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)
It’s not the removal of Linux most people are whining about, it’s the “update” that doesn’t give anything new, which defeats the purpose of being an update. Should be called Downgrade 3.21. I doubt this is an April Fool’s joke because removing Linux would actually help PS3’s security.
very sad.
send me another ps3, so i can keep my old fat and other os, and it will be ok!
Sony giveth, and Sony taketh away. Yaaaay.
This is STUPID.
How the hell could you just REMOVE a feature that some people bought the system for without even bothering to ASK if anybody objected?
You want to stop hackers? FINE… Stop the hackers.
But find a smarter way to do it than THIS.
Like someone else already posted the next thing you know you’ll take away Backwards Compatibility.
And there’ll be people here who’ll say “Oh… Nobody USES backwards compatibility anyway…”
Then you’ll take away the ability to swap out the hard drive. And somebody will say “Nobody knows what a hard drive is anyway…”
Then you’ll take away the ability to use an external hard drive, the ability to use media servers, and the internet browser (because hackers LOVE the internet…) and those same people will be like… “Well… this pretty much sucks… but at least we can still play games!”
…maybe not after the Playstation 4 comes out and the PS3 becomes a security liability.
I’ll take my $300 refund please.
So its been 4 months with no firmware, and finally we get 1 which actually takes away a feature, brilliant! Although i couldn’t care less of the linux being taken away. You guys better make the next update worth it!
Playstation owner seeking a lawyer for class action, international lawsuit. I purchased a PlayStation 3 over a year ago with the expectation that it would provide the services it indicated at the time of purchase. Use Linux on the PS3 and am now being discriminated against and penalized for shoddy security protocols by Sony. Diminished services resulting from refusal to comply with forced updating are to result. Seeking to retroactively compensate all PS3 buyers who will lose functionality.
PaTRICK Seybold is tricking us…I hope! :P
Well I was debating on getting a ps3… but this has totally made up my mind! I am going to instead just get a Toshiba blu-ray player and dsi-xl for my birthday and keep on buying my games for PC.
Thanks for making my decision easy sony!
___________________
Also THANK YOU for letting Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep become a UMD only exclusive, THANK YOU! It totally makes me feel GREAT for getting a psp go and hoping you would keep your word! THANK YOU AGAIN! /sarcasm
Are you guys crazy? Who do you THINK YOU ARE? God?
If you can’t secure a rootjail, give it to the community.
Bah Sony, you really stink these days.
Reluttr…. you do know new PS3s don’t have this feature anyway, don’t you?
Anyway, nice April Fools.
Hey Sony? How about a patch that stops peoples systems from freezing, crashing or being unable to play games?
How about a patch that fixes what is broke?
Screw YOU Sony. I love my new Xbox anyway
make.believe
They MAKE the policy I BELIEVE were screwed.
PS3
It only USED to do everything…
SONY NA VANGUARDA A PREJUDICAR
Acho esta decisao por parte da Sony revoltante.
Ja não basta o meu modelo nao ter a possibilidade de ler jogos da PS2 comop ainda vão retirar a opcão Other OS
Eu que tenho Linux da PS3 e da muito jeito prea quando estou na sala ligado ao meu LCD e quero navegar pela a net ver os emails etc.
SONY ENTRA PARA A HISTORIA COMO O PRIMEIRO FABRICANTE A LANÇAR UM FIRMWARE QUE RETIRA CARACTRISTICAS EM VEZ DE ACICIONAR.
There is something very wrong here. This is not a security concern at all. Never in my 4 years of owning a ps3, have I heard Linux on a Ps3 causing problems. I think this has something to do with the up-coming updates(ie, the 3D update) They are probably freeing up as much system memory as possible to be able to fit the new features in. Backwards Compatibility can not be lost since the first Ps3s literally have a Ps2 console in it. I am disappointed since I use Linux (Fedora,Yellow dog) and play online.
Freedom: Abuse it, you lose it.
The feature has been abused, so now it’s gone. No loss to legitimate users anyway.
SONY, Don’t be Evil –> http://twitter.com/raidroid
Metallic_Force
Look up “geohot” on Google and read his blog about hacking the PS3 via hardware hacks and Linux to the point he was able to change data on the GameOS.
“Geohot fans gonna cry”
make my day))
so i got a non bc fat and now its only advantage over the slim is being removed that sucks might as well get a slim now but i gess thats what sony wants
Wow. Screw you guys. I was going to buy a second PS3 this week (second home), but this sort of stuff is absolutely ridiculous.
Killing linux functionality means allying the homebrew community with the game-ripping community, just like on the PSP.
