PSP:PlayStation (PS1) Games

The PlayStation Portable's main CPU inside the Tachyon SoC happens to have a MIPS architecture similar to the original PlayStation, which allows the console to run PS1 games with the "POPS" emulator with a high amount of accuracy.

For more detailed information about the POPS emulator, visit this page on the PSP Developer Wiki.

Backing up PS1 Games

The process of backing up PS1 games on a PSP which were downloaded from the PlayStation Store is essentially the same as PSP PSN games.

To back up real PS1 discs for usage with the POPS emulator, follow this guide first.

Decrypting PS1 Games from the PlayStation Store

If you would like to use your PS1 games on another device, like on a PC with an emulator, or a real PS1 with an ODE then you will need to find a method of decrypting the games.

Requirements

• psxtract-2 by Heel
• Legitimate copy of an encrypted PS1 Classics title from the PlayStation Store

Instructions

1. Open the command prompt, and drag the exe for psxtract into it. Type -c after the file path so the conversion is a .bin/.cue format.
2. Next, drag and drop the EBOOT.PBP file into the command prompt, then you can optionally drag and drop the DOCUMENT.DAT file into the command prompt. You can also drag and drop the matching KEYS.BIN file, but this isn't required as the program can automatically calculate the keys for you with file hashes.
3. Verify that the info entered is structured like this:
   • psxtract.exe -c "(location of encrypted EBOOT.PBP)" "(location of DOCUMENT.DAT)" "(optional location of KEYS.DAT)"
4. Press the Enter key on the keyboard to run the command. If everything was done correctly, there should now be a folder of the game inside of wherever the current path of your command prompt was, which by default is %USERPROFILE%

Dumping PS1 BIOS from PSP Emulator

Method 1: Decrypting the POPS .prx

Credit to this guide goes to this Reddit post by u/jackmax9999.

Requirements:

• A PSP that can run homebrew
• PRX Decrypter app
• A hex editor such as HxD

Instructions:

1. In the main menu, press Select to bring up your CFW's VSH Menu. Under "USB device" select "Flash 0". Press Select to close. Connect the PSP to your PC.
   • To change the USB device in ARK-4, select "Advanced VSH Menu"
2. From the folder "kd" copy the file "pops_04g.prx" to your PC. The file is around 463 KB. Disconnect the PSP.
3. Repeat step 1, but set "USB device" back to "Memory Stick"
4. Extract PRX Decrypter to the root of the memory card. Create a folder "enc" in the root of the memory card and copy "pops_04g.prx" inside it. Disconnect the PSP.
5. Launch PRX Decrypter and select "Decrypt/decompress files", press X to confirm. Once the program is done exit to main menu and connect PSP to your computer. The file "pops_04g.prx" inside the "enc" folder should be around 1114 KB now.
6. Use HxD to cut out the BIOS from inside the emulator file. The BIOS file begins at hex offset 54E08 and is hex 80000 bytes (512 KB) long. If you did things correctly, the part you cut out should have the text Sony Computer Entertainment Inc at offset hex 108 and System ROM Version 4.5 at offset hex 7FF32.

Method 2: Using a homebrew BIOS dumper

Credit to this guide goes to the r/PSP wiki.

Requirements:

• A PSP that can run homebrew
• Bios Dumper (converted to eboot format)
• BIOS Merge
• VMP2MCR

Instructions:

This process takes 5 different dumps of the Bios. Because of the size limit of the PSX memory card, you will need to transfer each part before dumping the next.

1. Transfer the Bios Dumper Eboot (and SCUS00000 folder) to /PSP/GAMES/.
2. Disconnect the PSP from the computer.
3. In the games list you will see a blank PSX title. Play the game and you will get the Bios Dumper main menu. It will list parts 1 - 5 and an option for a serial cable to export the Bios. Select part 1 to start the Bios Dump. It will take about a minute to complete. Once complete it will ask if you want to reboot the system or go back to the main menu. Choose to go back to the main menu and press the PS Button. Quit the game and connect your PSP to the computer.
4. Make a folder on your computer to transfer the 5 part bios dump. Navigate on your PSP to /PSP/SAVEGAMES/ and find the folder SCUS00000. There will be a file called #SCEVMC0.VMP. Copy this file to your folder on your computer. Rename this file part1.
5. Disconnect the PSP from the computer, go to your save game list and delete the newly created save file for the Bios Dumper.
6. Repeat these 5 steps (renaming the file of each part your dumped) to get all 5 parts of the dumped Bios.

Converting retail PS1 Games to use POPS

In order to play non-PSN backups of PS1 games on a PSP or PS Vita, you will need to convert them into an EBOOT.PBP executable.

This tutorial will use the program pop-fe, as it is the most up to date and easiest method for this conversion.

Windows GUI Instructions

1. Download the latest version of pop-fe from the official GitHub page.
2. Unzip the contents of the zip to a folder anywhere on the computer.
3. Open pop-fe-psp.exe.
4. Put in the file(s) of your game of choice. If you have a multi-track game with multiple .bin files, select the matching .cue file.
   • Unlike programs such as PSX2PSP, pop-fe supports many formats commonly used with PS1 games such as .ccd, .chd, or .zip.
5. Once the game file(s) have been put into the program, it should automatically fetch pictures that match the game. You can choose to use CDDA (higher quality audio with multi-track games) or force NTSC if desired.
6. Click Create EBOOT.PBP once you are ready. The game folder can now be transferred to the PSP in ms0:/PSP/GAME/ just like any EBOOT.PBP application.
   • If you didn't select an output directory in the application, it will default to wherever the executable for pop-fe is stored.