ARK-4 changelog

There is a reason why this time I am using the full version number; it's a pretty big number that has a lot of history behind it.

I have been working on ARK-4 for the past 6 years and had the pleasure of working with some of the best minds in the PSP Scene.
It has been quite a ride, and like all rides it eventually comes to an end.

ARK-4 has become technologically complicated to work with, it uses an old sdk that is no longer maintained, it has a lot of legacy code that can be replaced by much better and simpler approaches and it has become over-scoped (the project has to do things it's not meant to, or that should be responsibilities of other projects).

This is the last official release of ARK-4, which is only here to serve as a bridge for what's going to replace it: ARK-5.

Because I did not stop working on ARK-4 because I stopped working on PSP CFW, but because I can best reserve my time and efforts on the next big evolution of this beloved CFW. Update to this last release to unlock the ARK-5 OTA updates, and then update to ARK-5 or not, it's your choice.

New ARK-5 repository: https://github.com/PSP-Arkfive/ARK-5

• This system software update improves system performance.

Maintenance Update.

Fixes:

• GoW freeze at sparta gate.
• WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009-2011 overclock settings fix.

Updates:

• DCARK/cIPL can be installed on lower CFW to go straight to ARK-4 Wiki Steps
• New Graphics installer for vita. ( thanks @theheroGAC )

• Updated Russian translations (https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/pull/660)
• Updated Polish translations (https://github.com/PSP-Archive/ARK-4/pull/667)

• Fixed issue with games that installed more than 1GB of data on memory stick.

Small release to prevent changing clock speed in DevKits as it seems to cause issues.

We also fixed another bug in the future.

This release fixes a bug that will appear in the future.

This system software update improves system performance.

Updated icons - Yoti
Updated translations - Yoti
Adrenaline fixes - GrayJack ( that was hard for me to spell Grey that way )
Updated ya2d to just always be up to date with latest from Xerpi. - Acid and krazynez

UPDATED: Custom Launcher bug fixed.

Small update.

Contains a few fixes done by contributors @RegularRabbit05, @Aneemasta and @theheroGAC

This release aims at making the use of Extra RAM feature on PS Vita more stable.

The following information is known about ePSP Extra RAM on PS Vita:

• The first 16MB are safe to use.
• The other 16MB is used by pspemu at different regions, some of which we haven't fully mapped out yet. Meaning that while you can make use of (some of it), it is highly volatile and prone to random issues.

To make the Extra RAM feature as stable as possible while maintaining the most compatibility, the following has been done:

• The standard behavior of the Extra RAM feature is to only unlock the first 16MB.
• Inferno Cache size has been lowered from 4MB to 1MB.
• Partition 11 (Extra RAM as seen by the ePSP kernel) can only see the first 16MB.
• Homebrew that make use of Extra RAM via MEMSIZE=1 flag will be allowed to unlock as much memory as possible, but do know that while this makes more homebrews boot, it will also result in unstable and undefined behavior.

Fixed issues introduced in previous releases.

Edit: re-uploaded with proper binaries.

** NOTE: while this release does include some important fixes (such as a crash fix), it is mainly focused for developers.

The following libraries used by ARK and many other homebrews are now dynamic and available to be loaded on demand:

• LibPNG: standard open source library for handling PNG files.
• PSPFTP: FTP server and client library for PSP.
• PSPAV: audio and video player for PSP formats (AT3, PMF, MPS).
• Unarchiver: library to extract zip, rar, tar and 7z files.
• VLF: library to create homebrew that mimicks the XMB.

To use these libraries ARK has extended the functionality of the official utility module functions sceUtilityLoadModule and sceUtililtyUnloadModule by providing new custom module IDs.
Developers don't have to worry about finding the .prx file and load/start-ing it, the CFW will handle that much like how the original firmware does for official libraries.

The new module IDs are as follows:

#define PSP_MODULE_NET_FTP     0x0107
#define PSP_MODULE_AV_PNG      0x0308
#define PSP_MODULE_AV_PLAYER   0x0390
#define PSP_MODULE_VLF         0x0700
#define PSP_MODULE_INTRAFONT   0x0701   // not yet implemented
#define PSP_MODULE_UNARCHIVER  0x0702

For example:

if (sceUtilityLoadModule(PSP_MODULE_AV_PNG) >= 0){
    // use PNG functions here

Custom Launcher now uses Sony's built-in JPEG library instead of the open source alternative.

