PS3 Firmware 3.40

[Gradthrawn]

Then why not instead of getting rid of OtherOS, they just create a patch to kill the exploit

My guess would be because that cost more money for a non-core feature used by a limited (but apparently very vocal) part of the user-base that doesn't generate much (if any) interest, nor less profit. I would also guess that ancillary maintenance cost to SCE for OtherOS was also something they would like to have gotten rid of (testing/certifying that module of the firmware for each firmware release, etc). I would venture to say that however small the cost, they were looking for a reason to dump it completely (and not just for any new systems moving forward as they did with the Slim) and a security concern was as good a reason as any. Just simply business. I'm not making excuses or condoning/condemning their choice, just giving my observation. Although had GeoHat's exploit not come along, I'm guessing they would have stomached it and left the feature in.

 

[-tkf-]

TThe PSP hackers has have created apps that allow youtube/flash videos on the PSP, a better web browser

Is the only usefull thing i can come to think of, and that would really have to be special in order to be worth it. I find that the PSP supports all the video codecs and Music codecs i could find reasonable.

Then why not instead of getting rid of OtherOS, they just create a patch to kill the exploit, or why not support those two features on the XMB itself so it's done without the OtherOS option?

Geohot killed the OtherOS, until he proved that there was an open "attack vector" through OtherOS it was safe.

If he had kept his hands and empty promises away there is more than a fair chance that OtherOS would live through the PS3´s life time. And the Jailbreak proves Sony right, if the hackers are to be believed the current hack wouldn´t be here without Geohots hack. The saddest thing is, the only ones that will gain anything from his "hack" is the pirates and a slim group of homebrew elitsts. The big homebrew stuff is unlikely to happen since the audience is very small.

 

[Arwin]

Is the only usefull thing i can come to think of, and that would really have to be special in order to be worth it. I find that the PSP supports all the video codecs and Music codecs i could find reasonable.

Yes, but it hasn't always been like that. In the first few years of PSP, homebrew had a lot of advantages. And I can honestly say that's all I used it for. Even emulator stuff: though I did test to see if the N64 and SNES emulators worked, I only really used CaSTaway, and the Atari ST is basically one of the very few out there right now that you can more or less consider 'legal emulation'. It was the only way also to get shoutcast radio channels properly (and to this day that was far superior to the weird flash app the regular firmware offers), and there were really quite a lot of apps and things being released. You couldn't play recorded video at full 480x272 resolution yet until much later firmwares, etc. It was for me basically the best portable app/media experience before the iPhone.

 

[oramay]

Homebrews on PSP are indeed very useful. I'm still constantly using PSP to read ebooks and game guides I downloaded in txt, pdf & djvu format. I can even have 2 open programs at one time, e.g., playing a game, not knowing what to do at some point, then without quitting game, switch to shell to launch a program to read a downloaded guide or use web browser to find the answer online. Of course, one important reason I find it so useful is I don't have another mobile device that has a decent screen and has many custom programs available.

Homebrews for PS3 though, I seriously doubt I'll find much use of it other than pirating games even if Sony doesn't plug the hole. One big difference is I do have a PC and the homebrews on PS3 is essentially competing against PC. In general, I don't expect PS3 homebrews to outperform what I already have on PC. Even though my PC is more than 6-years-old, it still has 1GB RAM. For certain tasks, if homebrew programs make good use of Cell, they'll surely work better than the equivalent on my PC. However, homebrew for Cell has been possible for a long time and I had Linux sitting on my PS3 not being used at all because it's even slower than the outdated PC I'm using. The plethora of free programs designed for Cell that I hoped for simply never came.

 

[patsu]

Any Sony thread works just as well...

Happy 15th birthday Playstation !
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/09/09/15-years-later-enos-lives-on-infographic/

 

[flynn]

The saddest thing is, the only ones that will gain anything from his "hack" is the pirates and a slim group of homebrew elitsts. The big homebrew stuff is unlikely to happen since the audience is very small.

People had almost 5 years to come out with homebrew when Linux was there. Where are all those awesome apps and games? Even with the RSX restrictions the Cell alone is enough to create lots of interesting stuff.

Other than some efforts to write a Cell-backed OpenGL lib and a video encoder, I cannot really think of anything cool or useful.

 

[Npl]

People had almost 5 years to come out with homebrew when Linux was there. Where are all those awesome apps and games? Even with the RSX restrictions the Cell alone is enough to create lots of interesting stuff.

Other than some efforts to write a Cell-backed OpenGL lib and a video encoder, I cannot really think of anything cool or useful.

