PS3 Finally Hacked After 3 years, 2 months, 11 days

[Jamie]

If you think this should be in Gaming then move, but i felt this is big news to alot of people.

In yo face! Straight from Geohot himself… You know, the first person who successfully unlocked the iPhone, has again outdone himself: he’s hacked the PS3. Oooh — that must feel good.
Read it and weep… To quote Geohot verbatim –

I have read/write access to the entire system memory, and HV level access to the processor. In other words, I have hacked the PS3. The rest is just software. And reversing. I have a lot of reversing ahead of me, as I now have dumps of LV0 and LV1.
3 years, 2 months, 11 days…thats a pretty secure system
Took 5 weeks, 3 in Boston, 2 here, very simple hardware cleverly applied, and some not so simple software.

The exploit itself isn’t released yet, but if you take a look here, you’ll see what’s up. It’s legit.
Stay tuned… Big things ahead. And you know that!

[MentaL]

[Celphius]

Cool, This is super uber wicked.

[Kars]

And what exactly is the gain in all that...

[Rishwin]

And what exactly is the gain in all that...

Having a $300 PC with 8 CPU cores, a high-end graphics card, and a blu-ray player?

Consoles have graphics processors VASTLY superior to ones available for the PC. If there are enough people able to hack consoles so an operating system can be put on them and for there to be stable driver support... PC sales will take a HUGE plunge. We could very well reach a new era of cross-platform entertainment using a single device.

[Tyler]

But isn't what he's doing highly illegal?

[Robert]

Having a $300 PC with 8 CPU cores, a high-end graphics card, and a blu-ray player?

Consoles have graphics processors VASTLY superior to ones available for the PC. If there are enough people able to hack consoles so an operating system can be put on them and for there to be stable driver support... PC sales will take a HUGE plunge. We could very well reach a new era of cross-platform entertainment using a single device.

I hope that was irony...

[.Yoss.]

3 years.. what the Christ, where does this guy get all the time from?

[Rishwin]

But isn't what he's doing highly illegal?

Nope.

If he tried to play online with it, they may ban his MAC address. That's it.

He is not reselling it or earning any money from it, so there is no law he is breaking. He purchased a console, he can do whatever he wants with it.

---------- Post added at 11:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 PM ----------

I hope that was irony...

What do you mean?

[candyman3435]

And what exactly is the gain in all that...

Linux can be fully utilized on a ps3.

[jMerliN]

Having a $300 PC with 8 CPU cores, a high-end graphics card, and a blu-ray player?

Consoles have graphics processors VASTLY superior to ones available for the PC. If there are enough people able to hack consoles so an operating system can be put on them and for there to be stable driver support... PC sales will take a HUGE plunge. We could very well reach a new era of cross-platform entertainment using a single device.

Sigh...

That's just patently false. The RSX is basically a G70 GPU, and G70 GPUs are last-gen. It was pretty on-par with desktop GPUs when it was first released but it's not even close anymore.

[Rishwin]

Sigh...

That's just patently false. The RSX is basically a G70 GPU, and G70 GPUs are last-gen. It was pretty on-par with desktop GPUs when it was first released but it's not even close anymore.

I had a proper response to that but stupid "server busy" message got rid of it. So i guess i'll give a shorter version.

It seems for some reason the words "Consoles have graphics processors VASTLY superior to ones available for the PC at that time" got deleted. Obviously it is not better than current cards.

As i was saying, the Xenos was the best of the best even 12 months after the 360 was released, there was nothing compared to it until they started using it to make the Ati 3000 series 2+ years later. MOST people today still don't have GFX cards as good as the Xenos, hell even my 8800GT doesn't compare to it.

But the whole point is that by hacking the software on a PS3 and putting a proper OS on it, you can get a VERY good home PC for a very low price.

[master_unknown]

That's good. Now then I think PSP 3000 is next. or not.

Edit:
NO TO CONSOLES!!

[Elkin]

That's good. Now then I think PSP 3000 is next. or not.

Edit:
NO TO CONSOLES!!

I believe it was hacked already. Correct me if I am wrong.

[iTzDielawn]

Nice, it's still going to be awhile until people are able to download games for the ps3 though lol.

[Blackbox]

I believe it was hacked already. Correct me if I am wrong.

It was.

[Btk]

yaaaaaaa

[jMerliN]

But the whole point is that by hacking the software on a PS3 and putting a proper OS on it, you can get a VERY good home PC for a very low price.

I agree. I have one but I haven't put linux on it yet. I suppose that would do the trick?

I would love complete access to the system though, I imagine hacking game saves could result in a few nights of fun making cheats etc :p.

[master_unknown]

Off Topic:
The new Psp 3000 isn't hackable. The firmwares (gen) is for the lower versions (2000s). Well, as what they've said, the new Psp has new mobo that they needed to hack.

Probably the same concept was used in PS3.
I think.

