The "Its All Here" Guide to Homebrew Dev'ing

Ok, so everday now, one of you asks "How do i get started making my own homebrew?" Attempts have been made at answering this, and write ups have been laid out here in there, but here it will all be put together.

First off: Prior Knowledge:

You HAVE TO know C++/C in order to code for the psp right now, maybe some useful MIPS assembly, but its really not required unless you want to get into the aspect of "discovering" new uses for your psp. The C++/C you learned in your high school computer science class will probably not be enough. You really need some prior experience in GAME PROGRAMMING before you venture onto the psp platform. The psp is no place to start, as some of the more displined aspects are required, so please start out on the PC, you will benefit ten fold by doing so

Second: Software needed

No, you cant just use your Dev-cpp or Codewarrior IDE for PSP development. You'll need to use the PSPSDK coupled with the PSPToolchain all created/updated/developed by the guys over at ps2dev.org. Here is where sooo many people "fall through", or get confused and frustrated with the process. Now instead of writing my own writeup on how to use the PSPSDK and the PSPToolchain WITHOUT need for Linux or CYGWIN, i will post here a setup guide written by "cable16" of the ps2dev.org forums. The original post can be found here : and i take no credit for writing it.

INSTALLATION ----------
1: download TommyKat's PSPSDK 1.0+Beta Win32 installer ( http://forums.ps2dev.org/viewtopic.php?t=2371 )
2: download KaL's Win32 compiled PSP toolchain ( http://ipdred.free.fr/pspdev_wo.zip )
3. install PSPSDK 1.0+Beta to the default directory of c:\PSPdev
4. copy all the DLLs in pspdev_wo.zip's pspdev\bin folder to C:\PSPDev\bin
5. *NEW* copy make.exe in pspdev_wo.zip's pspdev\bin folder to C:\PSPDev\bin
6. edit start.bat so it contains:
- set path=%path%;c:\pspdev\bin
- set PSPSDK=C:\PSPDev\psp\sdk
- cmd

Compiling the sdktest example ----------
1. open C:\PSPDev\psp\sdk\samples \sdktest\Makefile, and remove the " PSPSDK=$(shell psp-config --pspsdk-path) " line.
2. run start.bat inside c:\PSPDev
3. inside the newly-opened CMD navigate to C:\PSPDev\psp\sdk\samples \sdktest
4. type make, and you should get a EBOOT.PBP inside C:\PSPDev\psp\sdk\samples \sdktest

Compiling Nem's Hello World ----------
1. download the Hello World src at http://sec.pn.to/pub/hellopsp_src_Rel1.zip, and extract somewhere
2. you can go ahead and delete mk.bat, outpatch.exe, and outpatch.cpp b/c you won't need them
3. edit hellopsp.c, and :
- add these above the "pg.h" and "bitmap.c" includes:
#include <pspkernel.h>
#include <pspdebug.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
- change the xmain function to main
- insert
PSP_MODULE_INFO("HELLOPSP ", 0, 1, 1);
right before int main(void)
4. edit pg.c and replace all the pspXXX functions to sceXXX (e.g. pspDisplayWaitVblankStart becomes sceDisplayWaitVblankStart )
5. copy the Makefile (make sure it's had the 'PSPSDK=$(shell psp-config --pspsdk-path)' line removed) from the sdktest to helloworld's folder.
6. edit the Makefile, change OBJS = main.o to OBJS = hellopsp.o pg.o
7. change the eboot title if you want
8. run start.bat inside c:\PSPDev, and navigate to helloworld's folder
9. type/run make
10. should get an EBOOT.PBP inside your helloworld folder

I did test this setup, and it does work 100%, even though i dont use it.

Lastly: Time

It takes a long time to get comfortable with your PSP development setup, and even longer to get things rolling along. If you truely want to develop something swell, you ARE going to spend alot of time doing so, so just keep that in mind.

Please remember, the guys at PS2DEV.ORG wrote the PSPSDK, and the vast majority of support/samples/questions can be found/answered there, at the PS2DEV.ORG forums. Other than that, have fun!