AfterDawn: News

Sony leans towards opening the UMD format

The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is making the reduced size optical media popular, and until now Sony has kept the format closed and stricly for them selves. But now it seems that the winds of change are blowing, and the format might see wider use, and different applications. Sony has proposed to keep the PSP implementation of UMD closed, but to release the format for audio and video applications.

UMDs are 60-millimeter optical discs in protective cases that have a data storage capacity of 1.8GB. They were developed by Sony for use in the PSP, but plans already reach beyond gaming. Specifications for versions of UMD holding games, movies and music have all been drawn up. However, at present the only commercial UMD content on the market is the handful of games available for the PSP.
...
Sony will give companies access to the movie and music variants of the technology so that they might produce multimedia players that support UMD

Source: Computerworld.com

Written by: Lasse Penttinen @ 20 Jan 2005 10:05

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• 63 comments

• Toiletman

  This is a clever decision. UMD discs are harder to crack and pirate...

  20.1.2005 11:09 #1

• punx777

  hopefully it will be possible to crack them and mod the psp somehow

  20.1.2005 17:30 #2

• Ultimos

  Ah, I knew that was going to happen. Interestng.
  But the most ingenious idea about the UMDs is that they have some sort of plastic covering, to prevent scratches. To me, sounds very smart.

  21.1.2005 00:46 #3

• .Apu.

  Its a stupid picture, afterdawn has chosed.
  The PSP dosent look like that :O

  21.1.2005 08:28 #4

• .Apu.

  Beside that little mistake, this really is a good website...

  21.1.2005 08:29 #5

• SGSeries2

  It'll be interesting how this plays out. 1.8 gigs isn't incredibly big, but not incredibly small either. Unless you take that plastic case off, you're not going to be able to put it into a computer anytime soon I'd imagine, and considering how md player's are so picky about just recording on themselves, I'd be surprised if these weren't the same way.
  
  Could you possibly say, "The new MD?"

  21.1.2005 08:59 #6

• MXGzX

  Its a stupid .Apu., afterdawn has alloweded to joined the forums. -> Its a stupid picture, afterdawn has chosed. -> It's a stupid picture that afterdawn chose/has chosen.
  
  Anyway, with the new Blu-ray and HD-DVD coming, I doubt this will make a serious impact. People don't have much use for such small media. The mini-dvd isn't that great, and this won't be great aswell.

  21.1.2005 16:30 #7

• c4iscool

  i don't people will jump for enjoy for a smaller dvd. It only benefits the companies and not the people buying the dvd.

  22.1.2005 06:44 #8

• KitnKillr

  Hmmm... Aren't the Gamecube games about 60mm? so that means PSP games can easily be pirated by that program used to copy gamecube games right? If you look in your burners, there is that little engravement for the Mini-DVDR/ROMs right?

  22.1.2005 16:39 #9

• Ghostdog

  Quote:Aren't the Gamecube games about 60mm? so that means PSP games can easily be pirated by that program used to copy gamecube games right? You can´t really asume that UMD´s will be as easy to copy just because they are the same size as another format.
  
  Also, the smaller spot in DVD/CD-ROM drives is for 80mm CD´s and DVD´s.

  23.1.2005 01:25 #10

• KitnKillr

  Well, there may be another way around this: we can go into the PSP to take a game which we *rightfully bought* and drag it out on our PC desktop :) we should be able to drag that PSP game back into the PSP after we return the game to blockbuster, i mean, (Ahem!) After we *lose* that disc which we *bought*.

  23.1.2005 10:25 #11

• KitnKillr

  Well, there may be another way around this: we can go into the PSP to take a game which we *rightfully bought* and drag it out on our PC desktop :) we should be able to drag that PSP game back into the PSP after we return the game to blockbuster, i mean, (Ahem!) After we *lose* that disc which we *bought*.

  23.1.2005 10:26 #12

• JeffSinc

  Guys,
  
  I dont know how you think you can read the discs on a pc. There is no way to remove the disc from the caddy system (similar to an MD or an old CDrom that had a plastic caddy). The disc is 60mm diameter so it doesnt fit in the tray slot anyway.
  
