First PlayStation 3 Custom Firmware Created

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First PlayStation 3 Custom Firmware Created

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 5, 2011 @04:00AM from the you-bought-it dept.

Stoobalou writes "Hot on the heels of the discovery of the the PlayStation 3 private root key, and its subsequent leakage by iPhone hacker Geohot, the first custom firmware for the formerly impenetrable console has been released. A code wrangler known only as Kakaroto reckons he has created the world's first custom firmware for the popular console — although if you're expecting it to help you play pirated games, you might be a little disappointed."

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Won't Be Long... by sycodon · 2011-01-05 04:01 · Score: 1

...before the PlayStation can be used just like a ...umm...PC.

--
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
1. Re:Won't Be Long... by Captain+Splendid · 2011-01-05 04:10 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  Why can't you just use your PC? Everything you need is available there...
  
  Well, except a couch, a large flatscreen, surround sound, not having to show normals your cable-infested pit with the huge stack useless drives in the corner...
  
  --
  Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
2. Re:Won't Be Long... by headhot · 2011-01-05 04:12 · Score: 1
  
  Again.
3. Re:Won't Be Long... by John+Napkintosh · 2011-01-05 04:12 · Score: 1
  
  I just want to see my PS3 play PS3 games, connect to netflix, and play any movies/music I have on my Windows network without having to setup a DLNA server and transcode (i.e.: let me install the codecs).
  
  --
  
  Long signatures suck.
4. Re:Won't Be Long... by ThunderBird89 · 2011-01-05 04:14 · Score: 1
  
  This is why i don't understand that so many people are so obsessed with the idea of running homebrew or emulators or w/e on their consoles...
  Why can't you just use your PC? Everything you need is available there...
  But maybe not at 'maximum power'. The PS3's Cell processor is ideal for parallel applications, such as code breaking, or massive number crunching. The US military used to have a cluster of PS3's running Linux for massively parallel computation before Sony nixed the option. Maybe they'll download Kakaroto's firmware, if the haven't figured out the root key by themselves already.
  
  --
  Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
5. Re:Won't Be Long... by rs1n · 2011-01-05 04:14 · Score: 1
  
  This is why i don't understand that so many people are so obsessed with the idea of running homebrew or emulators or w/e on their consoles...
  Why can't you just use your PC? Everything you need is available there...
  If you're talking about gaming, nothing beats a huge screen and full surround sound. Most people have an entertainment system that includes a large, HD TV and an equivalently expensive speaker system. While you could run the emulators on your PCs, most people prefer to make use of their entertainment system for their gaming, and their PC for "real work" (whatever that may mean).
6. Re:Won't Be Long... by ChibiOne · 2011-01-05 04:15 · Score: 1
  
  ...before the PlayStation can be used just like a ...umm...PC.
  More than just a PC: a fully functional HTPC.
7. Re:Won't Be Long... by Pvt_Ryan · 2011-01-05 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  before someone at Sony is sitting in a corner rocking back and forth holding a P45 saying "Why oh why did I remove linux from the PS3?"
8. Re:Won't Be Long... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-01-05 04:21 · Score: 1
  
  Not sure what country you live in where:
  
  Most people have an entertainment system that includes a large, HD TV and an equivalently expensive speaker system.
  I see no evidence of that being true in the US though. Most does mean "more than 50%". I think I know a couple of people who have that, but not many. Most people in the US don't make enough money to have that setup.
9. Re:Won't Be Long... by GrumblyStuff · 2011-01-05 04:26 · Score: 1
  
  It's a childish reaction. You know, the one where mom or dad or your teacher tells you not to do something that you know is perfectly safe to do but that you shouldn't do it "because I said so!"
  Also, spite. To really stick it to Sony that OtherOS satisfied most everyone who was interested and that by taking away this on the box feature, they brought this on.
  Plus the usual "because it's there", curiosity about the architecture, etc.
10. Re:Won't Be Long... by Grimbleton · 2011-01-05 04:30 · Score: 1, Redundant
  
  My computer has HDMI out and is in the living room so there goes that theory.
11. Re:Won't Be Long... by indecks · 2011-01-05 04:31 · Score: 1
  
  I assume by PMS you mean PS3 Media Server? I'm using TVersity right now and I effin' HATE it. DLNA errors irritate the hell out of me and TVersity's messageboards do nothing to help. I might have to check that out.
12. Re:Won't Be Long... by toleraen · 2011-01-05 04:35 · Score: 1
  
  Can't tell if you're trolling or serious. Install a whole new server just to run PMS (which runs on Windows just fine already anyway...) to transcode video files (which the GP said they didn't want to do)?
13. Re:Won't Be Long... by canajin56 · 2011-01-05 04:37 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  Let's paraphase the post your replied to, and your post
  
  I want to stream movies from several SMB shares without needing to install a transcoding PMS (possibly because one of them is Network Attached Storage so installing a PMS would be impossible)
  
  Now your response:
  
  Have you considered using a transcoding PMS?
  
  --
  ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
14. Re:Won't Be Long... by mcgrew · 2011-01-05 04:39 · Score: 1
  
  Hmm, I have my PC plugged into my eight year old TV, and with newer TVs it's even easier. The stack of "useless" drives is in the basement.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
15. Re:Won't Be Long... by betterunixthanunix · 2011-01-05 04:39 · Score: 1
  
  Why can't you just use your PC? Everything you need is available there...
  The Cell BE? I know it is a bit dated, but it is still a fairly powerful CPU, and while it is not as "sexy" as GPGPU, it is still competitive considering the price you pay for a PS3.
  
  --
  Palm trees and 8
16. Re:Won't Be Long... by toleraen · 2011-01-05 04:39 · Score: 1
  
  I'm gonna make the general assumption that the US military doesn't have it's number crunching cluster hooked up to the public Internet to stay up to date with every firmware, so they're probably still using the cluster just fine.
17. Re:Won't Be Long... by scubamage · 2011-01-05 04:43 · Score: 1
  
  Theoretically because its standardized hardware you could write things very specifically for it, garnering a HUGE performance boost over general purpose hardware.
18. Re:Won't Be Long... by hedwards · 2011-01-05 04:45 · Score: 1
  
  I think it's a pretty good bet that the DoD already has the key necessary to do whatever they like with it. Whether Sony caved in secret or they just had the NSA crack it is sort of a moot point.
19. Re:Won't Be Long... by Grimbleton · 2011-01-05 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  You don't have to make a lot of money to have a nice TV and entertainment center setup. This is America, remember?
20. Re:Won't Be Long... by Nadaka · 2011-01-05 04:51 · Score: 1
  
  I think the average tv size in the us is 32in with 42in being fairly common as well, that is much bigger than the average computer monitor.
21. Re:Won't Be Long... by ThunderBird89 · 2011-01-05 04:52 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty sure the Air Force doesn't give a flying fcuk whether or not the firmware's illegal. It's not like Sony has the balls to sue them (and by extension, the US Government) for it...
  
  --
  Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
22. Re:Won't Be Long... by billcopc · 2011-01-05 04:58 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Don't waste your time (and hair). Just get a small $250 ION nettop and install XBMC. It is the bees knees. If you're lazy you can google for "xbmcfreak", the guy releases customized LiveCDs that take most of the hassle out of installing it.
  No DRM, no transcoding, and it will play 1080p H.264 with ease thanks to the onboard GPU. Share your movies over SMB, FTP, NFS, HTTP, whatever. Way easier than trying to coax your PS3 into doing piratey things.
  
  --
  -Billco, Fnarg.com
23. Re:Won't Be Long... by Khyber · 2011-01-05 04:58 · Score: 1
  
  Except my PC is hooked up to a large flatscreen, with surround sound, with proper cable management, and is used for programming/testing my 800+ character MUGEN game.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
24. Re:Won't Be Long... by HeronBlademaster · 2011-01-05 04:58 · Score: 1
  
  The problem isn't that they can't update the firmware, but that they can't replace defective or dying units with new units. They can buy used units somewhere, but that's not an ideal long-term solution.
  My guess is that they'll use the cluster until enough units have died that they can't do whatever they need the cluster to do, then wipe the remaining drives and auction off the remaining PS3s.
25. Re:Won't Be Long... by MachDelta · 2011-01-05 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  What if you have both?
  I'm such a nerd. :(
26. Re:Won't Be Long... by MoonBuggy · 2011-01-05 05:16 · Score: 2
  
  Cost could be a sensible reason to go with a console. Obviously there are often multiple 'correct' choices, and it depends on the specific task, but consoles tend to have a decent power/price ratio, especially later in their lifespan, as well as low noise and all the nice TV interface bits included as standard.
  A few years back I grabbed an original Xbox to use as a media centre - this was well after the 360 was out, so I got console & DVD remote for about £35 total; it's still running today, streaming iPlayer and the like, although it's showing its age a little. I imagine the PS3 will be able to handle most HD media for the next decade or so, so when a relatively quiet, small, integrated box like the PS3 slim drops to $100 or so it'll give a 'proper' PC a good run for its money.
27. Re:Won't Be Long... by Belial6 · 2011-01-05 05:17 · Score: 1
  
  Just make sure your the nettop comes with Windows 7 and get a Media Center Remote. Not only will you have a cool media player completely controlled remote with XBMC, but you will have Netflix with the Media Center software, and you will have TV shows via the Hulu client. All of these controlled with a regular TV remote.
  
  I canceled my satellite service last April. It is the first time in over 30 years that I have not had some form of cable service. My family watches 8-10 hours of TV a day. We haven't missed the satellite channels. The single factor that seems to be a showstopper for people doing this is that you don't get sports.
28. Re:Won't Be Long... by Captain+Splendid · 2011-01-05 05:17 · Score: 1
  
  I don't have a basement, you insensitive clod!
  
