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)
in the other hand, i think you should thank to the Iphone hacker, for the PS3 mod he did, this causin panic at sony, so…maybe there will be a few of new “firmware downgrades”
YOU CAN’T SUE THEM
Read the TOS, they have the right to do it
@ Ramokk
You still have that CORE functionality, don’t update!
I’m sure there will be a new legal clause you have to agree before getting the new 3.21 update. Don’t agree to the next 3.21 update, if you agree you’re accepting the new changes thereby no legal action on your part is deemed worthy
WTF? I really hope there is more to this update then to disable a feature I never used. What about the addition of a Netflix Icon? The now very tired complaint of cross game chat?……not that I want or need the chat feature. Will this enable playback of 3D content? Please have something of use.
This update is total crap.
This better be an April fools joke or PS3 is done. Instead of buying GOW3 next month I’m buying an Xbox 360. It’s time to vote with my wallet since Sony is so unbelievably behind in software and this proves they have done NOTHING about it.
Control over what? Omg Sony’s becoming BIG BROTHER ITS BULL$HIT And if they think this will work No Sony! Its just going to make the hacker’s more aware of what your up to!..Where is CROSS GAME CHAT & MORE SUPPORT FOR IN GAME MUSIC & A BETTER FRIENDS & BAN LIST!..WAKE UP & SMELL THE COFFEE!!!
This is suppose to be supported with PS3 soon or are they gonna making another false promise & make an excuse why it’s not coming to PS3!
http://unity3d.com/company/news/unity-unveils-3rd-generation-platform-press.html
Oh, wonderful. The ability to install Linux is what made me pay the extra and opt for the PS3 instead of an XBOX 360.
I have mine set up with YDL, which I use for web browsing, media playing, and some coding (via ssh from my study). My wife sometimes offloads her stats calculations to it to free up resources on her main computer, as the Cell is pretty good for that sort of thing.
I was even thinking of buying a second (slim) PS3 to use in the lounge, so I could move my fat PS3 into my study. The plan was to use it as a dual boot games console and ssh/Xorg terminal.
Oh well, it looks like I can scrub that idea. I suppose I’d better back my stuff up and reformat the drive to free up the extra 10GB of space.
Thanks, Sony. Thanks a lot.
Here is why Sony is Scared…
Read the Text in Red in the image that pops up on the post.
http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/
You got em’ GEO
SONY FTW!
Congratulations, Sony, on being the first ever company to release a firmware “downdate”. Are you next going to take away support for dualshock 3 controllers so that everyone has to use Move? This is pretty terrible.
Here’s a product idea that’d never fly but that I want anyway: Since PS3’s don’t have Backwards Compatibility anymore, release a “PS2HD” that does the upscaling and whatnot that the PS3 did for PS2 games, but is, itself, a PS2. I’d buy one for $150.
Sweet…my last post is awaiting Moderation..
GET OVER IT GUYS!
WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO $599 FOR THE 60 GIG YEAH!.. ^ SCEA.. THERE SLACKING OFF & THEY CERTAINLY DON’T CARE WHAT WE WANT THIS WILL FAIL YOU SONY!.. 360 HAS MORE FEATURES THEN PS3!..STOP TALKING ABOUT^ILDO CONTROLLERS MOVE WILL FAIL YOU DAMN COPY CATS!..AND 3D HD WHAT A DAMN JOKE! I RATHER HAVE WHAT I SAID A MILLION TIMES! IN GAME MUSIC WITH CROSS GAME CHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@1066
That post really makes no sense. While I see that you are upset and are actually using the feature, the 360 never had the feature and still doesn’t have the epic games, BD support, 3D support etc. etc. Also, if you are so ready to dump the PS3 in the basement and not play the good games, it sounds like you don’t care for those epic games too much. I am in agreement that Sony should just leave the feature alone, but I would never stop playing my PS3 and switch to a 360. Great games vs. no games is a deal breaker for me, not to mention the controller difference.
NO!..This is War just like the CD 30 Second’s To Mars!..
But I like running Linux on my PS3… That was one of the reasons I purchased it. Hell, I run Linux on everything I can, even my DS. Can I just NOT install the update? Is there an online petition I can sign to tell them to give it back?
Should this be a sad April Fools joke, fine. “Ha, ha.. you got us.” If not keep reading.
