HOW TO PROPERLY INSTALL GAMES ON THE VITA
1- GENERAL INFORMATION:
2- TRANSFERRING THE FILES:
2.1 - FTP METHOD (SLOWER):
2.2 - QCMA PSP SAVE METHOD (FASTER):
3- INSTALLING WITH MAIDUMPTOOL:
3.1- Installing Mai dumps:
3.2- Installing Vitamin dumps:
Outdated:
4- DETAILED .VPK TRANSFER AND INSTALLATION GUIDE:
4.1- INSTALLING FULL .VPK GAME VIA FTP
4.2- INSTALLING SKELETON .VPK GAME VIA FTP
4.3- INSTALLING FULL .VPK VIA QCMA
4.4- INSTALLING SKELETON .VPK VIA QCMA
==================== READ THIS SECTION FIRST ====================
1- GENERAL INFORMATION:
- You DON’T NEED TWICE THE SIZE OF THE GAME to install
- You can backup pirated games from your Vita to your PC using QCMA
- You can OPEN .VPK FILES with WINRAR or similar
- Skeleton .VPK are made by zipping both eboot.bin and sce_sys folder and renaming to .VPK (maidump install preferred)
- You can transfer the rest of the game's content to it's folder on the vita after installing a skeleton .VPK
- You can zip all of the game's content and rename it to .VPK to make a full .VPK installer
- You can transfer your files via QCMA which is FASTER than FTP
- You can transfer anything to your vita via USB using QCMA and a PSP SAVEDATA as long as you put everything inside a folder inside the PSP save folder
- You can locate your PSP SAVEDATA directory by right clicking on QCMA in your taksbar and clicking on settings; it's located under Applications / Backups
- Your PSP save folders are located inside /PSAVEDATA/ and inside a folder with random letters and numbers
- You don't need a PSP game or to download a PSP savedata; Simply creating a new folder will work as a PSP savedata folder for transferring with QCMA
- You can install vitamin games with MaiDumpTool by extracting the game's content inside the .VPK file and putting it inside the game's titleID folder(make sure you search online for the right title ID)
2-
==================== TRANSFERRING THE FILES: ====================
2.1 - FTP METHOD (SLOWER):
- Open Molecular Shell on your vita and press select
- Copy the IP address shown in your vita and paste it into your FTP client (filezilla) on your PC
- Drag and drop files from your PC to the ux0: folder on your vita inside filezilla
Note: This method is simple but transfer speeds are slow. This is only recommended for small files such as emulators, roms and other smaller homebrews.
2.2 - QCMA PSP SAVE METHOD (FASTER):
- Open QCMA on your PC
- Right click on QCMA on your taskbar and click on Settings
- Check under "Applications / Backups" to locate your PSP save directory
- You can find your PSP save folders under PSAVEDATA and inside a folder with "Random Numbers and Letters"
- If you have no PSP save folder you can just create a new folder inside the "Random Numbers and Letters" folder located inside PSAVEDATA
- Inside your PSP save folder you should create a new folder and all files should go inside this folder
- After putting all the files you want to transfer inside a folder in your PSP save folder right click on QCMA under your task bar and click on Refresh Database(always refresh your database before transferring anything to your vita)
- Now plug your vita to your PC via USB and go into Content Manager
- Go to PC -> PS Vita System and Applications and into Saved Data: PSP/Other and select the PSP save folder you want to transfer
- After transferring close Content Manager in your Vita and go into Molecular Shell
- Go into ux0:pspemu/PSP/SAVEDATA/ and you should find your PSP save folder inside
- Go inside your PSP save folder and press square to select which files you want to move and then press triangle and move to move the files to any folder inside ux0: and out of SAVEDATA/
- After moving your files out of your SAVEDATA/ directory go back to your PSP save folder you just transferred from your PC and delete it
Note: This method seems more complicated than it actually is so don't be fooled by the guide. Transferring your files via PSP save is MUCH faster than FTP, however if you're transferring several thousands of files FTP might be actually slightly faster but in either case it'll take a lot of time. The remaining time displayed when transferring via QCMA is not 100% accurate so don't be afraid if it tells you that it'll take 1253 minutes to complete the transfer, it may take 20 minutes. This is the preferred method for larger files.
