PS3 firmware 1.82 released

Posted by multippt

After hearing of suggestions from readers requesting for announcing firmware updates in advance, Sony (PlayStation network) have decided to fulfill their wishes by annoucing a possible small update to the PS3 firmware - 1.82 (although they did this for 1.81, but a day’s advanced).

Here are the proposed features:
-Update allowing for playback of AVC (H.264/MP4) files.
-More PS2 game compatibility

Via Sony PlayStation blog

PSP downgrader for firmware 3.50 released

Posted by multippt

Fanjita and co (the Noobz team) in just a short space of a few days since their latest discovery of the Illuminati exploit have released their downgrader. This downgrader allows you to downgrade from the official firmware, 3.50, to lower firmwares like 1.50.

Why downgrade you may ask? Older firmwares have greater support for homebrew. This downgrader is tailored for firmware 3.50, so if you want to downgrade your PSP which is at a firmware lower than 3.50 (and higher than 2.80), you will need to update your PSP to that version. The downgrader will automatically detect the correct motherboard type to downgrade the PSP appropriately.

Note that if you downgrade a TA-082 (or tA-086) PSP with this downgrader, you may not be able to update to the latest version, since firmwares past 3.11 (3.30 onwards) will have checks that prevent downgraded PSP using new motherboards from updating (the problem is some corrupted registry values). However, you can use new custom firmwares (like the OE series).

To use the downgrader, you will need:
-A PSP, with official firmware 3.50. The language settings should also be set to “English”.
-A legal copy of Lumines, either the Europe or US version.

The instructions for using the downgrader is provided in the “readme” text file.

As with any downgrader, there is a risk that you may accidentally render your PSP unusable, so always read the readme.

In addition to the downgrader, they have released a port of HEN (Homebrew ENabler), which allows the execution of homebrew on 3.50.

You can get the downgrader from Noobz.

Sony comfirms faster PSP CPU speed in firmware 3.50

Posted by multippt

A Sony Computer Entertainment representative has comfirmed that developers of games can take full advantage of the PSP’s CPU, following the release of firmware 3.50.

Originally, the PSP’s CPU speed was capped at a lower speed (266MHz), and usually homebrew was used (way before the firmware 3.50) to make the PSP run at full CPU speed (333MHz). Faster CPU speed meant that games will run and load much more faster (but at the expense of shorter battery life).

The increase in CPU speed affects newer games designed to make use of this “feature” in firmware 3.50. Older games still continue to run at the lower CPU speed they are originally programmed to run at.

*The change in CPU speed was first reported by Quick Journal members.

Possible PS3 exploit found?

Posted by multippt

According to a French site, it appears that someone has found a possible exploit that runs on PS3 versions 1.80-1.81. The exploit was achieved through the modification of the contents in a .pkg file.

A member (Plakasoft) claims that the exploit works, and he/she has succeeded in creating a “hello world” application that simply displays 3 blinking lines and would return the user to the XMB.

There is also a discussion on this in English at the MaxConsole forums.

Below is the video (Youtube):

This exploit is yet to be tested fully, and is just a rumor.

Via MaxConsole, PS3Gen site (French)

PSP official firmware 3.50

Posted by multippt

Sony has just brought up a new update (for the US) for the PSP. This time it’s firmware 3.50.

This firmware was released just yesterday (the US version was released hours after the Japan one), and an increase of 0.10 in firmware revision number tells us it’s going to add some nice features, and so it does.

Here are the features:
-Ability to connect the PSP to the PS3 via the internet (using “Remote Play”)
-New option in “Remote Play” (”Communication Settings”)
-New option in “RSS Channel” (”RSS Channel Guide”)

This firmware does not support homebrew (as usual), and once you upgrade to this firmware, you cannot downgrade to any earlier versions (for now).

Via PSP official US site

*We missed out the PS3’s firmware 1.80, but you can view the PS3 site to get more information as well.

3.40 OE-A and 3.30 OE-A’ custom firmwares

Posted by multippt

Dark_Alex has recently released an update to his series of custom firmwares. First off, we would start on the 3.30 OE-A’ custom firmware. This is a relatively minor update to the 3.30 OE-A custom firmware. The changes are as followed (from 3.30 OE-A):
-Some security patches [related to RAM usage]
-Reimplemented autoboot

Now for the custom firmware of interest - 3.40 OE-A. Just after a few days of the official 3.40’s release, Dark_Alex managed create 3.40 OE-A, which has the features of his custom firmwares, plus the features of 3.40. Here are some features in this custom firmware (changes from 3.30 OE-A):
-Features from 3.40
-Improvements in flasher. It would generate the flash 1 directories [so chances are, you won't lose your settings], and checks the generated DATA.DXAR file [to check if you are using the right file].
-Some security patches [same as 3.30 OE-A']
-Reimplemented autoboot [same as 3.30 OE-A']

Via Dark_Alex.org

*This news is actually quite old :P. It should have been made on 20th Apr *sign*

PS3 official firmware 1.70 and PSP official firmware 3.40

Posted by multippt

Sony sure is busy about these updates. First was the first appearence of the PSP update at the PSP official korean site [the English translation is quite vague], and now an update for the PS3.

First things first, lets look at PSP firmware 3.40. The firmware was first spotted on the Korean site, followed by the Japanese site. Now, it has appeared on the US site, and seems to have a few features in relation to gaming:
-Support for more PLAYSTATION network titles
-Saved data from PlayStation format software can be used on both the PSP and PS3
-”Certificate Utility” was added

Of course, don’t expect any homebrew friendliness from Sony on this firmware. As of yet, there is no downgrader for a firmware past 3.10.

Now for the PS3. Sony has dished out yet another software update, this time it’s 1.70. This update is released roughly at the same time as the PSP’s. This update first appeared on the Japan site, but it is accessable at the US site as well. This update apparently allows the PS3 to use saved data from the PlayStation format software.