[Blackbox]

I agree. I have one but I haven't put linux on it yet. I suppose that would do the trick?

I would love complete access to the system though, I imagine hacking game saves could result in a few nights of fun making cheats etc :p.

You can already download your gamesaves to a USB/Card and set it up on your computer :P

Easy enough to unlock everything with simple Hex Editor, I'm sure someone could figure out how to do other things :P


(Getting all the trophies and 100% game saves this way was patched not long ago though)


@master unknown
Yes, the psp 300x's are hackable. There is just no permanent firmware for it just yet. But there is a few temporary firmwares (Gen-A, etc) and exploits to allow homebrew.

[Peanut1337]

3 years.. what the Christ, where does this guy get all the time from?

i think u have it wrong dude... the ps3 has been around for 3 years... it took the guy 5 weeks to hack what they are saying is that its been 3 years and finally someone has been able to hack a ps3 :P hope that clears it up for you lol

[Robert]

I had a proper response to that but stupid "server busy" message got rid of it. So i guess i'll give a shorter version.

It seems for some reason the words "Consoles have graphics processors VASTLY superior to ones available for the PC at that time" got deleted. Obviously it is not better than current cards.

As i was saying, the Xenos was the best of the best even 12 months after the 360 was released, there was nothing compared to it until they started using it to make the Ati 3000 series 2+ years later. MOST people today still don't have GFX cards as good as the Xenos, hell even my 8800GT doesn't compare to it.

But the whole point is that by hacking the software on a PS3 and putting a proper OS on it, you can get a VERY good home PC for a very low price.

All I know is that the GFX cards of the 360 and PS3 at the time were highly argued and it was generally recognised they preformed similarly. They weren't vastly superior to PC cards, the hardware just had to do less. And that is where the largest flaw in games consoles come from, while being it's biggest strength. They play games above what a similar spec PC could do at a cheaper price. It's what they are designed to do! The console itself is subsidised to the point where they don't make a profit selling it, or even make a loss, but they make it up on games sales.

Who the hell would actually buy a ps3 as a home computer? They'd be completely stupid! The ps3 is good at playing games, that's what it does, not doing the multitude of other things PCs perform. It would be like taking a server PC, saying it's epic because it has 16 processors, and expecting it to play crysis on top graphics. Home computers are designed around being a jack of all trades. Take the case of TCP, it queues acknowledges which for a networking PoV makes perfect sense. For gaming, it doubles latency... Can be fixed, but it just shows how systems are designed around one thing which doesn't work for everything else.

Basically what I'm saying is by putting an OS on the ps3 you would slow it down. You would be removing it's single targeted aim of playing games. If you tried playing a game while running the OS, it would be much worse than without, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was worse than a PC would have been at the time of it's release. It just isn't designed to do it, and I doubt that is why this hack was done. Free games ftw?

[Rishwin]

All I know is that the GFX cards of the 360 and PS3 at the time were highly argued and it was generally recognised they preformed similarly. They weren't vastly superior to PC cards, the hardware just had to do less. And that is where the largest flaw in games consoles come from, while being it's biggest strength. They play games above what a similar spec PC could do at a cheaper price. It's what they are designed to do! The console itself is subsidised to the point where they don't make a profit selling it, or even make a loss, but they make it up on games sales.

Who the hell would actually buy a ps3 as a home computer? They'd be completely stupid! The ps3 is good at playing games, that's what it does, not doing the multitude of other things PCs perform. It would be like taking a server PC, saying it's epic because it has 16 processors, and expecting it to play crysis on top graphics. Home computers are designed around being a jack of all trades. Take the case of TCP, it queues acknowledges which for a networking PoV makes perfect sense. For gaming, it doubles latency... Can be fixed, but it just shows how systems are designed around one thing which doesn't work for everything else.

Basically what I'm saying is by putting an OS on the ps3 you would slow it down. You would be removing it's single targeted aim of playing games. If you tried playing a game while running the OS, it would be much worse than without, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was worse than a PC would have been at the time of it's release. It just isn't designed to do it, and I doubt that is why this hack was done. Free games ftw?

Next to no graphics power is required to render the GUI of an operating system. That is why PC's are quite usable with an onboard GPU chip with 8mb of shared memory. It is only games that require more advanced hardware, which is what the consoles have.

The basic specs of the 2 consoles are as follows :

CPU - both 3.2ghz, 3 cores (360), 8 cores (PS3)
RAM - 512MB GDDR3 (360), 256MB GDDR4 (PS3)
GPU - Ati R600 architecture (360), Nvidia G70 Architecture (PS3)
HDD - Roughly 120GB for both
Misc - 360 has a 12x DVD drive, the PS3 has a 2x Blu-ray (8x DVD) drive. 360 has 100mb Ethernet, PS3 has gigabit Ethernet. Both have HDMI and 5.1 channel sound, USB ports, and some sort of flash memory onboard used as a buffer/cache.

