Review: Cobra USB Jailbreak Dongle PS3

***bandit*** · August 6th, 2011, 05:19

Cobra USB Jailbreak Dongle PS3
Manufacturer: Cobra
Site: Buy from LighTake

Price: $34.99

Overview : The Cobra USB will unlock all the features of your device without needing to open up your console and voiding your warranty, or damage the components. Just by inserting this USB, you can watch your Blu-Ray discs region free as well as play DVDs and Blu-Rays via ISO on your HDD. You will be able to play your PS1 ISO files as well as PS3 ISO files on your HDD or USB. The Cobra is compatible with fat and slim consoles from any region. As well this device can flash and upgrade your firmware to 3.55 and the downgrade back to regular firmware at will. It has a slick UI and customized options with easy navigation. Also it utilizes an onboard Actel based encryption engine to prevent device cloning. An added bonus is the easy mode selection via a switch allowing you to choose from PC update, PS3 downgrade and regular PS3 device mode.

Features :

Blu-Ray Movie region free functionality**
Allows you to play Blu-Ray movie ISO’s from HDD**
Allows you to play DVD movie ISO’s from HDD**
Integrated support to play PS1 game ISO’s from HDD**
Enjoy PS3 games with files >4GB on external USB HDD**
Integrated support to play PS2 ISO's on CECHC, CECHE, CECHA and CECHB backwards compatible consoles.
Partial support on other PS3 consoles to play PS2 ISO's via software emulation
Supports FAT and SLIM PS3 consoles any region
Supports versions up to 3.55
Unique custom Cobra firmware acts as OFW when dongle not inserted
Play PS3 games from internal HDD
PS3, PSX, DVD and Blu-Ray ISO's can now be played without a real disc inserted in the PS3
MCU firmware and flash firmware updateable using easy to use free PC updater
First class customer support and free regular firmware upgrades
No need to open your console, just plug and play
High quality components and materials used throughout
Unique and built from scratch Cobra USB manager featuring slick U.I. and customized options with easy navigation
Actel based encryption engine onboard to prevent device cloning
Fast onboard 2 Mbyte SPI flash for firmware storage
High quality onboard MCU
Easy mode selection via switch (PC update, PS3 downgrader, regular PS3 device mode)
Downgrader functionality included free of charge, allowing users to upgrade firmware to and from 3.41 at will.
Multi-lingual user interface (English, Spanish and French as standard with more languages to be supported later)
** = World's first implementation

Quality/Usability : AS A REMINDER, WE DO NOT CONDONE PIRACY. THIS REVIEW IS FOR EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

The Cobra USB dongle comes in a box that has a snake skin like look and is surrounded with foam for added protection. The Cobra USB dongle is available in 2 versions: one with firmware pre-installed and a blank version where the firmware will have to be downloaded from the Cobra USB website. You can download the required files and firmware here. For additional information on how to update or install your Cobra USB, you can also download the latest user manual from the link.

Before getting the Cobra USB to work, you must first installed the necessary drivers on your PC. Once you installed the drivers, you can update the Cobra's firmware. To update Cobra USB firmware, just drag and drop the update file into the cobraflash program. Wait for the update to complete and when asked, press ENTER to exit. It is important to not remove the device while the update is in progress.

Cobra 3.55 cfw installation (same method if newer cfw's are released)

Download the PS3UPDAT.PUP file of the cobra CFW. The MD5 of this file is 0922794CFB2FA4CB3DF71C8C3E391E08.
Copy this file to any usb drive, in /PS3/UPDATE/ folder (create the folders if they don’t exist), and connect it to the PS3.
If you are on a firmware prior to 3.55, including cfw, install the update using the XMB, remember to choose “Update via Storage Media”. Follow any instructions, and skip the next steps.
If you are on firmware 3.55, ofw or cfw, in some consoles you will be able to update using the XMB. In other consoles, you will be given an error complaining that latest firmware is already installed. On those consoles, you will have to install cobra cfw in recovery mode. Next steps explain how to enter this mode.
To enter recovery mode, power off the PS3. Keep the usb drive with the cfw pup as the only device connected to the PS3.
Power on the PS3 keeping the power button pressed until the PS3 powers off.
Power on again the PS3 keeping the power button, until you hear one beep followed by a double beep.
You are now in recovery mode, connect a PS3 controller to any USB port, choose option 6 in the screen, and follow any other on screen instructions.