  --
  Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
29. Re:Won't Be Long... by sexconker · 2011-01-05 05:20 · Score: 1
  
  They're fine until units break and they're unrepairable. Sony won't be able send back refurb units with the same functionality. Offering "slim upgrades" isn't going to help. Linux support was ripped out by Sony, and there aren't many units available that have it. The US airforce's cluster will gradually die, or they'll get new machines with CFW, which may well be illegal.
  So much stupid here.
  The PS3 hardware's life span far exceeds the cluster's usefulness. By the time they're hit with hardware failures, they'll have a bigger and better cluster using whatever newfangled cpu some company is selling at a loss/near cost.
  Sony is absolutely able to send back refurb or new units with OtherOS enabled. They just don't. If the military phones them up and asks for OtherOS-enabled PS3s, they'll get them.
  There is no hardware difference between the fats and the slims that has anything to do with OtherOS.
30. Re:Won't Be Long... by sexconker · 2011-01-05 05:23 · Score: 1
  
  Most people that own a FIVE HUNDRED, NINETY-NINE US DOLLARS, 4D, LUCID DREAMING, DUAL HDMI, TREBLE GIGABIT NETWORK PORT video game system do though.
  Fixed that for you.
31. Re:Won't Be Long... by Sir_Lewk · 2011-01-05 05:23 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  HDMI is hardly rare, you actually have to go out of your way to get a computer without it these days. Anybody can move their computer into their livingroom. It's not magic, just a little manual labor. ...oh wait, that might be a problem for most slashdotters.
  
  --
  "linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
32. Re:Won't Be Long... by Hatta · 2011-01-05 05:35 · Score: 1
  
  not having to show normals your cable-infested pit with the huge stack useless drives in the corner...
  I consider that a sort of trial by fire. It weeds out the weak.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
33. Re:Won't Be Long... by Hatta · 2011-01-05 05:38 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  It's a childish reaction. You know, the one where mom or dad or your teacher tells you not to do something that you know is perfectly safe to do but that you shouldn't do it "because I said so!"
  A child who disobeys an arbitrary order is more mature than the adult who issues it. Maturity is not capricious.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
34. Re:Won't Be Long... by harl · 2011-01-05 05:38 · Score: 1
  
  So since it doesn't apply to you it doesn't apply to anyone?
  That's completely broken logic.
  
  --
  I find being offended by me offensive.
35. Re:Won't Be Long... by dave420 · 2011-01-05 05:38 · Score: 1
  
  I don't have a clod, you insensitive basement!
36. Re:Won't Be Long... by GodWasAnAlien · 2011-01-05 05:40 · Score: 1
  
  You must have "a less-mainstream opinion of copyright law builds a publicly distributable firmware that will leave the PS3 wide open to piracy"
  "open to piracy" meaning :
  "open",
  like a PC.
  I'm not sure when a desire to have a PC became "less-mainstream".
  Many just want a PC with a cell processor that runs Linux. Perhaps if Sony or someone else sold such a box, then less effort would be devoted to jailbreak their precious game machine.
37. Re:Won't Be Long... by dave420 · 2011-01-05 05:43 · Score: 1
  
  The transcoder could read the videos off the NAS and then stream them. I don't see what the problem is. Unless all the codecs in your media is supported by your choice of renderer, you're going to need to transcode somewhere along the way. Heck, I set up PMS so my parents' networked Sony Blu-Ray player could play videos off the network, and it was ridiculously easy. I don't know why it's so scary. It took a few minutes.
38. Re:Won't Be Long... by s73v3r · 2011-01-05 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  It is possible that the DoD has a separate service contract with Sony to specifically allow this sort of thing.
39. Re:Won't Be Long... by spire3661 · 2011-01-05 05:58 · Score: 1
  
  Its not 'scary' so much as its annoying to have to introduce a 3rd party to the table just to watch video that the machine you are watching it on has more then enough horsepower to render pretty much any video stream out there.
  
  --
  Good-bye
40. Re:Won't Be Long... by hierophanta · 2011-01-05 06:13 · Score: 1
  
  find us a PC with 1/2 the processing power of the PS3 for ~$200-250 and we can throw the theory out.
  
  scratch that, just show me another consumer (one that i can buy) computer (anyprice) with the processing power of the PS3 and we can edge the theory toward the window.
41. Re:Won't Be Long... by filthpickle · 2011-01-05 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  DVI to HDMI
  
  VGA to HDMI
  
  I admit that I am skeptical of the VGA to HDMI...but I used a DVI to HDMI for several months and it worked great.
42. Re:Won't Be Long... by TheRaven64 · 2011-01-05 06:36 · Score: 2
  
  Sure, if you happen to have one of the very few CPU-bound, floating-point intensive, tasks where the working set is under 256KB (each SPU's local memory) and the total dataset is under 256MB (the total memory in a PS3). The cell handles branching a bit better than an SPU, but a modern GPU comes with between 512MB and 3GB of local RAM, which more than the PS3 has in total.
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
43. Re:Won't Be Long... by nullifi · 2011-01-05 06:52 · Score: 1
  
  I bought an HDMI-DVI cable for my PS3 when I used it with my monitor. When I got a TV, I just bought a small DVI-HDMI adapter. Everything works, including sound. I didn't know HDMI had the exact same pins as DVI. Makes me wonder why they use HDMI anyway..
44. Re:Won't Be Long... by nullifi · 2011-01-05 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  I thought you wanted us to find you a consumer you can buy. I was going to direct to your local downtown area.
45. Re:Won't Be Long... by TheCRAIGGERS · 2011-01-05 07:11 · Score: 1
  
  DVI and HDMI are digital.
  VGA is analog, and analog to digital conversion is always messy.
  While I don't have experience with a VGA to DVI adapter, I once used a VGA to S-Video adapter and it sucked eggs. Extremely noisy... although I guess it could be passable if you sit far enough away.
46. Re:Won't Be Long... by mcgrew · 2011-01-05 07:14 · Score: 1
  
  Of course you do. It may not be underground, but very few of us have ever left the basement; there's that gravity well to get past...
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
47. Re:Won't Be Long... by TheCRAIGGERS · 2011-01-05 07:15 · Score: 1
  
  Errr, it's not. DVI is video only, no audio.
  Although Wikipedia does say that some ATI and NVidia cards can do it in a non-standard way that involves some kind of DVI adapter.
  Perhaps your PS3 is just magic?
48. Re:Won't Be Long... by SiChemist · 2011-01-05 07:15 · Score: 1
  
  Makes me wonder why they use HDMI anyway..
  Three little letters: DRM
  
  --
  God is imaginary
49. Re:Won't Be Long... by Captain+Splendid · 2011-01-05 07:22 · Score: 1
  
  More like the other way around. I started outside, and have been working my way in my whole life...
  
  --
  Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
50. Re:Won't Be Long... by Moryath · 2011-01-05 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  Another pain in the ass: ATi doesn't enable GPU-based scaling (for overscan correction) on VGA connections, only DVI and HDMI.
  Reason it's a pain in the ass? My HTPC uses VGA, because my TV has one VGA and one HDMI port and the PS3 got the HDMI port.
  I'll be quite happy when we get true linux for the PS3 with a CFW to properly enable it - then I can slap in a 750GB drive into it, drop in MythTV, and pack the old HTPC off to another room for service as longer term storage while the PS3 acts as the local Myth frontend in the living room.
  Couldn't do it before, because "OtherOS" was a fucking joke.
51. Re:Won't Be Long... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-05 07:46 · Score: 1
  
  Same here. This biggest PITA is the controls. On Linux a DS3 with a chatpad is the ultimate HTPC remote.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
52. Re:Won't Be Long... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-05 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  Search for "DVI to HDMI adapter"
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
53. Re:Won't Be Long... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-05 07:50 · Score: 1
  
  HDMI carries audio as well, but apart from that it's just a subset of the pins on a DVI connector.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
54. Re:Won't Be Long... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-05 07:51 · Score: 1
  
  You know HDCP can work over DVI too, right?
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
55. Re:Won't Be Long... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-05 07:58 · Score: 1
  
  DLNA mangles subtitles and multiple audio tracks. Also why would you need to transcode "shmewhere along the way?" I just stream everything from my SMB server, all my devices are capable of accessing it, and they all use VLC and/or Mplayer. No transcoding necessary, and the subtitles and multiple audio tracks all work.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
56. Re:Won't Be Long... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-05 08:02 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds like a policy problem. One pass with random data is plenty good enough on modern hard drives, you can do four passes if you want tinfoil-hat-compliant security.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
57. Re:Won't Be Long... by tibman · 2011-01-05 08:09 · Score: 1
  
  A lot of vid cards come with hdmi these days.
  The big advantage of a media pc is versatility. Many different wireless controllers/mice/keyboards. You can have some fantastic setups like uTorrent watching an RSS feed to auto-download your shows. Boxie watching your video directories and automatically adding the shows into your queue. Then you get in an argument with your GF about what movie that actor was in you can alt-tab google it and alt-tab back.
  In support of my vid card statement, over 200 different cards: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=28&sel=Detail;236_1246_18861_18861
  
  --
  http://soylentnews.org/~tibman
58. Re:Won't Be Long... by Grimbleton · 2011-01-05 08:17 · Score: 1
  
  Please read what I replied to. Then re-read what I wrote.
  Then read what you wrote.
  And then go sit in the corner and think about it for a while.
59. Re:Won't Be Long... by TheCRAIGGERS · 2011-01-05 08:27 · Score: 1
  
  Not to be contentious, but I already have all that. My fileserver already scans and downloads from RSS feeds, and through the magic of homebrew on the Wii / XBox, I can play them all off the fileserver.
  However, both my Wii and my Xbox don't support HD content. So, I either shell out a few hundred bucks for a decent media center PC or I buy a PS3 that can do that and more for cheaper.
  I'm not saying you're wrong in your points- I'm just saying that not everyone is like you.
60. Re:Won't Be Long... by djdanlib · 2011-01-05 08:56 · Score: 1
  
  You could buy a Sony BDP-BX57 blu-ray player for less than $200 and get all of that (1080p video, Netflix, Hulu Plus, media streaming from your PC, playback from hard drive/USB stick, remote control) and more. I have one and it's pretty nice, and I didn't have to spend the dough on a HTPC with a Win7 license nor did I have to deal with getting the exact right hardware and setting up Linux *precisely correctly* to get smooth HD video playback. Just sayin' there are easier ways to do it if the "it's a general purpose computer" aspect isn't the most important part :)
61. Re:Won't Be Long... by filthpickle · 2011-01-05 09:04 · Score: 1
  
  If consoles are your thing, then console away...but I do need to defend PC gaming from this sentiment.
  
