth]

This was originally posted by Quiji. Due to the rollback, his membership disappeared, so I'm reposting it now to preserve the information. Once you are back, Quiji, if you would like to repost this information, just lemme know through PM and I can delete this thread once you have posted yours. Thanks.

Also, the download files were not saved.

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Decided to make a quick guide/FAQ about different CFW's for the PSP because I have nothing else to do. And this topic can be confusing for a newbie, like it did for me.

This will not go over every CFW ever made, but the most mainstrem CFWs used today to keep it simple.

What is CFW?

• CFW stands for custom firmware, opposed to official firmware released by Sony.
• Once installed, they will allow you to play homebrew, ISOs, install shell replacements, display hacks, and much more, all while enjoying what Sony originally had in the OFW releases. The newer the CFW, the more updated the OFW-features are with it.

What CFWs are available?

• There are two main CFWs out currently: 5.00 M33 and 5.03/5.50 GEN.
• If you are sporting a PSP-2000 TA-088v3 or any PSP 3000, you must use a variant of 5.03 GEN.
• Multiple versions of each are available, all slightly altering the base CFW. Generally, the latest release is the most stable and feature-rich.

Why is the only choice 5.03 GEN for TA-088v3 and 3000s?

• Because 5.00 M33 and 5.50 GEN are installed by hard-modding. That specific model PSP-2000 and 3000's cannot be hard-modded.
• To install the CFW, you have to soft-mod the PSP at a 5.03 OR LOWER CFW. The process is entirely different and the CFW is different as well. 5.03 is more limited in what it can do.
• If your OFW is higher than 5.03, you're fucked. The only hope of homebrew is through Half Byte Loader.

What are the differences between 5.00 M33 and 5.50 GEN?

• 5.50 GEN is much newer than 5.00 M33. M33 was dropped for new updates a couple years ago, while 5.50 GEN was made much more recently.
• 5.50 GEN has more features and compatibility for PSP games.
• 5.50 GEN also has a better VSH Menu which allows you to manage most of everything without going into recovery mode. Especially with the VSH Menu Ultimate+ addon.
• General compatibility for hombrew is better in 5.50 GEN. Most current homebrew is made for 5.50 GEN and not 5.00 M33.
• 5.00 M33-6 is respected for being extremely stable and it accesses the memory card much faster than any other CFW for blistering fast load times.
• From recent third-party updates, both of these CFW can play the most recent PSP games (6.31), so the only difference is the base CFW and what it offers. There's not a lot differentiating them now, so its a matter of personal preference.

Your recommendations?

• For PSPs, a non-TA-088v3 model PSP-2000. The PSP-2000 and 1000 have about the same compatibility list for homebrew, and the PSP-2000 has a much better design and twice as much RAM as the 1000.
• As for CFWs, Prometheus is a must. But as for 5.50 GEN Prometheus-2 or 5.00 M33 Prometheus, its up to you. I prefer 5.50 because of the better recovery menu and selectivity of the VSH menu. Most homebrew is designed for 5.50 GEN, so you will come into compatibility errors if you choose 5.00 M33. M33 is outdated and is more "simple" compared to GEN.

Where can I get these CFWs?

For some reason Megaupload is denying these files to be uploaded. If these links are not allowed, just give me a PM and I'll fix it.


These links do not include the base CFW needed if you have not modded your PSP yet. These are just the add-ons.