Use less space on your mem stick!
I know this has been mentioned obscurely in some of the threads, but I haven't found any threads specifically dedicated to this topic. I got a new Sandisk 1GB(much faster) to replace my old Sony 1GB. Whenever you buy a new mem stick, it comes pre-formatted with FAT12. It's a poor choice for large media, so let's upgrade to FAT32!
WARNING! My mem stick would no longer run homebrew initially after I did this, but was corrected with the corrupt files hidden, no less.
1. First, create a temporary folder on your desktop.
2. Go to "My Computer" and then select your mem stick.
3. Select everything on the root of your mem stick and press Ctrl-C (copy).
4. Open the temporary folder on your desktop and press Ctrl-V (paste).
5. Once the copy process is done, it's time to format your mem stick.
6. In "My Computer", right-click your mem stick and select "format".
7. Change "File System" to "FAT32". Do not put a check mark in any of the format options. Then click "Start".
8. When it finishes, open the temporary folder on your desktop, select everything, and copy.
9. Open your newly formatted mem stick and paste.
10. Disconnect your PSP and check every app you've got to see if it loads properly. (none of mine worked except Universal Remote)
11. If you have any that don't work, reconnect your PSP and go to the PSP/GAME folder. (This part sucks, so bear with me).
12. For folders without a "%", right-click and choose "rename". Now move the cursor to the beginning of the folder name and count the letters and spaces until you get to the end of the folder name. Place the cursor at the end of the folder name and, using the spacebar, continue counting while adding spaces until you count to 31. Now, simply add a "_"(underscore) to the end.
13. For the folders WITH a "%", if the folder is 6 characters or less, add "_~1%" to the end of the folder name. If over 6 characters, rename it using the first 6 characters of the non-"%" folder and then add "_~1%". This SHOULD fix a majority of the apps. If 1 or 2 similarly named folders refuse to run, try using "_~2%" or "_~3%"(see a trend?) Doing this fixed my problem with FlashMod and NesterJ.
14. If all else fails, remove all the spaces from the non-"%" folder and rename the "%" folder the exact same name, but with the "%" added at the end. This method definitely works, but you wind up with "corrupt data" icons when browsing through your homebrew.
And some info to convince you to do this if you're skeptical...
RESULTS: FAT12 - 142MB Free
FAT32 - 221MB Free
These are my results when using a 1GB stick. Your results will, of course, vary. The thing to most consider is, "HOW MANY files do I have on my stick?" A large number of files(especially small ones) waste a lot of space on a FAT12 formatted stick.
To get a rough idea of of how much space is wasted on your stick, go to "My Computer" and open your mem stick. Select everything, right-click any file or folder and choose "Properties". "Size" tells you exactly how much space is required by your files. "Size on Disk" tells you how much space the files take up, plus the space wasted due to the file system. Take "Size on Disk" and subtract the "Size" to find your wasted space.
In the results section, you can see I regained 79MB just by switching to FAT32. Pretty nice, I'd say...
Admins - sticky please! :)
