PS3: First ‘Custom Firmware’ now working!

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Update: I’ve now fixed the issue about the missing game data icons. PS3-Hacks.com has a nice step-by-step tutorials and they posted the PUP files.

Update 2: DO NOT try to install this from the service mode, it might brick your console, install it normally from the normal menu or the recovery menu.

Great news!

Thanks to the tools made by the fail0verflow team (and thanks to sven in particular for his work on the pkg/unpkg tools), the first “Custom Firmware” is now available for the PS3!

I see a lot of questions coming up really fast on my Twitter account, so here are the basic things you need to know :

Because of legal/copyright issues, I will not provide the custom firmware to anyone, however, I’ve made available all the tools necessary to transform an Official firmware update, into a custom one, just grab my ps3utils repository from github, compile, then run :

./create_cfw.sh PS3UPDATE.PUP CFW.PUP

This will take the official firmware, unpack it, modify it, then repack it correctly (requires you to install ps3tools).

This should work on Linux and Mac for now, but I’m sure others will do it for the masses and illegally release those files somewhere.

The advantage here is that you can do it for any firmware, if you want to keep version 3.41, then give it the 3.41 update, if you are on 3.55 already and can’t downgrade, then run the script on the official 3.55 firmware and it will create a modified 3.55 firmware.

You can put the file in a USB drive under the filename “PS3/UPDATE/PS3UPDAT.PUP” and then go to system update in the XMB, and it will allow you to install the update (even if you’re already on 3.55).

People are asking what are the features of this firmware, it’s simple, all it does is to add those “Install Package Files” options to the Game section of the XMB. It doesn’t do anything else!

This firmware will not allow you to run the currently available homebrew application. Once the homebrew developers re-package their files in a ‘retail’ .pkg format with signed executable, then it will work (this should be coming soon thanks to the work of the fail0verflow team).

Since the kernel is left unmodified, this means that this custom firmware is really meant for future homebrew installation, and it will not allow piracy. I plan on keeping it that way.

This is just the first attempt at custom firmware, and it only contains a minor modification to allow you to install pkg files directly, eventually we’ll get some more options added to it in the future. This is just starting to get interesting!

p.s: Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible!

Enjoy! 🙂
KaKaRoTo

263 thoughts on “PS3: First ‘Custom Firmware’ now working!”

  3. What is your ps3utils repository? Please help! I’m dieing doing jailbreak my 3.56 ps3.

  4. please make a 3.56 3.60 3.61 jailbreak then you are the playstation king geohot is the best in the moment but he got sued you know what you must do you must make a cfw like waninkokos tutorial and send it to 10 people and this people send it to other friends and that was it sony can make you nothing okey kakaroto you are an fantastic hacker please make a 3.61 cfw for the people where update love you thx..

  5. hmm this sounds interesting!
    here’s a question for kakaroto can you use this to add the “Install Package Files” on a 3.70
    or 3.66 OFW? if so that would be brilliant.
    but as things are going so far i doubt that its possible.
    any feedback to my question would be highly appreciated.

    my respect and thanks,
    Cameron

  7. Hello kakaroto,

    I have just a small question to you. Will it be possible for you to release a new cfw with possibility to play games up to 3.7++?
    Or do you know another way to do so?
    Sorry for bothering, but I am sick to read the forums with answers of peoples who doesn´t even know what a ps3 is… 🙂

    Looking forward to listen up from you.

    Cheers,
    Dan

    • Hi Dan,
      no it is not possible to play games for 3.7x and it won’t be for a while. I can’t release that simply because I don’t have it, and I’m not interested in it.

  9. pleaaaase heeeelp meeeee
    my ps3 is broooke
    not that he is bricked
    he doesent update to jailbreak
    says corrupted data
    pleaase heeelp
    i downloaded all files of jb in all internet or almost and none of them work to me please anybody i need help
    my ps3 is 3.73 and i want to host free challenge lobbies of mw2 cuz i hate these jerks who ask for pay to play games these bastards
    but i cant do this if my ps3 dont let me
    help pretty please
    i have 14
    just to know about

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