Note: Cobra CFW will behave like a 3.55 ofw if the PS3 is booted without Cobra USB connected. It is useless to install this CFW if you don’t have a Cobra USB device. Cobra USB requires certain binary files of the firmware not to be changed. Changing these files may make Cobra USB not to work at all, or to behave incorrectly. Changing fonts, xml, etc is fine, if the user knows what he is doing.

Advice: if you want to update the system again to install other firmware, we recommend to do it booting the PS3 without Cobra USB connected. It will probably work with Cobra USB connected too, but it is safer to update without Cobra patches present.

Jailbreak instructions

Firstly, you must install cobra 3.55 cfw. (Cobra no longer supports 3.41 firmwares)
Your PS3 must be powered off. Unlike in previous versions, there is no need of a full power off, or removing any disc.
Insert Cobra USB in the PS3. Make sure that it is in PC mode (switch in left position). Yes, PC mode. Since firmware 3.00, PC mode and jailbreak modes are equivalent, however, we recommend using PC mode for both jailbreak and cobra updates, downgrade position for factory service mode, and leave the jailbreak position (middle position) unused.
In PS3 models with four USB ports, don’t use the one in the left, except in the case that another USB device is also connected at the same time.
Unlike in previous versions, you can have other USB devices connected at booting time if you wish.
Simply turn on the PS3 without doing any button combo.
Cobra blue led will turn on for a short moment, followed by the red led blinking. After some time, green led will turn on and PS3 will be in Cobra mode.

When the Cobra USB is plugged into the USB port of the PS3, the logo on the dongle lights up in a bright white.

Installation of the Cobra Manager is the same as installing any package. Load the manager onto a USB storage device (not Cobra USB) via PC, load PS3 into jailbreak mode, insert USB storage device and “Install Package Files”. The Cobra Manager is similar to any other backup manager released for jailbroken PS3's. Cobra USB Manager loads PS3 game backups from the following directories:

/dev_hdd0/GAMES
/dev_hdd0/BDRIPS
/dev_hdd0/GAMEZ
/dev_hdd0/PS3ISO (for ISO backups)
/dev_usbXXX/GAMES
/dev_usbXXX/GAMEZ
/dev_usbXXX/PS3ISO (for ISO backups)

And it writes game backups to:

/dev_hdd0/GAMES
/dev_hdd0/PS3ISO (for ISO backups)
/dev_usbXXX/GAMES
/dev_usbXXX/PS3ISO (for ISO backups)

Making Blu-Ray backups

Start Cobra USB Manager from the XMB.
Press square to change to Blu-Ray mode.
Insert a Blu-Ray (BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE). It will appear at the beginning of the list.
Select it, press circle, and choose the destination device from the list. Wait for the copy to complete.

Warning: although Cobra USB Manager allows original Blu-Ray movies to be copied, backups won’t work because of AACS copy protection. However, you can transfer these backups to your PC, decrypt them using some tool such as AnyDvd HD, DVDFab, etc, and transfer the decrypted ISO back to the PS3. If you have a Blu-Ray reader on your computer, you may want to do the full process there instead.

Playing Blu-Ray backups

Start Cobra USB Manager from the XMB.
Press square to change to Blu-Ray mode.
Choose the backup from the list and press X.
Cobra USB Manager will mount the backup and exit. You can play your movie backup using the XMB player.
When you are done playing the backup, you can start Cobra USB Manager again if you wish to unload the backup.

Cobra USB Manager uses the following directories to load/write Blu-Ray backups in ISO format:

/dev_hdd0/BDISO
/dev_usbXXX/BDISO

ISO files can be split using the same naming convention used for game backups in ISO format. Blu-Ray backups are not limited to movies; any kind of ISO file having a file system recognized by the PS3 can be mounted as a Blu-Ray.

Making DVD backups

Start Cobra USB Manager from XMB.
Press square twice to change to DVD mode.
Insert a DVD-ROM, DVD+/-R or DVD+/-RW. It will appear at the beginning of the list.
Select it, press circle, and choose the destination device from the list. Wait for the copy to complete.

