[PS Vita] Downgrade your PS Vita with Modoru to FW 3.60

In Japanese modoru means “to go back”.  As its name suggests, modoru is a PS Vita Homebrew application that allows you to downgrade your PS Vita to a previous firmware. Firmware version 3.60 is the best firmware to downgrade to because of its homebrew compatibility. HENkaku Enso allows your PS Vita to launch the exploit at boot time and is more convenient than h-encore and h-encore² as it does not require you to trigger an exploit on your device after every reboot manually. It is recommended to install HENkaku Enso after downgrading your PS Vita. Use this guide to downgrade your PS Vita to firmware version 3.60.

Requirements

  • Your device must already run HENkaku/h-encore on firmwares 3.60-3.68 in order to use this software
    • Firmwares 3.65 – 3.73 can also use this software with the h-encore² exploit.
  • Your device’s battery has be at least at 50%
  • All your plugins must be disabled. You will not be able to launch the downgrader from a SD2VITA. You must have a Memory Card (or Internal Storage)
  • If you have installed IMCUnlock by SKGleba, it is recommended to uninstall it first before attempting to downgrade

What you need

  1. Latest release of modoru .vpk (TheFlow)
  2. FTP client such as FileZilla
  3. PS Vita Official 3.60 Firmware (pick one):

How to downgrade your PS Vita to firmware 3.60

Part 1. Prepare your PS Vita

  1. Launch the Vita Shell application and press START to access the settings
  2. In the settings menu press SELECT to change the mode to FTP. Press CIRCLE to close the Vita Shell settings
    • If you prefer to use USB mode, you will need to connect your PS Vita to your PC via a USB cable. Keep in mind, some files will be hidden if you use USB mode with Windows. You must enable hidden files in Windows.
  3. Press SELECT to enable FTP access for your PS Vita
  4. Open your FTP software on your computer and enter the IP address and Port displayed on the PS Vita. You should now be connected to your PS Vita via FTP.
  5. Using the FTP software, navigate to the ux0 > data folder.
  6. Transfer the modoru.vpk to the data folder.
  7. Transfer PSP2UPDATE.PUP to the data folder
  8. Press CIRCLE on your PS Vita to close the FTP connection.

Part 2. Install modoru on your PS Vita

  1. With Vita Shell open on your PS Vita, navigate to ux0: > data folder
  2. Press X on modoru.vpk to install it and press X again to confirm the install
  3. Press X again to confirm the prompt about extended permissions.
  4. Now that modoru is installed, you can delete the .vpk file by pressing TRIANGLE to open the menu, then select “Delete” to delete it. Press X to confirm the deletion.
  5. On PSP2UPDAT.PUP press TRIANGLE to open up the menu and select “Copy” to copy the file.
  6. Navigate to ux0: > app > MODORU000
  7. Press TRIANGLE to open the menu and then select “Paste” to paste PSP2UPDAT.PUP into the MODORU000 folder.
  8. Press CIRCLE to return to ux0: 
  9. On tai folder, press TRIANGLE to open the menu and RENAME the folder to something else. Modoru does not work if plugins are enabled. You must RENAME the tai folder to anything else first. You should also RENAME ur0: > tai folder if you have it.
  10. You can now exit Vita Shell

Part 3. Prepare to downgrade your PS Vita

  1. Turn off your PS Vita. You cannot use SD2VITA, you must use a Memory Card or Internal Storage (PS Vita Slim).
  2. Turn your PS Vita back on.
  3. Re-run the exploit listed below
    • For users on firmware 3.60: re-run the HENkaku exploit from henkaku.xyz on your PS Vita
    • For users on firmware 3.65 – 3.68: re-run the h-encore application while holding R
      • If prompted about trophies, keep holding R and select YES
    • For users on firmware 3.68: re-run Trinity exploit
  4. Launch the PS Vita Settings app. Navigate to HENkaku settings
  5. Select “Enable Unsafe Homebrew” and close the Settings app

ps vita downgrade modoru

Part 4. Downgrade your PS Vita with Modoru

  1. Launch the modoru application
  2. Press X to confirm the downgrade to firmware version 3.60
    • If you are given the message “Error you cannot go lower than your factory firmware” this means you will not be able to downgrade to 3.60. This may change if a new version of modoru is released that supports downgrading below the factory firmware that came with your PS Vita.
  3. Press X to accept the terms and conditions and then the downgrade process will begin
  4. Wait until the PS Vita finished the downgrade process. Your PS Vita will reboot automatically.

ps vita downgrade modoru

Next Steps

Congrats on installing firmware 3.60! Next you will want to install the permanent HENkaku Enso custom firmware. HENkaku Enso is a more permanent hack because it runs at boot time. Continue to install HENkaku Enso.

Note: If you had to rename your tai folders to something else, go back into Vita Shell to rename them back to tai.

Additional Resources