PS3 Hacked via USB Dongle

dlove67 writes "PSX-scene.com reports that the first PS3 modchip has been tested and confirmed to be working. Running off of a USB dongle, it appears to be relatively user friendly and claims to not void your warranty. Online gameplay works (at least for the time being). It's been a long time coming; cheers to the PS Jailbreak Guys." The video is attached below if you're curious. Can't help but point out that this wouldn't have happened if Sony hadn't decided to yank the Boot Other OS option.

Comments

What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[dave562]

The whole reason I bought a PS3 was because it was a closed platform, and because it was a closed platform, it was harder to hack the games. I like playing FPS games and they are absolutely ruined as soon as you have to deal with wallhacks and aimbots. Will this new hack open the door to programs like that?

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[hedwards]

Sony over did it, people wouldn't have been anywhere near as interested in cracking it if they hadn't vastly overstepped there rights. I can understand locking down multiplayer games, but locking down single player games so that you can't do those homebrew was just asinine. And there's no reason why they had to do it, I'm sure they could've just kept homebrew off certain servers. I probably wouldn't have bought mine had I realized that they'd taken out so many of the PS3 components to make money without properly stating it on the box.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[tepples]

The whole reason I bought a PS3 was because it was a closed platform

Which is one of the reasons why I did not. Closed platforms tend not to get indie games or legitimate mods. If Half-Life were for a closed platform, for instance, there wouldn't have been a Counter-Strike.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[mlts]

This is the exact reason that I refused to buy a PS3. When the "Other OS" option was not just removed from the Slims, but removed from existing machines as a mandatory upgrade, that made the platform a no-go.

You don't need a closed platform to deal with wallhackers and aimbots. Steam runs on a ton of PCs, and VAC catches and bans forever a crapload of people daily who attempt to try this stuff. Similar with WoW. Blizzard's Warden has evolved to a point where only the gold farmers who have hundreds of thousands of accounts [1] are continuously doing hacks, and that is because account loss for them is no consideration.

[1]: A lot of gold sellers get the accounts when suckers buy gold and pay with a credit card. Then they hand the CC# and info to another organization who just charges the credit card 5-10 times and create a bunch of paid accounts. Since they are offshore, PCI-DSS is not an issue, nor if there is ever a link found, there would be any criminal penalties applied.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who on earth bothers to hack a console FPS? It's like using performance-enhancing drugs at a child's sports day.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[IamTheRealMike]

That's a pretty big assumption. Firstly the dongle thing is clearly intended for piracy, it comes complete with "backup functionality", a GUI for that etc. I don't see any mention of booting Linux anywhere. Secondly whatever strategy Sony used, it clearly worked - PS3 is more than half way through its probably lifetime and has never been usefully hacked before. Time will tell if they can figure out how it was done and renew the protection - or not.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's the good old 'consumer fighting back to use hardware they bought however they want and not how Sony tells them'.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[tepples]

You realize the xbox 360 has a thriving indie game scene, right?

I am aware of Indie Games. However, I am also aware of these four issues:

• The article is about the PLAYSTATION 3, not the Xbox 360. Since Sony shut off Other OS in a PS3 firmware update, it has nothing even remotely like XNA Creators Club.
• For another, does this include mods to existing games, or is it only for games made from scratch?
• Xbox 360 indie games are not available in all countries.
• XNA, the toolkit used for Xbox 360 indie games, has limitations that I've written about elsewhere.

What's the advantage of a console over a PC for people who develop or play indie games?

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[mlts]

Exactly what I mean. If an offshore gold seller hands their credit card information to another group who creates accounts on a MMO for blackhat reasons, the gold seller doesn't have to worry about violating such guidelines. Even if they are caught, if they are in a country that isn't on buddy-buddy terms with the West, the seller likely will face zero consequences.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[Missing.Matter]

The only thing you need to have an advantage over console players is a keyboard and mouse.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[Eponymous Coward]

Did you still want to keep Other OS? You had the option to decline their update.

The problem is that by declining the update, you were effectively locked out of online game play, including for games you already owned. So, they didn't send killbots to your house, but they did force you to chose other OS xor games. For those that bought the console because it could do both, this really sucks.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[cgenman]

What? I'm failing to see how some of this is Security through Obscurity. There was a security hole in the other OS that they couldn't think of a way of patching without removing the core functionality, so they removed it. That makes sense from a security standpoint.