  I've been looking at the psp i got, and have come up with what will probably be the easiest way for people to crack the psp.
  
  First, games need to be loaded onto a pc and setup to be able to wirelessly (802.11b network style) stream the information required to the psp.
  
  Second, the firmware and internal software of the psp needs to be modified somehow (possibly through memory card or wirelessly) so that programs can be loaded through means other than the umd drive.
  
  Third, activate some sort of active streaming from the pc to the psp allowing psp games to be played without the umd disc being present.
  
  This is not really practical as the device would no longer be portable. So unless someone can create the uniquely shaped caddys the 60mm dvds are in (which are also not available for sale), this could be one of the only options.

  27.1.2005 03:47 #13

• KitnKillr

  Sup Jeff, PM me. I would PM you but im too lazy.

  27.1.2005 19:24 #14

• KitnKillr

  so, in nice, small, short letters, what are you saying?

  14.2.2005 16:19 #15

• KitnKillr

  heh, 3rd post in a row; i feel like im talking to myself now. anywho, i just wanted to tell you why i just told you to sum it all up for me. its actually quite simple: i dont have the attention span or the caffeine to read through it all.

  14.2.2005 16:22 #16

• KitnKillr

  WEE!!! 4th post! :)

  14.2.2005 16:22 #17

• Toiletman

  Please, not in the news posts. =)
  

  Everyone is entitled to their own true opinion. Either respect that or don't.
  
  

  15.2.2005 11:32 #18

• KitnKillr

  ok

  17.2.2005 13:13 #19

• MayDay

  Sony can kiss my ass. Let is proud of the UMD. In Russia one of the best crackers. We have created and have cracked starforce. Turn for UMD.

  22.3.2005 11:23 #20

• MayDay

  These disks are read usual player... The Maintenance{Contents} of a demo - disk:
  0.528 Bytes - PARAM.SFO
  1.12171 Bytes - ICON0. PNG
  2.120832 Bytes - ICON1. PMF
  3.85299 Bytes - UKNOWN.PNG
  4.82029 Bytes - PIC1. PNG
  5.87212 Bytes - SND0. AT3
  6.3387376 Bytes - UNKNOWN.PSP
  7.11183216 Bytes - UNKNPWN.PSAR
  Some from these files (particularly I shall not say - the big secret:). Contain code tables of a key. Above their decoding now work very clever guys:) In 14-28 days we are ready to present the demo - disk first copied and made illegally.

  22.3.2005 11:48 #21

• MayDay

  SDK-line for UMD's was bought.

  22.3.2005 12:47 #22

• KitnKillr

  Ok, this is what im thinking: all we need is a way to burn something from the computer to a UMD. and so, we will also be needing a blank UMD. Where could we buy those blanks? i wonder how the companies who make the UMD software do it.
  
  Cant we keep transfering 32 MB of the UMD to the computer about 5 or so times so that after those 5 times, we will have the full psp game on our computer and then burn the PSP game onto a UMD blank?
  
  Ey MayDay, i have no clue what those 2 posts and chart were about. clear it up for me would ya? do you work at the gaming company? Where?

  22.3.2005 17:53 #23

• Ghostdog

  Quote:We have created and have cracked starforce. Yep, reverse-enginering your own technology is fun!

  23.3.2005 02:52 #24

• KitnKillr

  sup ppl, its me, fahad again. lookit what i got and you dont: its a PSP. neener neener neener, im better than all of you. heh, i just love rubbing it in your faces and bragging about it.
  
  Anywho, i dont see any way to transfer UMD data to a computer or anywhere else.
  
  Mayday, what were you saying about SDK UMD's? SPEAK ENGLISH!!!

  27.3.2005 08:40 #25

• SGSeries2

  What's this "advertisement" thing doing in here? Sure, it's not in the "forums", but it's in there when I want to look at the new posts?

