HOWTO: Upgrade PSP firmware 1.50 to 3.03 OE-B
filed in Tutorials on Jan.14, 2007
Caution! – This may brick your PSP if the steps are not followed properly! Please follow all of the instructions carefully, and if it doesn’t work and you brick your PSP, I didnt twist your arm, or hold a gun to your head, so don’t come crying to me.
Step 1:
You will first have to upgrade to 3.02 OE-A then to OE-B before you upgrade to 3.03 OE-B. So the first thing you have to do is download 1 of the following files:
For 1.50 firmware download 3.02 Basic Installer for 1.50
For 2.71SE firmware download 3.02 Basic Installer for 2.71SE
You will not need both files, so download 1 of them. Once you have the installer downloaded to your computer, plug your PSP in and activate USB file transfer mode.
*NOTE* I backed up and formatted my memory card before installing the firmware updates, you may want to do this aswell. You will also have to have atleast 75% of the battery remaining or you will not be able to upgrade.
After activating USB file transfer mode, run the installer, choose the drive your PSP is setup as, and hit next. The installer will do everything for you. You may notice the installer stop at 37%, but let it copy all files, so sit back and relax. Once all the files are copied, exit USB file transfer mode, goto the game menu, access the memory card and you will see the Launcher for the 3.02 updater. Execute this.
You will have to agree to the agreement, do this by pressing X and the update will now start. Once the update is running DO NOT turn off your PSP, or remove the memory card! When the update is complete, it will advise you to restart your PSP manually, you can now do so.
When you restart your PSP you will get a message saying the configuration is corrupt and has to be rebuilt, dont worry, press O and re-configure your PSP.
Congratulations you have no updated too 3.02 OE-A!
Step 2:
You will now have to upgrade 3.02 OE-A to 3.02 OE-B, which is easy, just download oeb.rar which is the upgrade file. Again, reactivate USB file transfer mode on your PSP and extract the contents of oeb.rar to GAME\GAME150 on your PSP memory stick.
*NOTE* You may have to create the GAME150 folder in the GAME folder.
Once everything is copied, run the updater from the Game menu on your PSP.
Easy enough, you are now upgraded to 3.02 OE-B!
Step 3:
Now to actually upgrade to 3.03 OE-A.
First you will have to download 3.03OE-A.rar Once the files are downloaded, initiate USB File Transfer mode on your PSP and extract 3.03OE-A.rar to GAME150 in the GAME folder on your memory stick. Once all the files are copied, close down the USB File Transfer Mode, and goto the Game Menu, and run the 3.03 OE-A Updater.
Again, you will have to agree to the agreement by pressing X and the update will now start. Once the update is running DO NOT turn off your PSP, or remove the memory card! When the update is complete, it will advise you to restart your PSP manually, you can now do so.
This time I didnt receive an error stating that anything was corrupt, and everything booted up just fine.
You are now running firmware 3.03 OE-A!
Step 4:
Now you are good to update to 3.03 OE-B. Download OEB_UPDATE.RAR. Once the files are downloaded, once again initiate USB File Transfer mode, and uncompress the contents of MS_ROOT to the root folder of your PSP.
Once this is complete, exit USB File Transfer mode, and execute the 3.03 OE-B updater from the Game menu. As soon as this is complete you will be fully updated to the 3.03 OE-B Firmware. You can confirm this by going to the settings menu on your PSP and looking inside of the System Information menu.
Step 5: (Optional)
You may want to now format your memory stick again before copying any of your old files back. If you do this step, you must then initiate USB File Transfer mode once more, then go into the GAME folder, and create GAME271 and GAME150.
All of your old homebrew software can now be placed inside of the GAME150 folder and will still run. Ultimately GAME271 is for stuff that runs on the 2.71 firmware.
If you have any questions/concerns or comments. Feel free to comment below!
January 15th, 2007 on 9:20 pm
will devhook work on this custom firmware?
January 16th, 2007 on 3:16 am
[...] At first I was afraid to do it because I was afraid of bricking it but I prayed hard and voila! PSP 1.5. I’m really happy to have my Portable Playstation downgraded. What’s my next step? I’m gonna install Dark Alex’s 3.03 OEb and after that I’ll be able top play ISOs and EBOOTs without UMDs. There are also tons of good apps out there! [...]
