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)
play station is what made me buy 2 sony tv and a BD player and a boombox and a CD player
@jimmy903
Just shut it up, please. This is not about protecting our identity at all. This is about an earned and paid feature on the first generation of PS3 that is now about to be removed for no know reason other than security speculation.
and second gen.
i would really hate to see sony make a mistake that could tank them i personaly think the playstation is way better than xbox. so as a person in the middle……. why sony ? why are you willing to “betray” the people who got the ps3 and run with you why must this happion get geohotz to help you make the ps3 a safe better system there other ways to fix the problem. this not only gonna effect north america but the world ps3 users. dont make this issue pop up on the share blog. then your backs will be against the wall. listen to the community or dont listen to community…… THAT IS THE QUESTION!!!!!
Because there are too many comments to double-check if anyone’s asked, and becaue there are no replies anyway, I’d like to know:
Will the update automatically reclaim the Linux partition for the PS3, or will there be a more labor intensive method of getting that space back?
Wow…still lots of hate on the Blog here.
But you people should be voting on Blog Share…because your hate isn’t being reflected there.
All searched items by the word Linux are down voted for now.
Remember, Sony said they’ll listen to Blog share…so not sure why people posting here won’t vote over there.
I don’t know about you guys but Sony died for me last night.
The more I read comments and without see a response from Sony yet makes me realize the lack of commitment this company has with their customers.
I’m about to complete my savings to buy an other HD TV, It wont be a Sony, nor my sound equipment or what ever else.
I paid hard earn money to buy a PS3, I just want it to work as advertised.
******* We need to get more people involved, talk to your PSN friends, fight for your rights! ********
@1898 Disable USB ports has already been done….ooops I mean they removed 2 of them. They also removed the multimedia ports. Linux. Backwards Compatibility. Remove. Remove. Remove. How about…adding Wireless ‘N’ support. Add. Add. Add.
If you dare remove:
A) 5 accounts per id
B) Free online or remove anything from the current online
I realize that piracy is an issue, but 90% of the stuff that you have taken away has nothing to do with piracy, but everything to do with the almighty dollar.
I’m very disappointed in you Sony…your fans, users, clients deserve better.
Is this a joke? An April Fools prank? I hope so, because the OtherOS option was a key feature for the consoles, and less than a month ago we were assured by SCE that OtherOS would *not* be removed from future firmware releases.
Furthermore, this update adds NOTHING to the PS3, in fact it seems to only disable OtherOS, but disguised as an “update”. I use my PS3 to play and to develop stuff for the CellBE, and I’m being told that I can either play *or* preserve Linux. Don’t try to fool me, you know the PS3 is useless without current firmware. Come on!
1917
Yeah, the guy did hack the system, and it does open up those things, but the meaningful potential for piracy is still pretty limited. The effort to take full advantage of his exploit is pretty intensive. Only a very small subset of the PS3 Linux users, themselves a relative minority of the overall PS3 user base would actually make an effort to use the exploit.
unless the sony can replace some of linux’s features like openoffice, a desktop look, java for runescape, dvd burner, firefox, and etc. I will not update
“So we’re getting cross game voice chat? Oh that’s right, Sony never gives us what we really want.”
If this is true, we would have never got the In-Game XMB, to give an example.
The problem is just people that like to cry and moan non-stop in the blog comments. Still today I read people crying because PSN doesn’t get updated whenever they want. They should be glad, annoying whiners like them don’t even deserve the update.
If you want something, please, do the world a favor, and submit the idea in Blog Share, and stop spamming, kthnx.
ITS POSTED ON BLOG SHARE VOTE YES THEY ARE NEGITIVES LET IT BE HEARD ON BLOG SHARE!!!!!!
Hey Sony, care to give a reply?
Is this about piracy or something else?
Is this an april fools joke?
Many people are against the idea of removing the Other OS feature, is there any chance that you will change your mind?
Say something damnit.
And I think this is just an April’s Fool joke just like some others do (I mean, look at release date). If it is, there will be a lot of laughs to be had (Whiners LOL). They will also turn the cards, and change GeoHot from being “THE PS3 HAKKA”, to being an attention-[DELETED] [DELETED], which will be funny, too.
If it’s not a joke, well, I have a slim, and none of those I know that have a phat don’t even know about the OtherOS thing, so meh, but still, pretty lame.
I’m gonna start playing on my PC more
I don’t use the feature. That being said, it would be nice for just one Sony rep to reply to anything here.
Come on Sony.
This is on the blogshare! If you don’t want this removed vote yes!
Vote yes for it!
https://share.blog.us.playstation.com/ideas/2010/03/29/dont-remove-ability-of-other-os-in-future-update/#comment-24506
As a poor college student, I bought a used PS2 years ago when a friend of mine showed me a little game called Grand Theft Auto III.
I had my old “fat” PS2 for a very long time, and enjoyed many many games. Two games that I loved most being God of War and God of War II.
A large part of my decision to purchase Sony this generation was made in anticipation of the inevitable God of War III.
