How to fix “The game could not be started” error on modified Sony PSP

24 Aug
2009

I almost had a heart attack yesterday. I got myself a copy of Dissidia: Final Fantasy U.S. version, but it wouldn’t run on my PSP. My modified PSP was only running 4.01 M33-2. Apparently, Dissidia needs 5.00 firmware or higher to run.

Thus, I tasked myself with I upgrading the custom firmware on my Sony PSP, going from Dark Alex’s 4.01 M33-2 to Team33’s 5.00 M33-6. I did everything written in the instructions. I copied the 5.00 M33-6 updater to my /PSP/GAME directory. Since I was upgrading to 5.00 firmware I copied the official Sony PSP 5.00 firmware as well.

The firmware installation went smoothly. At the end of the update it gave me a confirmation message then did a reset. After resetting I went to System Information and it shows that I was able to successfully upgrade to 5.00 M33-6.

Ok, time to play! To my horror, none of my ISO / CSO games would run. Whenever I tried to load a game I would get kicked back to the XMB with the following message:

The game could not be started. (80020321)

The game could not be started. (80020321)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I almost panicked. Did I send up with a semi-bicked PSP? I thought of re-flashing my firmware or downgrading back to 4.01. I tried doing a search, and although I did not find the exact solution I was looking for, I saw some posts that led me to recall that there is a “UMD Mode” setting in the recovery menu. Here is what I did:

  1. Turn off the the PSP by holding the power button for 3 seconds
  2. Power up the PSP while holding the R trigger to go into recovery mode
  3. Open up the confiugration settings and locate the UMD Mode setting
  4. Change the setting from Normal to m33 driver – no UMD
  5. Exit recovery mode

I fired up my games and they started working again. Even better, Dissidia: Final Fantasy was running like a charm. I am one happy camper.

By the way, in case you are afraid you might mess something up by going to the recovery console, there is an easier way to change the UMD Mode setting through the XMB menu. The steps below will show you how do the alternate method:

  1. From the XMB menu, press the Select button
  2. Scroll down to UMD ISO Mode
  3. Change the setting to m33 driver – no UMD
  4. Press the Select button again to exit the menu

Viola! You can now play ISO and CSO games again.

Let me know if it works for you.

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86 Responses to How to fix “The game could not be started” error on modified Sony PSP

joshua

August 31st, 2009 at 4:55 pm

hey I tried to do what you wrote but my dissidia still doesn’t work. I tried everything but I still can’t play dissidia in my psp so please I need help!!!

Dennison Uy

September 2nd, 2009 at 8:09 pm

joshua: Dissidia only runs on Firmware 5.00 or higher. What version are you running on your PSP?

Ryan

September 3rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm

Thx mate you saved me from panicky doom

Fix Soul Calibur IV: Broken Destiny “The game could not be started” error on PSP

September 8th, 2009 at 9:59 pm

[...] Ryan: Thx mate you saved me from panicky doom [...]

pewe

October 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am

hey dude, i follow all steps u say but still dont work for me. i have psp 3.71 M33-2. soul calibur and gi joe wont start? is there a problem? pls reply..

Dennison Uy

October 9th, 2009 at 2:44 pm

pewe: You need to update to least 5.00 M33 to be able to run Soul Calibur and GI Joe. There is no other way around this!

pewe

October 10th, 2009 at 10:03 am

how to update my psp? pls tell me how to update. tnx a lot.

E

October 11th, 2009 at 12:28 am

Nice one. Just upgraded from 3.8 to 5.0 m33 and had forgotten how to get to that setting :-) Saved me too

Mohammedali

October 12th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

Try putting in a new firmware into your psp. You can find it here- http://pspslimhacks.com/psp-custom-firmware-500-m33-4/

pewe

October 12th, 2009 at 8:22 pm

ahh.ok tnx. my problem now is my psp wont downgrade to 3.71 again, i accidentally update my psp to 6.10. i dont knw how to fix it. pls reply anyone if anyone knows how to fix it. tnx………

Hello

October 15th, 2009 at 7:18 am

Hi
I did everything, My game even boots up! BUT! Its like all screwed up lookin like the menu are white and only names show up no pics. I am running 5.00 M33-4

Pleaase HELP

Dennison Uy

October 15th, 2009 at 4:08 pm

pewe: you will have to use a pandora kit to run CFW on your PSP

jj

October 15th, 2009 at 10:16 pm

hi. my fat psp has the same problem with everybody can’t play iso/cso “the game could not be startd #”, and also there’s no recovery menu on it. how can i get that? when i press select on the xmb nothing happens. pls help. i dont know if this is OFW or CFW.

