PSP 2.0 Update Finally Released

Joshua Keller writes "The v2.0 firmware update for the Sony PSP is finally out, ending the saga of one of the most-talked about firmware revisions I can remember. The update features a web browser for the PSP and support for AAC files, amongst other improvements."

Comments

In case site gets hammered...

[fizz]

The North American version of the PSP 2.0 firmware update is now available via the wireless Network Update feature on your PSP. As expected, the 16MB update is nearly identical to the Japanese version released last month.

The version 2.0 software brings a mobile web browser, new audio and video format support, photo sharing, custom wallpapers and more. Check out the complete release notes after the jump.

The download and install the update, use your PSP's Network Update feature (Settings > Network Update). Read our PSP Firmware Update Guide if you need further help.

Update: The PSP 2.0 update is now available for direct download.

From the official 2.0 update release notes:

Network
+ An internet browser has been added

Video
+ 4:3 screen mode has been added (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).
+ Go To feature has been added (for UMD Video and UMD Music).
+ A-B Repeat feature has been added (for UMD Video, UMD Music and video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).
+ Audio options have been added (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).
+ MP4 (AVC) has been added as a playable file format (for video saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

Music
+ The combination of SonicStage version 3.2 (or later) and PSP system software 2.0 (or later) has made it possible for music files in ATRAC3 plus format to be transferred to a Memory Stock PRO Duo.
+ MP4 (the audio codec for MP4 format audio files is MPEG-4 AAC) and WAV (Linear PCM) have been added as playable file formats (for music saved on Memory Stick Duo media).

Photo
+ Wallpaper feature has been added.
+ Image transfer feature has been added.
+ TIFF, GIF, PNG and BMP have been added as viewable file formats.

Settings
+ Korean has been added as a system language in [System Settings].
+ [Character Set] has been added in [System Settings].
+ [Theme Settings] has been added.
+ [Internet Browser Start Control] has been added as a security mode in [Security Settings].
+ WPA-PSK (TKIP) has been added as a security mode in [Network Settings].
+ Web address shortcut feature has been added as an input mode for the on-screen keyboard.

(Mirror) Download from here (Mirror)

Don't install it!

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't use firmware 2.0. It disables all ability for homebrew games, emulators, etc.

Re:Don't install it!

[CerebusUS]

This assumes, of course, that you managed to buy a 1.50 PSP and then didn't bother to upgrade it to 1.51 or 1.52.

If you have anything other than a 1.00 (Japanese only) or 1.50 PSP, you already can't run homebrew games and apps.

Re:Don't install it!

[radish]

Unless, of course, you have no interest in such homebrew stuff. Which would include me. I do however like using the web browser from the couch. Whatever floats your boat :)

Re:That's great...

[slashflood]

..but does it run Linux?

Sure.

... via Bochs.

Major bugfix?

[mnemonic_]

Did they fix that one really significant bug? You know, where all the games fucking suck? If not, I hope they fix it soon.

Re:Major bugfix?

[thatguywhoiam]

Did they fix that one really significant bug? You know, where all the games fucking suck? If not, I hope they fix it soon.

Did you try Wipeout Pure? It doesn't suck at all.

Lumines doesn't suck at all.

But the rest mostly suck. Hand it to Sony to release their new handheld platform at the beginning of the slow summer season. Fall looks promising though (as usual).

Re:Major bugfix?

[apoc06]

not all the games suck. just do a little research before you plunk down your money. i recommend lumines and wipeout pure. two AAA quality titles. metal gear acid is good too, but was a lil too involved for me at the time, so i never got into it. its still in its infancy stage, so dont expect god of war on the psp just yet.

one thing i dont see ever praised about the psp is its ability to add content. i guess its always overshadowed by the homebrew explosion, but its something only pc and a few xbox games have taken advantage of. you can add your own music to games, and download expansion packs via internet or usb. a really revolutionary concept for a handheld, and something that needs to become standard in the console market. in theory, since you arent altering the content of the product, developers could release a devkit [for their game] and let users create their own mods [maps, skins, tracks, dungeons, etc...]

converting video on the psp is a breeze surprisingly. at first the tutorials make it seem like such a burden, but once you try it, its relatively simple. mainly you just need to make a folder and a subfolder in the root directory of your memory stick, download and install pspvideo9 http://www.pspvideo9.com/ and youre in business.

you just set it up to with your default video preferences [resolution/frame rate/ sound settings / etc] tell it where you want to store your movies, and the drive your psp connects as, and youre in business. it can queue jobs for you, so you can walk off while it does its business and have it process a whole slew of files for you.

when youre ready to go, you can just press sync, and it will transfer all [or some] of the files over for you. its all a breeze. it has a display for you so that you can see how the space on your memory stick is being used [how much is free, how much space is taken by game saves or music or video] it also has a size calculator so you can alter settings accordingly for a movie if you want a smaller filesize. its not perfect, but all around its a great program.

i wonder when they will rerelease it so that it can utilize some of the newer 2.0 mp4 formats?

Firmwares for game systems??

[bugbeak]

You know you've lost yourself in the console market when you need to get firmware updates for your console, even though you could automatically get it through games you buy. IMO, it just shows that the product will always be incomplete.

And this isn't just for Sony and the PSP.

Re:Start the timers...

[ziggy the zagnut]

Yeah, it used be pretty cool to watch protection get broken,
but the PSP is part of a new generation of DRM. We're
seeing some rules get bent/broken. For example, having
access to the hardware no longer means you 0wn the machine.
Classic techniques like tracing through code from
the beginning of its execution are obsolete.

