The good folks over at Gitbrew have just announced that they have a brick fix for ps3′s on 3.55 and lower. Here is to quote gitbrew.

SOURCE

Reports are coming in that the E3 flashers are finally shipping and a few people have started to get their hands on them. PS3Hax member stiV, just got his a few hours ago and was nice enough to post a small review and pictures of the chip. Is it worth it? Read his review to find out.

I got my E3 flasher today… After playing around a few hours I am seriously frustrated. I am a noob at PS3 hacking/flashing, but I am not a noob with computers or fuddling around with hardware. I thought I could to it if I had a decent tutorial.

I have a CECH-2004A, the mainboard layout is simply different, than the one in the tutorial. There is one place where I THINK the clip needs to go, but the chip is turned by 90 degrees (or 270, who knows), which *ucks up the whole softboard … I think I did it right (tried both possible ways), but I still can’t get it to work.

The tutorial has a very bad english (to the point where i sometimes don’t get what it ir trying to tell me), other languages (at least german) are even more *ucked up (it’s like they put the document into google translator).

The blue lights (that should give error codes), are just alternatively flashing (1347-2468-etc…)

—————————

I think I just broke my E3 Flasher…

There is another big difference. The HDD case itself is different, and also the form factor where the HDD case fits in is different. As a result, you can not get the e3 flasher softboard into the position you need it to be. It needs to go STRAIGHT to the connector pins on the e3 flasher board, which is impossible. I got it working (ehm, “connected”) two times, but I broke my e3 flasher board the third time:

—————————

The differences in the case are shown in this picture. The original has that hole, which is NEEDED, there is something standing out inside. The E3flasher case gets “bent” (seriously bent) (sorry, I am not native english) when you try to put it in, as a result, the softboard gets jammed… (which can break it too).

—————————

In short: It could work, but for the slim version I have, I definitely need a new HDD case and a new softboard thingy. And a new e3 flasher board, those connector pins look dead to me

Never be an early adopter.
Since i wanted this to be able to use the PS3 as a media center (which would be its primary use), i guess i’m gonna sell it again and stick to pc games and get a simple streaming device.

—————————-

because it has a completely different layout (the CMOS battery is somewhere else eg.). The other side has no chips, transistors or anything else. It is the correct side of the board – definitely. I’m gonna make some pictures

as you can see, there are multiple differences. The tip with the “big dot” in the corner could help, if the dot would be visible in any one of the pictures in the tutorial pdf, which it isn’t

and again: I already broke my flasher board connector.

You can view his full review spread over various posts at his thread HERE.

I start developing PS3MFW Builder 0.2.1 a few mouths ago, and since then it’s just laying around my computer.
It’s fully working, only one function should rewritten.

Features:
Settings:
- Choose language.
- Select Temp folder.
- Select PS3_KEYS folder.
- Save/Default all the settings, including selected/unselected tasks, original/modified firmware paths, theme and so on.
- For developers: you can restart PS3MFW Builder by pressing Shift-R .

Languages:
I added the option to translate PS3MFW Builder to any language, including RTL, unique symbols and so on..
Thanks to eussNL for creating most of the translations.

You can also easiely create your own translation, all the text it stored in an .xml file.

Tasks:
- Added the option to select multiple files using “files” option type.
- Added the option to select directory using “directory” option type.

Developers: The only thing should be rewritten is the “save_settings” function.
The best way is to add a function in xml.tcl which will replace the text in specific node.

Download – PS3MFW Builder 0.2.1

Condorstrike has updated his stunning Homebrew application Solar, here is a quote from the change log:

• Mostly Graphical updates
• Better memory usage, for stability
• Added more effects, Satelites and more Depth view and motion.
• Fixed MUSIC directory for mp3 playback.
• and other things I can’t remember.

Download And Source

E3DIY contacted us today confirming that E3 Flasher works just fine with the newest PS3 FW update. They also give a warning on while using their flasher and downgrading, do NOT update/install 3.55 OWF or CFW.

To quote:

E3 FLASHER LIMITED downgrade 3.73 to 3.55 successful , the way is same as before, no changes !
and also we upload a good working manager, you can check official web to download .