3-
==================== INSTALLING WITH MAIDUMPTOOL: ====================
3.1- Installing Mai dumps:
- Download and install the latest MaiDumpTool (english translated version preferred)
- Extract your Mai dump game if necessary and make sure you have the game's content inside a "TITLEID" folder. Example: PCSB00000
- Transfer your TITLEID folder via either FTP or PSP save method (check the guide above)
- Open Molecular Shell and create a new folder under ux0: and rename it to mai
- Move your TITLEID folder into your mai folder in ux0:
- Close Molecular Shell and open MaiDumpTool on your vita
- Select the second option "Install game from folder" and press Circle to install the TITLEID folder
- After installation is complete close MaiDumpTool and the game should be working now
3.2- Installing Vitamin dumps:
- Download and install the latest MaiDumpTool (english translated version preferred)
- Extract your Vitamin game's .VPK file using Winrar or similar
- Create a new folder with the right "TITLEID" for that game and region. Check online for the Vita game's ID database in case you don't have the right ID for the game. Example: PCSB00000
- Move all of the game's content inside the "TITLEID" folder
- Transfer your TITLEID folder via either FTP or PSP save method (check the guide above)
- Open Molecular Shell and create a new folder under ux0: and rename it to mai
- Move your TITLEID folder into your mai folder in ux0:
- Close Molecular Shell and open MaiDumpTool on your vita
- Select the second option "Install game from folder" and press Circle to install the TITLEID folder
- After installation is complete close MaiDumpTool and the game should be working now
Note: It's preferred to install your games using MaiDumpTool as it doesn't require DOUBLE THE SPACE to install, it's rather fast and has much higher compatibility for DLC, Updates and Plugins.
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Here's the old .VPK guide just for reference. Games installed via MaiDumpTool have better compatibility and should be the preferred installation method even for old dumps:
** WARNING: DO NOT USE THIS unless you know what you're doing as it may cause incompatibility with DLC, Update and Plugins support for your games! **
************************************* OUTDATED *************************************
4- DETAILED .VPK TRANSFER AND INSTALLATION GUIDE:
==================== 4.1- INSTALLING FULL .VPK GAME VIA FTP ====================
1- Open Molecule Shell and press select
2- Copy the ip address shown in your vita and paste it into your FTP client (filezilla)
3- Transfer your game’s .vpk file to your vita via FTP to ux0: folder
4- Browser your ux0: folder and press x to install your .vpk game file. You may delete the .vpk file after installation.
NOTE: This is the simplest method possible. This method requires double the space to install. That means if you want to install a 2gb game you will need 4gb free space on your vita. This can be circumvented see below.
==================== 4.2- INSTALLING SKELETON .VPK GAME VIA FTP ====================
1- Take your game’s .vpk file and extract all files inside using winrar or similar
2- Take eboot.bin and sce_sys folder and zip them in a .zip file(make sure it’s a .zip file and not .rar or anything else)
3- Rename your newly created .zip file to GAME.VPK and FTP it to your vita’s ux0: folder
4- Inside Molecule Shell browse ux0: and install your GAME.VPK then delete the file after installation
5- Now browse your app/ folder under ux0: and find the newly created game folder, it should have only eboot.bin and sce_sys folder inside so it’s easier for you to find. Example: PCSA00000
6- Now go back to your FTP and transfer the rest of the files you extracter earlier to the game folder you just created
NOTE: This method DOESN’T REQUIRE TWICE THE SIZE OF THE GAME to install because you’re transferring the extracted game’s files directly to your vita. Also, because of that you won’t have to sit through a lenghty installation inside Molecule Shell as in the first method so this method is FASTER.
