WARNING! P3GO GT-Break contains a trojan!

Sorry for not posting for awhile, but this blog was just meant to be alive in the period of time with conflicting information and downtime of other information sites. However I thought that this really deserve it's own post. I'm alive and kicking on Twitter where you can follow me and get the latest news from all around the globe.




After using my Nexus One and Klutsh's superb psfMod as a jailbreaking device, I decided that it was time to upgrade to a stand alone solution so I didn't need to reboot my phone all the time. After reading some reviews and user opinions I found that the P3GO GT-Break would suit my needs and ordered it. When I inserted the device to my computer I got a trojan/virus warning from Microsoft Security Essentials. Here is my full report on the issue:

I ordered the device from PriceAngels.com (official reseller) on the 14th of November, it was shipped from them the 16th of November, and I received it yesterday November 23. If you don't know, the P3GO is a very advanced device compared to most other jailbreaks. It acts as a USB memory when connected to a computer so you can place pkg-files and such there. The process of upgrading is quite simple, you insert the device in your computer and copy the update file to a inserted MicroSD card (yes, the device has a slot for that!). It is when inserting the device to your computer that the trojan hits. The virus consist of a hidden autorun.inf and an executable file with a random name as seen below:

The autorun-file launches the executable file that infects the computer. The trojan is then trying to upload your passwords and banking information to a remote server. It also makes the computer copy the virus to all other USB-devices inserted to the computer from thereon, and thats how the trojan spreads.
I submitted the file to Jotti's malware scan to make sure that it wasn't a false positive, and it seems like most antivirus software should find the trojan as seen below (you can find the full report on the file from Jotti here):

Now, as you can see on the first screenshot above, the autorun-file was created on the 11th of November, just a couple of days before the device got shipped to me. This is most likely the date the device got infected, but it is impossible to know if this device actually was infected directly from the manufacturer or after that. As you can see on the picture below, the retail packaging isn't sealed, so it's easy to get the device out, use it and place it back again with nobody noticing:

Anyway, I have informed the manufacturer Gamebox of my findings, and hope that they will sort this out. I think it would be great if we could collect more data about this to see how widespread this is, so please post if you have the P3GO, when you bought it, from where and if it contained the trojan. Also please spread this to warn other users that might get infected otherwise.

I really wish that Gamebox will fix this in a good way, as the device is superb in all other ways and I really recommend it!

F1 2010 NOT the first game to require System Update 3.42 [UPDATED]

UPDATE: False alarm guys!

The real battle has now begun. The first game to require System Update 3.42 (that breaks the jailbreak) is out, namely F1 2010. Most likely all titles will start with this requirement soon, and as of yet no known workarounds exists. To be continued...

As a side note, the recent Move-games and the controllers works just fine!

Source: PSX-Scene

PS3 SDK 1.92 leaked for public consumption

The PS3 SDK version 1.92 was leaked previously today. Earlier there has been a lower version available, but now when this is out the "homebrew" apps will most likely be more common. Some of the "real" homebrew devs doesn't think that apps made with the PS3 SDK is counted as real homebrew as it contains code from Sony, which also makes it illegal to distribute the apps in many countries, but even so the FTP that was released some time ago was made with the PS3 SDK.

PSJailbreak clones roundup, find out what to get and whats in stock!

Update 1: Some pricing information changed and have started to include what kind of chip the devices use. Will hopefully get enough information to include P3Free and PS3Stinger Soon!


Update 2: Updated information on PS3Key/AVRKey and P3Free. I do not recommend P3Free as it isn't upgradeable in an easy way!


Update 3: No longer recommending PS3 Break as it seems to be two versions, one that is PIC-based that can't be upgraded. Also please see the list at the bottom of this post for devices that there is to little information on for the moment. As you can read there is some controversy regarding the ability of upgrading even on devices that has been advertised the ability, so I would stay away from those products in that list for now.

I've taken some time to collect information on all the PS Jailbreak clones that currently are available or that will be available.
Let's cut the chase directly: My current recommendation is to get the Minimus or Maximus USB Dev boards. Both are relatively cheap (US$38), and stock are available from several retailers already.
The PS3Key/AVRKey also seems like a good buy when it gets out as it seems to be a quality product and a nice case.
Since the clones are coming in quite fast now, it might be an idea to wait a couple of weeks if you can, I'm quite certain that some clones will be sub $20 soon.

