There are advantages to backing up your UMD games for the PSP. For one, you'll always have the game at the click of a mouse. Two, you might want to downgrade your PSP to play those wonderful homebrew apps and games. But earlier firmware versions won't allow you to play that new game you spent your hard earned dollars on.

If your PSP is already hacked, the following should be straight forward. If you're PSP is still not modded, it will need to be before you can benefit from this PSP app.

(Look for a future post by xntrk on how to Mod your PSP)

Here's a quick, efficient way to take a dump. It's not what you think, but similar in satisfaction. You will need the following to get started on building your library of PSP games to play on your PSP.

• PSP console
• Any PSP game
• USB Connection
• Memory Stick (512MB or more recommended)
• FastLoader 0.7

1. Find something you actually want to play. If not, grab the first UMD you can get your hands on. I chose Burnout Legends for this example.

   

2. Download and unzip FastLoader to a PSP apps folder, if you have one. If not, just make sure you know where to find it when it's time to copy.
3. Insert the game and connect your PSP via USB to your computer and initiate a connection. Once linked, locate the unzipped contents for FastLoader and copy and paste the two folders to your GAMES directory on your PSP. (ie: F:\PSP\GAMES\)
4. At this point, make sure you have at least a 512MB memory stick inserted, BACK UP whatever you have on it and free up as much space as possible. To run FastLoader, all you will need is the app installed.
   
   ** NOTE: If you have a smaller memory stick, FastLoader gives you the option of dumping in blocks of 10, 20 and 50MB.
5. Navigate through your menu to the Game section, select, then scroll down to the FastLoader icon. Load it up.

   

6. On the FastLoader menu, select "Dump inserted UMD!"

   

7. FastLoader will prompt you to Press X to start the dump to your card. Make sure to check just above the FastLoader logo. In yellow, it should say "No splitting". This means it will dump the UMD backup as a single file. On this screen, you will be able to see how large the UMD is in size. Hence, it's beneficial to have a memory stick with more than 512MB. Most games range from 400-1000MB.

   

   You will see this screen immediately after initiating the dump. DON'T PANIC.

   

8. FastLoader will start to dump the UMD, file for file, to your memory stick. During this process, you will be able to see the progress of the download. Large dumps usually take a couple minutes. No, really, they do.
   

   

9. Once complete, FastLoader will take you back to the main menu. Exit the app and connect your PSP to your computer again via USB. Browse your PSP to the ISO folder (ie: F:\ISO\) and you will see your dump file there.

   

10. Rename the dump file to whatever the name of the game is. In this case, Burn out.iso. Make sure to add the extension to this file or your computer and your PSP won't know what the heck it is. The .ISO extension is popular amongst back ups and is beneficial for compression applications when it comes to archiving.

    

11. Now that the file is renamed, you can copy/paste it to a PSP related folder on your computer. I would suggest creating a folder dedicated to your PSP for storing files, games and apps you download. With the game backed up on your PC/Mac and the original copy still on your PSP, you are ready to play.

    At this point you can copy/paste back all the files you had on your PSP. Load up FastLoader or whatever app you use to run backup games and start up the game. You're good to go.

    

Have caution. If you wanted to play more recent games on your hacked 1.5 PSP, the firmware won't allow it unless you have an emulated version of the newer firmware. That's where DevHook comes into play. More about it in my next article.

Play Responsibly!

-- The Evolution of Mind

cK