They're going through security through security. They patch holes, make improvements, and get better at this whole thing. The PS1 was hackable in 1 wire. The PS2 required an additional circuit board for a mod chip. The PS3 isn't pragmatically hackable in that way, because they improved their security. Now someone found a hole in the USB stack. This will probably be patched too.

When you say security through obscurity, you usually mean "nobody is going to type in 'website.com/passwords' into the server!" The way you're using it, it makes it sound like any DRM even on a closed platform is doomed. And while that is possible, the pragmatic advantages of avoiding PS1-levels of piracy mean that the program has basically been a success.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[dimeorj]

How about when I bought Red Dead Redemption, only to find out that I had to "upgrade" my firmware in order to play that? Did Sony have a right to do that? I know the answer is yes. But it still leaves a bad taset in my mouth, and it's gonna make it harder to justify Sony purchases in the future because of that.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[boxxertrumps]

It wasn't mandatory, but it did force you to choose between advertised features that were never even implied as being mutually exclusive.

If the update had no negative effects other than removing OtherOS then there wouldn't have been a lawsuit (ongoing?) because the choice would be as simple as you've stated.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[Hatta]

I like playing FPS games and they are absolutely ruined as soon as you have to deal with.. gamepads.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[medv4380]

It's not that people weren't interested in hacking the PS3 for piracy. It's just he people with the skill and money to do it have little interest if they have a legit method like OtherOS. Sony locked them out of the GPU functions in otherOS so they were constantly trying to figure out how. When they did Sony took OtherOS away with the firmware updated. This made those people who are very skilled move down the path of a mod chip which has the added benefit of all the morally corrupt people who want to use the chip to pirate will be able to use it to pirate or home brew. OtherOS ultimately was an anti-piracy measure as shown by how long it has taken to crack since it was taken away.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[tlhIngan]

The whole reason I bought a PS3 was because it was a closed platform, and because it was a closed platform, it was harder to hack the games. I like playing FPS games and they are absolutely ruined as soon as you have to deal with wallhacks and aimbots. Will this new hack open the door to programs like that?

Depends what was defeated. For example, on the Xbox360, you can pirate games with a hacked DVD drive, but you canot mod the games because you can't run unsigned code in the main OS. You can hack your Xbox360 to run Linux, but that pretty much eliminates any option in playing Xbox360 games. So you don't really worry about cheating in Xbox360 games, other than social cheating that the Xbox can't really defend itself again ("standbying", "rage quitting", etc). Or against proxy-bots (where a proxy aimbot intercepts Xbox Live network packets).

If the PS3 is hacked similarly - i.e., it can't run unsigned code, nothing bad will happen. If it can, oh well.

And this could be the thing that gets the PS3 selling well again - with few exceptions, it's trailed behind the Xbox360 (which has trailed behind Nintendo).

And yeah, Microsoft learned with the original Xbox that not listening to indie/homebrew devs leads to easy piracy as the groups will work together on a solution. It's what happened on the Wii this generation. The Xbox360 has the XNA stuff, which certainly limits what you can do, and the PS3 had OtheroS, which also had its limits, but it calmed the homebrew waters and had the pirates working alone. Now Sony removed OtherOS, and the homebrew crowd pretty much ends up working with the piracy crowd because their work is complementary.

And hey, it's a use for that 500GB drive you tossed in your PS3 - rather than use the dog-gone-sluggish Blu-Ray drive. (Hell, the Xbox360 had the feature to copy games to hard drive...).

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[Ephemeriis]

The whole reason I bought a PS3 was because it was a closed platform, and because it was a closed platform, it was harder to hack the games. I like playing FPS games and they are absolutely ruined as soon as you have to deal with wallhacks and aimbots. Will this new hack open the door to programs like that?

Actually, being a closed platform doesn't have a whole lot to do with running wallhacks and aimbots.

Normally your server has some kind of basic validation to make sure the software you're running is the software it expects. This is why many games require you to have the latest patch before joining a server. You don't generally modify the executable itself to create a wallhack or aimbot. Normally that's done with a second utility running simultaneously - a mod or an add-on the the game, basically.

