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)
Not an april fools joke. I called and asked. I filed a complaint. Next thing you know Lexus will come and take away my cars left front tire, 4 years after I bought it.
@ LegendaryPhoenix
“And there is still no update, so basically all of you are making fools of yourselves by getting really angry over something that has yet to actually happen.”
Update is for April 1. It’s only March 31st. Tomorrow is the date. It would be funny if it was a joke. But Sony has stated far to often that this is not a joke.
I will say this. I’m neutral on this. And am waiting to see what develops if it turns out to be a joke, then I’ll laugh at myself right with you.
#3752 Team-Cro:
You cannot do that. Firmware on the Phats are stored in flash-ram – not on the harddrive. You can’t keep both and switch them around.
@MadCat_McMeows Then quit crying and file your lawsuit. I’ll watch you on Court TV. :)
I should have stated that by develops, I mean lawsuits, lack of features, PSN access etc. I’m going to wait. Collect my facts, the proceed to devise a plan.
Sorry guys but you are acting pretty childish. In the EULA Sony does state that the latest firmware is required to play on PSN, current Blu-ray, and Games discs. This has been in the EULA since the PSP came out in 2005. Let us remember that this is a game console first everything else is bonus. If you want to use Linux so bad buy yourself a computer, that’s what they’re for.
@ dinkin-flicka
Sony never guaranteed in writing???
“Please be assured that SCE is committed to continue
the support for previously sold models that have the
“Install Other OS” feature and that this feature will
not be disabled in future firmware releases.
Although it’s disappointing that Sony have removed the feature from new models, It’s good to have this public assurance from Sony that at least the feature won’t be removed from older models which are already working.”
@team_cro and @WS6 then why is it not yet showing its presence psn is not down in japan and it normally is,+ its like 6 am in japan it should have been lunched by now
so is this to enhance security on sony’s sites to prevent it being hacked or are they going to release their own os when they start charging for some of the premium service on the psn.i would want a good anti virus too
ok ok ok ok if this is some kind of joke sony is playing its going to be a good one,but if not then your making a big mistake.personally i don’t care about os or what ever it is because i have ps slim but this isnt going to be fair for the people that have it.instead of adding things we request on the updates you take things off that we originally have y?and i hate the fact that thousands of people have made comments and yoou people can’t even be bothered to reply to couple hundread of them.you give us things we do not neeed in the update and Eric Lempel has the cheeek to say in videos “we look forward to your response”loooooooool like you really care what we thing.
MadCat_McMeows: SO true this was used as a selling feature to get people to buy it and it doesn’t matter if 100% of the buyers us it.
It was offered and some people bought it for this reason. Can they cut PS2 Backward compatiblity on the orginal PS3 that had it no as people paid for it for that reason so they cam out with a new system that wasn’t able to play PS2 Games.
They removed OS from the Slim. Maybe the owners of the slims will loose something soon in an upgradfe. Like being able to use the PS3 for gaming as everything else has been removed. They still can use the Blu-Ray to watch movies.
3765
Is that an official statement? If so where did you get it from?
@dinkin-flicka
“Isn’t that what I said? It has all those ‘capabilities’.”
after the update it won’t. doesn’t matter if one applies the update or not – the capabilities of the system no longer match the features advertised in the manual.
btw, i take it you wouldn’t see any problem if toyota decided to disable your AC while they fix the break problems, right? after all it’s your choice: if you want AC you can skip the recall, if you want functional breaks, well… i guess you don’t really need that AC then, do ya?
More for @ dinkin-flicka
Sony never guaranteed in writing???
“There is more to the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system than you may have assumed. In addition to playing games, watching movies, listening to music, and viewing photos, you can use the PS3™ system to run the Linux operating system.
By installing the Linux operating system, you can use the PS3™ system not only as an entry-level personal computer with hundreds of familiar applications for home and office use, but also as a complete development environment for the Cell Broadband Engine™ (Cell/B.E.).”
YDL was also listed as having a SONY SANCTIONED BUILD and came on the original PS3.
Yeah Sony never guaranteed a thing. Right.
http:// translate. google. co. uk/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.jp.playstation.com/ps3/&ei=nLGzS_z2F5-I0wTgkcifCA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsony%2Bps3%2Bjp%26hl%3Den
sony ps3 japan update page in google translate
“If you want to use Linux — don’t update. If you want to use your PS3 as a gaming console/Blu-ray player — update. Simple really. The choice is yours.”
The point is that some of us use it for both, and we shouldn’t have to choose. The reason for forcing the choice on us is weak; some vague and unexplained notion of security. Rresumably, it’s related to an exploit that takes a fair amount of effort (both hardware modification, and software tinkering) to even take advantage of. The security threat to the end user from said exploit is null, since you have to do it to your own system to open yourself up to any potential risk. The potential threat to Sony’s is extremely small, as there would be very few individuals who would even attempt to apply the exploit, and the exploit hasn’t actually allowed any of the concerns to fruition yet. Still, considering the exploit to be a legitimate concern, Sony’s response is like using a sledge hammer to kill an ant. It may work, but there are probably far more appropriate solutions.
