PS3 HDD Toolbox v0.94 and PS3 Update Extractor v1.12 out!

Someone with more experience please ... What does it do exactly? or what is it food for?!

Ifcaro hinted at the PS3 HDD Toolbox app here: http://www.ps3news.com/forums/ps3-hacks/hdd-encryption-105760-2.html#post265116

Basically what it does is make it less painful to use knightsolidus' method for encrypting/decrypting data on the PS3 HDD.

You load either a HDD image or browse to a HDD itself from the app, and then it allows you to manipulate the data block using the options on the right side and then extract or regenerate it.

Obviously the tool (along with knightsolidus' method) is intended for Devs, but end-users can be happy in knowing this tool makes the tedious tasks involved in experimentation a lot faster for the folks doing the work. :tup3:

Well i know the PS3 Update Extractor, will pull apart a PS3 Firmware Update.. so you can view/edit the contents..

But of course its only one way.. no way to re-compile/encrypt.

Not sure of the other one, im assuming a tool to patch files to work with the harddrive, for use with a debug/test playstation 3. Someone else will have to confirm that for me.. im just guessing.

Thanks PS3 News!

I actually knew what it was all about, but I have never tried to work on the HDD so I was kinda clueless of what the program EXACTLY does. I must try to see with my own eyes...

I answered it above.. beat ya by one minute! :p

But to avoid confusion, the app is intended for use on retail PS3 HDD's... mainly it's a time-saving utility as those who already have been working on PS3 HDD encrypt/decrypt stuff have been doing it manually to date (except NDT, I think he has a similar app but not released yet) which is very time-consuming. :sorrow:

@mihaiolimpiu: No prob.. don't feel bad, I haven't either. A few of the Devs have, but most don't have the amount time it takes so this handy tool may pique their interest. :tup:

I see "magic blocks" and "key.bin" there. What are they? Has a method been found to decrypt parts of the HDD when it is outside PS3? I mean previously you had to copy a file into PS3, find its blocks and rewrite them with encrypted blocks from HDD (you'd do this with PC with PS3's HDD attached), then copy the file back from PS3 (it would get decrypted).

Very interesting! From 1-10, how integral might this be to finally cracking the PS3's seemingly impenetrable shell?

That is something CJPC, NDT, knightsolidus, or ifcaro would probably know the answer to. If none of the latter three reply with the answer, I will slap CJPC around a little tonight to get him to reply. :wacky:
My understanding is this is just a time-saver app for those tinkering with files on the PS3 HDD, so I'd say we are no closer than we were before knightsolidus' initial method was leaked.

I believe that sharing tools of this type to the public will result in letting SONY knows bout the "holes".
That's why i don't release my tools anymore.

By the way HDD store nothing of important, actually the update process is well protected even if decrypted, so this tool lead to nothing.

Very practical for the devs and who doesnt want to save time day to day? People forget devs have lives of their own lol. Anything that cuts out fuss and saves time in the dev field is a plus :)

Whenever a hack is found it will have to be something that cannot be patched or something that works with all games made prior so u can just leave your ps3 unupdated and have your fun.

even if the update is mandatory you still have to choose whether to install or go commando so i dont know if worrying about patches is the way.

Need a way to downgrade that cannot be patched and away we go. Also an update could introduce a vulnerability :shhh:

No i agree with NDT!

It is useless for the community to release something only to read your owen name on some majore sites.

Everything what haved the potential to crack down the Retail PS3 would been patched from Sony after comerciall release.

EVERYTHING, including the FW loophole, the GPU hole, the XMB hole, the Game's XML vulnerability, the Remote Play Hack, even the Debug Game patch hole would be closed - no more game dumping via RAM, than some one give use some interesting info about the Cell CPU and Sony put out the OtherOS from the new PS3 Slim.So no more Cell hacking on the new slim ps3!!

Are you people out there totally insain?
And if you worry about to not have such apps to use, than...you are not smart enough!!
If something good will lead out of such apps than we will have oure CFW but why should a normal user have access to such apps?
Useless!!They most of the guys out there dono understand for what the apps could be used and need a tut to be able to use them.


Call me crazy but i think its not good to release such apps to the commercial community!!!

PEACE cfwprophet

Old news wrapped in a Windows GUI ..

The HDD was already decrypted - Work done, no need to create another tool.
Update Extractor, then what is "unpup" ? Works fine for me!

Really paranoid about sharing information. There are disadvantages but a patch for a workaround can come even after one is found. Unless devs update with every firmware that comes out they can still work even after sony releases a patch. Its not so bad to use the word insane
ANyway i hope there is decent information sharing and prog/file sharing amongst devs. Not too scared to do it

Well, I only put my little utility on my website. If it's in any web page it's not because I have put it there... :shame:

Well ifcaro, you shared it somehow, it's normal that such a tool would have been shared worldwide in a few...

No offence meant.

Its your choice!

