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Aug 27 / kkrizka

Error 80020321 When Lauching an PSP ISO Game

Many PSP users that have a homebrew enabled firmware, like the M33 edition, like to dump the contents of their games from the UMD to the memory card. This will save the file as an ISO, allowing them to backup the games or play them without having to carry any UMD disks around. I do the same thing, but suddenly it stopped working today. I tried to launch “Mind Quiz” to take daily test, but I was greeted with the following error: “The game could not be started. (80020321)”.

After a lot of tinkering, I found my problem. To play any ISO games, you need to have an UMD game disk in your PSP. It does not matter what game it is of. In my case, I was running a little experiment with a UMD video disk that came in my PSP starter pack. After I finished, I forgot to take it out of the PSP. Well, at least I learned that it has to be an UMD game disk, and not a UMD video disk.

If the above solution does not work for you, you might also try to upgrading to the latest M33 firmware. I found that with Dungeon Maker: Hunting Grounds, I had to have version firmware version 3.40 or greater. If this is the case, you might want to check out my M33 upgrading tutorial.

Another way is to use the No-UMD mode that is configurable in the recovery menu, but it is not compatible with all games. To get into this menu, you have to fully shut off your PSP, and turn it on again while holding the R button. When you load the recovery menu, navigate into the Configuration section and select the “UMD Mode” option. Press the X button until you see “currently: M33 driver -NO UMD-“. Navigate back into the opening menu, and exit. This will restart your PSP, and you are ready to roll.

177 Comments

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  1. XpanD / Oct 2 2007

    Works perfectly πŸ™‚

    Thanks πŸ™‚

    • Mario / Aug 13 2008

      Many thanls, it worked…!!!
      I spent hours trying to set it up, and many more hours to download the game!!! (by the way, is it always soooo slowww to download a psp torrent game??).

      Well, thx again man! and happy gaming.

      mp.
      PS: How do i do when I wnat to play a game from the umd, do i have to change it again, or is it automatically??

  2. mozo / Oct 6 2007

    i tried your suggestions on the 8002..error msg…and its work…thank bro…cheers

  3. CY / Oct 31 2007

    thanks alot it really works for the 80020321 error in my psp. But would this setting affect the normal psp configuration?

  4. wais / Nov 5 2007

    hi man thanks it works now but i did’t want to put a umd in my psp every time i wanted to play a iso game so i took the recovery menu thing u said now i’am evey happy play iso games with no-umd thanks

    • tk / Dec 3 2007

      thank you very much.

  5. Tyler / Dec 7 2007

    SWAT TL won’t load causes error. The game could not be started (80020148).

  6. donald / Jan 25 2008

    man your so good at this!!!everytime i encounter a problem from my psp..all your solutions help!!thank god for giving us karol krizka..good work bro

  7. Michele / Jan 27 2008

    hey guys
    i have a problem with my psp while running games which are formattted in iso format in memory stick duo but when i try to play my game NBA 08 it says the game cannot be started 80020148

    I am just dieingggggggggggggggg
    pls helllllllpppppppppppppp

  8. Julio T / Feb 3 2008

    THANK YOU!
    YOUR POST SAVE MY LIFE!

  9. a1989inc / Feb 11 2008

    Dude u rock.. thanks a lot for the post..

  10. Deathrow / Apr 14 2008

    I tried to update and it says this!? Do you know why?

  11. AsaAdetimirin / May 3 2008

    thxs..this helped so much
    =]

    • karlernest / Dec 8 2008

      thanks a lot I thought my psp is broken. you’re a true genius! May God bless you

  12. snaprell / Jul 9 2008

    tnx bro…. it works smoothly

  13. CODEBLUE / Jul 11 2008

    I cant figure it out i know i might sound dumb but the damn message appeared just this morning and ive got no umd option when i do the start up thing with the r button can you help please anyone roadhog34340@hotmail.com

  14. CODEBLUE / Jul 11 2008

    this man is a genius let me expand on this procedure tho go to configuration settings change the kernal setting to 3.5xx or 4 xx depending on your make and model and umd mode is right below it thanks man you saved my life

  15. shanil / Jul 13 2008

    thanks it did work for error 8008
    i appreciate it

  16. ali / Aug 4 2008

    thank you it works for me too it help me a lot

  17. keyblademumu / Aug 7 2008

    u rock!!! it workd!!!

