PS3 4.93 Evilnat w/ Cobra v8.5 - (CEX/PEX/D-PEX) 4.93

[NiQ]

What about Blu-Ray games? The games could have just been bought in that format, not in the digital one.

Now my PS3 is stuck a 47% in system file restore, no matter what I do. It asks to format the system. It seems I'll lose everything since the console even freezes when I click to rebuild the database or to install the FW in Safe Mode. I'm tired of having problems. I might as well return to the HDD since I've told the PS3 has problems with SSDs (even though I had a lot of them with HDDs and on different PS3s).

Playing Blu-Ray ISOs does not pose the same issue because the PS3 does not tell PSN from which medium the game is played, it just sends the Title ID - but mind that even if the same game is released on both Blu-Ray and digital, they will have different Title IDs, so Sony knows which one you have.

SSD on the PS3 is a hit or miss thing. You can try checking whether reverting to HDD works.

 

[Rissy]

And if you have a PS Plus subscription because you also use it for the PS4 / PS5 then you should never use the same account on a modded PS3 because if you get banned the account is completely closed. If you're gonna be using PSN on a modded PS3 you need to use a throwaway account.

I'm confused by this, sorry. In this statement, you say you need to use a completely newly created account - this will be an account with no history to it, no purchases, no free downloads etc

Generally I'd recommend reinstalling games by redownloading them from the store instead of using PKG/RAP backups. You don't need to pay again just to redownload a game you've already purchased.

If i'm using a brand new account, as advised above, then how can i reinstall games by downloading them from the store. How do i not have to pay again, if i'm using a brand new account where I've never purchased that game/addon?

If you do decide to reinstall a digital game from a PKG/RAP backup and you want to use PSN then make sure you properly activate the PS3 on the same account as the one used to purchase the game. If you attempt to play online or sync trophies of a game that's not in your PS3 store purchase history then it's a dead giveaway that your console is modded.

But what if someone has the disc, and they've installed the game from that rather than downloading it from the PS Store, or by a copied version from the web?

 

[RandomGuy2024]

Playing Blu-Ray ISOs does not pose the same issue because the PS3 does not tell PSN from which medium the game is played, it just sends the Title ID - but mind that even if the same game is released on both Blu-Ray and digital, they will have different Title IDs, so Sony knows which one you have.

SSD on the PS3 is a hit or miss thing. You can try checking whether reverting to HDD works.

But I'll lose the content, anyway. Does the PS3 have problems with modern HDDs? What about with SSHDs and eMMCs?

 

[Rissy]

Yes, as long as the QA flag is on it should allow you to downgrade.
Recovery mode allows you to self-service troubleshoot some issues if your PS3 does not function properly. It has the ability to flash new firmware without fully booting XMB, and there are a few cases where it can help when flashing from XMB fails.

So just to clarify please: To be able to downgrade you need to have:

A: The QA flag OFF

or

B: The QA flag ON

I though perhaps QA stood for "Quality Assurance" and that this would be something Sony were actively using to prevent people going backwards? Therefore with QA ON, you CANNOT downgrade? That was my thought anyway.

Where is all this written down?

 

[NiQ]

I'm confused by this, sorry. In this statement, you say you need to use a completely newly created account - this will be an account with no history to it, no purchases, no free downloads etc



If i'm using a brand new account, as advised above, then how can i reinstall games by downloading them from the store. How do i not have to pay again, if i'm using a brand new account where I've never purchased that game/addon?



But what if someone has the disc, and they've installed the game from that rather than downloading it from the PS Store, or by a copied version from the web?

If you use a new PSN account then unfortunately you can't transfer games by any legit means. You'll have to either give up on digital games on your previous digital games on that account, repurchase them or risk your main account (and note that a ban will also affect your PS4 / PS5).

But I'll lose the content, anyway. Does the PS3 have problems with modern HDDs? What about with SSHDs and eMMCs?

