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Over the months there has been a lot of inaccurate information circulating in regards to how exactly the PlayStation 3's Service Mode works, and as promised in our previous Dev updates here are some of the facts to help separate the rumors and speculation.

It is a fairly simple process as follows.. For starters, the PS3 is powered off, and a special USB dongle, known as the Jig, is connected. The PS3 is then turned on, and then off, once it has detected the Jig.

After this occurs, the PS3 is then turned back on, into "Service" Mode. From here, the PS3 is re-flashed using a Firmware Update on a USB stick, specifically designed to only install from the Service Mode. Once the PS3 is re-flashed with the software, it is then used in conjunction with a PC running customized software, specifically the DEX.exe and CEX.exe's.

There are a multitude of special PS3 firmwares, basically three major ones. The first is a Core System, followed by the Service Sys... More »  


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

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

As example I included my PS3 dump map, it should help you understanding the dump layout.

Download: PS3 NAND Flow Rebuilder v3.21 BETA

I decided to share the tool early because it need a lot of testing, so, since I'll be in vacation in a few days I thought it would be nice to allow people to begin looking at it meanwhile I return home.

I tested it on like 10 dumps and I noticed that it perfectly worked only on 4 dumps (one was a Debug dump so yes, it works on debug dumps too :), this happen because of the fact I noticed I have to implement another variable in the unscrambling al... More »  


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A new PlayStation 3 Firmware has hit Network Update, namely version 2.42.

According to PlayStation Network director Eric Lempel via the PS Blog, PS3 Firmware 2.42 improves the playback quality of some PLAYSTATION 3 and PlayStation format software.

As usual, a direct link to the PS3 Firmware download is provided below in case you wish to install the update manually.

Download: PS3 Firmware 2.42 (US) / PS3 Firmware 2.42 (EU)


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To begin this week's PS3 Dev briefing, we want to give a follow-up in regards to the PS3 Downgrade PUP's for PS3 TEST/Debug consoles we recently acquired.

Yes, it does work fine, and we have successfully downgraded a PS3 Test to version 1.00! Version 1.00 is quite neutered for a TEST, about the only thing that works is the ability to run code from a DVD/BD, aside from that just about everything is non-functional.

More to come in those regards, including our ability to install and dump Retail PKG's on a Debug PS3 console!

Now onto the rumors: As we all know, many have been trying (but failing terribly) to dump the EEPROM chip inside the PS3's controller.

Our very own talented Courier successfully removed and dumped the chip, a picture o... More »  


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Manucc1, a member of Spanish community Elotrolado (linked above), believes there may be a possible PS3 exploit in the PS3 Controller... although SIXAXIS or DS3 is not specified, and it could work in a similar manner to the Pandora Batteries in the PSP.

This claim is based primarily on speculation that in the PS3 controller there is a chip that is the same as on PSP, and it is alleged to control Firmware in some fashion.

Info on the chip is available HERE, and a list of IC chips in PS3 is available HERE.

This EEPROM chip may allow Firmware to be installed (when you install Firmware on PS3, you always have to use the controller... before 2.1, you had to plug the controller in via USB).

For those who don't speak Spanish, they are currently looking int... More »  


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We’re going to have to say this, so just bear with us for a second, and be aware that we mean it in the best possible sense. We don’t want to indulge in any pointless console wars, and we certainly don’t want to be tarred with the inevitable fanboy brush.

Okay... deep breath. The PS3 is kinda broken.

Now we don’t mean that the PS3 will ‘red ring’ at any given opportunity, and we’re not suggesting it’s a console destined for the scrapheap – quite the opposite. When we say the PS3 is broken, we say it with the best of intentions, with a barely contained frustration towards a machine that, in its current state, will never fulfil its full potential.

We’re talking of course about processing bottlenecks, and the PS3 has a tonne of them.

The first major bottleneck is a result of the Blu ray drive. Although Blu-ray has traditionally been seen as the major selling point of the PS3 (and to a certain extent it is) at this ear... More »  


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We have had quite a few requests as to how the BD-Emulator on a PS3 TEST console works, and thought the best way to show how it works is through a video!

After formatting a USB HDD (in this case, a 500GB EIDE Drive hooked to the PS3 via an old USB CDROM enclosure) in the PS3, it is transferred to a PC. Once transferred, a properly decrypted, patched and remastered retail game is written to the drive. The drive is then plugged back in via USB to the PS3 TEST, while off.

The Drive is then turned on, followed by the PS3. Once the PS3 is on the BD-Emulator is set to USB. DEV is for a PS3 TOOL, which has an additional internal HDD for BD-Emulator purposes, and BD Drive is self explanatory. The PS3 then gets rebooted.




Upon reboot is where the video starts, it first shows the previous settings in the PS3, and then the game that was remastered, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is started from BD-Emulator. The BD-Emulator ... More »  

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Courtesy of ST0RM53, linked above: Hey.. long time to write :p

With the hot news I saw I had to do something! Swap Magic on PS3 running? I thought it was patched, and indeed so, but only on US/Jap consoles.. I tried several swap magic (SM from now), but none worked... and this is becaused it IS patched, on fw 2.10 and up.

So I thought... if they patched a specific title, they seem they haven't patched others... so I found that I can create a bootable PS2 disc and I made one. I added many useful PS2 ELFs (not all useful for now..) but we have what we need. Ok, first the proof and then tutorial:




This method using an original SM disk has been already posted.. but never actully confirmed how or when SM works.. The method with an ORIGINAL SM DISC works only on EUROPEAN PS3s any FW, except 40gb p... More »  

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