AfterDawn: Tech news

Geohot jailbreaks PS3 3.55 (video), Sony responds to hacks

Written by James Delahunty @ 07 Jan 2011 9:49 User comments (18)

Geohot jailbreaks PS3 3.55 (video), Sony responds to hacks Homebrew-loving PS3 owners will be happy to hear the news that George Hotz has "jailbroken" firmware 3.55 on the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console.
He updated his geohot.com website with a single line of text saying just "I made a video". A click on the video link takes you to YouTube to a video he uploaded himself titled, "Jailbroken PS3 3.55 with Homebrew".

In the video he boots a console running stock 3.55 firmware with no modifications to LV2 (with a warning not to patch LV2 or you will brick your console) and notes that there is no USB dongle plugged into the system. He says he ran an lv2diag earlier that added Install PGK (package) files and added a modified NAS Plugin to the flash to ensure the PKG's signature is not checked.

He then installs a PKG that he made earlier and proceeds to boot up "Geohot does homebrew", a simple "Supp daug, it's geohot" message. No files are available to download just yet to do this yourself but most sources are expecting something soon.


Sony's silence after the leaking of the METLDR key and other recent developments was finally broken by the consumer electronics giant yesterday. The PlayStation-maker told EDGE that it was planning to address the problems with updates, but declined to be more specific.



"We are aware of this, and are currently looking into it," Sony said in a statement. "We will fix the issues through network updates, but because this is a security issue, we are not able to provide you with any more details."

However, it is the opinion of fail0verflow member pytey, as told to BBC News, that the console is completely compromised and there is no way back. "The only way to fix this is to issue new hardware. Sony will have to accept this."

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18 user comments

17.1.2011 10:59

Better start snapping up the current generation hardware then. =)

27.1.2011 11:36

To be honest I don't think it's a hack as such.

Failoverflow reverse engineered the Sony leaked firmware.

So that allowed them to get the codes.

GeoHotz has used the failoverflow stuff to emu the SPU and got the root key.

Overall I wouldn't call this a hack at all more just using Sony's code to bend to it to what they want.

I really do think sony could shut it down just make the new firmware check hashes and other stuff, PSn would check off against the check sums and keep going further.

37.1.2011 12:43

Roll on another round of annoying firmware updates which offer nothing new to the end user. Thanks guys. (sarcasm)

47.1.2011 15:35

Geohot says:
January 7, 2011 at 3:49 pm

Well guys and gals I wont be releasing this because of a huge technical problem that is not going to allow it to work on all machines. Sorry for the misinformation.

57.1.2011 21:46

Well at least he came back and finished doing what he said he would and created a cfw for the system. So he has earned my respect.

67.1.2011 22:06

thanks geohot,fail0verflow and others
this guy and other devs put their own time into doing this for the

ps3 scene and you have guys on all forums whining bout wen its

gana be released , man if u cant wait or if u like to criticize

mke ur own cfw, if not wait n hopefully giv him time and he will

improve some features or fix some bugs so no1 bricks there ps3 .

i really appreciate this, i didnt ask for r cfw but dreamt of one and hey my dreams comin true :D:D

p.s. how do i put my own signature lol sorry

77.1.2011 23:44

Originally posted by 3MUK:
p.s. how do i put my own signature lol sorry
http://login.afterdawn.com/settings/my_settings.cfm

88.1.2011 09:20

Unfortunately, it looks like the hackers may be a bit too sure of themselves. A firmware update could indeed fix this security issue, though it may take Sony quite some time to do it (to make sure the fix doesn't 'break' any older PS3 software). However, software released up until now MAY be pirateable regardless (if anyone uses the hacker info for that lowly purpose).

If only Sony had tried to fix any security concerns w/ the 'Other OS' feature instead of being lazy and apathetic by axing it rather than dealing with it, hackers might not have been as energized to get this far this quickly.

98.1.2011 09:33

well,i think it will go out instantly because when you want to play new game,it must be update.so if jailbreak weak point is still system upgrade for updating,it same to nothing.and jailbreak lose your fun to online games.