  18. Sheela / Aug 9 2008

    Thank you so much!

  19. mid / Aug 23 2008

    3.71M here.No this way doesnt work for me:( Also in m33 mode i keep getting the 80020148 error.I tried everything i saw in net but no luck.I have 5 iso games and only one works.I dont know what else to do.Anyone have an idea?

  20. Abhinav / Aug 23 2008

    Yes changing to no-umd mode from the recovery mode really did the trick.
    Thanks a lot.

  21. harby / Aug 31 2008

    Hi, I’ve tried your method of turning into no umd mode but then my psp just stayed in the black screen after i open the iso game. do you know what the problem might be?

  22. Alex / Oct 1 2008

    Great! :)it works Thanks and i wish you the best!

  23. jerny / Oct 14 2008

    it did work using the M33 recovery Menu, but when im playing the games they all in slow motion, what should i do?

    • Mac-J / Nov 3 2008

      Speed up the CPU.

  24. mac / Oct 18 2008

    hey…buddy this trick really work thats the wonderful…. thanks to post this things online……thanks lot…

  25. marcus / Oct 21 2008

    Hi Karol,

    I want to extend my gratitude for saving me! I semi-bricked my PSP and used Hellcat’s Recovery Flasher to install 4.01 m33 firmware. It worked but I can’t play any of my games!! Until I found out your post. πŸ™‚

    Really great work. πŸ™‚

    Many Thanks!!!

  26. karliboe / Oct 21 2008

    Thanks alot! i was searching for 3 hours on my psp, finaly found it πŸ™‚

  27. Anghell / Oct 22 2008

    Thanks very match,you help me.now I am playing again)))!

  28. GensanBoy / Oct 24 2008

    Thanks very much for this tip, I would have brought my sons psp to the store to have it fixed but with your tip, it saved me money. It took me only a few minutes to fix it. My son is very happy now. Mabuhay!

  29. Kael / Nov 9 2008

    It worked for me! Thanks so much, your tip was a saviour. πŸ˜€

  30. Alex HK / Nov 12 2008

    thx very much, you save my life

  31. WaT3ver3t3rnitY / Nov 15 2008

    Thanks dude you saved my ass back there =D
    keep it up !

  32. edric / Nov 30 2008

    thanks a lot.. I thought my psp is doomed..

  33. Kirati / Dec 9 2008

    Thank you (. im realy greatful, ^___^ thx again

  34. munix1 / Dec 17 2008

    thank you so much it worked …
    πŸ˜€

  35. Alvin / Dec 26 2008

    Thank you! thank you! thank you!, my daughter now is playing again…..

  36. Johan / Jan 2 2009

    Thank you, i thought i had to buy a new one πŸ™‚

  37. Blade / Jan 4 2009

    You are so freaking good, Thanks Bro YOU FREAKING ROCK GOD BLESS!!

  38. josef / Jan 14 2009

    thanks alot…………ur the best

  39. ryan_boi / Jan 15 2009

    tanks Zero Hawk ur the men… ur comment is very useful…

  40. Anthony / Jan 15 2009

    Dude, I though it was me. Haha. Your’s was the first post I found on how to fix this. Thanks!

  41. raushan / Jan 31 2009

    YOU SAVED ME§§§§ wow…dude thnx alot, my bro was almost gonna kill me cause of this! u saved my ass thnx

  42. ElvenMan / Feb 11 2009

    Thanks πŸ™‚

  43. Art Live / Feb 18 2009

    thx dude ur a life saver!!!!!!!! thx ALOT!!

  44. Gizelle / Mar 4 2009

    Hi Karol! The same error message (80020321) happened to my nephew’s PSP. I found your page and followed the steps on tweaking the UMD mode in the Configuration section and it worked in a breeze. Thanks a lot! πŸ™‚

  45. jann / Mar 8 2009

    much love tnx

  46. Engel ver.25 / Mar 9 2009

    hey, thank you so much for this, you save my day!! xD

  47. fussion / Mar 19 2009

    Thank you

  48. mehrdad / Apr 4 2009

    it works, I changed to m33 driver and my game played as well….
    thanks all

  49. mike / Apr 10 2009

    thanks dude, ur the best

  50. Oscar / Apr 14 2009

    Thanks man, was going crazy over this:P
    (Y)

  51. Liam / Apr 15 2009

    THANK YOU! You solved my problem now i am happily playing ISO’s tyvm

  52. redeemer15 / May 5 2009

    weeeeeeeee it worked!!!

    thank you sir!!!

    god bless you!!!

