viz_tape changelog

Version 1.3 is the stable release with PRO-C compatibility. The compatibility changes passed hardware testing on PSP-1000 with 6.61 ARK-4 and 6.61 PRO-C Infinity.

🎉 Huge thanks to @SwettHony for the PRO-C compatibility report, initial export-lookup patch, and hardware testing!

What's changed

• The plugin locates its private renderer's function and variable exports directly, with bounded names, tables and pointers.
• Invalid export metadata leaves the stock visualizer selected. Existing firmware, renderer ABI, memory and boot-guard checks remain in place.
• One installable viz_tape.prx, with installation instructions for both ARK and PRO-C.

Install

1. Download viz_tape-v1.3.zip below and unzip it.
2. Connect the PSP in USB mode and copy the ZIP's seplugins folder to the root of the memory card. Merge existing folders and replace viz_tape.prx if updating. Keep other plugins.

ARK-4/5

1. Add this one line to seplugins/PLUGINS.TXT (create the file if needed):

   vsh, ms0:/seplugins/viz_tape/viz_tape.prx, on

_For PSP Go internal storage, install there and use ef0: instead of ms0:._

PRO-C

1. Add this one line to seplugins/vsh.txt (create the file if needed):

   ms0:/seplugins/viz_tape/viz_tape.prx 1

_For PSP Go internal storage, install there and use ef0: instead of ms0:._

Use only the entry for your CFW, and keep one Viz Tape entry. Edit the plugin list in plain text, keep other plugins' lines and save the file.

1. Eject, exit USB mode and fully restart the PSP. Play a song in the Music player and select the last visualizer.

_Full instructions, including disabling and recovery, are in INSTALL.txt in the ZIP._

If you encounter a problem, share seplugins/viz_tape/status.txt, the PSP model and the firmware/CFW version from System Information in a GitHub issue.

Viz Tape now installs as one plugin, with support enabled for PSP-1000, PSP-2000, PSP-3000, PSP Go and PSP Street/E1000 on 6.61 ARK-4.

Version 1.1 silently skipped every model except the PSP-1000. That restriction is removed in 1.2. PSP Go internal storage is also supported.

Install

1. Download viz_tape-v1.2.zip below and unzip it.
2. Connect the PSP in USB mode. Copy the ZIP's seplugins folder to the root of the memory card or PSP Go internal storage. Merge existing folders; when updating, replace viz_tape.prx with the new copy.
3. Open seplugins/PLUGINS.TXT on that storage device and add one Viz Tape line:

   vsh, ms0:/seplugins/viz_tape/viz_tape.prx, on

For PSP Go internal storage, use this line instead:

   vsh, ef0:/seplugins/viz_tape/viz_tape.prx, on

1. Eject, exit USB mode and fully restart the PSP. Play a song and select the last visualizer.

Updating from 1.0 or 1.1: replace both old Viz Tape entries with the single line above. Delete the obsolete viz_tape_render.prx; its renderer is now embedded in viz_tape.prx. Keep other plugins' entries. The old enabled.txt is no longer used.

The cassette icon is generated automatically on the PSP. INSTALL.txt in the ZIP includes troubleshooting and uninstall instructions.

What's changed

• One installable PRX and one plugin entry, with the renderer still running in user memory.
• All retail PSP models enabled, native ms0:/ef0: storage handling, and address checks based on the actual user-memory partition.
• Corrected embedded-renderer startup, including the firmware loading argument order and full-image staging buffer.
• Icon validation on each Music-module load, USB-aware file access, and boot-guard recovery that preserves the failed startup log.
• Model, storage and memory details in seplugins/viz_tape/status.txt.

Testing and compatibility

The 1.2-dev3 build passed startup and Music-hook checks on a PSP-1000 running 6.61 ARK-4, alongside xmb_gamecache. The renderer started, the icon and playback-state checks passed, slot 7 was patched, and the boot guard cleared. The installed binary and generated icon passed integrity checks. Final 1.2 changes only the diagnostic version label from that tested build.

