How to mod or hack
PS3
Use at your own risk
CFW
CFW stands for custom firmware. Most of the time you see a CFW, especially for newer firmwares above 3.55, they are a spoof. A spoof adds access to SEN when your console is on a lower firmware, such as 3.55, it "tricks" your system into thinking it is on a higher firmware to access SEN. If you hear people claiming there is a new CFW for SEN, they are lying. Jailbreaking cannot be applied above 3.55.
MFW
MFW stands for modded firmware. Modded firmware is in a sense the same as CFW, yet it has less features. MFW can also potentially harm Playstation's with a functioning disk drive, so it's just best advised to stay away from them.
DEX
Here's where it gets good. DEX stands for developer/debug firmware. This is what developers use to develop new apps, new games, and even new features. Alas, a setback is that DEX firmware does not allow SEN access. It disables it.
CEX
CEX simply means retail. When you hear CEX to DEX, that means retail to developer. It also is the same as CFW, just a different name.
SEX
SEX is what a shop would have on display. Nothing is really useful with it, just to try games on, and to see features. This is what all of those Demo firmwares are all about, such as the 4.21 exploit made by GlitchyJoey. You can't install anything with it, it's basically just for looks.
Rebug
Rebug is a spoof of some sorts, and adds a bunch of new features. There's:
- SEN store previews
- Package manager
- Trophy unlocker
- Rebug toolbox
- Rebug mode
Problem and Solution
With the new System Firmware 4.00 for the PS3 i decided to see if downgrading was still possible. IT STILL IS!
Anyway, i decided while i was at it, that i may as well make up a guide for Dual Booting cfw and ofw (or half booting, as e3 call it)
Also i suggest people trying this, or just downgrading in general read HERE and HERE and HERE to get some background on the downgradeprocess via flashing.
Whats Required??
For this you will need a few things. They are as follows:
- Playstation 3 console that can run 3.55 (Newer slims may not work)
- A way to get into service mode (dongle,psp,ipod,andriod, etc)
- PS3UPDAT.PUP 4.00 (DOWNLOAD HERE)
- Rogeros CFW3.55 syscon patches (DOWNLOAD HERE) rename PS3UPDAT.PUP
- Downgrade Patches V2 (DOWNLOAD HERE)
- A USB stick 512MB or larger for service mode software install
- 2 seperate Harddrives, 1 for OFW and 1 for CFW
First things first, you need to install system firmware version 4.00 to your ps3. You should all know how to do this.
Next, remove the harddrive. From now on we will call this drive OFW drive for 4.00.
Insert your other harddrive and reinstall the system firmware. This drive will now be called CFW.
Connect you Hardware Flasher to the ps3 and read the NOR/NAND. Make at least two dumps to compare and make sure they are valid.
Name this valid dump OFW.bin. Keep your dumps in a safe place.
Open one dump in a Hex editor and Copy in the patched files from Dospiedra's downgrade V2 patch files. (Just follow one of the downgradetutorials on how to do this)
Save the dump as something memorable and keep in a safe place with your other OFW dumps.
Write your patched dump back to your ps3. Then you need to put your ps3 into service mode.
Now get your FAT32 Formatted USB stick and place Lv2diag.self (File 1) and the Rogero CFW V2 pup(Renamed PS3UPDAT.PUP) onto the usb stick
(make sure these are the only files on the stick.)
Place USB stick in usb port closest to the blu-ray drive and power/eject buttons and turn console on. You should see the usb stick flashing and the ps3 HDD light flashing every so often. Wait a few minutes and the PS3 should turn itself off.
Remove the USB stick and turn the ps3 back on. It should load into Rogeros 3.55CFW (system information will show 3.72). Now turn the ps3 off again.
Put usb stick back into the computer and delete the files on it. Then place the Lv2diag.self (file 2) on the usb stick and put it back in the ps3 in the same usb port.
