Kevin Tofel of jkOnTheRun has put together a fairly comprehensive list of what's inside the Vista SP2 update—just as the beta rolls out to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. Here is what users can expect:
• Built-in Hyper-V hypervisor
• Event logging support in SPC
• Fixes for DRM issues from WMP upgrades
• Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless
• Functionality to reduce resources required for sidebar gadgets
• Improved power settings for Windows Server 2008
The complete list of features:
Emerging Hardware Support
• SP2 contains Blue tooth 2.1 feature pack supporting the most recent specification for Blue tooth technology
• Ability to record data on Blu-Ray media,
• Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration to Windows Vista SP2,
• exFAT file system now supports UTC timestamps, which enable... More »
Many people have been wondering exactly what the differences are between Development and Retail PlayStation 3 Systems, and we figured now would be a great time to clarify these along with reporting some new findings.
Aside from the different hardware revisions of the PS3's motherboard, the systems are virtually the same as mentioned in previous posts. We have examined multiple PS3 TEST's, Retail PS3's, Demo Unit PS3's, and even Factory Mode PS3's, and found that there are no hardware differences between them at all.
Mind you, there are differences, but they are due to the hardware revision, not due to the systems themselves. To make that more clear, the units are identical to their counterparts of the same hardware revision.
So, the question is- what's the difference? Software!
We all know the difference is in the software, and after examining countless dumps from these systems, on top of flash dumps given to us by you, our loyal re... More »
This is just a short post to let everyone know we're still alive. Its been a quiet summer, most people were off on vacation (or on holiday, for our friends across the pond), including many of our own PS3 Devs.
However, the summer is over and we all went back to work in full force on the PS3, adding some new and very talented Devs along the way who will be helping out!
For starters, our very own ggparallel spent the past month or so along with NDT testing countless edited PS3 Firmwares on the PS3, and has been able to drastically refine our knowledge of the PS3's bootup procedure.
Below is a clear flowchart of the current theory of operation, the basic procedure is the same as we previously posted, that the system is booted in a "chain" so to speak. LV0 loads lv1ldr, which loads lv1.self (the Hypervisor).
Then depending on th... More »
When I was briefed on Microsoft Equipt a few days ago, I couldn’t help but take this in context with Bill Gates’ departure and reflect on the post-Gates Microsoft. For much of Microsoft’s history, the company has been known primarily for two very successful products - Windows and Office.
Sometimes this connection has been less than positive. Back in 2000, I had a conversation with back then new Microsoft president Steve Ballmer and was fascinated that he believed that the market would eventually move to a subscription model. With Equipt, Microsoft takes its biggest step in this direction and it makes me wonder whether Windows will, or should, someday follow.
One of the problems with moving to a new concept like cloud computing is that you have to move your code base and the market has to be ready for the move at the same time. This means that an entrenched firm has to create a transitional product with elements in both the old and the new - I o... More »
With all of the recent news of PS3 retail "trickery" going on, this post got postponed (mind the pun) until today.
The image below is a snippet of the FULL PS3 Flash FileList for the PS3's /dev_flash. It should be noted that the PS3 also has a /dev_flash2 and /dev_flash3, which upon rare occasion is updated, however we are not able to access them yet due to some pesky Kernel/Hypervisor issues.
The list is quite juicy, as you can see there are plenty of RCO files, XML files, as well as assets. Even the PS3 Startup sounds are in the flash! Alongside the assets are plenty of SPRX's as well as a few SELF's.
In regards to dev_flash2 + dev_flash3, we can only speculate what is held on there, but the Kernel and HV need to reside somewhere, don't they?
In other ne... More »
We have a few PS3 development updates for the new week, including some PS3 KeyVault Project and PS3 Flash news.
To start, resident PS3 Dev subdub has been a bit busy, so he has yet to put the finishing touches on our PS3 KeyVault Server Application. In his absence, both ggparallel and mainman have picked up the slack, and are finishing up the server application. While they are finishing up the app, they are also optimizing the code so it is more versatile as it can auto-update clients, and it will also be able to handle more requests.
Below is a picture of the client application's Web interface that runs on any PS3, including retail consoles via OtherOS. It basically lets you configure the PS3's IP address, check the status of the program, the kernel, and transmitted packets.
Another resident PS3 Dev, who recently received a PS3 TEST unit, is currently awaiting some new hot air rework t... More »
Another brief update based on the yesterday's findings: the PS3 Flash is quite accessible as the majority of it is mounted inside the PS3 as a filesystem (think PSP), and is able to be read/written.
A picture is below for a peek at a partial filelist. As you can see there are quite a few sprx's. These are encrypted of course, however they function quite the same as their PSP counterparts. For the majority of the PS3 OS's functions, there is a sprx that is tasked to do the job.
For the big chunk of interesting news: Every single scene release ever released for PS3 will not work without being patched.
Why? It is because backup PS3 images lack some data that we will call a key. On an original, when the disc is inserted, the PS3 reads the key, and it is used to decrypt any encrypted files on disc (the DISC layer of encryption). On a backup, the PS3 can not read this key so it will not be able to decrypt the file. Of course if a hardware mod surface... More »
CNLohr shared this video of the recent PS3 Linux 3D Graphics access progress. This is an example of code running on Linux, under the hypervisor talking to the Nvidia RSX (video card) on the PlayStation 3. This is done entirely without proprietary drivers.
Shown is 3 animated quads, drawn in immediate mode as well as a series of triangles in the background drawn using an index buffer. This demo is a modified version of IronPeter's libps3rsx running via patched 2.6.24 experimental, unofficial kernel on Gentoo Linux.
Until recently, not enough was known about how to use the RSX to make any headway to usable, free access to the 3D contexts on the GPU on the PS3. With some work, homebrew developers may soon be able to write their own 3D applications.
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