Sweet! I just saved $600+… on the PS4. It’s kinda like buying a sedan only to get a recall notice and have 2 doors removed. Sure, most people don’t sit in the back seat of their sedan, but that doesn’t mean they want two doors removed. As for the “no one uses it except hackers” crowd… just because you’re too dim to use it doesn’t mean everyone is.
This seems more like a lazy solution instead of actually trying to fix the root problem.
This better be April fools joke…
I just bought 500GB HDD and was getting ready to UPGRADE my PS3 so I can use Linux on my big screen TV…. And this feature was one of the reasons I bought the first PS3’s that came out…
There’s more coming out for the 360 Versus PS3..An example would have to be the new Maps for Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 The Stimu Package..etc..Boring making us wait till hell freeze’s over etc..
Has someone mentioned anything about April Fool’s day?
/sarcasm
Its not Sony wants to piss of its user base!…PS3 will fail in 2010..All thank to the CEO of Sony!
There’s a 500 comment thread on Slashdot.org over this issue (http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/03/29/0227251/Install-Other-OS-Feature-Removed-From-the-PS3).
Here’s one of the comments posted by a person there who won a class action lawsuit against Electronic Arts/Spore:
“By the way, for those of you wanting to join me in the class-action I’m gong to form – just look up Finkelstein and Thompson if you’re in the state of CA – they helped me out with Spore and they’ll most certainly come in handy for this nonsense NOW.
100 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94104-3954
(415) 398-8700
Ask for Mr. Punzalan.”
I have pumped out tons of cash on PlayStation network cards for quite some time now towards PlayStation network games,PlayStation classics,down loadable content etc..on the PlayStation store & on home & bought a lot of their exclusives at launch & this is the thanks i get from Sony you disgust me Sony!
what happened to this? “Today Sony’s Satoshi Hashimoto, in an interview with Impress Watch, confirmed that Sony will not be removing the OtherOS and Linux functionality in old (non-Slim) PlayStation 3 consoles.
Until now, many feared Sony would remove the functionality from older PS3 systems via PS3 Firmware 3.0 or a future update.
Additionally, he stated that there isn’t an issue with the feature leaving a security hole with the system.
To quote Andriasang.com (linked above): “Rest assured, this will not happen. Sony’s Satoshi Hashimoto, in an interview with Impress Watch, said that Sony will not be removing the feature, which he refers to as “Other OS functionality.”
Read more: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Linux/ps3-otheros-linux-to-remain-in-old-ps3s-no-security-hole/#ixzz0jaIHUl0R”
They blatantly lied to us? That just makes it worse. Take something away, sure that’s bad enough. But don’t lie to us about not doing it then do it anyway…
There’s a 500 comment thread on Slashdot.org over this issue.
Here’s one of the comments posted by a person there who won a class action lawsuit against Electronic Arts/Spore:
“By the way, for those of you wanting to join me in the class-action I’m gong to form – just look up Finkelstein and Thompson if you’re in the state of CA – they helped me out with Spore and they’ll most certainly come in handy for this nonsense NOW.
100 Bush Street
San Francisco, CA 94104-3954
(415) 398-8700
Ask for Mr. Punzalan.”
(reposted with hyperlink removed)
As much as I think this is a horrible move by Sony (absolutely horrible), I am enjoying these comments.
So are Blu Rays going to be clearly labeled that they will or will not work on v3.15? As someone who is not going to upgrade, it is confusing to me how I will know which BluRays to avoid. I guess piracy is the solution to that… if I just pirate bluray from now on I don’t have to worry about it not working on the ps3
And here’s another useful comment posted by someone on slashdot.
“Small claims court is a great thing, and will quite often let you recover the full value of damages rather than getting a coupon or some similar crap from a class-action suit. File for the full value of the thing, claiming that whether you accept the update or don’t, irreparable damage will be done to functions you purchased the system to perform. Quite often, they won’t even bother to show up and will just quietly pay off what you win. I’d strongly encourage you to look into the small-claims rules in your jurisdiction, and you can also find some basic information”
Hahaha…look at all the hackers and all their hacker friends making fools of themselves here…hilarious. 99% of you guys here an an insult to humanity.
12
@LETHARGIC474 same here Bro LOL especially skydropper’s and SNAKE-EYES73
*are an insult to humanity, just in case one of you misunderstood my dis.
12
Don’t even try to blame Sony for this. It’s the hackers and cheaters as to why they removed other OS.
Cheats and thieves are why EVERYTHING costs more.
