Persona 5 (PS3) Modding on Console

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UPDATE 1/29/22: Add the (long overdue) instructions on patching for DEX CFW, courtesy of ReLyf
UPDATE 4/16/22: Corrected a mistake pointed out by a commenter regarding disc-based resigning.

If you’re modding Persona 5 on an actual PS3 console rather than using the RPCS3 emulator, there are extra steps required. With either platform, it’s necessary to patch the game’s executable, also known as EBOOT.BIN, to add support for mod loading as well as other optional tweaks.

You can follow this video tutorial in lieu of this guide, if you prefer.

On RPCS3, it’s sufficient to simply download a patch.yml file with your desired patches, place it in the right directory, and enable them in the program. But to get patch.yml modifications working on console, you will need a custom firmware (like Rebug or HEN) to replace the EBOOT.BIN file with a patched one. Primarily for mod.cpk support– loading external files from a new CriWare archive, overriding the originals. Other optional patches include 60 FPS, skipping intro logos and videos, file access logging, randomized music, hiding UI elements and more.

1. Getting your EBOOT.BIN

In order to get the game’s executable on your PC and ready for patching, you will need to do one of the following:

  1. If your game is installed digitally on PS3, use a homebrew (like MultiMAN) to transfer the file from dev_hdd0\game\NPEB02436\USRDIR\EBOOT.BIN to USB, or (with a homebrew like WebMAN Mod) directly transfer it to your PC over the network via FTP (using a program like Filezilla to connect to your PS3’s IP).
  2. If your game is on a disc, you can follow the instructions here to dump it to an external hard drive (including the EBOOT.BIN). After the EBOOT.BIN is patched and replaced later in this guide, you can run the dumped game using homebrew like MultiMan/SMan/IrisMan/WebMan.
  3. If you already have a .PKG file of the game on your PC, use PKGView to extract the EBOOT.BIN. You will still need to transfer the patched EBOOT.BIN back to your PS3 to play it using one of the above methods, though.

2. Getting your License File

The .RAP file is necessary for the next step, which is unsigning your EBOOT.BIN so that you can add patches to it, and then later resign it.

Once again, use FTP or a file manager to move your Persona 5 .RAP file to your PC from (for example):

dev_hdd0\home\00000001\exdata\EP4062-NPEB02436_00-GPERSONA5X000001.rap

2. Unsigning the .EBOOT to .ELF

Before you can patch the EBOOT.BIN, you have to turn it into a .ELF file.

DOWNLOAD: TueAncestor SELF Resigner

  1. Extract TrueAncestor SELF Resigner and copy your .rap to the raps folder.
  2. Put the EBOOT.BIN in the same folder as resigner.exe and run it.
  3. Press 1 then Enter, you will get an EBOOT.ELF file.

3. Download Patch.yml

Go to my PS3 Patch Creator and enable any patches you’d like, such as Mod Support. You can safely ignore the PPU hash section at the top of the page.

Please be aware that Persona 5 EX is not currently supported on hardware, but might be soon. In the meantime, please do not enable it. If you do it by accident, simply click “Remove All” so you can add other patches again.

At the bottom of the webpage, you can see a list of all enabled patches.

Click the button and choose to download the patch.yml file in Old Format. New Format is for RPCS3 only.

4. Patching the EBOOT.ELF

TGE has released an EBOOT patcher called RPCS3PatchEboot. It can apply patches from patch.yml to your EBOOT.ELF file.

  1. Extract RPCS3PatchEboot to the same folder as your EBOOT.ELF.
  2. Run the command prompt from this folder. You can do that by typing in the Explorer window’s address bar: cmd and pressing Enter.
  3. Type the following: "EBOOT.ELF" "patch.yml" "EBOOT_Mod.ELF"
  4. The file EBOOT_Mod.ELF should hopefully be created if all went well.

If you have errors, double-check that:

  1. You downloaded the Old Format patch.yml
  2. ELFSharp.dll, MiscUtil.dll, and YamlDotNet.dll are all in the same folder alongside RPCS3PatchEboot.exe and patch.yml
  3. You have actually unsigned the EBOOT.BIN to become EBOOT.ELF in the previous steps.

Alternatively, you can also try heeboot.py by zarroboogs, which is a bit more complicated to set up since it requires python3 and you have to follow the brief instructions in the readme to install its dependencies first, but usage is very similar.

