Geohot brings back other OS support with PS3 3.21OO custom firmware
By Donald Melanson 
posted April 7th 2010 2:06PM
posted April 7th 2010 2:06PM
[Thanks, Milo]
posted April 7th 2010 2:06PM
Sony PlayStation 3 Slim
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This thread would be great if it weren't for that one Sony fanboi who just can't believe his savior corporation has failed to make an unhackable device. Damn, the amount of crazy I've read from this guy borders close to Scientology.
I can't wait for homebrew and ISO loading on the PS3. Gonna be great!
@Elranzer
Actually, IBM is responsible for the security features.
But go on spewing your ignorance.
@Elranzer
Agreed. On all counts.
@Elranzer
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-cellsecurity/
@Dr Blight
You keep making hollow points. Yes, IBM developed the cell, but Sony went with the Cell for the PS3. The security, or lack thereof, of the PS3 is ultimately on them.
I hate to be a downer, i want to believe Geo but on his blog he talked about custom themes and editing of .rco files and how they are about the same as the PSP, he could have just edit the relevant .rco to get it to show 3.21.
@Matt4495
I suppose that's always possible, but his history gives no reason to doubt him here.
@Matt4495 I'm suspecting this too, since he has no interest in actually install 3.21 since it contains security fixes that keep you from installing later custom firmwares. So he'd probably have to start with 3.15, so maybe he did and only changed the strings.
get ready for those good old +0.01 updates every few weeks.. thank you anyone who trys this .. thank you
you've now pulled sony into the game they played w/ hackers on the psp... who can make the highest pointless firmware version.. because thats all we're gonna see for the next year or so.. no cross-chat.. no better video codec support... no better trophy support
just security updates
@shooter0784
Hey, they don't care. All they're concerned about is an inconsequential feature performed by other devices many times better.
@Dr Blight
Ugh... again, that's not even the point. But continue to ignore the truth.
@Dr Blight
they should just make up a flash that remove's the xmb in its entirety for the users that want to use it as a pc.. that way they dont really gotta worry about these d-bag hackers messing around w/ the psn
but even then i think the ps3 owners that bought the system for its blu-ray playback and gaming are screwed now
May the war begin!
I'm honestly somewhat surprised that he ended up making it happen. Well, as long as it doesn't end up as a firmware releasing battle like on the PSP I think it's cool.
Stay out of my living room!!
You rock Geohot, take that Playstation.
So we're getting into Jailbreaking PS3's now. :(
@ Ryan P
it will man i give it about 2 more weeks and we'll have a 3.22 update that does absolutely nothing and when he makes a stupid 3.2200 cfw we'll see a 3.23 official pointless update and so on and so on
@ Gregorian
its the next best thing on ps3 now .. people dont care about trophies or cross-game chat or anything relevant to the ps3 .. take away 1 feature to protect an investment and the world comes to an end
idk back to gaming
@ Gregorian
oops on the last @
We'd rather have another device that does everything except what it was meant to do
Just like smart phones
I enjoy my PS3, I've had it since launch day. I game on it, I watch movies on it, I even sometimes rifle through youtube on it with friends, and yes, I was wanting to install YDL one day to check out linux on it. Hell... I even upgraded the hard drive so that I had more storage for the multitude of games and content I've purchased and downloaded for it (you're welcome PSN). But, I have to say, if I was on the other end of the stick, I would have to side with Sony on this one. They're protecting their investment.
I've seen arguments that the PS3 was initially marketed as an "Home Entertainment Computer" and now they're saying that it's not so much any longer now that this option has been taking away. Well, I would have to say that if you're buying a "Home Entertainment Computer" for anything but "Home Entertainment" first and "Computing" last then go buy a "Computer". Again, this is just my opinion and as such everyone is entitled to their own.
One question I would have though, would said custom firmware still allow for interaction with the PSN? I didn't see that anywhere in my Google travels across the interweb on this topic.
Oh and too... if you're unsatisfied with Sony and the way they're conducting themselves with the PS3, go buy an Xbox 360. ;)
This probably never would have happened if Sony didn't remove OtherOS.
So Sony creates a new console and as an extra feature allows the system to run a modified Linux platform. This was one reason to help justify the $600 price tag. That the system could be used as a PC.
The issues that came up were that the PS3 would be banned from sale to some countries because of the computing aspect. In order to prevent full access this computing power the Other OS option was gimped. In reality the OtherOS feature is pointless for 99% of the people who bought a PS3. Those that do want to use the feature don't because they want access to the RSX to allow for a higher quality experience.
Because opening up the full power of the PS3 to a different OS would allow for a better experience some hackers set out to enable this scenario. The problem is that this action could cause problems for Sony by breaking agreements and parameters they needed to abide to in order to produce the PS3 in the first place.
