I can't decide, should I buy psp. I read some threads about psp bricking. I understand that this does not happen with sony firmware but it happens with custom firmware. SO how big is the chance that my psp with custom firmware will brick? I really don't want to waste my money.
Is it possible that my psp will brick itself permanently? And I heard about universal unbricker, what is it, can i download it or do I have to pay for it?
CFW (Custom Firmware) PSPs don't just brick on their own, same as OFW (Official Firmware) PSPs.
The only reason CFW PSPs brick is when the user does something wrong when altering the flash, just the same as OFW. The reason you hear about bricks with CFW is because the user knows what to call it, and they know it's a direct result of their own actions.
With OFW, if someone turned their PSP off during an update, then it wouldn't turn on again, we'd call it a brick (And laugh at their stupidity), meanwhile they'd be sitting there thinking "Oh, why won't it turn on? It's not something i did, is it? Let's just send it to Sony to fix it".
So, if you have a CFW PSP then the chance of bricking if you keep to the things you know about are very low. Even then, if you make a backup of your flash0 on your PC, then you will most likely be able tofix most bricks through the recovery menu (This would be a semi-brick)
If you do happen to fully brick (Quite unlikely, unless you're upgrading and your PSP gets turned off. In this respect, the same risk as any OFW user) then yes, you can use a Pandora Battery or Universal Unbricker, essentially they are the same thing, a Battery and a Memory card. With the Pandora Battery the battery redirects the flash access to the memory card, where there are 1.50 firmware files, they are installed to the PSP and then the user reboots to be greeted by an unbricked PSP at the OFW 1.50. The same thing happens with the Universal Unbricker, appart from that 3.71 M33 is installed (This is the latest CFW) instead of 1.50.
You can create either a Pandora Battery or a Universal Unbricker on a CFW PSP (The files needed are free). One thing to note is that the Pandora Battery is basically what Sony uses to unbrick PSPs if you send it to them, appart from here you don't have to pay anything.
PSP, all the way from 1.00 to 5.50 GEN D2 - DS Lite w/ M3DS Real (M3 Sakura v1.34)
PS3 3.01 - iPod Touch 2G 16GB Jailbroken - Xbox 360 60GB - PC, Q6600, 3GB DDR2, GTX260 (216) 896MB
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 23. October 2007 @ 08:13
Let's make it simple...
1st things 1st...
Do you want a PSP? If your answer is yes and you have the dough...go and get it...
Bricking can be caused from flashing firmwares but it's rarer than you think...
A lot of people get to the 'brick' stage by being dumb and other's get it by being just plain unlucky...
The chances of your PSP being bricked if you're flashing correctly are about 1% or less I would say...
I've flashed my PSP like 100 times and not once have I bricked because I make sure I know what I'm doing and hope for the best...
So your odds are very very good...
Fortunately...
If you do happen to brick your PSP...there is a simple downloadable tool which will EASILY help you recover your PSP back to normal and you will always be able to continue gaming...
Universal Unbricker and Pandora's Battery are both Unbricking tools...
You don't have to pay for anything AT ALL, so don't let eBay fool you into thinking you do...
You can download it pretty much anywhere and it's all easy to use...
Hope that answers your questions...
