3.03 HEN Noobz Downgrader Guide / Instructions

3.03 HEN Downgrader Guide by the Noobz Team
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*****************************************DISCLAIMER ***************************************
WARNING, ANY DOWNGRADER HAS A CHANCE OF BRICKING A PSP. WHEN A PSP IS BRICKED YOU WILL
NOT BE ABLE TO USE IT ANYMORE. WE HAVE DONE A LOT TO TRY AND MINIMISE THE RISK, BUT THERE
IS ALWAYS SOME LEVEL OF RISK WHICH YOU MUST ACCEPT IF YOU WANT TO DOWNGRADE.
********************************************************************************************

Here is a guide for downgrading any PSP-100* hardware version (TA-079 - TA-086) from firmware 3.03 to 1.50.

IMPORTANT: The Noobz team is strongly against piracy, and we're not just saying that to cover our butts. When you pirate games, you're removing the incentive for game and console makers to continue making fun things for us to play with. We are releasing this downgrader because we believe that using your PSP to its full potential and being able to customize it and run homebrew code is a fair use right that should be available to everyone.

Please purchase games that you intend to play. Thanks!

Requirements
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In order to downgrade a 3.03 PSP you will need the following:

GTA:LCS UMD Game (Any Region) which should have the 2.00 update on the disc. Beware that it has been confirmed that SONY has patched the game and patched copies will not work (This patched copies will require you to upgrade to 2.60 in order to play the game).
PSP-100* console [ Any current hardware version: TA-079, TA-081, TA-082 or TA-086 ]
3.03 HEN Downgrader by the Noobz Team
Official SONY v1.50 Firmware Update EBOOT:
Download it from QJ-Net [ZIP Format]
Download it from PSP-Hacks.Com [ZIP Format]
Official SONY v3.03 Firmware Update EBOOT. Only if you are on firmware 3.02 or lower:
Download it from QJ-Net [EBOOT Format. Needs renaming from 11844_EBOOT.PBP into EBOOT.PBP]
Download it from PSP-Hacks.Com [RAR format]

Precautions/Suggestions before you start
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Ensure the memory stick used for the upgrade/downgrade process is in good shape. This means it's got no bad sectors that may result in failed CRC checksums for the files contained in it.
Normally if your Memory Stick is legitimate you should not have any problems. Many people have experienced semibricks / bricks due to cheap fake memory sticks sold on eBay. As a suggestion I recommend you use the original 32MB / 1GB memory card bundled originally with your PSP.
A good practice would be formatting the Memory Stick prior to the downgrade (Remember to back your important files up before you do that) and use any error-checking utility to scan the Memory Stick for failures.
Alternatively you can use a CRC checksum utility (SFV, MD5SUM...) to verify that the data copied onto your memory stick is consistent with the original.
Charge your battery to its maximum capacity in advance and leave the PSP plugged to the mains during the upgrade/downgrade process.
During the upgrade/downgrade process, once the files have started being copied to the flash memory you MUST not be reboot your PSP manually, or turn it off, or the remove the Memory Stick until the flashing process has finished, or otherwise your PSP will end up bricked.

Instructions
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A) Updating to 3.03 Sony Official Firmware: If your PSP is already running 3.03 Firmware skip to B)

Download the 3.03 Official SONY Update File from either of the download links above. Make sure you select a handy location in your Hard Disk where you can find easily it later on, i.e. Your Windows Desktop. Depending on the link you used the EBOOT.PBP file may be packed in ZIP or RAR Format and you might need some additional software to uncompress the file (for instance WinRAR). Uncompress the ZIP / RAR file if applicable. Either way you should end up with a uncompressed file named EBOOT.PBP. This is the uncompressed Firmware Update file. Depending which download link you used (i.e. QJ-Net) the file might need to be renamed from 11844_EBOOT.PBP to EBOOT.PBP.
Connect your PSP to your PC via USB cable and activate the USB Mode on your PSP.
From your Operative System, go to the directory :/PSP/GAME located in your memory stick.
Create a folder named UPDATE in case it does not exist yet (MUST be capitals).
Copy the downloaded EBOOT.PBP file into the recently created folder :/PSP/GAME/UPDATE/.
Disconnect the PSP from the PC.
In the PSP's XMB Menu, goto "Game" -> "Memory Stick"
Browse to the Update file and start it. (The PSP´s AC adapter must be plugged into the mains and the battery charge over 50% in order to perform the upgrade. Otherwise you will get a warning message and you will not be allowed to carry on)
After a couple of minutes you will have the firmware of your PSP upgraded to the one you downloaded. (Once the upgrade started You MUST not be reboot your PSP manually, or turn it off, or the remove the Memory Stick until the process has finished, or otherwise your PSP will end up bricked)
Check that you have now the proper firmware version installed (3.03) from your PSP Settigs Menu (Settings -> System Settings -> System Information).
Delete the :/PSP/GAME/UPDATE folder and its contents. You can now proceed to the downgrade process.