  27.3.2005 15:25 #26

• OneShotI

  ok here is how i see it first figure out a way to get those little plastic cases off the umd's (say try it on a sample disk) and if thats completed then get a disk that has those dimensions and uses the same basic format and make it into a cd-rw then blockbuster copy and save on pc which will be hard in itself in order to save it on the pc you will need to either change some internal limits on the wifi setup or on the usb file transfer ( you need toget it so you canlook at the disk on the psp from the pc) once you get that you are in you just upload all the games to the internet which you *bought* courtesy of blockbuster and just password the site and name then something different like (ex. aunt sue's wedding) or wahtever and its available to us all.
  

  halo 2 on psp yay

  30.3.2005 17:33 #27

• sodank

  Ok im ne here and i just had to join to add an idea. I saw the psp today and i was thinking about it. They have
  huge flash cards up to a gig i beleive. I know nothing about flash cards but would they be fast enough to read media off of. In other words if you were able to flash the psp bios to accept the flash as media and made a program to accecc the disk media through the usb. Maybe rip the disk through the usb and flash it to flash cards.
  Well realistically if someone wanted to jump off like the GBA and make a seprate usb media reader that might work ass well. oh wel lets wait and see in the mean time im broke so no psp 4 me

  3.4.2005 04:09 #28

• KitnKillr

  ey Sodank,want me to send you my extra PSP?

  3.4.2005 10:54 #29

• sodank

  Cute, thanks for the offer.

  3.4.2005 18:25 #30

• KitnKillr

  just kidding

  3.4.2005 18:40 #31

• perseus64

  to find a way to crack the UMD disc is going to be hard thats for sure.
  but first we need the blank UMD's which Sony wont let on the market so easily. for now by the looks of the only way to watch movies is through the flash card. and it has to be at least 1GB. and after that there might be way to burn umd's on a standard dvd dual layer. even if the umd's are smaller. for now we have to wait for a while. unless someone releases the blank umd w/o permission of sony.
  
  "Future comes a step at a time"

  8.4.2005 21:01 #32

• perseus64

  To MayDay
  
  OK listen i got the idea but still we have to find a way for conventional games to be played on PSP. first we need to find a way to burn our own disks. this is the hard part. do get the idea.

  8.4.2005 21:04 #33

• KitnKillr

  To: Everybody :)
  
  is anyone here a computer programmer of any type?
  
  you know how, if you connect the X-Box to the PC via cable, you can access the X-Box's (D) Drive and drag the game onto your PC or go into the (C) Drive and drag its Hard Drive contents onto your PC? on the PSP, there is only one main folder-category-section (like those letters: (D) and (C) that were in the X-Box) thing that we're looking into which is the memory stick,lets say, just for clarification,that we are looking into the PSP's (F) Drive. im thinking if we can just take a step back somehow and go into the PSP's UMD, which, for the sake of clarification, is called the (D) Drive, instead of the Memory Stick. then, we can start worrying about where to burn it and what to burn it on. but the taking a step back is the first step.

  9.4.2005 08:51 #34

• JBlaze05

  zup you guys, so i was thinkin... someone needs to come up with a program for the psp to let the pc see whats goingon in the unit, just like wit a cell phone and ringtones (nextels, etc.). what if the whole game was to be copied in to the Memory stick from the pc, and a umd disc was just to refer to the memory stick for the game, ofcourse you will have only a couple of games in the stick but you can be able too erase and save from your pc HD...
  where are the people to make this happen?!!!!
  

  JBLAZE

  9.4.2005 13:46 #35

• KitnKillr

  JBlaze, you can play UMD's without a Memory Stick

  9.4.2005 17:33 #36

• KitnKillr

  Hey guys, i just found out something else, it may in some way help us get an idea of a way to copy UMD's:
  I just found out that if you put in a UMD and close the UMD Lid half way just enough so that the UMD itself clicks onto the front, the lid can stay open for a few millimeters from clicking on.
  
  i dont know if you found that useful or not, but that kinda gives me an idea involving a string for some reason. =)

  9.4.2005 20:54 #37

• JBlaze05

  what i was saying was that there should be a way of playing games from the memory stick instead of the UMD. i read somewhere that the psp runs the game from memory and only refers to the umd to like follow up. if some one came up with a umd that would trick the psp that its the game and just keep running the game from the memory.
  sort of like they are doing with the movies...
  

