What secrets does the PSTV hold?

[TSTR]

I ended up with a NIB PSTV that I have not used and have not linked to any PSN account. What all can you do with these things by hacking them out? Anybody got any resources they can point me to? I WISH TO KNOW ITS SEKRITS

[JoeAwesome]

I'm also interested, but with all the info I've read on wololo and elsewhere, it ain't a cakewalk. However, once it's set up, it can basically play most Vita games and emulate a lot of other systems.

[TSTR]

Yeah, that's kinda why I asked here. Anything I read on wolololololololo or GBATemp seems confusing, plus idk if any of it is up-to-date. I suppose my first order of business is to find a SD adapter for the memory cards, because hell if I'm gonna pay for that overpriced, proprietary nonsense. Adapters do exist by now, don't they?

[ElkinFencer10]

I, too, am interesting in knowing the secrets of this beautiful commercial failure.

[CRTGAMER]

Got my curiosity too if worth buying. Some good info with a hack link:

PSTV: hidden treasure or colossal failure? - https://www.destructoid.com/looking-bac ... 6891.phtml

[JoeAwesome]

Yeah, that's kinda why I asked here. Anything I read on wolololololololo or GBATemp seems confusing, plus idk if any of it is up-to-date. I suppose my first order of business is to find a SD adapter for the memory cards, because hell if I'm gonna pay for that overpriced, proprietary nonsense. Adapters do exist by now, don't they?

They have it so you can attach storage the USB port for the PSTV (when hacked), but they do have micro SD to Vita cart adapters for storage as well. Nothing on the memory card side, afaik, though.

[casterofdreams]

I’m a fairly heavy user of the PSTV. I don’t have it hacked or anything. Just using as intended. All I can say is that you shouldn’t update past 3.60 or else a lot of the hacking tools available will not work.

[JoeAwesome]

Update: This past weekend I hacked my PSTV. It's not all that difficult to do, but there is a vast amount of outdated info and misinformation out there. I updated mine from ~OFW 3.32 to OFW 3.60 as instructed on henkaku's site; downloaded the installer off of the site; and started to download PKG files for everything else. So far, I have it running the PSP emulator, and less scrupulous things. I want to add storage, but haven't committed to either USB or SD2Vita cart. I think the former is better to free up your cart slot, but the latter frees up your USB port to charge the controller. I also have to keep in mind the USB port doesn't give enough power for some HDDs, so I may not have a choice depending on what I find for storage.

All in all, very straightforward to begin, but time consuming to continue. I've written down some notes, but I'll need to make a guide if time permits.

[samsonlonghair]

It’s not hard to find a USB flash drive with 64GB or even 128GB capacity these days. That wouldn’t need any extra power beyond what the USB port provides.

It’s also not hard to find a USB hub.

Bonus Points: Find a powered USB hub and you can use any USB drive you please, plus you can charge multiple controllers simultaneously.

As for the SD2Vita cart, I wouldn’t fool with it for a PSTV, but it looks useful for a handheld Vita.

[Anapan]

I do not have one and can't claim to have any good info, but I use un-powered (not externally Powered) Sandisk SSD drives on my Wii & Wii U through their proper drive port using specific cheap Sata3-to-USB3 adapters that I think might work on other consoles that run on ~ 12 volts.
If external power is required, running a cheap SSD will often take less power than an older thumb-drive, tho augmenting the power through the same cable that connects it is always preferable.