A while back, I had blogged about how it was possible to downgrade the PSP firmware. Now why would you want to do that? Well, the v1.5 firmware is the only firmware that permits running “homebrew” applications on the PSP without restrictions. Sony soon after realizing that, started to release firmware updates with security that would block such features. To achieve wide adoption, Sony would require game publishers to force people to upgrade their firmware (with an updater on the UMD) before they could the game. So you see the dilemna.

The hackers community and Sony have then been playing a game of cat and mouse. Hackers trying to find ways to run homebrew applications on newer firmware (including the ability to downgrade back to a v1.5 firmware) and Sony blocking them. A month ago, Sony was the clear winner with no way to downgrade from their latest firmware (2.6) back to 1.5. But the Hackers have found ways. Not only is it now possible to downgrade, it is also possible to run most homebrews (some kernel access is still restricted) without downgrading.

Yesterday, I was able to run the infamous Super Nintendo Emulator (instructions here) on my brother in law’s 2.6 PSP with the latest eloader from fajita. I was also able to downgrade it to a v1.5 successfully (without bricking it) and upgrade it back to 2.6 using a game firmware update.

Now if you think this is cool, something else is even cooler. The devhook app was released a few weeks ago and allows you to emulate firmware in software! So basically, you can emulate a v2.5 firmware on a v1.5 PSP without needing to upgrade – all in software! I tried it on my PSP, and it works like a charm (though a little slow) including the web browser capability. A few days ago, Sony released firmware v2.71, where the firmware is apparently now encrypted. Well in a matter of hours, some dude had the encryption cracked and the new firmware was runnable on devHook. Yes sir re bob.

All this geeky talk just to show that you don’t need tons of marketing to make a product successful. Just let the hackers community act.