And also please note : after downgrade to 3.55, don’t install any other 3.55CFW or 3.55OFW, otherwise PS3 will get brick just install manager to play HDD game.

if you want play PSN, just upgrade to 3.73 with normal upgrade way (network or USB device).

We all know that Sony are well known for releasing pointless firmware updates for their PS3 console, and with the release of the 3.73, they don’t disappoint with their usefulness, this “non mandatory” update, appears to do nothing, just like all the other pointless software updates:

We will update when we know more.

Ps3Hax member and developer Lunuxx has released for your enjoyment the official final 3.5 version of paintown.  This version contains many fixes and better compatibility.   Below is a video of 3.5 in action, new items in action and a select quote from Lunuxx’s Paintown Mega Thread.  Also network mode should be added sometime soon and when it is you will find it here at PS3HaX first!

UPDATE:2011/17/10
Official 3.5 status
co-op offline multiplayer (up to 4 players)
lots of things fixed
new items:
invincibility and speed!

more compatibility
Of course these items are things you can add yourself with the level/animation editor some pre built things are in the works as of now
nothing complete yet, although you can easily make your own or make a request here.
multiplayer works great and I will recompile paintown later with markus’s stuff built in as well for people that would like to try 3.5 with his mods (although his was only a few days before the official release date)
network mode coming very soon

Source, Support, and Download : Paintown Mega Thread

For those people that love to play classic games, you may have heard of a game called ‘Out of This World’ or ‘Another World’. Another World was a 1991 cinematic platformer and now thanks to efforts of Bobby6killer, it has been ported to the PS3.Here’s a quote from the developer:

Another World for PS3

This project is based on the reverse engine made by Grégory Montoir, and reimplements the game Another World to be played on PS3.
You need the original english DOS data files (in english, the game is known as “Out of This World”).

Screenshots:

Controls
Arrow keys => Allow you to move Lester
Cross => Allow you run/shoot with your gun
Select => allow to enter a code to jump at a specific level
Start => pause the game
Triangle => quit the game
R1 => save game state
L1 => load game state
R2/L2 => change game state slot

FAQ

Where should i place the original game files ?

Place them into /dev_hdd0/game/NEWRAW_00/USRDIR/data folder.

Game freezes and system restarts when i want to leave the game, wtf ?

It’s a known bug, you must use TRIANGLE button to exit game

Download PS3 Package
Source Code
MD5-CheckSums
VIA
Official Site
PS3-Addict

Been a while since we heard about the 2D fighting game known as Paintown.

To quote (translated):

Little wake-up call, this 2D game based on the source code for MUGEN, was designed by Jon Rafkind and covered by Scristopher PS3 and lunuxx. The aim of this game is, as with any beat them all, as much as possible to hit the opponent to reach the end of it.

This mod includes a total of 12 Levels. The program of festivities, there are 3 new bonus stages, support for the multiplayer to 4 (not tested but should work), three new characters (Seiya, Shiryu and Hyoga) as well as new enemies and music for internships.

And good news on top of that, the Wii version is coming soon …

Procedure:

• Download and install pkg on your console via “Install Package Files.”
• Paintown 3.5 and installed the mod!

The author wishes to thank the whole team Paintown for his help on this mod but cool72 for testing in 3.41 on PS3 and Wii.
Here’s a short video of a bonus stage (Saint Seiya) to give you an overview of the final:

Video:

[Download Paintown v3.5 Final]
[VIA Logic-Sunrise]

Ever had that dreadful ordeal with YLOD on your PS3 and just haven’t had a clue what to do, other than send it to Sony for repair, they of course will charge you an extortionate amount of money to repair your console.

Perhaps you have attempted to fix this problem yourself, but have found incomplete guides or non user friendly guides, well help is at hand, PS3HaX member Nichibotsu has put together an awesome guide on how to “Reflow”, here is a quote from his guide:

This is meant to be a complete guide on how to do a good reflow, and how to avoid YLOD coming back.
YLOD is the most common heat-related failure, and it’s caused by the solder cracking after repeated
heating to high temperatures. It should be noted that YLOD is a somewhat misleading term, depending on
model and specific solder points that break, the YLOD does not always present the same simptoms. It
sometimes shows up as what is called GLOD, where the failure is localized on the GPU chip. Please be
aware that this is a DIY method, it does not give 100% chances to get your ps3 back to work, and it may
even damage it worse if not done properly, so if you don’t want to take risks, take it to some shop and have
them make a Reballing on your system, that will fix your problem and is done professionally, but it will cost
you some money.

