I'm new to this and have tried to search but would like some specific answers/links to questions.
1) Are there a list of games that are confirmed that DON'T work if there is NO UMD in the slot?
2) What games still don't work even if there is a UMD in the drive? In other words, are there any games out that aren't compatible with the 3.40 OE firmware?
3) Should I upgrade to 3.51 m33? If so, how would I do this? Do I copy and paste the "PSP" folder over?
I don't know if anyone bothered to make a list of "NO-UMD" games, but as far as I know, all games work with 3.40oe. Some requires a little more tweaking than others.
If you don't have a working game umd, then upgrade to 3.52m33 is your best option. You can do that directly from 3.40oe. Just get the upgrade, follow the instructions in readme.
1) there are attempts at this on various forums, but there are quite a few that don't work without UMD in on 3.40OE
2) I have yet to hear of games not compatible with 3.40OE (even Alien Syndrome which says it needs 3.50 runs on 3.40OE, but this will soon not be the case as there are many games about to come out that will sureley require >3.40 FW)
3) imho yes, the no-UMD in 3.52 m33 is about 99% (only 2 games not working I believe) when running the patched sony np9660 driver
follow the readme is all I can say, it is SO simple