PS3 Is it possible to use BC PS3 to play games online + backups with CFW in 2021?

olokos

olokos

Member
Hello,

I've recently purchased the nostalgia machine - PS3 CEHC04

I confirmed that it runs on OFW BD Movies, PS2 games, so the optical drive is healthy.
It runs quite hot though and did turn off once on me with a red light (prolly overheated).

I will change thermal paste for all 3 chips, maybe delid it later, but I need no help with that.

Questions I have are more software related.

What I want to do with the PS3:

Dump DVDs/BDs to the HDD (so I won't wear the optical drive more and save the discs)
Play backups from the HDD (so dumps I made earlier above wouldn't need anything to play them, once dumped)
Ocassionally be able to run some homebrew.
Play ONLINE with PSN using backups or original games (depending on the title and if I dumped it yet or not)

My PS3 is currently on 4.80 OFW.

My questions:
1. Which CFW is hands down the best one out there to play online?
2. Isn't dualboot CFW + OFW better for my needs than just the CFW alone?
3. If my main PSN account gets banned on the PS3, will my PSvita with the same PSN also get banned, or just the PSN account + PS3?
4. Can I somehow transfer all the trophies etc. from my main PSN account to the alt one, made for PS3?

5. What is the safest way to go online? SENEnabled? PSNPatcher? something else? or is there a CFW with built in PSN online protections, that could allow me to seamlessly use backups and play online?

I've read that the ban is unavoidable with CFW, but I've seen that there are methods out there, that allow to permanently change CID etc. so once banned I can get back online again, so I'm not too worried about the ban, but I do expect the unexpected.

Thanks for all the replies, I've read through this forum and google and couldn't find any recent answers to the questions I've asked above.
 
1. Currently, the default spoofing method (SEN Enabler) isn't able to spoof 4.88 firmware (latest). So, you must install Evilnat 4.88 to play online (Current Evilnat 4.88 has a few problems with some games, which should be patched in a newer version) (There may be a way to play online with DEX, but I'm not familiar with it).
2. Dualboot, despite its name, is a separate firmware which is almost exactly like OFW except it allows you to install CFW. You could use it to safely go online. but you wouldn't be able to use mounted games (you'd have to reinstall CFW for that).
3. If only your PS3 is banned, it shouldn't affect your other consoles. If only your PSN account is banned, you won't be able to use it for any other service, but it won't automatically ban your systems. If both are banned, it still shouldn't affect PSVita directly apart from being unable to use your account (although I'm not 100% sure of this).
4. You can't transfer trophies, but you can unlock them manually using Apollo Save Tool.
5. Removing CFW syscalls is your safest bet. You can do it with WebMAN mod by pressing R2+Triangle, or you can use PSNPatch or SENEnabler to do so. Having this built in would result in no homebrew being able to run (though the upcoming revision of Evilnat will allow to do so from the CFW Tools menu).
 
3. the account will be banned on the vita if you're using the same account, but the system won't be banned. this actually happened to me, so I got separate accounts for the ps3, psv/pstv, and ps4. with a separate account, I could sign in on the vita. it's best to make a throwaway account if you plan to exploit any system. don't make it one where you have lots of purchases and/or trophies (if you care about that), because you never know what could happen. I was naive to think I wouldn't be banned, and that's exactly what happened. the same account was on all systems too.
 
Okay, so I'm now on evilnat 4.88, I've got webMan, multiMan, irisMan(never started it).

I have got PSNPatch + SEN enabler ready to install, but I'm not sure if any of those 2 are still working on evilnat's 4.88

I already created a spare PSN account and I saw there's a way to permanently change PSID+CID, so I'm not too worried about console ban.

I see that alex has mentioned this:
"You can do it with WebMAN mod by pressing R2+Triangle, or you can use PSNPatch or SENEnabler"

1. Apart from antiban eboots, how would I go about going online on 4.88 evilnat?
2. Can I use PSNPatch + Sen enabler + R2+Triangle to be the safest or is that a bad idea?
 
olokos said:
Okay, so I'm now on evilnat 4.88, I've got webMan, multiMan, irisMan(never started it).

I have got PSNPatch + SEN enabler ready to install, but I'm not sure if any of those 2 are still working on evilnat's 4.88

I already created a spare PSN account and I saw there's a way to permanently change PSID+CID, so I'm not too worried about console ban.