Turn the ps3 on and it should turn off after a few seconds. Now you should have a working 3.55CFW on the CFW drive and 4.00 on the OFW drive.
Connect your flasher again and make another set of dumps from your ps3 flash. Name the valid dump CFW.bin. Keep these in a safe place.
Now all you need to do to dual boot from here, is flash your 4.00 flash dump(OFW.bin) back to the ps3 and insert the OFW drive for online play etc,
Then flash the CFW.bin to ps3 and insert the CFW drive to play homebrew etc
Enjoy your Dual Boot PS3
Compare and Contrast White hat vs Black hat
A black hat hacker is an individual with extensive computer knowledge whose purpose is to breach or bypass internet security. Black hat hackers are also known as crackers or dark-side hackers. The general view is that, while hackers build things, crackers break things.
Examples of Dual boot installation
2. E3 NOR Flasher Installed for Dual boot [Soldering required] Cut SBCE's A-B and solder both A and SBE to two points on E3 Clip cable.
*[It must have good Connection with E3 Nor Clip]"
*For those of you who damaged two solder points on E3 Nor Clip here's the solution
Instead here you can solder two points on back of E3 Flasher
3. E3 Flasher's firmware update [10-28 , 2011] *Highly recommended*
E3 Flasher's firmware update for Dualboot that's released on [01-05 2012] is optional but not required.
I don't use that at all since I've used my E3 flasher for other consoles many times and it won't allow me to use it for multiple consoles.
But it's convenient to use it since it's making dumps for three times automatically [bkpps31,32,33]
4. Two Hard drives which include one for OFW and another for CFW. [It doesn't matter to use either 2.5" or 3.5" both work just fine.]
5. Custom Firmware files that [CoreOS Hash check disabled]
6. *Primary Custom Firmware Installation*
7. Latest Official Firmware Files [if you install older version there's no point of doing this... lol]
8. A little bit of knowledge and experience of custom firmware installation.
9. QA Flagging is optional not required but it may be needed due to custom firmware installation.
Let me explain what firmware you could choose to install for dual boot and why.
I mentioned that you need the CFW that has CoreOS Hash check disabled. the reason why you need this is
because the final setup will take place on PS3 Nor flashchip with OFW installation, and once you install OFW,
your syscon will recognize your firmware as 4.50 [which is current latest official firmware build]
but if you previously installed any CFW that CoreOS hash check disabled on E3 Nor flash chip it won't give you any trouble
because on E3 Nor flash, it will skip the hash check and just boot fine but you need to follow this tutorial to the end
because although it skips checking your CFW won't boot without this method so please read through although you understand everything that I mentioned so far.
Dual boot-able recommended custom firmware
Rebug's 3.55.4 REX / 4.21.2 REX / 4.30.2 REX / 4.41.3 REX/LITE / 4.46.1 REX/LITE
Rogero's 3.55 v3.7a / 4.21 v2.00 / 4.30 v2.05 / 4.40 1.03 / 4.41 1.00 / 4.46 1.01 / 4.50 1.01
Habib's 4.46 1.00-2.05 / 4.50 v1.03
Cobra 7.00 [Rogero 4.46 1.00 + Cobra feature]
as a reminder Rogero's 4.21 v2.00 doesn't have Install Package Files integrated so I wouldn't recommend to use it unless you pre-install IPF "pkg" on that CFW hard drive before you update to Rogero's 4.21 v2.00
Explanation of switches on TF Cover board.
OB FLASH = On board Flash which mean "Spansion" Nor chip on E3 Flasher.
PS3 FLASH = Nor chip on PS3 motherboard
1 :
PS3 MODE = Normal PS3 Boot mode
FLASH FUN = Halt PS3 Boot mode [mostly used for unbrick]
2 :
CFW : PS3 Boots from E3 NOR
OFW : PS3 Boots from PS3 NOR
3rd , 4th and 5th switches determent where you flash your nor dump from and to so these allow your flashing location
for ex) SD card to PS3 Nor or E3 Nor, PS3 Nor to E3 Nor and vice versa, etc.
