setup sd2vita tutorial

[PS Vita] How To Set Up SD2Vita Tutorial

Gaming, PS Vita Hacking One comment

A new way of storing your content has been developed in order to move away from Sony’s proprietary PS Vita memory card. You can now use a Micro SD card to store all of your homebrew and game content. Though this takes some setting up, this is the preferred way of storage. This SD2Vita tutorial will help you set one up.

The SD2Vita adapter uses your PS Vita game card slot so if you play a lot of physical Vita game cartridges it may be inconvenient for you. Personally, I think the ability to use a MicroSD card (up to 256 GB) outweighs that fact. Plus, at the end of this tutorial you’ll find information to help you install your physical Vita games onto your MicroSD card.

sd2vita tutorial

UPDATE: Please follow the latest 2019 SD2Vita guide here. Although this tutorial from 2017 still works for PS Vita up to firmware 3.70, there is a better method available now (StorageMgr). This post is being kept for archival purposes only. 

Requirements

1. PS Vita on HENkaku Enso Custom Firmware or h-encore

2. SD2Vita adapter

Version 3.0 and 5.0 of the SD2Vita adapter are the latest and greatest versions of the adapter. Any SD2Vita adapter older than v3.0 is not recommended.

My advice: Buy either version 3.0 or version 5.0. They are known by the PS Vita hacking community to be made of higher quality materials than previous versions. Additionally, they support the spring loaded mechanism so you are able to eject the SD2Vita itself and your micro SD card without fuss.

I own both 3.0 and 5.0 versions of SD2Vita. I’ve bought two bad SD2Vita 3.0 adapters that were dead on arrival. The first SD2Vita 5.0 I purchased arrived and worked fine. To be safe, I recommend buying several adapters (2 or 3) at the same time in case one arrives broken.

I also recommend buying from eBay because you can choose a seller that ships from the US. If you use AliExpress, though cheaper, your package will take a full month to arrive from China.

SD2Vita 5.0

SD2Vita 3.0

3. Micro SD Cards (SD2Vita supports up to 256 GB)

SD2Vita Tutorial Instructions

  1. Download the latest SD2Vita driver (gamesd.skprx file)
  2. Download the zzBlank .img file
  3. If you haven’t already, move your ux0:tai folder to ur0:tai and delete the ux0:tai folder
  4. Copy the SD2Vita driver file (gamesd.skprx) to ur0:tai using VitaShell via USB or FTP.
  5. Add the following to ur0:tai/config.txt under *KERNEL like below:
    Remember, gamesd.skprx needs to be directly under *KERNEL. In other words, it should be the first plugin listed in the config file.
  6. DO NOT SKIP: Backup your Vita Memory Card (ux0 folder) to your computer using VitaShell via USB or FTP
  7. Put your microSD card into your computer and follow either the Windows, Mac, or Linux section below.
WindowsMacLinux
  1. Download the latest release of Win32 Disk Imager
  2. Open Win32 Disk Imager and select zzBlank.img that you downloaded earlier from your computer
  3. Select your microSD and click Write
  4. Take your microSD card out of your computer and put it back in
  5. Windows will prompt you to format your card. Use these settings.
    • File System: exFat
    • Allocation Unit Size: Default Allocation Size
    • Do not put a volume label. Leave blank.
    • Enable Quick Format if you wish
  6. Copy the Vita Memory card backup you made earlier to the SD Card
  7. Put the SD Card into the SD2Vita adapter and reboot your Vita

1. Go to Disk Utility > Select Card > Partition > Options > MBR > 1 partition > exFAT

2. Copy the Vita Memory card backup you made earlier to the SD Card

3. Put the SD Card into the SD2Vita adapter and reboot your Vita

1. Find the whole-device node (usually /dev/sdx)

  • If you’re unsure, use the mount command

2. Unmount all partitions, but don’t eject the microSD

3. Use the dd command to write zzBlank.img to the card

4. Take out the micro SD card and put it in again

5. Create a new MBR (msdos) partition table, an exFAT partition, and format that partition

6. Copy the backup you made earlier to the SD Card

7. Put the SD Card into the SD2Vita adapter and reboot your Vita

What’s Next?

At this point your Vita should have rebooted and recognized your SD2Vita adapter. The Orange LED next to the adapter should blink, indicating it is reading files stored on your microSD card. Additionally, If you go into Vita Shell, your adapter is mapped to ux0 now.

Now you are free to install homebrew, PS Vita, PSP games, PSX games, etc. with your increased amount of storage.

How to Install Homebrew and Games on your SD2Vita adapter

I highly recommend checking out NoPayStation. As the name implies, you are able to download PS Vita, PSP, PSX games free (if you own the license) directly from Sony’s servers. Check out the official tutorial here as well as the official site.

Visit the PS Vita Hacking Guide home page to check out what else you can do

Continue