…sigh…

Figure 1 - My PSP, ready for its new motherboard from the dark side.

What was a warranty voider to do?  After some research, I had found out how to tell if a PSP is hackable. There is a great forum post over on pspmod.com containing a guide on how to determine the hackability of your PSP.  I confirmed that my PSP contained the thus far unhackable TA-88v3 motherboard. I decided the simplest route would be to purchase a PSP identified as hackable from eBay, and swap out the motherboard with mine.  Upon completion, I would sell the eBay purchased PSP back on eBay with the disclaimer that the motherboard had been replaced.  It was a flawless plan, except that the aforementioned guide required knowing a lot of information about the PSP before purchasing it. I was not looking forward to Q & A sessions with many sellers asking for serial numbers and box codes.

There was, however, a simpler solution.  The guide also mentioned confirmed motherboards in certain limited edition PSPs:

Daxter Limited Edition Pack (TA-85v2/3.80 OFW)(CONFIRMED)
God of War Limited Edition Pack (TA-88v2/3.95 OFW)(CONFIRMED)
Madden 09 Limited Edition Pack (TA-88v2/3.95 OFW & TA-88v3/4.01 OFW)(CONFIRMED)
Star Wars Darth Vader Edition Pack(TA-85v2)
*Note – OFW stands for “Official Firmware”

I decided to go with the TA-85v2 motherboard. Why?  No technical reason.  I just felt that my PSP could use a little dark side with the Star Wars Darth Vader Edition PSP.  I was victorious in my online auction and was ready to swap motherboards.

DISCLAIMER: Any action you take past this point is at your own risk.  This procedure will void your PSP’s warranty and with all such procedures, carries the risk that you might damage your PSP or render it inoperable.  By continuing, you agree that if your PSP is damaged in any way, I will not be held responsible.  2Lincolns in no way condones the illegal use of ROMs or pirated software.

I was ready to swap the motherboard, except for one thing: I had no idea how to do it.  I looked for tutorials and videos all over the internet and could find bits and pieces, but nothing very comprehensive, so I decided to tackle it myself and make this tutorial. The scope of this post is limited to the procedure to replace the motherboard in a PSP, so I will not be discussing loading custom firmware or using a Pandora battery here.  Perhaps I will go over these topics in a future post.  To swap out the PSP motherboard you’ll need the following:

• Small phillips head screwdriver
• Small flat head screwdriver
• Razor blade
• Tweezers
• Electrical tape
• Microfiber cloth (for removing dust from screen upon reassembly)
• Patience and mad skills

The first step is to remove the battery cover and identify the 7 screws you need to remove. Only six screws will be visible until you remove the warranty sticker, which, if you have read it, will void your warranty.  This may be confusing for some, but if you’re still with me, read on.  I would suggest removing the warranty sticker gently with a razor blade.  I found this to be the easiest way to remove it without damaging other components.  I’ve noted the location of screws in the 3 images below (Figures 2-4, click to enlarge).

Once you have the 7 screws removed, opening up the PSP is quite easy.  Flip the PSP over so the screen is facing up and using your hands, slowly work the top cover off. It should come off rather effortlessly, so if it doesn’t, check to ensure you’ve removed all 7 screws.  When you get the cover off, you’ll be presented with all the guts and glory that make up your PSP (Figure 5).

Figure 5 - PSP! Hide your shame!!!

Take some time at this point to examine where everything is and how the system is put together.  The more comfortable you are with it, the easier it will be.  The next step is to remove the home button bar and the LCD screen. Take note that when I say remove, I mean remove from their seated positions.  Both are still connected to the motherboard with ribbon cables and fully removing them at this point could damage them, the cables, or the motherboard.

As we take each of these two pieces from their seated positions, we will simply be rotating them downwards, like opening a centerfold book we want to read sideways for some reason.  Remember to only rotate them on this axis and to not move them away from the PSP.

To unseat the home button bar, take a small flat head screwdriver and use it to gently pry it up, starting on the left side. The best way to do this is to put the screwdriver in between the black tabs on the left side of the bar (Figure 6).  This will not take much force.  Repeat the process on the right side of the home button bar and rotate the bar down (Figure 7).

Now that the home button bar has been unseated and rotated downward, we can do the same to the LCD.  You should be able to unseat the LCD by using your hands and gently lifting it from the sides, though you may have to do a little prying with the small flat head screwdriver. The LCD was mostly being held in place by the home button bar, so it should lift pretty easily.  Rotate it downwards as you did the home button bar.  Be sure not to scratch the LCD’s surface, and do your best to ensure it remains protected from scratches, fingerprints, and salsa.  I do not recommend eating chips and salsa when performing this procedure. I am not speaking from experience…shut up.

