E3 Card Reader Review

[garyopa]

Well a while ago, the makers of E3 Card Reader send me a couple of their neat device as samples.

I finally got around to playing with them today, but sadly of course PSN was already patched, but everything works great on it to Jailbreak your v3.41 PS3 Console!

The E3 Features:

• 32bit processor with 128k flash
• MicroSD SDHC supported
• Multi-System supported - (WinXP/vista/Win7/MacOS/Linux)
• 4M programable onboard FLASH - (Accessed as 4M USB drive)
• Support Multi-System - Super-Drag-Drop Upgrade -Nothing more than a file copy

The moment you plug this dongle into your PC, three drives suddenly appear on your desktop:

The first drive letter is tiny 4megabyte flash drive, and it is there for two things!

You can throw inside it any already pre-complied PSGroove HEX which you must name as h.hex and it will use that as the default Hermes payload when booting up your PS3, or if you wish to try out a PL3 KaKaroToKS just name the HEX as k.hex and it will use that also!

The second thing you can use this tiny 4megabyte flash drive for, is to Install Package Files, just throw inside it the Backup Manager you wish to use, and bang their it is on your PS3 ready to quickly install.

All tho, personally I found the 4megabyte too small, for all the packages I like to mess around with, but it was just big enough for it to hold a version of Open Manager along with BlackBox FTP Server the two main things any PS3 owner needs, but as more features are being added to various managers, it might get tough to fit it into the 4megabyte drive, and sadly even tho this dongle has a MicroSD slot, you can use it to install package files! -- Weird!

Ok, next up we have the Upgrader Drive this is special drive, all you do is throw in their official BIN from their website, and bang your dongle is updated, recently they just released a complied BIN that is a dual-boot firmware, with all the v3.50 spoofing and PSN hacking, but sadly that got patched quickly by Sony, but unlike other PSJailbreak clone makers, this E3 company has been around a long time in the mod-chip world, going back to early days of PS2 chipping, and so far they have been fast in producing BIN files for the E3, the moment the PSN hack was available, they had a upgraded firmware ready to good, same as with the v3.50 spoof, so it looks like they are on top of the changes in PS3 Scene.

Now Dual-Boot, you may ask, what the hell is that good for?

Well, I found it very useful, you can bootup with the full-dressing (spoofing/psn hack) Hermes payload, you do so by not having a SDCARD plugged in, and I was able to play all my backuped games with no problems.

And then bang just plugin a SDCARD and reboot the PS3 and you are in PL3 DEV payload land giving you developer features like "peek & poke", and other goodies that PL3 offers and with the SDCARD plugged it, you can directly use stuff like "lvl2 dump to SD" and "reboot your /dev_flash" via an USB FIRM LOADER package.

So in the end, buying a E3 Card reader combined with their new Dual-Boot upgraded firmware gives you the best of both "payload" worlds, the game stable playing of Hermes and the high-end developer and improved syscalls KaKaroToKS payloads all within one dongle, instead of having to invest in buying TWO dongles which you have flash and buy a USB STICK to store things like your packages and copies of your /dev_flash on before you can fully enjoy the complete Jailbroken PS3 experience!

And finally, no review is complete with ripping open the dongle afterwards to see the insides of the wonderful hardware, and I have attached nice high-res picture of what I found inside, sadly they have of course scrap off any white markings of the chipset numbers, but most likely it is SiLabs design because of the drag-n-drop upgrade firmware feature.

I end my personal review with a list of PRO's and CON's for this device:

PROs:

* Professional Solid Case With Official USB Connector
* Quality-Built-Hardware, by Company With A Long Track Record
* Packed With Features, 4M Flash, Dual-Boot, Micro-SD Slot, 128K firmware
* Easy To Upgrade, just drop their supplied BIN file in, no special software!
* Easy to Override Firmware, just drop any complied HEX into 4M flash!

CONs:

* Writing files to the MicroSD inserted, I found slower then normal!
* You can only install PS3 packages from the 4M Flash, not the MicroSD slot!
* As such, the 4M Flash might be in the future too small for homebrew packages!

Official E3 Site: E3 Card Reader, New Generation PC Card Reader

Official E3 Distributor: E3 Card Reader, New Generation PS3 Chip With Multi-Functions

[cnnps3]

maybe somebody can clear this up for me...

if the device lets you use any complied hex for 3.50 spoofing etc, what is the point of the upgrade bin file if it does the same thing? this is open source isnt it?

[djhazardous]

Looks big and ugly as hell, they could have atleast painted it black so it wouldn't stand out as much.

[garyopa]

maybe somebody can clear this up for me...

if the device lets you use any complied hex for 3.50 spoofing etc, what is the point of the upgrade bin file if it does the same thing? this is open source isnt it?

You have two choices, you can use their "upgrade file" if you so wish, easy for those that want to just plug and play, and don't want to source HEX files.

OR

You can just throw any pre-complied hex into the 4m flash drive, and it will use it instead, you just need to make sure to name "h.hex" if it hermes complied payload or "k.hex" if it is pl3 payload. -- All lower-case letters!

So they give you best of both worlds, you can use their own firmwares, or just drop any already complied hex in if you can't wait for updates, or you want to test your own changes out.

[bitsbubba]

what I want to know is the differences in this and P3Go

[cnnps3]

You have two choices, you can use their "upgrade file" if you so wish, easy for those that want to just plug and play, and don't want to source HEX files.

OR

You can just throw any pre-complied hex into the 4m flash drive, and it will use it instead, you just need to make sure to name "h.hex" if it hermes complied payload or "k.hex" if it is pl3 payload. -- All lower-case letters!

So they give you best of both worlds, you can use their own firmwares, or just drop any already complied hex in if you can't wait for updates, or you want to test your own changes out.

thanks! just want i wanted to know... ive been waiting for a review on this device to clear up any questions i had.

after reading the p3go is not mac osx friendly and only can be used with bootcamp, makes buying this product easier.

[mygamingmart]

first off, good review!

this dongle is mac compatible which is good, also the price is fair. we are taking preorders and we will have full stock in the middle of next week. also dont forget, we give 5% off for all orders till xmas, just use the code: 5ps3hacks

thanks guys!
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[Phreaker47]

Looks decent, but I wonder, why have the MicroSD at all, if you can't access it in the PS3... seems its only real use is for the payload toggling.

[fankobe]

So they give you best of both worlds, you can use their own firmwares, or just drop any already complied hex in if you can't wait for updates, or you want to test your own changes out.

It is better than X3MAX with this features.

Just found Lightake already got E3 card reader for sale .
7% off coupon retailmenot if anyone wants to purchase one.

[Deathwing Zero]

Hey Gary, nice review! I wonder if you could test something for me, however. You said you cannot install .PKG files from the MicroSD card slot, but try this and see if it works:

1. Make sure you have no .PKG files on the 4MB onboard flash (just for the purpose of this test).
2. Put a (or several for a better test) .PKG file on the MicroSD card
3. Go to install Package Files option on XMB (PS3, of course), Press Triangle, then select "Install All Packages"

I have a USB card reader that does MS Pro Duo and MicroSD and when I put .PKG files on my MicroSD or Pro Duo card and insert it using my card reader, it doesn't show up in the list, but Install All Packages does indeed install them.