PS3: First ‘Custom Firmware’ now working!

Posted on January 4, 2011 by kakaroto

Update: I’ve now fixed the issue about the missing game data icons. PS3-Hacks.com has a nice step-by-step tutorials and they posted the PUP files.

Update 2: DO NOT try to install this from the service mode, it might brick your console, install it normally from the normal menu or the recovery menu.

Great news!

Thanks to the tools made by the fail0verflow team (and thanks to sven in particular for his work on the pkg/unpkg tools), the first “Custom Firmware” is now available for the PS3!

I see a lot of questions coming up really fast on my Twitter account, so here are the basic things you need to know :

Because of legal/copyright issues, I will not provide the custom firmware to anyone, however, I’ve made available all the tools necessary to transform an Official firmware update, into a custom one, just grab my ps3utils repository from github, compile, then run :

./create_cfw.sh PS3UPDATE.PUP CFW.PUP

This will take the official firmware, unpack it, modify it, then repack it correctly (requires you to install ps3tools).

This should work on Linux and Mac for now, but I’m sure others will do it for the masses and illegally release those files somewhere.

The advantage here is that you can do it for any firmware, if you want to keep version 3.41, then give it the 3.41 update, if you are on 3.55 already and can’t downgrade, then run the script on the official 3.55 firmware and it will create a modified 3.55 firmware.

You can put the file in a USB drive under the filename “PS3/UPDATE/PS3UPDAT.PUP” and then go to system update in the XMB, and it will allow you to install the update (even if you’re already on 3.55).

People are asking what are the features of this firmware, it’s simple, all it does is to add those “Install Package Files” options to the Game section of the XMB. It doesn’t do anything else!

This firmware will not allow you to run the currently available homebrew application. Once the homebrew developers re-package their files in a ‘retail’ .pkg format with signed executable, then it will work (this should be coming soon thanks to the work of the fail0verflow team).

Since the kernel is left unmodified, this means that this custom firmware is really meant for future homebrew installation, and it will not allow piracy. I plan on keeping it that way.

This is just the first attempt at custom firmware, and it only contains a minor modification to allow you to install pkg files directly, eventually we’ll get some more options added to it in the future. This is just starting to get interesting!

p.s: Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible!

Enjoy! 🙂
KaKaRoTo

263 thoughts on “PS3: First ‘Custom Firmware’ now working!”

S.B.M on January 4, 2011 at 10:27 PM said:

THANK YOU SO MUCH
keep up the good work
titchy on January 4, 2011 at 10:28 PM said:

Thanks dude for your hard work – can’t wait to see what happens in the future!
MiLan on January 4, 2011 at 10:38 PM said:

This is great, man.

thanks for the hard work! I can wait to see everything that will be possible on the PS3 with your custom firmware.
Lol on January 4, 2011 at 10:40 PM said:

Can you re-install OFW 3.55 over the top of CFW on 3.55 – some users are saying no…
kjhg on January 4, 2011 at 10:43 PM said:

I have a basic question that I would like to know before using this. I remember reading that to get the install packages option is a registry change but when that change is made it is more of a debug unit which supposedly means Blu-ray doesn’t work. Am I remembering what I read right? I just want to make sure I preserve Blu-ray since that is the main reason I bought the system and since I have a older one that would lose BD playback with a downgrade I am way more cautious and have not done anything before.
zylor on January 4, 2011 at 10:43 PM said:

from what i understood kakaroto, from your work, in the future we will only see signed pkg’s due to fail0verflow tools right?
And using this signed pkg’s sony won’t be able to detected them since we don’t have a dongle inserted right?
Great work mate!
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kroogrr on January 4, 2011 at 11:02 PM said:

Something’s wrong, I’m getting this on a few machines I’m trying, during running create_cfw:

Unpkg-ing dev_flash files
./create_cfw.sh: line 79: 5982 Segmentation fault $UNPKG $f “$(basename $f).tar” >> $LOGFILE 2>&1
Could not unpkg ../dev_flash3_022.tar.aa.2010_11_27_051800

Any ideas?
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josediogenes on January 4, 2011 at 11:17 PM said:

“Unpkg-ing dev_flash files
./create_cfw.sh: line 79: 5982 Segmentation fault $UNPKG $f “$(basename $f).tar” >> $LOGFILE 2>&1
Could not unpkg ../dev_flash3_022.tar.aa.2010_11_27_051800”

Same here. Compiled ps3tools from latest git source. What´s wrong ?
StevieD on January 4, 2011 at 11:27 PM said:

this is just amazing…thank you so much 4 this work…!!!!!!!

PS: Are you a dragonball fan, too? 🙂
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Alex on January 4, 2011 at 11:34 PM said:

@kroogrr @josediogenes I’m getting the same bug on my Mac, what distro/OS are you guys using?
kroogrr on January 4, 2011 at 11:41 PM said:

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, 32bit, kernel 2.6.32.16

Here’s a couple of output logs, hope they help.

Record using tee: http://pastie.org/private/d3gjo9e8wosxivtmtl5q3w

Record of stderr: http://pastie.org/private/4enuyan99lvgkq68r5gzzq
Mr Kool on January 4, 2011 at 11:50 PM said:

@Alex

It says: “This requires Linux of course”

You are saying: “I’m getting the same bug on my Mac”

See what the problem is..?
kakaroto on January 4, 2011 at 11:53 PM said:

@kroogrr: segmentation fault.. someone told me it works if you install the key files.. i’ll post them soon.

