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)
My console is staying at 3.15. I’ve permanently disconnected it from the internet. No more multi-player games, and no more DLC. When games and movies start to require updates, then I will stop purchasing them. I will get rid of my PS 2.5 at this point. I will not buy another blu-ray player.
I am considered the technical person within my circle of friends an family. I will never recommend a sony product again and will do my best to convince others to find a different company to do business with.
I have also sent an email to all developers for games I have purchased recently (the ones still in business). I have told them that I dont’ plan on supporting any Sony platforms and have recommended to as many people that will listen that they do the same. I have suggested other platfroms where I would like to see them devote time to so that I can continue to support them.
Dear Sony,
You have made a lot of Linux/Cell developers unhappy.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Oh Noez! Mah Linux powered PS3 just went boom!, literally. My floor has a crater now.
@ATHF89
Awww, naaz. Whaz a letdaaawn. Hopz that deent hapn t meee. Iz bee most upset for arr crater in mah room!
wow almost 2 weeks of other OS removal
I love how you can “choose” not to install this update, but if you “choose” not to, you can never use your PS3 online EVER again. So companies using this feature, like they say in the topic they do, are screwed. Nice move morons.
test
@GrandNooblar
Just wait until they block the word ‘test’ !!!
Dear Sony:
Back in the 2002 when I bought a MiniDisc player (NetMD), I put up with ATrac3plus (DRM) and SonicStage because the sound quality was good. The market quietly marched on with MP3 while you resisted offering MP3 capability. In 2005, I bought (practically speaking) the last generation of portable MiniDisc Recorder (Model MZ-RH10), the one with organic LED (OLED)/Hi-MD. It is what I considered the pinnacle for portable Digital Music for audio quality, but the reason I mentioned it was it is also the generation that finally supported native MP3 on Hi-MD hardware — but too late to be a major market contender.
How does this relate to the PS3 and current firmware update? When Sony forces proprietary technology choice (or lack of open source options) on consumers, consumers balk and walk away — and these are your most ardent supporters.
Technology leadership alone is not enough. Support our Linux (open source) option! Do not become irrelevant in our eyes, please! I do not want to see a world without PS4. Innovate & cooperate, not discriminate.
just seeing if i can still post on other accounts
The Playstation3 is a fantastic machine Sony. I was an early adopter, and so being, have enjoyed it to the limit. I have listened with stunning clarity to Super Audio Cd’s, burned music to the upgraded hard drive at 352kps, bought and rented countless Blu Rays, played PS3, PS2, & PS1 games, charged my Hi-MD and cell phone through the usb ports, have all three memory card readers employed, surfed the web, partitioned for Linux, and Firefox, and bought games, tv shows, and movies through Playstation Network. Your customers use your robust equipment in many different combinations. Please do not take features away once purchased. Some customers are very loyal and want to be proud of their brand of choice. Please rethink your decision.
linux was the 2nd bigiest reason 4 gettin ps3. got about a $1000 in acc. iv owned over 10 ps systems NO MORE…
this is making me realy realy angry i bought the ps3 80GB for the other os featre!
why sony? now im selling my ps3
no more consoles for me im buying the acer aspire m7720
Okay, cool. I’ll take my $600 back and just head over to the Xbox 360. It has a better online network, a bigger game library, and most important, they don’t remove features that were advertised with the system.
I actually use Other OS for a better web experience on my PS3. What’s next? You’re going to remove the internet all together because it has an exploit in it? When I pay $600 for something, it’s mine, Sony. Not yours. Mine. You have no right to remove a legitimate feature because someone might hack the system. Now people will be installing Geohot’s custom firmware and you will be turning normal consumers into “devious” hackers.
Meanwhile I’ll be sticking with the Xbox 360 which doesn’t remove features, but adds them over its lifespan. I will also be recommending the Xbox 360 to all my friends. Quite frankly, it is a better system.
Wow. Closing in on 7000 posts (that are not taken down) and not a single Sony response.
I guess they really don’t want to have customers…..
My ps3 has not been online since before the release, and my router unplugged, as the ps3 is my only device that needs it. If other os isn’t restored I will install alternate ps3 firmware, When hackers develop it….
I will have a very hard time justifying Future Sony purchases when they not only betray the trust and devotion of loyal customers, but don’t even value them enough to respond to the outrage.
Sony deserves every legal action taken against them in respect to the removal of such a critical purchase feature.
I bought a ps3 that was advertised as “it only does everything”, not a glorified ps2, I still have a ps2, if I wanted to just play games and movies, I wouldn’t have wasted $600 on the first ps3 I bought, let alone buying a second to give to my brother….
slightly varied-but optimized-versions of the firmware.