Typically a console has relatively little support for modding. Typically a console is only capable of running a single executable at a time. And even if you've cracked a PS3 to allow you to play pirated games or boot other OSes, you're probably stuck running a single game at a time with very little mod support and limited ability to run other utilities simultaneously.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[Kaboom13]

It's generally referred to as the JTAG hack. It requires minor soldering and modification of the 360. It does not work on every revision of the 360 currently. Frankly, if you are not savvy enough to find the info with Google, you are better off not bothering or paying someone else to do it.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[tibit]

There are no security holes in "the other OS" -- they just effed up their core design, if that. There is no theoretical reason, nor even a practical one, why running third party code on PS3 would lead to piracy or any such thing. Assuming that the platform was designed correctly for that. It's simple enough to let the hardware access encrypted discs only when trusted firmware is being run. You run linux or whatever "Other OS" you like, and you get a plain old DVD or BLU-RAY drive, that you can use to play encrypted media (but not games) just as you would had you used a DVD-ROM or BL-ROM drive on a PC. The games could be encrypted with keys that are only available to trusted firmware, the latter being distributed in encrypted form and only decryptable by the console hardware. Heck, one could prevent trusted firmware from running untrusted games, so that it'd be impossible to probe it for security vulnerabilities. Then any indie games would need to run on their own, bundled, untrusted (3rd party) firmware. Whatever libraries are needed to access basic console hardware could be publicly distributed by Sony, so that you wouldn't need to re-implement that to use the platform. That's not hard at all, IOW.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[Joe Snipe]

It's the good old "any justification I can grasp at for piracy".

For myself it's knowing that every game I pirate steals money right out from their greedy little hands. These huge companies like EA and Sony who screw their customers and their staff alike for their C*Os err, shareholders. That's why sometimes I pirate the same game three or four times! Thats like taking $200 right out of their pockets! i don't even plan on owning a PS3 but already I have amassed a pretty substantial library of "backups" (and even backup backups!). Take that fat-cats!

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[TrisexualPuppy]

Yes, by one wire, the Playstation required a piece of steel wire, AKA a spring to hold the "door closed" button down when the door was open. The more invasive method would be to take a copper wire and solder the circuit closed instead of using the spring.

Load a "legit" game and pull the disc out, and stick in your burned copy of another game, and voila! The burned copy runs. You never even needed a modchip to begin with.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[L4t3r4lu5]

+1

I don't care how great you think you are at CoD:MW2 on the XBox360; I will destroy you with a keyboard and mouse.

The only way I can equate the experience between going from K&M input in a PC to gamepad on a console is to unplug the mouse and use the arrow keys for X and Y axis control. It's just painful.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[rvalles]

"OtherOS ultimately was an anti-piracy measure as shown by how long it has taken to crack since it was taken away."

http://marcansoft.com/transf/mist_table.png

That's what OtherOS was, indeed.

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[unix1]

There was a security hole in the other OS that they couldn't think of a way of patching without removing the core functionality, so they removed it. That makes sense from a security standpoint.

How can you call this "security" even if you trust every word they say? E.g. in order to prevent this new USB exploit, if they simply claim they "can't fix" the software bug would it be OK for them to disable the USB ports in the next firmware update altogether? Too bad you used them to charge controllers, copy pictures from camera, etc.?

Security should refer to the product and the features you have. If you throw away the product and/or remove its core features it's not security of that product, because it's not the same product: what if they disable the Internet browser in the name of "security," then image gallery, then media functionality, how about the bluray player too? How much of the features would they have to remove before you say - hey, I'm not going to call it "makes sense from a security standpoint" anymore because it doesn't do what it claimed it would when I bought it?

Re:What does this mean for cheats/aimbots?

[tophermeyer]

So if you had an iphone and apple said 'we are removing the application functionality in the next update, however it's optional so you can retain the application functionality, but you won't be able to make calls.' you would see that as acceptable?

Well that example is a little different. Apple has no right to kick people off of AT&T's network. but...

Sure, I would see that as acceptable. I don't see anything wrong with Apple/At&T making decisions about what devices and software packages can access their network. I would imagine that would let me out of whatever service contract I had with AT&T though.

Sony's situation is different. They cut off access to a free non-contractual service, and they had always reserved the right to change or modify their Terms of Use. Granted it was an advertised feature and the majority of users purchased their PS3's for that reason, but Sony still must have the right to say who can and can't access their networks. Right?

This move makes me not trust Sony. It will make me hesitant to buy a similar "hardware with FREE internet services" device from them in the future. But there was nothing wrong with what they did. They pissed people off to be sure. But that was their business decision to make. They've got a long history of being dicks to their customer base, but people keep buying their stuff.