  Please speak for your own PC experiences....my PC simply works. A friend of mine...who admittedly plays way too much xbox...is on his 6th 360. I don't disagree with you in general, but PC gaming thru steam works pretty well and easily, if you have decent hardware.
  
  And another point on the hardware...because most PC gamers are just geeks like that we do love to build insane rigs (i7 920, 16GB or ram, 2X radeon 5870's, 2X velociraptor 600GB RAID 0......muaha.....muahahaha....muahahaha)
  
  ahem. Having said that however, one thing that consoles have done is stop/greatly slow down how often you need to upgrade. It's going to cost more than a PS3 (because it does more and isn't being sold for a loss), but you can build/buy a pretty decent gaming rig and not have to spend a grand to do it.
62. Re:Won't Be Long... by cayenne8 · 2011-01-05 09:05 · Score: 1
  
  "WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) is the largest single limiting factor in installing a HTPC. Look at ANY HTPC forum."
  Sounds like guys out there need to "Man Up" a little...and quit letting their females tell them how to run their lives.
  Remember the Golden Rule:
  He who had the most gold....makes the rules.
  Unless your woman makes more than you...in which case you don't need to be wasting time at home playing games, you need to get a better job.
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
63. Re:Won't Be Long... by Smauler · 2011-01-05 09:09 · Score: 1
  
  Errr, it's not. DVI is video only, no audio.
  That's what I thought, but my graphics card spits out audio, and it's only got DVI outs. It shocked me as well. I haven't researched how it is doing it yet.
  My setup is a PC with a Gigabyte GTX 460. It only has DVI outputs on the back. Upon installing the card, it installed "nvidia high definition audio drivers", and I switched back to my previous default, which was using onboard sound with a seperate connection. However, recently I took my PC over to my parent's, and connected it to their TV. I'm assuming that beause no audio jacks were plugged in it reverted back to the nvidia driver, and sound automatically worked.
  To clarify :
  DVI output alone used. No audio jacks connected (actually, only DVI, mouse, keyboard and power connected - I didn't even bother connecting the network).
  A simple older DVI to HDMI cable used, _not_ one bought with the gtx 460.
  Having done a little research I found this on Wikipedia : Some ATI and NVIDIA video cards with DVI outputs offer HDMI audio output, though this is done using the DVI connector pins in a non-standard way, using a special custom DVI to HDMI adapter to route the audio out to the HDMI on the correct pins. Many of these cards now offer HDMI ports alongside DVI ports.
  Note I don't have a custom DVI to HDMI adapter, nor any special hardware. The sound just worked. Like I said before, I was shocked it did since I assumed it couldn't. When I got back to my house, I tried it with my monitor (which does not have DVI, only HDMI, hence the old cable), and it worked with this too.
  I don't really know how it's working, and I don't really need the feature, but I guess some people might.
64. Re:Won't Be Long... by RobDude · 2011-01-05 09:28 · Score: 1
  
  90% of them want to pirate games.
  9.9% of them want to do it cause it's 'cool', but will only run what others have created. .1% will actually do 'something' with it. Of this .1% 90% of the people developing/hacking the box will be working on things that allow themselves and others to pirate games.
65. Re:Won't Be Long... by Riceballsan · 2011-01-05 09:31 · Score: 1
  
  I believe what he's saying is newegg is a site that's target audience is custom builders, and thus has a poor selection of pre-assembled computers, going for what your ordinary joe would buy, you check where an ordinary joe would buy his computer, lets try dell.com first computer listed in home PC's Inspiron 560 priced at $399, check tech specs for rear ports, HDMI port is listed. Actually with modern computes I would say HDMI is such an understood people don't list it
66. Re:Won't Be Long... by Belial6 · 2011-01-05 09:42 · Score: 1
  
  My Acer Revo cost $180 including the OS. The remote cost me $25 dollars. That puts my price close enough to your $200 as to call it a wash. It looks like the newer models are closer to $350, but they will give you more flexibility. I would never recommend Linux as an HTPC to anyone that wasn't already a Linux user, but Windows 7 pretty much comes ready to go, and comes with the computers. It is no more an extra cost than the software that comes on the Blu-ray players.
  
  The trade off will come mostly in the Blu-ray part of the Blu-ray player. The Revo's don't come with an optical drive, so no playing any optical media on it.
  
  The Revo has the benefit of having actual storage for the media. It also can play a much wider range of media types. It can also get regular Hulu, which for many people is vastly superior to Hulu Plus.
  
  I would say that for someone that REALLY doesn't want to think about the setup at all, the Blu-ray player has a slight edge. For people that want Blu-ray capabilities, the Blu-ray player is a complete no brainer.
  
  For people that don't mind a little setup, the Revo has a little edge, and for people that want flexibility, the Revo is definitely the way to go.
  
  For those with more PCs in the house, one nice feature of the Revo is that it's power requirements are 5-20 watts depending on load. At that, it makes a nice file server for the rest of the PCs in the house. So, even if you went the Blu-ray player route, the Revo might still be a worthy part of the mix so that you don't have to choose between running a 80-100 watt desktop PC 24/7 and having to go boot your desktop to watch movies.
67. Re:Won't Be Long... by pakar · 2011-01-05 09:44 · Score: 1
  
  Option 1:
  Computer with HDMI
  Enough cpu-power to play games
  Good enough GFX-card
  Small case that will fit at the TV
  Good wireless controllers that the games has been designed for... Extremely hard.
  And all parts should be quiet..... almost impossible..
  = around ~700EUR is in the lower end.. add a windows-license +50eur....
  Option 2:
  Get a PS3 - around 250EUR + a bit bigger harddrive and some extra controllers... so lets say 350EUR.
  Pros/Cons of option 1:
  + big bonus + You have full control over everything... Do whatever you want...
  - Games are not designed for specific controllers
  - Games are not designed to be run on a TV.
  - Secondhand-games are hard to find, uncertain if it's possible to reactivate the game.
  - Expensive
  - Big case at the TV, hard to find something that can fit at the tv.
  - Windows GUI not designed to be used on a TV. Can be hard to read...
  If running XBMC or similar this goes away but then you have one gui for games (windows desktop) and one gui for media-playback (xbmc)..
  - Inability to easily control windows or other desktop-os via a standardized controller.
  Pros/Cons of option 2:
  + Small and quiet box
  + Cheap
  + Lots of secondhand-games
  + Games are designed to be controlled with the supplied controllers
  + Games are designed to be run on a larger screen.
  + Now with homebrew (linux, emulators, mediacenters etc)
  - No possibility to upgrade..
  - New games costs alot..
  And for the geeks :)
  + Possibility to play around with a Cell processor...
68. Re:Won't Be Long... by suutar · 2011-01-05 10:29 · Score: 1
  
  Is that a bad thing? :)
  I don't have both only because I ran out of room. Instead I added stuff to my fileserver upstairs to allow the ps3 to do most of what I'd be having the computer do :)
69. Re:Won't Be Long... by HornWumpus · 2011-01-05 10:32 · Score: 1
  
  The newer PCs at Goodwill have more processing power then a PS3.
  The PS3 had computing parity with the PC market for about a second.
  That is to say that on ship day for the PS3 it was about as strong as a $300 emachine.
  As a pure rendering engine it was even ahead for a second or two.
  Sorry to burst your bubble.
  
  --
  John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
70. Re:Won't Be Long... by suutar · 2011-01-05 10:36 · Score: 1
  
  yes, but if I recall right, HDMI is not allowed to ignore HDCP, whereas for DVI it's merely optional.
71. Re:Won't Be Long... by suutar · 2011-01-05 10:39 · Score: 1
  
  Have another vote for ps3 media server. I run it on my linux fileserver so I can turn off my windows desktop and still watch my stories :)
72. Re:Won't Be Long... by leuk_he · 2011-01-05 10:41 · Score: 1
  
  I think the wikipedia is wrong. Audio on a hdmi is not on seperate pins, it is in the same bitstream as the video stream. Just that for DVI the signal is not defined, and might not be decodeable.
73. Re:Won't Be Long... by suutar · 2011-01-05 10:45 · Score: 1
  
  really? The last I'd heard was that the drive to denser data had led to higher intensity magnetic fields that were _harder_ to securely scrub, not easier. Certainly, the drive can swap from 1 to 0 easily enough, but to do it in a way that doesn't leave the field strength with variations that can lead to reconstructing former values isn't really a priority.
74. Re:Won't Be Long... by exomondo · 2011-01-05 11:05 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty sure the Air Force doesn't give a flying fcuk whether or not the firmware's illegal.
  Right, because they do whatever they want. Obviously you've never worked for the DoD so im not sure what you're basing your assumption on.
  
  It's not like Sony has the balls to sue them (and by extension, the US Government) for it...
  Yeah...because no-one ever sued the US government did they.
75. Re:Won't Be Long... by exomondo · 2011-01-05 11:09 · Score: 1
  
  If the military phones them up and asks for OtherOS-enabled PS3s, they'll get them.
  Why? Why would they just magically get them? You think any foreign company just bows to the wishes of the US government?
76. Re:Won't Be Long... by ThunderBird89 · 2011-01-05 11:18 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty sure the Air Force doesn't give a flying fcuk whether or not the firmware's illegal.
  Right, because they do whatever they want. Obviously you've never worked for the DoD so im not sure what you're basing your assumption on.
  
  It's not like Sony has the balls to sue them (and by extension, the US Government) for it...
  Yeah...because no-one ever sued the US government did they.
  You're right, I haven't, so I'm just basing it on them being given leniency due to their 'role in protecting the nation and the insignificant nature of the crime committed'. Yes, I do think hacking a bunch of PS3s they bought so should be free to do with them as they please, is an insignificant 'crime'.
  As for suing the government, yes, I know it happened several times, but most of the time for breaches of human rights (the voting rights and other equality cases spring to mind), not for copyright infringement, and especially not a in a lawsuit against the armed forces.
  I'm not that intimately familiar with US law, but in Hungary, members the armed forces can only be brought to court in a military court, and I'm not sure that has the laws to deal with a copyright infringement case in the first place...
  