But if you look back on the ps3 all what would be released on news info or tools would be for 99,9% of the community and users TOTALLy useless.

This have absolutely nothing to do with paranoiac or something else but look back!!

For you the history have a CFW for the PS3? Or is it a fact that ALL what would be discovered and released to the commercial community would be patched from Sony in time of only weeks?
Did some one after sony have patched the hole discovered a new way like a other user mentoined above?

So Please ifcaro dono take it personally its your turn!!

But this is my meaning and if you have the abbility to kick out your personal feelings you will see the logic in my words.

can we extract the movies we download from PSN using this HDD tool?

well your right, Sony does block everything and anything (you forgot BD-J), but if nothing is ever released, noone would have been able to try them. What use is a private hack? Anyways, it will always be hack-patch-hack-patch. If a full blown exploit is ever found and released, Sony will try to patch it. So people will have to decide if they want to update or stay with the hack. One of my ps3s still runs BD-J :lol:
Oh ya, Dashhacker said he has been able to get ORP working again.

Don´t misunderstand what I´m trying to say. I do agree that any holes or security flaws that MIGHT lead to an exploit should be kept quiet. :shhh:
That´s not the case here. This tool will just help to work with info that was leaked awhile back. that´s when the damage was done. If I remember correctly "PS3 HDD Decrypted" was on alot of front pages. That was a couple of firmware ago so who knows what security has been added since then :hmm:

If Ifcaro´s app can save time for devs or aspiring devs then. :tup:

That is what i mean!

I dono mean stop this hacking! But if some things would not be released to the whole commercial community, only available for a community of Dever's and they are not interested to spread things, than maybe we allready would have a other situation.

The prob is not that thinks would be discovered, the prob is that sony can read all this things we write and release to the commercial community and in a special case Hacker's and Dever's to this time ONLY support sony in getting holes patched and the most bad thing is,...that they do it for FREE :wacky: :crazy: X_X


ps. The remote play hack to this time on FW 2.80 will be also gone

the remote play hack is something useful to more than just devs so i am going to assume u are advocating private hacks. Hacks that the devs will have and keep from the "commercial" community forever

To be honest - we are not totally sure, it does not have an english readme / guide like NDT's app does, but...

If I had to take a guess, the "key.bin" is definitely not any decryption key, its mostlikely the binary data that is used (the magic blocks), which is the pattern used for it processing said data.

It would be nice if ifcaro could answer the question, as he would have the answer.

I do not know speak English well enough to do a manual in English. If someone translated the manual into English, It will be in the next version.

"Magic blocks" are special blocks that are expected not to be found in a natural way in hdd.

key.bin is a file that has all the magic blocks encrypted, so that after the tool knows how to find its position on the hdd.

A question for those having Infectus installed:

There was a tool able to recover part of the flash's filesystem - read about it here: http://www.ps3news.com/forums/playstation-3-dev-news/playstation-3-flow-rebuilder-3-50-ecc-gen-released-101229-3.html . The other part remained encrypted and was resisting attempts to break in. The question is: now when we have a way (and a tool to make it easier) to decrypt the HDD - has anyone tried to decrypt that encrypted flash partition as if it was part of the HDD? I know chances are slim the same encryption is used for both HDD and flash but what if ...???

It's rather childish just to say: "Any tool that gets released here will be blocked by Sony" ..

Comon how paranoid are you? And don't we already have firmware bypass?

I don't get the idea !!!

Well, people have their own opinion on this... but many of the PS3 Devs who make and use these tools mainly prefer to keep them private as part of of a "better safe than sorry" idiom.

I don't want this thread to drift off the topic of people who are sincerely trying to learn and work with the tool, so I will put the kibosh on any more debate as to what should be public vs private and leave it up to those who devote their time in making the tools to decide. ;)

I know exactly what you mean PS3News ..

But still, if some hack is discovered in earlier firmwares, TRUST me, they will find (I think it already exists?) a way to downgrade firmwares, one way or another .. HDD-swap, Infectus, Folding@Home drop-in or whatever ..

By still having devs searching older firmwares we are not lost and people should stop the whining and let the devs do the talking.

And so far this tool and some USB logger, it's not like it's "rocket-science" ..

If you ask me the most interesting hack so far is the RSX hack with the extended Xorg driver and why doesn't it get attention? Because it's not an ISO loader ..

So forget ISO loaders, and stop whining about releasing tools which has nothing to do with the "security" on the PS3.

And you don't think the PS3 hasn't been hacked ? I think it maybe has been hacked, but its not public... Thats what i think... but who knows. Its not the time for an isoloader. Its too early. And if a hole is found to launch iso, it would be bad for the PS3. But Homebrew would be nice. Own XMB like on PSP... ;)

And sharing Tools has 2 Faces... on one side, its good for people who are working alone on hacking the ps3... there are more people try than you know... but on the other side, Sony will know what way we want to go and they will change something... but who knows what.