Here is the complete rundown:

Name:

Minimus AVR USB

URL:

http://www.minimususb.com/

Pre-loaded:

No, sold as dev-board

Upgradeable:

Yes

PSGroove/PSFreedom compability:

Yes
Chip used:
Amtel AVR

Trusted:

Yes, sold by trusted resellers and made by Team Xecuter

Sales method:

Distributors

Price (each):

$38

Available for delivery:

This week

Other:

See http://www.team-xecuter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56496 for more information and distributors

Name:

Maximus AVR USB

URL:

http://www.avrusb.com/

Pre-loaded:

No, sold as dev-board

Upgradeable:

Yes

PSGroove/PSFreedom compability:

Yes
Chip used:

Amtel AVR

Trusted:

Yes, sold by trusted resellers

Sales method:

Distributors

Price (each):

$35-$38

Available for delivery:

Yes, some distributors have stock!

Name:

PS3 Break

URL:

http://www.ps3break.com/

Pre-loaded:

Yes

Upgradeable:

Not all devices. See other.

PSGroove/PSFreedom compability:

Some versions of the device.
Chip used:

Amtel AVR or PIC

Trusted:

Yes, available from trusted resellers

Sales method:

Distributors

Price (each):

$30-$60

Available for delivery:

Yes, some distributors have stock!
Other:
As this device has started to be delivered to buyers, the buyers has discovered that there are two versions of the PSBreak, one that can't be upgraded. See this thread at PSX-Scene!

Name:

PS3Key (Pre-loaded) / AVRKey (Sold as dev-board)

URL:

http://www.ps3key.com/

Pre-loaded:

Optional

Upgradeable:

Yes

PSGroove/PSFreedom compability:

Yes

Chip used:

Amtel AVR

Trusted:

Yes, same team as WiiKey

Sales method:

Distributors

Price (each):

$39.95

Available for delivery:

September 20th (or earlier)

Name:

P3Free

URL:

http://www.p3free.com/

Pre-loaded:

Yes

Upgradeable:

Only with PIC-programmer, and requires soldering!

PSGroove/PSFreedom compability:

Yes, but see above

Chip used:

PIC

Trusted:

Yes, sponsored board at PSX-Scene

Sales method:

Distributors

Price (each):

$29

Available for delivery:

Yes!
Other:
The team behind P3Free has given their buyers incorrect information, claiming that the device was upgradeable via USB which isn't true. The contact person for the team has stated that they will replace the devices for an upgradeable version for free when it's available, but I can't recommend this device until this has been totally sorted out. Read more here!

Name:

PS3Liberator

URL:

http://www.ps3liberator.com/

Pre-loaded:

No

Upgradeable:

Yes

PSGroove/PSFreedom compability:

Yes
Chip used:

Unknown

Trusted:

Yes, first batch has been delivered

Sales method:

Direct sales

Price (each):

$63

Available for delivery:

No, available in 2-3 weeks

Other:

Tailored for the french market.

Name:

x3 Jailbreak

URL:

http://x3jailbreak.com/

Pre-loaded:

Yes

Upgradeable:

Yes

PSGroove/PSFreedom compability:

Unknown
Chip used:

Unknown

Trusted:

Not yet, no distributors listed, lots of "dealys"

Sales method:

Distributors

Price (each):

"lower then any other device available including new homebrew devices suggested online"

Available for delivery:

No, production has just started according to their own site

Other:

One of the first clones announced

Too little information to be compared yet: http://www.neojailbreak.com/ http://www.ps3stinger.com/ http://www.eclipsemod.com/ http://www.eclipsemod.com http://www.tinyavr.com http://www.usbbreak.com

Discontinued?: http://psjailbreaker.com/

Did I miss anything? Any questions? Write a comment, send an e-mail or tweet me!

Jailbreak your PS3 with you Jailbroken iPhone running Linux

Confused yet? Yeah, it's still just in testing phase, but it's looking good.
Browse over to the PSFreedom wiki to find out more. If you don't know what they are talking about, don't bother yet ;)

PS3 piracy status: 100+ games released on the Internet

There is a lot of talk about homebrew apps, jailbreaks, personal backups. But what about the piracy that PS Jailbreak has enabled?

First of all, I want to say that the nice people making the PSGroove and PSFreedom jailbreaks actually disabled the function to back up games. But as they are open source, other people has figured out how to enable it again and release the files on their own.

But back to the actual piracy: I took some time to look around on some Internet sites, and have found that the amount of games available on the net for people running the jailbreak already is over 100. And that is just games that has made available the last week since the open hacks went public. Some games have been downloaded several hundred times om just the sites I have checked, and is probably just a small sample.