  --
  Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
77. Re:Won't Be Long... by JohnnyLocust · 2011-01-05 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  HDMI is hardly rare, you actually have to go out of your way to get a computer without it these days.
  Actually, you can find them without HDMI quite easily at an Apple store.
  
  --
  Havoc Video
78. Re:Won't Be Long... by exomondo · 2011-01-05 11:31 · Score: 1
  
  You're right, I haven't, so I'm just basing it on them being given leniency due to their 'role in protecting the nation and the insignificant nature of the crime committed'. Yes, I do think hacking a bunch of PS3s they bought so should be free to do with them as they please, is an insignificant 'crime'.
  Well they don't, they have to abide by licensing just as any private corporation or citizen does. They don't get to commit crimes just because it is cost-effective (which is the point of the PS3 cluster) to do so.
  
  As for suing the government, yes, I know it happened several times, but most of the time for breaches of human rights (the voting rights and other equality cases spring to mind), not for copyright infringement
  See section 511 of the US copyright act, it's quite clear. Google even sued them for not considering their apps in a recent RFQ so you can bet a copyright infringement would attract a lawsuit.
79. Re:Won't Be Long... by Billlagr · 2011-01-05 11:54 · Score: 1
  
  yes, because then you can use the extra gold on inflatables and prostitutes when the wife withholds.
80. Re:Won't Be Long... by Beardo+the+Bearded · 2011-01-05 12:06 · Score: 1
  
  Also, it's $300 for a PS3; a PC with the same functions will run double that.
  
  --
  
  ---
  ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
81. Re:Won't Be Long... by Gizzmonic · 2011-01-05 12:21 · Score: 1
  
  I have the Monoprice VGA to HDMI converter; I use it to play Dreamcast games. Dreamcast => VGA Box =>HDMI to VGA converter => TV . I get a fantastic 480p picture out of it. And it will even digitize the audio along with the video if you plug the RCA outs from the DC into the stereo mini input on the HDMI converter.
  
  --
  (-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
82. Re:Won't Be Long... by PhunkySchtuff · 2011-01-05 13:17 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed - transcoding is dodgy at best and downright unusable at worst.
  I have a quad-xeon machine doing my transcoding - it flies through the task without hardly breaking a sweat... As long as I watch a media file from start to finish.
  Don't try to rewind or fast-forward the media. Even pausing and resuming it can be a problem.
  This is using PMS as well as a couple of other options. In the end I've completely given up with realtime transcoding and am now using some software that has a front end to do an offline conversion of mkv to mp4.
  Yet another thing that Sony have dropped the ball on is DivX support - there's even official support for DivX in the PS3's OS, but since DivX was updated to use mkv as it's container format last year... nothing!
  
  --
  Specialist Mac support for creative pros, Melbourne
83. Re:Won't Be Long... by cheekyboy · 2011-01-05 13:27 · Score: 1
  
  Are all games finally supporting 16:9 widescreen 1360x768 properly yet?
  I could not believe some recent games were still 4:3 hardcoded. I mean who even has a 4:3 LCd any more, and
  hasnt everyone dumped their CRTs ?
  
  --
  Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
84. Re:Won't Be Long... by mug+funky · 2011-01-05 14:21 · Score: 1
  
  "Personally, I'll not get married, whenever I want to 'upgrade' to a newer model, well, I don't risk losing half my shit that way. And there are PLENTY of them out there."
  actually, you do if you spend enough time with them (6 months in my country). something tells me that if you end up with a gold-digger, she'll only end up with guy stuff she doesn't want or need. not exactly much incentive to take 50%. ...btw, i never went to an altar. i don't need the imaginary Godfather to watch over my wife and I.
85. Re:Won't Be Long... by toleraen · 2011-01-05 15:02 · Score: 1
  
  "DMS" is a very, very common term when acquiring hardware, as is "spares". Any decent project plans for hardware failures and diminishing supplies.
86. Re:Won't Be Long... by karnal · 2011-01-05 15:15 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure about the new slim ps3 devices, but the older larger ps3 consoles were downright loud; louder than the PVR I have set up beside my TV.
  And yes, it is wife approved. In fact, she now owns the remote... :(
  
  --
  Karnal
87. Re:Won't Be Long... by Billlagr · 2011-01-05 16:42 · Score: 1
  
  Same here, you don't have to be legally 'married' with the bit of paper, you just have to be together (as in living together) long enough and she has a claim. She might not want or need half of the guy stuff, but she may well take it just for the annoyance factor. As i have discovered through experience as of late.
88. Re:Won't Be Long... by adolf · 2011-01-05 16:52 · Score: 1
  
  If I recall right, it's not possible to "ignore" HDCP, and have a usable output.
  The bits are encrypted on the wire. You can ignore an HDCP-encoded DVI signal all day long, but you'll not get a picture from it unless you have something capable of decoding HDCP.
  
  --
  Kid-proof tablet..
89. Re:Won't Be Long... by adolf · 2011-01-05 17:18 · Score: 1
  
  Reason it's a pain in the ass? My HTPC uses VGA, because my TV has one VGA and one HDMI port and the PS3 got the HDMI port.
  Eh? If it's that much of a pain in the ass, why aren't you doing something about it?
  Just get get an HDMI switch, optionally with something like this, and call it done.
  I've been following the progress on the newest PS3 fun fairly closely for a few days, now, since I've got an old PS3 with a bad blu-ray laser that came available for hacking on when the wife bought me a new Slim for Christmas. And all I can say is this: Getting MythTV ported, in particular, isn't a going to be a simple matter of recompiling it, signing it, and using it: There's hardly any dev tools, the GPU is undocumented, the multi-core Cell processor is a wicked beast of a thing that most folks don't have any experience optimizing for, and the single PPC core that sits next to it isn't particularly fast.
  It will be awhile before you get what you want. It's certainly a realistic expectation to think that a proper, simple, and clean port of MythTV (or XBMC or whatever) will happen, but not today. And not next week. And probably not next month.
  I mean, FFS: Right now, writing "Hello World!" to a text file on a thumb drive is still a neat trick on an unmodded PS3. There's much progress to be made.
  So, give up for now, buy the HDMI switch (you'll probably use it eventually anyway even when MythTV happens on the PS3) and a couple of $4 cable to tie it all into the TV, and call it done for the time being. You can always dump the switch on Ebay if/when you decide you don't want it anymore, and an extra cable or two are always handy to have. :)
  
  --
  Kid-proof tablet..
90. Re:Won't Be Long... by GrumblyStuff · 2011-01-06 00:43 · Score: 1
  
  Mind you, I don't mean "childish" to be an insult, only that they (rightfully) don't understand the bullshit reasons for locking people out of the hardware said people own.
  I certainly don't mean this is a tantrum or whining, crying or anything of the sort.
91. Re:Won't Be Long... by sortius_nod · 2011-01-06 01:22 · Score: 1
  
  I have xbox, ps3, & set top box with HDDs & network access. Why would I want to put a PC on my TV? there isn't even room. The ps3 does almost everything I need (emulators being the big downside), I even have a keyboard with a built in trackpad for it. Works great browsing the web.
92. Re:Won't Be Long... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-06 02:19 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah really:
  http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-88/NISTSP800-88_rev1.pdf
  Look at the bottom of Page 12 (20th page of the PDF)
  Also see:
  http://www.anti-forensics.com/disk-wiping-one-pass-is-enough
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
93. Re:Won't Be Long... by sexconker · 2011-01-06 05:19 · Score: 1
  
  Sony is not a foreign company, it is an international company.
  And yes, companies that do business in the US bend over for the US government at the slightest hint of pressure all the time.
  Or have you forgotten about the whole WikiLeaks thing?
94. Re:Won't Be Long... by suutar · 2011-01-06 07:33 · Score: 1
  
  Very cool :) Thanks for the pointer!
95. Re:Won't Be Long... by suutar · 2011-01-06 07:39 · Score: 1
  
  My apologies, I was unclear. I should have said "a product that claims to support HDMI is required to purchase a license for HDCP, where for DVI it's optional". You are correct, if your source is determined to send only encrypted bits and your display can't do decryption, you're SOL.
96. Re:Won't Be Long... by cayenne8 · 2011-01-06 08:45 · Score: 1
  
  "Same here, you don't have to be legally 'married' with the bit of paper, you just have to be together (as in living together) long enough and she has a claim."
  In the US, depends on your state for the most part.
  I try not to keep the same one for THAT long...I don't often live with them, or at least...for the most part, I keep them having a place of their own so they CAN leave at times.
  Great to have a woman around, good for companionship, sex, some light cleaning, etc. But it is even better if they and and do go HOME for awhile.
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
97. Re:Won't Be Long... by betterunixthanunix · 2011-01-06 09:29 · Score: 1
  
  Well yeah, I basically have to agree with you there. Actually, the PS3's configuration is extremely limiting for a lot of problems -- I have a table somewhere comparing a PS3 (using OtherOS) to an IBM server with Cell processors, and the server really kicked the pants off of the PS3. Still, there are some uses cases where the PS3 comes out ahead, and OP was asking why anyone would want to run custom firmware on their PS3 (presumably for reasons other than the reasons people have run NetBSD on toasters).
  
  --
  Palm trees and 8
98. Re:Won't Be Long... by exomondo · 2011-01-06 09:50 · Score: 1
  
  Sony is not a foreign company, it is an international company.
  In any case it isn't a US company.
  
