Commonly used terms for new psp users

[RabidWeezle]

The most commonly used terms for PSP users

CFW - Custom Firmware
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Basically custom firmware enables your psp to use homebrew applications and games, backed up games, converted playstation games and real custom themes (firmware themes). The firmware is developed by a guy named Dark_Alex and is free to download.

Pandora Battery
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Unless you have a PSP1000 series (the first psp model to come out, also called the Fat/Phat since it is the bulkiest of the psp's) that hasn't seen an official sony firmware update for the last 2 1/2 - 3 years, you will need one of these. It is basically how sony fixes bad firmware flashes when they get one to be repaired. It is a modified battery that allows the psp to go into service mode and new firmware can be installed. This allows for PSP1000 and 2000's to either fix a bad flash or install custom firmware.

Bricked
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When a psp gets a bad flash and is unoperational from it, it is concidered "bricked". This term came out before pandoras when people would do a firmware install/upgrade and would mess it up by not having the battery charged up enough, or would shut off the psp mid-flash. The only way you can fix a brick is with a pandora kit.

POPS/POPSLOADER/PSX Eboot
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This is a Playstation 1 game converted for use on custom firmware. The games are stuck in PSP/GAME/ like other homebrews. It was developed using Sony's own PS1 Emulator. It works with pretty much any ps1 game and even multi-disc games.

IRSHELL
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IRSHELL is a homebrew application made by Ahman that works like an alternate XMB. It has some very nice features like playing your own music while you play your games, and has nice plugin support, is skinable, and has an irx plugin to start instead of your regular xmb. It also has a nice file manager for moving files around your psp's memory card.

Emulators
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Most of you know what these are already, these are applications (on almost every system imaginable that allows homebrew) that lets you play a game from another game system or computer. It "Emulates" or Acts like that particular piece of hardware in software. For instance, with a gameboy emulator, you can play gameboy games on your psp. It talks to the game just like the real gameboy hardware does (video, sound, control, cpu, etc) and lets the game play on your psp. There are emulators on psp for many many systems including: PS1 (pops), Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo/Super Famicom, NES/Famicom, Sega Genesis, Arcade. In order to play the game you need to "legally" get the rom for the game (or disc image). A Rom is basically a file that gets ripped from cartridge roms using special hardware. Roms are a legally grey area and you will not recieve any on this site, so do not ask for them (or disc images). In most places it is perfectly legal to get roms for games that you officially own physically. For instance I have a cartridge of killer instinct for snes sitting around, so I can legally own that rom and play it on my psp. Or so I figure anyway. Like I said, it's grey area.

Homebrew
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Made from scratch/Ported Applications and games made from people like you and me. Nuff said.

MP4
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Video format used for movie playback on the psp's memory card. Stick mp4's in the root of the memory card under the VIDEO/ directory. To test this out if you see a video on google video (that's hosted on google video) it will often let you download that video as MP4 for psp and ipod, stick it in that folder on the memory card and watch it later on the psp. There is also software available to convert dvd movies to the mpeg4 format (and some free software too).

IR
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The PSP 1000 systems had an IR reciever on the top (little black oval) towards the left shoulder button. It's about the easiest way to tell if you have a 1000 and it's also usefull with some homebrew that lets you do things like control your TV/VCR/DVD/Stereo (or ps2 slim even) with your psp using an IR homebrew application.

CSO
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A Compressed UMD ISO. They are made using UMDGen to take up less space on the memory card. They are put in the root of the memory card under /ISO and show up on the games part of the XMB under memory card with custom firmware.

ISO
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A Disc Image taken from a UMD with custom firmware. When first extracted from a UMD they are quite large with dummy files and update apps. Use UMDGen to turn them into a CSO before you put them on your memory card. If you want to though you can stick them in the same directory as a cso and they will work.

Warez/Downloading/Where to find Roms/cso's/eboots
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Stuff we never talk about. Rip your own games. Can get you in alot of trouble here if you post/ask for games/roms.

XMB
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Stands for XrossMediaBar, basicly its the PSP's system menu/Dashboard.

Fat/Phat PSP
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First generation PSP, known as the PSP1000. It is a little heavier, has an ir interface, were always black, can take 1.5 firmware, had a larger battery, a more "mechanical" umd tray than the slim. All fat psp's can take custom firmware with a pandora if needed.

Slim PSP
If it isn't a fat, it's a slim, though there are 2 models. 1 model, many of the 2000 can have custom firmware using the pandora battery, but not all, there is a specific motherboard on later models of the 2000 that prevented this. The 3000 has currently no means of changing the firmware to custom. A 3000 can be quickly identified by the HOME button just having a psp logo on it. On the psp 2000's I have seen that the custom star wars edition, the silver daxter edition can be modified with custom firmware using a pandora (feel free to add more on this thread and I will add them)
more to be added later...

[Peppers]

XMB
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Stands for XrossMediaBar, basicly its the PSP's system menu.

[RabidWeezle]

added thanks!

[Dastan]

Is "CrossMediaBar"...

[RabidWeezle]

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