I see that alex has mentioned this:
"You can do it with WebMAN mod by pressing R2+Triangle, or you can use PSNPatch or SENEnabler"

1. Apart from antiban eboots, how would I go about going online on 4.88 evilnat?
2. Can I use PSNPatch + Sen enabler + R2+Triangle to be the safest or is that a bad idea?
Click to expand...
AFAIK you do not need sen enabler if you are on the latest firmware (4.88 currently).

webman can block you from signing in to psn before syscalls are removed. psnpatch can do it also and activate games. evilnat 4.88 can also activate games.

so neither psnpatch nor sen enabler are not needed IF you are using webman and evilnat 4.88 :)
 
So what exactly do I have to do in webman before playing online? Maybe also remove syscalls in cobra cfw settings?
 
Very useful information, thank you!

So do I really need to do anything else other than R2+Triangle to sign into PSN and play online?

You mention removing syscalls, but isn't R2+Triangle just enabling PSN login? Or is it also removing syscalls?

I'm just worried I do something stupid and banned because of an obvious mistake.

If I get banned because of some complex problem then that won't be a problem though
 
olokos said:
So do I really need to do anything else other than R2+Triangle to sign into PSN and play online?

You mention removing syscalls, but isn't R2+Triangle just enabling PSN login? Or is it also removing syscalls?
Click to expand...
That button combo for webMAN MOD disables CFW syscalls and deletes history, which may show use of homebrew and/or other non-vanilla features. It's the same as pressing :but tri: after launching PSNpatch, but saves you launching an application. After doing so, you won't be able to launch any homebrew or other CFW features without resetting.

Whether you have PSN servers enabled or not is not the same as the :but r2:+:but tri: wMM combo, though disabling PSN can also be done via button combo.

As long as you're sensible online, after taking precautions like mentioned above, the chance of a ban shouldn't be too great. Obviously, modding online in public matches and other blatant misuse of the service is going to get you noticed and a ban would not be surprising.

However, if you stick to doing things online that you could only do on an unmodded, vanilla system, then really you should be okay - but there is no guarantee and no absolute safe way to use PSN on a modded system.
 
Thank you very much for such a detailed explanation!

In the first line you mention "That button combo", did you mean R2+Triangle or some different combo?

I do not plan on modding whatsoever, I'd be happy to just be able to play online some games I legitimately own, but ripped to HDD to save the optical drive.

The farthest I would go I think would be playing some CoD Ghosts using antiban eboot and maybe try to pair my PSP or PSVita with PS3 to see how the game sharing functionality actually works, I've never tried it before, but heard a lot about it, but I really have no reason to cheat online, it just ruins the fun for everybody, just wanted to point that out.

To wrap it up I'd have to:
1. Mount the game I want to play.
2. Press R2 + Triangle
3. Sign into PSN
4. Start the game
5. Play online

or are there any extra steps here to be made that could potentially make the ban chance less?

I'm sorry if it feels like I'm asking for what was already said, but I'm not sure if there's just the R2 + Triangle or something more to it.

To top it off, I did create a fake accountID as explained in the first post here
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/cfw-4-88-evilnat-cobra-cex.32057/

Does that make me easier to get banned or does that make me actually safer from the ban?

I've made the actual questions in BOLD so it's easier to read it.
 
olokos said:
In the first line you mention "That button combo", did you mean R2+Triangle or some different combo?
Click to expand...
Yes, R2+Triangle is the button combo I was referring to :)
olokos said:
To wrap it up I'd have to:
1. Mount the game I want to play.
2. Press R2 + Triangle
3. Sign into PSN
4. Start the game
5. Play online
Click to expand...
Absolutely correct. I don't think there's any more you could do to be 'safe' online. Disabling CFW and removing history covers your tracks and makes it look - as much as is possible - that you are not on modified system firmware. To that end, my best advice is: don't do anything while you're signed in to PSN that you could not to on a vanilla, unmodified PS3.

Doing so should allow you to 'fly under the radar' so to speak, as flagrant misuse of the service such as modding online or other obvious signs of a modified system being used online is much more likely to draw attention and result in a ban.
 
Thank you very much!

As I said, I'm not going to use any cheats in games probably not even in single player as I'm in general quite good in games, so really no need to do stuff like this.

