[Guide] Pandoras battery and MMSX information

DWG21R · 03-12-2009, 03:14 PM

A Quick History

First, let's open up the box by giving you guys a brief explanation and history of what Pandora's Battery actually is. Pandora's Battery is the product of years of loving development from Team C+D. The first thing you need to know is that it doesn't refer to just a battery - if you read our PSP Homebrew Dictionary, you'll know that Pandora is made up of two things: the Magic Memory Stick and the JigKick Battery.

Pandora's Battery is used to rescue a bricked PSP, and to downgrade the PSP firmware to v1.5 so CFW can be successfully installed. (If you remember from our previous How-To, you'll need to downgrade to FW 1.50 to install CFW on your PSP.)

The rules changed when the PSP Slim came out though, since the lowest downgrade that could be achieved on the model was only to 3.6x. This rendered Pandora obsolete - which is why our Tutorial on how to install custom firmware only showed you how to downgrade until OFW 3.50.

Dark AleX solved this by making Despertar del Cementerio, which not only allows you to downgrade the Slim, but also to install kernel support. Despertar del Cementerio (or DDC for short, sometimes just DC) is effectively the modified form of a Pandora Install.

However, even DDC is not able to unbrick Slim models with the TA-088v3 motherboard, and the PSP Brite. And in case you were wondering, no, your PSP does not need to be bricked to use Pandora.

The JigKick Battery

What is it

So what is a JigKick Battery anyway? If you don't care about technical hoozits and whutzits then you can skip this part. A JigKick Battery is a PSP battery with its serial changed to 0xFFFFFFFF. When the PSP detects this, it will boot the IPL from the Magic Memory Stick instead of the PSP's flash0, unlocking service mode.

You can JigKick a battery through a hardware mod, or a software mod. For a hardware mod, you will need to open up your battery and tinker with the insides. Hardware modding won't be covered in this tutorial.

Your Tools

To make a JigKick Battery through software modding, you'll need a spare battery you won't mind converting, and a PSP. That's it? Of course not. There are rules. First of all you'll need a compatible battery. You can't just use any old battery you can get your hands on. Here's a list of Pandorizable batteries:

Compatible:

Sony PSP-100, 1800mAh, 3.6v
Sony PSP-280, 2200mAh, 3.6v.
Datel Go Max GM100, Reusable Battery Pack
Datel X2, 3600maH
Datel MAX Power, 1800maH, 3.6v

Not compatible:

Sony PSP Slim Battery, 1200mAH, 3.6v, PSP-S110
MEGA Lithium, 2600 mAh, 3.6v
Sony (Fake) PSP-280, 2200mAh, 3.6v
Unknown brand TYP-107, 3600mAh, 3.6v (Gold Letters)
Unknown brand PSP-360, 3600mAh, 3.6v (Silver Letters)

Next you'll also need a PSP that can do the job. Not all models can JigKick a battery. Specifically, those with the TA-085v2 or higher motherboards. That would be the God of War edition PSPs and later models. Also, the battery has to have FW 1.50 or any Custom Firmware installed.

Now, if you have the compatible battery, and the right kind of PSP, then you're good to go. Satisfying these requirements are actually the hard part.

The Magic Memory Stick

What is it

The Magic Memory Stick is simply a converted memory stick that is made to boot the PSP in service mode when used with the JigKick Battery. Because the PSP boots from a specific sector of the Mem Stick, you'll need to use an original Sony Pro Duo to make a Magic Mem Stick. You can make one from a fake mem stick, but you'll likely have issues.

Your tools

Like the JigKick battery, there are certain rules in making an MMS. The first is, you'll need an original Pro Duo Stick (not just a Duo), and it needs to be at least 256 MB, and it must not exceed 4GB. Be sure to back up the files you have in your mem stick, because you'll need to format it to make an MMS.

MMSX: How to install CFW (Custom Firmware) the easy way...
This is the link that you will use to create your MMSX

Unboxing Pandora

To use Pandora's Battery, put your Magic Memory Stick into the PSP, then - don't forget this part - hold L while you insert the JigKick Battery into your PSP.

This screen is not 100% correct on what you will see.

If you did everything correctly, you'll reach a screen that will allow you to do several things, like Installing Custom Firmware, Nand Operations, and viewing hardware info. You can enter service mode again by holding the L button while doing a cold boot (with both the Jigkick and the MMS in your PSP of course).

Source: qj.net