Hacking Below 3.55 OFW never updated past 3.15 and ready to CFW

[xjeremyx]

MODEL: CECHE-01 Fat 80GB
OFW: 3.15

In short, way back when Sony announced it planned to discontinue Other OS support, I stopped updating. I almost bought a usb dongle, soldered a usb dongle, and then waited for hopefully a software mod.
Upon reading many of mschumacher69 posts here and at the other hax place he posts at, about comparisons between rogero, rebug, habib. He has posts about not needing to even update to 3.55 to run the CFW, etc. Between his posts that say there isn't a need, and other's posts that say update to 3.55 THEN run the CFW, I don't know what is the best course of action.
I have no intention to go online for ps+ or online gaming or anything, trophy support has little appeal to me; is there a reason to update beyond 3.15?
I believe that rebug is the choice in CFW for me because of stability.
I gather that the LITE version of the rebug is for CEX machines, as the other CFWs are listed for R/DEX
I have no intention of developing software for the machine, is there an advantage to converting to a R/DEX flash without those intentions?
Any conditions to concern myself with for upgrading to a larger HDD with CFW (before/after), just play .ISO via NAS, etc?

 

[mechadylan]

Upon reading many of mschumacher69 posts here and at the other hax place he posts at, about comparisons between rogero, rebug, habib. He has posts about not needing to even update to 3.55 to run the CFW, etc. Between his posts that say there isn't a need, and other's posts that say update to 3.55 THEN run the CFW, I don't know what is the best course of action.

Just so I know that we're all on the same page; Custom FirmWare isn't meant to run on top of Official FirmWare, it is installed and replaces the Official FirmWare. If you wish to install Rebug CFW, that FW will be your PS3's new FW. As far as the fastest way to get to the latest Rebug CFW from OFW 3.15, I'm not sure as I tend to stick to the most logical sounding solutions with the steps that yield the best results despite of time and work involved.

1. According to Sony, updating to the newest OFW (x.xx) from any OFW (below x.xx) is just a matter of updating online.

A. In your case, going from OFW 3.15 to OFW 4.46 is a snap​

B. Odds of a successful update: 99.9999%​

C. DO NOT DO THIS!!!!​

2. According to Rebug, updating to the newest Rebug CFW from any FW (Official, Custom, or Modified) is just a matter of updating via USB stick.

A. In your case, going from OFW 3.15 to Rebug CFW 4.46.1 "should" work.​

B. Odds of a successful update: 50%* (only because I've never heard of anyone attempting this)​

C. I WOULD NOT DO THIS!!!​

3. According to the 27C3, the keys to OFW 3.55 were successfully cracked and updating to it from any OFW below it is no big deal (and probably a good idea) via USB stick.

A. In your case, going from OFW 3.15 to OFW 3.55 will work.​

B. Odds of a successful update: 99.9999%​

C. I WOULD DO THIS.​

4. According to the aftermath of the 27C3 findings, installing ANY CFW3.55 from OFW3.55 (as long as the keys are correct) will work via USB stick.

A. In your case, going from OFW 3.55 to Rebug 3.55 will work (as it is not going backwards in numeration; lateral is fine)​

B. Odds of a successful migration from OFW 3.55 to any CFW 3.55: 99.9999% (Rebug, kmeaw, Geohot, Wutangrza, etc...they work)​

C. I WOULD DO THIS TOO.​

5. According to Rebug, updating to CFW 4.46.1 from ANY CFW below 4.46.1 will work via USB stick.

A. In your case, going from Rebug CFW 3.55 to Rebug CFW 4.46.1 will work.​

B. Odds of a successful update to the latest Rebug CFW from any Rebug CFW with a lower numeration: 99.9999%​

C. I WOULD DO THIS AS WELL.​

​

tl;dr OFW 3.15>OFW 3.55>Rebug 3.55>Rebug 4.46.1

​

* This result is based on my current findings and I'll be happy to update it if need be.

I have no intention to go online for ps+ or online gaming or anything, trophy support has little appeal to me; is there a reason to update beyond 3.15?

Yes, most game back ups will require your hardware to be on the latest hardware or something similar; OFW 3.15 was a looooong time ago.

