Join Us and become a Member for a Verified Badge to access private areas with the latest PS4 PKGs.
Status
Not open for further replies.
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! :D

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
:alert: 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! :cool:

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 :)

HENkaku.png
 

Comments

We would need a developer to reply if it's even possible ;)
Honestly things are not always what they seem. You can take development from something just to use as a backdoor in to write a loader. Rewrite a linux loader for target management to obtain inside info. Just cuz it's for something else don't mean it can't be used for another thing.
 
Have you now? What might that be?

What we did was use one of PS3 loaders n use it for a direct call for ps4 even tho it will fail but y? Simple cuz then we can see exactly what's going on n where loading procedures happen.

Any1 who can think wod know you can change direct call to a pointer n wod also know that ps4 requires 2 loaders!

But this don't just work for ps3/ps4 this is about using imagination n expanding your limits. Loadiine will fail for good reasons even tho it's using the same chain but the calls are different but ppl only see from the small picture not what can be done.

The one loader is right in front of every1 even well documented it's knowing what your doing n understanding procedures.
Good luck

101 27 2 1
 
Have you now? What might that be?

What we did was use one of PS3 loaders n use it for a direct call for ps4 even tho it will fail but y? Simple cuz then we can see exactly what's going on n where loading procedures happen.

Any1 who can think wod know you can change direct call to a pointer n wod also know that ps4 requires 2 loaders!

But this don't just work for ps3/ps4 this is about using imagination n expanding your limits. Loadiine will fail for good reasons even tho it's using the same chain but the calls are different but ppl only see from the small picture not what can be done.

The one loader is right in front of every1 even well documented it's knowing what your doing n understanding procedures.
Good luck

101 27 2 1
I didn't get the whole post up sorry bud. But I as going to say that, I have installed this on one of my Vita and it seems to work good.

I haven't had time to use it and mess around with it all that much. Sorry I didn't get the whole message up.
 
I didn't get the whole post up sorry bud. But I as going to say that, I have installed this on one of my Vita and it seems to work good.

I haven't had time to use it and mess around with it all that much. Sorry I didn't get the whole message up.
We haven't bin home all weekend to mess around with it but we will be to see what's available within.

Either way no worries msgs can be miss interpreted so easily.
 
For those following this thread, here's a HENkaku update from Yifan Lu bringing it to HENkaku Release 3 followed by HENkaku Release 4 with the changes below, to quote:

Release 3

Now, the fun stuff. Today, we are pushing the next major update to HENkaku. The following features will be available the next time you run the online HENkaku installer. Self-hosters should get the changes from Github.
  • PSN spoofing: You can access PSN without updating to 3.61! Please continue reading for some important notes.
  • Safe homebrew support: Developers can optionally mark their homebrews as “safe” and it will not gain restricted API access. We highly recommend developers who are not using such features to update their packages as safe.
  • VitaShell 0.8: Read the release notes from The_FloW for the list of changes to VitaShell.
  • Version string: A callback to the PSP days where every hack would change the system version string. We do that too now (see the screenshot) so we can provide better support to our users.
Again, you will see these updates immediately the next time you install HENkaku if you use the online installer. If you use the offline installer, you need to update the payload. To do this, you need to temporarily enable network functionality on your Vita and open the offline installer bubble (NOT the Mail application).

Install offline HENkaku again and re-disable network functions. The next time you run offline HENkaku with the Mail application, you should see the new payload. Because of how the offline installer works, this will not update VitaShell. You must run the online installer again to get the latest VitaShell. Optionally, you can download the VitaShell 0.8 VPK and install it.

PSN Spoofing

You can access PSN after enabling HENkaku on 3.60 but please heed this warning. Using hacks on your PlayStation console is (and always has been) against the PSN terms of service and is a ban-able offense. We have had hacks of various forms on the Vita for years and nobody has ever been banned and hopefully this will stay true in the future.

However, because HENkaku has opened up the console more than any previous hacks, we might be at a point when Sony decides to enforce the PSN ToS and start banning people. That is why my personal recommendation is that you do not use PSN on your HENkaku enabled console even though we give you the option to (at your own risk).

If you are paranoid, you may want to use only the offline installer so your Vita does not communicate with Sony’s servers. Or you may want to format your console in order for the console to not be associated with your main PSN account. Again, there has not been any confirmed bans nor have I heard of an incoming ban-wave, but my gut feeling is that you should be prepared.

The PSN spoofing is only temporary! The next time Sony releases an update, I predict that spoofing will become a lot more difficult to do. So make sure you download the games you want and update your PS+ licenses while you still can.

Safe Homebrew

HENkaku gives developers access to public APIs (the same APIs licensed developers use to make games), private APIs (hidden APIs that may be exposed to licensed developers in the future), and restricted APIs (APIs used internally by the operating system and is not meant for external developers to use). We have seen many cool homebrews that make use of restricted APIs. For example, RegistryEditor by some1 allows you to access hidden system settings not exposed in the Settings application.

