Using a "Service Tool" on a PSP slim

[antondevey]

Welp, I've got a problem. I bricked my PSP slim for the third time, so I decided to get a Service Tool. It arrived today so I inserted my battery, everything went fine. I used my sister's PSP to make an MMS, inserted them both into the Slim, aaaand... Nothing. Well, almost nothing - the green light lit up when I inserted the battery, but the screen remained blank.

Now, as this was not my first time I had a couple of ideas up my sleeve which I tried. They all resulted in precisely the same thing, which slightly surprised me as I expected a little variation:
-Using a computer with windows XP instead of Vista
-Using a different memory stick installer (I had been using PSP Pandora Deluxe, I tried using the Catb50 flasher)
-Using a different battery (I had been using my slim's; my sister's was a phat so I tried that. Note that I was able to change the phat battery back to normal with the Service Tool, which might suggest that the Service Tool is not the problem)
-Various combinations of putting the battery in, putting the memory stick in, and holding the left trigger (which I assigned to Desperar Cemeturio v8 in the PSP Pandora Deluxe menu)
-Formatting the memstick and changing the battery back, and starting again. I have done this a LOT.

Extra info: My sister's PSP is non-homebrew. I am using an old 1GB memstick as the MMS - it has been a working MMS in the past. The Slim has been homebrew'd in the past. The slim battery has never been a pandora before, but the phat's has. One odd thing is that the Service Tool's instructions say you should put the battery in first, then the memstick, while most resources for the MMS files say it should be the other way around. It's unlikely to be that though, isn't it?

I'm really worried that the Slim is a permanent brick. How would I know if it was? I guess I COULD try using the battery and memstick on the phat PSP to see if it works, but I'm terrified of bricking that one too. Please help, PSP homebrew has been my main source of gaming for three years now!

[coldconfession13]

Don't you have to hold the left trigger for it to boot up.

[darkxvx]

You need to put in the memory stick BEFORE putting the pandora battery in, then hold the trigger that you set for the app, such as despertar del cementerio. A pandora battery and mms can unbrick a perma brick psp (if the psp is hackable).

And also, what IPL are you using?

[antondevey]

I've just tried that specific combination again, to no avail. I also just tried using 3.71 instead of 5.00. How would I find out what IPL I'm using? I'm using the app "PSP Pandora Deluxe".

EDIT: I've seen around the place that sometimes the screen stays blank, but the program is actually running. In this event you are meant to press X and hope that the memstick light starts flashing. I tried pressing X, and absolutely nothing happened.

[darkxvx]

Have you tried formating your memory stick before installing ddc 8 on it? And what buttom combo did you set ddc 8 to? Also, you hold the button when the psp is loading. I usually insert the memory stick, then hold the button combo/the button you set for ddc and then put in the battery.

[antondevey]

Yes I formatted it, I selected L trigger, and I use the combination prescribed. Insert MMS>start holding down L trigger>insert battery. Nothing.

[coldconfession13]

I tried to use pandore deluxe and I got errors . I used Rains Ultra MMS maker 1.2 and that worked fine for me.

[antondevey]

OOhhhhh Myyyyyyy Gaaaaaawd. As I type, bits of braid are dribbling out of my ear. I just did something... urgh, this is going to make a funny story to someone. Provided they're a very nerdy someone.

On the advice of Coldconfession13, I decided to try out Rain's ultra MMS. Honestly I wasn't expecting it to work, having already tried two different MMS programs, but I was feeling desperate.

Backstory: I and my sister, whose PSP I was using, each have a memory stick. Mine is 8GB, hers is 1GB, and both are full of games, videos, music, and savegames. Mine has 8x as much of each. It has savegames with 30+ hours clocked into them. It has painstakingly converted episodes of The Thick of It and other assorted videos. It has, I am ashamed to say, my entire music collection, which is humble, but quite important to me and VERY old.

Do I even need to tell you what happened now? I've been using my sister's as the MMS for my other tries - I backed up its contents a while ago. Love Actually, some songs, and a couple of Loco Roco and The Sims savegames. With this try, I pick up my sister's PSP, connect it to the computer, and do the magic. Are you sure you want to format the memory stick? Yes. Are you sure you don't want to back up the contents? Why, no, I have the backup right here.

It's when the Magic is half loaded that I look over to the right and see my sister's memory stick sitting on my desk like the dismembered head of John the Baptist. I feel nothing, except perhaps a little coldness. When it is done, I pop open the psp and take out the memory stick -my memory stick- and look at it for a few seconds.

I pick up my slim and put it in, and find my pandora battery. Wouldn't it be ironic if... oh, would you look at that. The green light comes on, and is shamelessly joined by a flicker of amber in no time. The screen comes on - a relaxing shade of lilac and a list of things to install. Hah - how nice of them. It's far better laid out than pandora used to be. Hah. That's funny. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha-ha ha. HAAAA HAAAA HAAAAAAAA.

HUUUUUUUUUUUUURGH

EDIT: It's hard to take a moral from this story. Perhaps it was the memory stick that was the problem all along. Perhaps it's just that Ultra MMS is better than Cat20b or Pandora deluxe. **** IF I'M GOING TO BE ARSED TO FIND OUT.

[darkxvx]

Glad to see it's solved. The memory stick might've been a fake, as they rarely work as a mms properly.

[antondevey]

There was no way it was a fake! It came in her PSP giga pack! And functioned perfectly well as a memory stick. In fact I could SWEAR I once used it as an MMS. I hope someone gains something from this whole thing...