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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 »  


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We recently purchased a new 80GB PlayStation 3 console, and our very own PS3 Dev Courier dissected his new system.

The item that peaked his interest the most was that it had one single 56-pin Flash chip, the S29GL128N90TFIR2, and was 128MB in size in contrast to older PS3 consoles utilizing dual (2x256MB) 48-pin chips totaling 512MB. So, he bought a new adapter, and some blank chips and proceeded to pull the 56-pin flash, and dumped it.

To our surprise, he was unable to dump more than 16MB of it! At first, we believed that the other blocks in the flash were protected via password, however there was something else brewing.

He took the 16MB dump that was made and flashed it onto a completly blank chip, and reinstalled it in the PS3.

To our surprise, it worked!

Now, if you recall, newer version PS3 Firmwares have ask... More »  


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Here is a look at MenuDo XMBLite, which gives the Nintendo DS a PS3-style XMB look.

MenuDo XMBLite is currently a BETA build only, however, soulanger stated that a release is planned for sometime this month.

To quote: Thank you guys for the warm thanks and hugs. Again this only a one man person. And yes August is the release. :)

Video is below, enjoy!




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Update: PS3 NAND Flow Rebuilder v3.36 BETA is now out, which fixes a tiny bug.

This tool, although in beta stage, allows you to unscramble the blocks of a PS3 dumps ordering them in a way that the dumps become readable and extractable!

From now on it also allow you to re-scramble back to the original order once you modified the data you want!

It's for study and tests purposes, for experienced people only (devs) that this way can manage the files inside the flashes.

Download Link: PS3 NAND Flow Rebuilder v3.35 BETA

In this updated version you'll find some good news:

1) It's more compatible, it support a larger number of dumps, please try it with your one and if something goes wrong please let me know (through irc, on Efnet, my nick is NDT).

2) It now... More »  


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This is the PAL diagram.

Use and 3V 1600 - 1800 Milliampere to feed the NANDS.

Just feed Flash0 and you'll have Flash1 feeded too.

Click image below to enlarge some, or HERE for high res version.


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As we promised earlier this week, we are going to explain a PS3 game's boot process, as well as explain why the PARAM.SFO is so important.

The Flowchart in the image attached below explains a PS3 game's startup procedure from insertion to its execution.

Most of it is self-explanatory upon viewing the chart, however, there are a few notes. Any Retail SELF on a Blu-ray disc is flagged so it can only be decrypted and executed from the disc, and nowhere else.

Furthermore, the PARAM.SFO is also of importance... Upon insertion, the PS3 reads the Title ID of the disc in the PARAM.SFO and inserts it into the DB. Once the game is executed and decrypted, the Title ID is checked yet again to make sure it matches. If it does not (think a disc swap), the PS3 will silently error, and return to XMB.

In a final note, our PS3 Devs have been digging through numerous documents and patents, and came to the conclusion that the PS3 uses AIX (Advance... More »  


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With the great ongoing work in our PS3 Forums with the RCO files, we are also going to talk about component two of the PS3's XMB includes- its XML Files!

Inside the directory exists 30 XML files. They control quite a bit in regards to the PS3's appearance and functioning, from telling the XMB what types of information to display, all the way to letting you download PlayStation Home!

Do make sure to check out the attached image, as it is code snippets of the XML files we're speaking of below.

For example, in category_game.xml, it appears upon disc insertion, the insertion is added into a database, along with what type of media it's on (CD/DVD/BDVD), and if it detects, what format it is (PS1/PS2/PS3) and so on. Now there are your different media types of course: PS1 CD, PS2 CD, PS2 DVD, PS3 DVD, PS3 BD.

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Yesterday I posted a thread in the PlayStation 3 Chat Forum on behalf of the resident PS3 Devs who have been working steadily towards the ultimate goal of unlocking the PS3's full potential. Up until now, much of what they have been doing has been quite technical and didn't require much end-user assistance.

Over the last 2-3 days they have made significant progress in multiple areas of the PS3 (which will be detailed in the Site News), however, they are now asking the PS3 community to "get out of your armchair" (see video below- the ball symbolizes the PS3, the goal is unsigned code, and the community are in the chairs). How can you help? Check the Forums daily: [PS3 Dev Request]: Have a PSP and familiar with .RCO files?





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