back to article Open source PS3 hack code posted

Want a PlayStation 3 hacking dongle but worried Sony's legal fight with the gadget's suppliers will prevent you from buying one? Fear not, because a build-your-own kit has appeared on the web. Called PSGroove, it comprises software that can be downloaded and run on a specific type of USB Flash drive and used in much the same …

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  1. AndyS

    Good

    Sounds like a decent step towards putting back into place the functionality the consoles were sold with.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Ha fucking ha!

    See Sony? This type of stuff happens - just as night follows day.

    It's the nature of, er, the internet!

    Question for you (Sony): What good is your legal action in Aus going to do you now?

  3. GottaBeKidding

    Not a USB flash drive

    The code needs to be loaded into an AVR - A microprocessor. You can't take a normal memory stick and make a jailbreak from it.

  4. LuMan
    Troll

    Good.... and bad.

    It's a shame console manufacturers don't find a way of allowing homebrewers to develop for their hardware. I can understand the need to reduce piracy, but bedroom coding is a brilliant thing that should be nurtured in the same way that Youtube made everyone a pop star(ish).

    Even the PS2 had a (very) basic computing language (yaBASIC, IIRC) that would, at least, allow you to code a crappy version of Snake. If coders could fart about with the decent stuff inside the PS3 and XBOX (even the Wii, too, I suppose) the take-up would be huge. With a bit of organising there could be a myApp-style content area that could pay commision back to the likes of Sony & MS. Win-win situation. Well, at least until the scabby free-loaders start fueling the pirate-wagon, that is....

    1. The Original Steve
      Stop

      Can on the XBox360

      There's an "indie" games bit under the marketplace that has games created in XNA by amateur / home dev's.

      Think there's a small fee to put it on the market but otherwise I'm fairly sure the dev tools are free...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Least of your worries...

    "Want a PlayStation 3 hacking dongle but worried Sony's legal fight with the gadget's suppliers will prevent you from buying one?"

    A permanent console and PSN ID ban would be a far more realistic prospect. Also don't think you can be clever and only use it when the PS3 is not signed into PSN, as the PS3 keeps track of what applications you have used (as part of the PS+ update service), so it will know if you have ever used the backup manager if you EVER go online after it's been used...

    Bang, game over.... Time to buy a new PS3....

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Ha Ha

    nothing further to say.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Already done.

    It has already been modified to allow full usage of the backup manager app.

  8. Tim 64
    Pirate

    They sowed the wind let them reap the hurricane

    I laugh when I think that Sony might have avoided these issues had they not removed the OtherOS feature. The lesson is don't piss off the Free Software community, maybe Oracle should take a hint.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      The sad thing is

      you actually believe this wouldn't have happened.

      Hackers were responsible for getting OtherOS removed, they will be repsonsible when Sony block swathes of USB Device/Vendor ID's from the PS3 running.

  9. David Webb

    wow

    That's fast, it's also possible to run the "hack" from a PSP (if you have one), crazy stuff. Luckily 26Gb is quite a lot to download so game rental companies are going to profit I guess :-/

  10. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    All Sony have to do...

    Is block all USB device ID's except:

    Mass Storage Controllers

    Their own products (PS3 Eye, Singstar Mic, PlayTV etc).

    The only thing end users should expect to work as mass storage devices (or in the case of Microsoft, Microsoft mass storage devices )Job Done..

  11. heyrick Silver badge

    These companies ought to take note...

    "Where there's a will, there's a way."

  12. JaitcH
    Pint

    What man created will be ruined - Dark Tranquility: Vernal Awakening Lyrics

    Guess Sony hasn't learned that when it challenged game players someone will persevere over Sony's dumb headiness. Now this crack is in the open they have lost the battle.

    Now Jobs has a bed mate, both having lost the jailbreak fight.

    When people buy a product it should be theirs to do with as they wish.

  13. Tigra 07
    Thumb Up

    Bravo hackers!

    Exactly what Sony deserve.

    Try to stop them selling legitimate hardware and end up facing an even bigger problem

    It's time Sony stopped treating their customers like criminals

  14. Joe K

    Even easier...

