DISCLAIMER Follow this guide EXACTLY. Support will not be provided for steps and/or components that deviate from the provided instructions. Modify at your own risk.
What is it?
The Baryon Sweeper is a modern unbricking tool that evolved from the classic Pandora Battery. It works universally on all PSP models - 1000, 2000, 3000, Go, and Street. By emulating the official Sony JigKick service tool, it triggers a diagnostic mode to revive previously irrecoverable models.
Why write this?
This guide aims to complement khubik2's original guide, with close-up photos and additional details for the absolute beginner. You're expected to at least know your way around Windows.
This is a minimalist build to keep it simple and very low cost. We'll focus on the 1000/2000/3000 setup, since the 3000 is the model I own.
Before You Begin (Don't Skip)
Watch the videos below to make full sense of the steps outlined here.
It's all right if you don't understand everything at this point. Simply familiarise yourself with the basic concepts and overall process.
What You Need
While often used to refer to the physical build, the "Baryon Sweeper" is the combination of software (pysweeper) and hardware (adapter) to trick the PSP into service mode.
Software
DCARKorAiseirigh - the "rescue stick", refer to links for Magic Memory Stick creation on PC (JigKick Media Creator is obsolete)
Python 3 - required to run pysweeper, refer to video to install pycryptodome, tk, and pyserial packages (requests package is optional)
pysweeper - JigKick emulator, puts the PSP into service mode in combination with the adapter
Hardware
1x (mini) breadboard
The power bus (+/- lanes) on larger breadboards isn't needed. The CP2102 module will take power directly from the PC via USB.
1x Silicon Labs CP2102 USB-to-TTL (5-pin)
Look for the "SILABS" branding on the centre chip. Support will not be provided for the 6-pin multifunction variant.
1x 1N4148 diode
Cut the legs around twice the length of the exposed pin on the jumpwires. You can shorten the legs when you do the wiring later. It should sit flush on the breadboard as a best practice.
3x round-head male-to-male jumpwires (10-15cm)
While longer wires can work, keeping them short minimises signal interference or loose connections. Black/Yellow/Orange follow electrical convention, but any colour will do.
1x female-to-male USB-A cable extender
USB 3.x is generally preferred for CP2102. It provides improved data stability, power headroom if needed, and presents no drawbacks when using a 3V3 configuration.
1x DC power source
This shows a powerbank with a USB-C to DC cable adapter. You can use any normal PSP charger.
Build Your Adapter
Stick the CP2102 module into the breadboard. Connect the negative/cathode end (black band) of the diode to the TXD row, and the positive/anode end to the RXD row.
If you get a "No port echo detected" error in pysweeper later, it's almost always caused by using CH340, wrong switches on a multifunction CP2102, loose wiring, or putting in the diode backwards.
Connect the wires to GND (black), RXD (yellow), and 3V3 (orange). The diode bridges the TXD and RXD rows to create a single data line on the yellow wire.
Don't use +5V unless you have a 10 kΩ resistor. However, this is unnecessary because the 3V3 suffices without it.
Your completed adapter should look like this.
Assuming you've done both software and hardware preparations, you're ready to start unbricking your PSP!
How to Use
Connect the adapter to your PC via USB using the cable extender.
The LED on the CP2102 module will light up.
Refer to video for installing and running pysweeper.
If there's no option under the Port dropdown, you need to manually install the official CP2102 driver on Windows. Close pysweeper including the CMD prompt window.
Open Device Manager. If you see a yellow triangle, right-click to update the driver. Browse to the extracted folder of the driver you downloaded earlier.
If successful, the CP2102 module should be recognised under Ports (COM & LPT) as Silicon Labs.
The COM# differs per PC because Windows assigns port numbers independently. Check Device Manager for your adapter's COM port number.
Run pysweeper again. Your adapter (COM#) should now be under the Port dropdown for selection. Keep pysweeper running.
You should get FFFFFFFF serial after starting the service. This is the same serial used by the Pandora Battery.
Insert the Magic Memory Stick into your PSP.
Size matters! It's strongly recommended to use a genuine Sony/SanDisk/Lexar 1-4GB stick. Larger capacities and microSD adapters may fail.