January 16th, 2007 on 9:53 am
If I go from 3.02OE-A to 3.03OE-B can I still use the recovery menu to go back to FW1.5 if anything goes wrong?
January 16th, 2007 on 10:30 pm
Please help. I’ve successfully upgraded my PSP to 3.02 A but there seems to be a problem downloading 3.03OE-A.rar and OEB_UPDATE.RAR. Help!
January 17th, 2007 on 12:27 am
Stylemo, whats the error your getting? The files are on the server, and the permissions are fine, and yes devhook will work fine, you just gotta install it differently. I haven’t set it up yet, when I get some time, I will and post a tutorial.
January 17th, 2007 on 12:27 am
Kaine, dunno, I didn’t install the recovery option. Anyone else know?
January 21st, 2007 on 11:56 am
wat do u mean by re configure your psp???
January 22nd, 2007 on 9:00 am
when i run oeb on psp it comes up with game cannot be run “why”
January 22nd, 2007 on 11:30 am
PROBLEM – i installed the 302_basic installer_150 into the game folder, but when i go to my game folder i just find 3 corrupted files nothing else, could u help me out, thx in advance
January 24th, 2007 on 8:41 am
brasanth, I am assuming you mean after you first boot up 3.02 oe-a? You will have to re-configure your psp, ie set the name, time, date, etc because of the corruption error you get.
Andrew Roberts, games running off of umd?
questionmark, you dont install to the games folder. you run the installer select the drive your psp is attached as, and let the installer do its thing.
January 25th, 2007 on 3:54 am
Sorry Jason. It was my ISP that was blocking rar files but I was able to upgrade it to 3.02 OE-B now. I’m still thinking about upgrading it to 3.03 OE-B but I heard that the games slow down. Iz that right jason? Thanks a lot.
January 25th, 2007 on 8:16 pm
stylemo, I havent noticed any slowdowns. On UMD’s or ISO’s.
January 26th, 2007 on 8:14 am
The question is:is it possible that this process will mess up the psp(in any way)?
January 27th, 2007 on 7:39 am
Sorry for the double post.What’s “Bricking the psp”?
January 28th, 2007 on 6:22 am
according to the readme file with 3.03 OE A we can directly update from 1.50 To 3.03 OE A.could you please confirm if thats possible thanks.
January 28th, 2007 on 7:30 pm
Arshia: “Bricking the PSP” is just like saying goodbye to your PSP. When you “brick” your PSP it means that your PSP will become unbootable and you won’t be able to use it anymore. Well you can ollie over it.
Jason.: Can you make a simple tutorial or an installer for a 3.03 OE-C too? Thanks.
January 29th, 2007 on 4:28 pm
hay man
this post was greatt really appreciate ur work buh i just have a question firstly lemme tell u abt my psp … its a psp with 1.5 firware and ive been usin devhook 0.46 for the upgrade and downgrade from 1.5 to 2.71 and now i want to use ur software now the question WILL I BE ABLE TO DOWNGRADE MY PSP LIKE I WAS ABLE TO DO BEFORE ?? mean that can i use 1.5 also is i want to at the same time ……hope u get the question and plz if u can reply me on my email ILL BE VERY VERY thankful
January 30th, 2007 on 11:29 am
Again,how can you possibly brick your psp?
(I know it seems stupid that I don’t know anything at all,but there’s nothing I can do about it,because I’m totally a beginner.)
January 30th, 2007 on 11:44 am
jason:Do I have to downgrade my 2.71 psp to 1.50 before the upgrade?(I mean,when the installer for 2.71 is present,why would you want to downgrade?Is it necessary?)
January 30th, 2007 on 1:37 pm
Arshia, the 2.71 installer is for 2.71 SE.
January 30th, 2007 on 1:39 pm
sufyan, stuff that runs on 1.5 firmware ie. homebrew is all loadable within 3.03 OE. But yes, there is a recovery option for downgrading back to 1.5. You have to specifically install the files for it when running the installer however.
