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https://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-the-ultimate-noob-ps-vita-pstv-hacking-guide-check-here-first.403035/#Updating_to_360
Latest firmware: 3.69
Latest EXPLOITABLE firmware: 3.68
PSN Spoofing? YesRecently been interested in getting into the Vita scene, but unsure of where to start where buying is concerned? Well you've came to the right place, as this (very simple!) guide to purchasing a Vita should be able to clean up all of your concerns of what exactly to look out for.
Which is the right firmware for me?
Avoid Vitas with firmware 3.69 or above! H-Encore was partially fixed (exploit loader was patched), meaning it cannot be used at all on those firmwares.
TheFloW, the developer of the exploit, has publically expressed no interest in making a new exploit for >=3.69
Currently firmwares 3.60 and 3.65 are the golden firmwares if you are interested in permanent hacks which persist after every reboot, however you will not be able to play games or apply updates which require a higher version than whichever firmware you chose out of these two.
3.60 will only require you to visit this site once in the Vita browser to apply the HENkaku exploit, whereas for 3.65 you will need to set up the H-Encore exploit bubble. Afterwards, you can then use the Enso installer to make the hack persistent on every reboot.
On firmwares 3.67-3.68, a semi-tethered hack called H-Encore enables you to launch a bubble from the home menu, then lets you install and run HENkaku whilst your Vita is still fully powered on. (The hack will disappear on reboot and you will have to run the bubble again)
Ultimately, finding the right firmware for you is dependent on your patience to run the hack every time or not, and whether you want to stay up-to-date for the latest games and game updates.
Firmwares under 3.60 have none of the latest hacks and are pretty much useless to stay on now. Depending on the choice you made above, you can update stright to 3.68, or grab an update PUP file for either 3.60 or 3.65 and use QCMA and Safe Mode to manually update to the specified firmware.
HENkaku Tutorials
Below are a series of HENkaku-related tutorials. You can understand how to set up HENkaku for the first time, as well as installing VPKs for both homebrews and Vita game backups, plus much more.
Please note that the ability to install HENkaku works on unmodified 3.60 ONLY. Backports are not on the official developers' minds due to several other priorities. 3.61 and higher patch HENkaku!
Updating your Vita to 3.60 (HENkaku Update Server)
This is for users still under 3.60 looking to get a piece of HENkaku quickly and easily, without any hassle. This guide will take you all the way to the golden firmware, 3.60, through the use of Yifan_Lu's DNS server! It's seriously a very easy process, and extremely noob-friendly!
1) Go to Settings -> Network -> Wifi Settings -> Your Connected Access Point -> Advanced Settings
2) Under DNS Settings, select 'Manual', and set the Primary DNS to 212.47.229.76.
3) Now you may go back to the root Settings menu and choose 'System Update' -> 'Update using Wifi'.
4) Only update if it says "Firmware 3.60 (?? Compatible)", otherwise you should follow these steps again and ensure any other settings are not conflicting the process!
5) After you have downloaded and installed the 3.60 update, you are now free to start setting up HENkaku!
Setting up HENkaku for the first time (3.60 Users)
HENkaku is a relatively easy exploit to install, requiring just an internal memory card and access to the internet. Here's a quickstarter to get the MolecularShell bubble installed, and then install the VitaShell VPK straight afterwards.
With HENkaku, thanks to the immense amount of work put in by developers and communities alike, you can:
- Access native Vita homebrew and homebrew games
- Dump/install PS Vita backups
- Spoof PSN to access features under the latest firmware
- Get access to the full file system and its features
- Run Vita romhacks and translations made by the community
The Method:1) On your 3.60 Vita, navigate to the internet browser application. Then open up the address bar.
2) In that address bar, type the following link: http://go.henkaku.xyz
You should now either recieve an error or the "welcome to HENkaku" alert screen. If you recieve an error, just try and try again; it takes a little bit of time to work its magic.
3) When on the "Welcome to HENkaku" message, click OK and the HENkaku installation screen should show up.
Allow 15-20 seconds of VitaShell (formerly known as MolecularShell) installation time, and the installation screen should auto-close after a few additional seconds.
When you scroll down the LiveArea, you should now see that "MolecularShell" (actually VitaShell now) is now installed to your Vita, and HENkaku mode is enabled on your Vita!
3) MolecularShell is great and all, but nowadays it lacks the latest features such as installing from a folder, USB support, etc, which are all present in the superior VitaShell app.
By following the next tutorial, you can install the latest VitaShell VPK (from the official github page here), as well as any other homebrew/game VPKs of your choice, via MolecularShell's FTP server.
