Posted by 
June 7, 2009 •
Thanks to Davee and Team typhoon, custom firmware can now run on PSP-3000 or PSP-2000 with TA-088v3 via the chickHen hack. Using chickHen(or in this case ChickHen R2), you can run custom firmware to play ISO/CSO games and run homebrew applications.
So what is chickHen?
ChickHEN is an loader for all Sony PSP models (1000, 2000 and 3000) to run homebrew apps on official Sony 5.03 firmware. Everything runs on the onboard memory of the PSP so there’s no risk of damage (unless you stray away from the instructions). The current version of chickHen is chickHen-R2.
Update: This guide is sorely outdated.
Please refer to this new guide instead : Install Signed 5.03 Hen + 5.03 GEN-C on your PSP. It’s much simpler to follow and will help you install 5.03 GEN-C and the Prometheus-4 module.
Important: If you have official firmware 5.50 installed, stop now. You can’t install the chickHen hack which means you can’t install any of the custom firmware for your PSP (5.03 GEN-A or Custom Firmware Enabler). As of 5.50 OFW, the TIFF exploit that the chickHen hack runs on is already patched.
Requirements:
- A PSP-3000 or PSP-2000 with TA-088v3 motherboard.
- A firmware version of 5.03 or lower. If you have anything higher, you can’t install chickHen.
- Download: 503.pbp | 503.pbp
- Download: ChickHEN R2 | ChickHEN R2
Update your PSP to OFW 5.03
Skip this step if you already have official firmware 5.03 installed.
- Connect your PSP to the computer in USB Mode
- Copy the 503.pbp to folder PSP/GAME/UPDATE
- Disconnect the PSP from USB
- Run the Update via XMB
- When the update finishes proceed to installing chickHen R2.
How to Install chickHEN R2 on your PSP
- On the Settings menu of your PSP’s XMB, do the following
- Restore to Default Settings’ of PSP
- Turn off UMD Auto-Start and UMD Cache
- Character set to us
- Revert theme for classic
- Connect your PSP to the computer in USB Mode
- Unzip ChickHEN R2.zip on your computer
- Copy h.bin to your memory stick root, this is where the VIDEO, PICTURE and PSP folders are.
- Copy the chickHEN folder (use the contents PHAT folder for PSP-1000s, SLIM folder for PSP-2000s and PSP-3000s) inside the PHOTO folder of your PSP (X:/PSP/PHOTO is the root of the memory stick, manually create this if you don’t see one)
- Disconnect the PSP from USB.
- Turn OFF (not standby) your PSP and turn it on again.
- Go to XMB >> Photo >> Memory Stick and wait (YES YOU NEED TO WAIT) an Options menu appear (Right Bottom)
- Hit X to open ChickHEN folder
- If you’re successful ChickHEN-R2 load up, you’ll see flashing colors, and your PSP will reboot automatically into ChickHEN. Check your Firmware version and you should see :
5.03 ChickHEN R2
Easy installer for ChickHen R2
For you lazy bums out there, you can use these programs to install chickHen R2 will just one click.
- Download the installer for your PSP Model:
- Download for Phat (PSP-1000): HEN for PHAT
- Download for Slim/Brite (PSP-2000/-3000): HEN for SLIM/Brite
- Extract the zip file to your computer
- Run the included program (it’s an exe, but don’t worry, it’s virus free)
- Connect your PSP to your PC.
- Hit the install button.
- If you’re successful ChickHEN-R2 load up, you’ll see flashing colors, and your PSP will reboot automatically into ChickHEN. Check your Firmware version and you should see :
5.03 ChickHEN R2
installer by ADePSP
Running custom firmware on ChickHen
After successfully loading chickHen, you can now proceed to run custom firmware on your PSP. You can choose:
Troubleshooting
If you’re experiencing trouble (and yes, a lot of people are having trouble running ChickHen) try these:
- Go to system settings, and choose Restore Default Settings option. Don’t change your PSP’s name from default.
- Turn off the Umd Auto load
- If you have PSP-2000 or PSP-3000 turn off UMD cache.
- Change the character set code to the US (437) or Multilingual latin 1 (850), this code are used for system access of some file types.
- Adding 1 to 2 extra gif images, copy and paste with name e.g. ChickHENe.gif, ChickHENf.gif. Its most happen on High Speed memory stick pro duo. Fake MS or Not
- Don’t use the chickHen folder other than for pictures used for chickHen.
- Try to use a different memory stick or reformatting your memory stick (after backing up it’s contents).
If you need a video:
If you still have a question, post it in the comments.
I am simply amazed with your guides in PSP CFW. I want to link them all up wahhaha
Haha.. Please do
hey i have psp 2004 5.03 wenerver i try to use chickHEN R2 my psp gets shutdown rather than rebooting…..what am i missing or its not going to work on my psp !!