January 31st, 2007 on 1:10 pm
hi, i have the same prob as andrew. no, no off the umd. when i got to my memcard to upgrade to 3.02-b, it trys to start, then says game cannot be started. also, i didnt need to reconfigure
February 1st, 2007 on 11:33 pm
One last question:I upgraded my firmware to 3.03 the first day I got my psp without knowing any of this.Can I still upgrade to 3.03 OE-B?
February 6th, 2007 on 7:53 am
Is it guaranteed that my psp won’t be bricked if I follow the steps completely?Please answer me.I need to know this before upgrading.
February 6th, 2007 on 11:23 am
akm_202, nothing is guaranteed. Thats why there is a big bold warning at the start of the tutorial.
February 8th, 2007 on 9:13 am
Well,could you at least tell me how much the chances for a successful update are?
February 12th, 2007 on 10:21 am
i have a psp version 3.10 oe-a and i keep downloading rar files like cw cheat. there all rar how do i run rar files im so confuesed. i have 2 psp and i want to hack socom ftb2
February 12th, 2007 on 1:50 pm
I just upgraded to 3.03 oe-b and everything looks good but my snes9xtyl will not work. I put it in the GAME150 file under GAME.
February 12th, 2007 on 1:51 pm
It shows up as corrupted data. Any help would be great. Thank You
February 13th, 2007 on 5:24 am
I just followed all of the instructions,and,well,Now when I turn on my psp,…,it says:”3.03 OE-B”!!!
I love you!The instructions and the files were great!I love you!I love you!I LOVE YOU!
February 13th, 2007 on 5:25 am
But after 3.03 OE-B,could you create a guide for upgrading to 3.03 OE-C?I’m sure it would be very useful.
February 14th, 2007 on 11:48 pm
hey i’ve upgraded to 3.02OE-A but i cant upgrade to 3.02OE-B, i put it in the GAME150 folder but it doesnt show
February 16th, 2007 on 1:00 pm
WoW there is alot of noobs that need help in here.
Nichsta… you need to go into recovery (reboot the psp while holdin R) and then configuration then change to kernel to 1.5.
If anyone need any help msn me jackoffinaboxx@hotmail.co.uk
February 17th, 2007 on 2:02 pm
hey arshia what are the features of the newer version, media wise.can u play emulators and roms,what firmware do i need?
February 17th, 2007 on 2:07 pm
hey what versions can run emulators and roms.
February 19th, 2007 on 11:20 am
danmeade2007:I don’t know about the emulators and roms,But after upgrading from 2.71SE,There are:
Network/Online Instruction Manuals
Network/Remote Play
Game/Certificate Utility
Photo/Camera
Settings/System Settings/UMD Autoplay On/Off
There may be more,But that’s as much as I noticed.
February 23rd, 2007 on 4:25 am
Great work Jason. I’m impressed that you have spent time setting this thing up. Fair play to you mate.
Being quite new to this (have had my PSP for 3 weeks now) a few weeks ago I downgraded my PSP to 1.50 and installed DevHook 0.46 running as a simulator from the memory stick (if I’m not totally wrong) which obviously makes it possible to play games from the stick and not only from the UMD. I think it works wonders, but I need the DevHook installed on all my memory sticks so my question is: What are the differences between the 3.03 (3.10 OE-X) and what I’m using now? I know that the firmware will be loaded directly into the ROM of the PSP but will this be a better solution that what I’m using now? I take it, also, that I don’t need the DevHook when installing the 3.XX-OE-X version correct?
Cheers Jason, and again Nice piece of work
February 23rd, 2007 on 4:27 am
Oh forgot: With the new 3.XX will all ISO CSO files run directly from the stick without anything else running such as emulators etc?
Thanks again
February 23rd, 2007 on 4:51 pm
great guide, thanks for creating it. Are you going to update it for 3.03 OE C?
February 28th, 2007 on 5:05 pm
“Step 4:
Now you are good to update to 3.03 OE-B. Download OEB_UPDATE.RAR. Once the files are downloaded, once again initiate USB File Transfer mode, and uncompress the contents of MS_ROOT to the root folder of your PSP. ”
–ok, i pretty much understand everything else, im just not sure what you mean by uncompressing the contents of MS_ROOT to the root folder of psp? will the MS_Root file be in the rar? and is the root folder of the psp the actual PSP folder? (F:/PSP)???
