A few days ago I’ve written an article about PSP CFW users being unable to connect to the Playstation Store, if their PSP is not running the firmware 6.61.
It seems that this applies to the PS Vita’s PSPemulator as well, kind of…
If you are using a PS Vita that is running a firmware that is older than the most recent firmware 3.36, then you might have noticed that you are unable to connect to the PSN services.
Not only do the native PS Vita PSN connections refuse to work (due to not running PS Vita firmware 3.36), but also do the previously working PSPemulator PSN connections (via TN-V or ARK-2 eCFW) refuse to work as of now.
This has pretty much to do with the newly released PSP firmware 6.61, which seems to be mandatory for accessing the PSN services on the PSP (even with CFW). Since the PS Vita runs the PSPemulator firmware 6.60 up to PS Vita firmware 3.35, this applies to the PS Vita’s PSPemulator as well (once again, including eCFWs as ARK-2 or TN-V).
In the end this pretty much means that your PSP (Go) has to run a 6.61 (custom) firmware to access and use the PSN services, and that your PS Vita (TV) has to run a 3.36 (emulator custom) firmware to access and use the PSN services (from within but also outside of the PSPemulator).
The famous TN-V10 eCFW for the PS Vita firmwares ≤3.20 are based on the PSPemulator firmware 6.60, which every PS Vita firmware up to 3.35 runs. As of PS Vita firmware 3.36, the PS Vita is running the PSPemulator firmware 6.61, a firmware which has no (official & publicly available) TN-V build.
This pretty much means that to properly access and use the PSN services on a PS Vita, you have to update your device to version 3.36 (yes, not even 3.35 would be enough, since that one still runs the PSPemulator firmware version 6.60), which in the end has native PSN access anyways, due to being the most recent firmware.
It is currently not known if TN-V and ARK-2 can be fixed to re-enable PSN access on lower PS Vita firmwares, or if they have to be ported to firmware 3.36 to offer proper PSN access from within the PS Vita’s PSPemulator.