First of all, you'll want to download the latest version of the program. Currently version 1.60, get it here. The download will be a RAR folder. Save it to your hard drive somewhere (preferably in it's own folder, called Recovery Flasher or something similar), then extract all of the contents using WinRAR or similar extraction program. You should then have, somewhere on your PC, the following folders and files:



If you don't, you've done something wrong and need to re-extract them. Once you do, remember where they are, you'll need some of them, which ones depends on what you're doing. There are three scenarios where you would need to use this program, i'll detail the process below.

SCENARIO 1: You are on 1.50 Official Firmware and wish to go to the latest Custom Firmware.

For this scenario, you will need only the files inside the 'FW.150' folder to complete the process. Open the folder and you should see two more folders, like this:



Connect your PSP to your computer. On your Memory stick, browse to the directory PSP/GAME. Now go back to the above folders. Highlight them both and copy them, by either pressing CTRL+C, or right clicking and selecting copy. Then go to PSP/GAME on your memory stick and paste them in there, either by pressing CTRL+V or right clicking and selecting paste. Those two folders should now be under PSP/GAME on your memory stick.

That is is for the 1.50FW specific section of the guide. Continue to the second post of this guide for further instructions that are universal (GUIDE: How to use Hellcats Recovery Flasher)

SCENARIO 2: You are already on an older custom firmware, and need to update to the latest version, or a newer custom firmware and want to revert back to an older version.

Firstly be aware this program will not work on versions below 3.52 M33-3, so if you are on a custom firmware below that, you'll need to manually update first before this will work.

Also, this only works on the GEN firmware 5.50 GEN-B2 and above. It won't work on 5.50 GEN-A or GEN-B, so update that first.

For this scenario, you will need the files in the 'RECOVERY' folder, as highlighted here:



Connect your PSP to the PC, and browse to the PSP/GAME folder. Now on your PC, copy the whole recovery folder, and paste it into PSP/GAME. So as you look through your directories, you should have this structure:

ms0:/PSP/GAME/RECOVERY/EBOOT.PBP

That is is for the CFW specific section of the guide. Continue to the second post of this guide for further instructions that are universal. (GUIDE: How to use Hellcats Recovery Flasher)

SCENARIO 3: You have used ChickHEN on your PSP and wish to flash full custom firmware on your hackable PSP.

************************************************** **
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE YOU READ THIS SECTION. NOT ALL PSPs THAT CAN RUN CHICKHEN, CAN RUN FULL CUSTOM FIRMWARE. IF YOUR PSP IS A PSP 2000 WITH TA-088v3 MOTHERBOARD or PSP 3000, YOU CAN NOT, I REPEAT NOT, FLASH FULL CUSTOM FIRMWARE WITH HELLCATS RECOVERY FLASHER. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO DO SO, YOU WILL BRICK YOUR PSP. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! IF YOU ARE NOT SURE, RUN PSP IDENT UNDER THE HEN ENVIRONMENT AND SEE WHAT MODEL NUMBER AND MOTHERBOARD YOU HAVE.
************************************************** ***

Ok if you're sure you have a fully hackable PSP, you can proceed with this. Please note that you need to be in the HEN environment for any of this to work. If you're not, you'll get an error message saying the game cannot be run. So make sure you are in HEN, by checking your PSP system software.

For this scenario, you will need the files in the 'RECOVERY' folder, as highlighted here:



Connect your PSP to the PC, and browse to the PSP/GAME folder. Now on your PC, copy the whole recovery folder, and paste it into PSP/GAME. So as you look through your directories, you should have this structure:

ms0:/PSP/GAME/RECOVERY/EBOOT.PBP

That is is for the ChickHEN specific section of the guide. 

GETTING THE OFFICIAL EBOOT FILE OF THE CUSTOM FIRMWARE YOU INTEND TO INSTALL

The next step is to get the official EBOOT file that corresponds to the custom firmware version you are attempting to flash. So if you want 3.71 M33, you'll need the 3.71 EBOOT, if you want to go to 4.01 M33 you'll need the 4.01 EBOOT, and so on. The highest firmware you can go to with this program is 5.00 M33-6, and so if you wish to do that, you'll need the 5.00 EBOOT.

I'm not going to provide links to all of the eboots, they are easily found by google and other methods, but here is the latest one that most will want, the 5.00 EBOOT:

500.PBP

Note that the file needs to be in number format for the firmware. So if you download a file and it's just called EBOOT.PBP, rename it to the corresponding firmware number. So the 3.71 EBOOT would be renamed 371.PBP, 4.01 would be 401.PBP, and so on.

Now you have that file, you need to place it on the root of your memory stick. That is the first area you see when you open your PSP memory stick. It's the same place your PSP folder is, and probably a few others. Drag and drop your renamed file anywhere onto there.

FINAL PROCESS: Running the program itself on the PSP.

Ok that is all the ground work done, you're now ready to run the program. If you've done everything correctly, you should be able to browse to the program under GAME>Memory Stick. Once the program loads (you may get a disclaimer type page first to accept), you'll see something like this screen:



You're nearly there. All you need to do is move the arrow to the first option to select the firmware you want your CFW to be based on. So if you want 5.00 M33-6, you would set it as above, but you can cycle through and set any firmware. Just make sure it's the same as the official EBOOT you dumped onto the root of your memory stick.

Now all you need to do is choose the option highlighted on the above image, 'Install M33 Custom Firmware (of version selected above). Hit that, and the PSP should then install the custom firmware. The PSP will restart when it's done, and voila, you have the full custom firmware you wanted.

You can now delete any files you added to your memory stick relating to the flasher if you wish.