Yes, it has issues with SSDs. Some work fine, other have issues and a few don't work at all. Unfortunately there's no way to know without actually trying.

So just to clarify please: To be able to downgrade you need to have:

A: The QA flag OFF

or

B: The QA flag ON

I though perhaps QA stood for "Quality Assurance" and that this would be something Sony were actively using to prevent people going backwards? Therefore with QA ON, you CANNOT downgrade? That was my thought anyway.

Where is all this written down?

You need QA ON to downgrade. QA was used by game studios when developing games for various purposes, including testing games on different firmware versions, so they needed the ability to downgrade. Retail consoles are not supposed to have the ability to turn on QA (that's why it requires CFW) because updates are supposed to be one way on retail. The reason is that if an exploit is patched (e.g. version 3.56) Sony doesn't want you to be able to downgrade back to an exploitable version.

 

[RandomGuy2024]

If you use a new PSN account then unfortunately you can't transfer games by any legit means. You'll have to either give up on digital games on your previous digital games on that account, repurchase them or risk your main account (and note that a ban will also affect your PS4 / PS5).



Yes, it has issues with SSDs. Some work fine, other have issues and a few don't work at all. Unfortunately there's no way to know without actually trying.


You need QA ON to downgrade. QA was used by game studios when developing games for various purposes, including testing games on different firmware versions, so they needed the ability to downgrade. Retail consoles are not supposed to have the ability to turn on QA (that's why it requires CFW) because updates are supposed to be one way on retail. The reason is that if an exploit is patched (e.g. version 3.56) Sony doesn't want you to be able to downgrade back to an exploitable version.

Then what can users do if the PS3 also has problems with HDDs, SSHDs and eMMCs as well? Buy old ones, and if so, which ones?

 

[Rissy]

You need QA ON to downgrade. QA was used by game studios when developing games for various purposes, including testing games on different firmware versions, so they needed the ability to downgrade. Retail consoles are not supposed to have the ability to turn on QA (that's why it requires CFW) because updates are supposed to be one way on retail. The reason is that if an exploit is patched (e.g. version 3.56) Sony doesn't want you to be able to downgrade back to an exploitable version.

Excellent, thank you for explaining. I think this may have been my issue last night then. I though QA had to be OFF to be able to downgrade, as I say, because I thought it stood for "Quality Assurance". So I turned it OFF last night and then tried to downgrade!

I'm guessing then that it DOES stand for Quality Assurance, but it's from a game programmers perspective, to make sure their games work on all firmware versions, therefore checking the quality of their work.

Is this not all written down someplace so that someone like me can read about it rather than bugging you nice folks at every turn?

Is this not all written down someplace so that someone like me can read about it rather than bugging you nice folks at every turn?

I just found some information here: https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/QA_Flagging

I'm a bit concerned with what I want to do now after reading the following:

QA Downgrading[edit | edit source]

Crossreference: gitbrew.org PS3owngrade
Notes[edit | edit source]

These tools COULD format your ps3. (which means Any and ALL psn / downloaded data could be erased)
note: several people noted that they did not suffer from dataloss even after several downgrades, but its good measure to backup before downgrading (esp. ACT.DAT which DO get erased)

Known Issues with QA flag / QA downgrades[edit | edit source]

act.dat (PSN activation) gets deleted[edit | edit source]

Make sure you backup the file before enabling QA-extra flag and downgrade. There have been reports of ACT.DAT ("home/000000XX/exdata/act.dat") get's deleted. So make sure to backup that entire folder before flagging/downgrading.

What does all this mean? What should I backup, and where would it have to go back once i'm done?

I'm not logged in with an online account on this machine. It's on the internet, but only to use PS3Toolset and clock synching and downloading updates for games etc.

Sony don't know about me owning this machine. It's not on my activation list, so if in the future I wanted it to be (like if i'm selling it on after putting it back to STOCK or whatever), can someone still use this machine normally after I've been messing with it even if I've not done the advised above? I need to have a walkthrough if I'm needing to do this.

