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)
I filed with both the FTC, and the New York BBB.
I will also be submitting all documents and info I have gathered to a Class Action Lawsuit which should start on Friday Morning after this update takes place.
They could enable some sort of check before PS3 goes online to look for any iso loaders, altered parts of firmware, or other programs. And yes, I am all to aware of how things work, I am not as young as I once was my friend. They already do keep track of the PS3 when its online, so if the punishment is to not let me get online onto PSN, then they could halt this decision, have most people who don’t care update their PS3, make the update optional not mandatory, and start having PSN check for modified firmwares, modified save games for cheats etc. If this ends up being an end user hack or coming much closer than it is, I can see more of a response. But we do not know whether what he is doing will yield results or not. Noone I know wants to rip apart expensive PS3, solder their units, download huge files, burn them to blu-rays. All the other consoles are hacked, but modchips and hardware mods that can break an expensive piece of technology are used by very few people, and nobody I know. PSP was different, it shipped in Japan unsecured. PS3 is different, or so we were told. And yes I will be filing with FTC and other organizations once the firmware is released, but I won’t be updating.
@thiim82
Good post. So basically Sony are allowed to add new settings and features, and revise settings and features. There’s nothing there which mentions removal of features. I’m sure that “revise” and “remove” are not synonymous. Interesting. So basically Sony are contravening their own download agreement.
This is, of course, without even looking into consumer laws which would override any agreement anyway.
So, if Sony remove the Other OS feature, they’re doing so illegally. Not unless someone else can come up with another clause that covers their ass.
Linux install was one of the reasons the PS3 was superior to the other console alternatives out there and was a non-trivial contributor to its price justification. As it helps maintain the hardware’s resale value (for use in budget compute clusters at universities for example), it increases the probability of owners upgrading to the PS4 when it comes out. Thus this may cost Sony in the long run.
We may now see a gradual erosion of all the differences between PS3 and XBox until the only difference is the range and quality of available software (I don’t think Sony want to go there though…).
Everyone seems to think they can complain to the FTC or whatever. You can’t really do that until they do take away OtherOS. If/when they do, I’ll make a complaint as well. If you file a complaint now, you’ll just look stupid because it hasn’t been done yet.
@ thisranks, so promises to early adopters who paid more mean absolutely nothing?
There has to be a better way to patch the system other than removing a feature. The browser and open wifi will be next to go otherwise, since Sony is apparently lazy.
BTW, I read that Geohot soldered something to use this supposed crack? Who’s going to even try doing that and risk physically destroying their system? Only very few tinker in such a manner. Knee jerk Sony reaction at best.
Should Sony continue to ignore this thread, and comments given through Sony tech and e-mail support, a forum should be present somewhere other than here to investigate the possibility of a class-action lawsuit being filed against Sony. The fact is, Sony just stole a primary computer away from you. The argument that you may not even be using the feature doesn’t hold ground.
I would put up my blog, but I don’t want anyone thinking I’m abusing the forum for self-advertising. Anyone have a suggestion, preferably on a more publicized site?
Oh and for those who are thinking this starts thursday or thursday night, this could happen in as little as 3 hours just so you are ready, it will be April 1st in Japan then.
Aparently this is just an update…
“Thank you for writing us with your concerns for the upcoming system update.
The Playstation®User agreement states that we may upgrade the system without your knowledge.
Regards,
Lisa U.”
GodDamnDevil
She is still dead wrong.
http:// www. facebook. com/#!/group. php?gid=108684749155032&ref=mf
There is a Facebook page rolling since yesterday.
I would recommend putting ears to the ground on twitter, tech media, and things like that, I don’t use twitter for much, but it could be a great way for people to rally. Just do some searches for tweets on keywords, I have already seen some rumblings of people saying they will and have started to look into it. I have no doubt someone will organize something if Sony does not call this off. Best advice I can give, I dunno, I really would rather not have to join suit against a company I love(d), but we will just have to see what all exactly happens I suppose.
I’m joined up and will spread the word.
@3432
I would agree with you, however, They have already posted this with the intention of doing it. Customer support is confirming it.
The FTC complaints are just that…”complaints”
the BBB filing is justified, because they are acting with a blatant disregard for their customers.
The step AFTER they go through with it is the Class Action Lawsuit.
@GodDamnDevil
Nice. I’d wait until the 1st of April before posting messages like that. It just confuses people.
the end is nigh quick everyone head for higher ground there’s a massive $#!* storm on the way ahhhhhh!
Pretty much gives me no reason to keep my PS3 after this, then. GG Sony, take away an advertised feature both from the new hardware and now software as well. At least I’ve got a pretty good (and expensive) door stopper to use until some fool buys it off me.
