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Open Source PlayStation (Games) Sony Games Linux

Open Source PS3 Jailbreak Released 226

tlhIngan writes "Despite all the lawsuits and injunctions by Sony to keep the PS3 Jailbreak out of modder's hands, it appears that a third party has made a clone. The best part is, it only requires a cheap (approximately $40) development board by Atmel, and the requisite software is open-source. Get the Atmel code from GitHub and apply a small patch which will enable backup play (the code by itself only lets you run unsigned code, the patch allows for BD backups). The code is GPLv3. It would be highly ironic if someone ported this to Linux USB Gadgets, then you could use a Linux device to jailbreak your PS3, to which Sony removed Linux functionality. An Android phone would be suitable."
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Open Source PS3 Jailbreak Released

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  • Hehehe (Score:5, Funny)

    by Jorl17 ( 1716772 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @11:11AM (#33452104)
    "It would be highly ironic if someone ported this to Linux USB Gadgets, then you could use a Linux device to jailbreak your PS3"

    Nice way to ask an entire community of nerds to do that for you!
    Now, let's get working!
    • by dch24 ( 904899 )
      That's a great idea.

      The required ATmega device is so cheap, I'd just buy one of those if I ever needed it.

      How long until psnews.com and github.com receive DMCA takedowns?
    • Re:Hehehe (Score:5, Informative)

      by ThoughtMonster ( 1602047 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @11:31AM (#33452540) Homepage

      Now, let's get working!

      http://kakaroto.homelinux.net/2010/08/psjailbreak-usb-gadget-kernel-driver/ [homelinux.net]

      There you go. Still not released, but well underway (check the blog for updates).

  • Coming soon! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Kenja ( 541830 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @11:12AM (#33452130)
    The closed source patch that fixes the exploit used by the open source project.
    • HOT FROM SONY SITE:

      Downloading and installing the PlayStation®3 system software update will update your PS3 system's operating system to include the latest security patches, settings, features and other items. We encourage you to check this page from time to time for system software updates and to always maintain your system to use the latest version of the system software.

      An update to the PS3 system software will be was released on September 27, 2010. You can use this update to upgrade your system sof

      • [citation needed]

        I call shenanigans.

      • by smussman ( 1160103 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @11:38AM (#33452726)

        An update to the PS3 system software will be was released on September 27 , 2010

        *brain explodes*

        • There's nothing wrong with the Past-Perfect-In-Future tense ;) (Except perhaps that I just made the term up and there might not be such a thing?)
          • by MrFurious5150 ( 1189479 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @02:13PM (#33455550)
            The major problem is quite simply one of grammar, and the main work to consult in this matter is Dr Dan Streetmentioner's Time Traveller's Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations. It will tell you for instance how to describe something that was about to happen to you in the past before you avoided it by time-jumping forward two days in order to avoid it. ... Most readers get as far as the Future Semi-Conditionally Modified Subinverted Plagal Past Subjunctive Intentional before giving up: and in fact in later editions of the book all the pages beyond this point have been left blank to save on printing costs.
        • By the Once and Future King!

      • I'm unsure why you're modded troll; I thought it was very funny.

        Seriously though, while they won't remove USB, isn't it likely they'll remove the ability to use USB hubs?

  • All Sony has to do is sign their firmware, and make it so that the hardware won't accept anything other than Sony approved updates.

    Do they do that already?

    Oh, and another solution: Mark updates with an expiration date such that the unit will refuse to run if its firmware is too stale.

    • Please, please don't give them ideas.

      This is like the Net Neutrality folks yelling for net neutrality and the big wigs at the telecoms going "Shit, we can do that? Why aren't we doing that? We need to do that!"

      Sony has enough bad ideas already.

      Also that other solution would probably have a bug included that bricked the PS3 if there was a power outage or something knowing Sony.

    • Re:simple solution (Score:5, Insightful)

      by LingNoi ( 1066278 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @11:34AM (#33452612)

      Actually all Sony really has to do is give people a way to run home brew on their own systems without letting pirates in and none of this would have ever happened.