Setting up H-Encore (3.65-3.68 Users)
This is a new exploit for 3.65-3.68 users who missed out on the HENkaku train. It installs a bubble to your Vita's home screen which allows running the exploit in order to access homebrews, game backup loading, and the like.
It is a 'semi-tethered' exploit, which means you'll have to re-run it on every reboot (though as it's a bubble and completely offline, it doesn't take long), though if you are on 3.65, you may use this as a gateway to installing Enso (3.67 or higher users cannot use Enso, therefore must continue to use this bubble all the time in order to keep using homebrews and backups)
Follow TheFloW's official readme file for steps on how to install the app onto the Vita via psvimgtools and CMA: https://github.com/TheOfficialFloW/h-encore
Installing VPKs via your new MolecularShell installation (through FTP)
So now you have your basic HENkaku needs, you are ready to dive into the rapidly-developing scene of homebrew and games! If you would like to see a diverse archive of Vita homebrews and utilities in VPK format, ready to be installed straight to your Vita, GBATemp member @VitaType has been working hard round the clock to bring you the latest and greatest apps and games for us to enjoy! Head on over to his impressive sticky thread for those said homebrew apps!
DISCLAIMER:
Please be wary of malicious apps. There has been known to be disguised brickers out there in the wild, so when VitaShell states the app "remounts partitions", cease installing it and be sure to contact the person who made the app if you can! Running it could cost you your Vita...!
The Method:1) Make sure you install a suitable FTP manager on your PC/Android device. (I'm gonna leave iOS out for the simple reason of that I have little-to-no experience with iPhone FTP apps)
I highly recommend WinSCP for PC, and TurboFTP for your Android device, as they work with almost no fuss or fiddling around with settings!
I will leave it up to you to configure the site for connecting to your Vita. (Just press select on your Vita while in VitaShell and it will tell you the IP address and port to set up the site to connect to!)
2) After you have set up your respective FTP manager, connect to your Vita (make sure to stay on the "now running FTP server" screen, or press X to have it run in the background) and the FTP manager on your PC/Android device should display all the main partitions within the Vita.
3) [OPTIONAL] Navigate to ux0: in the manager, and create a folder (preferably called "VPK") to store all of your incoming VPK files in.
4) Back on the PC/Android device, send over your downloaded VPK file of choice to the desired location on your Vita. Then close the FTP window on your Vita, and navigate to the folder you placed the VPK into.
5) Press X on the VPK file, and X again to confirm the installation. If you get a window saying "This app will gain higher priveliges and may be dangerous", think twice about what you just downloaded/transferred, and hit X once again to really confirm the installation.
6) When the installation is successful, your app should now show up in the LiveArea with no errors. If you encountered an error while installing the VPK, something is wrong with your file and should try to investigate the issue the best you can, because it could simply be anything...
And that is how you install a VPK with ease!
Transferring files from the memory card through USB to/from a PC
Starting from VitaShell 1.5, users now have the option to manage files on the memory card via USB instead of FTP. This allows for much faster transfer speeds, and is generally one of the most simplest ways to manage files. There are some things you will need to know if you wish to have complete ux0 access though, as Windows automatically hides a few protected folders...
The Method:1) Enable USB connection in VitaShell if you haven't already, and locate the root of the memory card on PC.
2) In the top menu bar in Windows Explorer, go to View -> Options, and you will see a screen like this:
In the "View" tab, scroll down to a tickbox that says "Hide protected operating system files (recommended)" and disable it. You will also need to click on "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" as well. When you've done that, hit 'Apply', ignore the warning message if you get one, and close the window.
Note that this affects all other files and folders on your PC and not just the memory card drive. You can temporarily hit the 'hidden files/folders' tickbox on the fly from the "View" menu bar in Explorer to hide everything again.
Now you know how to easily transfer any files to protected folders when you need to.
HENkaku Enso Installation (permanent HENkaku)
On 29th July 2017, Team Molecule publicly released HENkaku Enso to mark their 1st anniversary since the original HENkaku debut. This variation of the well-known 3.60 browser-based exploit is installed into the boot sequence, eliminating the need to constantly revisit the web browser and execute the exploit on every reboot. This is also very useful and convenient for PSVSD and SD2Vita adapter users, as you will no longer have to keep remounting your adapter as ux0 either. Everything is now executed at boot time!
This can be installed on 3.60, or 3.65 if you set up H-Encore. 3.67-3.68 are not supported!
Installation Instructions1) Visit either of the following links based on whichever firmware you are installing Enso on:
3.60 - https://github.com/HENkaku/enso/releases
3.65 - https://github.com/TheOfficialFloW/enso/releases
2) Transfer the VPK to your Vita and install via VitaShell like any other homebrew app. A bubble should appear on the LiveArea screen, as per usual.