-thanks in advance
March 3rd, 2007 on 7:09 am
Cupart:You don’t need emulators etc. to run anything,and that’s the advantage.And yes,you can rus ISO and CSO files deirectly.
Andy:The rar contains a folder named MS_ROOT.uncompress the rar,then copy all of MS_ROOT’s contents in your PSP’s root.
March 5th, 2007 on 7:24 am
How do i get the Vice City Stories Cheat device 2.3a working on 3.03 OE-B?
March 8th, 2007 on 10:29 am
wut progam would i need to open a rar file plz help
March 17th, 2007 on 11:11 pm
plz ifi upgrade to 3.03ae-c can i downgrade again to 1.5 my original firmware plz help me and tell me how? thanks
March 18th, 2007 on 11:40 am
Seriously that guide was different from how my psp did it but overall after a bit of fooling around I got everything working again. Great links, guide was good. If anyone has any idea how to put your playstation disks into iso files please make a guide that would be sweet.
March 23rd, 2007 on 11:03 pm
Is this compatible with PSP that has a serial number inside the UMD slot ?
March 25th, 2007 on 11:06 am
I’ve got the version 3.02 oe-b but now when i try to go and play call of duty which is a ISO file it says game could not be started and the error number is 80020321 and i check it on a website it said to leave a UMD in the psp and when i do it freezes the psp.
so please somone can help me?? thanks
March 29th, 2007 on 8:48 am
I Am a newbie to psp i have v3.03 when i try to download a firmware i run it and it comes up game could not start why and if you have a download for me send it to dalepavey@yahoo.co.uk plz
April 1st, 2007 on 8:41 am
my psps’s firmware is 3.03 oe-a but i tried to upgrade it to 3.03 oe-b but it keeps saying could not be started WHY? PLEASE HELP
April 2nd, 2007 on 3:11 pm
Hi currently got v2.81 on a psp, should i follow the upgrade steps for v2.71se will this do the same or not? sorry to be vague but new with psp.
April 4th, 2007 on 3:10 pm
I don’t have GAME150 I do Have GAME271 FOLDER? Trying to upgrade to 3.03OE-A.rar…One more thing can I use a UMD w/ 3.03 upgrade to do upgrade?
April 5th, 2007 on 5:14 pm
Great FW & great tutorial everything worked fine the first time…not that their would be a second if I screwed up! It’s really simple just make extra sure of the version / mobo of your PSP and FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS TO THE LETTER!
April 6th, 2007 on 6:56 am
MY PSP IS CONVERTED TO 3.03 0E-C AND I CAN RUN CSO AND ISO FILES BUT NOT RAR WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG??????????????
April 7th, 2007 on 7:44 am
i downloaded one of the following: (3.02 Basic Installer for 1.50,
3.02 Basic Installer for 2.71SE) and i installed it to my psp and then i went to the game menu, clicked on 3.02 OE-A Firmware install and it came up : the game could not be started. (8002014C). what shall i do now????
April 7th, 2007 on 12:38 pm
yea, i just updated to 3.02 oe-a and when i downloaded the oeb for it, it says corrupted data…what do i do?
April 7th, 2007 on 12:51 pm
i just got the update for 3.02 oe-b and when i start it, it says” the game could not be started (80020148)” why is this and can someone help me please!!!!!
April 9th, 2007 on 7:42 am
Try changing the folder in which you copy the files from PSP\GAME to PSP\GAME\GAME150 or vice-versa.If it says game could not be started,make sure you have a umd in the drive.If you are still getting errors,try downloading the file again.
April 9th, 2007 on 9:13 am
i did just as u said but the game writes gane cannot be run 8000184 pls i need to upgrade
April 9th, 2007 on 6:27 pm
i wanted to know if i can almost equally as safe just upgrade to 3.03 oe-a then 3.03 oe-b as following all of these steps.
