I would suggest trying to reformat and reinstall windows (you're on windows right?). If not, try reinstalling your USB drivers.
As for the PSP, the default button to select is X unless you changed it through the recovery menu. Also, I would suggest going to 5.00-6 m33. And with your 3001, I'm pretty sure they have an exploit, and I think you can get on 5.00-5 gen-A firmware. I know you can put on a CFW, don't remember what though.
But I doubt it's a hardware issue if the external drive is still working.
My computer didn't come with a restore disk (which the lady at Best Buy oddly mentioned...) when I bought it. I could probably download one or something but is that really necessary? Seems aweful drastic...
How do I reinstall the USB drivers? Could it be something in the startup menu that I disabled by accident?
You were right. It IS the x to get into USB mode...I was thinking circle because that's all I use. It's the button to cancel...lol.
What are the benefits of updating my M33? It does more than I could ever ask of the thing as it sits (except for go into USB mode!!)...I'm not sure what else it could possibly do! Emulators...backs up UMDs...POPS...it does it all! I love the big, old bastard...lol
The 3001, however, is proving to be a tricky nut to crack. Sony wised up and made their firmware on the PSP not just software based but hardware based as well. I DID find an expoit called chickHEN though. Heard of it? It allows emulators to run on the 5.03 Sony firmware, which is pretty slick. I think you can use it to flash your firmware permanently and all that but what I was reading didn't inspire great confidence in the matter right now...maybe I'll try it down the line when they refine it a bit. ChickHEN doesn't actually load anything onto the hardware so you don't have to worry about bricking your system. Only problem with that is that you have to redo it every time you turn it off or it crashes...but that's not too big of a deal. I'm still looking for some emulators for it, though.
That's kinda how I ran into this whole USB problem. I went to hook up the phatty to USB to see what I have on the memory card and it wouldn't work. I knew the phone had been acting up when it comes to USB but the PSPs had worked fine. Now nothing connects except my Toshiba HDD. Both PSPs just say "please wait..." when you go into USB mode. I can have all the emulators and whatnot in the world but, if I can't get them ON the PSPs, it doesn't matter.
Again, thanks for the replies!
--Brent