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)
Until now, the PS3 was a great and affordable way to learn about the Cell chip and interesting multiprocessor computer architectures. Ironically, I just read a paper in the April issue of IEEE Computer, “Programming Multiprocessors with Explicitly Managed Memory Hierarchies”, which used… you got it, the PS3 running Linux.
Please don’t punish students, researchers, and computing enthusiasts who want to run Linux on their PS3’s.
of that list, researchers are probably the least affected. don’t know many that use their research equipment to play games online.
May the PS3 become the next Dreamcast.
Sorry to say so, but students do research too, and when they use their own equipment, they mostly use it in both ways.
Just because you use your PC at home to do homework, doesnt mean you wont play a game on it or use it for chatting.
The PS3 was desigend to be dual bootable, and now no longer is.
Well that’s the final straw. I was looking at a Sony DSC-HX1 camera. But I am buying the Canon SX20 is. Consumer disloyalty is the only way these manufacturers are going to learn to respect consumer rights. I’ve had a Canon scanner for years and they’ve released drivers for Leopard & even Snow Leopard so I can keep on using features I’ve paid for. Sony on the other hand have proven themselves incapable of keeping long term promises in supporting their code. Plus the DSC-HX1 still has a proprietary battery, whereas everyone else is switching to AA NiMH cells. That can save you like $60 or more on having to buy that special spare battery and charger. Goodbye Sony.
Researchers are greatly affected, and for heavens sake the US Army even bought 2000 units to use for HPC applications. I just hope that Sony didn’t shut the doors on so many groups that used this part of the ps3 system just as a response to a kid that cracked their hypervisor. I understand the gravity behind such a situation, because advances in hypervisor cracks could be horrible news for anybody running a virtual server, but then again Apple didn’t stop allowing the iphone to make calls, or run 3rd party applications just because someone (oh wait the same fellow who cracked open the ps3) developed a jail break for their product, and Apple is known for their hardware DRM setup.
The dream cast would have had 3x the lifespan if it had only had a freakin LAN port on it instead of a 56k dinosaur trapped in it lol
Hey i don’t care about this update because i have the slim PS3, the update i want which im sure u guy’s want is backwards compatible for PS2 games on PS3 we want it on the next update sony come on it’s the least you could do for taking one feature off the PS3.
We have received your complaint. Thank you for contacting the FTC. Your complaint has been entered into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies worldwide. Your reference number is: 2599####
not the researchers i know. most of them are professors, not gamers. and i doubt the ps3s that the us army bought for research are used for gaming either. they’re probably cell processing farms.
Meanwhile, I’m taking bets on how long it’ll take for Sony to make the PSN a pay-only service. What’s that? You say they promised it wouldn’t? Huh, I’ve got the strangest sense of deja vu…
This is a very upsetting thing… Why would I want to have something I payed for removed from me?
I feel that Sony is up to something… and I hope its fixing this issue… if not I’ll be going back to my dino dream cast… lol
Don’t you people understand? Lying, cheating and stealing is OK if Sony is doing it, because Sony is the greatest company ever!
Please, Sony, remove all voice chat support next! Less than half of PS3 owners actually use it, so nobody will miss it.
Most researchers I know are phds and they are also gamers.
The army you are quite right about, wont be affected much in the first run.
Only to the fact, that Sony will no longer support the Other OS in any way. So if there will be found a bug in it, Sony wont fix it anymore, which will again affect also cell processing farms.
I’m sad :(
boo
People – there are ways around this update:
Search Google for “LG5Tool”, this lets you bypass the update check. Defend your rights! There may also be a modified firmware coming up so DON’T UPDATE NOW.
Btw, thanks Sony for helping me to decide which versions of a multiplat release I will buy from now on. In the past it was a no-brainer, I loved the Playstation brand. From now on my 360 will be turned on more often …
you must go to or are around a progressive school. the research professors i know don’t have time for games. they barely have time for social lives. there hasn’t been a bug in the other os feature that i know of and all it really needs to do is partition the drive and allow you to install an os. it doesn’t do much more than that. any other bugs are on the linux side of things.
I am sitting here trying to decide what to do as I do not want this update, and am now locked out of PSN. Now I understand how the Datel Memory card users on Xbox must have felt. To sacrifice a cool option for the peace of mind of the content providers does suck. I am extremely angry right now, even though I understand Sony’s position.
I have really been looking forward to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and was considering picking one up this week (I live in Japan and Docomo released it today). Now, I’m not so sure. Now that Sony has a record of removing features, who’s to say Sony won’t start stripping features out of my phone a year from now? I’d take Sony’s word on it, but Sony also said they weren’t going to remove Other OS from the PS3 when the Slim was released.
