The next system software update for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) system will be released on April 1, 2010 (JST), and will disable the “Install Other OS” feature that was available on the PS3 systems prior to the current slimmer models, launched in September 2009. This feature enabled users to install an operating system, but due to security concerns, Sony Computer Entertainment will remove the functionality through the 3.21 system software update.
In addition, disabling the “Other OS” feature will help ensure that PS3 owners will continue to have access to the broad range of gaming and entertainment content from SCE and its content partners on a more secure system.
Consumers and organizations that currently use the “Other OS” feature can choose not to upgrade their PS3 systems, although the following features will no longer be available;
- Ability to sign in to PlayStation Network and use network features that require signing in to PlayStation Network, such as online features of PS3 games and chat
- Playback of PS3 software titles or Blu-ray Disc videos that require PS3 system software version 3.21 or later
- Playback of copyright-protected videos that are stored on a media server (when DTCP-IP is enabled under Settings)
- Use of new features and improvements that are available on PS3 system software 3.21 or later
For those PS3 users who are currently using the “Other OS” feature but choose to install the system software update, to avoid data loss they first need to back-up any data stored within the hard drive partition used by the “Other OS,” as they will not be able to access that data following the update.
Additional information about PS3 firmware updates, including v3.21 (once it becomes available), can be found here:
http://us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/index.htm
PS3 owners who have further questions should contact Consumer Services:
http://us.playstation.com/support/ask/
800-345-7669 (800-345-SONY)
While I know this is a blog run by nothing but PR goons and higher ups aren’t taking these comments into account, I feel I also need to also express my dissatisfaction about this “update.” If this trend of cutting features continues, the Playstation brand will most definitely be losing a customer.
I used to be a loyal fan, but I feel Sony has changed
A PS3 owner (60GB) version has managed to gain a partial refund from Amazon (without returning the system) due to the removal of the OtherOS feature.
To quote: “The online retailer’s policy was to offer a refund weighing in at approximately 20 per cent of the console’s original value. Amazon responds:
We are writing to confirm that we have processed your refund in the amount of £84.00 for your Order 666-5327564-4432412.
Item Refund: £71.49
Item Tax Refund: £12.51
This refund is for the following item(s):
Item: Sony PlayStation 3 Console (60GB Premium Version)
Quantity: 1
ASIN: B0007SV734
Reason for refund: Account adjustment”
And here is the legal citation under Directive 1999/44/EC, which was accepted into European Parliament on January 1, 2002.
“The goods must:
• comply with the description given by the seller and posses the same qualities and characteristics as other similar goods
• be fit for the purpose which the consumer requires them and which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase.”
Stay tuned for more PS3 Hacks news. Also be sure to drop by the PS3 Hacks Forum for updates!
Sony is going to turn into Microtrash. I have that feeling in my stomach. This is absolutely the worse generation of gaming, ever. Too many things are changed and worked around and we have to just live with it.
Is it just me, or does Nintendo seem to be quite a good company these days?
Retailer Amazon has offered a partial refund to a European PS3 owner following his complaint about the removal of the console’s ‘Other OS’ feature. Firmware 3.21 infamously removed the ability to install other Operating Systems (such as Yellow Dog Linux) on the PlayStation 3. Though the feature was widely unused by the majority of PS3 gamers, many were angered by Sony’s audacity to remotely disable an original PS3 feature. One gamer has come up trumps, citing European law to earn a partial refund.
That’s a partial refund from Amazon without returning their PS3. Said gamer is NeoGAF Forum moderator Iapetus, who cited European law to argue that his original 60GB console, which was considerably out of warranty and Amazon’s 30-day guarantee, no longer operated as advertised. The online retailer’s policy was to offer a refund weighing in at approximately 20 per cent of the console’s original value. Amazon responds:
Said European law is Directive 1999/44/EC, which was accepted into European Parliament on 1 January 2002. Apart from requiring all European member states to alter their legislation to carry at least a two-year warranty on all new consumer goods (the UK’s Sale of Goods Act offers up to 6 years possible protection) the Directive also includes a stipulation relevant to Sony’s removal of the PS3’s Other OS. The two points read:
We are writing to confirm that we have processed your refund in the amount of £84.00 for your Order 666-5327564-4432412.
