PS3 Firmware 3.21 Update Arrives, It Only Does Less Than It Did!

[PS3 News]

As scheduled, today the PS3 Firmware 3.21 update is available for download and as Sony previously confirmed it disables the OtherOS functionality in an effort to make the PlayStation 3 entertainment system more secure.

Download: PS3 Firmware 3.21 Update (US) / PS3 Firmware Update 3.21 (EU)

PS3 hacker GeoHot (http://twitter.com/egohot to http://ps3central.blogspot.com/2010/03/hacker-geohot-gives-out-flawed-advice.html) has promised a solution to those who hold off updating their console which may include PS3 Custom Firmware alongside a http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/HonzaHavlicek open-source PS3 RSX driver rumored to be in development.

More details to come as they are available, including a full PS3 Firmware version 3.21 changelog. At the moment, all that is available from the PlayStation Japan site according to http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/04/01/ps3-fw-3-21s-hidden-features/ is the following, to quote: "Firstly it appears the quality of of PlayStation format software from the Store has been improved, presumably referring to the PS1 functionality (FFIX?).

Secondly, it appears that the security of MP4 video playback has been boosted too, removing some vulnerabilities."

RSX objects:

0x0 -- 0x30 -- NV01_NULL
0x31337000 -- 0x4097 -- NV40TCL
0x31337303 -- 0x39 -- NV_MEMORY_TO_MEMORY_FORMAT
0x3137C0DE -- 0x39 -- NV_MEMORY_TO_MEMORY_FORMAT
0x31337A73 -- 0x309E -- NV40_SWIZZLED_SURFACE
0x313371C3 -- 0x3062 -- NV40_CONTEXT_SURFACES_2D
0x3137AF00 -- 0x3089 -- NV40_SCALED_IMAGE_FROM_MEMORY
0x31337808 -- 0x308A -- NV40_IMAGE_FROM_CPU

Changelog:

• The [Install Other OS] and [Default System] features have been deleted.
• The playback quality of some PlayStation® format software that is downloaded (as a purchase or for free) from PlayStation®Store has been improved.
• A security patch was added to address security vulnerabilities that may occur when playing MP4 format video files.

Finally, those who don't plan to update may want to check out the guides on How to Bypass PS3 Firmware 3.21 and Connect to PSN.


More PlayStation 3 News...

[devinbedari]

You know, I think Sony is gonna slowly even stop us from playing PS3 games, the way things are going.

[Pretikewl]

This is really sad news.

I know it was silly to do so, but I kept hoping against hope that this would all turn out to be a nasty April Fool's joke. Guess the joke's on us...

[XiLE]

Downloading now, will be kinda strange if 3.15 -> 3.21 only removes Linux...

Waiting for that changelist, sad that Sony "forgot" to inform anyone of any other changes

[red8316]

Such as sad day for all PS3 users. It feels like a part of me if being torn away. That sounds super lame, but as a gamer it feels like I'm getting my pinky toe cut off. Sure its not essential, might help with my balance, but damn will I miss it. It's a sense of loss and a big F/U from $ony to me for buying into their system over Micro$ofts. I'm gonna try and hold off for a while before updating, but after a week or two I might wonder if it's worth it if nothing major develops.

[livpool]

hmm.. interesting i was just on PSN and it didnt kick me off to update.. if i stayed on would i of not had to update? i turned my PS3 off now, ill turn it back on

edit: yep, i should of left my PS3 on.. ok time to try out LOGAN5's proxy.

[MisSpark]

it is lame that they are removing but i'm not supporting them in what they did but think if you where sony... and your company made the ps3 what would you do ?

[livpool]

it is lame that they are removing but i'm not supporting them in what they did but think if you where sony... and your company made the ps3 what would you do ?

instead of removing a cherished and advertised feature i would fix the problem properly. like any smart business would do..

[MisSpark]

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This is how i did it, your mileage may vary, it's pretty complicated, you'll need a lot of stuff:

1) get yourself a web server (i'm suggesting Apache, look for WAMP for an easy implementation to run on Winlose) AND a DNS server. Also, your computer needs a static ip. I'm not here to teach you how to all this stuff
2) grab a copy of the right file the PS3 checks http://fus01.ps3.update.playstation....updatelist.txt for us and so on
3) edit it. Dead easy, just replace "3.2100" with "3.1500"
4) create the right path in your web server shared folder. For the us version of this thing you need to create "update" that contains "ps3" that contains "list" that contains "us" and then place the edited ps3-updatelist.txt in the directory
5) On to the DNS side..... create a master zone called "fus01.ps3.update.playstation.net" for the us. Then add to that zone a machine record with the same name, but your computer's IP.
6) easy part: set up the PS3 so that it will use your new DNS server, namely just put the computer's IP as both primary and secondary DNS server.
7) if you didn't do so yet, start the web server and the DNS server, do a connection test with the PS3. IF everything went well, you should just connect and have no updates to do.

[Jes03]

I thought updates added features not removed them. This is not an update its a downgrade.

I'm one that will be waiting for this so called custom firmware.

it is lame that they are removing but i'm not supporting them in what they did but think if you where sony... and your company made the ps3 what would you do ?

What would I do if I were $ony?

I would fix the hole or do nothing about it as the hack doesn't do anything. It cant install custom firmware, it cant run pirated games, it cant run homebrew so whats the problem? It's no threat to anything at the moment so why worry. It's not like a dvd firmware flash like the 360.

Unless $ony know that the hack CAN actually lead to homebrew and pirated games but as we don't know that then they shouldn't do anything. All they are telling us is we are closer than we think to a real CFW on the PS3 and piracy is just around the corner.

Maybe there is no hole to plug. The removal of OtherOS is the only way to fix it? I doubt it but maybe GeoHot did find a hole $ony have been hoping nobody would find?

I doubt there will be a PS3 CFW in the next few weeks. If there is then yea for us, we win finally but at the moment $ony won todays fight.