PS3HEN Latest HEN (HFW 4.92.1) is a CRAP

[RBFraphael]

Just checking if I'm the only one that is facing such strange behavior after updating HEN to latest 3.4.0 and HFW to latest 4.92.1.

I was on 4.90 for over a year, everything working great. Decided to update to 4.92.1, alongside with an upgrade from a 500gb HD to a 1tb SSD, and, now, HEN just refuses to enable.

Already tried to reinstall OFW, HFW, HEN etc... Installing is another pain, over 100 tries (yes, 100 tries) for HEN to INSTALL. All the times, the installer initialized successfully, but always caused "HEN Failure! Restart PS3 and retry" right after it started installing HEN. After 100 tries, it was installed.

Now, over 100 tries (yes, another 100 tries), HEN isn't enabling. Fresh install, nothing on system (no games, no saves, no media), everything as clean as possible.

WTF is wrong? I've followed a lot of tutorials, all teaching exactly the same thing (update from USB to HFW, check clock to be updated from internet, open browser, go to ps3xploit.me, use the auto installer, clear cookies/cache/authentication data/search history bla bla bla)... Stills not working.

Is it possible that I'm the only person facing this?

 

[GuilloteTesla]

SSDs are not compatible with the PS3.

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/guide-ssd-for-playstation-3.42499/

 

[RBFraphael]

It's working, installed disk games, system etc. Are you telling me that the only reason that my HEN isn't working is because I'm using an SSD?

And, how about the old HDD that is also not working? I've put it back into my PS3, and it isn't working. The same setup: HFW 4.92, HEN 3.4.0, fresh install... It took me almost 40 tries for HEN to install, and, as well as the SSD, HEN isn't enabling. Now, the only difference between them is: one is SSD, more space and stability, and other is HDD, less space. Both with the exactly same behavior: too many tries to HEN to install through ps3xploit.me, and HEN refusing to enable.

Ah, missed to mention that I've already tried enabling HEN with R2/L2 pressed.

 

[GuilloteTesla]

And, how about the old HDD that is also not working? I've put it back into my PS3, and it isn't working. The same setup: HFW 4.92, HEN 3.4.0, fresh install... It took me almost 40 tries for HEN to install, and, as well as the SSD, HEN isn't enabling. Now, the only difference between them is: one is SSD, more space and stability, and other is HDD, less space. Both with the exactly same behavior: too many tries to HEN to install through ps3xploit.me, and HEN refusing to enable.

You didn't say that in your first post. And changing drives while experiencing an issue only adds more problems, making it way more difficult. Also, SSDs are known to introduce problems, as stated in many threads here in the forums. It's too common to blame SSDs because those tend to be the main culprit (most of the time).

 

[RBFraphael]

You didn't say that in your first post. And changing drives while experiencing an issue only adds more problems, making it way more difficult. Also, SSDs are known to introduce problems, as stated in many threads here in the forums. It's too common to blame SSDs because those tend to be the main culprit (most of the time).

I honestly didn't mention it in my first post because I didn't think it was relevant. I didn't mean to come across as rude, and I apologize if I did. It's just that I really don't understand how switching between the HDD and the SSD could cause a problem, especially considering that both are showing the same behavior. Either way, do you have any idea what I could do to diagnose and fix the issue?

Reading the SSD guide you sent, I'm not experiencing any of the issues that are mentioned there, like slow speeds (limited to what PS3 can do, obviously), bootloop on FS check, SSD detection etc... I don't know if it makes any difference, but mine is a PS3 Super Slim. Maybe, since it was manufactured later (2012+), it could have better compatibility with SSDs. I'm not sure if that actually makes sense; I'm just considering the possibility, since the SSD hasn't shown any of the issues mentioned.

My only issue is that HEN isn't enabling on both SSD and/or HDD.