B) Downgrade process for any 3.03 PSP to 1.50:

Connect the PSP to your PC through the USB Cable and enable the USB Mode in the PSP Settings.
Copy the contents of the folder MS_ROOT from the "303_dg.zip" file to the root of your memory stick. This is the PSP Unit Letter that appears when you connect it to your computer. For example, mine would be F:/. This letter will vary depending in many factors such as number of HD, HD Partitions, External drives installed, etc.
Download the 1.50 Official SONY Update File from any of the download links above. Unzip the 1.50 update to a temporary folder. Rename the EBOOT.PBP to UPDATE.PBP and copy it to :/PSP/GAME/UPDATE/ . DO NOT OVERWRITE PSP/GAME/UPDATE/EBOOT.PBP!
Disable the USB Mode.
Load the unpatched GTA:LCS UMD in your PSP UMD drive, run the game and the game should start to load the savegame automatically.
The screen will clear to black and fill with a light blue colour, then the PSP will reset itself (if this does not happen see the Troubleshooting section below)
Check that HEN is running by going to system settings, then to "System Information" and it should show up as system version 303 HEN. Having HEN enabled means that now you can run homebrew, therefore you could run the downgrader.
If it is showing up as HEN then go to the Game Menu of the PSP's XMB and into memory stick. Run the x.yz update
If you have an unpatched TA-082 or higher motherboard, you will be prompted to allow the downgrader to patch your motherboard so it can be safely downgraded. The downgrader will not let you proceed without patching, if your motherboard requires it.
Before the downgrader does anything to your PSP it will ask for you to agree to what it is doing, if you no longer want to continue press the Right Shoulder Button (R-TRIGGER).
Once you have agreed to start the downgrade you MUST not be reboot your PSP manually, or turn it off, or the remove the Memory Stick until the process has finished, or otherwise your PSP will end up bricked.
Once finished (About 2 mins) the PSP will ask you to press X, and reset itself.
If it comes up saying that the settings are corrupt, press X to continue, this will mean you will need to re-enter the settings for network connections into your PSP, otherwise skip to last step.
Load the included NetConfigBackup application in your PSP, and select to restore, this will take the backup that was done of the network config that was done automatically during the downgrade.
All done now :-) Hopefully you now have a 1.50 PSP. Enjoy it responsibly.

Troubleshooting
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- Ensure that you have the original GTA LCS, it should have a 2.00 update on the UMD, if it does not then it is a later version and can not be used to downgrade.
- If GTA does not load 3.03 HEN and it loads up a save game, try making a backup copy of all of the directories in :/PSP/SAVEDATA/ before deleting them. Then try copying the contents of the 303 HEN zip to there.
- If when trying to restore the network config using netconf backup you find that it gives you an error on the downgraded 1.50 PSP, try adding a temporary network config, then deleting it and run the netconf backup again.
- Note that the network config restore is only intended for v1.50 firmware.

Basically these are the Original Downgrader Instructions from the Downgrader_HOWTO.txt with a few additions / changes to make it more understandable.

If you have read the instructions but you are still having trouble to get the downgrader working, we suggest that you reply to this topic with the question(s) that you may have rather than starting a new topic/thread instead. We'll try to help

.

Hopefully this guide will stop unnecessary threads from people asking the same questions again and again.