Tag article slashvertisement

[TrisexualPuppy]

The forum link is broken. The video does not say anything about how they did it or how it works. It's merely a suggestion that the product does work and then is a link to where to buy it.

Nothing to see here.

Re:Tag article slashvertisement

[Mad Leper]

Yeah, this is quite obviously a fake. For a PS3 hack to suddenly appear out of nowhere and a rumored $170 fee for the USB stick just stinks of rip-off.

The PS3 has resisted cracking for over three years, even the great Geohot tried and failed to even make a dent. The fact that it's been impossible to play cracked games on the PS3 has worked the pirate community into such a tizzy that it's likely we'll see more scams like this in the future.

Re:Tag article slashvertisement

[Khyber]

"even the great Geohot ripped off other people's work and failed to make a dent"

FTFY. Trace over-current spiking was my idea.

I'm betting the USB stick does the same thing but with some other automated software, because the data line on the USB ports runs down that same trace. That trace is the direct vulnerability past the hypervisor.

Re:Tag article slashvertisement

[TrisexualPuppy]

Care to explain how this works? Similar to glitching in DTV cards?

Re:Tag article slashvertisement

[Khyber]

VERY similar. I've done the same thing to my TomTom so I could drop in map updates since my particular model doesn't work with the mapshare community.

This is a fallback from the PS3 debug systems, which required a hardware key. The data trace has a nearly direct pathway to the hypervisor, thus making it the most vulnerable route to attack.

The obvious fix from Sony...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sony will disable all USB ports on the PS3 in the next firmware update.

Re:The obvious fix from Sony...

[Pojut]

Don't give them any ideas, clod!

Re:The obvious fix from Sony...

[Anonymous Coward]

They already told me they won't do this when I complained about "Other OS" removal.

Quote from Playstation Consumer Services:
"There would not be able reason to remove the features of your PS3 System that you have mention, card readers USB ports or backwards compatibility. They are physical attributes that your PS3 System possesses and do not present a security threat as the option that Install other OS does in this case does."

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[netsavior]

Can't help but point out that this wouldn't have happened if Sony hadn't decided to yank the Boot Other OS option.

why? Can somebody please explain? the linked site seems down so maybe that's what I'm missing.

because nobody uses mod-chips to pirate games, they only use them to boot linux and run homebrew, since computers are so expensive and PS3s are so cheap, this is the only option that some people have. There aren't many pieces of consumer electronics that can run linux, you know.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Mad-Mage1]

the recent push to "crack" the PS3 OS was due to the removal of that function, which Sony did to try to prevent the cracking of their OS. Oh, the circular eddies of irony that feed our world :D

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Mooga]

Sony claimed that they removed the Boot Other OS options to prevent this type of hacking.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

Can't help but point out that this wouldn't have happened if Sony hadn't decided to yank the Boot Other OS option.

why? Can somebody please explain? the linked site seems down so maybe that's what I'm missing.

because nobody uses mod-chips to pirate games, they only use them to boot linux and run homebrew, since computers are so expensive and PS3s are so cheap, this is the only option that some people have. There aren't many pieces of consumer electronics that can run linux, you know.

Most of the pirates don't have the technical abilities to hack a console. The people who do have the technical ability and inclination to hack a console, won't bother if they can tinker with it themselves without bypassing the security, which OtherOS allowed them to do. By removing OtherOS, they were basically asking the people with the skills, ability and inclination to bypass their security so that they could put another OS back on.

The initial heavy lifting to hack the original XBox, 360 and Wii were done by people trying to put Linux on them.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Superken7]

OK, that might very well be so, and it would make sense. The irony would just be unbearable. At least we can laugh at sony now.

Although this "news" does not even mention if booting linux is possible at this point, this just highlights how it is possible to pirate games - which is somewhat confusing.
Of course if they can boot games its possible they have enough control that they can boot other OS... but no details are mentioned.

How?

[abigsmurf]

Any idea what the nature of this exploit is?

I thought that pretty much everyone who's looked at the PS3 security has found it to be pretty ironclad. The hypervisor was supposed to be obscenely difficult to get around, even if you did find an exploit.

Re:How?

[lordgun]

As seen in the psx-scene forums, it seems to turn the PS3 into a debug-mode.

Re:How?

[Anonymous Coward]

Every console sent to be repaired will have their save games erased.