Item Refund: £71.49
Item Tax Refund: £12.51
This refund is for the following item(s):
Item: Sony PlayStation 3 Console (60GB Premium Version)
Quantity: 1
ASIN: B0007SV734
Reason for refund: Account adjustment
The following is the breakdown of your refund for this item:
The key statement is “which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase,” where Sony made it known at the time of purchase that you would be able to install an ‘Other OS.’ This was raised with Amazon, and their policy was to offer a partial refund whether that feature had been used by said consumer or not. It should be noted that in European law responsibility is placed on the retailer and not the manufacturer.
This cost will most likely be passed over to Sony and if such refunds get out of hand, Sony may have no other option than to reinstate ‘Other OS’ or instead take legal action to prove that they are not acting outside of the law. Sony’s argument may be that they are allowed to change the software side of their console, since it does not act as an alteration to hardware. Moreover, Sony may argue that they have given Other OS users an option to not update their console; though this is an option that will stop these gamers from going online or playing future PS3 games. Of course, there’s the simple fact that the PS3’s user agreement states:
anyone at sonys head-quarter should multiply the amount of refund with the number of sold fatunits in europe.
I do mot understand why is all of the people that want linux os is hyping it. why put linux on ur ps3 if you could use it on a pc desktop. that why they made pc so you could put os on them such a linux.
someone in the UK got a partial refund!
AHAHAHAHAHA that rocks.
This should be called the 3.21 *DOWNGRADE*
Way to go Sony…now people are returning your products…
Hope you’re happy.
The Universal Commercial Code (UCC) governs the sale of goods in the US, and a material alteration of the product voids the original sale. Sony, where should we send our consoles to be reimbursed for the original purchase price?
Very disappointed in SONY for this downgrade in functionality with out the addition of any features.
No Additional features = No Update
Absolutely horrible business sense at SONY to not even provide ONE additional features while eliminating another…Who were the brains behind this catastrophic move?
@JumboJap69
Yeah, Nintendo is awesome! I’m a proud Wii owner since launch.
Admit it, most of you don’t use the “Other OS” option on your PS3, do you? That’s ok, we don’t either, at least not regularly. Nevertheless, it’s irksome, nay, vexing that Sony had the audacity to pull it; that feature was part of the deal bargained when we purchased the unit after all. Forum moderator, “lapetus,” over at NeoGAF decided to take on the man by invoking European directive 1999/44/EC, a consumer protection law that requires goods to be “fit for the purpose which the consumer requires them and which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase.” That little tactic earned lapetus a refund of £84.00 from Amazon without physically returning the console even though his (?) PS3 was well out of warranty. Oh just you never mind that Sony’s user agreement claims the ability to revise settings and features without limitation to, “prevent access to unauthorized or pirated content, or use of unauthorized hardware or software in connection with the PS3 system.” In other words, request your refund before installing Geohot’s hacked 3.21 firmware.
@BOFO211988
According to InformationWeek, the Air Force has used the PS3 cluster to stitch multiple radar images into higher resolution composite images, video processing, and building computers with brain-like properties.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/usaf-ps3-playstation-cluster-cell,news-5177.html
200 PS3s Break VeriSign’s SSL
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Sony-PlayStation-PS3-VeriSign-SSL,news-3235.html
USAF PS3 order form
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=bac60f8808fa1e221597573901a7cd6b&tab=core&_cview=1
MULTI-THREADED DNA TAG/ANTI-TAG LIBRARY GENERATOR FOR MULTI-CORE PROCESSORS
http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA499723
It’s a low cost, high performance computing platform. People who use it for academic/scientific research, government/military work are losing features that they desire.
Say a student uses their Playstation as their primary desktop, media player, gaming platform and for research they’re basically making a choice on making it only a Linux box or using it for its online PSN services.
Sony took the more drastic route by removing a feature than patching holes.
I honestly don’t know what they’re worried about. What in the inner workings of the OS corresponds to them losing money on their media? I guess they could simply say “If you’re busy tinkering with the box and not playing our games & buying movies you’re not a customer we want.”