Now take a look at those specs... it's better than the PC's the majority of users here have. Will i contest your point that an OS will slow it down? No. HOWEVER, you are making the very wrong assumption that the OS (whichever linux distro is used) will be active in the background while playing games. To ensure that the gaming is not effected, some sort of a dual-boot setup must be created. There is no way for you to surf the web + play games at the same time, so why would both the OS and the games be running at once? They wouldn't.

Now, the PS3 can be used as a VERY decent home server. With 8 cores, you will be hard-pressed to find a similar performing server for less than DOUBLE the cost of a PS3. With its Blu-ray player, it becomes a media center as well. Share files + play blu-ray movies with one powerful machine? Sure, i'll take it.

You are also making the assumption that everyone plays games on the PS3. There are MANY people who have never purchased a single console game their entire lives, but simply bought a PS3 because it was the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market.

[office.boy]

I don't think it has been hacked to this level before - gratz to Geohot.
If you read up on his iPhone hacking stuff, you'd know he's actually a student (probably on Holidays or something) - hence why he had so much time on his hands to crack it. :-)

[Robert]

Next to no graphics power is required to render the GUI of an operating system. That is why PC's are quite usable with an onboard GPU chip with 8mb of shared memory. It is only games that require more advanced hardware, which is what the consoles have.

The basic specs of the 2 consoles are as follows :

CPU - both 3.2ghz, 3 cores (360), 8 cores (PS3)
RAM - 512MB GDDR3 (360), 256MB GDDR4 (PS3)
GPU - Ati R600 architecture (360), Nvidia G70 Architecture (PS3)
HDD - Roughly 120GB for both
Misc - 360 has a 12x DVD drive, the PS3 has a 2x Blu-ray (8x DVD) drive. 360 has 100mb Ethernet, PS3 has gigabit Ethernet. Both have HDMI and 5.1 channel sound, USB ports, and some sort of flash memory onboard used as a buffer/cache.

Now take a look at those specs... it's better than the PC's the majority of users here have. Will i contest your point that an OS will slow it down? No. HOWEVER, you are making the very wrong assumption that the OS (whichever linux distro is used) will be active in the background while playing games. To ensure that the gaming is not effected, some sort of a dual-boot setup must be created. There is no way for you to surf the web + play games at the same time, so why would both the OS and the games be running at once? They wouldn't.

Now, the PS3 can be used as a VERY decent home server. With 8 cores, you will be hard-pressed to find a similar performing server for less than DOUBLE the cost of a PS3. With its Blu-ray player, it becomes a media center as well. Share files + play blu-ray movies with one powerful machine? Sure, i'll take it.

You are also making the assumption that everyone plays games on the PS3. There are MANY people who have never purchased a single console game their entire lives, but simply bought a PS3 because it was the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market.

All I need do is point to the RAM tbh. Any PC these days have a minimum of 2GB. My firefox alone is using 400MB ram right now. This is before we add in an OS. Frankly if you try to do anything a PC can do on a ps3 that isn't entirely focused on the graphics capability then it will fail. They are designed for gaming, they can do maths REALLY well, and display images REALLY well. Anything more than that, they just don't stand up too well, and you would be better off with a normal PC.

And who can't game and use the internet at the same time? I always have firefox open regardless of what game I am playing. Not to mention MSN, normally vent, anti viruses and a multitude of other stuff going on in the background. Wy bother with having an OS if you are going to remove all it's functionality if you want to actually do something. Oh right, because it fails at multitasking.

The only thing that a ps3 is good for is playing games and movies. Anything else and you would be better off with a PC. In which case, what is hacking it really going to accomplish? Cheap games and something to show off with imo.

[yjlasher22]

All I need do is point to the RAM tbh. Any PC these days have a minimum of 2GB. My firefox alone is using 400MB ram right now. This is before we add in an OS. Frankly if you try to do anything a PC can do on a ps3 that isn't entirely focused on the graphics capability then it will fail. They are designed for gaming, they can do maths REALLY well, and display images REALLY well. Anything more than that, they just don't stand up too well, and you would be better off with a normal PC.

And who can't game and use the internet at the same time? I always have firefox open regardless of what game I am playing. Not to mention MSN, normally vent, anti viruses and a multitude of other stuff going on in the background. Wy bother with having an OS if you are going to remove all it's functionality if you want to actually do something. Oh right, because it fails at multitasking.

The only thing that a ps3 is good for is playing games and movies. Anything else and you would be better off with a PC. In which case, what is hacking it really going to accomplish? Cheap games and something to show off with imo.

No one said its gonna be loaded to be used for websurfing. its a really cheap entertainment pc. think XBMC, HTPC. with that kind of look and specs, its a really good deal of a "pc", being able to play blu-ray, HD videos, browse the web, view images, hell, even IM or skype if you really want to.

it would be used more for the living room, not a gaming/ workstation. someone would probably create a linux build or custom firmware to acheive these things.