@everyone else: sorry, too many comments, not enough time to read/answer everyone.
Masfo on January 4, 2011 at 11:54 PM said:

Id like to know where to get the fix_tar program?

log:

dev_flash/vsh/resource/explore/xmb/registory.xml
./create_cfw.sh: line 97: fix_tar: command not found
Could not fix the tar file
tiestolexxy on January 4, 2011 at 11:58 PM said:

hey man, cannot believe my eyes! knew i should have held out of building my PIC programmer hehe 😛
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kakaroto on January 5, 2011 at 12:04 AM said:

Just created ps3keys repository on github, get the files from there, and then copy the files to ~/.ps3 directory, it should stop segfaulting then!

@Mr Kool: good point, i’ll fix the text since it’s actually ‘unix’, not ‘linux’
kroogrr on January 5, 2011 at 12:18 AM said:

@kakaroto: Ah, okay. Just saw your tweet about installing the keys to ~/.ps3. Looks like it worked! Going to try to load it to my 3.55 fat CECHL PS3 in a minute.
kroogrr on January 5, 2011 at 12:18 AM said:

@Mr Kool: Macs are UNIX based, they’ll do a lot of linux things if you tell them to and you know what you’re doing. You could even carry this out on Windows if you wanted to, using cygwin 🙂 These days you’re not just limited to linux, but it makes more sense to use as similar an environment as possible to the original developer, to avoid problems. Having said that, I’m sure this particular operation is doable on a Mac 😛
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kroogrr on January 5, 2011 at 12:46 AM said:

Success 🙂

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/9412/p1030440a.jpg

Awaiting updates, and hoping some interesting firmware will come out! Might dabble in some myself. 🙂
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Mike on January 5, 2011 at 12:56 AM said:

i dont want to update if it doesn’t allow the current homebrew i wanna be able to back up all my games to my hdd i understand u guys dont want piracy but thats sonys job besides its not piracy if u own a legal copy of the game my issue is that i have my games already backed up and i recently bought gt5 nd i cant play it if i dont update nd ill loose the backup feature
u guys that have the power to make this happen are holding out
i think u should make ur custom firmware be able to install any pkg file signed or not signed tnx for the hard work so far though hope u change ur mind and the firmware
Mark on January 5, 2011 at 1:08 AM said:

i think it should be named mfw cause custom wold be like in the xbox we had different dashboards like avalaunch and unleash-x
thedon on January 5, 2011 at 1:16 AM said:

LOL Mike, already begging for scraps from the hackers…too bad that even the hackers wouldnt give you more free games, where to turn to now!

LOL, software pirates sure arent what they used to be:-)
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Mike on January 5, 2011 at 1:37 AM said:

thedon like i said im not intrested in piracy i actualy own my games
it just would be nice to have everything together backed up in one hdd
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dltv on January 5, 2011 at 1:47 AM said:

ive read alot of post and this is pathethic. First off its Kakarotos choice what he wants to contribute. Secondly kudos for putting in some serious time and work. Everyones end game is different. Respect that. I personaly puchased NFS hot pursuit and ill be looking into the pkg files.

secondly i believe as more people actually attempt to modify these pup files we will see more of noobs getting involved doing creative work.

I downloaded alot of the windows tools just to see how they would work on the stock sony 3.55 firmware. if kakarotos tools were for windows i would be doing the same thing testing and learning.

Why hasnt any anyone grabbed the pkg files from CFW firmware, signed it and then merged it with their own compiled firmware.
booted hacked firmware on the fly.

Also i think that the jailbreak dongles will and can still serve a purpose.
If you created a boot loader that can read a modified pup file from the usb stick you can could have a quickly
mat on January 5, 2011 at 1:53 AM said:

Could not unpkg ../dev_flash_000.tar.aa.2010_11_27_051337

^^ How can solve this?
John on January 5, 2011 at 2:25 AM said:

@mike That is the stupidest excuse i heard all day. “I just want to backup my games on my HDD” Then its, “Hmm, maybe I’ll backup my friends games on my HDD,” and finally, “oh what game should I rent to back up on my HDD.”
Ross on January 5, 2011 at 2:26 AM said:

Could not unpkg ../dev_flash_000.tar.aa.2010_11_27_051337

Same here…
kakaroto on January 5, 2011 at 2:32 AM said:

@ross / @mat : install ps3tools and make sure you have all the keys in ~/.ps3
Step by step instructions are available here : http://www.ps3-hacks.com/2011/01/04/ps3-custom-firmware-creator-released-permanently-add-install-pkgs-to-the-xmb/
Souhael Ben Ammar on January 5, 2011 at 2:53 AM said:

Hey one question are you dutch ?
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Mike on January 5, 2011 at 3:33 AM said:

To :John
What Ever Ur All Just Haters Thats probably what u do
im sure there will be away Soon 🙂
Soran on January 5, 2011 at 4:01 AM said:

Thank you and thumb up for your hard work
thumb down for haterssssssss
Kyron on January 5, 2011 at 4:38 AM said:

i got it too work see my video on my blog

http://reviewchan.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-hacked-ps3-with-kakaroto-custom.html
kakaroto on January 5, 2011 at 4:40 AM said:

@Souhael Ben Ammar: No, I’m Moroccan, That video showing the CFW was not made by me.
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f0k 0 on January 5, 2011 at 7:19 AM said:

thnx for ruining the ps3. now everyone has to buy a new 600$ console next year.
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jaron on January 5, 2011 at 7:25 AM said:

why i cant install any pkg file?
please respond 🙂
im on cfw 3.55
freenet on January 5, 2011 at 7:58 AM said:

“Because of legal/copyright issues, I will not provide the custom firmware to anyone”
Don’t you know about Freenet ?!
Fuck the legal issues, long live the streisand effect, at least upload it to TPB or something.
All that work for… Come on !

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