  And yes, companies that do business in the US bend over for the US government at the slightest hint of pressure all the time.
  Or have you forgotten about the whole WikiLeaks thing?
  I think you'll find the wikileaks saga is a bit different to wanting playstations and it certainly doesn't constitute 'all the time'. You seem to have an inflated opinion of the power of the US government, if companies bent over at the slightest hint of pressure the US government would get sued by companies as much as they do.
99. Re:Won't Be Long... by TheTyrannyOfForcedRe · 2011-01-08 11:55 · Score: 1
  
  Remember the Golden Rule:
  He who had the most gold....makes the rules.
  Unless your woman makes more than you...in which case you don't need to be wasting time at home playing games, you need to get a better job.
  Ha! Let me refer you to the golden rule of marriage: "She who owns the vagina makes the rules."
  
  --
  "Liechtenstein is the world's largest producer of sausage casings, potassium storage units, and false teeth."
100. Re:Won't Be Long... by mcvos · 2011-01-08 12:14 · Score: 1
  
  Unless your woman makes more than you...in which case you don't need to be wasting time at home playing games, you need to get a better job.
  Is the quality of a job really only measured in money? Maybe I would be able to make as much money as my wife, but then I'd have to accept really shitty, stressful, time-consuming work. Personally I prefer programming over management, and I'm a lot better at it too. Maybe it's unfair that managers get paid more than programmers (they're both rare talents), but apparently it's the way the job market works.
  On another topic: do you know that you sound like a misogynistic loser in your posts?
Not really working that well by Rik+Sweeney · 2011-01-05 04:03 · Score: 2

although if you're expecting it to play games, you might be disappointed.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25233449&postcount=3752
FTFW

--
Summation 2
1. Re:Not really working that well by keitosama · 2011-01-05 04:10 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  According to PS3-Hacks, only the menu items for trophies, save data, etc were missing, and the hacker has apparently already released an update fixing this bug. http://www.ps3-hacks.com/2011/01/04/ps3-custom-firmware-creator-released-permanently-add-install-pkgs-to-the-xmb/
2. Re:Not really working that well by wowbagger · 2011-01-05 04:28 · Score: 1
  
  ALTHOUGH
  My SaveData is gone, same with trophies and data Utilities
  idk it might be because i formated my drive let me test games out
  TESTING RESULTS
  GAMES:
  seem to load just fine however!!!!!!!!!
  YOU LOOSE [sic] TROPHIES(STILL TESTING, playgame but they don't appear again)
  YOU LOOSE [sic] SAVE DATA MENU
  YOU LOOSE [sic] DATA UTILIT Very crucial to have if you want to clear space on HDD
  PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING UNDER GAME CATAGORY
  And the English Language weeps....
  
  --
  www.eFax.com are spammers
3. Re:Not really working that well by wowbagger · 2011-01-05 05:08 · Score: 1
  
  And YOU need to continue reading down on my post. Had you done so, you might have been able to deduce that I was criticizing the "/.ian" loose/lose confusion in the post, since the the bold font and the [sic] weren't enough of a clue for you.
  And so, the English Language gets joined by Reading Comprehension in weeping....
  
  --
  www.eFax.com are spammers
4. Re:Not really working that well by nschubach · 2011-01-05 05:15 · Score: 1
  
  I think GP was referring to the bastardization of the language more than the content of the post.
  Loose vs. Lose, catagory vs. category, formated vs formatted. I'm ignoring the missing letters, but it's still fun to read it as written. I am a little confused how one would "formate" a drive though.
  
  --
  Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
5. Re:Not really working that well by JDeane · 2011-01-05 06:04 · Score: 1
  
  lol your funny.
  I guess Mis capitalization Should Join the Fray!!!
Increased Sales? by TheL0ser · 2011-01-05 04:08 · Score: 1

I wonder, is it possible that this might increase the sales numbers for the PS3? Now that they're a hackable machine, all sorts of enthusiasts are going to want to play with one, and the "dirty pirates" might buy one to play downloaded games. While this isn't a good thing for Sony, perhaps a sort of silver lining?
1. Re:Increased Sales? by Desler · 2011-01-05 04:10 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Increased sales of a console are meaningless to these companies without an accompanying high attachment rate on buying games.
2. Re:Increased Sales? by DragonWriter · 2011-01-05 04:17 · Score: 1
  
  Increased sales of a console are meaningless to these companies without an accompanying high attachment rate on buying games.
  I thought both the Xbox360 and PS3 had reached the point where the consoles themselves were profitable now, such that while a high attach rate is desirable, sales of consoles in and of themselves are still positives for the company.
3. Re:Increased Sales? by RogueyWon · 2011-01-05 04:30 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Indeed, sales of all three consoles are now profitable (and have been for about 2 years). The margins are still small on all three, though. Last numbers I remember seeing indicated that for the console manufacturer, one console sale was roughly equivalent to two game sales. That's not bad, but it's not fantastic either. Might be outdated, of course; you'd expect the margins on hardware sales to get larger as time goes on.
  The Kinect, however, has an absolutely stonkingly huge profit margin for each unit sold. No wonder MS were treating its release as a new console launch. Even if the Kinect attach rate for games is awful, as I suspect it probably will be (unless games improve from the launch titles), MS are probably already laughing their way to the bank on that one.
4. Re:Increased Sales? by Riceballsan · 2011-01-05 04:32 · Score: 1
  
  Not to mention the slight chance of 1. the rabbid obnoxious fanboys that like to quote the sales figures of consoles, and 2. who knows maybe 3rd parties use the console sales as a metric when deciding what systems to develop their new game for.
5. Re:Increased Sales? by LordNimon · 2011-01-05 04:33 · Score: 1
  
  Hey buddy, wake up. It's the 21st Century. You should know that being profitable is just not good enough any more. Every business unit has to be more profitable year-after-year! A lower attachment rate will reduce profitability, so the bean counters will insist that the techies put a stop to this custom firmware nonsense.
  
  --
  And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
  To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
6. Re:Increased Sales? by Duradin · 2011-01-05 04:38 · Score: 1
  
  There is a difference between just profitable and profitable enough. You could turn a $0.01 net profit and it would be "profitable" but possibly not "profitable enough" to justify its resource consumption.
7. Re:Increased Sales? by MBCook · 2011-01-05 04:46 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I agree on the PS3 and 360, but surely the margins on the Wii must be pretty good. No Blu-Ray, no hard drive, small processor. Instead of a price drop they just bundled in a game made by Nintendo.
  I would expect that Nintendo could drop $50 or more off the price of the Wii and still make money on each unit sold. They haven't dropped the price in years.
  
  --
  Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
8. Re:Increased Sales? by hedwards · 2011-01-05 04:51 · Score: 1
  
  They are profitable now, that's one of the reasons why Sony started to remove chips from the PS3 pretty much from the start, to get the cost down under what they were selling it for.
  
  But, really, if people buy them and want to use them for Linux then Sony shouldn't be allowed to do anything about it. If I buy a console then I own it, and should be able to do whatever I like with it. Provided it doesn't screw up anybody else's experience. And even then with the minimum restraint necessary to solve the problem.
9. Re:Increased Sales? by Applekid · 2011-01-05 06:32 · Score: 2
  
  The Wii is the only home console in this generation that wasn't initially sold at a loss, so, yes.
  
  --
  More Twoson than Cupertino
10. Re:Increased Sales? by Applekid · 2011-01-05 06:34 · Score: 1
  
  You can't patch revealing your private key without revoking all public keys. Sony cannot fix this without breaking compatibility with every current game in its library.
  Of course, breaking changes never stopped 'em before...
  
  --
  More Twoson than Cupertino
11. Re:Increased Sales? by clone53421 · 2011-01-05 10:04 · Score: 1
  
  1) Revoke public keys
  2) Whitelist all legitimate PS3 games (there aren’t that many)
  3) ???
  4) PROFIT!
  
  --
  Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
12. Re:Increased Sales? by kenshin33 · 2011-01-05 11:06 · Score: 1
  
  metldr key (the geohot's key) is not revocable without updating metldr, which is impossible to update. it is the second thing that get's loaded with that broken anything under is/can be broken or can be.
13. Re:Increased Sales? by aaron552 · 2011-01-05 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  Not to mention that (IIRC) the private key is in the boot ROM, and can't be changed (on existing consoles, anyway)
  
  --
  I had a sig once. It was lost in the great storm of '09.
14. Re:Increased Sales? by exomondo · 2011-01-05 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  Not to mention the only PS3 ever bought for clustering was the one that was sold at a significant loss.
15. Re:Increased Sales? by powerlord · 2011-01-05 12:19 · Score: 1
  
  Sony can definitely Fix/Contain this.
  All Sony needs to do is remove the ability to run updates except either:
  1) Over the Net (when connected/logged into PSN)
  2) From a Blu-Ray disk (where the Disk format is confirmed)
  3) Add some code to the next binary to try to determine what firmwares running are "unsanctioned" and Perma-Ban those PS3s from PSN
  and they've closed this hole.
  1) CAN be gotten around by including a Proxy, but it would greatly slow down the "ease of use" of this hack, so less people will do it.
  2) Might be gotten around (somebody starts releasing a pressed Blu-Ray with a hacked firmware?)
  3) Might/Might not be worth the time and trouble (and "arms escalation" on both sides), but a limited success would keep people from doing the hack (although it would buy some bad press also).
  
  --
  This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
16. Re:Increased Sales? by mcvos · 2011-01-08 12:38 · Score: 1
  
  Are they? Sounds a bit risky to invest money into something that Sony might declare illegal tomorrow.
  Is Sony legislature now?
  As far as I know, no company, not even Sony or Apple, can declare something illegal. In fact, what Sony did: disabling OtherOS after selling it to lots of people, should be illegal. I don't understand why there hasn't been a big lawsuit over that yet.
  Whatever the case, I'm glad PS3 owners get to own their own hardware again.
Tuxracer, here I come! by Andrioid · 2011-01-05 04:09 · Score: 2

Tuxracer, here I come!
Same Kakarato as in aMSN? by Talavis · 2011-01-05 04:11 · Score: 1

Unless I'm misstaken, it's the same guy that also made first implementation of MSN webcam features on Linux.
Before blaming piracy on them by justsomebody · 2011-01-05 04:14 · Score: 1

should we also apply the same tactics and proclaim Nobel as greatest mass murderer our planet has ever seen? [ although i hate guns, i still agree with "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" ]
and homebrew applies very well when you have really expensive setup. i don't have pc connected to it and i don't plan to run it on small 27" screen

--
Signature Pro version 1.13.2-3 release 83.5 beta3try7 after-breakfast edition
1. Re:Before blaming piracy on them by 91degrees · 2011-01-05 04:30 · Score: 1
  
  One newspaper did just that. This was what prompted him to set up the Nobel prize.
2. Re:Before blaming piracy on them by justsomebody · 2011-01-05 04:38 · Score: 1
  
  lol, true. but still i don't see him in history books being mentioned before Hitler&Co.
  
