Finally! A downgrade for previously 'un-downgradable' PSPs with TA-082/TA-086 motherboards! Hooray for homebrew!!
Why Downgrade?
PSP with version 1.5 or lower firmware are able to run homebrews, emulators, and most importantly, load game images of the memory stick without the need of a UMD.
Can I downgrade?
To check for your firmware version, firstly, go to your 'System Settings' Icon , scroll down to 'System Information' and note the firmware version you are running.
What we need
Here are the things we need to have before we start the downgrade process:
1. A UMD of GTA: Liberty City Story (with 2.0 upgrade icon when game is loaded)
This is very important! You can't do the downgrade without this!
2. 3.03 firmware update (of your PSP is version 3.03 and below)
3. 3.03 Downgrader Pack
4. 3.03 Homebrew Enabler (3.03 HEN) Pack
5. 1.5 firmware update
VERY IMPORTANT
Firstly, if your PSP firmware version below 3.03, you will have to upgrade your PSP to a version 3.03 first before downgrading it.
Also, make sure your PSP is plugged into the AC power source before starting and upgrade process.
To upgrade to 3.03
1. Connect your PSP to your computer via a USB connection
2. Go to 'My Computer' and explore the Removable Disc that is detected on Windows, which is actually your PSP.There should be a folder called 'PSP there.
3. Within the 'PSP' folder, there is a folder called 'GAME'. Within the 'GAME' folder, create a folder called 'UPDATE'.
IMPORTANT: The update folder can ONLY be inside the 'GAME' folder for the update process to work.
4. Copy the firmware version 3.03 file EBOOT.PBP into the 'UPDATE' folder. (Please make sure it's the right firmware version)
5. Disconnect the USB connection.
6. To start the update, Select 
under 
from the home menu, and select 
.
7. Press the 
button to start the update.
8. After the update's done, go to your system information under system settings to confirm it.
9. You can now delete EBOOT.PBP file from the 'UPDATE' folder.
Downgrading to 1.5
1. Connect your PSP to the PC via USB connection
2. Format the memory stick (back up any data you want to keep first!)
3. Let's organise the files we'd downloaded to avoid any confusion. Copy the contents of MS_ROOT in the 3.03 Downgrader Pack into the memory stick.
4. Copy the contents of MS_ROOT inside 3.03 HEN into the memory stick.
5. Within the 'PSP' folder, there is a folder called 'GAME'. Within the 'GAME' folder, create a folder called 'UPDATE'.
6. Rename the 1.5 firmware update file EBOOT.PBP to UPDATE.PBP and copy it into the newly created 'UPDATE' folder in the memory stick
7. Insert GTA:LCS UMD and run the game as you would for any game.
8. It will attempt to load a saved game and the PSP will show a blank screen, then a Light Blue colored screen, and finally it will do an automatic reboot.
9. Go to 'System Information', and check if the firmware version shows up as 3.03 HEN. If so, we can proceed on the the next step. If not, repeat steps 7 and 8 again till it shows up.
10. Select under from the home menu, select X.YZ update and press the button.
11. If you have a TA-082/TA-086 motherboard, the downgrader will ask if you want to patch your motherboard so that it can be safely downgraded.
Please note that the downgrader will not let you proceed any further if your motherboard requires patching and you do not do so.
12. The downgrader will then confirm if you want to proceed with the operation. Press the right shoulder trigger button if you want to quit.
13. The downgrade will then proceed. When it is finished, press the button. The PSP will reboot.
14. An error message will pop up. Just ignore it and press the "O" button. The system would then rebuild the system data on its own and restart.
15. If the above blue screen does not show, load the included NetConfigBackup application from GAME --> Memory Stick, and select restore.
16. You can now delete the miscellaneous downgrade files off the memory stick.
17. Congrats! Your PSP can now run homebrew and many other cool applications!