      Since they screwed that up now the cats out the bag. People aren't going to stop hacking it until they can run their homebrew and linux again.

      • by mzs ( 595629 )

        This is exactly the truth. I am upset with every place linking to the patch to allow 'backups' when I just want OtherOS and homebrew back.

      • Re:simple solution (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Animaether ( 411575 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @12:25PM (#33453682) Journal

        I never quite understood that "If only they'd allowed homebrew, none of this* would have happened!" reasoning.

        After all, you can certainly run homebrew on a PC, but this* still happens.

        In addition, you -could- run homebrew on the PS3. You didn't get access to the BD, you didn't get full access to the graphics bits and pieces, but you could run homebrew. Apparently that wasn't enough for some, somebody decided to poke at the hypervisor to gain access to these resources, and once they started succeeding a bit, OtherOS was nixed on the older models as well, citing 'security concerns'.

        *"this"?

        Get the Atmel code from GitHub [which] by itself [...] lets you run unsigned code

        Seems like homebrew and linux were possible right there and then...

        and apply a small patch which will enable backup play

        Right. Backups. I guess that's really what "this" is.

        Sounds rather threatening. Open your platform to homebrew, without restriction, or else we'll open it for you - and make it stupid-simple for this* to happen as a(n un)fortunate 'side-effect'.

        That out of the way.. I'm looking forward to an actual thriving homebrew scene for the PS3, with lots of indie developers making the games for PS3 they always wanted to but never had the funds to become a licensed developer, and didn't have the access they needed to develop their envisioned games.

        • You seem to be confused with yourself..

          In addition, you -could- run homebrew on the PS3.

          You claim here that you can run homebrew, even though you go on to state there is no graphics access which makes your whole statement pointless with regards to games.

          I'm looking forward to an actual thriving homebrew scene for the PS3, with lots of indie developers making the games for PS3 ..*snip*... and didn't have the access they needed to develop their envisioned games.

          and here you say it prevents them from running h

        • by Sancho ( 17056 ) *

          Right. Backups. I guess that's really what "this" is.

          Well, I do want to play backups. And I have the legal right to make them, and to use them instead of my regular media.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by smallfries ( 601545 )

          Right. Backups. I guess that's really what "this" is.

          I own a PS3 and I'll be looking into specifically for this feature. Fuck backups. And fuck piracy too. I don't mind paying for games, but after paying for a console with a harddisk in it, and waiting ten minutes for each game to "install" itself I seriously resent having to get my ass off of the couch to switch games.

          Come on Sony. I've paid for the system, I've paid for the game. Stop being such fuckwits and let me use what I've already paid for.

      • You mean to say that if Sony let people run arbitrary code pirates wouldn't want to try to exploit the system to play ISO dumps?

        Do you understand how ridiculous that is?

        Do you still believe in Santa Claus?

        Do you want this 20 acres of swampland in Arizona I've got?

      • by DrXym ( 126579 )
        Actually all Sony really has to do is give people a way to run home brew on their own systems without letting pirates in and none of this would have ever happened.

        Bollocks. The PS3 had Other OS support precisely until someone started hacking it to gain unauthorised access to the hypervisor including potentially the ability to run pirated games.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by shentino ( 1139071 )

          That's because OtherOS was crippleware.

          Homebrew in that sense had to run without the aid of the Cell that the hypervisor blocked access to.

          Native, Sony approved games still had full access.

    • Re:simple solution (Score:4, Interesting)

      by hardburn ( 141468 ) <hardburn@wumpu s - c a v e.net> on Thursday September 02, 2010 @11:51AM (#33453034)

      Oh, and another solution: Mark updates with an expiration date such that the unit will refuse to run if its firmware is too stale.

      If they ever do that, I will have to kill somebody. Besides the obvious reason, I have a driving wheel that won't work unless the system date is set before 12-22-08. The bug has been there for well over a year and there's no sign its getting fixed.