I've tried to sign in to PSN using R2 triangle, but I'm getting this error after pressing sign in button with email and proper password:

You cannot sign in using another user's sign-in ID (e-mail address).

And I can only press circle to go back...

I assume that's because I generated fake account id using evilnat cfw options?

How do I un f it up so I could actually login? xd
 
Right and I did create one - the same one I was trying to use to login into the PSN and I did encounter the problem above.

I did follow the "Creation of act.dat tutorial" in here https://www.psx-place.com/threads/cfw-4-88-evilnat-cobra-cex.32057/
I used "Create account ID", in fact I did all this what was in the tutorial without actually reading it, so prolly it has created a fake account and because of this I cannot login using real PSN account, I guess.

That's why I've said "un f it up"
 
Any ideas how to possibly login into PSN without having to remove the games I own?

I did install some games I own using pkgi, been wondering if I could just delete existing act.dat and then just proceed with the evilnat guide or is this more complex?

I literally cannot login into any PSN account right now xd
 
olokos said:
Any ideas how to possibly login into PSN without having to remove the games I own?

I did install some games I own using pkgi, been wondering if I could just delete existing act.dat and then just proceed with the evilnat guide or is this more complex?

I literally cannot login into any PSN account right now xd
Click to expand...
1. If you already have a PSN account that's logged in (and activated) on your PS3, there is no need to create a fake act.dat nor a new account ID. You should already have these files/values and have no need to create fake ones (the fake ones are only for those who can't or don't want to sign in to PSN).
2. You could create a new user in your PS3 and try to sign in through there. This new user shouldn't have any act.dat nor account ID, and you shouldn't need to create a new one once you sign in and activate as explained in (1). I think you can use the games installed in the other user, but I'm not sure since the act.dat is not original.

Edit: By the way, I think I was wrong about not being able to restore trophies with apollo: https://www.reddit.com/r/ps3homebre...m?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3. It may not work out properly, though, so manual unlocking may be still required, and the trophies can't be synced to PSN before modifying.

Edit 2: On second though, you could just delete the act.dat and clear the account ID on your account, and then try to log in (and generate a real act.dat) like Coro suggested. The only thing you would need to do to still be able to play your games would be to re-generate the .rif files with corresponding .rap files (Are you using pkg games? ISO games should remain playable and non-deleted whether you delete the act.dat or not. They should remain even if you create a new user and delete the old one, since they are stored in a different directory internally).
 
Last edited:
olokos said:
Any ideas how to possibly login into PSN without having to remove the games I own?

I did install some games I own using pkgi, been wondering if I could just delete existing act.dat and then just proceed with the evilnat guide or is this more complex?

I literally cannot login into any PSN account right now xd
Click to expand...
i think evilnat has the option to remove the account (real or fake) in cfw tools.
 
Thank you so much for your help guys!

as AlexRhine mentioned, creating a new account on the PS3 was enough to keep installed games and to be able to sign into PSN!
Thank you aswell for the detailed explanation as to why this worked.

Good part is that the games I had installed previously showed up as licensed to nobody, after I created a new account on the PS3 and signed into PSN it showed up as licensed to the new created online account, despite it was installed on the fake PS3 account.

I didn't progress in the installed games too much, so there was no need to restore trophies/saves.

From what I've read fiddling around with trophies + being online might lead to higher ban %, so I didn't think twice and just caught up to where I was with the games I've got installed.

The only thing that I'm not sure about is:

Before signing into PSN I press R2 + Triangle, but it seems like if I do it once then it will take very very long time and from my experience doing R2 + Triangle several more times might speed it up.

Is this a coincidence and I should just wait after doing R2 + Triangle or my current "spammy" R2+ Triangle approach is good?

Thanks a lot for your help guys! <3 Appreciate it a lot!
 
olokos said:
Before signing into PSN I press R2 + Triangle, but it seems like if I do it once then it will take very very long time and from my experience doing R2 + Triangle several more times might speed it up.

Is this a coincidence and I should just wait after doing R2 + Triangle or my current "spammy" R2+ Triangle approach is good?
Click to expand...

Pressing R2+△ several times should not be faster, but at least keeps you busy while you wait for the notification.
 
Found the actual right way.

R2 + Triangle - Just hold both for a little while.

Works everytime and it's actually the quickest way to do it.
Just pressing it once might result in waiting for nothing to happen, while spamming is just bad.
 
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