  JBLAZE

  10.4.2005 12:48 #38

• anubis66

  ive been working on making a games work on my psp from the memory card. ive gotten the ablility to see the picture and the backround i made. but i cant seem to get the game itself to load. it gives me and error. i do this with pbp unpacker, http://www.psp-hacks.com/downloads.php, that allows me to open up EBOOT.PBP and also make my own PBP files. I'll let you guys now if i get any further in this process.

  10.4.2005 18:40 #39

• sodank

  Told ya its gonna have to be the memory card unless they make a unit like they did with the GBA to flash cards. And I dont think sony is up and ready to make blanks and a small burner for our Backing up needs. Fair use rights gets harder and harder practice. Good side is I dont think the disks will die quick since they have that protective shield.

  10.4.2005 20:51 #40

• KitnKillr

  EVERYBODY!!! I got the perfect idea to play PS2 games on PSP!!!
  
  The Idea
  ok so, ya know how some PS2 games might be ported to the PSP? well, if we were to play those PS2 games directly on a PSP without a port, we can say that we technically copied the game or have a copy of it.
  
  The Process
  aight, so, everybody remember that PS2 Memory Card Exploit? well, hows bout we put a game save from the PS2 memory card that has the exploit and put that on the PSP memory stick!?! Sure, we may be screwed by the controls because the PSP only has 2 shoulder buttons (L + R) but its a great idea isnt it?
  
  just to let everybody know, i have never used the PS2 Memory Card Exploit=)

  11.4.2005 15:06 #41

• OneShotI

  sweet get working on that thing also how can we put it on the internet so you can download the games that would be sweet.
  

  halo 2 on psp yay

  11.4.2005 17:07 #42

• KitnKillr

  oh but my friend, you CAN surf the web on the internet: http://www.makeyougohmm.com/20050327/1627/

  11.4.2005 17:54 #43

• solargame

  you guys know thos drills they use to make big hols in wood. why dont you take a bid dvd and drill it down to the size of the umd. then take the plastic from the demo disk that comes with the psp. the drill i am talking about is a circle with serrated edges. drill the extra off the sides of the full size dvd. i dont have one of those drills but i would try if i did.
  

  Dont hate the player, hate the game.

  21.4.2005 08:00 #44

• solargame

  i saw this crack for FINAL FANTASY: ADVENT CHILDRENS CRACK. would that work.
  

  Dont hate the player, hate the game.

  21.4.2005 08:02 #45

• jimmyblue

  I think the easiest way that this would be possible is to create some sort of software where you can rip the game onto your pc hard drive through the usb. After that play the games from there, it would be a little hard to play the games on the go though.

  21.4.2005 08:47 #46

• solargame

  i have succsessfully opened the umd from the plastic case. it is simple.just place sizzors on the 2 grooves on the 2 outides and twist. i did it with the sample disk. the disk is much smaller than a gamecube disk and does not fit in cd or dvd drive well.
  

  Dont hate the player, hate the game.

  22.4.2005 05:58 #47

• KitnKillr

  ey Solargame, can you do me a favor and see if the UMD that you skinned is able to be read by your PS2? i got this one mini-DVD with a USB cable that i bought that goes into the PS2 so we can transfer the stuff from the memory card onto the PSP. just triple check to see for sure if the UMD can be read by a PS2 k? can you also check to see if the skinned UMD will still work in the PSP? you dont have to if you dont wanna, but im just sayin, ya know. i just wanna see if it will work or not.

  23.4.2005 09:10 #48

• perseus64

  there is a way to flash the bios but its pretty damn hard because you need to fugire out how o do it. me and my friends are working on it. so far we were able make the psp to go online on sites using the built in wireless conection.