108.1.2011 10:55

Originally posted by hasgd8:
I like this site very much
http://www.i'manidiot.com edited by ddp

frikin spam dogs , moderators is their anyway to stop these people blacklist their ip address or anything.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 08 Jan 2011 @ 2:38

118.1.2011 12:10
coorva
Inactive

yawn,,

128.1.2011 14:38

hasgd8, lighting struck!!! posts edited

139.1.2011 00:10

Originally posted by xtago:
To be honest I don't think it's a hack as such.

Failoverflow reverse engineered the Sony leaked firmware.

So that allowed them to get the codes.

GeoHotz has used the failoverflow stuff to emu the SPU and got the root key.

Overall I wouldn't call this a hack at all more just using Sony's code to bend to it to what they want.

I really do think sony could shut it down just make the new firmware check hashes and other stuff, PSn would check off against the check sums and keep going further.

LOL he got further then you did or anyone else at this point.

Do you understand what he is doing?

The PS3 is not something is not open to everyone but bit by bit everything has been worked down and if you watched the conference about it then you would understand the process and the ability of what geohot and his team has done.

149.1.2011 12:06
aardvark1225
Unverified new user

the ps3 platform is exclnt,but a noob like me feels superior if he can use someone elses hard work to gain the upper hand,then from the few come many,which leads to the "piracy",i am guilty,but surely this platform is too good to lose:dilemma buy or pirate............................rather than lose commercial support, buy,then pirate,then buy????????????????

1510.1.2011 17:06
ProfessorOak
Unverified new user

When will kids realized that Games are just a waste of time?!
Learn to make good use out of your PS3 =)

1614.1.2011 23:00
trotskiii
Unverified new user

Its so exciting. i was going to wait a while to s3ee what happens. but now iam thinking of getting geohotz dashboard update for my 3.55 dash. i heard somewhere that it could stop my sys from playin bluray. any1 know if thats true.
about the piracy thing. yeah i love this console. i wouldnt like to see it go down. its a good quality machine. i hope it doesnt. i will still buy a few games here and there ya know. :) they have kind of kicked dirt in our faces sony, taking away otheros, and taking away the mem card readers, and 2 usb ports. and backwards compatibility and the emotion chip. Iam not happy about that. thay taken too much away from the system.

1714.1.2011 23:07
trotskiii
Unverified new user

they took away the Emotion Chip, The memory card readers, 2 usb ports. OtherOS backwards compatibility. But they never took anything away from the price tag. did they.
I think now we may start getting a little more for our money. =D

1817.1.2011 15:08

Originally posted by trotskiii:
they took away the Emotion Chip, The memory card readers, 2 usb ports. OtherOS backwards compatibility. But they never took anything away from the price tag. did they.
I think now we may start getting a little more for our money. =D
Incorrect. The PS3 was originally $499 & $599 now it is $299 and will lower again later this year. But on topic ~ I was extremely pissed when I found out Sony would be removing OtherOS on my launch model and 80gb w/PS2 BC so I disconnected my launch model and didn't update it ever again...now I don't have to worry about that with what will come out in the near future.

Even though I feel I have to say it's all a bunch of BS since most are claiming "it's for teh homebrewz and 2 scru $onee for axing OtherOS", because the truth is if there was never any threat by GH & other teams then OtherOS would still be available and you could have still had "teh homebrewz" that was FREELY available back then (emu's & etc). It wasn't until after the groups & GH did what they did to get OtherOS removed was when they are now trying to stand on a false soap box to bitch, cry & complain when they are the ones responsible for the removal in the first damned place. It's all for piracy. Period. Those who are crying the most just don't have the balls to admit it.

Whatever. Either way the bottom line is more PS3's will be sold, game developers will lose out and we'll get some benefits under a false pretense of homebrew that was already there before the groups got it removed. It's a win/lose situation as this can possibly affect how devs support/make their games which hurts all of us. Not specifically just "Sony" that is.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Jan 2011 @ 3:14

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