3 : Choice of either back up or Flashing
PROG
BACKUP
4 : Choice of location of your nor flash dump
OB FLASH : E3 Nor Chip
MicroSD [bkpps3.bin or bkpe3.bin files]
5 : Choice of location where you want to flash to
PS3 Nor Flash
OB Flash
6 : Always "LOCK"
Dual boot Installation for first time dual boot
First of all you need to install the custom firmware of your choice "TWICE" it doesn't matter which HDD you use, but I would suggest using
HDD that you want to use for your CFW that would work with E3 NOR.
the reason why you do this is because you want your console to be de-hashed by installing the same firmware version "TWICE"
so that way your NOR flash would have the same firmware CoreOS version
on both ROS0/ROS1.
This is "VERY" Important and whole point of this dual boot thing.
So once you install the same CFW twice on PS3 Nor with CFW HDD. you're good to go
With this switch setting, your PS3 boots fine go ahead and
back up your NOR flash dump by
SW:PS3 MODE/OFW/BACKUP/MICROSD/OBFLASH/LOCK Switch : 001000
this switch, after it's finished your microSD card will have bkpps3.bin file.
after the validation of this dump, rename your bkpps3.bin file to bkpe3.bin
In order to flash the dump file to OB Flash. you can also directly copy your
PS3 Nor Flash directly to the E3 Nor Flash, but I'll explain later.
---SW:PS3 MODE/OFW/PROG/MICROSD/OBFLASH---Switch : 000010
With this switch setting, you will be able to flash your E3 NOR Flash from
the file that you just renamed to "bkpe3.bin" that's in the microSD Card.
After it's finished, turn off your PS3 and change the switch setting like this
See if it still boots fine with this switch setting, I think it should
and then turn off your ps3 and change the hdd drive [OFW HDD] that you want to
install your OFW and put all the switch down just like you boot your PS3 in normal mode.
as soon as you turn on your PS3, it will ask you to "Plug your controller and press home button"
and install your OFW 4.50.
I'd recommend install it "Twice" again here, because your ROS1 will still have your previous CFW's core os files on PS3 Nor Flash.
After the installation of OFW twice, your PS3 will be able to boot on both PS3 Nor and E3 Nor with two HDDs.
How to update your CFW after the Dual boot installation
Whenever you want to update your CFW when you already have Dual boot installation,
you will need to re-setup your dual boot due to the CFW installation will mess up your syscon, and
for that reason your OFW won't boot after the CFW update.
In this case you can fix this with two methods.
The most simple way to update your CFW after the dual boot installation
You can simply update your CFW twice on E3 nor and then flash your PS3 NOR directly from E3 NOR.
You can either do FLASH FUN mode or PS3 Mode it doesn't really matter.
All that matter is that the 3rd switches to 6 switches.
1st/2nd switches and HDDs doesn't really matter since it's only flashing.
however you can flash your PS3 Nor when your CFW booted with E3 Nor with this switch setting.
---SW:PS3 MODE/CFW/PROG/OBFLASH/PS3FLASH/LOCK--- Switch : 010100
After flashing your PS3 NOR with this switch setting, both of your E3 NOR and PS3 NOR will have the same NOR flash, and CoreOS check is disabled
Turn off your console after the flashing and then put all the switches down turn back on.
Your PS3 NOR [OFW] will boot nonetheless and you can update your OFW twice either from XMB or Recovery Mode.
If the both FW version matches from each side of NORs, your OFW HDD will boot to XMB and you can update your OFW from XMB.
If you had lower CFW prior to the OFW [like OFW 4.50 / CFW 4.46] your OFW HDD won't boot with the 4.46 NOR Flash copied from E3 NOR, because CoreOS version doesn't match,
however OFW HDD on PS3 NOR will still boot to recovery mode nonetheless, in this case you can just go ahead and update your OFW from there.
*Examples of Dual boot installation*