April 11th, 2007 on 3:51 pm
Same here!
i’ve managed to update to 3.02 oe-a but when I run the oe-b, it says” the game could not be started (80020148)” from both PSP\GAME and PSP\GAME\GAME150 ! Help please
David
April 15th, 2007 on 6:28 pm
does games that are for fw 2.70 and lower work for a devhook that works on a psp 3.03 oe-c
April 15th, 2007 on 6:31 pm
is there a way to make psp 3.03 to 3.03 oe-c
April 19th, 2007 on 2:28 pm
I need help. I have 3.02 oe-b, i was once 2.6 i think and downgraded to 1.5. I then upgraded to 3.02 oe-a then to 3.02 oe-b. I wanna play a nintendo 64 emulator and it says it can only be played on firmware 1.5. I am now trying to find a way to downgrade to 1.5 from 3.02 oe-b. I went into the recovery mode by booting and holding R, went to configuration and found nothing. I am so sad, i can’t find a way to go back to 1.5. i want to play legend of zelda so bad. HELP is there any way to get back to 1.5 if you have 3.02 oe-b. What if i use dev hook to go to firmware 2.6 and from there downgrade to 1.5 is that possible?
April 30th, 2007 on 5:36 am
hi i just bought a psp 1.5, but i don kno how to play iso games on it,
can u pls tell me how to do that pls.
May 9th, 2007 on 12:05 pm
Hey All, I Just Wont To Point Out Several Things.. For Lets Say…. The Noobs.. ( No Offense _ You Gotta Start Somewhere)
Ok So. I’d Say.. DON’T ATTEMPT TO MOD UNLESS 1 YOU NO WHAT YOUR DOING AND 2 YOU DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING!
ok First Theres A Type Of Mother Board That CANNOT be downgraded UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Make Sure You Google That First Of All.
Secondly. make Sure you get the new firmware from a trusted source. ( NEVER EVER!! GOTO dark-alex.com ) Its Fake!! ALWAYS Trust dark-alex.org Thats The Only Trustable Site!
3rd MAKE SURE!! you Check All the files are there AND whilst upgrade/FLASHING you actually watch whats happening not leave it. Because under Some weird circumstances the crucial .DXAR file that is Created Could Be Corrupt.
4th: What Ever you Do.. DON’T USE A 32mb Memory Card. one i don’t even think it all fits and even if it does it a max it out.. and could cause the .DXAR file to corrupt as its making it… always at least 128mb id suggest.
5th: When FLASHING always have at least 75% Battery, It Plugged into the mains. And again.. A Large Memory card.. i dont mean 4gb.. (Even though they are ideal.. lol) just a reasonable size one.
lastly.. If In Doubt EMAIL someone thats experienced… You Can Email Me Anytime Shredtheibanez@hotmail.com.
Ok: Before I End This.. Remember.. Top_menu.rco ( Thats Your Theme/ The ICONS ) everyone Shoots about how cool it is.. if your going to touch any of the internal flash cards then remember BACK IT UP!! i cant stress how important that is… BACK IT UP!! Also and Dark-AleX Firmwares UPTO 3.03OE-C top_menu.rco Can Be Edited .. DON’T EDIT IF U HAVE FIRMWARE 3.10 OE – A / 3.10 OE – A’. Even though 3.30 / 3.40 OE – A Is Ok To ..You Need Unique top_menu.rco files Again Google It.. Or Ask A pro…
Apart From That… Happy Modding… Remember.. Stay Legal.. Lol
O By The Way,, If You Brick Your Psp.. Say Good Bye To It.. You Need A Brand New Motherboard… You Might AS Well “ollie” Over It.. Lol At That Comment ..
Email: shredtheibanez@hotmail.com
Thanks
May 19th, 2007 on 5:37 pm
problem ; what do you mean by ” to restart your PSP manually”
May 19th, 2007 on 6:04 pm
Cheng,
man·u·al /ˈmænyuəl/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[man-yoo-uhl]
–adjective
1. done, operated, worked, etc., by the hand or hands rather than by an electrical or electronic device: a manual gearshift.
2. involving or using human effort, skill, power, energy, etc.; physical: manual labor.
It just means you have to restart the PSP yourself.
June 26th, 2007 on 1:35 pm
what are the benefits of OE-B vs. OE-A vs. OE-C etc. Also, how do you put ISOs on your 3.03 psp?