There are also experimental homebrew that allow you to modify system files (at your own risk) in order to change layouts and to find exploits. Unfortunately, it also allows for malicious developers to write homebrew that wipes your memory card or (although we have not seen such an application yet) even brick your console. We have always warned the community to be vigilant, but from a design perspective, it does not make sense to give every homebrew full access.

Therefore we added the option for developers to specify their homebrew as “safe” and not get access to restricted APIs and not disable the filesystem sandbox. All you have to do is download the latest toolchain and change the call to vita-make-fself in your Makefile to vita-make-fself -s. Safe homebrews can still access all public APIs and private APIs (so you still have dynarec, changing clock speed, etc) as well as specific directories on the memory card, but there is no access to restricted APIs (registry, system partitions, etc).

Most homebrews would already be considered “safe” (you would know if you used a restricted API). However, the big catch is that ux0: (memory card) access is now restricted to ux0:data (for arbitrary data), app0: (a mount of your application directory at ux0:app/TITLEID), and savedata0: (a mount of your application save). There is no direct access to ux0:app/TITLEID since safe homebrews are sandboxed. If you wish to use and store custom data on the memory card, please use ux0:data as it can be accessed by all applications and is not deleted when your bubble is deleted (useful for emulators).

So what about unsafe homebrew? HENkaku still supports running them, but VitaShell will now throw a nice and scary warning message whenever the user attempts to install an unsafe homebrew. The hope is that if someone decides to package up a bricking malware as a “game”, the user can be alerted because games wouldn’t need extended permissions. However, in order for this warning system to work, developers of safe homebrew must update their current packages to be safe. We do not want to numb users to the warning as all “legacy” applications are currently considered “unsafe.”

To recap, if you do nothing, your .vpk is by default considered to be unsafe and can still have access to restricted APIs and all filesystems. If you do not wish to have the unsafe message pop up every time a user installs your vpk, then you should download the latest toolchain and change the call to vita-make-fself in your Makefile to vita-make-fself -s. All current homebrew are still supported and still work and there are no changes to the behavior of anything already installed.

On backups

Now for the elephant in the room. For those who aren’t familiar, I recommend reading my reply on how I approach backups. The short of it is that, as I’ve stated countless times, I do not care if you pirate games or not. I personally will not write backups-enabling or backups-aiding tools, but if you do it, then that’s your business and not mine. We did not add DRM/anti-backups code nor did we add anti-DRM/backups code. The whole point of HENkaku is owning your own device.

Sony does not get to tell you what you can or cannot do with the device you bought. Same with molecule. That is what I believe. I’m writing this because I have been receiving a lot of harassment lately for things I have not said and for ideals I do not have. Please do not waste both of our time trying to convince me that backups is/is not bad.

On KOTH Challenge

We have seen many great progress on the KOTH challenge to reverse HENkaku. The first stage has been reversed, and as promised, xyz did an amazing writeup that filled in the rest of the details.

We have seen participants piecing together stage two and I think we can expect some of them to talk publicly about it soon. Once that happens, more information will be revealed by us. I am happy to hear that the participants are really enjoying the challenge and am even more delighted to hear that non-participants are really not enjoying the challenge ;).

Also via Yifan Lu comes an interesting read for developers on HENkaku PS Vita CTF: Reverse Engineering courtesy of St4rk from st4rk's blog and a Vita sceNetIoctl Use-After-Free breakdown by xyz.

Release 4
  • Fixed issue where YouTube website did not work
  • Added support for PSTV and Vita Slim internal storage
  • Updated to VitaShell 0.86
 
Another HENkaku update to Release 5 today with the changes below for those following:

Release 5 (September 6, 2016)
  • Changed how PSN spoofing is done. This should fix problems a minority of users experience regarding game saves.
  • Modded vs0:shell/shell.self is not supported.
  • Removed update blocking features as a side effect of above.
  • Update to VitaShell 0.91. This is the last VitaShell update bundled into HENkaku. Please use VitaShell’s built in network update feature to update VitaShell as a standalone component.
 
this thread is going great too bad i have no vita.. :( I WISH SOMEONE WOULD PORT THIS TO PS3 OR PS4 ALREADY! it's supposed to work on OFW.

EDIT: actually HenKAKU was ported to PS4 but we haven't seen anything much yet. :( whatever.
 
HENkaku updated to Release 6 today with the changes below, as follows:

Release 6 (September 12, 2016)
  • Whitelisted scePowerSetGpuClockFrequency, scePowerRequestColdReset, scePowerRequestStandby, and scePowerRegisterCallback
  • Fixed rare bug which crashes modded SceShell. There is still no PSN spoofing for modded SceShell
  • Removed “welcome” message when triggering exploit (was used for debugging and is no longer needed)
 
HENkaku is now updated to Release 8 with the changes below, as follows:

Release 8 (March 26, 2017)
  • PSN spoofing works again for 3.63 (it will be fixed in the next firmware, so use it while you can!). Make sure your spoof version is set to 3.63. You can also disable PSN spoofing in molecularShell settings menu.
  • First boot of molecularShell will alert the user to unsafe homebrew and how to enable it
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top