HENkaku by Yifan Lu Brings PS Vita Homebrew to 3.60 OFW and Below

Last year we saw Rejuvenate to run emulators, homebrew games and apps on PlayStation Vita, and today Yifan Lu announced that HENkaku is on the way that will bring homebrew to PS Vita / PSTV owners who are on PS Vita Firmware 3.60 or below!

Here are some recent Tweets on it:

From Yifan Lu's Blog comes a brief HENkaku intro, to quote:

"For the last couple of months, molecule (composed of I along with Davee, Proxima, and xyz) have been working hard to bring you an easy-to-use homebrew solution. The result is HENkaku (変革), the first HEN for the Vita."

Also from the official HENkaku Site:

HENkaku 変革

The revolution is here. Unlock your Vita and run unofficial games and applications.

What is HENkaku?

VitaDoom HENkaku is the first ever homebrew enabler for PS Vita and PSTV. It is akin to jailbreaking your iPhone or rooting your Android device.

Homebrew are games and other software not officially approved. For example, VitaDoom is a port of the classic game DOOM and mGBA lets you play Game Boy Advance ROMs. You can find more examples in the showcase.

Best of all, HENkaku is 100% free. No cost. No ads. No “donations”.

How do I get it?

Visit https://henkaku.xyz from the built-in web browser on your PS Vita and press the “Install” button to install HENkaku. You must do this every time you reboot the console–that is, every time you turn the console off and on again.

What are the requirements?

You need a PS Vita or PSTV running system firmware 3.60. Unfortunately, it is not possible to run HENkaku on any device running a higher firmware version and it is also not possible to downgrade your system firmware.

You also need a memory card (any size) with at least 10MB of free space. Internal memory on newer devices is currently not supported. In order to transfer homebrew to your device, you also need a FTP client for your computer. We recommend FileZilla. Finally, you need an internet connection to install HENkaku.

tl;dr:

• Vita on firmware 3.60
• Internet connection
• FTP client on your PC
• Memory card

It is important that you never update your Vita past 3.60 if you ever wish to use HENkaku now or in the future. If you do update, all your installed homebrew will no longer work and you cannot install any homebrew in the future.

Details and Support

More details and troubleshooting can be found in the usage guide. If you are a developer, please check out the developer guide and help contribute to the homebrew community.

Thanks to @mcmrc1 for sharing the news in the PSXHAX Shoutbox!

Finally, if any of you run into HENkaku error C2-12828-1, here's a quick fix to try from wololo to quote:

Many people in our community have been running into error C2-12828-1 and here’s what some people recommend (don’t do all of those, try each one after the other and see what works for you:

• Delete your cookies in the PS Vita Browser, then try again (thanks FallenLeader)
• Try to turn off the Vita, wait for a few minutes, then turn it on again and visit the HENkaku site again.
• Try to start the PS Vita in Safe Mode (turn the Vita off, then press “R” button + PS button + Power button for 5 seconds while the vita is off) and use the rebuild database option format the memory card
• Reset your Wifi settings

The consensus seems to be that rebooting your console should be the first thing you try, even if you have to try it several times before you try anything more “serious”. There is some level of instability in any hack, and it seems HENkaku is no exception

 

[Howie648]

Chicks dig it too LOL

 

[Chaos Kid]

Chicks dig it too LOL

Hw or JD? Lol they also like there hw as long as it comes with a battery lmao give them n fpga board they look at you like there crazy then get creative n turn it into some crazy toy! That's when you respond now who's crazy!!! Lmao

But on other hand if your talking JD or rum the good ones dig it just keep them away from tequila or you have a handful if you can't handle more then one lol

 

[Kraken]

I have a PS TV new in box that has been awaiting this day (came with a free PS4 controller). A couple of practical questions:

1. How do you update to 3.60? Is that the current latest version, or does it need to be updated via USB? According to Wikipedia, that's the current version.

Edit: Offline install intructions: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/system-updates/ps-vita/#internet The PSTV updates like a PS3 from a USB stick and the Vita can update over a USB connection to a PC. That link also contains the FW 3.60.

2. How do you block future updates? Similar to the Wii U's hack, the exploit requires an active internet connection every time you run it, and you need to run it on every boot. Is there a list of domains and IP addresses I should block in my router? Is there an equivalent to TubeHax DNS that can block those on the device itself?

3. How urgent is it to install this? Since it needs the internet every run, it doesn't seem urgent since Sony will either block it for everyone or it will be still usable by everyone soon.

4. Deals on storage? Prices for Vita memory cards are ridiculous. I can get a 128GB microSD for less than a 16GB vita card. Hopefully this hack leads to USB storage as an option soon.

 

[racer0018]

I'm going to try this on my Vita and see how it works. Thanks all

 

[Chaos Kid]

We will be testing this out 2 with the fw we are on n see if it works on bellow 3.60

 

[Howie648]

Didn't work on my PS TV. Yes, I have a 16 gig memory card in it, yes I have rebooted, yes I tried with JavaScript disabled, yes I rebuilt the database...

 

[Chaos Kid]

Didn't work on my PS TV. Yes, I have a 16 gig memory card in it, yes I have rebooted, yes I tried with JavaScript disabled, yes I rebuilt the database...

What we have seen if we are correct they did this on fw 3.55 or lower n ported to 3.60 but you can't use just any bubble we have tested things

 

[kombat75]

Does this really work and we can play the PSViTA download games which some SCENE has release it ? or this just to play VITADOOM which i think not WORTH just for this VITADOOM Game and some application.

 

[PSXHAX]

From what I gather it's just homebrew working at the moment, but time will tell if a rogue developer codes and releases a backup loader or game manager for PS Vita

 

[misiozol]

We would need a developer to reply if it's even possible