Noobz.eu have announced that an exploit in the PSP game Lumines will allow all PSP’s to run homebrew software.

This means that owners of PSP’s with firmware 1.5 all the way through to the current 3.50 firmware will be able to run homebrew software if they own the original Lumines PSP game.

At the moment, there is only a simple ‘Hello World’ program working with this new exploit, but it will only be a matter of time before most homebrew will be ported to the new exploit, and a downgrader made available.

Following research in conjunction with Archaemic, Noobz are proud to present the first ever all-firmware exploit for the PSP. Based on Lumines, the “Illuminati” exploit is a user-mode exploit using a buffer overflow in the savedata file – similar to the GTA exploit.

That’s right – if you’ve got a legal UMD copy of Lumines, then you can run homebrew on your PSP – whatever the firmware version. That includes v3.50! Right now, the only homebrew is the Hello World demo released below – but in future we intend to release a HEN and downgrader.

To make the exploit work:

* Check that you have an EU or US version of Lumines (ULES00043 or ULUS10002). Currently we don’t have a version for the Japanese version, but we’re working on it, as soon as we get hold of a Japanese UMD.
* Extract the contents of the ‘MS_ROOT’ folder from the ZIP file into the top-level of your memory stick. (HINT: If you wind up with an ‘MS_ROOT’ folder on the stick, you’ve done it wrong).
* Start the game, and as soon as it gets to the ‘Press START’ screen, press START. If you wait until the demo has started, the exploit may not work.
* The screen should go blank, and the exploit will start after a few moments. It doesn’t do anything except look pretty at this stage – but feel free to enjoy the first homebrew on your v3.10 – v3.50 PSP

So, for all those who have been asking about when a downgrader for firmware 3.30 to 3.50 will be available, the wait will soon be over.

Expect a response from Sony in the form of a new firmware version to patch the security loophole soon.

If you’ve not got Lumines, you can grab a copy from Amazon : Lumines (Aff link, buying via this link help this site).