While this reduces compatibility, it makes JPEGs load faster as they are now hardware-accelerated (making them idea for faster loading themes in the future) and the library is also modular, meaning it can be loaded and offloaded on demand, this strips over 300KB of memory off of the Custom Launcher.

Fixed FTP library.

This release aims at optimizing the overall CFW.

• Custom Launcher now uses dynamic libraries for extracting archives, FTP Server and Client and AT3/PMF playback. This allows load/offloading the libraries on demand, optimizing the usage of memory by not have code loaded when not needed.

• Implemented SysclibForUser, this allows user modules to utilize Sony's built-in libc library that was previously limited to kernel modules. By not having to include many common libc functions, user modules can end up taking less space. Note that this doesn't mean that plugins/homebrew will magically take up less memory as is, each plugin/homebrew will have to be recompiled to link against this new library and the results may vary.

• Some other cleanup and refactor.

Fixed a regression introducced in r188 that would prevent CFW settings from being activated.
You will probably have to install this release manually since WPA2 will not be working with r188.

• fixed regression that would break DLC.
• improved support for non-latin characters.
• improved plugin system with support for relative plugin paths.
• improved FasterARK (thanks to the improvements done by @theheroGAC).

• Fixed regression that would cause issues playing UMDs.
• Fixed regression that prevented recovery from loading.

• Fixed crash in Standalone.
• Some other minor changes.

Happy 4th of July!

• Improved stability of Extra RAM on PS Vita for both Adrenaline and Standalone. NOTE: for Extra RAM to be stable in Standalone you must update NoPspEmuDrm to this <a href="https://github.com/Kethen/NoPspEmuDrm/releases/tag/2025-07-02">version</a>.
• New cIPL is now the default option of the cIPL installer for all retail units, it is now also the only one used in DC10.
• Implemented CFW API function sctrlHENSetMemory that allows for plugins to enable extra ram on demand.
• Improved UMD Region change patches, they are now applied earlier, allowing for the disc to be detected from cold boot.
• Lots of refactor and cleanup across the entire core.

Dedicated to the Memory of Gregory Pitka (@qwikrazor87). Requiescat in Pace.

_The Nightmares? They Never Go Away, Snake._

• Like 183, but better because it actually does what 183 was supposed to do. But shhh we don't speak of 183! SILENCE!

• Fixed pops plugins running on PSP GO Internal Storage ( ef0 )
• This system software update improves system performance.

• Fixed bug in NID resolver that potentially affected some homebrew/plugins (dayviewer being the only known one so far).
• Cleaned up, standardized and added comments to the entire CFW API. This will help plugin/homebrew developers.
• Updated HIJACK_FUNCTION macro with newer, safer one. Other plugins can make use of this new version to guarantee stability (this is the case of latest RemoteJoyLite release).

• Added support for ef0-aware homebrew (homebrew with EFAWARE=1 in param.sfo).
• Improve support for PSP Go pause in ISO (now properly displays name of paused game).
• Display date in correct format in custom launcher.
• Cleanup and refactor of some core code.

• Detect and ignore MacOS meta data files (prevent's from showing up as corrupted files in the XMB).
• Fix issue that would cause gibberish to be written in settings and plugins text files.
• Fix issue with recovery menu's USB when changing to memory stick after mounting another device.
• Introduced BSoD plugin (pre-installed but disabled by default) that can help debug ARK and other apps.
• VSH and UMD Region settings have been moved from VSH Menu to Custom Firmware Settings.

General fixes and optimizations.

This release mainly focuses on improving translations:

• XMBControl is now fully translated.
• XMBControl and Custom Launcher now share the same translation files.
• Custom Launcher can now use system language.
• Added missing translations.

• La Li Lu Le Lo
• La Li Lu Le Lo
• ???
• La Li Lu Le Lo

This release is functionally identical to the previous one (or so they say, but you can never trust the La Li Lu Le Lo).

• Improved how DLC is handled in Custom Launcher.
• Better default settings.
• Leda plugin is now bundled as a pre-installed plugin in ARK_01234, this is done to make sure the plugin is archived.