So why does the games get out so fast, despite that they generally are very large? Well, the main thing is that it's so easy to do it. If you own a jailbreaked PS3, the files are just a couple of buttons away from your PC hard drive, and anyone can easily upload them to the net. This have to be compared to PC-games, where there usually are many copy protections and online checks that needs to be cracked by "professionals" and the XBOX 360 where you also need to have special equipment and skills that isn't needed for the PS3. Just plug in a USB-device and you are done.

And this is likely just the beginning, it's quite likely that the hackers soon will figure out how to "back up" games from PSN too for example.

And no, don't ask for any files or links, I won't provide any. I certainly don't condone piracy.

PSFreedom can now jailbreak the PS3 from 18 different phones/devices!

When dong my daily read of all the different wikis and PS3-sites, I saw that the PSFreedom device compatibility list now lists 18 phones and other devices as compatible with the code. New this time around is a bunch of Windows Mobile devices that when running Android instead can use the Jailbreak. Browse to their wiki for instructions and more info!

Sony blocks PSN workaround, Jailbreakers stuck offline

PSX-Scene is reporting that Sony now are blocking the workaround to go online on PSN with firmware 3.41, which the latest days has been working by using different kinds of proxy softwares. This means that Jailbreak/PSGroove/PSFreedom-users no longer can go online on PSN since that requires system update 3.42 that isn't possible to jailbreak (yet).

Swedish PSJailbreak sellers get hit by Sony's lawyers too

Sony's Lawyers has previously stopped the PSJailbreak from being sold in Australia, Germany and The Netherlands. Now it's Sweden's turn according to IDG Sweden. Sony's lawyers has sued Manzzon, Rejoy and WeChip and those stores has now removed the product from their shops.

When checking the list of Authorized Dealers on PSJailbreak.com, you can now see that only 16 of the 26 listed shops actually sell the product. I guess those 10 that has stopped selling will have some economical issues that I previously wrote about here.

First useful PSjailbreak-compatible PS3 homebrew: FTP Server!

CJPC of PS3News has coded up this FTP-Server, making it possible to download/upload contents from/to your PS3, including games. This is quite good news for those that want to investigate the contents of the internal HDD more, so I believe that more info will come soon out of this!

Quote:

It is an FTP Server for the PS3, with it, on a retail with your choice of "hack" to enable unsigned code it allows:

- Full Read/Write access to all of "dev_hdd0" (including save areas, games, VM etc)

- Full Read/Write access to "dev_flash2" and "dev_flash3"

- Full Read/Write access to connected usb devices

- Full Read access to "dev_flash" 

- Full Read access to "dev_bdvd"

Read more about the server here! Mirror of the app here!

PSGroove updated, no changes for end users

The PS3 Jailbreak implementation PSGroove has been updated with the following explanation:

This branch has a modified payload that adds peek and poke syscalls to the lv2 kernel. A userspace application can use these syscalls to dump out the entire memory space of the kernel, or patch the kernel as it is running.

Unfortunately, because the free toolchain/sdk is not ready, we can't distribute an application to do the dumping, so you will have to make your own.

The lv2 kernel starts at 0x8000000000000000

This is probably huge news for developers, but for end users this doesn't change anything at the moment. No need to update for most people, move along.

System update 3.42 breaks jailbreaks - DON'T UPDATE

As many other sites already has reported, the system update 3.42 that Sony released a couple of hours ago breaks all current PS3 Jailbreaks, including PSGroove and PSFreedom. So if you have a jailbroken PS3, or have a PS3 that you plan to jailbreak, make sure to stay away from that update.
The update is mandatory for online play, so this of course blocks consoles still on 3.41 to connect to PSN. However, PSX-Scene has posted this article regarding some ways to connect without having the latest firmware.

Stay tuned for more news regarding the new system update!

How to Jailbreak your PS3 with Android (Nexus One, Desire so far)

The PSFreedom team has started to work on their wiki, and now there are some instructions up for HTC Desire and Nexus One. Proceed with caution, if you don't understand the instructions then wait, there will come easier options for installing.

PSGroove getting update today

RichDevX just tweeted the following:

No more details as of yet, but it will be really interesting to see what they have come up with!

PS3 Jailbreak now running on Android, TI-84+ calculator, N900, Dingoo & more

Yes, thanks to the developers behind PSGroove and PSFreedom, the PS3 Jailbreak now works on a lot of different hardware that you might have, so no need to purchase extra equipment soon!

Most of the implementations is quite complicated as of yet, for example the Android one currently requires you to load a separate boot image that breaks some functionality of the device when running it. Nothing permanent though, and  device specific versions should be out quite soon that works for anyone.

