Desert Bunker

The PS3 is now capable of running backed up games from either the internal HDD or an external drive with the use of a USB device that puts the PS3 into developer/debug mode. It doesn’t appear to be an exploit.

News of the device first hit PSX-Scene.com, at first with many users claiming it to be fake. But after several test units began being sent to well-respected scene members, it was confirmed that this magic little device is the real deal.

Here’s a video of the USB dongle in action, loading a game supposedly already backed up on the drive:

Not only will you be able to back up your games to a hard drive, but it is now possible to run unsigned homebrew code on your console, so one can only imagine what sorts of exciting things will be developed.

Oh, and for those of you with PS3s and an extra $120, you can purchase this device right now from these guys: PSJailbreak.com

Clones are apparently already being made, after a few have identified the guts of the goods. The dongle was identified to have the Atmel ATMEGA32U4 micro-controller. Expect a few good copycats and possible malicious attempts to make a quick buck from the uninitiated buyer.

As for Sony, they haven’t commented on the situation. But I’m pretty sure they must be throwing a fit over this, especially since the PS3 is just beginning to make money and outsell the competition. Many fear that Sony may further cripple the PS3 and decide to do something drastic, such as disable USB functionality altogether. Although it’s unlikely that Sony would do such an injustice to users, Sony’s been known to take desperate measures for even the slightest signs of a weakness in their flagship video game console.

Update: Based on the information here, the PSJailbreak ATMEGA chip is NOT updatable. Replacing the hardware is the only way to update the device, if at all. They also go in to detail about how the PSJailbreak works:

We can confirm that PSJailbreak is in fact no simple clone of Sony´s “Jig” modul, instead it´s an honest, self developed exploit. The Chip inside is no PIC18F444 but an ATMega with USB-software. That means that the chip is capable of internal USB emulation. PSJailbreak mainly emulates a 6-port USB-hub to that several USB-devices get connected and disconnected in a speciffic sequence. One of these devices has the ID of Sony´s “Jig” modul, so that means that the “Jig” played a certain role during the development of PSJailbreak.

But first things first: When switching the PS3 on, a device is connected within the USB-emulation, which has a too large configuration descriptor. This discriptor overwrites the stack with contained PowerPC-code that is executed. Now various other devices get connected within the emulation. One device has a 0xAD large descriptor that is part of the exploit and contains static data. Short time later (we´re talking about milliseconds here) the “Jig” gets connected and encrypted data is sent to the “Jig”.
An eternity later (in milliseconds that is) the “Jig” answers with 64Bytes of static data, all USB-devices get disconnected, a new device is connected and the PS3 restarts in a new look.

Brought to you by: DesertBunker

It was only a matter of time.  Verizon’s flagship Android handset was finally rooted the other day. For those with Droids, I highly suggest you get the rooted ROM before an OTA patch is pushed.

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I found out that a friend of mine and his buddy just completed their MAME cabinet project. The cabinet utilizes a PC (specs unknown,) Windows XP as the host operating, with GameEx, Mame 0.123, MESS, and nullDC as the emulation software.

I’m really digging the glowing trackball and buttons, and the multitude of different classic platforms that it supports. It looks like the construction took a painfully long while, and I’m not sure if the construction of this thing justifies throwing down $1600, but the end result was certainly and authentic retro style arcade machine.

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This thrown together hunk of junk was made in a matter of fifteen minutes, but significantly improves my ability to detect and use access points previously untouchable by my consumer-grade USB Wifi adapter, the DWL-G122.

I salvaged the dish from my roof, of which I didn’t even know existed until I went out back the pick weeds and noticed the oddly shaped semi-dome in a strategically hidden location. The presentation stand was found innocently wasting away in my garage.

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I was finally able to get all of the critical parts that I needed to put my beloved but obsolete Gateway Solo 9500 laptop back to working condition again. Since I’m seriously considering putting this whole motherboard into a custom case of some sort, I decided not to buy new screws and/or keyboard keys.

I dug through dozens of boxes in my garage, and came across the USB and sound input/output module, so I that’s another ten dollars kept in my pocket. I found a perfectly working Solo 9500 CD drive on ebay, which only set me back about twelve dollars, plus shipping. Another part I was very lucky to find, was the USB and sound input/output module. Some crazy snake oilers were peddling this hard to find piece for about eighty-eight dollars, while there was a single seller from Philadelphia who was kindly only asking for ten dollars. If it weren’t for him/her, my restoration project would have screeched to a complete halt for a while, possibly months.

Adding pictures of my collected parts and the re-assembled laptop soon.

Patient: Gateway Solo 9500

My goal is to get this eight year old laptop to full working condition, without spending a lot of cash. Some of the problems I might encounter during this procedure are:

• Missing Screws (though might not be a problem if I find another suitable enclosure)
• Overheating CPU, on a count of not being used for many years
• Rare/hard to find parts
• Boredom

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This is my crappy version of those $10k touch screens that allow multiple inputs. The software I used was TouchLib, and I followed several tutorials from Instructables.com. A big thanks goes out to cerupcat for this ingenious yet cheap and simple implementation.

Parts needed:
• A webcam with high FPS.
• A small to medium size box.
• A piece of blank paper.
• A sturdy piece of flat and clear material.
• Scotch tape.
• Soft, even, and non-directional lighting (make sure you have multiple light sources to prevent hard shadows.)

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