How do I “Run the Update via XMB”? What is XMB?
It’s the in game-menu.. where you run your games.
sylv3rblade, thanks for your quick reply. I downloaded the 503.pbp twice already and copied it to the specified folder, however it always says ‘corrupted data’.
I have a PSP and official 5.03 loaded in it. I have followed your steps to install ChickHEN R2 in it. But when I open the ChickHEN folder, the PSP reads then hangs and automatically shuts down. when I turn it on, nothing appears near 5.03. What is the problem. please help.
yeah, i have the same problem as sree and sc@rpIon to! what are we doing wrong… my psp 3000 5.03 is hangs when i view my gif images in the chickhen folder in the photo section… please help!
hey m here to say…that chickHen R2 worked on my psp….i successfully cracked psp 2004….thn for this lovely tutorial…..
Congratulations Scorpion! maybe you can help me with my problem. I downloaded the 503.pbp twice already and copied it to the specified folder, however it always says ‘corrupted data’. I have a PSP 2004 with OFW 4.01.
hey all, i am sure of that problem, i have tried umpteen times of the chickhenR2 hoping to make it work 100% all the time, PLEASE USE A HIGH SPEED MEMORY CARD. i succeed 10/10 using the high speed memory card, buy i only succeed 1/20 using the low speed memory card. so PLEASE USE A HIGH SPEED MEMORY CARD, I’M SURE IT WILL WORK.
Tony Balabbo,
what i did was just copied chickHen R2 in the photo folder…located in x:\psp\photo\…if not located form it !!
and copy the folder CFWEnabler350 in x:\psp\game\
thn what u do remove usb safly thn run the chickHen R2 in the folder photo….the screen will reboot….if the screen get green doted lines and get rebooted thn ur psp accepted the chickHenR2…confirm it seeing in the system settings\system information the version will be [4.01 ChickHenR2]
if this is done ur work done….thn run the CFWEnabler350 from the game….and here u go…now u can play iso/cso !!njoy !!
procedure:
1) run chickHenR2
2) run cfw enabler
3) copy iso/cso games
4) play game….so easy
Note: ur psp may get shutdown insted of rebooting…u may have to try it nearly 100 times
i personaly runed it 15 to 20 times !!
AND
after cracked dont shut down ur psp or remove battery..
hope this will help !!
i’m a bit new to this but, if i change my memory card on my psp after i have updated it to the 5.03 chickHEN R2 will my psp still be chickHEN R2 ??
Thanks Scorpion. But I haven’t reached that step yet. I still need to run 503.pbp and I just couldn’t get it right. I have downloaded the file so many times and it always shows corrupted data whenever I go to games to run it.
At the beginning it said for any PSP (1000, 2000, 3000), but then under requirements it says PSP-3000 or TA-088v3, my question is, will this work for a PSP-1000? (I’m trying to avoid a Pandora battery)
I can’t seem to get ChickHen to run on my PSP-3000. I recently bought it in Japan. It’s one of the new Carnival Color ones. Is there a chance that they have a new motherboard or something? I’ve been trying to boot ChickHen for almost two weeks now and can’t get it to work. Does anyone know anything about this? I’m kind of a newb when it comes to things like this, but I’ve been following this guide and several others to try to install ChickHen since I bought this thing.
Hah, i’m very impressed with this guide. I’ll make sure to digg it.
HEY, I AM NOT ABLE TO INSTALL CHICKHEN AFTER TRYING HUNDRED TIMES ,I EVEN CHANGED MEMORY STICK ,ANYONE HELP?????????????????????????????????
thankx guys.
I hav installed it on my PSP-3004 and it works
Got it to work the first time, but when I let my PSP die of low batt, I wasn’t able to boot ChickHen… Ever…
Was able to play Patapon 2 for a whole day thou… any tips to get it to work again?
@RON
dude when u boot chickhen onto ur psp n turn ur psp off n turn it back on the chickhen is gunna disappear its dead n gone…u gotta run chickhen then install CFW on it!!! use HELLCAT RECOVERY to install cfw
RENAME FILE 5.03.PBP TO EBOOT.PBP IT WORKED FOR ME
hey dude how can i install 5.03 to my psp i have psp 3000 4.21
oh my god thank you so much!!!! i have a psp 30001 v5.01 and i got it running emulators and stuff! thank you so much, thanks to everyone working on this ha THANKS!!
I have modded lots of PSPs but 2 gave me special problems, the TROUBLESHOOT guide helped me a lot.
Good Work Guys!