Sources: PSFreedom on freenode, http://twitter.com/brandonlwilson, http://twitter.com/hackinblack

Compatibility list for PS3 Backup Manager

The forum members of PSX-SCENE has made this nice compatibility list on what titles works and not in the Backup Manager. It also includes information on online functionality and size. So far, out of 185 tested games, 84% of the games works on the internal drive, and 64.67% on external FAT32 drive.
The average size of the dumps is 10GB, and the largest dump is 35.20GB.

[Editorial] What will happen to the original PS Jailbreak and the resellers now?

So, the word is out to everyone and their mother that the PS3 jailbreak has been reverse engineered, open sourced (and the code has already been improved on, making PS Jailbreaks promises invalid) and that anyone can do it for $20. The clones are also pouring in, with guys like PS3Key that seems a lot more professional and a lot cheaper ($49) if you want a ready made device. People are working on projects to getting PSP's and Android devices to run the code, so people owning them can run the exploit for free.

With facts like these, how will the PS Jailbreak survive with a price of $125 + shipping? And now modder Manzzon are reporting that the first batch of the PS Jailbreak are once again delayed for another week, not showing up until the middle of week 36. People are canceling their orders (and I believe that it's the correct thing to do), so what will happen to the folks behind the PS Jailbreak? What will happen to the resellers when their customers cancel the orders (or return them)?
As I wrote in this post, the minimum order for resellers were 250 pieces for $88. Thats $22000 for the minimum order, and the resellers might have ordered even more to get a higher advance. At least $22000 of merchandise that maybe isn't worth more than $10000. Many of the resellers are quite small, so if they already have paid for the shipments it could be quite a hit on them. And if the shipments isn't paid for, who will take the hit?

Was I right when I wrote that the PS Jailbreak was out for quick cash and then get out? Will they get that cash now at the cost of the resellers and customers? Whats your thoughts? Have you ordered? Canceled?

How to build your own device and jailbreak your PS3 with PSGroove

So, the open source project PSGroove I reported about in my previous post can be applied to several different pre-made "USB Developer boards" for $20, or you can actually build your own board from components costing around $10.
Most of the known-to-work pre-made developer boards are already sold out all over the world after the exploit being out for around 24 hours, but more and cheaper boards will surely begin to sell soon.

MaxConsole has written a good newbie guide here, specifying on how easy it is to create your own jailbreak using the developer board AT90USBKEY.
Another board that you can build yourself is the Teensy. The schematics are available here, soldering and electronics skills needed.

PSJailbreak Ported to Open Source, exploit detailed

Hey guys, sorry for not updating the blog for a couple of days, was off the grid.

Lets try to do some catching up:

The PS Jailbreak has been posted to open source, and the team that did it has also detailed how the exploit work. It is not a clone of the PS3 Jig as previously thought, but a true exploit (that does use the Jig-mode). Basically it emulates an USB-hub with "broken devices" connected to it. Read more in the project wiki here.

The name of the project is PSGroove. Some other interesting things that the reverse engineer team has found out is:

• The PSJailbreak is programmed to only work on firmware 3.41. This can most likely be fixed to work on other versions.
• The PSJailbreak is programmed to shut the console down if the USB device is removed. This has been fixed, but the device still needs to be connected when booting to enable the exploit.

The responsible persons for the reverse engineering of the PS Jailbreak is "Written up by phire (aka phiren on EFnet). Thanks to Matt_P, subdub and others for helping develop this theory." Thanks guys!!

PSX-Scene: Shipping of the PS Jailbreak delayed

PSX-Scene posted the following earlier:

"A shortage of components has forced the delay of the product's launch. There is no longer an official date for shipping to begin but the delay is expected to be anywhere from 3 days to as long as a week.

Retailers will not be receiving their shipment of PS Jailbreak dongles on Friday as scheduled. Anyone telling you otherwise is either misinformed or disingenuous."

Since the delays is to the retailers, it is highly unlikely that any end-customers will receive the PS Jailbreak device even next week.

Good writeup about why the PS3 Jailbreak can't be easily cloned

garyopa over at PSX-Scene wrote this quite good post on their forum on why the PS Jailbreak device can't easily be cloned, and why you can assume that all those "Jaibreak stick dumps" all are viruses. Some quotes:

"F*ck it even does not TALK USB, sure it might look like a USB device, might PLUG into a USB slot on your idoit-box PC, but neither windows nor linux, will ever see it as it does not send anything over the USB.