LOL playstation jus lost a lot of consumers during that update… B4 N E 1 notices playstation will be in the ground… playstation can’t keep N E promises 2 the consumers… PLATSTATION is GOING 2 RUN THERESELF INTO THE GROUND & HARD IF THAY DON’T DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE CONSUMERS ISSUES FIRST… Because all thay’ve bin doing is taking & taking.. when are we as the consumers going to GET SOMETHING BACK????
I never used the OtherOS option, anyway, I don’t like were this is heading. And as I don’t realy play online, I won’t install the update, and won’t buy anymore PSN titles (cause I can’t without the update). Thanks Sony, you just saved me lots of money ;-)
Also, as titles like FF and RE are not Playstation only anymore, my next consol will be from Microsoft.
This is not meant to threaten Sony in any way, it’s just my personal 2 cents and the conclusion I got to.
well as someone who did set up linux on my PS3 (granted can’t make much use of it because of the fact that I am stuck with standard def TV for now, the txt is mostly unreadable on screen lol) I am upset that they are taking this feature away, since it was one of the reasons I got a 160 GB fat PS3 over the ps3 slim. i’ll wait til morning before deciding what to do. I used to work for Gamestop, and you would be surprised at how many ppl were interested in that feature. (honestly, quite a few as I recall). now i’m not a Sony fanboy, I have a few systems as well as a few PC’s here as well, (yes some running Linux lol), so it’s not like i’ll miss out THAT much. right now it’s more of the fact that, it was a feature included with my system, that Sony said would not be removed. so really, what *IS* to stop them from deciding to charge for PSN? they said it would always be free right? (just like the other OS option would remain). not saying it *will* happen, just don’t be surprised if it does happen
People need to get it through their heads that this isn’t a conspiracy and Sony isn’t taking away any more features. This was done because it was a lesser used feature and it was determined that it could lead to hacking and piracy similiar to how homebrew works on the older models of the PSP. They fixed a problem before it occursed. It was a great move by Sony, anyone who has any respect for video gaming and the entertainment business would agree.
Blame the person who is responsible for this, Geohot. He tried to hack the PS3 system and because of this…they removed the feature. You can be sure they will remove any feature that DOES NOT AFFECT COMPATIBILITY OF GAMES OR MOVIES if it puts the PS3 system at risk to piracy. I fully support them in doing this. Your games still work, so do your movies.
Jesus, some of you people are ridiculous. Just because sony got rid of a feature that most people don’t use, your jumping ship to xbox?? That makes sense because they don’t have problems too and you can use your other os with them right? And as far as backwards compatibility goes, sony will never offer that as an update because HELLO they are gonna start selling the ps2 games on psn at some point. Glad I have an old big ps3 that is backwards compatible.
*LOL* at Epic, seems u like to see how many PPL u can piss off huh? personally I think ur funny as hell. it’s not so much we feel we are owed something. at least in this case, we don’t like paying for a feature that was listed in the feature set, and promised that would remain. only to see them do a 180 and say oh well, it’s gone now. maybe you don’t mind it so much, or maybe you are just saying what you are to get a rise outta people here, or maybe you like being lied to, either way, whatever. all I know is, the other os was one of the reasons I got my PS3. was it my only reason? nope. I’m more of a PC gamer, and/or portable system gamer (PSP and DSi XL)
@EpicRetard
Actually, it’s uneducated morons who let corporations walk all over them, such as yourself, who are giving America a bad rep. It probably has more to do with America’s crazy foreign policy and a bad taste left over from the Bush years, but people like you surely don’t help.
And for the record, I can actually afford the Xperia X10. I’m a contractor for the military in Japan and I get paid pretty well. I also did not say I was boycotting anything. I said I wasn’t sure about purchasing it.
@EpicSonyFail
How can SONY apply us terms of the CLUF if we REFUSE it ?
I’m waiting for you ‘UNBRAINED’ response …
Also I am still riding the LOLERCOASTER of LOLs about people believing this was an April Fools joke.
@Epic:
Hum playing against yourself?
5 against willy or what?
Sony you suck going back to XBOX and if you think we will get over this you better think again unless you give us a actuall update with something like vidzone and a better browser “upgrade not downgrade” atleast XBOX has Last.fm because they care about the U.S unlike sony can’t even give us vidzone but the U.K get’s it .I know vidzone is a london based company and maybe its up to them fine we dont need them give us our video zone with MTV or VH1 U.S.A #1
Poeple, its like the whole euthenasia > soylent green thing.
