PSGroove Guide for USBTinyMkii Programmer

[tifozi1]

OK so I know quite a few bought this programmer (although not in thousands like other boards). Hopefully this will be useful for those who are completely new to this. When I searched I could not even find a working hex file for the USBTinyMkii. The only one I found out from psxscene is not working. So here is a complete howto with pics and a working hex file.

PSGroove Guide for USBTinyMkii Programmer – tifozi1

The USBTInyMkII is an avr programmer that uses the LUFA firmware to emulate an Atmel AVRISP-MkII. It can be purchased for $33 shipped from the following URL
http://tom-itx.dyndns.org:81/~webpage/commerce/commerce_index.php

All instructions are for Windows and can be suitably adapted for Linux.


1)Download and install FLIP 3.4.1 atmel. The following is the most common setup file you will need(assumes you have a JRE installed)
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/Flip_Installer-3.4.1.exe

2)Remove the jumper cable that is attached to the PDI header. Tom ships them out this way because it was not originally intended for PSGroove but to program other MCUs.

3)Make sure that power mode is set to USB (Switch should be pushed to the left as shown in pic). This is the default position so most likely you do not have to change this.

4)Connect the USB --> USB Mini B adapter or cable to USBTinyMkii programmer and plug the other end to the PC.

5)The LED will turn orange, Windows will detect new Hardware Device “USBTinyMkii” and you will be prompted to install USB Drivers. You can select cancel as you do not need this to flash the PSGroove hex file.

6)Press and hold the PGM button for a second(shown in pic). The LED will turn itself off. You will hear the Windows device disconnect and reconnect button and will be prompted with another Hardware Device Found window. This means you have successfully put the USBTinyMkii into DFU programming mode. LED will turn off whenever you enter DFU mode in future.

7)Select to install the driver manually and browse to C:\Program Files\Atmel\Flip 3.4.1\usb. Click Next and have Windows install the necessary DFU drivers. After successful installation you will see it in Device Manager under “Atmel USB Devices” as AT90USB162 (shown in pic)

8)Open "C:\Program Files\Atmel\Flip 3.4.1\bin\flip.exe" via the start menu shortcut. Press Ctrl+S and select AT90USB162 as the device selection (shown in pic)

9)Press Ctrl+U or Click on the USB cable icon (second button from left) and click on Open. This should now make the USBTinyMkii ready to be programmed (shown in pic)

10)Make sure that the boxes next to Erase, Program and Verify are checked as shown in the pic above. Press Ctrl+L and navigate to the directory where you extracted prgroove.hex from psgroove_usbtinymkii_patched.rar. Select/highlight it and press OK.

11)Select Run and wait for the hex file to be written. The USBTinyMkii is now ready to jailbreak the target device Remove it from the PC and hook it up to the console.

12)Shutdown the console completely by pressing the switch in the back. Plug the USBTinyMkii to one of the USB Ports of the console. Start the console from the switch in the back, then the on/off button in the front and quickly press the Eject button next to it for a second or two. Wait a couple of seconds, the LED will turn green and the console will be in jailbreak mode!

Shoutout to PSGroove team, CJPC, PS3News and Tom Light.

Guide written by your friendly neighborhood pirate tifozi

[PS3 News]

Very nice guide also tifozi1 and +Rep! I will add it to our Sticky in the PS3 Hacks section so it will be easy to find now as well.

[tifozi1]

Sure thing

Updated patched hex for PSGroove v1.1 (LV2 Peek and Poke SysCalls)

[PS3 News]

Thanks again tifozi1, +Rep and I will add this to the related Site News update as well.

[tworok]

Thanks for the great guide mate.

But all i get is a red light, not green

i'm on 3.41 firmware, test with both 1.0 and 1.1 versions on my recently arrived usbtinymkii, and i get the same result with both versions.

1. i turn the back power button off
2. i insert usbtiny
3. i turn the back power button on
4. i press power button and quickly press eject
5. the ps3 boots a few seconds later and usbtiny has a red light, not a green one.


what can i do now?

[tifozi1]

So you have been successful in writing the hex file by getting into DFU programming mode? When you plugin the TinyMkii on Widows does it show up as a 4/6 port USB hub(although with some errors)?

When you do this sequence on the PS3, does the PS3 throw an error saying "Unknown USB device connected" or no error at all.

Both hex files work (tested and confirmed by me and a few others). Another thing I can think of is maybe you have a PS3 slim? In that case I think the recommended procedure is to actually disconnect the power cable and then rest of the steps.

[tworok]

So you have been successful in writing the hex file by getting into DFU programming mode? When you plugin the TinyMkii on Widows does it show up as a 4/6 port USB hub(although with some errors)?

When you do this sequence on the PS3, does the PS3 throw an error saying "Unknown USB device connected" or no error at all.

Both hex files work (tested and confirmed by me and a few others). Another thing I can think of is maybe you have a PS3 slim? In that case I think the recommended procedure is to actually disconnect the power cable and then rest of the steps.

Yes, on the PC side, everything went well programming the usbtiny (verified pass both times)

When i do that sequence the ps3 throws an error saying "unknown usb device connected"

I have a fat PS3.

[tifozi1]

I am able to reproduce your error in two conditions:

1) Flashing a hex file from some other board like teensy etc. But in your case this is eliminated as you indicated you tried both of the versions posted in this thread.

2) This is the probable cause and you will have a laugh after you do it right. Your booting sequence steps is the issue here. After you turn on the switch in the back, then the on-off switch in the front, you immediately press the Eject button. Keep the eject button pressed for a good 2-3 seconds even after you hear the "beep, beep, beep" sound of the Eject button. Otherwise it does not initialize and you boot with the Red LED and the "unknown USB device" error.

[tworok]

i got it, i searched for this problem and read that all other usb ports need to have nothing connected... guess what... my dualshock3 was recharging

worked on the first time after i removed the usb cable. now i backed up Beijing 2008 (had to be a small game because my 60gb is nearly full), the backup process went well but when i try to load it, it says "Game EBOOT.BIN is not valid, can't launch"

argh, i'm out of luck, every step is an oddyssey.

thanks a lot for all the help

[tifozi1]

Wow that is strange about the other USB ports. I have a keyboard and the official $ony bluetooth connected at all times and it works just fine. I could reproduce your error everytime if I was just clicking the eject button(like you normally would to eject a disc) instead of keeping it pressed for a couple of seconds or so.

Anyways glad you have it working. I don't do game backups so cant help you there, checkout the other stickies in the Hack section. Lots of information in the eboot thread.