      Consider that the one and only reason I bought a PS3 over a 360 is to play GT5. See how well that decision worked for me?

    • by tomz16 ( 992375 )

      Oh, and another solution: Mark updates with an expiration date such that the unit will refuse to run if its firmware is too stale.

      The xbox360 already does this with e-fuses (e.g. certain updates blow an e-fuse which prevents older firmware from running)

  • From the looks of things, the entire jailbreak is reliant on the PS3 being cold booted and the user having to press eject as the PS3 powers on to make it read the code from the USB key. If Sony can block this through a firmware update then that's the end of the jailbreak isn't it?

    Obviously the user simply doesn't update their PS3...

  • ...to sue everybody who buys an Atmel development board. Wasn't it some satellite that went down the list of people who had bought mag card writers and threatened to sue them, regardless of what the mag card writer was being used for?

    After the knee-jerk reaction of removing Linux support from the PS3 (which I actually used), I can really imagine Sony contemplating such stupidity.

    F them, I'm going to play Nethack; still better than most of the games available on the PS3 anyway.

    • I doubt that they'll reconsider. They were stupid enough to think that there wouldn't be a backlash when they removed hardware from later releases of the PS3 without properly stating it on the packaging and then they removed features from previous versions which had them. Only an extremely arrogant and or delusional individual would think that there wouldn't be some sort of comeuppance coming at some point.
    • Atmel boards are used for meny other things and stern pinball use them in there pinball games.

      If they are used in pinball game and many other ticket games as well other embed systems you can just do mass suing.

    • but steeling sat tv is not the same as running your own code / Linux on a box that you own and it not like you can useing and they just get games for free by just hookinh the hacked box up like how it was with sat tv hack the card hook up the dish and get free HBO.

    • Or fix the USB bug that allows this exploit to work.

      Which is more reasonable and cheaper?

  • much like the PSP Slim TA088v3 motherboard which til current day still unhackable. Dark Alex has retired so.....

    • Doesn't need new hardware. It's a trivial fix. This works by exploiting a heap overflow bug in their USB drivers. All they have to do is fix the drivers and it's patched.
  • What about the PSP? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by slapout ( 93640 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @12:07PM (#33453336)

    It would be interesting if this thing was ported to the PSP and the PSP could be used to unlock the PS3

  • You fools! (Score:3, Funny)

    by zmollusc ( 763634 ) on Thursday September 02, 2010 @12:48PM (#33454102)

    You foolish fools! Defeating DRM will let the terrorists win! Already another oil platform has exploded due to evil hackers playing unsigned content on the PS3!

  • Does this jailbreak HW let programmers access the RSX videochip that the PS3 hypervisor kept locked out from Linux apps? If only for the extra 256MB (V)RAM that lets real sized apps run under Linux, but especially to get to the 1.8TFLOPS RSX, the real powerhouse of the platform. Otherwise all the graphics/video has to be rendered directly by the Cell CPU. Since there isn't a video driver that uses the Cell's SPUs, all that has to be done by the 3.2GHz PPC at the core of the Cell, which is also handling all

  • Just get the Atmel AVC software, emulate the chip, and use a USB interface from a laptop.

    I've already tested it out, and using the JTAGICE in combo with it means you can use your computer to 'unlock' your PS3 and the 360.

    • I assume the JTAGICE you refer to is a USB debugger device for these dev kits? So you do need some hardware, just not the actual AT90USBKEY or whatever you've chosen.

      • by Khyber ( 864651 )

        JTAGICE is an emulator that can interface with other chips, but by itself you only need a computer and USB cord with that software.

  • About a week ago, I said on IRC that if the legal quagmire around the PSJailbreak drags on, they should just opensource the whole thing. Sure, there'd be less money to be made for their effort (Not that they're able to sell the things right now anyway) but Sony would be pretty hard-pressed to completely suppress the device.

    I was impressed by the gesture they made in removing the bootleg playing capability from the version of the code they released, even if the community ultimately turned it into a rather h

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