Well, what really cool results did the PS3-Owners come out with all the games? I only could think of some annoying youtube-videos of people beeing dickheads.
The hacking around in itself is interesting, even if there aint coming out anything that you feel to share with the world. In other much better words:
"Hacking is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it." - R. Feynman

 

[flynn]

Well, what really cool results did the PS3-Owners come out with all the games? I only could think of some annoying youtube-videos of people beeing dickheads.
The hacking around in itself is interesting, even if there aint coming out anything that you feel to share with the world. In other much better words:
"Hacking is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it." - R. Feynman

I don't disagree with what you say. I like playing with hardware myself even if nothing useful comes out of that. But in the PS3 case I feel the homebrew thing is just a lame excuse to avoid making it obvious that it's piracy what many people are looking for.

It's like all those people asking for a port of XBMC; I've never seen any of those guys sit down with a text editor and contribute something.

If the ps2dev guys (or other group) come out with a clean (free of Sony IP) sdk they will get a lot of respect from me. This is not the PSP and a lot of things are very poorly documented (if at all) for those without an NDA.

 

[Bigduo209]

My guess would be because that cost more money for a non-core feature used by a limited (but apparently very vocal) part of the user-base that doesn't generate much (if any) interest, nor less profit. I would also guess that ancillary maintenance cost to SCE for OtherOS was also something they would like to have gotten rid of (testing/certifying that module of the firmware for each firmware release, etc). I would venture to say that however small the cost, they were looking for a reason to dump it completely (and not just for any new systems moving forward as they did with the Slim) and a security concern was as good a reason as any. Just simply business. I'm not making excuses or condoning/condemning their choice, just giving my observation. Although had GeoHat's exploit not come along, I'm guessing they would have stomached it and left the feature in.

Yes, but it hasn't always been like that. In the first few years of PSP, homebrew had a lot of advantages. And I can honestly say that's all I used it for. Even emulator stuff: though I did test to see if the N64 and SNES emulators worked, I only really used CaSTaway, and the Atari ST is basically one of the very few out there right now that you can more or less consider 'legal emulation'. It was the only way also to get shoutcast radio channels properly (and to this day that was far superior to the weird flash app the regular firmware offers), and there were really quite a lot of apps and things being released. You couldn't play recorded video at full 480x272 resolution yet until much later firmwares, etc. It was for me basically the best portable app/media experience before the iPhone.

Homebrews on PSP are indeed very useful. I'm still constantly using PSP to read ebooks and game guides I downloaded in txt, pdf & djvu format. I can even have 2 open programs at one time, e.g., playing a game, not knowing what to do at some point, then without quitting game, switch to shell to launch a program to read a downloaded guide or use web browser to find the answer online. Of course, one important reason I find it so useful is I don't have another mobile device that has a decent screen and has many custom programs available.

Homebrews for PS3 though, I seriously doubt I'll find much use of it other than pirating games even if Sony doesn't plug the hole. One big difference is I do have a PC and the homebrews on PS3 is essentially competing against PC. In general, I don't expect PS3 homebrews to outperform what I already have on PC. Even though my PC is more than 6-years-old, it still has 1GB RAM. For certain tasks, if homebrew programs make good use of Cell, they'll surely work better than the equivalent on my PC. However, homebrew for Cell has been possible for a long time and I had Linux sitting on my PS3 not being used at all because it's even slower than the outdated PC I'm using. The plethora of free programs designed for Cell that I hoped for simply never came.

Thanks for the responses, I was looking for some actual answers to what I was talking about. Telling me "hacking is evil" or "it's all piracy" is easy, but to give legitimate responses born out of actual insight and logic is something I appreciate more.

I've only checked out the homebrew stuff through some friends' PSPs and certain sites, so I don't know all technical stuff, but I've seen some things that I thought would be a lot more useful on OFW PSPs, stuff that I was surprised to see debut on the official iPhones and other Apple devices before hand.

 

[KongRudi]

Then why not instead of getting rid of OtherOS, they just create a patch to kill the exploit, or why not support those two features on the XMB itself so it's done without the OtherOS option?

I'm not a hacking-expert, but I recall GeoHot wrote this:
"This exploit isn't really patchable, but [Sony] can make implementations much harder."
when he released his exploit. And he seems to know his stuff.

So I would assume that it were the reason why Sony couldn't patch the exploit, and instead chose to remove the option to run the exploit, and in the process removing the option to run any otherOS than PS3's GameOS.