  --
  Signature Pro version 1.13.2-3 release 83.5 beta3try7 after-breakfast edition
So how long until the DMCA lawsuits? by chemicaldave · 2011-01-05 04:15 · Score: 1

Or rather, DMCA lawsuits specifically related to custom firmware. I'd be interested to know how the courts (or a jury) would side on issues specific to hardware. Then again, FTFA it says the guy wont be publicly releasing the update, just the tools to build it yourself.
1. Re:So how long until the DMCA lawsuits? by rs1n · 2011-01-05 04:18 · Score: 1
  
  Or rather, DMCA lawsuits specifically related to custom firmware. I'd be interested to know how the courts (or a jury) would side on issues specific to hardware. Then again, FTFA it says the guy wont be publicly releasing the update, just the tools to build it yourself.
  Unless custom firmware is completely devoid of Sony's firmware, anyone releasing "custom" firmware is probably going to lose in court. However, I wonder if Sony might try to sue based on him releasing tools that enable circumventing Sony's official firmware.
2. Re:So how long until the DMCA lawsuits? by chemicaldave · 2011-01-05 04:32 · Score: 2
  
  This reminds me of the Texas Instruments debacle in 2009
3. Re:So how long until the DMCA lawsuits? by Nursie · 2011-01-05 06:13 · Score: 1
  
  Well there's the thing here - he's released tools to make custom firmware out of Sony's official firmware, so he seems to be safe on that count.
  DMCA OTOH, yes, that's the next problem.
4. Re:So how long until the DMCA lawsuits? by kenshin33 · 2011-01-05 11:10 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know, but since when american law is enforced everywhere on the planet????
  just a thought.
5. Re:So how long until the DMCA lawsuits? by mcvos · 2011-01-08 12:42 · Score: 1
  
  Since a couple of years now. It varies somewhat by law, though.
Who cares about pirated games... by mlts · 2011-01-05 04:23 · Score: 5, Interesting

I'd love a ROM for these that essentially just makes the PS3 and all its features available to a Linux distribution. Similar to the Other OS functionality, except with full access to the hardware.
There are a lot of cool things a PS3 could do. It is inexpensive, reliable hardware. Of course, XMBC can address the media aspects, but for non-media, I can think of a few things (some can already be done):
1: Hook it up to an external disk array, and use it as a NAS head, with encryption. Perhaps have it rsync to a gmailfs directory for backups to the "cloud" of critical files.
2: Three Ethernet ports, so it can do some complicated firewalling/IDS/IPS/content filtering/NAT.
3: Persistent storage for a squid cache, a caching DNS, DHCP, DDNS.
4: RADIUS server for the wireless router.
5: LDAP
6: Mail gateway.
7: VPN server.
8: SSH gateway.
These are relatively boring things for a PC to do, but a PS3 has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive, reliable, and a non-x86 architecture, which may help things if an attacker manages to get arbitrary code executing.
I almost wish Sony allowed this in the first place -- there is a vast, untapped market for an all in one home server appliance, that doesn't just provide file and print serving, but authentication, caching, and many other features.
1. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by mccalli · 2011-01-05 04:37 · Score: 2
  
  I'd love a ROM for these that essentially just makes the PS3 and all its features available to a Linux distribution.
  
  I'd love to get the Blu-Ray drive acessible and act as a ripper. I buy my media - I buy DVDs, I buy music online. I'd like to buy blu-Ray too but won't due to DRM - at the moment any blu-rays we've watched have been via rental. I'd like to rip them for use on a media server, but the only blu-ray drive I've got is the PS3. Be handy if we could get access to that and install a ripper.
  
  Cheers,
  Ian
2. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by tgd · 2011-01-05 04:46 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  There are hundreds of options for hardware better at doing the things you just listed that are cheaper than a Playstation.
  A $50 router and OpenWRT can do all of that.
3. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-01-05 04:55 · Score: 1
  
  Here's the thing: A fully custom firmware that circumvents lv1 would be a pain.
  As fail0verflow stated in their talks, the lv1 hypervisor is the helpful kind of hypervisor, not the hurtful kind - it functions as a HAL so that the software running on it doesn't care whether a particular model of PS3 is using, say, a Broadcom wireless chipset rather than a Qualcomm wireless chipset. If you were to hit the bare metal, you'd stand a very good chance of making a Linux distribution that only works on a portion of currently-released PS3s.
  Granted, some might say that it's worth it to have complete control over the machine - but from a pragmatic standpoint, I don't think anyone wants to go through the trouble of hand-crafting their own drivers for all the different kinds of chipsets that Sony have used in all of their different hardware revs.
4. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by Khyber · 2011-01-05 05:03 · Score: 1
  
  It's been out for a while, now.
  AsbestOS for PS3.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
5. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by SnarfQuest · 2011-01-05 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  These are relatively boring things for a PC to do,
  However, a PC can be bought for just a few dollars at a thrift store that is already capable of doing all these things without needing to hack the hardware, develop/modify an OS to run on it, modify programs to run under that OS, ...
  It might be fun for someone to hack on, but when you can already get reliable machines (for less), that are easily maintained (you don't need to mail the system to China to get it fixed), well supported (how many PC's vs PS3's does Linux run on), ...
  The PS3 is OK as a hobby, or for something that needs the extra CPU's, but I wouldn't want to have to rely on it for production use.
  
  --
  Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
6. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by futuresheep · 2011-01-05 05:39 · Score: 2
  
  A Bluray Drive in my HTPC + MakeMKV works very well for this exact purpose. I rip the main movie from the BR-D's we buy in about 35-45 minutes, then the BR-D goes on the shelf. Use XBMC or 7MV as your interface and you have a VERY nice media center.
7. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by LoudMusic · 2011-01-05 06:10 · Score: 1
  
  You could do that with a PS2. It wouldn't be as powerful, obviously, but you don't have to break anything to make it work either. And it'd be damn near free at this point, with half your friends keeping their unused PS2 in the bottom of their closet.
  You'd need a PS2, network adapter, PATA HDD, and a distro disk. The VGA dongle is a nice thing to have but by no means required. And I think the disk is duplicable.
  
  --
  No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
8. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by gknoy · 2011-01-05 07:17 · Score: 1
  
  The point is, if you can do it with a router running OpenWRT, why would you do it with a PC *or* with a PS3, unless you already have a spare one of either?
9. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by wolrahnaes · 2011-01-05 07:20 · Score: 1
  
  2: Three Ethernet ports, so it can do some complicated firewalling/IDS/IPS/content filtering/NAT.
  You're looking at some really old specs. Sony made that claim early on (actually with the intent that the PS3 be used as a wireless router itself), but production models all have a single gigabit ethernet port. All but the original 20GB model also have 802.11b/g.
  
  --
  I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
10. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by CronoCloud · 2011-01-05 07:52 · Score: 2
  
  Where do you live that people throw computers away in dumpsters?
11. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by yorugua · 2011-01-05 08:01 · Score: 1
  
  > A $50 router and OpenWRT can do all of that.
  ...and without using some 300W worth of electricity.
12. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by CronoCloud · 2011-01-05 08:06 · Score: 1
  
  :-)
  While the Distro disk is duplicable.... the magic RTE disc you need to boot Linux isn't however. It's also slightly non-standard, the only Japan-pressed NTSC-UC I have. If your PS2 is going to have DRE (disk read error) issues, they'll start showing up first with the RTE disc before anything else.
13. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by CronoCloud · 2011-01-05 08:09 · Score: 2
  
  Where do you live that you can find computers in thrift stores capable of doing the media things a PS3 does?
14. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-05 08:16 · Score: 1
  
  Interesting! I'll have to get a BR drive for my HTPC.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
15. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by GameboyRMH · 2011-01-05 08:32 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly, those are the last things I'd think of using a PS3 for.
  I'd think of using it for:
  - An HTPC - It has HDMI output, it's tidy and compact, and it has enough processing power that it will be useful for playing vids well into the future. Plus it already has four awesome gamepads on it, just add emulators!
  - Video encoding - it has a Blu-ray drive and a monster CPU, this isn't rocket science.
  - Distributed computing - you could join it into something like Folding@home, SETI@home or Bitcoin, if you're into that sort of thing. You could also use something like QADPZ on the PS3 and the other computers in your own home, and send the system wireless packets to work on from your PDA. This could also be useful for something like the recent GSM crack.
  - VoIP server - another good use of the processing power, it will laugh in the face of any number of G.729 streams.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
16. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by definate · 2011-01-05 11:18 · Score: 1
  
  Everywhere. Just go dumpster diving. Mind you the hardware can be quite dated, though sometimes not.
  If you're willing to put in the man hours (which can be significant), I've had friends build relatively giant clusters of averagely old hardware, by scrounging through others off casts.
  In fact, this happens so much, that an old friend of mine started a non-profit, where they would recycle free computers (pull them apart, sort the good bits from the bad bits), then give them on to needy people for free.
  The company I worked for recently cleared 3 pallets of this stuff, because NOBODY would take them from us, so we even ended up paying someone to take them and recycle them.
  Basically, if you're willing to downgrade to a single core, and 2-4 generation old hardware, then you can EASILY get a free computer, if you're willing to put the effort in. Most aren't willing to put this effort in.
  
  --
  This is my footer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
17. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by definate · 2011-01-05 11:22 · Score: 1
  
  Based on this...
  PS3 Hardware
  My other post to you stands with only the exception of a BluRay drive. One of those would generally have to be purchased, though I don't know why, since I scarcely know anyone who uses that media.
  Oh and with the caveat that it couldn't play PS3 games, which would rule out everything BUT the PS3 (and perhaps a high powered PC with an emulator, but not sure if there are emulators out).
  