The fact that our outrage, disgust, is being ignored, is proof that there is a need for a new leadership in the playstation leadership.
Sony should stop screwing around, restore lost features, and provide updates by version-ie fat, slim, future…
The problem isn’t from a other os, it is from Different hardware…. they redeveloped it so soon that it was bound to cause issues, especially with early tech mingling with updated tech, and different levels of features and hardware (with ps2 chips, chip, dropped ps2, different processors, etc…..)
I said it before in emails, stop screwing around, your “standard” ps3 isn’t really standard, stop lying, just deal with the fact that they require slightly different approaches, and provide
Sorry, my cell didn’t cut the last 4 lines of the first post for the end of the following post. They were too long to be a single post…
First off iv’e never used the otheros n think that u should just go buy a laptop if you want all the features it expanded,anyway i spoke to a ps3 tech they stated the webbrowser was secondary anyway n not a real part of the ps3 thought it was a stupid statement but guess they proved that with the update, the next update will be removeing the browsers all together eh.I would rather see more music capabilities with games n the ability to share or use music during chat room.
Hey guys, is my account back on now? Probably not, but I have been in contact with the attorneys who are filing a class action suit. I have not joined just yet, we are still going over details, but if you guys are legit, honestly screwed people here who are upset, google is your friend, and I will be back with more news in the next couple of days so. Sony is running out of time to compromise.
People wanting more info on the suit can follow me on twitter, I am using the same name as this post. I don’t normally use twitter, but I can use it to help point people in the right direction.
@ jawz101a Re: PS3 production costs and people buying games.
And they were right. I bought my PS3 6 months ago, and I have 6 games for it (only 2 of which are exclusives) as well as a couple of games from PSN. I also bought a couple of Blu-Ray movies, although I really don’t see what the big deal is there.
But now, Sony wants to take away my linux if I want to buy more games. So guess what? Not buying any more games. Or Blu-Ray movies. Or Sony products. And when people ask my husband which laptop/TV/Blu-ray player/whatever to buy (which people do fairly frequently), he will emphatically say NOT SONY. Because you never know if you will actually have all the features you paid for six months down the line.
is absurd and terrifying.
it is as if someone had entered my house and he kicked my PS3 !!!
sihT si a doog yaw ot diova .noitaredom
ןɯʇɥ˙ɹoʇɐɹǝuǝƃ-ʇxǝʇ-ǝsɹǝʌǝɹ/ɯoɔ˙sןooʇʇxǝʇʎɯ//:dʇʇɥ oʇ oƃ
:uoıʇɐɹǝpoɯ ʇsɐd ʇǝƃ oʇ ʇxǝʇ uʍopǝpısdn ǝɥʇ op ‘ʇǝʎ ɹǝʇʇǝq ɹo
@JumboJap69 WTH lol
SONY is getting very low on street-credits !!!
No more recommending Sony products, from my side.
Hey how about a compromise Sony? Give us Net Yaroze on PS3.
Why, why, why Sony have you turned your back on your LOYAL costomers?!? When the Playstation came out I was secptial, I. . lol didn’t want to convert from my Sega Saturn. To me sony was just a brand of tv or stereo “They don’t know about games”. But I played RE and that was all she wrote, I was hooked. Every since then it’s only been Sony, I mean tvs,dvd players,cd players, mp3 players,laptops, and yes video games and systems. In my circle I’m the “tech guy” and I always boast about how playstaion is better than Xbox, and have been since the launch of Xbox. It saddens me to think I was wrong all these years. I’m now going to recommend Xbox for gaming and NOT SONY for everything else. Btw I posted this on my Toshiba laptop *I wish you could see me flipping you the bird*
” 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.”
Please don’t make me laugh, the only thing that this step ensures is that you won’t loose money if hackers are successfull in accessing the hypervisor and thus allowing playing of copied games.
Don’t try to make it look like you care about something else than money. Cause you don’t.
I have been with you since PS1. But now, with this kind of approach, you made me so mad that I will consider to buy other products from you.
You literarly put a knife on PS3 owners necks with options to either loose OtherOS and remain Online or loose Online capability and keep OtherOS.
I know that Firmware is your property, but it doesn’t give you rights to remove important system features that we payed for.
What will you do if someone finds a vulnerability similar to the Tiff exploit on PSP ?
Will you also remove the feature to view pictures on the PS3 ??
This way you could remove all features and the PS3 would remain just a piece of metal and shiny plastic.