Wanna have less restrictions and cheaper products?? Then do something about it. blaming Sony is just ignorant and flat WRONG.
and a link to small claims court information: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/small-claims-court/
This is something Sony will definitely be better off with as generations get more tech-savvy. BUT, I am screwed by this update. I bought the original 60GB PS3 for many of it’s incredible features and one of those was the OS installation. I am definitely pissed but this business…
@ 1085
I was saying, that im playing the ps3 so long, until newer games are only playable with 3.21, if I dont update to 3.21. The good games, like I told, I’ve already played or will play it in some days, like gow 3. But after that games, later nothing is possible, because the newer games want 3.21. Than I have no other choice, than the xbox. Because it gives me the possability to play newer games, that will not work on my 3.15 FW PS3… Than i’ll throw it awa into the basement.
greetings
ok so i called sony and this is for real this is not a april fool’s joke.
This is sucks … big time.
But it’s in our hands… we should all not update to 3.2.1. Sony will see, that they will not get away with taking features away!
Curious how this is playing on the Sony (SNE) stock ticker. Up a about a quarter point this morning (‘Sony geeks angry at linux fail’ — Google finance). Now the stock is falling back to where it was last week. So it would seem the market is not bothered by this or considers this a good move for the company.
This is real crap Sony. Can’t wait to sign up for the class action lawsuit. I’m sure a lawyer will have a field day with this one.
“An example would have to be the new maps for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2”
That particular line made me LOL
Any Body whose angry should leave a message on GeoHot’s Blog. I just did. He is the main reason for OtherOS Removal
http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/
So many selfish little kids here, “it doesn’t affect me so YOU shouldn’t complain” – what the hell??? Even if you DON’T use this feature, to apathetically accept that you don’t own anything anymore and are just renting (but you better behave!!! or else we’ll take it away from you!) everything (games, movies, and now even consoles and players) should disturb you. Why doesn’t it? How do you feel? SONY owns your PS3, not you, and can gimp it anytime they choose? Well I don’t accept that philosophy, and will be exploring my options in small claims court – I urge you to do the same. I would have never bought a PS3 if it were clear that SONY would remove features whenever they want, without any recourse for me
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/faqEditorial-29071.html;jsessionid=D722B95AD39387D58A6ECECD02FF46FD.jvm1
Ignore the ignorant who claim that a TOS or EULA can override your legal rights
Like I said in my 3rd post here. They scream about how great MAC is for cheating customers out of better software features, locked OS’s, cheap graphics because they won’t let Nvidia fix them, and then scream bloody murder when Sony removes a feature thats not even in the newest model PS3s.
These are only hackers who post whining crap, about lawsuits, and junk. You agreed to the terms of service and they have full rights under that agreement to remove or add features at will without notice.
LAW is the LAW, and the PS3 and Sony has every right to stop cheating at it’s source.
@1101, the wii and 360 are rife with pirated games and have been since the beginning. To date the PS3 has a massive zero pirated games, and there are no cheater via the system itself. Why then are PS3 games the same price or dearer than the same title on the other consoles?
Am I the only one who doesn’t care that this is being removed? Its not like you can get 3D acceleration with the RSX anyway…so….wouldn’t a tried and true PEE-CEE be the better option for running linux anyway?
I want to let Sony know that you have lost my business because of this new restriction. Security concerns are not enough for you to blame your migration away from more open devices.
Until Sony decides that customer preferences are more important than corporate profits, I will not be a customer from this day on.
Bring back what little open source you had allowed.
Angry former customer…
WTF Sony. This better be a April fools joke or there had better be a better option offered in the new firmware. Maybe the ability to launch the other os from the xmb? Sounds like this update was made by paranoid lawyers and they are dictating this move. Seriously have hackers even done anything useful with the hacks out there. This also only affects the ps3’s you can’t buy anymore so is it really a security issue? Is there no way to increase security without removing this feature? This update is only going to make hackers more motivated and cause people to give up PSN. What’s going to happen to my 10Gig partition?
Because bloated HB fan boys believe all the hype about PS3 is god, and crap whine when they change the logo, and packaging then whine again when Sony removes a PS3 feature that’s only in first, second and third run PS3s……
It makes me wonder who runs the HB crowed, they act more the tea party protesters then the real Sony crowed dose. In fact just last night I was in a game with a man raving about how the Government is going to use PS3s to take over you house, life and what you eat.
These people upset by this are just plain nuts to start with. Go out side play with real people as I do! It’s way more fun, and you get to work off some of that winter fat while your at it!