Dennison Uy

October 15th, 2009 at 11:45 pm

jj: If you are able to start ISO’s then you are definitely using CFW. What does it say when you go to System Information?

terrence

October 20th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

hi, i already upgrade my psp 1000 firmware 3.71 to 5.00m33-4, i had follow ur step that change the UMD to M33 driver, but i still cant play GIJOE??? thanks..please help

Exe.chrd

November 21st, 2009 at 1:20 am

thanks! you saved me a trip to the repair shop!

ignatius.

December 11th, 2009 at 9:16 pm

hi

I have some games which are not running on my psp sony. have you got any ideas please?

thanks.
ignatius

Choob

December 12th, 2009 at 4:35 am

figured there’d b something like this.
i was playing fine, then took off my umd, and it stopped workng.
glad i looked this up.

tyvm

jose

December 12th, 2009 at 11:19 am

wee eres la tola pense que mi psp ya se habia jodido no se como agradecertelo

geniey

December 15th, 2009 at 7:04 pm

hye there.
i need help about my fifa 10(.iso)
i`ve followed ur steps but the error code changed from 80020321 to 80020148.
hope u could help.
thanks.

abdul ahad

December 17th, 2009 at 2:18 am

hi dude
my psp is not running the game after update my psp system software . my games are not in the memory stick . plz plz help me

m4rc0.3

December 17th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

The same f****** problem, i do everything you said but you know what? ….. My saves disapears too!! And everytime i use the select button menu the saves and the ISOs appears again…So, wtf??? Sometimes i can run a game, wipeout pulse for example, once i can running it…..the game does not recognize the save data LOL!! I need help!! Please mtv, pimp my car!!!.

Thanks.

nonane

December 18th, 2009 at 2:46 pm

worked like a charm, tyvm

paul

December 23rd, 2009 at 1:17 pm

Thanks so much assassins creed worked as well using the same steps

needshelp

December 26th, 2009 at 2:48 am

hi i have a psp slim version 5.00 M33-6 but kept gettin the couldnt load game error on assassins creed which was an ISO, however i have another game which is CSO and works perfectly fine, i have tried all the settings changes nothing seems to work plzzz any help would be appreciated. thanks

james

December 29th, 2009 at 2:30 am

i had the same problem when upgraded my cfw especially when tryin to run emulators. the problem is the new m33 firmwares do not have the 1.50 kernal in them and they need to be added.

http://forums.qj.net/psp-firmware-discussion/145307-dark_alex-releases-1-5-kernel-5-00-m33.html

myke

January 17th, 2010 at 6:46 pm

hey hwo can i go to recovery mode?
i tried everything but didnt even got to recovery mode dude what do i need?
i have a CFWEnabler here 3.60 ._.

tony

January 21st, 2010 at 11:36 pm

where do i go to configuration settings???

RB

January 30th, 2010 at 10:41 pm

does not work for me my system software is 5.50 Gen-B(full). HELP!

SOHEIL

February 1st, 2010 at 12:10 pm

HEY guys i have psp 5.00 m33-4 , i tried to play naruto shippuden narutimate accel 3 in jap, and it came up witht he error 80020148. i fixed 80020321 but this other one came, how do i fix it? i tried everything from chaning kennel, and umd disc and plugins as well wtf do i do?

rap

February 9th, 2010 at 10:33 pm

we have d same problem soheil

Eva00Pilot

February 12th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Hey gang, if u r still havin’ “da game could” blah blah after doin’ aaaaaall dis steps….Well, just back-up all ur music, photos, intrnt bookmarks and da rest of da crap…& then format da memory stick, as easy as that!!!, da problem comes when ur anti-virus blocks all ur memory stick…Once u format da MS u will see (in Slim) the music & photos loads faster as before, say hello 2 da PSX games & ISO…That’s it!! A’ight, take it easy. Later.

cCc - malaysia

February 12th, 2010 at 9:03 pm

THANKS !! IT WORKS PERFECTLY !!!

Achie

February 17th, 2010 at 8:49 pm

Why Can’t My Football Manager Handheld 2010 Can’t Work?? And it Said “The Game Could Not Be Started. (80020321)

Eded

February 18th, 2010 at 5:04 pm

THANKS DUDE U SAVED ME FROM GOING TO THE SHOP

Luis

February 20th, 2010 at 11:29 pm

hey thanks! it worked for me. i upgraded to cfw 5.00 m33 to play tekken 6, and i had the same error. but after following what you said, im now able to play my ISOs…

omer

February 21st, 2010 at 7:44 am

i hav psp 2000 and i m having problem…..
i updated it with firware 5.00 n now when i copy some game in ISO folder it doesnt showed up in PSP..????wht should i do?

omer

February 21st, 2010 at 7:46 am

even i cant go into recovery mode????

thedudeabides

February 23rd, 2010 at 3:27 pm

You are Legend!

Was in the same position and nearly cried. Now I only smile.