I need some help here. I already have ChickHen R2 and CFW downloader and I installed it already in my PSP and when i turned on my psp, the games are gone already but the other saved files are there. What will I do? Please help
i already installed chickhen r2 on my psp and i can now run PSPIdent but when I started the cfwenabler the screen of my psp turned to black..i waited for it for long time and it doesnt have any change..by the way what is “pops file here” i saw it inside the cfwenabler in my computer..
i have to install chickhen and gen a every time when my psp shouts down ? :O
thankyou worked on psp 3002 just added 2 more giff images great tut
thats because ur doing it wrong… when u run chickhen from ur psp photo folder chickhen will reboot ur psp itself… keep trying till ur psp reboot it self….once reboot then check ur system information by going on setting then system setting
i put it on my psp 3000 i did all the staeps it no worky
help me plez
do i ned to but CFEnabler in first
ive got the psp 3000 and every time i do it the color flashing doesnt happen and my PSP turns off but doesn’t reboot automatically, any help????
hey is it normal when i open folder instead of restarting is shutsdown?and if not whats the problem
yep itss normal its just that ur doing it wrong… keep trying
keep trying to open the folder till u see some weird colour on ur psp screen n it will re-boot by itself
n another word keep trying till ur psp re-boot itself…
yep itss normal its just that ur doing it wrong… keep trying
keep trying to open the folder till u see some weird colour on ur psp screen n it will re-boot by itself
n another word keep trying till ur psp re-boot itself…
I did everything as meant, but does it have to be official 5.03? I’ve got 5.02. I tried installing chickhen but it only appears as ‘SLIM’ in photo folder, nothing happens. I dont quite understand how to update it to 5.03 from XMB once that thing is in…
I was able to install 5.03, but still, when I go to photo -> memory stick, there’s only folder ‘SLIM’. I wait for options thing to appear and press X, nothing special happens, it only shows me an empty folder. What did I do wrong?
that’s because you were supposed to copy what was INSIDE the SLIM folder and not the SLIM folder itself.
Yeah, noticed my mistake earlier. Sorry for not telling I got it to work, I just got carried away thinking how I’ll play PSP soon… Well, now my PSP is fine, working properly and running homebrew. I’d just like a bigger memory stick… Thanks for this tutorial. Thanks alot.
yay.. another happy reader
congrats on your chickHen enabled PSP
Thank you for this tutorial. I had tried all of the methods I can find on my PSP2000 with TA-088v3 and nothing worked until I read yours. What did it for me was to change the Character Set from US (437) to Multilingual latin 1 (850); as soon as I switched it Checkhen R2 loaded fine via the tif. Before the switch, the device would freeze for a few seconds then shutdown.
It works now 100% of the time.
Thank you so much
glad to be of help.
Please spread the tutorial if you can
i have a psp slim 2004.i instralled update 5.03 to it.then i put chickhen to it.but there is no change to chickhen.then i copied extra images and change character set thenrestore to default but still i have the problam.so waht can i do?
Hi, i’m a newbie on this thing. Can help to explain how to change the Character Set and where should we change it?
Actually i’ve tried to load the ChickHen and it succeed at first, but when i load the Gen, the CFW reset back to 5.03. I’m trying to do it again but not successful. Any advice on this? Thanks a lot.
Sorry, i mean it reset back to OFW 5.03. First time i tried it, it can be changed to 5.03 ChickHEN R2, but only one time. Kindly share if you have same exp. Thanks.
Hi, i use PSX2PSP to convert psx to .PBP.. after that, I open the game file.. but the layer is blank.. when i turn on again, the version back to normal. i follow your instruction, but when i open folder PHOTO, and there is ChickHEna.gif and the other, my psp freeze, there are no flashing color. i try and try it.. but it is same.. Is there a problem because i use PSX2PSP? can you help me?
just download an updated version of POPSloader
does the stamina battery have up to 75& to use the chickHEN? help me plzz.. i can’t sleep because of it
Okay. Im having problems with this download. Everything i download is “data is corrupted. My System Software now is : Version 5.50 if that helps. What do I have to do to get a custom firmware?
did you read the Important part before the guide?
Ity doesn’t work for me
When I go to the Chikhen folder the PSP just reboots itself, and there are no colors flashing and my version is still 5.03 … Nothing happens o_O
Can u help me if possible?
I have a psp 2000 with cfw 5.03 on it. but when i try to get the Hen to run it just keeps shutting off. It will not flash colors on the screen and reset. it just turns off. I have done all this already, Change the character set code,Adding 1 to 2 extra gif images, Don’t use the chickHen folder other than for pictures used for chickHen.
Don’t change PSP Themes other than default setting, Change your theme to the default theme or use the Restore PSP to Default Settings. What am I doing wrong, please help.
keep trying till ur psp reboot(restart) itself
i am using cfw loader.. is it possible for me to run psx game?
oyyyyy,i cannot use it.when i scroll down the photos my psps 3000 will stop and do not restart,,ive done all your instuctions,,nothing happens,pls help me,,,thanks,
Do you have the right files on your PSP?
