Emuholic & Emuboards - All the latest homebrew and hacking news: Datel Tool Battery for the PSP - Emuholic & Emuboards - All the latest homebrew and hacking news

Jump to content

  • (6 Pages)
  • +
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Last »

Datel Tool Battery for the PSP Rate Topic: ***** 1 Votes

#1 User is offline   Guyfawkes 

  • The Gov'ner
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Super Administrators
  • Posts: 5,045
  • Joined: 03-May 02
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:London, UK
  • Device(s):GP2X, GBA, GP32, Zodiac 2, PPC, DS, PSP, Xbox 360

Posted 08 October 2007 - 12:38 PM

Datel Tool Battery (service mode battery) for the PSP
By Guyfawkes


Buy PSP Battery Tool for normal PSP: Divineo US, Divineo UK, Deal Extreme (no memory card), Deal Extreme (with 4GB card)
Buy PSP Battery Tool for Slim PSP - Divineo US, Deal Extreme (no memory card), Deal Extreme (with 4GB card)


I will begin first about the PSP service mode and its origins which came from Pandora Battery hack. Pandora is a hack performed on your existing battery. What it basically does is changes the EEPROM inside the battery to put the PSP into service mode. Once applied you can use the software to perform a firmware flash and restore a bricked PSP to normal. There is a slight catch 22 situation though in that to change your standard battery into a Pandora battery you need a working PSP with the ability to run homebrew or if you are good at electronics you can desolder a wire on the battery to enable the service mode. You can read more about Pandora at http://www.noobz.eu/...as-battery.html.

The Datel Tool Battery was released shortly after the Pandora Battery announcement, it is a pre modified battery pretty much identical to what you would get if you done it yourself. The Datel Tool Battery has received a bit of flak by some as it has been seen as Datel cashing in on other peoples work. Personally I see it has a useful option, as like myself, many people may not have access to a working homebrew enabled PSP so they are unable to make the battery themselves. Sending a PSP or battery to someone that can do it for you is an option but costs can add up once you take into account postage & packaging and insurance (if sending a PSP) both ways and a small donation for their trouble. The Datel Tool Battery costs £14.99 and a small charge for postage and packaging. It is also worth noting that you can use the Pandora Battery hack on a PSP Slim, having a pre hacked battery is a necessity as PSP Slim cannot run homebrew unless it has been downgraded.

Posted Image
A few days later I received the Datel Tool Battery in the post. It comes in a blister pack and inside is a cardboard box with the battery and an instruction sheet. The battery is bright orange and is the same size as a standard PSP battery which fits as normal into the PSP. On the instruction manual is a short guide that explains you need to charge the battery for at least one hour before using, I gave it two hours to be safe.

Following that is a guide on how to use the battery. The guide says use a prepared Memory Stick with correct data, it is not exactly clear on what a ‘Memory Stick with correct data’ is; the Datel Tool Battery doesn’t come with this ‘correct data’ which is the Pandora Battery software. For someone purchasing the battery expecting everything to be supplied this is a bit misleading but it does state on the homepage that all the battery does is put the PSP into service mode so it does do exactly what it is supposed to do.

If you are in the same predicament as me and do not have access to a working homebrew enabled PSP you can download a package called Pandora's Box GUI which contains all the files needed to unbrick/downgrade your PSP. I believe there are now newer packages available, but at the time of downgrading my PSP I used Pandora's Box GUI. All you do is connect your PSP to the PC USB and run the program and it will copy all the required files to your PSP. Once completed, you insert the Datel Tool Battery and it will boot the Pandora menu from which you can begin the unbricking/downgrade process. Everything ran no problem and after a minute or two I had a v1.5 firmware PSP. You can now install a custom firmware such as Dark_Alex's M33 firmware on the PSP.

Unfortunately I was unable to test if the Datel Tool Battery was really hard locked into Service Mode. I was sending the battery to a friend after using it and did not want to see if the battery could be restored to a normal PSP battery in case it broke it. My guess is that it should be able to using the battery restore program supplied with the Pandora software but you would need to create a fake serial number. If anyone could confirm if this is possible or not please reply here. It is however still possible to use the battery as a normal battery an alternative way by using Booster's Multiboot IPL which will boot to the PSP XMB instead of the Pandora menu.

I can highly recommend the Datel Tool Battery, the price is reasonable at £15 and while it is a little misleading for someone not familiar with Pandora it does do exactly what it says on their site. I would guess that most people wouldn't have an idea what to do with the battery otherwise so only people looking to unbrick/downgrade their PSP would know what it is for and what else is needed?