  53. raggiddi / May 12 2009

    thank you sooooooooooo much! beh akalain mo ganun lang pala!
    lovelots!

  54. lala / May 13 2009

    tnx.. i thought i was doomed forever!

  55. Lythka / May 25 2009

    thx mah men

  56. xyz / Jun 1 2009

    i love u …PERFECT……i ws gonna break my psp!!!…..

  57. Carlos / Jun 7 2009

    dude i freaking love uuuuuuuuuuuuuu =DDDD it works!!!

  58. oathkeeper / Jun 13 2009

    I FUCKLING LUV U MAN.

  59. HUNTER / Jun 20 2009

    YOU ARE THE SMARTEST PERSON I KNOW THANK YOU

  60. RevengerX / Jun 22 2009

    dude ur awesome THXXX ALOTTT
    thxx alot alottt ur the best

  61. lags09 / Jun 28 2009

    u r a f**ckin legend gud lad… can’t believe it wrked πŸ™‚

  62. Nagaraj / Jul 26 2009

    That was g8

  63. ismail / Sep 6 2009

    thank you a lot

  64. tingkeehua / Sep 12 2009

    can somebody help me ? my psp other function still in normal , but when i press the game just the screen psp and jam …can somebody tell me why …my one is psp 2000 and with memory stick(still in good condition)…

  65. gabie / Sep 14 2009

    This site is so COOOL!!!!

    thank u so much………….

  66. Azeem Malaysia / Sep 20 2009

    Thank you sir!

  67. salman / Sep 24 2009

    thx a fucking lot man..it worked..god bless u

  68. nasr / Sep 29 2009

    i love you thx man i love u ahemm sorry emotional πŸ˜‰

  69. cheesecake / Nov 4 2009

    thanks a lot, this helped me…

    added the link to you article as well in my blog.

  70. shapes / Nov 9 2009

    dude, your simply awesome.. i was like holy sh*t, it actually works. thx

  71. zahid / Nov 21 2009

    i have CFWloader 3.01 for my psp3001 their is no option such as no UMD in it wht to do?

  72. shane213 / Dec 23 2009

    thanks men!!!

  73. smith / Dec 25 2009

    thanks bro… god bless you…

  74. Včelí 23 NARKOTEK / Dec 30 2009

    dΓ­ky pΓ­*o to mi pomohlo.

  75. Kevin / Jan 8 2010

    Thank you man! I thought I would never play my iso games

  76. me / Jan 9 2010

    awsum, i got scared to death tht it wudnt work, hope asssasins creed works

  77. kenjin_ogata / Jan 13 2010

    how will i ever repay you… at first when i experience this prob… i already lose my hope and willing to buy a new psp… but thanks to you…

    P.S.
    you’re a very big help in the psp community THANK YOU VERY MUCH

  78. Kitsune / Jan 15 2010

    Yay! Thank you ^^ Now I can play FF Dissidia again =D

  79. lins / Jan 17 2010

    you are god

  80. Tanner22 / Jan 19 2010

    Thanks! You Rock!

  81. alyssa parker / Jan 24 2010

    whoa…ayos!!! ganun lang pla un..buti nlng nde ko dinala sa pagawaan πŸ™‚ whahaha…thank you for sharing it online…

  82. Danielle Ortiz / Jan 29 2010

    Thank you sir.. I’ve been thinking of these PSP error problem since last month. With your help i was able to play now my ISO files

  83. reign / Feb 12 2010

    wow super great it really works!!!thanx a lot dude!!!

