Install Debug Firmware on a Retail PS3 system

[PS3 News]

The hardware is the same, only the software (Firmware) differs between them.

[cherryduck]

I'm currently on 2.35 retail FW, but hopefully this method will still work when the next up debug and retail firmwares are released. All may not be lost for those of us with higher firmwares!

[Becky]

Yes but Sony will hear from it. We are doing a big mistake. Devs should work in background and release something that fully works. Now Sony will do changes and the hole will be closed on the next DebugFW or whatever. Guys like us with Firmware above 2.15 only have the chance with Infectus.

[adrianc1982]

Im happy as long as developers get a chance to get their consoles into full dev firmware that way they can play and mature this stuff, later we can worry about ourselfs dont you think?

Besides a lot can be learned about upgrading/downgrading with this method, like ps3news said maybe patches? who knows just wait a little guys.

[Whistler]

Originally Posted by PS3News The hardware is the same, only the software (Firmware) differs between them.

What exactly is blocking a retail console from updating to a debug fw if the hardware is the same? Is it only the previously installed fw that tells the new debug firmware that it can not install on the machine?

[bernd111]

Did someone (like PS3News) think of an backup plan? Perhaps something like an emergency newsletter.

Just in case that Sony would force us to close this site some time in the future... I know that some of the devs would still stay in contact, but that way the community could be informed of a new forum or so.

[XVISTAMAN2005]

There has been people asking if you could install 1.80 debug and upgrade to 2.15, the answer for now is no. i tried this on one of my systems and the 2.15 upgrade errors out without the swap trick. it might be possible later on to see what is different with this debug fw and full debug fw.

For example you can dump most reatil firmware with infectus and run a patch to make them 1.0 for downgrading to aonther version maybe same could be done with the debug firmware see what is differnt and patch it to work but it will porably be a while to see if this is posible im sure the devs are considering this.

[ps2asker]

According to some rumors a couple months ago the 2.0 debug had a downgrade function (thats what I was talking about earlier), does 2.15 have this? If so have you tried to downgrade to 1.80 debug?

[young blade]

so right now we got 2 big isues... 1st many people need to find a way to downgrade... and 2nd we need to get the debug firmware to funtion proparly..

[Nivalis]

Not to detract from the progress going on here, or to ruin the mood, but could this method be used with, say, two firmwares?, for example, someone with a 1.10, update to 1.15, pull the hdd, then that hdd be used in place of the debug firmware hdd?

Could this not theoretically install 1.15 on a ps3 with the almost-latest firmware?

So as follows
1.10 ps3 runs 1.15 update on freshly formatted drive
drive is removed..
3.30? ps3 runs 3.35 update on freshly formatted drive
drive is swapped with the 1.10's drive

Update is continued... ?

If this were the case, someone with 1.10 could take a relatively small drive (say, 10gb or so), format it in ps3, runt he update then pul the drive.. connect it to a pc and use a drive management software to dump a byte for byte image of the drive to file, then people would have a 1.15? or so hdd image they could write to their drives and use...?

all theoretical of course.

Last edited by Nivalis; 05-18-2008 at 11:28 AM.