That is already the case and always has been. Sony do not repair the units, they just send you a refurbished unit with no effort to salvage your data. Herein lies a sticky issue. Those of us with the good original fat models are in for problems when they fail. Sony have run out of them and will send a later model. Sounds good? Not when you consider the original machines had back compatibility, SACD support, more card slots etc, that the new models do not. The PS3 is a machine that gets less functionality with each incarnation.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Trevelyan]

Homebrew scene != Pirate scene

The homebrew guys are generally more motivated and talented then the pirates. Almost all console hacks come from the homebrew guys so that they can run their own stuff (and linux).

The pirates tend to take homebrew code and use it to run pirated games.

The entire time that PS2 had the "Other OS" option it was not cracked, because the homebrew community could already run their stuff. Compare that to XBOX and WII both of which have been broken a long time ago. As soon as Sony closed off the homebrew community, the inevitable would happen.

Of course its not so black and white, there is overlap between homebrew and pirates, but not as much as you might assume. Take a look at TeamTwizzers long campaign against pirates from using their code. They even tried in the beginning to have a dialogue with Nintendo about ways to support homebrew and keep the pirates out.

Going back to PS2; even with the "Other OS" option the advanced graphic features were locked, so homebrew games could never take full advantage of the hardware (neither could Other OS be used for pirate games). Some months ago a way was found for full hardware access, and not long after that Sony reacted by removing the Other OS feature.

Re:not hard for sony to fix this....

[RichiH]

There is nothing that stops people from creating USB devices that can rewrite their own ID similar to how there is nothing to stop you from using a different MAC.

If that is the only line of defense, economic incentives for the crackers will make sure you can buy a v2 with "valid" Sony ID or simply a changeable one.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[marcansoft]

The PS3 was secure through obscurity (besides any actual security present), much like the Wii was in its infancy (Wii drivechips notwithstanding, those are a whole different ballgame). Obscurity works a lot better than security for consoles, because they are big, complex systems that inevitably have holes. Obscurity is useful up until the first hack is published, which is when people finally get to poke at dumps of your software and expose your bugs. The more you can delay that from happening, the better. The Wii did a good job of this by encrypting and signing every piece of data on Wii game discs, for example. There were bugs, but nobody could figure them out without access to decrypted binaries.

We don't know if someone involved in PS3 homebrew hacking had anything to do with this, but it's certain that whoever did this at the very least used techniques developed as a result of the Other OS remioval during development. Specifically, until the Other OS fiasco happened, there was no way to dump PS3 software and analyze it for exploits. Now there is.

Both the Wii and the PS3 obscurity-breaking hacks were almost identical: RAM glitching to escalate privileges from an unprivileged mode in order to access secure areas. The Twiizer Attack on the Wii glitched the RAM address lines in order to dump secure software and keys from insecure GameCube mode, and geohot's PS3 exploit used RAM glitching in order to make the hypervisor unwillingly give you read/write access to secure RAM while in insecure Other OS mode. When software is obscure, hardware is the only way to go. This Wii attack paved the way for Wii software exploits, and certainly this PS3 USB device is based upon exploits uncovered by dumping via the memory glitching exploits released earlier this year after Sony pulled Other OS.

So yes, Sony basically asked for this by pulling Other OS and angrying legitimate hackers who used Other OS, and now they got what they asked for. I'm just glad some piracy company did it first instead of repeating the story of the Wii where pirates piggyback on homebrew.

The one sad, sad thing is that this is called "PS3 jailbreak". Jailbreak is a very specific term that describes breaking out of a filesystem jail (e.g. on the iPhone), and it's being used on the PS3 purely for "brand recognition". This will just make people associate jailbreaks with piracy.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[damien_kane]

why? Can somebody please explain? the linked site seems down so maybe that's what I'm missing.

While one of my siblings states that "nobody uses mod-chips to pirate games", this isn't exactly true.
The first modders aren't doing it to pirate games. They simply want to write their own apps and run their own code on a different platform, or they want to fool around with the hardware and learn how it works, without having to pay 10s of thousands of dollars for development machines.

So, they build mods that allow running of unsigned code. This was true for the Wii, the 360, NDS, etc.
If there is a closed system, there exists somewhere in the world someone with the knowledge and will to break it, if for no other reason than to say they did.

Previously, with the ability to run linux natively on the PS3, these homebrew developers had the ability to code for a cell, and rather cheaply (at the cost of a PS3 and a keyboard). Granted, they didn't have access to the graphics capabilities, neither the hypervisor, but they could run anything they themselves coded for the cell architecture, without being hassled by Sony.

