I hinted at getting a 3rd PSP that needed flashing when I flashed PSP #2. This PSP was a little different.

This PSP was firmware version 3.11. PSP firmwares 3.10-3.50 are able to be downgraded using the old methods. Unfortunately, these methods require a legit Lumines UMD. How lame is that?

So, I went with the Pandora method, the same as I did with PSP #2. This time it was really fast (as these things usually are 2nd time around). About 20 minutes from start to finish, not including wait times for the battery to charge to 50% and 75%, which are the amounts required for 1.50 downgrading and 3.52 M33 updates, respectively.

Piece of crumb cake.

On a side note, I just read that there won’t be a firmware update for the BenQ 360 won’t be out until at LEAST mid-late October

My buddy Eric with the BenQ 360 left today, and there was still no BenQ firmware available yet. So, I traded him my Samsung ms28 for his BenQ, which means two things.

First, I don’t have a flashed 360. That means I won’t be playing 360 too much until it’s done. Except for, of course, Halo 3.

Second, which I just realized, I now have one of the Premium 360s with the HDMI ports. How awesome is that?

And now, we play the waiting game.

I finished the PSP I was working on, had to use some *cough* questionable tactics to get it out the door.

The PSP was firmware version 3.51, I used these guides to downgrade from 3.51 to 1.50. There was a slight hangup, when making a “magic memory stick”, I had to put my PSP in 1.5 kernel mode, else it wouldn’t work. I backed up the battery eeprom, then made it a pandora aka “magic battery”. The flashing went smoothly, no problems.

Afterwards I returned the battery back to “original” mode, so it would work again. I had to load the PSP with the battery removed, go to the Pandora Battery creator app, insert the battery, press L+R to write FROM the eeprom, reset. Then load the PSP with the battery removed again, go to the Pandora Battery creator app, insert the battery, press square ([]), reset, and the battery was good as new.

I then downloaded and flashed with the latest hacked firmware that allows playing backups and PSone games: 3.52 M33. It went really smoothly. I returned the PSP to its rightful owner, all’s well that ends well ;). The whole process took me about 2 hours.

I have PSP #3 in my possession for flashing, that should be happening soon. I anticipate the process will be similar, should only take about a half hour this time.

So I flashed a friend of a friend’s 360, he had a Samsung ms28. So that makes 10 Samsungs, 1 Hitachi.

My buddy Eric is here for awhile, so he bought a new 360. Turns out it’s a BenQ:

BenQ is the newest DVD drive for the 360, so the modified firmwares are not yet ready, but they are currently in development. Hopefully soon

My camera is STILL broke… and now I have a Wii mod waiting on a new camera. So, I decided I’m going to buy a Canon EOS 400D, AKA the Digital Rebel XTi. Now, to look for a deal.

Also thinking about switching my photo gallery (uses gallery2) to using flickr. I like how I can upload the images at full size without downsampling (and not worrying that each one is 3MB+), but it doesn’t make it convenient to export from there, or download packs of the original photos.