DEV's Input needed

[alivingston]

Hi guys, i'm still fairly new to the scene. However I'm putting the question out there for the real brains of this operation. To my understanding we can't downgrade systems above 3.55 because Sony has private keys. Something to do with the update PUP file on 3.56 and above. This I don't know to much about (Thats the Devs job ) However if one was to be able to get these keys....................what exactly do you need for the operation. I have resources. I love Sony don't get me wrong, but just with PC's, you should be able to downgrade your firmware. Such as taking you Windows 7 machine to XP or so on and so fourth. Once the EQ is purchased its yours. Plus you should be able to do what you wish with it. (Check the FCC label on the back of every console. On this post I'm asking DEV's to post what they would need to be able to do this. With the PS4 within grasp in the year, now is our time to really start to look into this. With so many people out there working on things, surely someone can give me info on what the need. Keys or whatever. We all know about the outage a year ago on psn do to a break in the system. Who's to say the people behind that don't have the keys...........always a thought. Info would be great. Let me (us) help if we can.

Thanks

[indirect76]

Private keys would be used to sign new firmwares. Our ability to downgrade is limited by the syscon being intact, not the lack of private keys. As far as what devs need, well I'm not sure what you are asking. Need for what? If you mean to downgrade freely, then we need the syscon to be hacked. If you mean get the private keys then nothing, because it's impossible.

Who's to say that the PSN hackers don't have the private keys you ask? Me. Why on earth would they have them?

[alivingston]

Thank you for your response indirect76. Then I might have been confused. I thought the private keys were the issue. Need for what? Anything that would help with downgrading without the need for a flasher. Yes I know as of right now it is impossible. But surely if Sony can up and down firmware there must be a way. The main reason for this is to remarry drives ( for me anyway). I repair alot of ps3's that people have just swap the drive to get their disc out. Even if the DEV's could come up with a way to pull out of FSM on higher firmwares that would be great. That's basically what I'm asking. I'm not the biggest hacker in the world, but believe me in answer to your question ( Why on earth would they have them?) because hackers keep everything. Just in case.

[indirect76]

Yeah, Sony can probably downgrade consoles if they really wanted because they know the ends and outs of the syscon.

When I said "Why on earth would they have them?" I was alluding more to the fact that the private keys are not going to be sitting on a server somewhere on PSN. They are likely stored on a secure computer with no network access. So whoever took down PSN in 2011 never had access to the private keys.

[alivingston]

I fully agree. I doubt the PSN breach had anything to do with the key. Anyway to dump the HEX file from the ps3 showing what happens when an update is performed? Handshakes, errors, ect.? If so we could edit the hex to stop checks.....similar to keys in CISCO routers. Once again I'm sure someone out there has tried this. I'd like to know their findings.

[indirect76]

I'm unfamiliar with how keys work in CISCO routers, but I know the PS3 does some sort of check to make sure firmware PUPs are signed by the private keys. It's not possible to spoof this signature unless you brute force them and have a few billion years to spare. This is all for signing new firmwares.

If you're only interested in being able to downgrade freely, then I don't have much to offer. I'm not very familiar with the syscon.

[alivingston]

Nor am I. But I do know the basic HEX commands can bypass system checks. Hoping to learn more about the Ps3 and the way it handles these. Thanks for the convo. I'll look into the syscon stuff. Once again thanks for the help.