Aha! What have we here then? Another entry into the category of ‘not-work-related-retro-handheld-restoration’ posts. It’s an obscure category, but it’s my blog and I do what I want.
I’ve had an inkling to do a PlayStation Portable restoration for a long time, but anytime I looked into it I was put off by the vast number of tiny, tiny, easily breakable ribbon cables holding it all together. For some darned reason I took the plunge in March, buying a beat-up piece of crap on eBay and I’ve been working on it over the past month. It is now at a point where I am declaring it done. I’m not 100% happy with it. The reproduction shell is pretty good, but it’s not up to the same quality as the originals. I cracked it open for one last time tonight to make some tweaks and I’ve noticed that some of the screw holes are starting to come apart, so this time really must be the last time.
In terms of software modding, it’s been updated to the last official firmware version from Sony, 6.61, and I have installed ARK-4 custom firmware on top of it, which allows me to all sorts of interesting things. Not least of which was side loading the 15th anniversary theme which goes with the shell beautifully.
Big thanks to TotalKommando on YouTube who’s take-apart guide is the best (though I also found others helpful), and for all of his other guides on everything PSP related.