Reviews of the Blackcat / Maximus / Minimus / AvrKey devices!

**garyopa** · 10-10-2010,01:29 AM

With the release of PSGroove, there has been a ever growing number of new and old products on the market that use the ATMEL chipset, and as such make it easy and fast to flash these USB development boards to support the latest complied PSGroove code with ever improving "payloads" to Jailbreak your PS3 console.

I am busy guy, so I have not had a chance to do a review of all these devices until finally this long Thanksgiving weekend here in my home country of Canada!

I now been able to sit down and play around with my PC and test out these various devices that I had previously been sent to me to review by Foundmy, along with my own Blackcat device that I bought earlier when all this crazy madness of Jailbreaking your PS3 console started, that has keep me so busy these days!

Here is the links to all my own personal reviews of these wonderful neat row of devices pictured above:

BLACKCAT http://psx-scene.com/forums/f182/%2A...-device-68193/
MAXIMUS http://psx-scene.com/forums/f182/%2A...t-board-68194/
MINIMUS http://psx-scene.com/forums/f182/%2A...t-board-68195/
AVRKEY http://psx-scene.com/forums/f182/%2A...-ps3key-68196/

Now would also be a good time to point out that since there is so many different devices out there, xiaNaix has opened up a new Forum here on PSX-SCENE for all these different reviews, and you can find the link to it right along the top NAVBAR here on our ever expanding site!

**patmorita** · 10-10-2010,01:45 AM

Very nice dude, It can help to decide what device can work in the future with new payloads full of more awesome stuff to free the ps3...cheers.-

**mygamingmart** · 10-10-2010,01:52 AM

Super thanks my fellow Canuck -- good stuff!

Welcome to AceKard.ca - PS3 Jailbreak X3Max PS3Key PS3Break X3Switch DS DSi Flash Carts Acekard AK2i Supercard DSTWO R4 Flashcart EZ Flash R4i DSTT iTouch Flash carts, Video Game Accessories & HTC Touch Pro2 - Canada, Europe & America

**patmorita** · 10-10-2010,02:04 AM

I have some questions: how important is the flash size of a device??? 32 KB will be enough for anything that can be done to free the ps3 or we will need more in the future? Any thing else to consider before buy one of these thinking in HUGE updates?

**garyopa** · 10-10-2010,02:47 AM

Originally Posted by patmorita

I have some questions: how important is the flash size of a device??? 32 KB will be enough for anything that can be done to free the ps3 or we will need more in the future? Any thing else to consider before buy one of these thinking in HUGE updates?

Well if you been following the Twitter from "Marcan42" talking about his "AsBestOS" (a new form of Linux), their might be a need for larger type of memory besides just 32K, he was talking about at least 64K if not 128K.

But their is different ways around that problem, one way is to code up a micro-sd card reader, which can be done, and solder the card slot device onto the extra holes found on the Maximus and Minimus devices, but that would leave the Avrkey out of the picture for that possible extra expansion.

For now, 32K is more then enough for all the possible normal "payloads" you will see at this stage in the PS3 console scene.

**TempHK01** · 10-10-2010,05:07 AM

Frist, thanks for your amazing review, I have a question:
I have the PS3Key, but I read that if you program it with the Atmel FLIP sw you lose the ability to program in the future with the original firmware (encrypted) that you download from the site (via the Firmware Updater). Is that true?

I know the team has also released the open firmware but if in the future they do not release anymore this kind of FW, and adds new and important features in the encrypted FW flashabile only by their FW Updater, we could not take advantage of these, right?

thanks

**garyopa** · 10-10-2010,05:14 AM

Originally Posted by TempHK01

Frist, thanks for your amazing review, I have a question:
I have the PS3Key, but I read that if you program it with the Atmel FLIP sw you lose the ability to program in the future with the original firmware (encrypted) that you download from the site (via the Firmware Updater). Is that true?

I know the team has also released the open firmware but if in the future they do not release anymore this kind of FW, and adds new and important features in the encrypted FW flashabile only by their FW Updater, we could not take advantage of these, right?

thanks

I not sure about the PS3KEY, I only have the AVRKEY, the AVRKEY is made by the same people but is un-branded open design that comes with a GREEN sticker on the bag, instead of the YELLOW sticker on fully-encrypted PS3KEY.

But the only part that is protected is their bootloader, so you can erase it, leaving you only 28K of space to work with, and I was able to flash other complied firmwares onto it with no problems except the LED's I could not get to work, maybe in the near future someone will update the LED's.H in the PSGroove to support them correctly, if you don't care about little blinking status lights, then you can easy grab any complied ATMEGA32 HEX and it will work on the AVRKEY, which is fully open unlike it's directly supported PS3KEY.

**TempHK01** · 10-10-2010,05:29 AM

Thank you (and sorry for the double post in the other topic)
but if I erase the bootloader than I cannot convert it back to support the firmware updates that the team maybe will release in the futures? the ones not open

I have this question because the original firmware does not yet support the lastest Hermes v3 patch and the updates by the PS3Key team are not as fast as the PSGroove scene.
So I'm a bit undecided on what to do

P.S.: Where I can find the correct hex file for the ATMEGA32u2? Is the same of the Teensy 1.0?

**LEON007** · 10-10-2010,07:19 AM

Hi gary. I also want to know what TempHK01 ask for.

1. Its looklike PS3KEY has MEGA32U2 chip. So is it compatible with PSGroov? If it is then can you guide me to the appropriate HEX?

2. If I update it with HEX can it be future updatable?

PS3key team is very slow at the moment and they didnt update to even Hermes V3.

**Shippy** · 10-10-2010,03:39 PM

It seems to me that this team just scrambles to copiy what is being done freely. It's not like they are inventing new ideas. IMHO if you are stuck with a PS3key and you want the latest feature right away then do like Garyopa stated. You may lose "offical support" but this is a hacking website, who cares for "official support"? I <3 scene support.

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