This page provides the latest information about how to hack a PS3. See on this Mahalo page the picture Geohot posted, with the red circle showing the vulnerable part of the PS3 innards. There is also an explanation of the exploit, but it may be cryptic for non-programmers.
February 2010 Most of the PS3 hack buzz now is about Bioshock 2 and the in-game hacks it has.http://playstationlifestyle.net/2010/02/15/ps3-review-bioshock-2/ StreetskaterFU says Geohot's hack is insufficient to run home brew on the PS3 because it does not expose the root key. He says the root key will be hard wired into the system and not accessable with software.http://streetskaterfu.blogspot.com/2010/01/ps3-is-hacked-urban-legend-continues.html Scroll down this Mahalo page for other recent PS3 hack updates.
On Jan 29 2010, Geohot blogged that he had found the back door into all that is written in the PS3, but he posted that now it is up to everyone else to find the encryption keys so that non-technical people can hack their PS3. He said he has a life to get back to. He asked all hackers to leave a record of any more useful information they find on the PS Wiki, so more information may be coming soon.http://wiki.ps2dev.org/1 http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/2010/01/heres-your-silver-platter.html2
Geohot does spell out his exploit on his blog, but it is in very technical terms and only skilled programmers will be able to use his information. The exploit gets a programmer full access to the PS3, but that is all. Typically a programmer pokes around until he finds specific codes that laymen can use to create further gaming console hacks.http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ps3hacked-article?page=2
Where To Pulse the PS3 for Geohot's Exploit
This is the photo that hacker Geohot included with his explanation of how the exploit worked, the one he used to successfully hack the PS3 for the first time ever on Tuesday January 26 2010. He said in the explanation that he ran the kernel module, and then used an FPGA button to pulse low for ~40ns at the portion in this picture that is circled in red. He says he had to pulse it several times before the exploit worked. The module exited and then he had access to everything on the PS3.
Step 1: Other Recent PS3 Hack Updates
This page will release the most current, substantiated information when more is known on the encryption keys and other PS3 hacking methods that hackers are working on. Once these are posted, we will post step by step instructions on how to hack a PS3.
Update February 2010: xorloser claims to have propered Geohot's hack of the PS3.http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Hacks/geohot-ps3-hack-propered-exploit-for-all-playstation-3-firmware/ He claims it would be too much trouble to publish his whole hack, but he does say the first step is to install the Linux operating system onto the PS3.http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Hacks/geohot-ps3-hack-propered-exploit-for-all-playstation-3-firmware/
Update Jan 2010: Mystic Injection Tools claim that the PS3 can be fooled by a Blu-ray disc that they customized. They say it doesn't do anything useful yet, but they promise updates.http://dvdbluraystore.com/blog/dvd-bluray/custom-ps3-p5h-mit-de-hack-part-1-beginning.html
Incgamers contacted Sony for a statement on the possibility that their PS3 gaming console had been hacked, and that it may now be vulnerable to piracy. They report that Sony told them Sony is investigating and they will clarify the situation once Sony has more information.http://www.incgamers.com/News/20648/sony-investigating-ps3-hack-allegations
Step 2: More on Geohot's PS3 Hack
Gehot says that he can read or write to anything in the whole system memory. He says he has top level access to the PS3 processor. He had previously announced that he planned to work for the next few weeks on finding the decryption keys, and had previously promised to post them when he found them.http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/
Geohot did leave a few clues that might help some enterprising hackers follow his lead and also hack the PS3. He seemed really excited when he tweeted something at 11:17 AM Jan 15th about the PS3's reset vector not being locked down to ROM, and how it was in the system controller as 0x2401FC00000.http://twitter.com/Geohot On January 20 he posted in his blog that he was able to mess with the RAM bus even though he could not read it.http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/2010/01/good-thing-theres-no-ecc.html
As Geohot, George Hotz was instrumental in showing us all how to hack an iPhone. He figured out how to untether an iPhone from its carrier. He created the blackra1n and blacksn0w hacking utilities.http://iphonejtag.blogspot.com
Are PS3 Hackers Pirate Scum?
HeshamUchia suggests some reasons why hacking a game console might not be so unethical. He agrees that hacking a game console in order to play pirated games is wrong because it robs the game developers. He points out though that European console owners have to hack their game consoles just so they can play games because so few games are available in their region code.
Step 3: PS3 Was the Last Unhacked Gaming Console
The PS3 was the last gaming console of the current generation to be hacked. All the other gaming consoles including the Xbox 360 and Wii have been hacked before and were already feeling the effects of game piracy.http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10440544-1.html
There are two general methods of hacking a gaming console. First, reverse engineering low level programatic code can reveal holes in the operating system. Typically, hackers are looking for a way to bypass software authentication mechanisms to play "backup" games. The previous generation of gaming consoles such as the Xbox and PS2 made Mod Chips popular. These are small hardware devices that are soldered or placed on the motherboard of consoles to bypass software checks and add functionality to the devices.
It is important to realize that hardware manufacturers such as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo do not support any form of hacking or modding.