@TechieXXDivaX Source? From what I’ve read that’s just an e-mail that’s being circulated around the Web. Not exactly a legally binding document.
Mabus51: It wasn’t a bonus it was a selling feature. There is a big differance. I will explain a bonus to you since you don’t know what one is. I bought a PS3 and it never said in the manual or the box that I could use an OS on it and I turn it on and I see that feature. That is a bonus but since it is in the manual it is a feature of the system.
Also who are you to tell people to buy a computer because they are using the PS3 as one as well. You must work for Dell?
part 2
what i love about xbox is they listen to their users and give them what they request.when xbox had that rubbish dashboard everyone was requesting a new one and xbox gave them what they wanted not even a year later couple updates later.we have been requesting things like cross game chat and brand new xmb since ps3 came out and still you do not deliver.the last update we got was late 2009 christmas time and it wasnt even good,once again you gave us things we didnt request for-correct me if im wrong.all of us ps3 users have waited to long for this update to get rubbish features,give us things we request because at the moment ps3 is very boring especially if you have s*** games.the intretnet is very slow,the xmb is slow lol we can’t even watch videos on this blog so y post them.i swear down i should be apart of sony cah i would give the people what they want.you people are reallly fallling behind
@TechieXXDivaX Nowhere does it state it is guaranteed to run mutually with the PS3 OS. It’s a feature. You can install it on the older PS3s and run it. They got that covered.
@ MadCat_McMeows
http : //lists . ozlabs.org/pipermail/cbe-oss-dev/2010-February/007202 . html
This staement has also made the rounds on the internet.
Go and set the time zone for your computer to see what time it is in Tokyo right now.
The date was listed in JST – Japan Standard Time which has already come and passed.
Also I was just looking in on the euro blog, they are at just under 1000 comments. This is what I see, that the NA userbase are one that basically lose their minds at anything.
nimththirel: why should one have to make a choice when both came as a feature. I can say don’t post here unless you agree with all the people that are mad. Is this right to do too you?
The update is set for 20:10 1st April, see the top of the page. It’s 06:40 there’s about 14 hours before it goes live. It happens at 12:10 hr GMT
bun sony cah you obviously do not care about us.you might as well remove teh ability to play games scumbags!
I have a launch 60GB model that I am perfectly happy with in it’s current state, yet, if they go ahead with this update, I will actually be forced to wait until a hack is released to keep the features I paid for.
The irony is, this removal of OtherOS is for “security reasons” (AKA: closing the hole Geohot found), but will force many of us to do exactly what they are trying to prevent. Those that want to hack it, will still do so, so this prevents nothing. Those that never had a desire to hack it, but still used OtherOS will now be forced to do so to keep the feature.
How does this accomplish anything? It will actually cause a backlash, and more people will likely wait for GeoHot and hack the console than if Sony just left well enough alone. All it does is punish legitimate, honest customers, the people that want to hack it will still do so.
This is so aggravating.
@dinkin-flicka
It’s just a posting on a news server ? Better than just a text on the internet. Remember, mails have headers …
OK, so let’s say I choose to opt out and not update. I keep my system the way it is and continue to happily use Linux, but uh-oh, playing Resistance one day, my PS3 goes kaput. I need a repair. I have done nothing to my system to warrant them to refuse me repair service. I haven’t messed with the security or anything, I’m using the PS3 exactly as it was intended. I send it in for repair.
Do I now lose my system because when Sony fixes it (replaces) it, they give me current firmware rather than the firmware I sent it in with ? Do I lose this ability then ?
“nimththirel: why should one have to make a choice when both came as a feature. I can say don’t post here unless you agree with all the people that are mad. Is this right to do too you?”
LOL
Re-read my posts. I’m not defending Sony, I’m upset about this downgrade.
Keep submitting this story everywhere and sending in the complaints to the FTC, BBB, etc. There’s been a lot of negative press for Sony in the past few days (Slashdot, Digg, BBC, etc.), let’s keep it coming. Don’t let it just blow over, that’s what they’re hoping for…
F*** WHAT SONY IS DOING TO OUR CONSOLE.YOU
Depending on the source it can be a legally binding.
FYI internal email can be used as evidence in a court of law. Just have to prove it was that person that sent it. They can argue it was meant to be private, but that doesn’t hold either as long as there is a consent to monitor or similar TOS for using the Sony network.
Nimthiriel: Sorry Nimthiriel
“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”
by narrowing the range of entertainment content… nice… :-/
I’m just counting down the days till they disable the backwards compatibility that I hunted down and paid extra for an older model console for the specific purpose of having.
personally any company that intentionally makes ANY serious announcement for April fools day deserves to have their public image tarnished. one that makes a controversial announcement and expect it to be taken seriously?…. fire and brimstone.