Allowing full access would open up opportunities to abuse the PS3 system, which is still technically a closed platform and Sony does own the rights to monitor and approve any software produced to run on the system. Homebrew software is technically legal to produce but it can be illegal to run it on a system where you have not been given permission to do so. By running software you are required to abide by the regulations written into the agreement you accept. Hardware and software have different rules. Case in point is DVD ripping software. It is perfectly legal to produce and sell software that can rip a DVD but the action of running the software and ripping the data has been deemed to violate copyright laws. However now even the legal production of ripping software is up in the air.
For some CAD programs I had to attach a USB dongle for the program to run on my computer to prevent me from running multiple copies. It could be argued that since I purchased the software I should be allowed to do anything I want with it. The problem is that the laws regarding the product only refer to the physical media, not the actual running of the software. Product use rights are different from software rights. It is kind of a strange loophole where you own the rights to do whatever you want to the physical product but you don't have the right to do whatever you want with the data.
I can pay $600 for a disc that can hold data forever but the software company has the right to stop the product from functioning after a license period has expired forcing me to pay more money for a product that will function perfectly if the license is hacked. This is the point some hackers use to justify cracking licenses. That if someone purchases the data they should have the right to access the data indefinitely. I do agree with that but as of right now that is not the case.
In terms of software for the PS3 the game publishers and creators want assurances from Sony that their games will not be able to be pirated and run on the system. If piracy is allowed game publishers may stop publishing for the system. It can be argued that this is one reason why PSP development has suffered.
It is not that Geohot's direct actions allow piracy but it opens the door to it and Sony has a responsibility to its software developers to prevent pirated versions of games to run on its system.
Piracy did not kill off the PS1 and it can be argued that the fact that it was so easy to mod the console to play pirated games did help to increase console sales. With that it did affect software sales. Some people I know didn't ever buy a single game for their PS1 but had a game library in the hundreds of games, all pirated. The question is whether or not they would have bought a PS1 in the first place if it were not for the fact that it could play pirated games. If that is the case then there never would have been an increase in software sales because they never would have bought the console.
That is the argument pirates use to legitimize piracy. That they aren't hurting sales because they never would have bought the software in the first place. However it does make it easy for anyone with access to get a free copy of something and those people may have paid for it.
In the end Sony probably shouldn't have removed the feature but they almost had no choice. It terms of a "bait and switch" that is really not applicable. Consumer product protections only protect the physical product. Bait and switch really only applies to paying $100 for a Sony DVD player and when you open the box you find a Coby player with a fake Sony label. For instance Sony can not disable the HDMI port with a firmware update, or disable any hardware function with software because you paid for that feature. However software functions are governed by a different set of rules set in the EULA. Almost always these agreements say that features and functions can change at any time.
The only ground a consumer has to stand on regarding removal of the Other OS feature is that it can be argued that its removal denies access to hardware functions that can be utilized through the running of Linux. That is kind of hard to prove though because all hardware functions can be accessed through the default PS3 OS, in fact more hardware functions are used in the default OS than running Linux.
It really isn't an easy case.
@enbadesign
Finally someone with some common sense, I co-sign this post.
@enbadesign
You bring up several really good points. I never thought about rising console sales numbers due to the ease of piracy projecting false possibilities into the minds of software publishers.
@Sony
Seeing as it didn't make a blind bit of difference can I now have my Other OS option back that I paid for? Otherwise I will be installing the CFW.
Actually, don't worry I will now install CFW even if you DO bring back Other OS support. The reason? I no longer trust you not to try and take features away.
So long Sony and thanks for all the fish.
Anyone who's bashing Geohot and crying about piracy, should actually look at his exploit and see what it does. He has the code posted for it on his site. First off, he's using a FPGA to glitch a memory line. How many of us here can say they have an FPGA, or the ability to write VHDL/Verilog to even do this exploit? I'm a computer engineer, and even I would have to borrow an FGPA from someone do this.
Second, the exploit he posted only added two new function calls to the hypervisor. If I remember right, they were the ability to read and write to the actual memory as opposed to the hypervisor. That has nothing to do with pirated games. True, it's possible that some other people could start working with this to exploit the PS3 further, but this isn't a modchip he released or something.
Everyone saying that it's fine to remove the Other OS option, because it was crippled anyway, that's exactly what is trying to be fixed. With the addition of added function calls, a GPU driver could be written (though it would be really hard), and the linux installs could be un-gimped.
To be honest though, not too much has happened with it since it was released, so I doubt we'll see much homebrew, piracy, etc at least for a long time.
Ha Sony, a massive company, took a feature away just for it to put back by one person :D
Wow! This is really good news!
For those still following, additional updates are here in the replies since the GeoHot blog comments are useless these days: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Hacks/video-otheros-supported-on-3-21oo-ps3-custom-firmware/