Now, if only you can tell me how to transfer my saved games from my ‘open’ PSP to my shiny and tiny new PSP Go ;-)

Chris

March 25th, 2010 at 9:25 pm

I still get that message after i did the M33 Driver no UMD thing

My system ver. is 5.00 M33-6

Game i’m trying to play is Naruto Shipuuden Ultimate Ninja 3

Jazz

March 27th, 2010 at 2:21 am

Change it to Sony-N9660!
If same problem then download a new game a try!

Keanu

March 31st, 2010 at 9:10 pm

Yeah! Thanks I did what you said and my games works fine now

israel

April 3rd, 2010 at 2:14 pm

hey guys can anyone help me i update my firmware 4.01 to 5.00 after i updated my firmware i cant see my games in my memory card but in my computer it is still in my memory card what should i do?? please anyone who can help me :( my games was in iso and cso files

mathieu

April 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 pm

If you are yousing 5.00m33-6 and want to play iso cso games press select to open your version menu then select m33 driver if you would like to play eboot games a prefer to selec nolmal or you can sill use m33 driver and these thinks dont help you than you need to run freeware version witch is hier than 5.000 m33-6

niabari

April 13th, 2010 at 9:10 pm

hi i have done what u said bt i still cnt play my fifa 10. pls help

Nixon

April 16th, 2010 at 10:22 am

i’ve tried what u said but it did’nt work for me, i got a 5.00 m33-4 system version. pls help

jencks karl AGALLANES

April 23rd, 2010 at 7:40 pm

MY PSP IS BROKEN GAME COUD NOT BE STARTED 8002148 THANK YOU FOR EVERTHYING AND YOUR SUPPORT

Bewie

April 27th, 2010 at 1:22 am

Thx Man!!! i have been looking for a post like this for a long time and i got my games to work :D

Harvey Morris

April 29th, 2010 at 12:46 am

i love watching GI Joe, both the cartoon series and the movie. I am hoping that they would make a sequel. “

Priyank

April 29th, 2010 at 9:55 pm

hey i have the psp slim and it m33-6. i recently put the fifa world cup 2010 game but it is not running . it is showing the error 80020148. please help i really need to play this game…..

am

April 30th, 2010 at 7:27 pm

my psp v was 5.50 gen b but suddenly the games do not work.i went to the recovery and change to m33 driver still not work and even sony n660 still not work too.It always appear the games could not be started (80010002). please somebody help me

Karim

May 3rd, 2010 at 8:16 pm

i have a psp 2000. i have 5.50 GEN-B. i installed fifa world cup 2010 and it showed me the error. i did the m33 driver-no umd. it still didnt work ?????!!!!!!

X-Riper

May 4th, 2010 at 4:50 am

Thanks dude, you saved my life

aaron

May 17th, 2010 at 12:38 am

hey guys i downloaded some games, before i put them in my psp i checked my memory it was atleas 1.2g left then i put the games but erors started to occur so i removed them but when i rwmoved them the 1.2g is now only 902 mb i also erased the saved file why is thta? help help

strange

May 26th, 2010 at 11:35 am

hey i also having the problem of the game could not be started what should i do i hav even tried above steps but not getting any result and could anyone plzz tell me the dite where to download psp iso games fo free i mean without any credit card required and also no torrent site … plzzzz!!! respond to my question

shawn16

May 26th, 2010 at 5:22 pm

Thanks!! I only need to read your tips to get my psp going!!! thank you!!!

BrockoLee

May 31st, 2010 at 10:30 pm

I got a PSP 300 with a 5.03 Gen-C FULL i tried to do what you said the recovery menu i hold down the R trigger and opened my psp and it didn’t go to the recovery menu i tried the select button and whenever i put the UMD ISO mode to m33-driver and pushed down the select button again the menu doesn’t disappear it’s like my psp hanged. what should i do???

BrockoLee

May 31st, 2010 at 11:12 pm

I mean PSP 3000

BrockoLee

May 31st, 2010 at 11:13 pm

I got a PSP 3000 with a 5.03 Gen-C FULL i tried to do what you said the recovery menu i hold down the R trigger and opened my psp and it didn’t go to the recovery menu i tried the select button and whenever i put the UMD ISO mode to m33-driver and pushed down the select button again the menu doesn’t disappear it’s like my psp hanged. what should i do???

justine

June 2nd, 2010 at 11:52 pm

i have a 5.50 Gen-D3 version of my psp but i cant start the game called modnation racers….i also follow ur steps..but it did not work..do u know da problem here??can u reply as soon as possible??plss

drahcir lee

June 5th, 2010 at 9:32 am

tanx man! you save me from sticky mode!!!