Source And Download Guide(.PDF)

Also when you fix your problem, it would be best to install one of Killerbugs fans, even if you dont have YLOD, his fans may help prevent you from getting that problem, you can buy them from here:

PS3 ezChill – External Control Edition
PS3Z EASY COOL HIDDEN CONTROL
PS3 ezChill
PS3Z EASY COOL EXTERNAL CONTROL

Any questions regarding this tutorial, go to the source.
Any questions regarding ezChill ask KillerBug

ThatOtherDev, also goes by ThatOtherPerson, has recently released everything needed for compiling along with the source code. This developer has challenged other devs to try to bring more homebrew games to the PS3 scene.

Download it

Using it:

Simply add this to the bottom of the bashrc file:

## Setup ps3toolchain environment
export PS3DEV=/usr/local/ps3dev
export PATH=$PATH:$PS3DEV/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$PS3DEV/host/ppu/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$PS3DEV/host/spu/bin
## Setup PSL1GHT Environment
export PSL1GHT=$PS3DEV/psl1ght
export PATH=$PATH:$PSL1GHT/host/bin

Open the terminal and install these libraries:

sudo apt-get install autoconf automake bison flex texinfo libncurses5-dev gcc g++ make wget libelf-dev
sudo apt-get install python2.6-dev python-dev zlib1g-dev libtool git-core libgmp3-dev libssl-dev pkg-config
sudo apt-get install libcloog-ppl-dev

Extract the contents in ps3dev.tgz archive to the /usr/local/ folder.

In the terminal, open the directory for one of which projects. For example, They Do Not Die 2

cd $PS3DEV/MyProjects/projects/TheyDoNotDie2

Lastly, add this to compile it:

make pkg

From ThatOtherDev(ThatOtherPerson):

Source: PSX-Scene.com

Updates to story follow below. So more word from Team E3DIY for the anticipated E3 flasher. They have contacted PS3Hax and have confirmed that they will begin shipping units on the 13th. They also have made available the SLIM install PDF guide which you can download here. More information at their website here.

The biggest change you guys should be aware of that the versions shipping will not feature dual-booting. This is mainly due to the need of manually soldering additional wires. They told us to expect another version with the dual booting ability soon.

To quote:

E3 flasher LIMITED version start to ship on 13th. We are sorry for the delay because CLIP component is very low rate .
We had to ship small quantity like 100-200pcs every day recently , we are working hard to improve those problem.

Now you can get new slim installation manual with clip from official web.

E3 flasher limited version fixed on NOR FLASH FAT console not so good, you can know some from official web ,
sure all NOR FLASH console is NO SOLDER include SLIM AND NOR FLASH FAT .

We are regret that we had to cancel some function like dual boot from E3 FLASHER LIMITED version
becuase NO solder function added(CLIP). We will develop a new flasher to add those function with few wire solder.

We take some picture for E3 FLASHER LIMITED production, you can know production status official web .

UPDATE 1:

Got this email below from Team E3DIY:

We think lots of user mis-understand us, here is some clarification.
1: E3 FLASHER LIMITED still provide 11 accessory, include esata station.
2: we design e3 flasher on solder way at first, this way can get dual boot well. But later we change hardware and software design because of adding clip. so finally it’s difficult to get dual boot function on e3 flasher clip version.
3: You still can get 3.72 and 3.55 switch with 2 HDD, it need more steps than dual boot, maybe we can call it half dual boot. This way no need any solder. We will release this half dual boot way in few days, you just upgrade e3 flasher limited and get it work.
4: We are working hard to allow e3 flasher limited vesion works really dual boot, but we can’t promise now because lots of changes.
5: We upload all neccessory software and manual, you can go here to download and enjoy one key downgrade.
6: New e3 flasher should come out in few month with more fantastic function !