3) Carefully read the disclaimer at the top (remember, this is not a 100% stable exploit, even if it has gone through rigorous testing!) and press Circle to continue to options.
4) Press the Cross button to install/reinstall Enso. It should take around 10 seconds tops to complete. When prompted, press Cross again to reboot.
5) If all is successful, the Molecule logo should appear in place of the usual PlayStation logo. Now, when you arrive at the LiveArea screen and try to open a homebrew app, it should instantly load without fault. If this happens, congrats! You've successfully installed Enso!
NoNpDrm dumps - Creating/Installing
NoNpDrm dumps are almost 1:1 backups of a legitimate game. They are much, much more stable in terms of compatibility than Vitamin or MaiDump dumps, so nowadays it is highly recommended to install NoNpDrm dumps instead.
In this guide, I will go through how to dump legitimate games, then briefly how to install them at the end. If you are here solely for the piracy aspect, I suggest you look up a neat app called PKGi.
The Method:1) Grab the latest NoNpDrm release from here.
2) Place nonpdrm.skprx anywhere on your Vita, preferably somewhere in ur0 or ux0. Afterwards, in ux0:tai/config.txt, add a path to wherever you placed the plugin, just under the *KERNEL section. Then reboot your device for the plugin to activate.
3) Launch any legitimate app you wish to make a dump out of, and some licenses will be generated in ux0:nonpdrm/license/
4) Now to create the dump for use on another device. Copy all the content of the legitimate app/game (for downloaded content: ux0:app/TITLE_ID or if it's game-card based: gro0:app/TITLEID
5) Then copy the fake license over from ux0:license/app/TITLE_ID/random_numbers_and_letters.rif to TITLE_ID/sce_sys/package/ delete the existing work.bin already there, then rename the RIF file to work.bin.
6) You now have a NoNpDrm dump ready to install to another device. To install, place the contents in ux0:app/ (make sure the folder you're placing there is the 9-character folder, with an eboot.bin inside it and all that stuff) and on VitaShell's home menu, press triangle -> Refresh LiveArea screen to make the new NoNpDrm dump's bubble appear on the LiveArea!
Installing Adrenaline (ePSP Custom Firmware)
Adrenaline is a PSP eCFW, created and developed by TheFloW, for henkaku users. It allows you to install a fully-fledged PSP CFW, then transfer PSP EBOOTs/ISOs of your choice over to your memory card to access and play them.
Adrenaline is a software that modifies the official PSP Emulator using taiHEN CFW framework to make it run a PSP 6.61 custom firmware. Thanks to the power of taiHEN, Adrenaline can inject custom code into the IPL which allows unsigned code to run at boottime.
Note: An activated Vita with a PSN game used to be required to use Adrenaline, but this is no longer the case. Adrenaline can now be installed from a VPK.
To install Adrenaline to your Vita, download the latest version from this link:
https://github.com/TheOfficialFloW/Adrenaline/releases
Tom Bombadildo's full guide to installing Adrenaline:
http://gbatemp.net/threads/installing-adrenaline-6-61.449344/
(PSTV only) Mounting USB Stick as ux0
This tutorial will guide you on how to get a USB pen drive up and running on your PSTV. This is a really useful and money-saving feature, as the infamous memory cards are still often more expensive than the PSTV itself to this day!
The MethodManually mounting
1) Format your chosen USB drive to FAT32/exFAT, then launch VitaShell and navigate to the partition selection menu (aka the 'home' section)
2) Press the Triangle button and select 'Mount uma0', then attach your USB to the PSTV. Copy any stuff you need to copy over to that USB now. (auch as apps, patches, VPKs, etc.)
3) After you have done all that, making sure uma0 is still mounted in the partitions menu, press triangle again and select 'Mount USB ux0' from the side-menu. The USB is now acting as the memory card.
4) If you want to refresh the livearea with all the apps transferred to your USB, select 'Refresh livearea' from the same side-menu as before.
5) You have now successfully set up a USB Stick for use with your PSTV!
Mount on boot
Thanks to Enso, we can now mount our USB sticks on boot. If you don't have Enso installed, that's fine, it'll just mount when you launch HENkaku.
1) Download the latest version of usbmc_installer
2) Transfer it to your Vita and install it
3) Open the usbmc_installer application and follow the on-screen instructions
4) After it has finished installing, the USB device should now mount on boot!
![[?IMG]](/images/rpdcontent/578_upload_2017-11-9_16-3-47-png.105382)