==================== 4.3- INSTALLING FULL .VPK VIA QCMA ====================
1- Take your game’s .vpk file and rename it EXACTLY to GAME.VPK make sure it’s in ALL CAPS
2- Open QCMA in your computer and click on settings to find your PSP savedata directory under Applications/Backups
3- PSP SAVEDATA should be located at /PSAVEDATA/ and inside a folder with Random Numbers and Letters(different for each person)
4- Open the Random Numbers and Letters inside /PSAVEDATA/ and make a new folder then put GAME.VPK inside of it
5- Go to QCMA in your taskbar and click on REFRESH DATABASE never miss this step
6- Now connect your Vita to your PC via USB, open Content Manager on your vita and go to Applications and select PSP savedata and transfer the new folder containing your GAME.VPK inside
7- After transferring go into Molecule Shell and under ux0: pspemu/PSP/SAVEDATA/new folder/ you should find your GAME.VPK press x to install and delete the file and the new folder after installing.
NOTE: This method still takes twice the size of the game to install. While it’s faster than the other two previous methods you should only install small games because you’ll lose time installing the game inside Molecule Shell. THE BEST AND FASTEST METHOD IS THE ONE BELOW.
==================== 4.4- INSTALLING SKELETON .VPK VIA QCMA ====================
1- Take your game’s .vpk file and extract all the files using winrar or similar
2- Take eboot.bin and the sce_sys folder and put them inside a .zip file, make sure it’s a .zip file and not .rar or anything else
3- Rename your .zip file exactly to GAME.VPK make sure it’s in ALL CAPS
4- Take the rest of the game’s .vpk content and put them inside a new folder, let’s call it the Content Folder
5- Open QCMA on your taskbar and click on Settings and check your PSP Savedata directory under Applications/Backups so you can locate them on your PC
6- Your PSP SAVEDATA folder should be located at /PSAVEDATA/ and inside a folder with Random Numbers and Letters (different for each person)
7- If there are multiple folders with Random Numbers and Letters you can detect the correct one by creating a new folder with a different name(example: a, b, c, d) inside each of these folders and then openning your Content Manager on your vita and going into PC - Vita -Applications - Savedata PSP/Other and checking which name shows up so you know which folder is your Savedata folder.
8- If there is no Random Numbers and Letters folder inside /PSAVEDATA/ you can create it simply by transferring Molecule Shell or any other Vita app via Content Manager from your Vita to your PC. This will create the random number folder inside /PSAVEDATA/, if this somehow creates more than one folder with random numbers go back to step 7.
9- Make a new folder inside the folder with Random Numbers and Letters which is located inside your /PSAVEDATA/ folder on PC and transfer both your GAME.VPK and the Content Folder inside this new folder. Make sure that inside the new folder there's only GAME.VPK and the Content Folder.
10- Go to QCMA under your taskbar and click on Refresh Database
11- Now connect your Vita to your PC via USB, open Content Manager on your vita and go into Applications PSP savedata and transfer the new folder
12- After transferring the new folder go into Molecule Shell and under ux0: pspemu/PSP/SAVEDATA/new folder/ you should find your GAME.VPK press x to install and delete the file after installing
13- Now open the content folder and press square and select all files then press triangle and choose the MOVE option
14- Now go to ux0: app/ and you should find your newly created game’s folder inside, it should contain only eboot.bin and the sce_sys folder so you know which one you’re looking for
15- Press triangle and choose PASTE to move all of the game’s content to that folder. Make sure to delete the empty folder you transferred via QCMA after moving the files because even after deleting the game the vita will still count the size of the game on the empty folder.
The game should be working now.
NOTE: This is by far the fastest method because you’re taking advantage of the better transfer speed of QCMA and the fact that you’re transferring the game’s content directly into the folder so you don’t need to sit through a lengthy installation inside Molecule Shell. This may sound too complicated but after doing it once or twice it becomes really easy and fast to do.