Version 4 final of PS Multi Tools  is finally released!

Full Changelogs:
- Version 4 final now running again on Mac OS X with CrossOver and .Net Framework 2
- Fullscreen Mode
- Style Changes
- Loads wallpaper(PIC0/PIC1) and icon(ICON0/ICON1) from gamesfolder
- Again for Windows XP, Vista (Mac OS X on full release)
- Fixed old imageloading bugs
- Official Firmware 3.72 added
- Some Emulators updated
- OpenPS3FTP updated
- Added Login for Developers (More informations later)
- Advanced Multitasking
- Reporter updated
- PKG Sign Tool removed for normal users
- Official Firmware 3.41, 3.55 & 3.6X removed for normal users
- MD5 Hashes removed completely (temporary?)
- Removed other servers
- Fixed: Requesting a developer account should now work
- Fixed: Downloading older firmwares with a developer account should now work
- Added Tool: You can now convert DOS Games into a PS3 Game (thx do d0zs)!
- Style: All PS3 Forms are now in PS(Photoshop) Design
- Added latest Backup Managers

For my birthday I will give you 1 day access to all tools and downloads of PS Multi Tools until 15th october.

Login with:
User: DEVACC
Password: hpbdaysvengdk

Download:
V4 for Windows 7, Vista, XP and Mac OS X with Crossover

ThatOtherDev has released another Homebrew Game for the PS3.

Here is the first and very early release of Swingball 2. Unlike its predecessor it is available not only for Wii but also for PS3 (with a PC version forthcoming).

There were some really cool user made levels for the original Swingball that did things I hadn’t even thought of and I’m looking forward to seeing how people take advantage of the new stuff in this game.

There are now blocks that can be swung from but not walked on (they aren’t solid). There are also tiles that will change the direction of gravity when you come in contact with them.

I haven’t begun it yet but I plan to make a WYSIWYG editor which will make it even easier for people to create their own levels.

There is a lot left to do. The game currently just consists of a single test level.

PS3 controls:
Left analog stick = Move
Right analog stick = Aim
L1 = Jump
R1 = Swing

Wii controls:
Analog stick = Move
Pointer = Aim
A = Jump
B = Swing

Download Swingball 2 v0.1 PS3

Source ThatOtherDev.com

[Download Latest Version Here]

A PS3HaX member mallory released his tools to reactivate your legally purchased PSN games, here is a quote from his thread:

Here is v2. Now unself2 and readself2 have the NPDRM magic too. Trying to use unself2 on one of my game stops with an unknown section type error. That section is of type 3 and it looks like it is some kind if linking info. Look in the readme for more information.

And a quote from the Read Me:

Based off of gitbrew’s 215d8903bc86539ca1da53519e2ac10eeafc4c27
ps3tools. .git folder not included to protect senstive info about the author.
Sorry about the fucked up tabs, TAB = 4 SPACES 4 LYFE!!!
Add the files in the npdrm_keystuff folder to your ps3 keys folder. Create a
file with your console’s 16 byte IDPS in the ‘idps’ file in your ps3 keys
folder (e.g. ~/.ps3/idps).
Copy your PS3′s exdata folder containing your act.dat and rif files to your
ps3 keys dir (e.g. ~/.ps3/exdata/act.dat). Compile and have fun with your
LEGALLY purchased NPDRM games!

Also works on free games without exdata/idps.

Apologies for any existing bugs in unself. Adding these changes to
unself2 is left as an exercise for the reader.

v2 info:
Added npdrm magic to unself2 and readself2
unself2 doesn’t like the metadata section with type 3 in my game.
This section looks to be some kind of linking information. Here is a snippet:
crt0:p190002crt1:p190002libaudio_stub:p190002libaudio_stub:p190002

I haven’t yet looked around to see if this is type of section is documented anywhere.

Thanks:
fail0verflow for the orginal tools
JuanNadie for figuring out NPDRM
euss for his endless hours of work on the wiki

Why didn’t you beat me to the punch, Team PS360? I didn’t need to reverse a
single instruction! It isn’t that hard…

Source And Download

UPDATE
mallory has updated his work to v.3, here is a quote from his post:

unself2 now ignores metadata sections of type 3 instead of aborting. Additional help with any remaining bugs would be greatly appreciated.

