PS1/2 PS3 Running Backups (Almost!)

[Darkforce]

News is a day or two old but hadn't seen it posted yet:

Just over 24 hours after we reported the PS3 $DK leak, resident Dev'er hacked2123 shared with us in iRC EFnet #PS3News the video below... which shows confirmation of the World's first public PS3 XMB Hole (vulnerability) found!! There are MANY details to report, so please bear with us while we address each throughout the night.

For starters, this specific PS3 XMB Hole is currently present in PS3 v1.00-1.11 Firmware. Jumping ahead briefly... it's now believed the reason why the GODS @ Paradox hinted that v1.60+ Firmware was NOT recommended to update to was simply because there is no OtherOS installer present. Also, at this time it's important to NOTE that PS3 Blu-ray Disc back-ups will boot but not run just yet.

We will cover all of the details on how this is accomplished shortly... until then, you can watch the video below and share your feedback in the Hacked2123's PS3 Back-up Video! Forum thread. w00t!!!




Update: Here is a brief update for the time being: For starters, as mentioned in our Past News we were going to examine the CELLFTP.self (which allows you to dump the PS3 side of the HDD). Unfortunately through experimenting, no open ports were found after a portscan. As a result, it would only return to the XMB without error... so for now we're passing on this avenue.

Next up, we would like to clarify a few things about the Site News topic as follows: The reason the TITLE is "PS3 XMB Hole found; Blu-ray Back-Ups Bootable!!!" is because the originating media in hacked2123's video was a Blu-ray Disc. As the game he chose happened to fit on a standard DVD-R, he opted to burn it to one (in this case) instead of using a Blu-ray Disc Recordable... which is logical as it saves money too. Not all PS3 games will fit onto a DVD-R, so it's important to NOTE that some will require a BD-R using this 'XMB Hole' Method.

Finally, the way this specific PS3 XMB Hole works is that the OtherOS Installer does not verify the SELF it runs, and can run any properly-signed SELF file. Currently hacked2123 is using a SELF (HDD Formatter) from the recent $DK leak- this wipes the HDD and as a result, puts the PS3 into a 'special' Mode... which in turn authenticates the disc. It will BOOT the PS3 Blu-ray Back-Up (in this case on a DVD-R) fine, however, as stated previously it will not RUN the game... possibly because hacked2123 only tried with a DVD-R versus an actual Blu-ray Disc Recordable (which is the proper media for the PS3's blue laser).

The steps involved were as follows:

1) Make a directory or use your Memory Card- for example: D:\PS3\OTHEROS
2) Copy the OtherOS.self (Mkfs.self via $DK renamed) to D:\PS3\OTHEROS\otheros.self
3) Put it in your PS3 and navigate to "Install OtherOS" along with confirming your selection by pressing "OK"
4) The PS3 screen will go black, and it will erase the entire HDD (there will likely be a way around this, we're only using the HDD Formatter SELF at this time)
5) When it's complete (your PS3 may reboot, don't worry) place an ORIGINAL PS3 game disc in
6) Eject the disc, and place your LEGAL BACK-UP PS3 game disc in the drive
7) Give it a few seconds to read the disc, and it will appear in the XMB
8) Finally, press X and that's it... it will BOOT up but not RUN the PS3 game back-up

Be sure to check back for updates, as this process is likely to change/improve heavily over the next few days.

All pretty interesting stuff! I guess it won't be long now till we see backups running on the PS3. The question is, for all those non PS3 owners would the ability to play backups tempt you to to buy the machine? - I'm sure a breakthrough would have a positive effect on the sales of PS3 consoles!

 

[Hadrian]

It may boost PS3 sales but it would be another nail in Sony's coffin as that console depends on game sales.

Great news anyway, it won't make me buy it though.

 

[4saken]

Hopefully this progresses further. I don't think many ps3 owners can create blu-ray backups, so many the ability to play off HDD will be developed

unless the ps3 can burn blu-ray disks, but I don't think it can >_>

 

[legendofphil]

Assuming that there isn't a loader any time soon it will be very expensive to play backups. The BluRay writers start at about £350 and the discs at £10.

It means you would have to backup 9 games atleast before it is worth it.

 

[sabinraijin]

Assuming that there isn't a loader any time soon it will be very expensive to play backups. The BluRay writers start at about £350 and the discs at £10.

It means you would have to backup 9 games atleast before it is worth it.

Yeah that's a good two days worth of downloads

 

[Veho]

It may boost PS3 sales but it would be another nail in Sony's coffin as that console depends on game sales.

On the other hand, Sony depends on huge sales of the console itself, because that creates a bigger customer base, which attracts more developers, which gives us more games, which in turn draws more gamers to the console. If at one point the production cost of the PS3 drops, and they stop losing money on every console (and there's a high probability), the sales upswing will cover their losses and start generating profit. The same thing happened with the PS2, and is currently happening with the X360.

 

[Hadrian]

Assuming that there isn't a loader any time soon it will be very expensive to play backups. The BluRay writers start at about £350 and the discs at £10.

It means you would have to backup 9 games atleast before it is worth it.

LittleBigPlanet & Ninja Gaiden Sigma are the ones I really want to play, there are a few big hitters but which I'm only just curious about as I'm not fussed about those franchises. Everything else head to PC & 360 as well.

I'm sure there'll be some good PS3 exclusives but nothing worth paying £425 for.

 

[spas]

Just like in the old days of 56k I think the trading is going to begin. Running around and swapping your blu ray and hd dvd discs with freinds because they are too stupidly big to download and far too big to even consider re ripping the compressed into native HD format.

Me:
Address + 2nd Class Stamp + 1080p =

Trades!

 

[cubin']

Sony will be fine just give them a year or two

 

[754boy]

Sony will be fine just give them a year or two

I say 3 or even 4 years lol. Blu-Ray burners cost as much as the PS3 and the discs are around 30-$40 apiece. The prices will go down eventually but honestly everything about the PS3 is too fucking expensive IMO!!!

Running games from the HDD is way more economical so I think that would be the much better route for now. But still, using 20-30 gigs of bandwidth for downloading ONE game literally sickens me lol

 

[cubin']

I remember when the PS1 was released cd burners cost $2000 and disks were very expensive too.

hopefully we see a price drop soonish.

 

[moribund112]

Taiwanese pressing factories are beginning to press Blu-Ray recordable discs at the end of this fiscal year, and once the Asians begin pressing them the price will drop considerably.
When Blu-Ray burners came out at the end of last year they were around 800-1000USD, now one can be bought for around $400 depending on the model and type.
Technology is developing fast, and the prices for this type of media will go down once it becomes an accepted new format and beats out HD-DVD.
As of now if you check Amazon you can purchase some types of Blu-Ray 25GB discs for about $12 I believe. Not too shabby!

 

[SlyGuy]

Honestly, this may be an odd thing to say, but piracy-capable is now a key feature when I am purchasing a new console. It allows me to play games that I may never have tried if I had to go out and buy it and it saves me the trouble of trying to rush through a game because I have rented it. It also frees up my cash to buy hardware accessories!

If the PS3 could play backups reliably, I would buy it tomorrow. In fact, I'm holding off on a purchase of an XBOX360 simply because games like Final Fantasy, Champions of Norrath, Virtua Fighter, God of War and Metal Gear Solid are among my favourites and are likely to be PS3 exclusives

 

[SlyGuy]

P.S. How long will it be before someone tries this method with a true blue Blu-ray?