Think about it SONY !!!
Nice apology by Sony. They’re really sorry they’ve stuffed people around, but they have the right, so they’re doing it anyway.
Ummm, maybe I’m missing the point of an apology. Surely if they were truly sorry, they would reverse the change. Anything less is a false apology. Surely they realise that removing the feature will do nothing to stop PS3 piracy. Can they really know so little? The mind boggles.
Like other here, I assumed this was an April Fool’s joke. Guess the joke’s on us.
What’s next, disabling PS2 backwards compatibility? We avoided Microsoft just to avoid this sort of “we control you” mentality.
I am a Linux developer. I *like* OtherOS. I like being able to boot up Linux in my living room. It is COOL.
So:
no more DLC
no more movie rentals
no more demos
no more on-line multiplayer
no more game fixes/patches
no more downloadable Gamestop extras
I just canceled PSN email updates. I don’t even want to hear about the stuff I won’t be able to get any more.
Sony: don’t even talk to me again until you have an update that restores OtherOS.
@ DaKh
Well, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who came to the same conclusion. Saying you’re “Sorry” doesn’t mean that you are, or that you give a damn. Like my old high school English teacher used to say, “Don’t be sorry, just don’t do it.”
Sorry means you are apologetic, that you have some sort of remorse, which from the lack of an official response here shows that they are clearly not.
I’m amused at the official update page where under NOTICES it states:
This system software update includes all features contained in previous versions.
then under SETTINGS states:
The [Install Other OS] and [Default System] features have been deleted.
WTF MAN!!! i dont use the other os but it also says iif we update we cant sign into our psn accounts and use anything that needs that! VERY dissapointed sony, and i cant realy get too mad cause my ps3 was stolen about a week ago, it was a 40gb but i am getting a ps3 slim this comming week…
SONY I PRAY THAT THIS IS A JOKE!!
I have unsubscribed from all Sony mailing lists since I have no plans to purchase anything anymore.
I was really looking forward to the Grand Theft Auto update. O riginally beat Grand Theft Auto 4 on the PS3. I will NOT be purchasing these updates. Instaed, I plan on purchasing the Game s For Windows version. Just think, if I had bought an XBOX 360, which I wish I did now, I would have already played them a year ago.
Anyone knows if there is any hash-tag at Twitter that we can use to make this issue a trending topic?
What if we use #SonyNeverAgain
its not a big deal, just buy a computer the has a cell in it. then install linux
wait for update 3.30 i bet it will be awesome
People really bought a PS3 for Other OS…not the games…OK. Cool.
Enjoy your 360’s with a 50% fail rate and online system that is exactly the same but with a price tag.
I’m sticking to the system with MAG and GoD3. Linux got nothin on Kratos. Idiots, the lot of you.
I just Have to ask, how many of you are programmers? perhaps the hole they discovered CAN’T be corrected with the other OS feature. Perhaps the consider protecting the 95-99% of people who don’t use the feature more important than the 1-5% that do. I think there might have been a better way, but remember majority rules.
I use otheros (ubuntu) for web browsing. I had originally hoped to watch hulu on it, but I didn’t realize flash for ppc wasn’t there yet. Solved the hulu problem with playon (which rocks btw).
I still like otheros for web surfing and other random things I need a computer for but want to do it on my tv. I’m rather upset with this update, and won’t be updating or buying sony again unless they can really turn things around. They are totally screwing the people who bought the ps3 because of features besides gaming.
Next time, I won’t try to cheap my way out of building a real htpc.
The only thing that may make me upgrade is if sony does a nongaming app store that noone can find a work around for.
awaiting moderation lol
how can this: This system software update includes all features contained in previous versions.
The new system soft.ware will preserve any settings previously made to the Play.Station 3.
Depending on the software title, you may not be able to play without first updating the PS.3 system software. be accurate if this: The [Install Other OS] and [Default System] features have been deleted. is the ca.se
seems like a complete and total contradiction
it dont matter so you people just enjoy linux ? you own no games? thats how you all sound. just buy a computer problem solved
@ kithrin: Whatever the hackers are doing, they are doing to their own playstations, not to other people’s.
@ dr_DOOM69: We enjoy Linux AND play games. Therein lies the problem. And I already bought a device that worked as a computer and a game console.
Is Sony going to tell me which OSs I’m allowed to install on my VAIO next?
I hope after this update they put it back again. I use it on the ps3 all the time, without this feature there is nothing that great about ps3 and I hate how PSN takes up 70% of the internet!!
@AlnilamE whats to stop them from uploading a virus to PSN that infects anyone on the network?