Dutch PSPs reportedly recalled over custom firmware fears

[hockey2112]

From engadget...

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/07/dutch-psps-reportedly-recalled-over-custom-firmware-fears/

Sony's already raised more than a few eyebrows in the Netherlands with its questionable methods of advertising the PSP, and it now looks like it could be drawing some ire as a result of changes to the console itself. According to MaxConsole, Sony has decided to recall all current PSPs from retailers in order to replace them with new, "unflashable" units, presumably in an attempt to clamp down on custom firmware. That bit of information comes from someone Max Console describes as a "reputable dutch distributor," who says that a number of large retail chains have already complied with the recall. From the sound of it, they don't appear to have gotten the updated consoles in return just yet though, leaving anyone shopping for a PSP out of luck for the time being.

edit from wraggster

Be wary, not everything maxconsole posts is true and sometimes just totally made up to get visitors, however time will tell.

[acn010]

well, that sucks for them

[DragonPimpsta]

Lol!

[Buddy4point0]

wow that sucks, but if these new psps are unflashable then how are they gonna use offical updates

[Nikolaos]

wow that sucks, but if these new psps are unflashable then how are they gonna use offical updates

exactly... its a bunch of bull shit lol.. this is fake guys, the psps now arent suppose to be flashable by US, now unless sony wants to give up their flashing rights, ours remain safe :)

[Accordion]

calm down

all it means [if true] is that all the psps will be sold with the latest firmware and not currently downgradable firmware.

[gunntims0103]

Is Sony really that dis trot about Custom Firmware.I'm actually surprised that Sony pays attention to the Homebrew scene in general..........

[Veskgar]

If something like this was ever true it would be one of my worst fears. I am constantly trying to get more friends, family, and even strangers into the wonderful PSP homebrew scene.

With no new downgraders likely for a long time, if at all, the growth and expansion of the scene could hit a stand still.

That may or may not be good thing. Nobody likes to see the influx of "n00b" posts after a new downgrader on issues that could easily be resolved themselves after a little bit of homework. But we were all "n00bs" at one point or another.

Another concern is piracy. Nobody wants to see the PSP engulfed and defeated by mass piracy but honestly, I don't buy the piracy argument used often when discussing the PSP's lacking sales. Why you ask? The Nintendo DS! Anyone can buy a SLOT 1 or other flash cart for the DS Lite nowadays and start using ROMS but that is not hurting DS hardware or software sales. At least not by any measurable means. The Nintendo DS Lite just appeals to a broader audience across all demographics. I mean hell, I could probably convince my Mom and Grandmother to play with a Nintendo DS Lite due to the simplistic puzzle games that include crosswords and stuff. But if I put a PSP in their hands, they would think it was a little too "technical" for their taste.

The PSP sells less because the target audience was smaller. SONY knew this. And although the target audience has been gradually growing, lets face it, the PSP and the games don't appeal to as wide a variety of people. Another thing I have noticed is that people in the market for a gaming device for their children overlook the PSP because it appears to be too delicate.

The PSP is more resilient than it looks. My first PSP has been dropped a couple times, left on for hours on end, its crashed many times with homebrew experimentation, its had stuff spilled on it, its been played with and handled roughly by kids, etc. etc. etc.

And if I take some windex and clean it thoroughly, that PSP which is now 2 1/2 years old still looks and plays like new.

But anyway, back to the point, this could also be another challenge that hackers and devs like Dark_AleX and Fanjita love to take on. The more SONY limits the use of the PSP, the stronger our resolve as a homebrew community/scene becomes.

So I hope the PSP homebrew scene continues to grow, develop, and live on for many years to come.

[acn010]

the only thing that i have in mind that is the umd suppose to be copy protected... so why so easy to rip them????? that i have no clue how it goes

[Tesseract]

Is Sony really that dis trot about Custom Firmware.I'm actually surprised that Sony pays attention to the Homebrew scene in general..........

Actually, I recall an interview with a SONY rep who mentioned that the RSS feature was implemented after observing the Homebrew scene.

Trust me... they're watching. Hopefully they learn more useful stuff!

And I agree with the running mindset that 'unflashable' just wouldn't work 'cause they'd then have no way to distribute 'Official' updates.

[watupgroupie]

the only thing that i have in mind that is the umd suppose to be copy protected... so why so easy to rip them????? that i have no clue how it goes
I think because at the time they didn't think that there handheld would be hacked so easily allowing easy dumping of the disks. The only other way i could see them being dumped is if you replicated a umd drive to a pc but you'd have to be pretty deparate to do that.

[dylandangles]

When they said "unflashable" they meant "newest firmware version".
You can't just write to the flash on any ol' psp. You need to have a Psp with an exploitable firmware.
You aren't supposed to be able to flash your psp in the first place.

How would they even make one "unflashable"? Make flash0 read-only? What do you think the past 10 firmwares have done? We have found ways around that via exploits.

And its impossible to make an "unflashable firmware". Partly because that would defeat the purpose of having an upgradeable firmware.

[Tesseract]

The amusing bit to this is that they're trying so hard to foil OE firmware when they've already had the upper hand on that fight since 3.03.

I can understand the extra measures if we had downgraders for the official firmware as quickly as we tend to have OE firmwares, but that hasn't been the case for a while....

[JosephStalin]

All they really need to do is fill the flash0, so theres no space for the OE firmware

[acn010]

ha ha ha, great idea, hope they work with that method JosephStalin

[steve520]

be afraid......be very afraid muhahahahaha!!!!

[carpy]

edit from wraggster

Be wary, not everything maxconsole posts is true and sometimes just totally made up to get visitors, however time will tell.

and every single thing they post, you steal and claim as your own without sourcing them.

[irishwhip]

hmm, low blow on maxconsole. the source for the story is clearly engadget, not max

[Tesseract]

All they really need to do is fill the flash0, so theres no space for the OE firmware

From what I understand, this would not be wise. The PSP uses the flash0 for other operations as well (as is evidenced by a semi-brick if you fill it up too much), so intentionally filling it up ahead of time would be a Bad Idea.


hmm, low blow on maxconsole. the source for the story is clearly engadget, not max

Close. EnGadget claimed Maxconsole as a source for the story they published on their site.