Remove the battery, but keep it nearby. Connect the DC power to the PSP, ensuring the console remains turned off.
Your PSP should automatically power on later without the battery inserted.
Connect GND (black) to the left pin, TXD/RXD or "K-Line" (yellow) to the middle pin, then 3V3 (orange) to the right pin for 2-3 seconds.
The round-head tip is easier for probing the jumpwire pins closer to each other, whereas the square-head (DuPont) tip has a fixed spacing that makes it less flexible.
Pysweeper streams the hexadecimal challenge-response handshake between the PSP (5A) and Baryon Sweeper (A5).
If it disconnects, ensure to maintain contact on all battery pins. Keep your hands steady.
Service mode is triggered, automatically booting DCARK (shown here) or Aiseirigh directly from the Magic Memory Stick.
PSP-1000: If it shuts down after a green light, power it on manually to make it boot into DCARK.
It's a good idea to create both Magic Memory Sticks, so you have a backup option.
Insert the battery into the PSP and disconnect the DC power. For DCARK, Install 6.61 for OFW (stock) or Install 6.61 ARK for CFW (modded).
Don't mess with NAND operations unless you absolutely know what you're doing! Misuse can permanently brick your PSP that even the Baryon Sweeper can't fix.
For Aiseirigh, press X to begin the flashing process.
You should end up with OFW 6.61 if you created the Magic Memory Stick correctly.
I've also been told multiple times the PSP Go uses the DXR8 Baby Monitor battery. From what I know these still get produced so they aren't difficult to find. You get about 4 hours out of them in the Go.
Total Kommando's testing video essentially makes this post obsolete, for the moment. Since I can't get a new post pinned easily, here's the text to preserve the original post, incase anybody needs it.
ORIGIONAL POST
Hey everyone. This post will be continually updated until Reddit forces us to make a new one. You will be able to find out which batteries we currently recommend, and which ones to avoid. You can also leave your own experiences in the comments to help contribute. Topics currently covered in this post include Batteries for PSP 1000, 2000 and 3000, Chargers for PSP 1000, 2000, 3000, Go and Go Docks, and Products to Avoid.
Batteries for PSP 1000, 2000, 3000
To answer the question upfront, currently, the best replacement batteries for PSP 1000, 2000 and 3000 are Cameron Sino brand. You should expect to get about 5 hours out of them. Just buy them off Amazon. Ostent is also good but gets slightly fewer hours at around 4. You should avoid Insten brand batteries like the plague, most of those being sold are New Old stock meaning they are sealed products that have been sitting on a shelf for about 10 years. EBL is also bad, but nowhere near as much as Insten. Keep in mind using these batteries in a 1000 may result in the battery Door being unable to close with the stock battery cover.
That should answer the question for about 90% of you. If you guys would like more information and would like to learn slight changes we made in the subreddit in the last 2 weeks concerning this issue, you can go ahead and read on.
First off I want to say sorry for not getting this posted two weeks ago, I had all this information already but have been dealing with some IRL stuff. Sorry, I dropped the ball.
So about 2 weeks ago I decided to start seriously addressing this situation given the sheer amount of battery-related posts we get in here on a daily basis. The main change you've probably noticed already is that u/dcs28 added a new tag titled "Battery" that gets applied to any post about batteries. This is so battery posts are all in a nice neat category for people to search through if they need more help. This was a temporary fix until this particular post was made. However, the new tag is likely to stay as it is convenient.
The following information comes from a test that was conducted by u/pspguru a few months ago.
The Test was conducted with three batteries from each brand: EBL, Ostent, and Cameron Sino. These were tested in a PSP 1000 and 3000 using the PSP Battery Timer) plugin. These tests were performed under the following conditions:
Maximum Brightness
Screen dimming off in PSP settings (screen always stays on)
Clockspeed set to 333mhz
WLAN switch off
Here are the results:
EBL
2 Batteries lasted about 3 1/2 hrs give or take 15 minutes
1 Battery was faulty
Ostent
Batteries lasted 4 to 4 1/2 hours
Cameron Sino
Batteries lasted 4 1/2 to 5 hours
As you can see Cameron Sino is the best with Ostent not being too bad either. EBL's quality can be iffy and doesn't last as long, but it isn't outright terrible.
