Hacking Help appreciating the value of a jailbreakable/jailbroken PS4

[Phylum]

I'm challenging myself to assess my valuation of acquiring a jailbreakable or already jailbroken PS4 and have come up with what may amount to be some potentially noobish questions:

1. I know nothing is guaranteed but, how reliable are the OFW versions for the various bundles according to crowd sourced data? If I were to find an older NIB bundle (e.g.: Dynasty Warriors 7 Bundle; Destiny Bundle; Watch Dogs Bundle etc.) that, shipped, with 1.76 or 4.70 or 5.05, how likely is it to actually have that firmware? Or conversely, how likely is it to arrive with something other than that, like 5.05+ or 6.72+?
   
   
2. Is there a guide somewhere that covers the preferred or ideal OFW's in order? What I'm getting at here is if jailbreaking 6.72 is just as good as any of the other supported jailbreakable OFW versions, is it really worth the effort to find super old versions like 1.76 or 4.05 or 5.05?
   
   
3. Lastly, how does the PS4 Homebrew scene compare to the PS3 Homebrew scene? This is that quintessential "What do I get out of a jailbroken PS4" question. I'm not interested in piracy, downloading free games from others. Really it's just about unifying and having a many-in-one solution for gaming & media. (i.e.: Using RetroArch on a PS4 to play my PS1 and PS2 games since I don't have a CECHA/CECHB or CECHC/CECHE.)

Any comments, thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

[godreborn]

I think @KiiWii has an app or a site that tells you what each system or bundle comes with based of sku. bundles are probably better, because you're more like to find them new on ebay or something. 5.05 is supposed to be the golden or best firmware. you can backport games to it, and it's been the most supported. however, some games either don't run or have issues when backported. though, you said you don't care for the games. homebrew is much more rare on the ps4 than the ps3. you can install linux, and I think retroarch, but there's not a whole lot, because we don't have the necessary keys. to make a game package or really to do much of anything, we have to let the system decrypt pfs. then, we can do what we want. pfs is unlikely to be decrypted by us. it's still not decrypted on the vita, but it no longer matters with enso or henkaku, which can bypass it.

 

[Phylum]

Thank you for taking the time to reply @godreborn!

Yes I am aware of that amazing tool by @KiiWii, however

• Most online stores don't show the sku details
• I'm finding that many stores/sellers are not responding to the request for confirmation of the sku details
• I've considered eBay but in many cases the prices tend to be a bit too high, so much so that I would rather pay either a tiny bit more or in some cases less, for a NIB bundle available from a reputable store/seller with a good return policy.
  • I would rather spend ~$200 on a CECHA/B/C/E so I can put the PS1 & PS2 away.

That said, I've been relying on information reported by enthusiasts in here & other forums who have purchased older bundles, as well as Wikipedia to determine which bundles are likley to offer the firmware as far back as 1.76.

I appreciate the insight on PS4 homebrew. I've got a jailbroken Vita and PS3 which are both great, but figured I could retire the PS3 in favor of reproducing what I'm doing there on the PS4.

I think you've 'talked me off a ledge' here and will likely save my coins for [trying to] secure a PS5 between now and whenever.

 

[godreborn]

you may have to go to a store and physically look at the back of the box or something. I know the last of us bundle had 1.76, but there's actually two versions. you have to know what the graphic looks like exactly to get the right one, but both should now be hackable, because neither comes with newer than 5.05.

the hacks are okay, but it's nothing like the ps3 or the vita. you have to deal with kernel panics, which is when the system suddenly shuts off. I've only encountered this when deploying a payload, and it's random. I've never seen it happen afterwards, and I now keep my system in rest mode to avoid it. you also have to remarry packages or updates will error during installation. those are two things not common with the ps3 and the vita. it can be frustrating, because I know that the 6.72 exploit used to be incredibly unstable.

 

[Phylum]

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to reply. There's a lot of great information here.
Unless I find a bundle that is likely to have OFW >=5.05, I'm going to table the hunt and focus my energies elsewhere.
Take care and be safe!