I guess I would have to say I’m a Sony “fan.” And I hope for all of us, this console continues to deliver fantastic content and great gaming.
However, the amount of negativity and bad press for Sony and this console are growing too much. I worry that the PlayStation 3 may not enjoy the same longevity as its predecessor.
@ Kaizoku-Sukai, yeah people paid $400-$600 for the old model just to get expected features removed in the future, right?
They’ve effectively turned the “Fats” into Slims. I bought a Slim and didn’t expect Linux, but I’d be really unhappy if I’d paid the premium for the older ones right now. They’ve rewarded new buyers with lower prices, but screwed the old ones who paid more. This is a big “you suckers” for all those who went ahead and paid more, from Sony. Thanks for the sentiment Sony.
If this is a joke then it is both in poor taste and a serious lack of professionalism, especially given the level of software engineering that has been displayed thus far. Of all the things to rush on. Just when is the web browser going to work in any maner that the average user would find acceptable? When will the system stop freezing and crashing when preforming rudimentary tasks? Instead of joking around, how about getting some work done?
Actually you know what I sick of all this. GO GEOHOT! JAILBREAK THE PS3, THEN WE CAN SUPPORT OURSELVES AND EACH OTHER INSTEAD OF BEING CONTINUALLY SUJECTED TO THIS FARCE.
I agree with all the people that think this update is a bad move by Sony. Even so a lot of the people don’t use this it just feels that Sony goes backwards. First they stopped making Backward Capable PS3’s now this stuff. Now they are going after Wii success just wrong thinking if you ask me. Just improve whatever you got already and don’t run around removing stuff. What is your next step making us pay for Online service? Think twice before you do that. I will sell my PS3’s and go for xbox if that happens.
I sure hope this is a joke. As one of the few that actually makes good use this feature regularly, I would be greatly disappointed and will forgo updating if this is the case. Recognized as a dual core 3.2Ghz machine, it is plenty powerful enough to do all work I need and not take up extra space & also spending extra money for a dedicated Linux box. I’ve learned much of what I know about Linux because of my PS3. I’ve learned to package RPMs for Fedora based variants because of Yellowdog on my PS3. Running Apache, I have a development web server to test my php code on. And when I’m done with work, I reboot and enjoy a movie or a game. I guess you can say “it *used* to do everything”.
Sony should provide a proper fix instead of removing this feature completely…
Sad response Sony, surely there is something else you can do. Guess I will get my multiplatform games on my PC from now on.
Last Chance for Lance Vance.
It’s to keep pirated software from being played online. What’s bad about that?
One of the main selling points of the PS3 system was the ability to install a “real” computer OS.
I loaded the Yellow Dog Linux version as soon as I set up the system and used it only for the ability to use an Internet browser. The PS3 browser has been very bad since day one and no real effort has been made to improve it.
Taking away this feature has convinced me that Sony as a corporation is not interested in serving it’s customer base. I am very disappointed and upset that you have gone out of your way to remove a major feature of your product.
I will repay this slight by significantly reducing the money I spend on products from your company in the future.
Not like you care….
Hot off the press Geohot appologies community
Source:
http://www.qj.net/qjnet/playstation-3/geohot-dont-update-when-ps3-firmware-v321-comes-out.html
I feel the ability to install a linux OS was one of the things that made it unique form other consoles. The ps3 is the only console that is not hacked. Do not understand why the extreme measures to prevent something that is not even happening.
Sony has reached Apple level of douchiness when it comes to treating their paying customers like crap.
So you are going to mess up those who were properly using Linux and also stopping the various governments who buy the PS3’s to create a supercomputer? BTW if you daisy-chain eight PS3’s together you get more processing power than most supercomputers.
I bought the PS3 at full price (in Canada, that was 799$, throw in another game and a 2nd joystick and the sales tax and thats 1000 dollars). One of the main selling points was that it did more than other
platforms.
Actually, one of our clients has bought over 40 PS3 that our engineers put together for them to get maximum processing power.
Preventing hackers is NOT an acceptable excuse. We are always told taht garbage and its always the people who pay that have to dance and jump through all kidns of hoops. I have paid for games that were so annoying to use for paying customers that it was easier for me to DL a hacked version to play even though I have the original game.
When piracy is easier that the legal routes you WILL ALWAYS have piracy.
Instaed of talkin about all this other BS PSN needs to make an update that will allow PS3 owners to play games and listen to music at the same time.This is where Xbox 360’s beat PS3’s.
It just hit me. Maybe they confirmed that PS3 has been hacked so they rushing to remove this option to prevent mass pirating on console. Still they should come out and tell us wassup!!!!
If u Have Modern Warfare 2 add me so i can merk your anus.
( Jay-London2 )
Other OS is being removed because of security reasons, we dont want to see the PS3 turn out to be like the PSP with no one supporting it
I don’t have anything to add that hasn’t already been said in this 2000-message thread. But remaining silent is not an option — because, frankly, this is infuriating.