 

[jolek]

Connect your HDD into a PC.
Chech S.M.A.R.T. with e.g. CrystalDiskInfo:


This step will wipe everything on your HDD.
If everything is ok launch Windows disk Management:

A prompt will pop.
Select "Yes", format it. Select MBR, NTFS.

Connect your HDD into the PS3.
Install 4.92 HFW.
Install HEN through browser.
Reboot.
Try to enable HEN.

 

[RBFraphael]

Connect your HDD into a PC.
Chech S.M.A.R.T. with e.g. CrystalDiskInfo:
View attachment 46664

This step will wipe everything on your HDD.
If everything is ok launch Windows disk Management:
View attachment 46663
A prompt will pop.
Select "Yes", format it. Select MBR, NTFS.

Connect your HDD into the PS3.
Install 4.92 HFW.
Install HEN through browser.
Reboot.
Try to enable HEN.

Summarizing (TL;DR):

- I plugged both the HDD and SSD into my PC and checked their S.M.A.R.T. status through CrystalDiskInfo.
- I kept the SSD as it was, didn't touch anything on it – it already had HFW and all my games, but HEN was not installed.
- I cleaned up the HDD, set the MBR partition table, and created a single NTFS partition.
- I installed HFW on the HDD, then tried installing HEN. It worked like a charm on the first try.
- Enabling HEN is also working perfectly.
- In disbelief at the solution, I just plugged the SSD into the PS3.
- I tried installing HEN on it, and it worked perfectly on the first try, also enabling HEN, just like the HDD did.

- - - - - - - - - -

I followed exactly what you recommended. Here's the S.M.A.R.T. status of my HDD (I also noticed it's actually an SSHD).

And just for reference, here's the S.M.A.R.T. for the SSD I used:

I cleaned the HDD to test it, formatted it as MBR with only one NTFS partition, just like you recommended.

After that, I put the HDD into my PS3, then installed HFW 4.92.

Once the installation finished, I immediately tried installing HEN before doing anything else. Luckily, it installed on the first try. It also enabled without any issues, again on the first try.

Not fully convinced about the solution, I gave it a try: I unplugged the HDD and plugged in the SSD. It already had HFW 4.92 and all my games, so it only needed HEN installed through the browser. I tried it, and it worked just like with the HDD – everything succeeded on the first try.

I really have no idea what happened. I cleaned up the HDD and it worked, but the SSD had already gone through the same process before I installed it in the PS3. Yesterday, neither of them was working, and today both worked perfectly, as if nothing had happened. I reconfigured the HDD from scratch, but I left the SSD as it was, and both worked. This makes no sense to me at all.

Can someone explain what happened here? I really can't understand.

 

[fdm]

Opinion? Wonky hardware. Thought that the second I read the title. Obviously HEN is stable, well tested, and hasn't changed much. So it's whatever is not that.

 

[RBFraphael]

Opinion? Wonky hardware. Thought that the second I read the title. Obviously HEN is stable, well tested, and hasn't changed much. So it's whatever is not that.

Do you know how I can diagnose that? The issue is that everything is working correctly (disc reader, Bluetooth, hard drive, etc.), nothing seems wrong. I can play my disc games without any issues (GT5, God of War Collection, GoW 3, GTA V, PES 2012, Injustice, Max Payne 3), so I don't believe it's a hardware problem. I'm still betting on something related to software.

By the way, it got unstable again. Sometimes HEN enables on the first try, sometimes on the third or fourth, and sometimes I try over 20 times and it still doesn't enable.

Update: I believe I've found the issue, and isn't related to HDD/SSD.

I'm also not sure about that, but it worked everytime I tested.

In short words: Internet connection.

When my internet connection is enabled, HEN refuses to enable. But, when I disable internet connection (through Settings > Network Settings > Internet Connection), HEN enables without any issue.

Is that a known issue? Does someone know why is this happening? Now, things are "stable". Since I don't play online games, isn't a problem for me to keep internet connection disabled, and only enable after HEN and only when I need to connect to my PS3 through FTP. But I'm curious why this happens.