  84. Super PoToToy! / Feb 25 2010

    i have a psp 2000 model (i don’t know all of the specs yet, as i’m that much of a techy) that was upgraded/modified last week. all of the games uploaded (runs on memory) were working fine until earlier today, as my wife noticed. music is working fine, but the games won’t load. displays an eror message “the game could not be started 80020321”. in case i’d get it fixed when i get home, how’d i know if games i plan to upload in the future won’t be compatible with the new setup?

  85. varun / Mar 3 2010

    thanks boss ur sugetion is vry usefull for me

  86. z / Mar 4 2010

    thanks a lot, i’m good to go w/my psp. πŸ™‚

  87. father of a undisapointed / Mar 13 2010

    Holy Shitzu! it worked it really worked, before my son went to bed I told him I was going to do something cool to his psp and after I downloaded a game it didnt work then I put the error message and number in a search engine then walla I clicked on this website… No disapointed son in the morning good thing I found one of his UMD games thanx alot you are freakin awesome

  88. lilmp / Mar 21 2010

    thank you

  89. jeff / Mar 23 2010

    ty dudes God bless

  90. riceball / Mar 25 2010

    Thanks a bunch. Saved me the trouble of pulling my hair out trying to figure out what went wrong. Tho I haven’t played my game in so long I forgot what I was doing. x_x;

  91. mnti / Mar 28 2010

    ur the best,

    bro i was about 2 break me psp

  92. mounica / Mar 29 2010

    gr8 dude thanx a lot it solved my prob which i ws having from 4 months yarr thanx

  93. nitin / Apr 3 2010

    thank u mate

  94. Jamshaid / Apr 3 2010

    Thnx alot man u solved my problem……

  95. ab / Apr 7 2010

    ei thx a lot…

  96. AqUAwAvE / Apr 15 2010

    thanks for the help
    it really works…….

  97. Jigenzki / Apr 20 2010

    Thank you so much it really helpde me GBU =)

  98. emz / Apr 30 2010

    It really w0rks! thnx so much 4 d’ info., god bless^_^

  99. arsene / May 4 2010

    thank you i almost wanted to throw my psp out the window

    GBU amen

  100. Jasonn / May 19 2010

    Thank you SO much! =D I used the no-umd option and it worked like a charm!

  101. marean / May 19 2010

    10x a lot, man

  102. leechlike_lover / May 25 2010

    i tried changing the settings for UMD mode.. however,another problem occured.. the error code is no longer 80020321 but 80020148.. can you pls hellp me with this.. pls =(

    • Edward / Sep 11 2010

      you need to upgrade to prometheus-2 for M33.

      • gaylord & premature ejaculator / Jan 4 2011

        hey guys I just downloaded pro evolution soccer 11 and
        there is a @#cking problem which occurs!…80020148…I’m pretty
        sure that in the past I found a solution but now I’m stucked…any
        ideas?? Edward u said something about upgrading to prometheus-2 but
        I think there’s a better way…. just to mention..I’ve got no
        problem like this 80020321..I used to have but it can be easily
        solved πŸ˜€

        • ezra / Apr 12 2011

          hey .. uhm .. my psp hang while i was playing , so i tried to turn it off but it wont work then i removed the battery right away .. now when i turned it on and play games .. it says ‘ the game could not be started error 80020148 ‘ what should i do ?

  103. Kevin / May 27 2010

    Thank you so much! thank you thank you thank you!

  104. A / Jun 11 2010

    Thnx zero hawk U saved my life. Ur awesome. Thnx guy who made this thing as well

  105. carren / Jun 12 2010

    thanks alot!!may god bless you!!!love u

  106. DJacklee / Jun 15 2010

    Oh Thanks Man ! Ur The Best !

  107. Cheap / Jun 25 2010

    God Bless You! I got my psp a mounth ago for my birthday and if my dad found that it couldnt run games he would kill me. Thank You Very Much.
    Another question by the way: When does this problem happen? I mean for the registry to change we have to been making a mistake somewhere.. Could it be from Formating the Memory Stick?

  108. RenegadeHunter / Jun 28 2010

    Changing it to No UMD Required worked!! Thank you so much!

