193w ago - Well, I hinted at it
last week, that we were getting something BIG, and yeah- we did!
It retails for
$10,250.00, weighs in around 45lbs, is around 19" wide and 24" deep. If you have not guessed it yet, it's a PS3 TOOL, also known as a PS3 Reference Kit, also known as the
DECR-1000A.
This unit is the big brother to the new DECR-1400A, and has many more features than the newer, neutered counterpart. Most of them are outlined in my recently updated
thread, but the jist of it is that it has dual 400GB hard disks, dual HDMI outputs, 4x LAN connectors, analog audio output, VGA output - just to name a few.
Compared to a
PS3 Debug/TEST unit, the PS3 TOOL can do MUCH more, including diagnosing exactly what is happening when perceived "exploit" code is run to
crash/hang the PS3. However, the biggest feature is having the ability to capture output from the PS3 Hypervisor (LV1) and the PS3 Kernel (LV2)!
More will be posted in future updates on what our
PS3 Dev Team can do with it, as this literally just arrived and was unpacked/set-up a few hours ago.
Needless to say, its massive, and has so many features it will take our DEVS quite awhile to get through. We need to start testing on a low firmware (around .85) and work our way up to 3.00, looking for exploits among other interesting things.
This is truly as good as it gets when it comes to Sony PS3 hardware though- lots more to come... until then, check out the nice picture below!
CFW: Custom Firmware (made by third parties)
MFW: Modified Firmware (not completely custom, but modified OFW. Lighter than the CFW)
OFW: Original Firm...
Not to be the 'debbie-downer' but if sony found out who owned this unit prior, couldnt they lock it out from the TOOL updates and whatnot? maybe im just being paranoid... lol
cheers and here's to the forthcoming 'checkmate' on that hypervisor crap
I hope if nothing else it finally answers some questions I am sure you have all had for some time now.
we may still not be able to hack the ps3 with this TOOL, but at least you guys will manage to fully understand how the PS3 works, and that is definitely a BIG step in the right direction.
Maybe your devs already had this thought, but, why not make a game like program, launches like a game, and i assume HV is not running at that time, and thats when you make the swap with another disk (game) sort of like swap majic?
or even from there, somehow downgrade or install a custom fw? or even just modify the fw? anywho just some thoughts i had while reading your article.
Best of luck and lets get this done!