  --
  This is my footer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
18. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by LoudMusic · 2011-01-05 11:42 · Score: 1
  
  Once Linux is installed on the hard drive is the optical boot disk required? Seems like it isn't, but I honestly can't recall (it's been a few sleeps since the last time I messed with it).
  If not, an ISO of the installed OS could be provided on the torrentz for anyone interested. Assuming their hardware is similar ;D
  
  --
  No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
19. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by NotQuiteInsane · 2011-01-05 11:59 · Score: 1
  
  As I understand it, you'd still need a valid "software verification" certificate (signed by AACS-LA) to get the drive to talk to you. Once you've done that, you need an AACS key set to actually decrypt the data...
20. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by exomondo · 2011-01-05 12:12 · Score: 1
  
  I almost wish Sony allowed this in the first place -- there is a vast, untapped market for an all in one home server appliance, that doesn't just provide file and print serving, but authentication, caching, and many other features.
  It would be too expensive. If you factor out game sales then the PS3 would need to be sold at much more than cost price, the release price would likely have been nudging $2000.
21. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by CronoCloud · 2011-01-05 12:46 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, the RTE disc is required to boot into Linux once you've installed it.
22. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by PhunkySchtuff · 2011-01-05 13:05 · Score: 1
  
  ...
  2: Three Ethernet ports, so it can do some complicated firewalling/IDS/IPS/content filtering/NAT.
  If you've got a PS3 with three ether ports, it's worth quite a large amount of money as it's a prototype.
  All shipping PS3s have one wired gigabit Ethernet port and one 802.11g wifi adapter.
  All of the other things you mention there would potentially have been possible with OtherOS as it was before Sony removed it.
  
  --
  Specialist Mac support for creative pros, Melbourne
23. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by bloodhawk · 2011-01-05 15:21 · Score: 1
  
  A PS3 is a really poor and incredibly EXPENSIVE option for every single item you listed. None of those items (even if you combined them all) is a cost effective use.
24. Re:Who cares about pirated games... by AmiMoJo · 2011-01-06 03:28 · Score: 1
  
  The use less electricity too.
  The SheevaPlug is ideal for this sort of thing. 1.2GHz ARM CPU, 512MB RAM, gigabit LAN and some USB ports. Actual performance is not amazing but for many tasks is more than adequate. All for 2W at idle. They are really cheap now, especially if you buy a re-branded one and install Linux.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
CFW != piracy by Hatta · 2011-01-05 04:25 · Score: 1

With the PS3's root key leaked, you shouldn't even need CFW to enable piracy. You should be able to sign the pirated game with the root key and it will run it just as if it was an official game. It won't be long until self boot PS3 images become common.
See, piracy and CFW are orthogonal issues. This CFW doesn't enable piracy, and piracy can occur without CFW at all.

--
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
1. Re:CFW != piracy by Hatta · 2011-01-05 04:51 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, a burned blu ray ISO would be signed... with the root keys. Since we have the root keys, we don't need to disable the check. Just sign the software with the root keys and the PS3 will run it.
  CFW would eliminate the need for signing your own ISOs, or using a boot disk. But if the release groups start signing their releases, there won't be any use for that.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
2. Re:CFW != piracy by MikeBabcock · 2011-01-05 05:01 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  You're missing the point. If the firmware checks for media type, a BD-R's signature will never be checked, because its the wrong type of media. You still need a firmware bypass to allow that. Note: we can already do 1-to-1 copies of BD-R discs, and they don't work. Those are signed already, being 1-to-1 copies.
  The signature issue only applies to unlicensed software, not pirated software.
  IE someone can make a printed non-burned game/application disc and sign it without paying Sony for licensing. That's a whole other problem.
  
  --
  - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
3. Re:CFW != piracy by Khyber · 2011-01-05 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  Nope. Part of the security system requires matching keys for the executable, too.
  Disabling the check = disabling the drive.
  What you would likely have to do is slip the required key into the proper place in the ISO depending upon required disc type, burn it, and let the console read it.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
4. Re:CFW != piracy by Hatta · 2011-01-05 05:07 · Score: 1
  
  You know, that's a good point. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
5. Re:CFW != piracy by butalearner · 2011-01-05 05:13 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but for whatever reason there is no way to install even signed packages from the XMB. That's actually the only thing this CFW does: allow you to install signed PKG files from the XMB. The developer says on his site that none of the current homebrew will run because none of it is signed.
6. Re:CFW != piracy by leuk_he · 2011-01-05 05:31 · Score: 1
  
  This was addressed in the video. THe BR are loaded by apploader, and those keys are not leaked. (but with rootkey leaked you can write an other apploader to load unsigned BR). Currently you need some usb jailbreak to get your first code on the ps3
7. Re:CFW != piracy by Nursie · 2011-01-05 06:18 · Score: 1
  
  Couple that with the fact that Sony screwed up the crypto massively and in the last week all the keys have been found to allow signing, then it's just a matter of time before unofficial signed pkg's are ready.
  Hell, that's how the custom firmware can be installed - it's signed with one of the recently discovered keys.
8. Re:CFW != piracy by indecks · 2011-01-05 06:26 · Score: 1
  
  I wouldn't want to burn a 1:1 copy of a Bludisc. Those things are massive and massively expensive. I'd rather do what I do now, run the games off of the internal HDD.
9. Re:CFW != piracy by polyp2000 · 2011-01-05 06:39 · Score: 1
  
  The holy grail surely is to not need CFW in the first place. I mean once you have a CFW on the PS3 , it would be be easier for Sony to do some sort of hash check against legal firmwares and detemine whether to allow access to online services etc. If the firmware is Stock Firmware thats much harder to do as you would have to verify anything that's installed on the console too - and thats a lot of potential variations.
  Im not sure on this , but geohot's provided a homebrew file that can be run via the USB if you put the console in service mode. (hold some buttons down and turn the console on) - last time i checked service mode requires no dongle.
  Perhaps that would be the way in ? eg: install your apploader as an application via service mode, on an unmodified firmware - then reboot.
  from that point on you can run the "apploader" from the XMB.
  N.
  
  --
  Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
10. Re:CFW != piracy by wierd_w · 2011-01-05 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  From a consumer point of view, that last bit (Out-of-country commercial software houses producing unlicensed game titles for the console on pressed discs.) is a good thing.
  As far as I know, the PS3 is the only current gen console that has had the master keys revealed like this, and thus the only console able to have this done on currently.
  While sony might pitch a bitch about reduced revenue in their bank accounts over reduced license fee returns, it would open the doors on the PS3 to a whole horde of interesting games for the PS3 that would otherwise have never been released for it.
  that is what made Playstation back in the day-- it was cheaper to develop for, and had more space available than the Nintendo and Pals' offerings, and subsequently, had WAAAAAAY more titles available on it. Being opened up like this might be the shot of "Go-go juice" that Sony has needed in its ailing console segment for the past 5 years now. (I wont say if that is a good or bad thing though.)
  The doors will be blown wide open when the PSX Scene developers produce a solid dev-kit that doesnt need Sony's SDK. It means everyone and his brother developing a 2 bit game could create a "DLC" type executable (EG, a game that the console believes to be a properly signed DLC game title that it can run natively off the hard drive) and show it off to their friends with PS3s. It would also allow the creation of a "homebrew store", similar to the Wii's Homebrew Browser app.
  What I am curious about, is what kind of legal attack Sony would use to insist that people not use the leaked master keys, and continue to license from them. If they were to lose in court on such a venture, you would see the PS3 get drenched in 3rd party titles.
11. Re:CFW != piracy by wolrahnaes · 2011-01-05 07:38 · Score: 1
  
  Typically on consoles the media type is one of the bits in the signed area. On the original Xbox and to my knowledge the Xbox 360 it's four bytes with different bits indicating whether the program is allowed to run from various media, including USB devices and rewritable discs. I wouldn't expect Sony's system to be any more strict, so it should at least look at an executable on any valid media to see if it's signed for that media. Since we have the keys, we should be able to modify the flags and re-sign, making copies on rewritable media appear perfectly legitimate to the console.
  
  --
  I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
12. Re:CFW != piracy by exomondo · 2011-01-05 12:36 · Score: 1
  
  Being opened up like this might be the shot of "Go-go juice" that Sony has needed in its ailing console segment for the past 5 years now.
  But they barely make a profit on the console as it is - and made a significant loss previously - and they won't make money off these game sales so this 'booming new market' will do little for sony.
13. Re:CFW != piracy by jonwil · 2011-01-05 12:51 · Score: 1
  
  If you read https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AmWh9I5NKgNddE5NcnlxdHk3Nm9IYVR3djItTE9FT3c&hl=en_GB&output=html all the appldr keys for all firmware versions are right there, private keys included.
  There is no reason the pirates cant simply take ANY current PS3 game, decrypt the executable, modify the "media types this game is allowed to run from" flags to say "all media types allowed" instead of "pressed disks only", re-sign the executable with the appldr keys and build an ISO containing the new executable, ready to burn to a BD-R and play.
14. Re:CFW != piracy by slinches · 2011-01-05 13:34 · Score: 1
  
  With the PS3's root key leaked, you shouldn't even need CFW to enable piracy.
  Nope, you're right. Custom firmware is not needed to enable piracy. In fact, when the jailbreak dongle was originally released the very first application was a "Backup Manager" that allowed games to be copied to and played directly from the hard disk. Obviously, this could be used for copying games as easily as it could for legitimate backups. So, for anyone who just wanted access to a bunch of free PS3 games, the signing keys and CFW are essentially worthless. The only advantage it could have is that with CFW it may be possible (though, I think unlikely) to be able to keep PSN access while being able to play copied games.
  The ability to install CFW and self sign executables will be great for those who are interested in homebrew development. The return of "Other OS" with full hardware access for all firmware and hardware versions seems likely as well.
  
