New PSP Slim 3.71M33:questions inside!

[Tyrian³]

Hello I'm buying a slim with the 3.71 M33 CF pre-installed, and I wanted to ask a couple of things:
Should I upgrade to 3.71 M33-2? I see there's a tool (DarkAlex firmware installer) that allows to do it easily...I have to execute points 4, 5 and 6 only, is it correct? How do I create a backup of my NAND to restore in case of bricking?
I know there are some compatibility issues with homebrews on the slim model...does the upgrade to 3.71M33-2 help?
Lastly, I heard there are some problems with the latest CF and custom made themes: can you tell me what to do to install custom themes without bricking/damaging my console?

thanks in advance for the patience of everyone who'll reply!

[pakkman781]

Er, okay, I may be misunderstanding some of the stuff in your post but here goes:

To get to 3.71 M33-2 there is only one updater to run, the 3.71 M33-2 installer, which is on http://www.dark-alex.org/ You can only create a NAND backup if you have a Pandora's Battery and MS or a PSP Phat to make one, but just updating to 3.71 M33-2 shouldn't cause problems. The computability issues are there because the Slim does not support the PSP 1.50 Kernel, so no, the update does not help. I STRONGLY recommend not attempting to install custom themes in the form of RCO files. Instead use PTF files, it is much, much safer.

[Tyrian³]

First of all thanks for the reply!
the tool I was referring to is this one (link to a screenshot)
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/851/packfirmwaresmz4.png
is it ok to use this? or should I install the eboot.pbp of m33 update 2 (without the 1.50 addon of course)?
Is it important to update or I can keep the 3.71M33 v1 without problems?
I don't have a pandora's battery, anyway if I don't mess with firmwares etc I don't risk bricking my console, right? the only things I plan to do CF-wise is install the eventual updates :)
I don't plan to install custom themes for now (I don't even know how to do it anyway) but I wanted to ask because I heard it wasn't so safe with the latest firmware. I'll remember your suggestion though ;)
From what I see some homebrew programs are being updated to support the 3.71 fw se they can be run on a slim, so can I stop worrying about the emulators I want to use on my slim (snes, n64, neogeo...) ?
About running ISOs, I plan to do so even if I'll buy the games, just because I fell better running games off a memory stick than off an UMD. I've already found a tutorial for making backup ISOs of the original discs, but do I need to do something in particular to run them, or simply go to the folder and run them?

Thanks a lot and I'm sorry for all these questions...I have ecperience in some fields (ps2,gc.ga,nds...) but I'm totally new to the psp scene!:D

[kenkiller]

First of all thanks for the reply!
the tool I was referring to is this one (link to a screenshot)
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/851/packfirmwaresmz4.png
is it ok to use this? or should I install the eboot.pbp of m33 update 2 (without the 1.50 addon of course)?
Is it important to update or I can keep the 3.71M33 v1 without problems?
I don't have a pandora's battery, anyway if I don't mess with firmwares etc I don't risk bricking my console, right? the only things I plan to do CF-wise is install the eventual updates :)
I don't plan to install custom themes for now (I don't even know how to do it anyway) but I wanted to ask because I heard it wasn't so safe with the latest firmware. I'll remember your suggestion though ;)
From what I see some homebrew programs are being updated to support the 3.71 fw se they can be run on a slim, so can I stop worrying about the emulators I want to use on my slim (snes, n64, neogeo...) ?
About running ISOs, I plan to do so even if I'll buy the games, just because I fell better running games off a memory stick than off an UMD. I've already found a tutorial for making backup ISOs of the original discs, but do I need to do something in particular to run them, or simply go to the folder and run them?

Thanks a lot and I'm sorry for all these questions...I have ecperience in some fields (ps2,gc.ga,nds...) but I'm totally new to the psp scene!:D

If you're already on 3.71m33, just run the v2 installer on dark alex's site. Very safe, but make sure you have any official custom themes turned OFF first.
For nand backup you could use the uptool64 by cory.... but i made my update without any nand backup and it went smooth as butter.

themes wise it's still recommended to stick to Sony's ptf themes for now...dun touch those others still it's stable.

Emulators wise, they'll be slowly updated to the 3.xx kernel. Snes and N64 aren't up to snuff yet, but the Neogeo/cps1/cps2 emus work great.

For isos, just place them in the ISO folder, and they'll appear in the menu like a real game.....no fuss there.

[Tyrian³]

Can I use the uptool64 without pandora's battery? If I could I'd do a NAND backup just to be safe =P
If it's just copy the file on the MS (in /PSP/GAME/UPDATE like readme says, or I can put it anywhere in the MS?) and run it there's no problem then :)
About themes I'm sticking with the ones I find inside by default just to be safe :D Anyway the option for turning off custom themes is in the menu? sorry for the stupid question but my slim is still in the express courier's packaging and should be here in a couple of days!

Sad to hear about snes and n64 emus not working yet. Do you think they'll get eventually updated or they're abandoned projects? Glad neogeo and cps1/2 work though!

Thank you all guys, ou have my deepest gratitude!
much appreciated!

[Tyrian³]

Another question: how does the whole 333mhz thing work? I heard that for some games it's important to make the console run at 333 (like final fantasy tactics war of the lions) but how can I do that?