  109. dewage / Jun 29 2010

    thanks a lot it is working

  110. syazani / Jul 4 2010

    thnx very much man i was so woryy thnx

  111. Pezzino / Jul 5 2010

    WOW!!
    I love you!!! Thank you SOOO MUCH!!!!!!! I was for more than 1 hour trying.. I’ve already format and cracked MANY times my PSP… now it’s working
    =D

  112. karan / Jul 17 2010

    thanx alot dude i was very worry so thanx alot

  113. Jayesh Joshi / Jul 21 2010

    Hey man.
    Actually my problem is that my psp does NOT run the UMD disk neither is it running my memory stick games. :/
    I am badly PISSED.
    When I try to run the 2nd method. It does NOT show me the BLACK menu. But in the system information it says- 5.00 M33-4.

    Dude, I’m fucked. Help me. Please man.

    Reply on e-mail if you can.
    jjundercutter@yahoo.co.in

    • Jayesh Joshi / Jul 21 2010

      Hey man…

      My psp is working now.
      I did what you wrote PROPERLY andnow it IS working.

      THANKYOUSOMUCH MAN!

  114. okitart / Aug 5 2010

    just encountered the same error and try to format my memory stick but still same error appear, and im so glad to see your site and now my psp is now working..thank you so much

  115. CrazyRockinC66 / Aug 5 2010

    The solution is to press selct and change the UMD ISO MODE to M33 DRIVER πŸ˜€
    hope this helps πŸ˜€

    • shahrukh / Aug 16 2010

      THANK U it helped me more than it helped any1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • larence / Apr 12 2011

      tnx dude !!
      ur d man !!

  116. Vishrut Rao / Aug 16 2010

    Thanks soo much man, i thought i would have to tell my parents i tried to save them some money but got my psp bricked… ughh… the releif that i feel right now is un explainable.. thanks a ton!

  117. bobby / Aug 29 2010

    Man, you freaking rock. I was crapping bricks there, after following someone else’s advise on youtube. His fix did help to stop the games from freezing though (The 333 change on configuring the cpu).

    I just changed the umd, and it made it so that I couldn’t play psp games. Soo many things to remember on these little handheld devices. It’s insane.

  118. andryrandy / Aug 30 2010

    thnx man!
    it helped a lot!:)

  119. TheNatureLover / Aug 31 2010

    Thanks a lot for your help! You rock! m/, may the lord bless you!:-)

  120. GHOSHAN*5530 / Sep 1 2010

    Ur the best person ever dude………….
    THNX a lot

  121. Matt / Sep 9 2010

    Thanks!

  122. joey / Sep 12 2010

    your d MAN tnx a lottttttt, appreciate ur help…

  123. DDX / Sep 14 2010

    Thnx man ur a life saver

  124. DDX / Sep 14 2010

    Thanks

  125. heather / Sep 22 2010

    Thank you so much! I can play my favorite games now!

  126. rey / Oct 6 2010

    thanks a lot! my son almost cried because of this problem until i tried your solution.

  127. SweO / Oct 8 2010

    Thanks a bunch!
    Another tip if you are using the GEN-D3 is to hold the R-shoulderbutton (which will boot you up into the GEN-meny) go to:

    Configuration -> UMD Mode (currently : Normal – UMD required) and change that by pressing the X button once to:
    UMD Mode (currently: M33 driver – NO UMD -).

    Just a tip if anyone else falters and ends up like a did =)

  128. Chance66 / Nov 13 2010

    Thnx worked like a charm!!

  129. jay / Dec 26 2010

    hello,ive been playing naruto shippuden ultimate ninja heroes 3..i try what you said β€œcurrently: M33 driver -NO UMD-” it starts but it just hang

  130. gaylord & premature ejaculator / Jan 4 2011

    oh I almost forgot!!my fw version is 5.03

  131. JumP / Jan 31 2011

    WOW thanks!

  132. Ron / Feb 5 2011

    thanks a lot!!!! ur the MAN!!!!

  133. vzzoom / Feb 17 2011

    Awesome thanks! my iso games were not working and put a umd game in and ta da it works again

  134. alaa / Feb 22 2011

    thank you sir for help me to fixe my psp
    & i hope to find all ditels abute mine recovery

  135. Lilu / Mar 2 2011

    This is a big help! i updated from 3.80 m33 to 5.50 prome-4 so i can play MH3D.. then i got that error, i thought i had to do something complicated… good thing I found this page =D

    thanks a lot KK! ur the best! ^.^

    bless you πŸ™‚

  136. Busta / Mar 3 2011

    You can change settings under configuration so that no disk is required.