 

[Spilas16]

How to switch from hen/HFW to PEX/CFW?

 

[NiQ]

Excellent, thank you for explaining. I think this may have been my issue last night then. I though QA had to be OFF to be able to downgrade, as I say, because I thought it stood for "Quality Assurance". So I turned it OFF last night and then tried to downgrade!

I'm guessing then that it DOES stand for Quality Assurance, but it's from a game programmers perspective, to make sure their games work on all firmware versions, therefore checking the quality of their work.

Is this not all written down someplace so that someone like me can read about it rather than bugging you nice folks at every turn?



I just found some information here: https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/QA_Flagging

I'm a bit concerned with what I want to do now after reading the following:

QA Downgrading[edit | edit source]

Crossreference: gitbrew.org PS3owngrade
Notes[edit | edit source]

These tools COULD format your ps3. (which means Any and ALL psn / downloaded data could be erased)
note: several people noted that they did not suffer from dataloss even after several downgrades, but its good measure to backup before downgrading (esp. ACT.DAT which DO get erased)

Known Issues with QA flag / QA downgrades[edit | edit source]

act.dat (PSN activation) gets deleted[edit | edit source]

Make sure you backup the file before enabling QA-extra flag and downgrade. There have been reports of ACT.DAT ("home/000000XX/exdata/act.dat") get's deleted. So make sure to backup that entire folder before flagging/downgrading.

What does all this mean? What should I backup, and where would it have to go back once i'm done?

I'm not logged in with an online account on this machine. It's on the internet, but only to use PS3Toolset and clock synching and downloading updates for games etc.

Sony don't know about me owning this machine. It's not on my activation list, so if in the future I wanted it to be (like if i'm selling it on after putting it back to STOCK or whatever), can someone still use this machine normally after I've been messing with it even if I've not done the advised above? I need to have a walkthrough if I'm needing to do this.

act.dat is created when you activate your PS3 (whether legit via PSN or fake via CFW). It's required in order to play digital games, so it's very recommended to back it up. Still, if you lose it, you can just reactivate and re-download your games.

 

[CFW-Us3r]

Also, now the "Check File System" setting in "Service Tools" in "* Custom Firmware Tools" isn't working. The PS3 just reboots to XMB when clicking it.

I already reported the issue to Evilnat. It seems to be caused by setting 'Improper Shutdown Warning' to Off in Debug Settings.

 

[Tinkle]

Just make sure you disable syscalls and you should be fine. I haven't heard of a case of someone getting banned just for using the PS3 store on a modded system. 99% of the people who get banned are banned for using game mods (i.e. cheating) online or synching fake trophies.
P.S. If you've done a fake activation using CFW or Apollo, make sure to delete the activation data before connecting to PSN, then activate it properly before using the store.

A huge shoutout to all your insights on this topic. Your entries have been very informative to me.

I thought I'd just respond to this particular one as I just wanted to educate myself on how I would go about deleting my activation if I wanted to do so? I originally activated my system via the CFW tools. Would this data be stored somewhere on the hdd? Appreciate your input as always!

 

[SOLID SNAKE]

hi guys when will the CEX be out ?

 

[Rissy]

Right, I managed to downgrade my PS3 from 4.91.2 to 4.88.2. I had to toggle the QA flag to ON, and then reboot the PS3 for the update to work. Without the reboot, it still said the firmware was corrupt!

So now I want to drop it to 4.87.2 from here: https://archive.midnightchannel.net/SonyPS/Firmware/?cat=evilnat#google_vignette

I see this is the earliest one too! Am I ok to use this one, and if I need to go further back, which 4.86 and earlier am I to use if I need to go back that far?