I originally bought an Xbox360 and found that, by then, the ability to install Linux had been removed via a patch. So a few days later I actually returned the system and replaced it with a PS3 (this was at the biggest electronics retail chain in the US and one of the members of their technical support team was so surprised that he actually asked what my reasoning was — as back then the PS3 still stood in the shadow of the 360).
Suffice it to say, I will probably be among those choosing not to upgrade, using this now unsupported console (which I spent $600 on) until it becomes entirely useless because too many games/movies require a firmware update, and subsequently marking this disappointing chapter as a future reminder of why I can no longer consider Sony to be a serious manufacturer in the consumer electronics market — one that actually stands behind their products and appreciates their long-term customers who — let’s not forget — were principally involved in shaping the future success of their platform.
(continued)
I dont use the feature but its sad to see that theres nothing new in the update.
And to those of you who have been berating/belittling the people that are voicing their frustration, let me just say this: a company that does something like this and gets away with it will have no compunction in doing this again at a future point — and that, quite possibly, just one of those times the feature being removed may be one that you care a good deal about.
So what’s next? Some finds a hack in a PS3 game(Which is going to happen, It’s going to get hacked eventually your just delaying the inevitable) and your going to take away are ability to play games? This sounds just like Sony. To lazy to address an issue with their console, so they just remove features altogether. All I got to say is you better bring this feature back once the PS3 gets hacked, and it will.
Hope this is just April fools joke!
This reminds me of DRM so much, does nothing to stop piracy, and only ends up hurting legitimate users.
Pointless and stupid.
PS3 – It used to only do everything.
I bought a PS3 with “other OS” as an option!!! I paid for Yellowdog for the PS3, so now you’re making my purchase of PS3 less valuable, plus totally wasting my YellowDog purchase? Class Action lawsuit yes!
I OWN MY PS3! How can Sony do this? Seriously could you imagine that after you buy a car & install a nitro kid, neon lights, your own sound system, etc – because you OWN the CAR you are free to customize your OWN property right! Then next time you go get your car inspected the mechanic says “Hey Toyota said we must update your model, you can keep your custom options & your car will still run & you can listen to your sound system, but we will disable the gearshift – you can’t shift to drive or reverse! If you wish to drive the car you must allow us to remove all your customer stuff!!!!
WTF??????? WTF WTF WTF??? I can see a PS3 non-official website doing this as a April Fools joke, but the official company – not good policy making your customer angry!!!
Should’ve added this to my last post, Sony’s HQ address for any complaints or nasty letters you care to send (this hasn’t been repeated in a while; cut and pasted from my AG complaint)
Company Name: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Company Address Line: 919 East Hillsdale Boulevard
Company Address Line 2:
Company City: Foster City
Company State: CA
Company Zip: 94404
Company Zip4: 4249
Company Area Code: 650
Company Phone Number: 6558000
Wait, so i will UPDATE my system to REMOVE a feature?!
Whats next? The blue ray player, the controller blue-tooth, WiFi?!
Seriously, this is ridiculous, i just hope it is a april fools.
I seriously hope someone gets to suing Sony for this crap but Im not surprised. Sony is after all the company that thought that installing root kits on people computers when they listen to a music CD is a good idea. THere again, the paying customer is treated like a criminal while the copiers (Im not as stringent as some people since I spent most of my youth taping the top 40 countdowns every week)
To hell with Sony and the corporate liars like Seybold who feed us crap and want us to believe its ice cream.
Crap tastes like crap. Nothing you do will change what it is and the communique above smells like well rotted manure.
While I’m not really affected for this move made by SONY. I’ve to say that SONY is really handling this pretty badly, if they even care about their customer they would provide more information as to why this feature is being removed and not just a vague “security reasons”.
Even that I think people is really making more fuzz about it that what actually it is, as probably just a small customer base really used this feature, however we can’t ignore the fact that a firmware update just to remove something and not add any other feature is pretty weak from SONY’s part.
It’s ok, I won’t update – I’ll stop buying blu-ray movies and games, instead I’ll switch to playing blu-ray rips and PC games.
This is depressing. There is no security risk from the hack, it requires some rather delicate hardware modification, and more expensive equipment than saving money by pirating would ever make up for. Plus, the guy who developed the hack has purged all data related to it, so it’s not like it’s publicly available.
I think people forget just how useful the PS3 really is. It’s not a PC, and it really kind of sucks if that’s how you want to use it. However, with OtherOS, it’s great as a CBE dev platform, as a full-featured media center, or even simply as an architectural sample for introductory learning of Linux or other similar OS’s. The OtherOS support was the deciding factor in me paying the $600 for the unit. Without it, it’s just a gaming console, and not worth the price. Being able to use Linux to bypass all of the limitations the game OS has as a media center has been great. Under Linux on PS3, I get full HD video and audio, supporting any file format I could dream of. I can access NFS and SMB shares, stream HD video with subtitles in MKV’s with any mix of video and audio codecs I like. The media player functionality in the game OS simply fails to play 90% of my media. Without OtherOS, my PS3 is unusable as a media center.