Alright, i get questions CONSTANTLY from people who are trying to figure out if their PSP 2000 is a non-TA-088v3 or higher motherboard. I have compiled a large list of ways to check the PSP 2000's hackability, so i will post it, to avoid further questions from people wondering if they can hack their PSP 2000.

Let's Begin.

First, and this is the easiest way I know of to check a PSP 2000, remove your battery from your PSP. Underneath the battery, will be a serial number. This serial number will start, most of the time, with either HU, AB, or HU2.

These are the rules to follow for HU serial numbers:
HU2160000 and BELOW [TA-088v1]
-Supports PANDORA, fully hackable

HU2249999 and ABOVE [TA-088v3]
-No PANDORA support
-Can install GEN for HEN at 5.03 with ChickHEN
-Attempts to alter flash memory will crash motherboard

These are the rules for AB serial numbers:
AB021600000 and BELOW [TA-088v1]
-Supports PANDORA, fully hackable

AB022499999 and ABOVE [TA-088v3]
-No PANDORA support
-Can install GEN for HEN at 5.03
-Attempts to alter flash memory will crash the motherboard

JUST ABOUT ALL HU2 PSP 2000s ARE UNHACKABLE

Any other H letter combinations (HB, HC, HJ, etc) have a higher likelihood of hackability, i would greatly reccomend continuing with these checkers to be sure.

Now, if you still happen to have the box that your PSP 2000 came in, there is a way to check the box. There is a sticker on the side, that should look something like this one:


The letter that is of interest, is the one underneath 100v. If the letter is absent, or is anything from A-F, its got a great chance of being hackable. If that letter is a G, you can't hack it, plain and simple.

Now, for anyone who purchased their PSP OUTSIDE of the United States and Japan, there should be one other number listed on the label behind the battery. Above the serial number, and to the right, should be a small box. There should be a number and a letter, inside the box, with the words "Date Code" to the left of the box. Here is the info on the various date codes:

7C: Fully Hackable
7D: Fully Hackable
7(Any letter above D): Fully Hackable
8A: Fully Hackable
8B: Fully Hackable
8C: Very slim chance it is hackable (no pun intended)
8D: TA-088v3 or higher, NOT HACKABLE

Now there is no way to run a module checker, or a program like PSPIdent from Official Firmware (signed) because you can not sign a homebrew app that requires kernel access, so if you are at 6.36+, you're fucked. If you are below 6.36 you can use a HEN to check your PSP Motherboard, and module. Below are two homebrews capable of giving you some answers:

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That's about it, hopefully this helps some lost souls

Rep+ if it helped.

lol @ the no pun intended bit, nice tutorial telling people on how to check if their psp is hackable REP+

Mine is a special blue madden version, and I know this explains things, but combined with other sources it still confuses me. It just seems this version of PSP (this special blue one) seems to be the hardest one to figure out. The serial number underneat the batter is HU88. According to your tutorial here, it means it's the motherboard I don't want it to be, lol. BUT elsewhere I've read that if the game that came with the bundle comes with Firmware 4.01, it's definitely unhackable but mine came with the lower 3.xx firmware instead. I'll just try the provided checkers and see what I end up with, and report back with an answer.

Nevermind, just realized that to use this app to see if my motherboard is hackable, I hve to hack my PSP first... what kind of useless garbage is that?