Warning: although Cobra USB Manager allows original DVD movies to be copied, backups won’t work if they use CSS copy protection. In these cases, it is a better idea to do the backup in a computer using any program that removes CSS, and then transfer the unprotected backup to the PS3.

Playing DVD backups

Start Cobra USB Manager from XMB.
Press square twice to change to DVD mode.
Choose the backup from the list and press X.
Cobra USB Manager will mount the backup and exit. You can play your movie backup using the XMB player.
When you are done playing the backup, you can start Cobra USB Manager again if you wish to unload the backup.

Cobra USB Manager uses the following directories to load/write DVD backups in ISO format:

/dev_hdd0/DVDISO
/dev_usbXXX/DVDISO

ISO files can be split using the same naming convention used for game backups in ISO format. DVD backups are not limited to movies; any kind of ISO file having a file system recognized by the PS3 can be mounted as a DVD.

Making PSX backups

Start Cobra USB Manager from XMB.
Press square three times to change to PSX mode.
Insert an original PSX game or a backup in a CD-R disc. It will appear at the beginning of the list.
Select it, press circle, and choose the destination device from the list. Wait for the copy to complete. If the game only contains the data track, the backup will be in ISO format; if it contains more tracks, cue/bin format will be used instead.

Playing PSX backups

Start Cobra USB Manager from XMB.
Press square three times to change to PSX mode.
Choose the backup from the list and press X.
Cobra USB Manager will mount the backup and exit. You can start the PSX game backup from the XMB.

Cobra USB Manager uses the following directories to load/write PSX backups:

/dev_hdd0/PSXISO
/dev_usbXXX/PSXISO

Allowed format are:

ISO (mode 2/2352).
Cue+bin. Data track must be mode 2/2352.
Cue+bin+wav is not supported: audio tracks in wav files are ignored.

Playing PSX backups in CD-R
Cobra USB allows PSX backups in CD-R discs to be transparently started from XMB without the need of Cobra USB Manager.

PSX region
Cobra USB bypasses PSX region for original PSX games, and backups in both CD-R and ISO/cue format.
However there is currently a frame rate issue, and NTSC games don’t play properly on PAL consoles and vice versa.

Making PS2 backups
This feature is mainly for backwards compatible models (CECHA, CECHB, CECHC and CECHE). PS2 mode won’t appear in other models unless the software emulator option is unlocked (see “Settings menu” section)

Start Cobra USB Manager from XMB.
Press square four times to change to PS2 mode.
Insert an original PS2 game or a DVD+/-R or CD-R backup. It will appear at the beginning of the list.
Select it, press circle, and choose the destination device from the list. Wait for the copy to complete.

Playing PS2 backups
This feature is mainly for backwards compatible models (CECHA, CECHB, CECHC and CECHE), although PS2 backups can be loaded in other models if the software emulator is unlocked (see “Settings Menu” section).

Currently, PS2 backups can only be loaded from internal disc, and not from external drives or optical discs. You can however transfer backups between them.

Start Cobra USB Manager from XMB.
Press square four times to change to PS2 mode.
Choose the backup from the list and press X.
Cobra USB Manager will mount the backup and exit. You can start the PS2 game backup from the XMB. Don’t forget that you must assign slots to virtual memory cards in the XMB if they aren’t already assigned.

Cobra USB Manager uses the following directories for PS2 backups:

/dev_hdd0/PS2ISO
/dev_usbXXX/PS2ISO -> currently, only for transferring, not loading

Allowed format are:

DVD backups: ISO files with 2048 bytes per sector.
CD backups:
1. ISO files with 2048 or 2352 bytes per sector; CD backups with 2352 bytes per sector are more compatible.
2. Cue+bin: Data track must be mode 2/2352.
  Cue+bin+wav is not supported: audio tracks in wav files are ignored.

PS2 ISO backups are automatically unmounted when returning to XMB from the game.

Because of the special nature of the PS2 emulator, Cobra USB must be connected when exiting a PS2 game from the emulator menu. If Cobra USB is not connected, you will return to a normal not patched 3.55 XMB.

PS2 region
Currently, there is no support to load original games from different region. However, backups in ISO are region free, and the PS2 emulator successfully switches to the proper frame rate.