    Step one: Make sure PSP is off.
    Step two: Turn on PSP while holding the R button.
    Step three: Go to configuration.
    Step four: On fifth item on Menu press X to change that no disc is required.
    Step five: Go to Back and press X.
    Step six: Restart PSP and voilΓ  no disk is required and no (80020321) message.

  137. asfdasfasdf / Apr 9 2011

    Dude, THANK YOU!

  138. Heather / Apr 10 2011

    Thank you so much!

  139. Russell Dan / Apr 22 2011

    Thank you very much!

  140. lala / Apr 27 2011

    this worked, thank you so much ~

  141. oshane / May 5 2011

    dude thanks a lot you saved my ass lol dude

  142. hesojam / Jun 4 2011

    dude you saved my life i broked my last psp because of that. Thanks, it works!

  143. denice / Jun 11 2011

    THANKS A LOT!!!!!! I saved my money because of you…. your the best!!! thank again.

  144. SAMBO / Jul 7 2011

    THANKYOU HEAPS, I THOUGHT I BROKE IT IN THE CAR AND WAS LIKE, OH SHIT. THNX HEAPS

  145. NAX / Jul 13 2011

    your’s site helped me thankyou very much.

  146. abhi / Aug 9 2011

    thanks a lot dude!!!!!!!!!!!

  147. ian luther / Aug 16 2011

    tnx man, i fix my psp….

  148. Swappi / Aug 20 2011

    I just altered a setting in the VSH menu and the problem went away. In the VSH menu, change the UMD ISO MODE setting to “SONY NP96…”. I dont know what it does, I guessed and it worked.

    Scrolling up I see someone also solved this problem a similar way but used M33 DRIVER instead. Can anyone clarify what this setting modifies in particular? I am guessing its something to do with the emulated umd driver??

  149. jess / Sep 15 2011

    Thanks for the tutorial i was having a hard time figuring this thing in my son’s psp. Thanks, more power to you.

  150. Faith / Sep 23 2011

    thanks a lot..God bless!

  151. THEHOTLIFE / Oct 3 2011

    just press select on your VSH menu, and go to driver. Press m33 driver and you’re done!

  152. ahmad / Nov 23 2011

    thank you, its work

  153. kojima / Dec 2 2011

    please help me i have a problem…my psp cant read the game i have downloaded in the memory stick but it reads my videos, photos, and pictures..please help

  154. mesut basaran / Jan 30 2012

    I had to format my psp but after could not fix mentioned problem..Thanks a lot.Many news I have written today but nobody explain to me how to solve problem vhen I read 80020321 on the screen.I was very easy.Press X button While opening your PSP then change settings -config to no disc sony 9660 .That is all.Thanks again.

  155. Youdrongo / Feb 26 2012

    Neither of these methods work for me.

  156. Judy / May 22 2012

    You are absolutely awesome it worked for me and I have no clue how to do all this…………….Thanks so much for your help…………….

  157. neo / Jul 5 2012

    i am greatful man !!!!

  158. lance / Jul 15 2012

    THANKS!!! IT WORKS!! date 7-15-12

    whew. haha

  159. hit / Jul 18 2012

    you are the boss tanks mi boy gat 4 and erease all

  160. jocherenz / Jul 19 2012

    Thank you so much… it works!!!

  161. Zero Hawk / Jul 24 2008

    Hi your idea is also working because the same thing happened to me. I thought a lot about this and then i pressed the select button and then changed the UMD ISO MODE INTO M33 DRIVER by pressing the left or right button and now once again i can play the ISO/CSO games without a UMD. Try it, it works.
    Thanks!

  162. kickazz / Oct 9 2009

    WOW thanks! this works, I’d kiss you badly if you were round.

  163. jplayer / Oct 23 2009

    youre the best! this woked like a charm i was having the same problem!!!

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

  1. Accessing the Recovery Menu on PSP | Karol Krizka
  2. 80020148 - PSPMod.com - Sony PSP Mod & Hacks Forums
  3. PSP Error 80020321 « C H E E S E C A K E
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