  24.4.2005 17:02 #49

• JBlaze05

  how doe it look? in the internet? good?
  like a regular computer ?
  

  JBLAZE

  24.4.2005 17:11 #50

• perseus64

  Yes like an ordinary computer. the hard part is inserting the names of the web sites. the fact is that i heard a rumor that this became popular so third party companies maybe even selling keyboards. but i hihly doubt it.

  24.4.2005 19:57 #51

• signal

  i wouldnt doubt it the least bit. sony is coming out with some pretty neat stuuf. although some of you may disagree and think that the idea is dumb...i think its pretty cool. im just waiting for the day when they come out with something that the black, white or "grey" hats can not get into. i find it funny that when something just comes out and really hard to break that people think that it is a dumb idea that it came out. Well what did everybody expect? furthermore, im sure someo one will find or invent a proggy that can either bypass or decode the encryption and release it on the web. Honostly, i hope they don't except for the reason of making a personal backup and allowing that capability for others. i cant wait to see the specs of the new x-box. i like x-box better than playstation. although the psx looks pretty promising.
  

  unknown_signal

  25.4.2005 07:40 #52

• perseus64

  any of you know a good psp video converter (working)
  it would be nice

  2.5.2005 21:05 #53

• solargame

  yea psp video 9 is very good.
  

  Dont hate the player, hate the game.

  3.5.2005 12:29 #54

• KitnKillr

  about video 9, i finally figured out how to use it like yesterday. you see, right after you click on the Convert tab and the file is done converting, click on the Copy tab and select the file you just convered and click on the "Copy to PSP" or "Move to PSP" button.
  
  last night in my dream, i almost drowned but then i floated back up :) oh yea, after that little dream, i had another one: there were these kittens surrounding me and i had a knife like in resident evil 4 and then i slashed the kittens.

  3.5.2005 19:04 #55

• Platt

  Any progress on gettin PS2 games on UMD disks or memory cards. I think that you would be able to put them on the cards just by making a folder in the games folder of your PSP and then adding everything on a games disk to that folder. I have taken everything from GTA SA from the disk to my PC but its about 5GB, so i dont think that that is possible.

  8.5.2005 04:46 #56

• solargame

  yea, ill try that, but i will try doing it with a psone game
  

  Dont hate the player, hate the game.

  8.5.2005 05:01 #57

• JeffSinc

  alright. not sure if anyone has noticed, but do an update to firmware, but dont have AC power plugged in.
  
  Device will download the update and save to your flash card. Reboot the device, and you suddenly have a "load game from flash" media option.
  
  Somone needs to read the file associated with the bios update for the device, and work out how it is able to run this way.

  8.5.2005 07:40 #58

• Platt

  Hey every1, look at this.
  http://photobucket.com/albums/y20/Platty90/?action=view¤t=pspdebug1.jpg
  I think that Sony have to make a decision whether to release blank UMD disks to be cheap and good to put data on, but they may not because of piracy, and people copying games etc. So they will soon make a decision. Well anyway, they may release that UMD burner in the pi. Sweet :)

  8.5.2005 08:30 #59

• perseus64

  I copied wipeout pure on stick and it worked also about the picture i think they are already rec UMD's but i am not sure because my source tells me that.

  10.5.2005 18:07 #60

• OneShotI

  hey did you say you copied theh wipeout pure game itself onto a memory card and were able to play this off the card???
  

  halo 2 on psp yay

  10.5.2005 18:21 #61

• playboi7

  i got a psp v2.0 but upgraded to 2.6 cuz sometold me i could use the homebrew if i loaded it with gta:libirty city stories. it works but now i want to know were i can get all the emulators and roms for my psp, i hope someone can help me get emu's and roms please some help me, my favorite game is street figther 2 if some could tell me were to download it, PLEASE

  12.4.2006 09:30 #62

• Sai Sai (unverified)

  Pandora Battery + Firmware + 8gb memory card + ISO games + PSP = better than just buying blank UMDs that don't even exist...

  28.5.2011 19:42 #63