It’s fairly common knowledge that Sony sells the console at a loss of approx. $250 with expectations that users will buy games and media for it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Sales_and_production_costs
There are two sides to the coin and this is how Sony is handling it. There will be angry customers and people who don’t care. The folks at Yellow Dog Linux and PSUbuntu would say that they’ve spent thousands of hours working on continual development of their specialized distributions for the PS3 and that it’s a slap in the face to them. Yes, they could not update but what happens to the person that now stumbles upon their site and wants to try it out. Well, they’re screwed too.
http://psubuntu.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2926&sid=df0baff06fbe237f0947c3d30bdd8b1a
http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7266
Regardless, I don’t like that some day I’ll want the feature but be too late.
I could also see how it’s a pain in the rear for their developers to continually have to release new firmwares- as some platforms have to do- to remove homebrew type modifications. This may be the simplest, effective solution for one such avenue. It’s pretty harsh though considering what the feature is.
check this:
http://www.thinq.co.uk/news/2010/4/9/sony-says-sorry-for-other-os-take-down/
Just to add to the echo chamber here, I am severely disappointed with Sony for making this decision. The “Other OS” feature was one of the primary reasons I went with a PS3 over the XBOX 360. I’ve recommended Sony products to many of my friends in the past, but that will no longer happen. I’m also personally boycotting any future Sony product unless this feature returns in some form.
I saw in another website that there is another reason behind the removal of the OtherOS, it says that the 8th SPE is/was used for the OtherOS and sony had to remove to use the 8th SPE with PlayStation Move without sacrificing graphics and gameplay
NOOOOO why? Give me working web browser on PS3, nethack and vosub and i will be quiet then. :/
@KzeroL2
I don’t think that the 1 SPE that the ‘Other OS’ uses is needed for the move. The Wii has no problem with low-grade hardware. And to remove something to keep secret that the ‘Move’ needs it to work is just rumor. Plus PR wise, people can live with a choice of one over the other. If people have a choice, this is america where we want it all, some of us would by another system, one for linux and one for ‘Move’ and its a win for SONY.
EskoCruz
Still trying to comment.
@EskoCruz
forgot to say it was a rumor and btw if you want to check it out here’s the link h tt p://ez.mygames.pt/ps3/noticia/ps3-firmware-3-21-com-outro-proposito-12149/
@6740 arkrf21
That is just a rewording of the same reason they said they took the feature out in the first place. Not an apology at all. What kind of crappy website is thinq.co.uk. Still so.ny B.S.
weird, my comments are not showing up.
Thank you, sony, for being one of the many companies that believe customers don’t need rights. “Security risk” indeed. Are you afraid someones gonna hexdump your precious proprietary firmware? Those EVIL hackers gonna reverse engineer your DRM? I will be keeping my old firmware, AND my debian installation and possibly my immortal soul. you can keep your network, and your MMO’s, and your insidious lies. And all you little kids with your “Hackers are bad! yay sony!” need to crack a book. Without hackers, you wouldn’t even HAVE your precious smart phones, or your computers. You’re having the wool pulled over your eyes, companies throw around words like “security issues” because they know their products HAVE them and their afraid someone else will notice and exploit them, but removing an advertised feature (more like a freedom) is ridiculous. did you ever think maybe the open source crowd might be a market you could pull revenue from? free software is beautiful, and you’re making yourselves look silly to a niche which may grow larger than you expect. I actually thought you were one of the cooler evil corporations, but now I see you’re not. You can fool the fanboys, but don’t **** down my back and tell me it’s raining.
This really is the worst generation for gaming…ever. I started back on Coleco Vision & Atari 2600, and this time around has been very disappointing. I just don’t like where this is going anymore. Attaching game consoles to the internet was a big mistake, look at everything they are doing as a result. This is not only because they (tried to) remove the Other OS feature. After all these years and thousands and thousands of dollars later, this may just be the last generation where I will play games on consoles.