June 26th, 2007 on 2:58 pm
also, can i, instead of connecting to the computer via USB, on my comp i have a slot especially for the Memory Stick, so can i just put that in or is it mandatory that i connect via USB??? Thx
July 29th, 2007 on 3:18 pm
How can i play all the psp games especially the new one now i have 3.03OE-B my email is mrcheng5@yahoo.com
July 30th, 2007 on 11:12 pm
I had 2.81, upgraded to 3.03 to downgrade to 1.5 with the HEN GTA LCS hack. Everything is great. I want to have the options that 3.03 firmware has, so do i use devhook or 3.03 -oe If someone can help me i would be gratefull. New to all of this becouse i upgraded like a asshole before. thanks to all of you hackers for my new 1.5 hacked psp love the universal remote!!!!!
July 31st, 2007 on 10:30 pm
I updated to 3.02 OE-A just fine but when i try to update to 3.02 OE-B it says corrupted data then i tried putting the oeb.rar into the game folder not the GAME150 folder and it still didn’t work please could someone help me?
August 1st, 2007 on 3:42 am
I still do not understand how to go from 3.03 to 3.03 oe-a at all. someone please help me, I don’t even know where to start.
August 1st, 2007 on 1:07 pm
Sorry for the double post but I finally updated to 3.02 OE-B now im having trouble updating to
3.03 OE-A I’ve tryed almost every way to put it into the games folder and the games150 folder
August 13th, 2007 on 8:23 am
Hey I can’t go into recovery mode can anybody help?:(
September 4th, 2007 on 1:24 am
Hi all,
Small question:
I have upgraded to 3.03 OE-B, however if I put .iso’s in either /GAME or /GAME/GAME105(or 271), /PSP/GAME (or tag 105 or 271 to this) it always shows as corrupt data in the game menu.
If I put my .iso in a root dir called ISO it shows my game under the game menu, however I get a lot of instances (but not all) of the 80020148 error.
I know my dump is OK, as the games that do play under the ISO dir still show as corrupt data under all the other mentioned folder.
Could someone (if known) please tell me what I am doing wrong.
Thanks in advance.
Matt.
September 8th, 2007 on 6:37 pm
Thanks a lot for your help i’ve already upgraded to 3.02 OE-A, but now when I try to upgrade to 3.02 OE-B, it’s writing “The game couldn’t be started. (80020148)”. I know you already gave an answer to this question but I don’t understand what you mean by saying “you dont install to the games folder. you run the installer select the drive your psp is attached as, and let the installer do its thing.”. Please help me. :S
September 16th, 2007 on 1:30 am
hey wass up…i need help and sorry for the botherin u…well i have did all the instructions…but when i go to (Game) then Memory Stick its says no game…and it use to say 3.02 OE-A then…do you think i could restore or format my psp…so i can begin or try to do it again? cuz i had 203 song and 3 videos..but i guess i did somthing wrong…i formated my psp…but i guess i did that wrong and now i have to start al over again…please my friend help…i really hate doin all that music thing…please
September 17th, 2007 on 4:12 am
Hello, just need some help.
You keep mentioning “GAME150″ in ur text, but when i create it and extract 3.03 OE-A
into it, it only shows up as a corrupted file. I’ve tried not putting it into Game150 and instead just straight into game, but this leads to “game cannot be started…”. Please help me as i REALLY want to get my psp going. Thank you in advance
October 12th, 2007 on 3:49 am
Hey, had a go at upgrading from 1.50 to 3.02 OE-A following the instructions. Got to the message saying the configuration is corrupt and has to be rebuilt, press O and my PSP simply switches off after a few seconds… Can anyone confirm if I have bricked my psp? Any help appreciated…
December 8th, 2007 on 3:55 pm
when i try to upgrade my psp to 3.02OE-B this it says : The game could not be started (80020148)
someone help me pls
December 24th, 2007 on 10:36 pm
PROBLEM – i installed the 302_basic installer_150 into the game folder, but when i go to my game folder i just find 3 corrupted files nothing else, could u help me out, thx in advance
PLZ HELP ME ASAP!!!
December 24th, 2007 on 11:19 pm
my psps’s firmware is 3.03 oe-a but i tried to upgrade it to 3.03 oe-b but it keeps saying could not be started WHY? PLEASE HELP
December 9th, 2008 on 9:38 pm
my psps’s firmware is 3.03 oe-a but i tried to upgrade it to 3.03 oe-b but it keeps saying could not be started WHY? PLEASE HELP