@dinkin-flicka
“Nowhere does it state it is guaranteed to run mutually with the PS3 OS. It’s a feature. You can install it on the older PS3s and run it. They got that covered.”
stop being idiotic – of course the features are supposed to be non-exclusive.
you don’t seem to get it: i bought a product advertised as a) a gaming console, b) BD player and c) a general purpose computing platform
(notice that *and* in there?)
after this update it won’t offer the same capabilities, regardless of whether i apply the update or not.
Sony just made me decide to trade in my PS3 for an 360…..good thing Game Stop had some pretty good trade in deals! Screw U sony!
Quit trying to get put of it Sony/dinkin-flicka. Your own website supports Linux installation.
You snatched away a feature that early adopters counted on and paid you a nice premuim for. Maybe not everyone used it, but apparently enough people did. Otherwise you would have not put up
http : //www . playstation . com/ps3-openplatform/index . html
Keep shooting yourselves in the foot Sony. There may be a minority of users for Linux, but the next feature you remove will be one everyone uses and we’ll see if you get out of that one!
I bought this system to use the other operating option. I run ydl and most of my work is done on the ps3. Of my whole usage of the ps3, the Linux is used about 60 percent of the time. After my house burned down I didn’t have the money to buy a DVD player, blu Ray, games system and a computer; so I bought the ps3 because it does EVERYTHING!!!
They sold us a system that does “Everthing” not a system that does everything for a while but then only does somethings.
If this is not a joke I will be filing a lawsuit next week. I will be filing In small claims court and I suggest others that are in my boat do the same in your area.
For those who just use it as a gaming system it doesn’t matter; however, there’s a lot of us who looked at all the features before choosing a ps3.
THE FUNNNY THING ABOUT THIS POST IS THEY HAVEN’T EVEN REPLIED ONCE
For those who are not aware, the update is planned for April 1 JST, which means Japan time. We don’t have to wait until tomorrow, actually, there are like 19 hours left before April 1 JST ends. If the update isn’t out by then, it was an epic joke.
I bought this system to use the other operating option. I run ydl and most of my work is done on the ps3. Of my whole usage of the ps3, the Linux is used about 60 percent of the time. After my house burned down I didn’t have the money to buy a DVD player, blu Ray, games system and a computer; so I bought the ps3 because it does EVERYTHING!!!
They sold us a system that does “Everthing” not a system that does everything for a while but then only does somethings.
If this is not a joke I will be filing a lawsuit next week. I will be filing In small claims court and I suggest others that are in my boat do the same in your area.
For those who just use it as a gaming system it doesn’t matter; however, there’s a lot of us who looked at all the features before choosing a ps3.
I have contacted Sony corporate and await a response.
on the box of my ps3 there is: “Other OS support”, is that enough evidence that my console SHOULD support “other OS”???
THIS BETTTER BE A JOKE CAH I WAITED TO LONG FOR SONY TO JUST TAKE SUTN OUT INSTEAD OF ADDING FEATURES TO THE UPDATE
3787 – Yes Sony has stated (on the EU forums) that any unit sent in for repair will be updated to the latest firmware so you WILL lose the ability then…
GIVE US WHAT WE WANTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT YOU GREADY F****
And yes, it means we are 5 hours already into April 1, and still nothing about this update.
Sony April Fools 2008:
http://www.amazon.com/tag/blu-ray/fo…x3LL1XHSGFF5T7
Sony April Fools 2009:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/video-games/news/2009/04/01/-99-PlayStation-2-Launches-April-Fools/p1
Sony April Fools 2010:
…Well, you know the story…hope it’s an April Fools joke, this would really disappoint a lot of people…including me.
I own a 40in” Sony Bravia, a Sony Vaio, a Sony Blu-Ray Player, PS3, PS2, PSX, PSP, 2 Sony Cybershots, other Sony Devices – and a ton of Sony Video Games & Blu-Ray Movies, & TV Shows.
I don’t pirate my Sony Games!!!
I would call myself a very loyal Sony customer!!!
Is Sony going to be loyal to me?!
@ legendary phoenix it’s a known fact that plenty of uk users post on the u.s blog. they’re very european like that.
This is absolutely ridiculous. As someone on the forums (a law student who does not own a PS3 nonetheless) already pointed out, this update would violate US Consumer Protection Laws and is illegal. I wouldn’t be surprised if a class action law suit follows this update. I already filed a complaint with the FTC over this update and am now considering switching to the other console where they don’t take away features, but add them. Let’s look at the list of features removed from the slim PS3: Backwards compatibility, two USB ports, memory card reader, main power switch,and of course the other OS feature. Now that this update will be released, I wouldn’t be surprised if backwards compatibility were disabled on the fat PS3’s too. Need I mention the leap year bug last month? So this is what we early adopters get, is it? I’ll be switching to the box if Sony pursues this. Long live the fat PS3 and George Hotz!
XBOX HAS BEEEN DOMINATING PS3 SINCE LAST YEAR SUMMER.THEY HAVE BEEN GIVING THEIR CONSUMERS WHAT THEY WANT AND PS3 HASNT DONE THAT ONCE LOOOL