The regional lock of original discs doesn’t apply to making backups; you can backup your regional locked game and play the ISO backup.

Settings menu
Settings menu can be entered in Cobra USB Manager by pressing R1. Use left-right to change settings.
Currently, the following settings can be changed:

Blu-Ray region: you can fake here the region for blu-ray playback, allowing the playing of movies of different regions. This process doesn’t write anything in the system flash, region is only faked when starting the console with Cobra USB.
DVD region: you can fake here the region for DVD-video playback, allowing the playing of DVD video of different regions. This only applies to RCE protected titles, standard DVD regional protection is already bypassed by Cobra USB. This process doesn’t write anything in the system flash, region is only faked when starting the console with Cobra USB.
Games launch mode: you can change here how games are launched. XMB mode means that Cobra USB Manager will exit back to XMB when selecting a game and you must start it from XMB. In direct mode, Cobra USB Manager will launch the game directly, this may lower compatibility.
PS2 Software emulator: this option appears only on not backwards compatible models. If enabled, users of these models can test ps2 original games and backups in ISO format using the PS2 software emulator.

This option is disabled by default because the software emulator doesn’t have much quality; it is slow and has several problems like virtual memory card not working, graphical glitches, and hangs. In ps3 slims, it has some additional problems, like controller only working if connected to an USB port.

Once this option is enabled, users of not backwards compatible models can follow the instructions in the PS2 sections to load and make backups.

Blu-Ray region, DVD regions and PS2 software emulator settings are saved on Cobra USB internal flash.
If you have removed Cobra USB, please insert it again before saving settings.

FTP
You can use FTP to transfer files to the PS3 from your computer. To activate FTP, press L1 on Cobra USB Manager.

In the PC, use an ftp client such as FileZilla.

In host field, type the IP address of your PS3. As username, specify CBUM01234. Password can be left blank.

Factory Service Mode
Factory Service Mode is used to perform operations like downgrade.
To enter factory service mode using Cobra, follow these instructions.

Power off your PS3.
Insert Cobra USB in the PS3. Make sure that it is in factory service mode (switch in right position).
Turn on PS3 and press eject quickly.
Blue and green LED’s of Cobra will flash while booting, green led will be the final led on success. If you are on a regular ofw or cfw, the console will shut down. If you are on cobra CFW, the console will continue booting normally (unless it is semibricked, in that case it will stay on forever). In both cases, don’t worry, despite that, the PS3 flag that sets factory service mode will have been written, just shutdown your PS3 manually and next time you will be in factory service mode.
You are now in factory service mode. Don’t connect Cobra USB while in factory service mode.
You can find tutorials on the internet to perform operations like downgrade, exiting factory service mode, etc.

Conclusion : Overall, the Cobra USB Dongle for the PS3 works as Cobra said it would. If you're still holding onto your precious 3.41 firmware, you're going to have to give it up. The Cobra Team released a Cobra 3.0 firmware pack. In this release they enabled the Cobra USB device on 3.55 via use of their own cfw. With this new firmware pack, it makes sense to no longer support 3.41. You should always be as updated as possible since older versions are no longer supported or would have compatibility issues. What I love about their custom firmware is that with the Cobra plugged in, it's jailbroken but when it's not plugged in, the custom firmware acts like an official firmware as if it was never modified.

Making backups of DVDs or Blu-Rays will require a little bit more of an effort thanks to the copy protection but the instructions are pretty straight forward. No other jailbreak dongles or known methods that I know of that allows you to backup movies from your PS3.

Own a E3Card or other jailbreak devices? I'm sure devs are currently working on reverse engineering Cobra's work to make it open sourced so that it is compatible with other dongles but with 2 releases already, it still hasn't been cracked. I guess Cobra has a good protection on it. With the PS3 scene being quiet, hopefully the Cobra Team will continue to release new and exciting features for the PlayStation 3.

3.55 isn't the latest firmware update so it will not play any of the new games the requires higher firmware until Cobra or someone jailbreaks Sony's latest firmwares. Also, there is still no access to PSN. So there is no online play. If you want online access, either forget about jailbreaking your PS3 or get a second PS3; one for jailbreaking and one for online and normal use.