 

[GuilloteTesla]

So now I want to drop it to 4.87.2 from here: https://archive.midnightchannel.net/SonyPS/Firmware/?cat=evilnat#google_vignette

What's the need to go to that specific version?.

EVILNAT 4.88 is better. If you really want stability, you should downgrade to REBUG 4.84.

 

[Rissy]

What's the need to go to that specific version?.

EVILNAT 4.88 is better. If you really want stability, you should downgrade to REBUG 4.84.

I know you don't understand, but it's ok, I know why i'm doing this.

I'm abandoning anything earlier than 4.87 now as I've just tried a completely different console which is running OFW 4.82 and it's stil no good. I have one more console left to try and it's 4.75 OFW. I'm installing right now and will try that and see the results. If I can't test it within the next 15 mins though, i'll have to wait until tomorrow night as me and the missus are heading out to the cinema.

 

[Frosthaxx]

But I'll lose the content, anyway. Does the PS3 have problems with modern HDDs? What about with SSHDs and eMMCs?

I tried an SShd once. It was a firecuda. And well the PS3 corrupted it so bad it got locked in .raw format and I couldn't Even recover it on my laptop. Ended up throwing the HDD away, and I tried multiple fixes to try to get it to read again. This is one of the many problems that can occur with using a SSD on a ps3

 

[RandomGuy2024]

.

 

[NiQ]

How to switch from hen/HFW to PEX/CFW?

Assuming you have a CFW compatible model, it's the same as the initial jailbreak - just go to bgtoolset, apply the patch, then install CFW, which will replace HEN. Your existing homebrew will remain.

A huge shoutout to all your insights on this topic. Your entries have been very informative to me.

I thought I'd just respond to this particular one as I just wanted to educate myself on how I would go about deleting my activation if I wanted to do so? I originally activated my system via the CFW tools. Would this data be stored somewhere on the hdd? Appreciate your input as always!

You can deactivate using the CFW tools menu.
On a technical level, the activation file is /dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/exdata/act.dat. Note that every user profile has its own activation data. In the same directory you will also find several files with the "rif" extension. These are the license file for the digital games you've purchased, but they are encrypted with a key that is derived from both the activation file and the IDPS, which is why deleting the file will prevent you from running digital games, and that moving the activation data between consoles does not work. It's recommended to decrypt those license files into RAP files before deactivating or touching act.dat.

hi guys when will the CEX be out ?

It's low priority. If you install PEX and don't touch anything in the CEX2DEX menu in CFW tools then it's effectively the same as CEX.

 

[SOLID SNAKE]

Assuming you have a CFW compatible model, it's the same as the initial jailbreak - just go to bgtoolset, apply the patch, then install CFW, which will replace HEN. Your existing homebrew will remain.


You can deactivate using the CFW tools menu.
On a technical level, the activation file is /dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/exdata/act.dat. Note that every user profile has its own activation data. In the same directory you will also find several files with the "rif" extension. These are the license file for the digital games you've purchased, but they are encrypted with a key that is derived from both the activation file and the IDPS, which is why deleting the file will prevent you from running digital games, and that moving the activation data between consoles does not work. It's recommended to decrypt those license files into RAP files before deactivating or touching act.dat.


It's low priority. If you install PEX and don't touch anything in the CEX2DEX menu in CFW tools then it's effectively the same as CEX.

I was afraid it wouldn't be stable.
PS:
-I mainly play online with disabling syscalls etc... In the psn tools section
-I play some ps2 and ps1 iso
-I play PKG games
-I do remote play with PSP and PS VITA on my PS3
Can I do all of these without any issues in the PEX BETA 4 version?

 

[GuilloteTesla]

I was afraid it wouldn't be stable.
PS:
-I mainly play online with disabling syscalls etc... In the psn tools section
-I play some ps2 and ps1 iso
-I play PKG games
-I do remote play with PSP and PS VITA on my PS3
Can I do all of these without any issues in the PEX BETA 4 version?

Yes, you can.