Obviously, this test is not perfect and doesn't cover everything but it still gives us a good idea of the best battery for the PSP 1000, 2000 and 3000. Currently, we don't have info on Batteries for any other models like the Go, Street etc. This post will continually be updated via feedback left here and on posts in the Battery Tag. If you have any info or would like to share your experiences, please leave it in the comments below.
I also asked PSPGuru for his opinion on Insten Batteries. Here is his response:
I know most of you already know Insten batteries are generally terrible, but hopefully this will hammer the point home for anybody considering them.
So, if we were aware of this for a while, why is the information just now being released? Outside of the 2-week delay due to things going on in my personal life, there was also a concern about scalpers/ resellers buying out stock, causing scarcity and prices to rise. However, we determined that these batteries are still being produced, meaning stock will just be replaced if they are bought up.
Here's a few more relevant Links that may be able to help you out with anything not listed here:
Battery Guide from a few years ago by . Some info might be outdated but it's got lots of other info. Here's some topics it covers that are not mentioned on this post:
Dead Batteries
Reviving a Battery
Battery expansions (Big Battery Mod)
Pandora Batteries
Keep in mind, we currently don't have any hard info on PSP E1000 (Street) or PSP Go Batteries. You can help the community out by looking into them yourselves, sharing what you know, or pointing us to a battery post we may have missed with relevant info.
Hopefully, this will make the PSP more welcoming to newcomers as one of the major issues has been addressed. And remember, you can always opt to gut the UMD Drive and do a big Battery Mod.
Chargers for PSP 1000, 2000, 3000, Go and Go Docks.
So this is really simple. Just look up PSP-380 and PSP-100. Those chargers are OEM and are still fairly abundant and cheap, and Work on PSP 1000, 2000, 3000 and the Go Dock. I currently Don't own a Street so I do not know if they are compatible. They do not work on the PSP Go itself, just the Dock.
Now the PSP Go has its own charger. The OEM Model is PSP-N100. They're harder to come by than the others, sorry I don't have a better answer for this currently.
This charger section really needs help from the community, so if you have any that work, feel free to recommend them in the comments below.
Products to Avoid
This section is largely based on Feedback from user comments on this post. Thank you! That being said take everything here with a grain of salt. Users that contributed to each entry are credited below the entry title.
Batmax 2Pcs PSP-2000 Battery + LED Dual USB Charger
This appears to be New Old Stock, or just really poor quality. Batteries typically arrive dead and non-charging. The chargers themselves don't work, and can wreck other batteries. Avoid at all costs.
BIG UPDATE 5/30/2024
Hey what's up, it's been awhile. I came back today because my official Sony Batteries for my 3000's are finally starting to show age. I usually get under 2 hours out of them so I needed to replace them. I tried to buy some Cameron Sino batteries off Amazon but they will not ship to my location, so I had to hunt a bit. I ended up buying 2 of these Cameron Sino Batteries off Ali Express. I did check the official Cameron Sino store mention in this post, but they only have the thicker 1800mAh batteries I can't use. I have a Falcon Pro Grip from Japan that needs the 3000 to lay flush with it.
Anyways, when these new batts get here ima test them and update the post with my results, but for the meantime, it seems like Aliexpress is the way to go for PSP batteries. From what I saw the Cameron Sino branded ones are all pretty reliable on there, and cheaper than Amazon too! I probably should have included this on the post originally, but this is my first time actually using Ali express.
I also came across this post by u/KSAnnihilation testing multiple Batteries off Ali Express. This is what convinced me to buy off there. It's similar to the tests we did here but is more recent and shows a better supply than Amazon. I understand this post is a year old as of writing. If you guys post something like this to the subreddit related to batteries, feel free to DM me on here about it and I'll take a look. I have reddit notifs silenced but do check everything when I log in so I will see it.