PSP-2000, PSP-3000, Go and Street/E1000 are enabled but still need hardware testing. Extended playback and suspend/resume testing also remain outstanding. Only matching, verified 6.61 firmware layouts are patched; other layouts retain the stock visualizer.

The host test suite passed under AddressSanitizer and UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer, and the clean PSP build and binary audit passed. If you test another model, please report the model, System Information version and status.txt in an issue.

The ZIP includes file checksums; viz_tape-v1.2.zip.sha256 verifies the download.

Installing is now just copying a folder — no tools, no extra steps. The cassette icon for the visualizer menu now makes itself on your PSP.

Install

1. Download viz_tape-v1.1.zip (below) and unzip it
2. Connect your PSP to your computer in USB mode
3. Copy the seplugins folder from the ZIP onto the memory card (if one is already there, let your computer merge them)
4. Open seplugins/PLUGINS.TXT on the card in a plain-text editor (create it if needed) and add these two lines:

   vsh, ms0:/seplugins/viz_tape/viz_tape_render.prx, on
   vsh, ms0:/seplugins/viz_tape/viz_tape.prx, on

1. Eject, exit USB mode, restart the PSP — then play a song and pick the last visualizer

The first time it starts, Viz Tape makes the cassette icon by itself. INSTALL.txt in the ZIP has the same steps plus updating and uninstalling.

What's new

• The icon makes itself — no more patch script or copying files off the PSP. The plugin reads the PSP's own stock resource (read-only), checks the result is exactly right, and only then saves the icon to the memory card. On unsupported firmware nothing is written.
• Copy-and-go ZIP — just a seplugins folder with the two plugins
• No enabled.txt — like any ARK plugin, it's turned on and off by its PLUGINS.TXT lines. (Updating from 1.0? You can delete the old enabled.txt.)
• Smaller log — status.txt is now a few lines written once at startup

Tested on

PSP-1000 (32 MB) + ARK-4 + 6.61 + 128 GB card, alongside xmb_gamecache: fresh install from this ZIP, icon created on the PSP and identical to the original. Other models and firmware are unverified — testers welcome, please open an issue.

The PSP Music player's last visualizer becomes an animated cassette.

Viz Tape

What's in it

• A cassette that plays along — red Side A and blue Side B, 15 minutes of playback per side, tape winding between the reels behind the window
• Side flips — at the end of a side the cassette turns over in perspective and carries on, A → B → A
• Fast-forward and rewind — seeking winds the tape 12× faster with fast-spinning reels; rewind runs it backwards, flips included
• Cassette icon in the visualizer selector (optional, made from your own stock resource — see below)
• Light on the CPU — only the reel strip is redrawn while playing: about 1.9 ms per frame at ~60 fps on a PSP-1000
• Boot guard — a fault right after XMB start skips the plugin for one start, so it can never boot-loop

Install

1. Download viz_tape-v1.0.zip (below) and extract it
2. Optional icon: with a copy of your PSP's stock 6.61 flash0:/vsh/resource/visualizer_plugin.rco, run python3 tools/apply_icon_patch.py /path/to/visualizer_plugin.rco in the extracted folder
3. Copy viz_tape_render.prx, viz_tape.prx, enabled.txt (and visualizer.rco if you made it) to ms0:/seplugins/viz_tape/
4. Add to ms0:/seplugins/PLUGINS.TXT, renderer first:

   vsh, ms0:/seplugins/viz_tape/viz_tape_render.prx, on
   vsh, ms0:/seplugins/viz_tape/viz_tape.prx, on

1. Restart the XMB, play a song and pick the last visualizer

The ZIP's INSTALL.txt has the full steps, checksum checks and recovery. See the README for details.

Tested on

PSP-1000 (32 MB) + ARK-4 + 6.61 + 128 GB card, alongside xmb_gamecache. Every patch checks the exact firmware code first and goes inert on a mismatch, but other models, firmware versions and PSP Go internal storage are unverified — testers welcome, please open an issue with your results.