Having worked for Sony as a coder for over five years, I can honestly say that this sort of user-hostile lunacy is a big part of why I quit.
How about adding a feature called bringing back the backwards compatibility to the new PS3. allowing us to play PS2 games on the newer models. If this doesn’t happen, a lot of people will be angry. It’s cool that Sony made the God of War games 1 & 2 on one Blue-ray for the PS3, but why stop there?! If the compatibility feature doesnt come back, then make more ps2 games into blue-rays for the ps3 like jak and daxter or kingdom hearts or any other greatest hits games.theres the ps3 games and the ps one classics available in the store but not ps2 stuff?! Sony you need to hire more people with brains and not airheads! That would be a good update and more happy consumers!
This is an idiotic idea. I paid for this feature. When the console was $500 I paid for this feature. And Yes, I use this feature.
This is B.S. Marketing Spin, lies, deceit, and misdirection:
“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.” Don’t believe a word of it. None of it is true.
The security of the system is Sony’s problem, not mine. I paid for a certain feature set. Having the features I paid for revoked is unacceptable.
@Korbei83
So if that’s your belief then if someone took advantage of our everyday freedom like free speech and the Govt. came in and said One person abused this now everyone is censored?
If that’s is how you truly feel, you sir are an idiot and a tool.
the biggest fail on sonys part is the ppl that hack dont update there fw so this will not effect them and thy already know how to spoof the fw check
This got to be a joke!
You are removing an important option after I bought the Playstation 3, and I’m not able to use my PS3 if I’m not upgrading the firmware.. This is illegal in the Netherlands, and I guess you’ll be hearing from some lawyers and consumer-organisations..
Also this will not prevent any attempts at hacking the PS3, it will only intensify it and make sure there will be an option the XMB is hacked without the need for OtherOS..
thanx for screwing us over who bought the PS3 for more than just stupid games…
The only thing you now do is have us customers having to hack the PS3 just to keep something we already had..
As far as this says,
http://geohotps3.blogspot.com/2010/01/hello-hypervisor-im-geohot.html
This patch will not solve anything.
The hackers will have their hacking PS3’s and the rest of us will be screwed.
@Iusid1
“The security of the system is Sony’s problem, not mine. I paid for a certain feature set. Having the features I paid for revoked is unacceptable.”
This right here is the bottom line! WE BOUGHT THE SYSTEM BASED ON ITS FUNCTIONALITY. Whether we use specific functions primarily or sparingly is not for Sony to decide! It is OUR system now, WE PAID YOU YOUR DAMN $600!!! You have no right to remove advertised functionality from our purchased property, no matter how trivial or even threatening it may seem to you, and don’t even get me started on that “just don’t update” crap (read: you still loose functionality!!!).
You’re messing with OUR property now, which is absolutely unacceptable! Screw you Sony! You suck at creating fan loyalty!
I know I’m probably in the minority, but I actually use Ubuntu on my PS3 in my theater rather than having to also have a PC in there. Removing support for that is pretty disappointing.
It’s a bum deal since there’s really no choice but to upgrade. Almost nobody will choose to lose the ability to play online, view protected Blu-rays or play current games that require 3.21+.
I hope people are at least compensated for the loss, but I doubt that will happen.
This epicly pisses me off. I have Ubuntu Linux installed on my PS3, and a lot of stuff on it. This better be an April Fool’s joke, because otherwise I’m going to go to Xbox 360. They’re actually adding features over there, rather than removing them.
Meh, I don’t really care about Linux, but we’re not getting any new features in this update?
:(
That’s a real gross move from sony. I bought that console on day ONE for 600 EUR. Why does someone do so? Because he believes that it will be worth, and he thinks the company wont disappoint him.
“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; ”
I can choose not to buy SONY Stuff anymore. Thats what I can choose. Your point mentioned doesnt leave any choice to me.
PAHHHHH
I sinceryly hope this is a April Fool’s joke. I use YDL on my ps3 for both browsing, work, play, media center and just plain linuxy fun. I also play games and watch and buy many blurays so I’m pretty much screwed either way. Right now I’m not even angry as I’m seriously convinced this is a joke, a bad one, but a joke none the less.
“It nolonger does everything”……………………..
All I can say, being a Original 60GB Launch owner….is that you guys better find a different way to patch your problems, other than taking away features of my PS3. I do not care if people have hacked the PS3 or not, taking away that option is just plain stupid on your part. I’m sure you guys can find a way to patch the PS3 from getting hacked another way.