  --
  Knowledge Brings Fear
15. Re:CFW != piracy by Nursie · 2011-01-05 15:08 · Score: 1
  
  That would be even better, yes, to use service mode to install something like the homebrew channel, perhaps as a new entry in the XMB, then have an installer/loader under there.
  However I believe that there are already provisions in the firmware to report to Sony exactly what has been run on the system, so that would need working around too.
16. Re:CFW != piracy by wierd_w · 2011-01-05 17:13 · Score: 1
  
  Market penetration is a valuable asset in and of itself though. It helps to make the console more attractive to game developers that are willing to sign the licensing agreement (and thus pay money to Sony.)
  Also, it allows new blood in the game development front to cut their teeth, so to speak. Once they get a good bite into the home gamer market, those developers wont just go away when the PS4 comes out, and Sony would be more willing to give them an SDK. (We assume that the following is true, of course: 1) The game the 3rd party dev made for the ps3 is very good. 2) Sony previously denied supplying them with an SDK because of 'you need to be this high to play' requirements, a-la Wiiware.)
  Sony realized this when they debuted the first playstation, which compared to the SDK requirements of other console venders, was much less painless to get, and also put less restrictions on content. Now that they are 'established' Sony has started pretending it can do no wrong, and the consumer base is showing its disdain.
  Sony can learn one of two things from this experience:
  1) Next time make sure IPK uses a REAL random number from a GOOD random number generator, and condemn the hobbyists and hackers.
  2) Realize that attracting developers, even 2-bit ones, is the lifeblood of future console sales and that redacting features and locking out developers creates NEGATIVE incentive for their business model.
  Sadly, the "No Compromises! We are $Company, and WE own the console, NOT you!" mentality pretty much prevents the impact of the much more valuable lesson #2 from sinking in when it comes to most companys like Sony.
  What Sony needs to realize is that hardware hackers will *NEVER* go away. In fact, the MORE they try to lock down the system, the more aggressively the hardware hackers will attack it. The numbers speak for themselves, considering the now highly apparent facts about the PS3's security systems, and the amount of time it took for it to be totally broken. The removal of the OtherOS feature instigated an all-out assault on the console, where prior to it had a very profound "mollifying" effect on that same demographic.
17. Re:CFW != piracy by MikeBabcock · 2011-01-06 15:57 · Score: 1
  
  Of all the modern consoles, the PS3 doesn't have a very high cost of entry. Some very small houses have published games for the PS3. Sony has been very accepting of games that are edgy or different from the normal fare. I've enjoyed several of them, and others not as much, but I don't feel the hate here; I think Sony's done a great job helping out small developers already.
  
  --
  - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
This was expected after Sony dropped Linux by rapidmax · 2011-01-05 04:27 · Score: 1

Now there is a need to run your own Sofware again on PS3. As long as Sony allowed yellow dog linux few took the effort to hack around the hardware protection. As this should allow to run various OS outside the sandbox this may even allow some new applications. ~Andy
Are there video drivers? by FunkyELF · 2011-01-05 04:34 · Score: 4, Interesting

I know that there is complete access to the system now (not going through hypervisor), but are there Linux video drivers yet?
I __REALLY__ want to have XBMC on my PS3.
1. Re:Are there video drivers? by Khyber · 2011-01-05 05:06 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The RSX is just a modified 7800GS so I would think someone could patch it together sooner or later, given the age of the GPU.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
2. Re:Are there video drivers? by polyp2000 · 2011-01-05 05:59 · Score: 1
  
  I presume this would be covered by the Nouveau drivers?
  These I believe are working on the Aros PPC port ... which begs the question .... wouldnt this be a lovely lightweight alternative to linux?
  N.
  
  --
  Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
3. Re:Are there video drivers? by Narishma · 2011-01-05 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  It's my understanding that it was already possible to access the GPU through some hack before Sony removed OtherOS, but nobody bothered to write drivers for it.
  
  --
  Mada mada dane.
4. Re:Are there video drivers? by jpapon · 2011-01-05 07:13 · Score: 1
  
  People were using them for GPGPU computing, so GPU access exists.
  
  --
  -- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
5. Re:Are there video drivers? by CronoCloud · 2011-01-05 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  What's not to like about the PS3 just the way it is?
  That it doesn't run Linux. Yes, I did have Linux on mine, unlike most of the people complaining about not having Linux on the PS3. And Yes, I did update mine, after I got an X86 Linux box. With Linux on it, I didn't need another PC in the household, the PS3 could handle e-mail, IRC, photo editing, web browsing, etc, just fine.
  However I needed PSN functionality.
6. Re:Are there video drivers? by FunkyELF · 2011-01-05 09:19 · Score: 1
  
  I've had nothing but problems getting things to play on PS3.
  Things need to be in the right container / audio codec / video codec, bitrate, etc.
7. Re:Are there video drivers? by cyan · 2011-01-05 12:19 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  The PS3 ALREADY PLAYS all the stuff XMBC does.
  Except for MKV files, and except for certain codecs in AVI files, and except for OGM files, and except for certain subtitling schemes, and except for...
  Sorry dude, the [native PS3 OS/XMB] doesn't play anywhere near "all the stuff" XBMC does :|
8. Re:Are there video drivers? by jonwil · 2011-01-05 12:56 · Score: 1
  
  I am sure someone will port Noveau to PS3 once the right bits are figured out.
9. Re:Are there video drivers? by cyclomedia · 2011-01-05 21:54 · Score: 1
  
  Amen!
  Only just got a PS3 this xmas - an original chunky 60GB - and was horrified that it doesnt even support your basic SMB browsing under Music/Video. Like, WTF!?
  
  --
  If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
10. Re:Are there video drivers? by badkarmadayaccount · 2011-01-08 01:23 · Score: 1
  
  Nope - no RSX, just SPEs - though Gallium3D has a Cell SPE state tracker, now just get the RSX state tracker going, and we're really cooking.
  
  --
  I know tobacco is bad for you, so I smoke weed with crack.
I think its time for... by roubles · 2011-01-05 05:39 · Score: 2

ps3buntu...
1. Re:I think its time for... by Dayofswords · 2011-01-05 07:32 · Score: 2
  
  you mean ubuntu-10.04-desktop-powerpc+ps3.iso, which exists already
  look a torrent for it too! from the dudes at ubuntu
  
  --
  Someday we'll hit the human carrying capacity. And the band will just play on.
given the PS3 is a power hog by YesIAmAScript · 2011-01-05 05:47 · Score: 1

Why would you want it for any of these things?
A cheap linux box on an Intel Atom can do most of these things on 25W of power, the PS3 takes about 100W (my early one takes much more). And you can get the Intel Atom machine for about the same price as a PS3 and it'll work better because it has more RAM.
Neither the cheap Atom or PS3 can do #2. The PS3 doesn't have 3 ethernet ports.

--
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
1. Re:given the PS3 is a power hog by Khyber · 2011-01-05 06:39 · Score: 1
  
  Intel Atom doesn't have a theoretical 2TFLOPS performance opposed to the entirety of the PS3's hardware.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
2. Re:given the PS3 is a power hog by Narishma · 2011-01-05 06:51 · Score: 1
  
  And which one of the listed use cases needs anywhere near that much number crunching power?
  
  --
  Mada mada dane.
3. Re:given the PS3 is a power hog by Khyber · 2011-01-06 08:53 · Score: 1
  
  Every single listed case operating simulteneously.
  Uh DUH.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Virtual Machine Timeline? by mpapet · 2011-01-05 05:54 · Score: 1

Qemu has a powerpc emulator. when will I be able to run a playstation virtual machine on top of Qemu?

--
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
1. Re:Virtual Machine Timeline? by wolrahnaes · 2011-01-05 07:53 · Score: 1
  
  The fail0verflow team released SPU emulation, so if there aren't public Cell emulators today there's no reason not to expect someone to develop one at some point. The rest is all down to how hard it is to emulate the custom and semi-custom components.
  Of course I wouldn't expect PS3 emulation performance to be usable for years. The best PowerPC emulation I've used is Apple's Rosetta and even that is significantly slower than native code for anything non-trivial. Take that and combine it with how the PS3's PPU is both faster and derived from a later generation of POWER than the G4s Rosetta emulates, plus that the rest of the system would also need to be emulated and it becomes a real challenge.
  I'd be shocked to see PS3 emulation reach a state where games can be played with an experience within a reasonable margin of error of the real thing before the next generation of game consoles hit mid-life.
  That's not to say it can't happen, after all the Wii is quite well emulated and many popular games are entirely playable, sometimes with a better experience than the real thing (1080p for example), but that's a significantly lesser hardware platform which is heavily derived from its predecessor, so the level of work in emulating it was nowhere close to the same level (not at all putting down the work of the Dolphin crew though, that's a great program).
  
  --
  I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
PS2 emulation? by mattack2 · 2011-01-05 09:28 · Score: 1

I definitely don't want to pirate games, but would a PS2 emulator be possible? I don't yet have a PS3, and still have a PS2.. but if one machine could do both, that would be great.
(Yes, I know earlier PS3s had PS2 backward compatibility.. they don't anymore.)
1. Re:PS2 emulation? by UnknownSoldier · 2011-01-05 10:35 · Score: 1
  
  > but would a PS2 emulator be possible?
  Yes, but you forgetting one tiny little but important detail. While the PS2 EE, VU0 and VU1 can be emulated, the BIG problem is the dam FAST speed of the GS VRAM ! Play Ico and Shadows of the Colossus to see some really neat framebuffer tricks used.
  Specifically, see: The Making Of "Shadow Of The Colossus"
  http://jeremyawon.info/sotcss/making_of_sotc/making_of_sotc.html
  Cheers
Won't be long now... by shentino · 2011-01-05 16:14 · Score: 1

I can hear Sony's lawyers loading their DMCA shotguns.
ok... by leuk_he · 2011-01-05 23:45 · Score: 1

You are right...
What Kakaroto was completely useless by Kartu · 2011-01-11 21:12 · Score: 1

What Kakaroto was completely useless, it only allowed to install retail pkgs, and keys for those were missing.
The first real CFW that does allow homebrew was that from Geohot.