I have tried it 20 times.. it didn’t flash.. i follow your tips. can u help me?
is it possible for me to run psx game? I am using cfw enabler
when I use n64 emulator. i play super mario 64.. when I want to start the emulation.. it freeze and turn off. so I have to redo the ChickHEN R2?
i WANT TO KNOW!!! can I install the chickenR2 using (not genuine) memory stick thanx
Yep. Although it’ll give you a hard time.
Actually, follow TS steps but did not work, thus, fine tune it abit and helps.
Guys, if u tried 20 times and didnt work, kindly throw all the .gif, tiff files to X:/PSP/PHOTO without the chickHen folder.
Not sure why, but did and works.. thanks to TS ^^
so as of right now there is no way to hack psp 3000 with 5.51? if not then i am screwed…i wish i had looked at this before…
yep. You’ll either have to wait or trade it in for a unit with a much lower firmware version.
1. Format memory stick ( THIS STEP IS ONLY REQUIRED if your PSP is ”virgin”, not modded in some way).
2. Restore default settings
3. Restart goes on
4. Walk through first time installation very quick using RIGHT ARROW
5. Connect your psp to your windows based pc using usb cable
6. In the PSP go to SETTINGS and then choose USB CONNECTION
7. In your PC open your connected PSP device and there you see your PSP folders
8. Copy whole ChickHEN folder into a folder called PHOTO under your PSP folder (not the root)
9. COPY the h.bin file to the root folder of your psp.
10. Back in you psp console get out of USB MODE
11. Go to PHOTO, here you have to see MEMORY STICK … MB, go to sleep mode switching the power off button very quick
12. Resume your psp again and wait 1 minute.
13. Now navigate to the CHICKEN FOLDER and let it load pictures and DON’t push any button, just let it load!
14. You are done after you see several white lines and a quick restart.
15. Verify that you now have activated ChickHen under your SETTING – System Information
16. This tutorial/ guide is done in Vista home premium 32, and the USB CABLE always connected to the PC through the whole process. The PSP is also running by power supplier (the battery is also inserted).
P.S If you are getting troubles after you’ve had shut down the psp, then try to delete egghunt.bin in psp’s root folder and retry.
Tested by an Armenian_flasher
After trying all the suggested options and several memory sticks I’m still struggling to get it to activate chickhen. Any other ideas?
i just cant install chickHEN to my psp… when the option menu pops out.. i hit X and still nothing flash something appears… can you help me out this one… thank you…
i have psp 3002 version 4.20, chickhenr2 not work on it, pls help me to do this. thanks
I was having trouble also with loading ChickHEN….after several restarts, and failed attempts I plugged the USB cable into the PSP and hooked it up to my PC. Plugged in power cord, and tried it again…problem solved! Thanks!
dude u need to update ur psp to : ofw5.03 then install Chickhen!! Read the instruction Carefully n stop asking silly question!!
still now working.. i tried it for almost 30+ times.. but still..
what is the h.bin file?
tnx for this advice i got it running weeeeee
hi… previous i had installed chicken it worked….. after playin for sometime.. the psp gets stuck and switchs off..becuase of that i hve to install chicken ..but this time it didnt work at all..when open chicken on xmb.. it just switchs off , now chicken doesnt work on my psp
i need help it won’t work here’s my email
jefneyongeri@yahoo.com
IT DOESNT WORK WITH ALL MEMORY CARDS..i have a SONY MS PD which only took 5 attempts and i got it to work. I tried with a LEXAR memory card and it didnt even work even after 20 attempts..memory card may be a factor…
Yep. ChickHen has the highest percentage of working with original Sony Memory sticks. I’ll try to add that on the FAQ.
thanks sylv3rblade.Your tutorial is awsome.it really helped alot…my advice to everyone is just be patient and keep trying..make sure you follow every step in the tutorial..also,make sure you keep your PHOTO folder empty except for ChickHEN when you wanna run it..and wait for the chickHEN to load fully before loading it…
good luck…and try different memory cards..
I’ve found that it loads faster with a fully charged battery, no UMD in the PSP, and a formatted memory stick.
helo..thanks for the information..but sadly the chickhen2 wont work on my psp.a message pops up when im about to go to slim file and saying SYSTEM IS LOW..i dont understand..i do have a firmware 5.03..psp just newly brought abroad..pls help me..
by the way psp version 3000 i am having
cant run chichen r2 it shut down
Hey great guide!
I wanna try this… but I want ask one question for precaution..
Will this work if my psp is TA-086v4 FAT?
Thanks.
Yep. You can install it on your PSP phat.