First Sony takes our Other OS, next they will take part of our brain!!
@EpicFail :
You’re wrong. I accept previous CLUF, so I choose between Upgrading or loosing access to PSN.
But the PREVIOUS CLUF can’t value for the NEXT update.
I refuse this cluf, so how can SONY tell court I’ve accepter to loose access to the PSN as I’ve refused the CLUF, which says I DON’T ACCEPT ANYTHING THEY SAY IN …
LOL I just think Epic is amusing himself there, as I said, I been reading this message board, and getting a laugh outta him
All Sony ever does is take take take the best features away. Starting from the very first PS3 that had more USB ports and flash card readers and backwards compatibility and much more. Then slowly over the years they take away from the product. And now this crap with taking away the “Other OS”. Really. Who do they think they are?
I hope there is a class action lawsuit against Sony. My PS3 – 80GB box clearly states on it that i can install another operating system as a feature, a feature I paid $399.00 for.
There have been huge class action lawsuits against corporations for far less screwing of the customer…
Good One Sony But Not On Me.
APRIL FOOL!!!
@DamnBoxes: “Poeple, its like the whole euthenasia > soylent green thing.
First Sony takes our Other OS, next they will take part of our brain!!”
But the people that dont complain now, wont complain then.
Why? They are not using it anyway.
@SonyEpicFail
I just want you to explain :
How a contract can be valuable if you refuse it. They can say what they want in, an I’ve no obligations to read it as I REFUSE.
And as I refuse, all what they purpose in the CLUF can’t apply …
So, this CLUF has no value for EVERY ON WHO REFUSE IT.
You feign again to NOT UNDERSTAND ?
You see in which [DELETED] SONY is now …
Sony really need to change their slogan. Because after this update it does not do “everything”. It becomes “It Only Does Everything…except OtherOS (Linux) and Non Leap Year February and Cross Game Chat and Custom Game Music and Play MKV Files and…etc”, just a short list of what people listed as wants.
Seriously though, I thought they would learn not to force update after the catastrophic 3.00 firmware that brick people’s PS3, still no official count, and made games unplayable.
I know many said it is because hacker’s fault, but it is actually Sony’s own fault for not properly does the design and made an unpatchable loophole in the system. Also, this attempt of removing the OtherOS is like issuing a challenge to the hackers to make them wanting to hack the system even more.
Really really bad move.
@busk
haha, nice, even though I dont quite understand it
@SonyEpicFail
I just want you to explain :
How a contract can be valuable if you refuse it. They can say what they want in, an I’ve no obligations to read it as I REFUSE.
And as I refuse, all what they purpose in the CLUF can’t apply …
So, this CLUF has no value for EVERY ON WHO REFUSE IT.
You feign again to NOT UNDERSTAND ?
What does Other OS make a PS3 do that it normally can’t? Run emulators for playing NES/SNES games? HEY THAT IS ILLEGAL SO POINT IS MOOT ANYWAY. Their slogan still works, all features except Other OS (which was BARELY USED ) still work perfectly.
What does Other OS make a PS3 do that it normally can’t?
Running other OS for example …
Ooh, what a marvellous april fools joke Sony…
*grabs a bag of popcorn*
Emulators are legal if you own a copy of the game, if you don’t you must delete them within 24 hours of download.
@gamesNmusic
careful, or Sony will downgrade your popcorn and remove the pop!!
Yes, I understant. But yesterday, my PS3 can access the PSN, and today NOT !
Why ?
I didn’t agree with any CLUF which say to me I will loose access …
You see the FAIL in the CLUF now ?
@ EpicNotion
I was just using the usb and drives as an example of how they constantly decontent their newer products..
And if i have another OS instald and decline this update then it renders the other half of the funtions of my PS3 useless. But if I accept the update then I loose a feature I specifically purchased the ps3 for. Can’t you see how this isnt right?
And speaking of stupid class action lawsuits that win. I had a motorola phone a few years back.. they sent me $50.00 after a suit over the effectiveness of the antennae on the phones. I never even noticed the problem. lol.
just remember Epic, it’s not the emulator that’s illegal, it’s the ROMS that go with them LOL.
I do like running homebrew software on my DSi, it’s interesting seeing what ppl come up with, have I tried that with my PS3? nope, as I said, while I love Linux, and did install it on my PS3, I only booted to it 2 times, once when I installed it, and again just now, was nice, but again, not useful for my needs. Still sucks that Sony took away that ability, without at least giving us something in return (replacing something we paid for in other words, not asking for extras, but if you are taking something away, at least replace it with something useful)