One person got close to breaking into the hypervisor through a bug that Sony either couldn't, or didn't want to spend time to, fix.
He did this so that he could develop homebrew applications that took advantage of the graphics capabilities, mostly. Pirating games wasn't his primary drive.
In response, Sony simply removed access to "Other OS" completely.

With no outlet to run their unsigned code, hackers have made a push to break the system so they can again do so with updated firmware.

As stated in another thread, the pirate community just waits until someone breaks the system (without any ill intent), and then duplicates that exploit (and in the case of a hardware mod, usually capitalizes on it).

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Superken7]

I know, thats why this story is surprising, because its exactly the opposite as what you just said.

Otherwise they would have at demoed booting linux at least.
Also, I have not read any text of the official release so I don't know if they mention any of this, but this might very well just be coincidence. Or maybe not..

If it sounds too good to be true...

[Anonymous Coward]

• A simple dongle that puts your PS3 into debug mode and allows you to play games off an external hard drive.
• Costs very little
• Doesn't void your warranty
• Forum link is down
• Advert in video for where to buy
• Camera stays mostly on the TV, so we can't see if any other PS3s or equipment is involved...
• Whilst others have struggled to hack the PS3, these guys have come out of nowhere with a full blown, working solution... one that you can immediately purchase!

Re:Yeah, right

[Sancho]

False dichotomy. Try again.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[somersault]

Yeah I found it rather sad when he was like "now this is what you've all been waiting for!", I thought he was going to load Other OS - but instead he demonstrates that you can now pirate games.. what an asshole..

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Superken7]

I agree with all you have said but one thing: if it were the hackers who have enabled this hack they would have demoed booting OtherOS, downgrading or whatever.
But clearly it is the pirates here who have done the hack from start to finish. Unless they borrowed it from other "homebrew" guys who were keeping it in private..

That is a debug unit

[GrugVoth]

I think most of you are missing the fact that this is running on a debug unit which already has the capability to run unsigned code and code off of hard drives with no restrictions. The USB dongle has nothing to do with that, until this can be show running on a non-debug unit this is very bogus.

$170

[bhunachchicken]

... is the asking price of the dongle. They're taking pre-orders now, apparently. Take the money and run..?

who submitted this, Lorena Bobbit?

[Thud457]

I'm very uncomfortable with the words " hacked " and " dongle " in the same headline.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[maxwell demon]

Yeah, and every day many crimes are done with guns, which clearly proves that guns only exist in order to enable crime. Obviously the inventor of the gun was a criminal. Right?

Of course, as soon as the mod chip exists, pirates will use it. And it may well be that they outnumber the other users. But that doesn't tell you the slightest bit about the motivation of the person who originally created the mod chip.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[WhitetailKitten]

The initial heavy lifting to hack the original XBox, 360 and Wii were done by people trying to put Linux on them.

I'm going to back up AC on this one, at least with respect to the Wii. Team Twiizers, the team of hackers (as in, tinkering, not cheaters) have released multiple tools to not only allow and facilitate non-pirate homebrew software to run, they also actually have made efforts to fix critical flaws in Nintendo's design of the Wii. This includes ways to recover a bricked console, which came into play when Nintendo's own official system updates (designed to block homebrew and piracy indiscriminately) were sloppy to the point of being capable of bricking unmodified Wiis.

Team Twiizers also go out of their way to specifically discourage and hamper piracy, including making their software run upside-down on-screen if you've hacked your Wii so much that you must be using it for piracy. They really want to avoid large-scale piracy, because it'll just give Nintendo the incentive to try and lock the Wii back down, depriving everyone of the non-piracy uses for homebrew. They'll happily help with installing Linux on your Wii, and there are guides for using it as a media center, a ScummVM host, and even a VNC client. You can also emulate pretty much every game console in history up to the PS1, as well as MAME, but finding roms (and whatever trouble that might cause) is up to you. However, they make it clear that discussions of piracy are unwelcome.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[kg8484]

I think you are missing the point of the argument that others are making. Let's take your two circles. The first is the size of a quarter and represents users that want to run Linux, and the second circle is the number of people who want to pirate games and that is 50 meters in diameter. However, you will find that not everyone in either circle has the technical proficiency to actually do the hacking, but the average technical aptitude of people in the Linux circle is far greater than the mean aptitude in the piracy circle. The real comparison needs to be between the people who want to run Linux, have the technical ability to do the hacking and are willing to invest the time to do it versus to the people whose motivation is piracy. The argument that is made is that the Linux circle now shrinks to the size of a dime, whereas you would need a microscope to see the piracy circle.