I’m sorry if everyone got the impression that these unself/readself modifications can, by themselves, “reactivate” your NPDRM content. These are just the first steps in the process. To those who say this is useless because you need act.dat and rif files: unless you can get unencrypted (debug) or easily decrypted (free, demos) PSN content, the only way to get the unencrypted files is by decrypting it with act.dat and the content’s rif file. There are no “crypto fails” here, proper decryption with the true keys is the only way forward. Using the NPDRM algo with the right keys is the only way to decrypt unless you let GameOS do it for you and hook into GameOS to either grab intermediate keys or dump decrypted content. Using hacks to restore the NPDRM decryption info to jailbroken PS3s is only a partial fix. For instance, unless you patch vsh or set the SRTC to some time in the past, some content (even non-demos and non-trials!) expires until you log into PSN and reauthenticate.

Sorry about your “technical difficulties”, Team PS360. You should L2IRC.

Source And Download

And just when you thought all the fun stuff with PSN was over. According the the PSBlog, PSN incurred another minor attack which affects 0.1% of PSN accounts. The breach was minor but it did still occur. As a preemptive measure Sony is now “requiring secure password resets for those PSN/SEN accounts that had both a sign-in ID and password match through this attempt”. Oh and just a reminder if you were affected, you waived your right to sue.

To quote:

We want to let you know that we have detected attempts on Sony Entertainment Network, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment (“Networks”) services to test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database. These attempts appear to include a large amount of data obtained from one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources. In this case, given that the data tested against our network consisted of sign-in ID-password pairs, and that the overwhelming majority of the pairs resulted in failed matching attempts, it is likely the data came from another source and not from our Networks. We have taken steps to mitigate the activity.

Less than one tenth of one percent (0.1%) of our PSN, SEN and SOE audience may have been affected. There were approximately 93,000 accounts globally (PSN/SEN: approximately 60,000 accounts; SOE: approximately 33,000) where the attempts succeeded in verifying those accounts’ valid sign-in IDs and passwords, and we have temporarily locked these accounts. Only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked. We are currently reviewing those accounts for unauthorized access, and will provide more updates as we have them. Please note, if you have a credit card associated with your account, your credit card number is not at risk. We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorized purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet.

As a preventative measure, we are requiring secure password resets for those PSN/SEN accounts that had both a sign-in ID and password match through this attempt. If you are in the small group of PSN/SEN users who may have been affected, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will prompt you to reset your password.
Similarly, the SOE accounts that were matched have been temporarily turned off. If you are among the small group of affected SOE customers, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will advise you on next steps in order to validate your account credentials and have your account turned back on.

We want to take this opportunity to remind our consumers about the increasingly common threat of fraudulent activity online, as well as the importance of having a strong password and having a username/password combination that is not associated with other online services or sites. We encourage you to choose unique, hard-to-guess passwords and always look for unusual activity in your account.

A guy by the name [Hazer] has released his method that makes the ps3 controller fully remapable.

[Hazer] managed to take a PlayStation 3 SixAxis controller and modify it so that all of the buttons can be remapped in hardware. Aside from this being really cool, he had a good reason for doing it. Regular readers should remember the feature regarding [Chuck Bittner's] internet petition calling for button mapping as a feature in all games. As the industry still hasn’t taken up the torch in this area, [Hazer] developed this mod for [Chuck] to use and has released it for any others out there who wish to give it a try.

The hardware alterations are pretty hardcore. On the left of the image, just below the rumble motor, a DIP microcontroller is nestled dead-bug style. This is a PIC 18F14K50. It’s running a bootloader, and has its own USB port on the opposite side of the controller. By cutting traces and soldering to vias, this chip intercepts button presses and shoots them off to the controller’s processor based on alternative mapping stored in EEPROM. There’s a helper app that lets you plug the controller into a computer to specify what each button does, including features like toggle for the buttons. Check out [Chuck's] thoughts on the hardware in the video after the break.

[Download Schematics + PC Tools]
[VIA AcidMods via HackADay]