How much is the monthly subscription for the Xbox Live network? I heard their support is much better.
I will switch if this happens. Already got screwed by having freaking inFamous bundled with my console.
Basic Live is free, that’s voice chat and access to market place for downloading demos and whatnot. Gold is $50/year, which is what you need for netflix and online gaming.
For those that don’t know, 3.20 actually was released already, just not to consumers. It’s an update for the debug and test (dev) units.
I just love how people think that there are Virii and assuming that um… “Extreme programmers” (Hacker is such a dirty word)are going to be marching in full parade columns through your ps3 to do what, er idk look at the crap you got from net flicks admire your trophies? Pirated games??? Are you Effing serious???
An AVERAGE of 20+ GB per game on top of BDR’s still cost around $10~15ea. Seriously get a effing clue
Ok maybe some looser will wait 2mos to dl a file that large then still have to spend $15 to play it. Sorry I either buy it on release day, or more than likely like I’ve done with 100% of my games, buy them from gamestop for dirt cheap.
I still think it’s absolutely hilarious that Sony, in effect, did all of the work themselves for the hacking community. Not only did they announce the update and what it would do, but they did so in a way that would let everyone in the world know that custom firmware was on the way, where to find it, and kick start the hacking community into caring about it. On top of that, they let users know exactly which firmware they should hang onto if they wanted custom firmware for themselves.
This….is just brilliant.
Please don’t disable the “Install Other OS” feature. I bought my PS3 because I could also use it as a very low quality PC. Sony shouldn’t be taking away FEATURES! If there’s an update it should be to ask users if they would like to remove that feature from their menu.
@ DeRosw:
You can find XBL cards online for about $30-$40. MSFT better have better have good support since you’re paying. But they’ve screwed over people too.
I will say this though. The removal of Linux helps make the PS3 less distinguishable from the Xbox 360. If you don’t need blu-ray, paying for XBL gives you the same features and sometimes more. Even though PS3 is still a better deal out of the box, people still use XBL more from what I understand. And why Sony would tempt people to try Xbox, I don’t know. But that’s what happens when you piss off customers.
While we’re waiting for the downgrade to show up, and the class action suits to percolate through the legal system, here’s a minor form of protest you might consider trying:
Change your avatar to the red angry face. (PSN > Account Management > Avatar) As I said, it’s a minor thing, and obviously won’t accomplish as much as a court case will — but it’ll let Sony know how displeased you are by their questionably legal actions. And if enough people do it… well, just imagine the sea of angry faces appearing in every blog.
I use the OtherOS feature on a daily basis. I have a fully configured fast and
efficient desktop running. Secondly, I use the OtherOS feature to program the
Cell processor, which is just an awesome processor to begin with.
Linux on the PS3 serves young and enthusiastic people (gamers, geeks, students,
…) in getting their hands on an embedded parallel system. Programming the Cell
processor servers also as a primer in on-chip parallel programming. …
… I have some projects running on PS3 as well. One project is an optimized Linux
specifically tailored to the PS3 to be used by gamers such that the PS3 can be
used as a full-fledged desktop. Another project is a 3d finite-element fluid
dynamics solver for educational purposes, which will be be parallelized over all
SPEs. The fluid dynamics stuff should end up in a book for undergraduate students
of mathematics, computer science, and engineering, where the mathematics is
treated rightfully and where one also gets a working source code to see
everything in motion. I wanted to put a special emphasis on the Cell processor
since its architecture really has some timeless things to offer within the realm
of on-chip parallel programming. But this won’t likely to happen now, since
‘no one’ would be able to run / modify the code on the PS3 further down the
road. …
… I’ve spent about 3 year using PS3Linux (since launch), it’s just a wonderful
system. I can tell you, I’ve leaned a lot and I’m not going to stop here. I’m
not going to update the system.
Suffice is to say, we, the PS3 dev community, felt cut short on Sony’s rampage
in cutting down everything which isn’t a multi-million dollar business.
I’m really disappointed….
@ INTRINSIK, that’s right! PS3’s very way of doing things makes pirating harder. Plus like I read, if you have to solder to do this crack(which is said to not even be a real crack), that’s another deterrent if you ask me. But Sony being Sony, overreacts and punishes honest customers. Remember the rootkit scandal?
These people that say it doesn’t affect them really get on my nerves.
Are all of you really walking around with your head up your butt that far to really not care?
Maybe you are that naive.
But you should realize when your rights are being trampled on.
We didn’t start this country, nor do we defend it now, by just sitting back and doing nothing.
Removing a feature from something that was sold to you with a certain set of listed features on the box without signing an EULA to purchase it….is ILLEGAL.