Well, now that this seems like it’s going to be challenged in the EU. Is there any possibility of a class action suit in the US? Terms of Services are often dealt with with class action suits, much like the click to agree to the terms was challenged in court. Even though the Playstation 3 was determined Linux compatible, it’s now not, sound much like the Step-Saver Data Systems, Inc. v. Wyse Technology case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Step-Saver_Data_Systems,_Inc._v._Wyse_Technology
Hate to say to it, but US lawyers are probably already drooling over some cash now.
Yet again, OtherOS *takes no system resources*, so removing it does NOT improve the PS3 experience, either now or in the future.
OtherOS was simply a switch that could be flipped to allow the PS3 to boot into something other than GameOS (XMB). It’s like Boot Camp on the Mac. It didn’t use an SPE, it didn’t run in the background (i.e., by itself the OtherOS feature didn’t pose a risk to running viruses, bots, etc, in the background), it was an on/off switch that’s now permanently set at OFF. Nothing more or less.
The disabled SPEs in PS3s won’t be re-enabled because they’ve been disabled to help chip yields. Sony was having trouble getting Cell CPUs with all 8 ‘cores’ working, so they changed the spec to only need 7, so they could ship the PS3 on time. If you suddenly enable the 8th SPE you’re going to have a buggy system.
They didn’t respond until someone got a partial refund. It’s all about the money for them huh. What I really hope is that there is a revolution that changes the agreements all these software companies put where they keeping saying they take no responsibility and ou have no rights.
Yeah! This is the last time I buy a PlayStation. Seriously. I bought it and it is mine! Don’t touch it. When someone asks me what system I prefer from Sony X Nintendo I will say: “If you wanna be safe, go for a Nintendo”
It is funny how something I bought and own is changed afterwards. What is next? Disabling watching Blu Ray movies because I live in some place Sony doesn’t like?
how come people are able to post links now?
I thought the moderation filter re.moved anything linky
BTW, I hope Sony knows where to put their (idea copied from Nintendo) Motion Controllers, because I won’t be buying any too.
I have owned all three ps and have never had a complaint. This is a low blow to consumers and I will not be updating until this is fixed. If it doesn’t get fixed then so long Sony. I’d rather spend the money on a 360 then give Sony another cent.
@rogeriototh
I probably wont get the motion controller either, becuase it only supports 2-player. Those kind of motion control games would be better on the Wii, where you can have 4 players.
This is a horrible move on Sony’s part, and punishes legitimate users of Linux. The PS3 has a miserable browser and online experience. The Other OS feature and Linux was its saving grace. I talked a number of people into purchasing PS3s based on this feature, some at the last minute as the slims replaced them. Removing this feature will not have a meaningful impact on piracy and will impact Sony’s honest customers. Do us all a favor, Sony, and give it back!!!
I’m not a Linux user, I used my PS3 basically just to play games. But I can understand the feelings of those of you that are having a feature you use taken away.
Here’s my problem with the update:
I “had” an 80 gig CECHK01 fatty. It froze during the update. The installation screen would get to 23% then I’d get error 8002F14E. I called SONY and the tech told me that since it was stuck in the installation process that putting in a new hard drive probably wouldn’t work. I swapped HDs and he was right, it went to the exact same screen with the exact same result. Tried to turn it on in “Safe” mode, it still goes back to the installation screen. So the software is in a loop somewhere in the RAM. So I’m out of luck.
You folks that have some sort of functions still happening could probably swap HDs and reinstall the 3.15 update, I hear it’s available if you know where to look.
And before anybody asks, I’ve had this PS3 for almost two years and have updated it 3 or 4 times in the past with NO problems at all, so I know what I’m doing.
I find it hilarious that Sony (in the article linked on the previous page) actually have the audacity to call this a firmware “upgrade”.
Upgrade of what??
I don’t want the Other OS option available so I can pirate anything. I have never pirated a game or modded any of my consoles. I’ve never installed custom firmware, I’ve never even bought a game used. I have bought every single game I have played new. I’ve never even sold a game back that would end up in the used bin.
But I spent a lot of time trying different distros and tweaking my installation so that it would work reasonably well. The Other OS option was partially responsible for my purschase. I even bought the Sony keyboard & mouse.
At this point, it doesn’t matter if they bring the option back or not. I don’t trust them enough to do business anymore in the future. They could do this at any time with any feature.