It sits and waits dead, until the PS3 sends out a signal which is not anything like USB, more like I2C or encoded-serial and then it wakes up, looks at what the PS3 sends it, and then replys with the right answer."

 ...and...

"Then you will need to take the file, assemble it into a HEX file, BUY a DEVICE programmer, or build one (look up Fluffy2, for one you can buy!), and then source out the micro-controller and buy some, either wire up it neatly, or better let etch out your own PCBoard, and solder all the parts together."

ending with...

"In the end any REAL dump of the inside of the PSJAILBREAK, will be MORE then some lame-a*s EXE, it will not even be a program you can run on your PC, it will be a set of instructions on WHAT micro-controller it is, HOW to build or wire up the chip, and what TOOLS you need besides your BRAIN which is the only part FREE (you hopefully were born with one!), the rest you going one why or the other have to buy, either already build clone from someone that wants to make a PROFIT, or a you going to have to go to a few different stores or order online, like the MicroController, PCBoard, USBplug and either already OWN a programmer or buy one or build one!"

Updates can't be installed or used when running from Backup manager

This review from elotrolado tells us quite many interesting things. Most important is that for most the games they have tested, it's not possible to download updates from PSN. Also those games don't run if the updated previously has been applied while using the original games, the updates has to be uninstalled for the games to run at all. This of course means that these games can't be played online, since they are required to have the latest updates to be able to connect.

The review also tells us that Sony hasn't yet banned them from PSN even that they have been connected to PSN using the backup manager.

Lastly it is also confirmed that the PlayStation 3 must have firmware 3.41 installed for backup manager/PS Jailbreak to work.

New review confirms that game backup can be spread over the internet.

There has previously been some speculation on if it actually was possible to download backups and place it on your external hard drive and play them on another PS3 (with the PS Jailbreak of course). Now several sources confirms this, among others this review reposted by PS3 News. There still is an issue that you can't copy games from the internal HDD since it's not readable by a PC, so the games with files larger than 4GB can't be copied but must be ripped from an original disc.

Please note that I don't encourage you to download games that you don't own, this is just for your information.

More games confirmed not working!

Update: Please see this post for updated compatibility!

Manzzon has updated his list on games that isn't working with the PS Jailbreak:

Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare (black screen on start)

Assassins Creed (black screen on start) 

Call Of Juarez Bound In Blood (jumps back to the menu after some time)

I also found this post over at MaxConsole by modder GameStuff.ca:

Call of duty modern warfare 2 didn't work.... Even on an internal drive.... I tried twice...

So how many more games are going to show up on this list? Will there be a way around it?

Is this the story of the PSJailbreak?

SKFU has an interesting writeup on his blog titled PSJailbreak - The Sad Truth that goes on a bit about how the "the fake hacker" got hold of the original JIG and cloned it. I don't know if there is any truth to it, or just an idea on how it could have been.

First public PS Jailbreak clone?

So this site are popping up all over the place now: x3JAILBREAK.COM, I have no idea if it's real or not, and there are not many details on the site, but this picture doesn't seem to be too faked...

UPDATE: According to this article, the device that are shown on the site is an ordinary USB flash memory, not a micro controller that the "original" device is. So certainly looks like a fake.

RichDevX thinks that the backup manager might cause console bans

RichDevX has posted the following on twitter:

If I understand this correctly, Sony will easily detect if anyone is launching the backup manager and sending the following in response: SCE_NP_AUTH_ERROR_CONSOLE_ID_SUSPENDED 0x8002a227 which is as I understand suspends the console from PSN.

PS Jailbreak enforcing price fixing!

So there has been a lot of talks about the pricing for the Jailbreak device. For example, the hardware itself isn't very expensive (around $10 as I understand), and also there doesn't seem to be anyone undercutting the prices. Well thats because PS Jailbreak are enforcing the following:

This was posted by PBX over at PSX-Scene, and seems legit with other sources of information.

PS Jailbreak is $88 in bulk

Some guys over at the PSX-Scene are saying that when ordering in bulk (250 units or more) from psjailbreak, the price for each device is US$88/€70. Maybe interesting for some people to know.

Confirmed: Some games can only be backed up to the internal drive

Update: Please see this post.

OZModchips confirms that games that have individual files over 4GB needs to be backed up to the internal drive due to the fact that external drives must run FAT32 that doesn't support files larger than 4GB. The list of games so far is:

List:

1. 
   

   Metal Gear Solid 4 (file movie.dat is over 8gb in size)

2. 
   

   Resistance: Fall of man (file game.psarc is over 6gb)

3. 
   

   Uncharted 2 (file pak22.psarc is over 4gb)