5. Resigning the EBOOT.BIN

Depending on if you are using a DEX or CEX CFW, you will have to follow slightly different steps. If you don’t know what that means, here’s how to check. If you’re using HEN instead of Rebug, you’re probably using CEX.

DEX (Rebug)

  1. Place your patched EBOOT_Mod.ELF in the same directory as resigner.exe. Replace the old EBOOT.ELF by deleting it and renaming EBOOT_Mod.ELF back to EBOOT.ELF.
  2. Run resigner.exe again.
  3. Type in 12 and press Enter.
  4. This should create a new EBOOT.BIN, which you can transfer back to your PS3 and hopefully run the game.

CEX (Rebug)

  1. Place your patched EBOOT_Mod.ELF in the same directory as resigner.exe. Replace the old EBOOT.ELF by deleting it and renaming EBOOT_Mod.ELF back to EBOOT.ELF.
  2. Run resigner.exe again.
  3. Type in 2 if you’re modifying the PSN (digital) version, or 3 if you’re modifying the disc-based version.
  4. Press Enter.
  5. It will ask you for Content ID for your game, usually the name of your .RAP files (e.x. EP4062-NPEB02436_00-GPERSONA5X000001). Paste it and press Enter.
  6. This should create a new EBOOT.BIN, which you can transfer back to your PS3 and hopefully run the game.

CEX/OFW (HEN)

  1. Place your patched EBOOT_Mod.ELF in the same directory as resigner.exe. Replace the old EBOOT.ELF by deleting it and renaming EBOOT_Mod.ELF back to EBOOT.ELF.
  2. Run resigner.exe again.
  3. Turn off Compression by pressing D > Enter, then Y > Enter.
  4. Change output method to 3.XX ALT or 3.XX STD by pressing O (the letter O, not zero).
    Press O > Enter > Enter … until it says 3.XX ALT/STD.
  5. Type in 2 if you’re modifying the PSN (digital) version, or 3 if you’re modifying the disc-based version.
  6. Press Enter.
  7. It will ask you for Content ID for your game, usually the name of your .RAP files (e.x. EP4062-NPEB02436_00-GPERSONA5X000001). Paste it and press Enter.
  8. This should create a new EBOOT.BIN, which you can transfer back to your PS3 and hopefully run the game.

If you have any specific questions or need further assistance, drop a line on the forum!

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5 thoughts on “Persona 5 (PS3) Modding on Console”

  1. im just going to comment this

    If you are on CEX CFW
    follow these steps

    9. Run resigner.exe, type in 3 and press enter
    10. It will ask you for Content ID for your game its usually the name of your .RAP files (Ex : JP0101-NPJB00157_00-JPSMGS2HG0009546) [I used Metal Gear Solid 2 ID as example just so people dont copy paste mine] and then press enter.

    If you are on CEX HFW/HEN
    follow these steps

    9. Run resigner.exe, then Turn off Compression by pressing D > enter then Y > enter
    10. Change output method to 3.XX ALT or 3.XX STD by pressing O (O not Zero) just press O > enter > enter until it says 3.XX ALT/STD
    11. type in 3 and press enter
    12. It will ask you for Content ID for your game its usually the name of your .RAP files (Ex : JP0101-NPJB00157_00-JPSMGS2HG0009546) [I used Metal Gear Solid 2 ID as example just so people dont copy paste mine] and then press enter.

    These should give you the correct format of eboot that is patched for CEX

  2. when I try to do step number 7 this appears:
    Error: Invalid patch YAML.
    Exception message:
    (Line: 1, Col: 10, Idx: 9) – (Line: 1, Col: 13, Idx: 12): Exception during deserialization

    What am I doing wrong

  3. I just wanna point out that this is wrong if you’re using a disc-based game:
    >Type in 3 and press Enter.
    >It will ask you for Content ID for your game, usually the name of your .RAP files (Ex : EP4062-NPEB02436_00-GPERSONA5X000001). Paste it and press Enter.

    Disc backups have no NPDRM so instead of 3 you’ll wanna use 2 (Resign to NON-DRM EBOOT). Otherwise the PS3 either hangs completely when starting the game, or it kicks you back to the XMB. The compression and ALT/STD stuff should still be correct though.

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