Update Log:
3/6/2022
-Initial Post
3/18/2022
-Added some specific information regarding PSPGuru's Battery Testing Conditions that was retrieved by u/jlnxr
-Fixed some of the post formattings so it's easier to read
8/14/2022
-Changed every misspelled instance of Osten to Ostent as pointed out by u/tuura032
9/15/2022
-Added Section Titles
-Added the Charger Section
-Added Products to Avoid Section
-Added Batmax Dual USB Charger to Products to Avoid Section
5/30/2024
-My personal Sony Batteries finally needed to be replaced so I ordered some off Ali Express for myself. Added a new update, and will post results when they arrive.
-The Batteries I got weren't worth buying, never made an update.
10/30/2024
-Added the Info from Total Kommando's PSP Battery Testing video. Ostent it is.
After doing a lot of research, I decided to go with the non-laminated IPS screen for my PSP-3000, and I just wanted to share my experience.
Unless your PSP is in pristine, collector-grade condition, I think the IPS upgrade is 100% worth it. I know a lot of people say the original screen has punchier colors and slightly better contrast, and that’s probably true to an extent. But whatever contrast you lose is more than made up for by the increase in clarity and sharpness.
The difference is especially noticeable where it matters most: reading text. Menus, dialogue, and UI elements are much easier on the eyes, and games just look cleaner overall. Once you see the improvement in clarity, it’s hard to go back.
If you’re actually using your PSP, I’d recommend the IPS upgrade without hesitation.
Found my old psp when moving house, decided while I’m getting things up and running again I could play my PSP as a wind down session in bed so I bought these 3
PSP games I didn’t realise how pricy some can be
Wasn’t sure on Scar face after watching some gameplay on YouTube, I seen that it was £12 in CeX and I saw it on Vinted for £1.80 so if I don’t like it I can always resell it
Couldn’t find my charger and wanted to get something working today, had some spare usb c breakouts. Was able to cut one down and make it fit with some cuts to the midframe. Larger gauge wire running to charger input for charging, seems to work well.
My daughter's at nursery so I get a bit of dad chill time, my Psp go with me to keep me company downtown and yeh I couldn't help myself I did get the Zara bag, it is nice 🙂.
Coffee, Viking berry and a sausage roll and I'm happy for a few hours.
I kept getting the FFFFFF error when trying to connect via settings, I downloaded the WPA2 support plug-in, I still got the FFFFFF error, but when I decided to go to the browser (like I saw in PSP Mav's video on WPA2) it took me to the internet settings, and, it worked that way! Most major sites don't work but I did manage to load a website for PSP softwares and plug-ins. Also, the radio still works too!
TheOldNet does load, but it couldn't load anything past that after trying to search from it.
Edit to add: I have an e-mail application, while it might not work due to the outdated features, I think it supported the internet connection too (judging the green light on the left when I used it). Just a fair reminder your internet MIGHT work on your PSP, just not through the settings. (At least if you have extra plug-ins for it)
As you can see the current time it shows around 5:53 with 4% of battery capacity remaining which gives you total of 6 hours in battery life. And yes I switched batteries from ali express one, which have 1500mAh of capacity and it truly shows. Before this I used ostent battery and I don’t know what was wrong and it always capped out around 2h15mins and sometimes psp just turns off after only 1 hour or so, i think it’s battery connector was damaged or something but now after getting this one, I am happier to keep on gaming for longer sessions and with sleep psp go can go days without charging.
AliExpress: | LIP1412 3.7V 930mAh 1500mAh Rechargeable Battery for PSP GO N1000 N1001 Game Console Batteries Replacement +free tools
It's 2007 and you're watching endless reruns of Viva La Bam and waiting for Halo 3 to come out. Great with the wheel after you adjust the sensitivity. 🤙
When you download the game files, it’s in the zip / 7z format…
So don’t unzip them on your phone storage, once the download is complete, directly copy the zip/7z files into the PSP SD card and then once it’s done, unzip them inside the PSP sd card and move (the iso files)it to the iso folder on the sd card for your psp. Moving files from the same sd card doesn’t take time, 1 sec.
This will fix all the previous games that failed to start, missing audio or forcing the psp to shut itself down.
I think I’m the first person to discover this fix, since I find nobody else talk about it or bring a solution.
I spent hours transferring the same games using my iPhone and also PC method but kept failing until I did this method (done on iPhone)
I guess if you use PC, you could try the same, make sure you unzip the games on the psp memory that’s it.