    You just change 4 characters in the code to re-enable HD installs.

    Also, the race is on to get the iphone/itouch port working today, just connect to the PS3 and iOS will emulate the USB connect/disconnect sequence to crash and crack the system.

    Impressive, but Sony are still going to kill this dead with the next firmware update.

    This isn't like the PSP hax just yet, as Sony's firmware is still utterly encrypted, and the hypervisor is still solid, they just need to lock the backdoor.

  15. Joe K

    If interested

    Heres some techy info on the exploit (its not a jailbreak or crack really)

    https://ps3wiki.lan.st/index.php?title=PSJailbreak_Exploit_Reverse_Engineering

  16. Daniel B.
    Boffin

    But the real question is....

    ... will it allow me to enable OtherOS?

    If it doesn't, I'm not interested.

  17. Giles Jones Gold badge

    Sony have themselves to blame

    This hack might not have appeared if Sony hadn't dropped support for running Linux on the PS3. As a result they now face the possibility of game piracy.

    1. Snake Plissken
      Pirate

      Re: Sony have themselves to blame

      "This hack might not have appeared if Sony hadn't dropped support for running Linux on the PS3. As a result they now face the possibility of game piracy."

      Oh please. The vast majority of people want to hack their console to play pirated games. People have been trying to crack the PS3 from the moment it came out and very, very few of them are doing it for altruistic reasons.

      If this crack hase been downloaded 1000 times, then 999 times it will be use to play games, and the remaining one time for "homebrew" or "curiosity".

      And I'm being generous with the 1 out of 1000.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Unhappy

        What people do with their own property...

        is entirely their choice. Not Sony's or anyone else's.

        Period.

        People are fed up with being told nanny/corporation x/corporation y knows best.

        We've not all been assimilated yet, no matter how Borg-like the state wants society to become.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Flame

      But Giles...

      ...they pulled the 'other OS' feature when a hacker used it to compromise the system!

      The ultimate fault for the loss of 'Other OS' lies with the hackers, not Sony.

      And I still wonder at the hate people have for a company that wants people to actually buy software instead of copying it - it's not unreasonable to protect the interests of Sony and third party software writers who want to see long and expensive investments in games protected.

      And if you can't afford every game you want, then welcome to real life, you whiny self entitled berks.

  18. Gangsta
    Boffin

    PSP

    I've read that this hack has now been ported to the PSP, which means that you will be able to run the exploit on a Hacked PSP (thus requiring no new Hardware purchases or specific USB Flash memory chip hunting).

    Obviously it hasn't being released yet and will require your own complilation of the source but it provides oppurtunities for the future.

    This exploit should aid finding other exploits for the PS3 and possible obtaining root access and preventing Sony from finding out. This is a very exciting proposition or the Homebrew world.

    One of the possible homebrew applications could be an alternative web browser which will run on the PPC arch. - but it will run directly from the XMB.

    - I'm Out

  19. Annihilator
    Unhappy

    <SLAM>

    That noise you hear is that particular door being slammed shut by the inevitable release of firmware version 3.42. Expect it any day soon. And feel free not to upgrade to it, but that other slamming noise you'll hear is the door to the PSN.

    Good effort guys, but ultimately it's worthless on a platform that's so tied into networked services. Unless you buy two.. One for homebrew, one for genuine, Sony-seal-of-approval, goodness. Bloody expensive way to enable homebrew though..

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Takes out TI-84

    It was patched in 10 minutes for BM and BDVD so while the open source was a reproduction of the first jailbreak minus these, the one everyone is downloading is now a copy again with the original piracy options and the PSN disabled.

    It's not like the XBMC center days as you can get a black box for $80 that does 1080p and media better than the PS3. Unless some homebrew application comes along outside media playback then there isn't much point (apart from playing the current catalogue of games offline from a huge hard drive, blu-ray media costing a lot more than DVD9.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    Already did

    "enterprising hackers may well be able to add the facility to play downloaded games" They already did. I think it was editing like one line in the code.

    PS3-hacks had it this morning.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Couldn't have happened to a nicer company.

    Tragic. /sarcasm off.

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