What?

[DrXym]

The video is attached below if you're curious. Can't help but point out that this wouldn't have happened if Sony hadn't decided to yank the Boot Other OS option.

Bollocks. Other systems have dozens of mods, why would it be any different for the PS3? That's assuming this is a legit hack which is questionable without further info.

Debug Console

[Anonymous Coward]

This was done on a Debug Console. If you look at 0:44 on the video, you can see the "Install Packages..." option at the top of the list in the XMB. ...so in other words, nothing unusual, folks. This type of thing could always be done on a Debug Console...

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[WhitetailKitten]

Except that the only reason that people by these mod chips is to play burned games. To claim this has anything to do with homebrew or being able to install Linux is naïveté to the highest degree.

Because there's no way someone would modchip a Wii (before software homebrew was refined to its current pretty-damn-easy standard) in order to plug a mass-storage USB device in and use their console as both a home media center and a game machine. That could never, ever happen. It's inconceivable.

Oh, wait. A simple Google search returns a bunch of sites that want to sell you the (free) homebrew software (in violation of copyright--yes, Team Twiizers' homebrew software is original, not stolen from Nintendo, so they technically hold copyright), and they tout being able to use your Wii to play back pretty much any type of video or sound file VLC can understand. You lose. Player 1 insert coin.

Firmware Version: v3.41

[besalope]

Since it's not readily on psx-scene's main page and forums are hammered.. it works on firmware v3.41 :) and yes "pre-orders" appear to be $170 :(

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Dishevel]

You need real thinking ability to get this, but I will try anyway.

Your paper is correct. Where your logic issue comes into direct conflict with reality is your assumption that the large circle contains within it anyone capable of a real hack of the PS3. It dose not. On the other hand a high percentage of those in your quarter sized circle can. They did not hack because they had what they wanted. Now that Sony has removed it they did the work to "Fix the situation".

Now that 50 meter circle you were talking about gets involved. They capitalize on the work done by the geeks and give to the masses what they want. "Free Beer!". Bad move for Sony.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[Jonny_eh]

The Xbox 360 has not been jailbroken (on current firmware). It's had its DVD firmware hacked to allow booting of pirated discs, but you cannot jailbreak the 360 to run unsigned code.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[commando_jim]

The way I understood the current situation is the following:

Image for a second a piece of paper, there are two overlapping circles on it. One represents the people who want to run Linux on the PS3 and are trying to hax0r it. This circle is about the size of a quarter.

The other circle is for the people who want to pirate games and cheat AND HAVE THE TECHNICAL SOPHISTICATION TO FIGURE IT OUT THEMSELVES. The diameter of this circle is roughly the same as the Linux camp.

Basically, you have a very small group of people, who's only motivation for hacking the platform is Sony's removal of the boot other OS function. This group of people then gives away the plans for their hack, and thus enables all the people from your 50m circle who can't hack a PS3 on their own.

Claiming that the Linux crowd is irrelevant here, ignores the fact that one motivated person can release an exploit which will work for everyone, and I think the Linux crowd has a much higher ratio of people who might find those exploits than the crowd of wall-hack/aimbot enthusiasts.

Cheers

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[X0563511]

At least we can laugh at Sony now.

Oh, believe me... we've been laughing for some time now.

Re:What has this to do with sony yanking linux?

[EnglishTim]

In what way was their security 'security through obscurity'?

Re:Tag parent fail

[bushing]

Care to explain what PCB traces are shared between D+/D- on the USB and the RAM? And what this has to do with your TomTom?

You're also confusing the service mode jig used in Sony repair centers on retail consoles with debug consoles used for development. The two are unrelated.

Re:Tag parent fail

[Khyber]

The over-current trick has been used in MANY systems to bypass hardware restrictions by forcing it into a failure mode for repair. From Tom-Tom devices, to the original XBox console, now it's been used on the PS3.

Here's your requested information. I gave you more than you needed so you could grab a PS3 for yourself, pop out the mobo, flip it over, and start hacking for yourself so maybe you can help us figure out WTF these other UNKs are.

http://www.interfacebus.com/ps3-connector-pinouts.html