Figure 8 - Click to enlarge. You're gonna need it.

Now comes the tricky part.  This is where the patience and mad skills come in. There are a number of things that need to be disconnected or removed prior to removing the motherboard (Figure 8).  Some of the components are connected with delicate ribbon cables that can be tricky to disconnect. Most of these have a small brown lever clasping them in that you can lift with tweezers or a razor blade and gently pull the cable out.  The UMD drive cable employs a different method, with two tabs on either side of the cable that need to be moved to release the cable.  The smallest of the 3 LCD cables is the trickiest one, and I have yet to figure out a good method of removing it, save being very, very careful.

The WLan cable can simply be pulled up gently with tweezers as it is just plugged into the motherboard.  The power cable can be removed by rocking it left to right with tweezers while pulling it out.  The right battery will also need to be removed to remove the motherboard, though take care so you don’t break off the plastic tab holding it in like I did.  If you do break the tab, that’s why I told you to have electrical tape handy.  Be sure to set the battery away from your screws as it is magnetic. Once you have everything disconnected, take out the two screws holding in the left and right triggers.  Take care to remember how they go back together.

Figure 9 - Pandora battery and Magic Memory Stick, ready to install CFW.

Believe it or not, there is only one screw holding the motherboard in, located down by the analog stick. Once you’ve removed this screw, you can gently lift the left controls up and left and out of your way.  Remember, they are still connected to the left trigger, so do not fully remove them. Once you have the controls out of the way, you can begin to remove the motherboard.  Take your time as it can be tricky to get out, but should not take much force.  The USB-B port at the top of the PSP is part of the motherboard, so you’re going to want to lift the motherboard out from the bottom left. Once you have lifted it up some, pull it back towards you and you should get it out with ease.

Before you put your new motherboard in, take note of anything underneath it that might get caught, cables that need to be reattached, and the general layout of things. Especially make sure the memory card door is able to open and close with ease at each stage of assembly as it can tend to get caught.  Seat the motherboard by getting the USB-B port back into the chasis first and going from there.  Reattach and reassemble everything in the reverse order and you’re all done!

Figure 10 - CFW 5.00 M33-6 installed.

As I said before, the scope of this post is limited to the motherboard replacement.  That does not, however, mean that I won’t show you what I did after having a fully hackable PSP!  Using a Pandora battery and magic memory stick (Figure 9), I installed Dark Alex’s custom firmware (CFW) version 5.00 M33-6 (Figure 10). This firmware allows you to install homebrew applications on your PSP and still access the PlayStation Store.  You can purchase a premade Magic Memory Stick and Pandora battery (using the link above), or you can make them yourself by finding one of the many tutorials online. Note that not all PSPs are cabable of creating Pandora batteries.  The PSP hackability guide I provided at the beginning of this post has more on that.

What is the first homebrew application I installed after hacking my PSP you ask?  Was there any question?  As you can see in Figure 11, I didn’t hesitate to get The Legend of Zelda up and running on the NesterJ NES Emulator version 1.11. Remember, law abiding internet gnomes, to legally download a ROM, you must own the game (as the picture shows I clearly do) or delete the ROM within 24 hours of download.  My already beloved PSP has now been taken to the next level.  You know, if the next level is playing a game released in 1987 on a video game system released in 2005.

Figure 11 - Hard work pays off. If you'll excuse me, I've got some Triforce pieces to collect. (The lines on the screen are from the camera)

Let me know what you think of this tutorial in the comments and feel free to link to it.

Happy modding!

Figure 1 - Progress, but weeks from portable nostalgia. (Click to enlarge)

I’ve decided to update the site with a couple of things that have been occupying my time, leading to less frequent posts. I became interested awhile back in homemade portable video game systems thanks to the very talented Ben Heckendorn. For my birthday back in August, I received quite possibly one of the greatest gifts ever: a Dremel.

So I broke out the soldering iron and began working on a portable, handheld, Nintendo Entertainment System that would accept NES cartridges. For the portable community, yes, this is a NOAC (NES-On-A-Chip) build. I haven’t yet named my portable, but work is coming along nicely. When completed, I will post a full build log with pictures and descriptions, and most likely a demo video. For now, here is a picture of the front of the portable (paint finished) with the controls and screen loosely set in for mock-up purposes. Pay no attention to the fact that the controls aren’t seated properly as there’s nothing holding them in.  They’re just set in there for the picture.  Enjoy!

The case is a frankencase combination of Polycase’s AG-85 enclosure, the plastic from an NES controller, and the screen bezel from a PSOne screen.  It took about 7,283 coats of Bondo and sanding, plus some precision painting to get what you see here, but this is indeed handmade.  Check back for more updates as I provide them!