Please wake yourselves up…study hall is over.
Out of curiosity, will this enable me to erase that 10gb partition off of the hard drive? I would love to get rid of it off of my 40gb without having to wipe the system :D
I’m using linux on my ps3, and playing games online from the gameOS. Now i have to choose?
[DELETED] you sony!
It’s OK PAID-ASSASSIN.
When the browser, wifi and who knows what else starts getting crippled for “security” reasons, they likely use those and it WILL bite them then. Then they’ll understand that once you pay for a posted feature, it shouldn’t get taken away this easily!
@JonJOnXD
It will NOT DELETE the linux partition, it just will block you from accesing it, so youwill LOSS that disk space if you dont reformat your PS3 before this happens.
So….
You have to make a backup, reformat, restore or you will lose the 10GB Linux partition space.
I’m using linux on my ps3, and playing games online from the gameOS. Now i have to choose?
Everyone make sure that you save everything off of your Linux partition, just in case you accidentally start this update.
I’ve disabled my internet connection in the Settings, just to see how this plays out over tomorrow and Friday.
They should call this a “Microsoft Windows Update” AHAHAHAHAHA
@anders4431
Its very sad that this is such a huge thing to happen and yet we weren’t given much time to prepare.
Just imagine all of the people that aren’t up to speed on the news and these boards and will not be able to boot into Linux tomorrow.
Sony will be responsible for them not being able to access their files.
I’ve never known any computer manufacturers to willingly do this to their customers.
Not Microsoft, not Apple, nor any Linux Distributor.
Not Dell, not HP, not ACER, not Samsung….NOT even SONY’s computer division.
There are two other guys that work here with YDL on their machines, and me telling them was the first they heard of it. I expect this blog to really blow up after the update. I use mine with “Darn” Small Linux with some of the MythTV modules to DVR my TV shows and to stream more codecs from my PC than Sony’s front end can accomplish. I don’t game online, so I guess I will just skip the update and wait for the hacked firmware (which Sony forced to happen) to pop up on the net.
This is wrong, plain & simple.
I paid £425 for a launch console, the ability to install linux was included in that.
Sony, you have a lot of nerve removing functionality from this console :(
This has already been making world news, by the way. Search news.google for ‘playstation linux’ or ‘playstation other os’.
What makes this update even worse is that they just remove the option from the XMB, leaving you with the Linux partition on the HDD, and the only way to remove it is to do a backup of your PS3’s content, format, and restore.
If you people at Sony are going to remove something, AT LEAST DO THE WORK COMPLETELY INSTEAD OF HALFA55ED LIKE THIS LAME UPDATE!
Nice summary at PCWorld. The BBC, etc. are running the story, too.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/192731/sony_zaps_playstation_3_install_other_os_feature.html
We are working on a level of Little Big Planet copyable explaining why this is bad. Help us create yours too.
Bad, bad move. I am not happy about this.
you could have done this and also add some cool stuff but no you have to just remove stuff and give out noting cool
HELP! can someone tell me whats going on, i never really knew what the “install other os” function was for im still not quite sure but i see that its upsetting everybody, but i need to know what this fully means, “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” does that mean no mag? does that mean no home? does that mean that all the time and money i.. we’ve put into all these was a waste of our time? and how come nobody from sony has commented on anyones comment? someone please explain whats going on to the HeKeLS. please.
HeKeLS, you will be fine. The notes about no online/PSN are things that will happen if you do not take the update.
The update removes the functionality for OtherOS, as you are not using that, there is no reason not to take the update.
For users that are utilizing an other OS, this is a mess.
Even if you’re not using it, you should still be very concerned. It doesn’t matter if it’s a “mess” or not, it’s taking away something you paid for.
It’s like buying the Watchmen on Blu-Ray. You set it aside in your collection, and since you don’t have 3 hours to waste, you don’t watch it for months.
A year goes by, and you decide to watch it one weekend with your friends. You open up the case and find a note that says,
“You weren’t watching this, so we took it back.” – Warner Bros
I don’t think I’ll be as ticked if they were adding BC back. Removing all the annoying as F*** PSN store shortcuts from every other area in the XMB, stop the constant “Bill Bord” BS that clogs up the XMB. What I want to see is what I WANT to do. Not scroll past 20 other shortcuts to the PSN Store.
Also, it would be nice if your F/W didn’t F*** up my BR diode.
How about addressing that? 3.01 FAIL 3.15 FAIL 3.21 Fail ect.
Leap year bug Shhhhh FAIL
Food for thought, My NES never needed an update, never broke and my nephew is still playing it now on the original Duck Hunt / Mario Bundle