posted 23/10/2024
did you know it's actually reasonably easy to hack your ps3? the issue is there's no lovely 3ds.hacks.guide equivalent... well this won't be that either, but i'm gonna point you towards resources that might make navigating the scene less confusing. take my hand.
console mods wiki: getting started.
first of all: what's your model? not every ps3 can run custom firmware (cfw), but all of them can run hen, which is a homebrew enabler, and lets you run games from sources other than discs, which is enough imo. so this will center on hen (also because i can't have cfw, so it's from my experience).
before starting: read the whole thing once! not just because it's good practice, but you can prep your usb stick all at once, saving a lot of time and hassle.
the great ps3hen all-in-one guide. but watch out. it's somewhat outdated.
console mods wiki: ps3hen. better instruction set, still a little lacking.
ps3xploit.me. bookmark this page. on your pc, phone AND ps3. the ps3 hates https, you'll probably need to use http://ps3xploit.me instead.
to get hen, first you need to install hybrid firmware (hfw) into your ps3. right now, the latest original firmware (ofw) is 4.91, and it's compatible with the latest hfw and hen! in the future, double check that this remains true. the psx place forum can help, though it's all kinda convoluted.
from what i can gather, hfw works the exact same as ofw and will let you login to psn without harassing you about software updates. this isn't from experience though, i updated to 4.91 first because i wasn't sure and the hfw was taking ages to download anyway.
ps3hen official release thread.
with hfw installed we can get hen going. there's several different ways to do it, but the auto installer worked perfectly for me. this is all done on the ps3 browser.
now these two programs are here so you can, among other things, launch your non-disc games. install them in this order. prep your usb stick with both of them at once to speed things up.
the wiki is nearly perfect for these.
guides looooove mentioning your ps3 ip address and not telling you how to find it. i'm sure this isn't the only way, but you can see it through multiman's settings. when using ftp, i think any port will do, i leave it at the default 21.
vimm's lair. the goat.
myrient. it's kinda annoying to navigate, make sure you read the faq. you'll most likely want redump.
no pay station. for psn games, you can download the rap directly here.
ps3 iso tools. runs on linux under wine, though i couldn't get it to split isos (didn't try too hard though).
um yeah now you can just play stuff. the all-in-one guide is pretty good for this, though there's no need to format your usb to ntfs, you can just split the iso with ps3 iso tools.
i'm not sure if there's a name for what they're calling 'JB' folder format, but if your game comes in a folder, well, that's what it is. ps3 iso tools can convert directly into a split iso, really handy.
see, all you need is an afternoon and a little patience and you too can unlock a whole world of gaming: not just ps3 stuff but also ps1, 2* and portable. try demon's souls. littlebigplanet. shadow of the colossus, original and remaster. and there's the silent hills and metal gears and resident evils and such. just missing bloodborne...
* most ps3s are infamously not actually backwards compatible with the ps2 because of the aforementioned living in hell thing — sony fucking hates the concept of *checks notes* playing games you physically own [when i'd be more fucking likely to buy a ps4 if i didn't have to keep this other hunk of plastic around. ahem. anyway]. even with hen, you just can't run from disc. a bummer given every single ps2 in the world has a time bomb for a disc reader, but my dance pad isn't compatible either so it would be kinda moot since ddr is the only original ps2 game i own.