Dual Boot Firmware - Ban Risk?

[andrewscott87]

Hey guys,

So I was curious about the Dual Boot 4.88 firmware—is there still a ban risk with running that? I'm thinking about making it my primary firmware just to give me the flexibility to install CFW in the event that I hit something like an RSOD again on my CECHL.

Thanks

 

[bguerville]

Hey guys,

So I was curious about the Dual Boot 4.88 firmware—is there still a ban risk with running that? I'm thinking about making it my primary firmware just to give me the flexibility to install CFW in the event that I hit something like an RSOD again on my CECHL.

Thanks

A pure DB firmware is OFW with ONLY the necessary patches to be able to install CFW.
In theory, it's something that could be detected quite easily with ordinary userland code however in practice, PSN services and online gaming services don't seem to bother with this kind of checks, they appear to have kept their focus mostly on custom syscalls, custom folders/files and possibly history/log files.
Overall using a DB firmware is considered a fairly "safe" practice.

Having said all that, it's become so easy to reacquire jailbreak from OFW nowadays that using DB firmwares has become somewhat obsolete.

 

[andrewscott87]

Appreciate your insights bguerville.

A pure DB firmware is OFW with ONLY the necessary patches to be able to install CFW.
In theory, it's something that could be detected quite easily with ordinary userland code however in practice, PSN services and online gaming services don't seem to bother with this kind of checks, they appear to have kept their focus mostly on custom syscalls, custom folders/files and possibly history/log files.
Overall using a DB firmware is considered a fairly "safe" practice.

Having said all that, it's become so easy to reacquire jailbreak from OFW nowadays that using DB firmwares has become somewhat obsolete.

Appreciate your insights, bguerville. That makes me feel better about running a DB firmware, only because if I RSOD again using OFW, I won't be able to go back to CFW or downgrade to fix the RSOD without using an E3 flasher.

 

[bguerville]

Appreciate your insights bguerville.


Appreciate your insights, bguerville. That makes me feel better about running a DB firmware, only because if I RSOD again using OFW, I won't be able to go back to CFW or downgrade to fix the RSOD without using an E3 flasher.

No problem.
FYI, getting RSOD is not exactly "normal", it implies corruption of data in a region of the Flash Memory called vtrm.
Afair it affects mainly a handful of models with Samsung NOR chips including the CECHL.
If you experience that kind of problem more than once, you might want to consider a more permanent hardware fix or even a change of console, you should be able to sell yours while in working order and get a more recent model (maybe a slim 21xx or 25xx) without being much out of pocket.

 

[andrewscott87]

No problem.
FYI, getting RSOD is not exactly "normal", it implies corruption of data in a region of the Flash Memory called vtrm.
Afair it affects mainly a handful of models with Samsung NOR chips including the CECHL.
If you experience that kind of problem more than once, you might want to consider a more permanent hardware fix or even a change of console, you should be able to sell yours while in working order and get a more recent model (maybe a slim 21xx or 25xx) without being much out of pocket.

I sort of like this "odd duck" model actually. Mine runs pretty cool and quiet but it's really a shame they're plagued by such problematic NOR chips. I've been planning to do a NOR chip replacement for a more permanent fix—just waiting on the AliExpress chip order to arrive. I don't mind doing a little soldering work, so I'm going to give it a try to squeeze a bit more life out of it.

 

[sandungas]

I sort of like this "odd duck" model actually. Mine runs pretty cool and quiet but it's really a shame they're plagued by such problematic NOR chips. I've been planning to do a NOR chip replacement for a more permanent fix—just waiting on the AliExpress chip order to arrive. I don't mind doing a little soldering work, so I'm going to give it a try to squeeze a bit more life out of it.

He meant in the practise nowadays there is not much difference in beteeen installing 4.88 OFW or 4.88 DBCFW because the latest OFW 4.88 is exploitable (it allows to install any CFW on top of it)
Is like at the times of the first exploit running in 3.55 OFW... everybody was able to install a CFW on top of it just by plugging a USB dongle with the PUP in it and pressing a button
Nowadays the difference in 4.88 OFW is we need to open a web browser page to trigger the exploit and the installation is easy

In other words... by staying in 4.88 OFW you are not closing any doors, you still will be able to install a CFW later incase you need it
We dont know whats going to hapen in the next PS3 firmware releases (4.89 or higher), they could close the web browser exploit but doesnt seems much probable... for that matter you should always disable the automatic updates from network (and never acept one of that messages from network asking you to install a new PS3 firmware)

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And the matter of RSOD is only a worry incase it happened to that same exact console before in the past... lets say... there was many different patches published to try to solve that problem but all them have a problem in concept because the affected area (named VTRM) is intended to store some "license files"... and since that area was corrupted that "license files" cant be generated identicals to the originals
So well... i guess i would not feel confident either because i dont consider the RSOD patches something completly failproof... eventually the problem could reappear

 

[Berion]

If You have access to working ps3exploit site, then CFW DB is useless, but @bguerville will not keep it alive endlessly. For myself I always choosing offline solutions because online stuff exist today but tomorrow could disappear without warning. And Sony not banning for some reason CFW DB, so installing OFW is only limiting Yourself.

 

[bguerville]

If You have access to working ps3exploit site, then CFW DB is useless, but @bguerville will not keep it alive endlessly. For myself I always choosing offline solutions because online stuff exist today but tomorrow could disappear without warning. And Sony not banning for some reason CFW DB, so installing OFW is only limiting Yourself.

That is exactly what I have just posted about in the "devil303.com is down" thread.
Online scene services must get consolidated or they will disappear one after the other.

Having said that, making an offline Flasher for OFW is possible, I have not made one yet because there are more important things to focus on for the time being but eventually it will happen, whether it's my doing or someone else's.

 

[Berion]

Actually whole toolbox offline would be awesome. ^^"