Also, this better just be an April fools joke, and if it is not, the only way to redeem yourself is to include Universal Party Chat and PS2 BC on all systems. Otherwise, this was a huge mistake to actually announce an update that takes away something…
It just HAS to be a cruel, horrible, sadistic April Fools joke!
BS reason oh.. to allow for more content blah blah.
i understand anti hacker but jeez. Linux support I use and its prty cool not to mention its one of the features I used to brag to my friends about. And the tech junkie inside me just died…. :(
Sony, you were on such a roll. But then you had a REALLY disappointing presentation of the Move – but still touting it as a “revolution” which was an embarrassment for every Sony fan. Then you are removing a feature people actually paid for, that’s a new low for you.
Oh well, at one point I thought Sony is cool now but as soon as they smell victory it seems it’s all back to lousy PR decisions.
Not to mention this FW update is a joke itself. There’s so much stuff we are waiting for – MKV support, Cross-Game-Chat, PS2 support, just look at your Share blog (probably the last good idea you had). I don’t see “Remove Linux support” there. Are you even listening to us? This is such a smack in the face. Sony, you just lost a fan, well made.
Well i’m sorry but i feel it is illegal what sony are doing…you have advertised a feature that was sold to us in the first place, people who generally use it will be p*ssed off. You have made comments in the past saying you are commited to supporting the other OS feature in the older models etc..Surely if you advertise something you are misleading customers by taking it away…??
Lets just lawsuit their a**… No question asked.
Is this going to be a monthly thing? First the Apocalyps3 on March 1st (or February 29th if you will) and now this?
What’s that Sony? You thought that we forgot!? If anything we should be compensated for that mess, not punished!
Wait a minute…
…I thought the Japanese were all about honor. Well, I’m pretty sure they just lost A LOT of it!
This had better be an april fools joke!
It’s most likely a April Fool’s Joke there too many discrepancy’s with this Post
1. Sony has already affirmed that “Other OS” won’t be disabled for older PS3 models.
On Fri, 2009-08-21 at 09:58, Geoffrey Levand
(PS3-Linux maintainer) had this to say when asked about the rumors that Linux would be disabled in a future Firmware update.
“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.”
If Sony was truly going to disable linux wouldn’t this mean that Geff would be job-less?
2. “The next system software update for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) system will be released on April 1, 2010 (JST)”
There’s Three Problems here.
One – Sony is known to Rarely if ever announce a specific date for there firmware updates.
Two – The release date in question is none other the Aprils Fools day, think about it people why would Sony announce a release date for a firmware that disables a feature that they have already stated wasn’t going to be disabled? Why would they release this Firmware exactly on April 1st? Knowing it’s April Fools day?
Three – (JST) is Japan Standard Time, This is the kicker for me
why would this even be on the announcement? There’s no Time for the Firmwares release only (JST) Also the post is directed towards the United States. Japan is 14 hours ahead of (EST) Eastern Standard Time meaning “if” the firmware was released April 1st at 12:00am it would be March 31st 2pm in the United States.
3. “The Jump” The current firmware version is 3.15 why would Sony jump from 3.15 to 3.21? What happened to 3.20? This is very odd by itself. If you look back at previous firmware update releases Sony has never made a odd jump like this.
Uhh( Is it an april’s fool joke? I don’t use “Other OS”, but people expect Cross-game chat, PS2 games on PS3, and others improvements of PSN… And you, instead of this, make a step backwards… Ok, i still love sony, and I am waiting for further updates. I hope they will be more useful )))
I have the slim model, which doesn’t feature that “Install OS” ability. Do I need to install this update too?
This better be April fools.
Did you decide to put PS3 Linux out of its misery?
A lot of people worked hard to maintain PS3 Linux support for what was essentially only a cheap CELL SDK for devs, but as a whole it resulted for more pain than anything else. Not having a nice RSX driver stopped nice homebrewers who would have toyed with the PS3 as a cheap game SDK and did NOT stop people wanting to break the system’s security.
… bah…
“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.”
This is the *worst* piece of BS explanation I’ve ever seen. Why not just be honest and tell it like it is instead of lying?
People, you can send your thank letters to GeoHot
just go to google type “ps3 hack GeoHot” and TADA.
If this IS an april fools joke, then it is poorly executed. Sony couldn’t just come out and say “aw just kidding guys, we’re not taking anything away.” After clearly pissing off so many of their fans, they damn well better offer us a huge update with features the likes of which we have never seen!
(and for free too you bastards!)
Maybe it’s a joke and a field test for the theoretical removal of the other-os support. It would truely be illegal in a lot of countries I guess, but I was looking forward for the refund of my 599Euro :(
APRIL FOOLS!!! :P