chris pro

June 6th, 2010 at 4:04 pm

Someone Help Me my firmware is the latest 5.50 gen-d3 final but i cant run modnation racers
and Kingdom Heart Birth By Sleep can someone help me pleaseee…
For ModNation it shows the game could not be started
For Kingdom Hearts the screen freezes black

Please Help Me

DAMN MAAAAN

June 8th, 2010 at 8:03 pm

Somebody help me!!!!!!!!!! i just did wat u just say but notin’ works only difference is the last endin’ nums are from b4 now 148 some body heeeeeeeeeeeeeelllllpppppppppp

memo

June 15th, 2010 at 4:36 am

i am trying to play pro evolution soccer 2010 on my psp but it says game could not be started i already tried updating it and it says 4.05 on my psp but when i click it it says the version is 5.00 and there is no need for update what should i do to be able to play pro evolution soccer 2010?

joshua

June 19th, 2010 at 9:31 pm

you save my heart attack!!!!!!!!!!:( tnx verry much!!!

Larry

June 20th, 2010 at 12:46 am

I use the PSP fat with a version 5.00. m33-4. These games won’t play on it: ISS Pro 10, God Of War Chains Of Olympus(can’t find it in the games menu), , Tekken 6, Assassins creed, 300(can’t find it in the games menu), FIFA Manager 10, and some others I just had to delete. I followed your directives but it still won’t work. What do I do?

Kimchua

July 1st, 2010 at 6:27 am

THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH YOU HELPED ME SO MUCH THANKS BRO..NBA 08 WORKED

love

July 6th, 2010 at 11:16 am

omfg dude i fucking love you omfg !!!!

Kid Boo

July 9th, 2010 at 3:14 pm

Hey I have a psp 1001 with 5.50 GEN-D3 and it’s not working for my Peace Walker. I don’t know what to do. I did the m33 driver thing but still nothing. Please help me.

Noah

July 13th, 2010 at 6:33 pm

my psp wont open iso since i installed GEN. it says “the game could not be started”. when i open the recovery menu it wont open too.
pls help. thanks

Melayu riang

July 18th, 2010 at 7:47 pm

Hmmm…maybe this solution only for m33-2 user..not for gen..

imran

July 23rd, 2010 at 11:09 am

i have ver 5.50 gen-d3 and i cannot start naruto sippuden 3 please tell me how to change it to 6.20

pigui

July 25th, 2010 at 1:15 am

hi
i have a 4.01 M33-2 cfw and i follow your steps but when i try to open harry potter lego it appear the error 80020148 can u help me please

pigui

July 25th, 2010 at 4:07 am

hey i put the new CFW 5.00 M33-6 and do the same thing of changing from normal to m33 driver umd and still doesnt work, so i would be glad if u help me plz

somsosomeguym

August 2nd, 2010 at 3:57 pm

guys, i am 5.02 GEN-A (FULL) and i cant play dissidia: universal tuning. someone help me.

h=muhammad

August 3rd, 2010 at 6:06 pm

i have the same problem of 8002013c error for naruto 3 my firm ware is 5.00 m33-4, i tried a lot of stuff nothing work, any help guys

markus sillah

August 4th, 2010 at 11:51 am

easyyyyyy help me alot lolz

Wayne

August 8th, 2010 at 7:53 am

Thaaaaaaaaaaanks man. I bought a new memory and couldn’t make it work, I was really scared, I google it and there you are, you are my hero :P .

onjo

August 9th, 2010 at 6:30 pm

youre my angel dude

NOOBhelp

August 13th, 2010 at 2:03 pm

i have 5.50 GEN D3. i tried you instructions to fix my Solcom FTB3 game.

Brew

August 14th, 2010 at 3:29 am

Hi guys. can someone please help me. i have already upgraded my FW in 500 m33_6 just for me to play Tekken 6. But the problem is that it display blank screen every time i run it.. Please if anyone could help me

Mr.Nobody

August 15th, 2010 at 6:35 am

work fine on 5.50 GEN-B

ROBS

August 20th, 2010 at 8:00 pm

NICE!! IT WORKS!! IVE BEEN SPENDING TIME SEARCHING FOR CLUE OR TIPS TO MAKE MY DISSIDIA RUN, AND NOT TO UPGRADE MY PSP TO 5.01… THANKS MUCH

hacker101

August 23rd, 2010 at 4:45 pm

i recently downloaded fifa world cup 2010 and upgraded my psp as u said but it still show the same error…i even changed that UMD setting to no umd..but still it is not working…
i read many more reviews but yours was the most easiest and helpful!
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
PLEASE HELP?

Albrecht

August 31st, 2010 at 5:16 pm

Thanks soo much I almost died……………………………………………………

Albrecht

August 31st, 2010 at 5:39 pm

Thanks soo much deep in my heart, I really got nervous and don;t know what to do but thankss to you………..

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