Final Score: 9 out of 10

Homepage: http://www.datel.com
Purchase From:

Buy PSP Battery Tool for normal PSP: Divineo US, Divineo UK, Deal Extreme (no memory card), Deal Extreme (with 4GB card)
Buy PSP Battery Tool for Slim PSP - Divineo US, Deal Extreme (no memory card), Deal Extreme (with 4GB card)

References Used:
Noobz (Pandora Homepage) - http://www.noobz.eu/
Boosters Multiboot IPL - http://exophase.com/...leased-2038.htm
Pandoras Box GUI - Contains PSP firmwares so I cant link here but a search in Google will work ;)

This review may not be copied and pasted elsewhere without prior permission, please link to this review instead.
0

#2 Guest_Guest_Sam_*_*

  • Group: Guests

Posted 10 October 2007 - 04:45 PM

Nice review.

I was just wondering if you have tried it on a psp slim.

Thanks

#3 User is offline   Guyfawkes 

  • The Gov'ner
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Super Administrators
  • Posts: 5,045
  • Joined: 03-May 02
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:London, UK
  • Device(s):GP2X, GBA, GP32, Zodiac 2, PPC, DS, PSP, Xbox 360

Posted 10 October 2007 - 05:02 PM

Datel do sell a Slim version of the tool battery but I am fairly sure you can use the Phat PSP version as well, just that the battery lid cant be closed as it is a fatter battery?
0

#4 Guest_Lex224_*

  • Group: Guests

Posted 10 October 2007 - 06:53 PM

Really good review! Waiting for mine to be delivered after these damn Royal Mail strikes. Your review really ensures me it's a worthwhile product to purchase if you don't have access to a homebrew enabled PSP. Also makes me feel better after seeing the reviews by the Noobz community etc. which were all just negative and trying to make people believe it was fake.

Great job anyways; now I cant wait to get mine!

#5 Guest_datel tool user_*

  • Group: Guests

Posted 10 October 2007 - 07:36 PM

I can confirm this as something that works fine. I bought the datel tool battery because i bricked
my psp before having made either the memory stick or pandoras battery. i dont have another psp
to hand or know anyone with one. i used my sony digital camera as a substitute because of this and it works!
the pandora box gui makes it so easy to setup. follow all the instruction including turning off
your psp / camera in my case, but ignore the instructions for making the battery.

#6 Guest_Guest_*

  • Group: Guests

Posted 11 October 2007 - 06:50 AM

Pandora's Box GUI doesn't contain all necessary files...update your review....pandora easynewbieinstaller is the right way.

#7 User is offline   Guyfawkes 

  • The Gov'ner
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Super Administrators
  • Posts: 5,045
  • Joined: 03-May 02
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:London, UK
  • Device(s):GP2X, GBA, GP32, Zodiac 2, PPC, DS, PSP, Xbox 360

Posted 11 October 2007 - 10:02 AM

It does contain all the files needed to unbrick a PSP. What is it missing?
0

#8 Guest_Guest_*

  • Group: Guests

Posted 12 October 2007 - 04:31 PM

Where can I buy it?

#9 User is offline   Guyfawkes 

  • The Gov'ner
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Super Administrators
  • Posts: 5,045
  • Joined: 03-May 02
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:London, UK
  • Device(s):GP2X, GBA, GP32, Zodiac 2, PPC, DS, PSP, Xbox 360

Posted 12 October 2007 - 04:44 PM

links to buy are at the end of the review
0

#10 Guest_Guest_*

  • Group: Guests

Posted 13 October 2007 - 12:43 PM

what if u are using fw 3.71 on psp slim would u be able to use the tool battery
and use the easy pandora installer to downgrade to 1.5 or 3.60m33 or upgrade to 3.71 m33

#11 User is offline   Guyfawkes 

  • The Gov'ner
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Super Administrators
  • Posts: 5,045
  • Joined: 03-May 02
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:London, UK
  • Device(s):GP2X, GBA, GP32, Zodiac 2, PPC, DS, PSP, Xbox 360

Posted 13 October 2007 - 03:26 PM

Yes you can use this to downgrade the slim.
0

#12 Guest_GU3ST_*

  • Group: Guests

Posted 13 October 2007 - 07:21 PM

What files do I need for the memory stick?

#13 User is offline   Guyfawkes 

  • The Gov'ner
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Super Administrators
  • Posts: 5,045
  • Joined: 03-May 02
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:London, UK
  • Device(s):GP2X, GBA, GP32, Zodiac 2, PPC, DS, PSP, Xbox 360

Posted 13 October 2007 - 10:28 PM

Everything is explained in the review, did you read it?
0

#14 Guest_wbfreek_*

  • Group: Guests

Posted 17 October 2007 - 10:41 PM

The link to buy the battery works, but it seems that you can only pre-order it. Is there anywhere else you can buy it?

#15 User is offline   Guyfawkes 

  • The Gov'ner
  • PipPipPipPipPipPip
  • Group: Super Administrators
  • Posts: 5,045
  • Joined: 03-May 02
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:London, UK
  • Device(s):GP2X, GBA, GP32, Zodiac 2, PPC, DS, PSP, Xbox 360

Posted 17 October 2007 - 10:48 PM

The datel/codejunkies UK store are also sold out it seems, you could try the US store. I don't know of any other places to buy it, sorry.
0
  • (6 Pages)
  • +
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Last »

Fast Reply