Another obstacle to opening the device is the (threat of the) law.
When the PSP first came out, the website ps2dev.org quickly
created space for discussion of opening it up. Once 1.5 opened
up though, ps2dev quickly began to squash all discussion of
opening attempts. They referred to "Grey Areas" in their
censorship, claiming their goal of homebrew capability has
been reached. Ps2dev admins prefer to keep it a small, elite community of
1.5 users, as opposed to the more idealistic and democratic
goal of enabling anyone who buys the hardware to be able to
develop and run homebrew.

The only alternative is the piracy underground, whose goals are
different, but whose technology overlaps with the homebrewers.
Because they're illegal, pirates don't have public information
bases and their information is more valuable. This means
any potential developers have to work their way into a
social network, again, reserving homebrew capability for
a dedicated elite.

Currently there are several commerical companies interesting
in opening the PSP to public development (mostly because
they want to sell modchips). They've given dozens of PSPs
to promising openers, but no dice so far. Any attempts
on the hardware, similar to Xbox, for example, would require
high-speed equipment. Observing the PCB of the PSP,
for example, shows signficant tromboning (a technique of inserting extra space into circuit board traces to meet
extremely tight timing requirements) on the PSPs combined
flash/DRAM chip. Also preventitive is the use of a MIPS
core: the pinout of the MIPS processor is unknown, as well
as what IPL code it boots with. It may even included its own
encryption. Several varities of encryption, from crackable to strong (AES128) encryption are used in nearly every part of the
PSP firmware.

The situation is so far from ideal, some promote the "Sony Leak Theory." The hypothesis is that Sony
left open leaks on purpose in older firmware and encouraged
the development of emulators in order to krush its kompetition,
the Nintendo Revolution. Under this theory, Sony is confident
that its DRM will prevent any future homebrew/piracy.

Perhaps the PSP experience will serve as a weathervane for
the future of DRM in consumer products.

Ironically Day after Snes emulator at full speed

[marcybots]

This awesome firware update ironically comes out in america the day after the supernintendo emulator for the PSP is able to run Super metroid and 90% of all super nintendo games at 60 frames per second (full speed) with zero frame skip since it can take advantage of speed hacks. Even final final fantasy III can run at almost full speed (dips slightly when entering combat to 55 frames a second). Talk about bad timing.
      Its much better super nintendo emulation than any five month old system has any right having, I really wish that sony would wise up start issuing its formal stamp of approval to emulators so and certain other homebrew apps so there would be no other legitimate excuse for non-pirates not to upgrade their psp firmware, I would upgrade it in a minute if sony was selling a official genesis emulator made by sega that ran at full speed and cost like ten dollars.

PSP 2.0 and Airport Extreme WPA

[BMonger]

If you have an Airport Extreme base station and cannot get your PSP connected via WPA you need to install the 5.5.1 firmware on your Airport Extreme (possible a "downgrade").

Spent a good while troubleshooting then googling till I arrived at this.

On emultaors and piracy

[Digital_Quartz]

I really wish that sony would wise up start issuing its formal stamp of approval to emulators so and certain other homebrew apps so there would be no other legitimate excuse for non-pirates not to upgrade their psp firmware

Because no one using an emulator is a pirate. All those roms, they ripped themselves from the cartridges.

It's called the DS upgrade.

[Viewsonic]

In all seriousness, it is absolutely amazing to see so many companies who want to get into the handheld market fail so miserably. It is like a voodoo curse on anyone other than Nintendo that even thinks of trying to break into the market. Sony came out with this very fast, slick handheld, and.. then.. nothing! They release it all at different times all over the world basically forcing people to buy the competition. It's like Sony gave up at the last minute or something out of nowhere. Huge shortage of decent games to buy, and even the ones that are worth buying are priced right out of the handhedl market! Have you even seen how much the PSP movies cost?? You can go buy the DVD which is higher quality, tons of extras for around $10-15 at places, or you can buy the PSP version that is lower res, virtually no extras, and costs $30!! Did some marketing goon just show up on launch day and say "Hey, lets set prices for this stuff so no one buys it!!" and they all went "Okay!!"??

Seriously, where is all the sensible PSP marketing? I sometimes wonder if Nintendo plants people into other companies that have any sort of draw and have them derail their products on purpose. It is just UNREAL how bad everyone has failed trying to get into the handheld market.

Re:It's called the DS upgrade.

[radish]

I'd agree with you except for the fact that UMD movies are selling amazingly well. No, I don't know why, and yes, they are a rip off, but hey.

As for failing miserably in general, I really don't think that's the case. As a new entrant into the market they have snapped up a pretty decent share of the market in both Japan and the US. I know my local EB Games has (and sells) more PSP stuff than DS. As for the games being good, I posted here previously that if you go to metacritic and compare DS to PSP you get a considerably higher number (and percentage) of games for the PSP rated highly. Whilst the PSP lineup is certainly not stellar right now (quiet summer season), there are some great games out there - Wipeout, Ridge Racers, Lumines & Mercury are all ones I really like. Others rave about MGA, Twisted Metal, etc. Looking at the currently available DS games, well, only a few really appeal to me at all. Sure there are supposed to be some good ones coming down the line, but they're not here yet.

Europe is still waiting for v1.0

[dascandy]

If they'd just sell the stuff here... we might consider upgrading...

Re:Start the timers...

[Torgo's Pizza]

I'll take you up on that bet. Hackers have just decrypted the EBOOT.PBP today. Just a matter of time now it appears.