I believe that rebug is the choice in CFW for me because of stability.

You are not alone in this thinking.

I gather that the LITE version of the rebug is for CEX machines, as the other CFWs are listed for R/DEX
I have no intention of developing software for the machine, is there an advantage to converting to a R/DEX flash without those intentions?

REX/DEX Rebug CFWs have a lot more "bells and whistles." It's nice to have all of these options available, but if your PS3 console will be used by others, stick with the LITE version.

Any conditions to concern myself with for upgrading to a larger HDD with CFW (before/after), just play .ISO via NAS, etc?

Personally speaking, an 80GB internal hdd is kinda small and it sounds like you agree. I've updated internal hdd's on both CFW and OFW and can safely say that the process is significantly easier (less stressful) on OFW.

If you want to upgrade your 80GB to a 160GB internal hdd, I'd do it once on CFW. There's probably not a whole lot of data at risk and the learning experience is just about spot on. If you want to upgrade to a 640GB+, I'd do the internal hdd swap while on OFW (either on 3.15 or 3.55) There's no sense in risking "data loss" on CFW.

 

[mschumacher69]

2. According to Rebug, updating to the newest Rebug CFW from any FW (Official, Custom, or Modified) is just a matter of updating via USB stick.

A. In your case, going from OFW 3.15 to Rebug CFW 4.46.1 "should" work.​

B. Odds of a successful update: 50%* (only because I've never heard of anyone attempting this)​

C. I WOULD NOT DO THIS!!!​

With all due respect, but going from OFW 3.15 to Rebug 4.46.1 "WILL" work and the odds of a successful update are actually 99.9999%. I've attempted this and many users who follow my guides have and they all had successful updates. I even asked Cyberskunk (Rebug's dev) if it is needed to go through OFW 3.55 and CFW 3.55 before going to Rebug 4.xx and he said no it's not needed and that its a "blanket falsity" in the PS3 Scene.

​

So no need to go through OFW 3.55 and then CFW 3.55 because the risks of brick would actually be higher in this case because he would be flashing 3 different times and there's a 0.1 risk every time you flash so 0.1x3=0.3 which means his odds of a successful update would actually be 99.7 if he follows your recommendation whereas his odds would be 99.9 if he follows mine...

 

[xjeremyx]

Part of this thread is to clear up some of contradicting information that I've encountered while looking answers on updating or not, etc. That aren't asked or answered or clear cut very well.

Custom FirmWare isn't meant to run on top of Official FirmWare, it is installed and replaces the Official FirmWare. If you wish to install Rebug CFW, that FW will be your PS3's new FW.

I should have mentioned I'm aware of the CFW isn't meant to run ontop of the OFW*. But when I messaged, mschumacher69, I got something that sort of contradicted the previous statement:

You would only need DEX if you want to emulate your broken bd drive on a usb flash drive or to RTM. If you just want to run homebrew or play backups, CEX (LITE) is enough for you.
So just install Rebug 4.46.1 REX/LITE from XMB on top of OFW 3.15 by following my guide.

This is where all the confusion is rising from. One group says it is not advised to install CFW from anything not 3.55 so update, and the other group says, there is no reason to bother.


*The CFW dev_hook from the PSP-Fat days sort of did run ontop of the existing firmware...kind of...

 

[mechadylan]

^...and there you have it. The problem with positive results with this method is that people rarely post about it. When it works, kudos are rarely given. I trust @mschu

 

[mschumacher69]

^...and there you have it. The problem with positive results with this method is that people rarely post about it. When it works, kudos are rarely given. I trust @mschu

That's right, people usually tend to post when things fail...

 

[mechadylan]

OFW 3.15>OFW 3.55>Rebug 3.55>Rebug 4.46.1
mschumacher69?

 

[mschumacher69]

OFW 3.15>OFW 3.55>Rebug 3.55>Rebug 4.46.1
mschumacher69?

Nope, OFW 3.15 > Rebug 4.46.1

 

[xjeremyx]

so now both parties agree? stay on 3.15 and follow the mschum guide...i suppose I will post with the results once complete. However, thank you both for contributing to this thread to clear up incomplete information.

 

[mschumacher69]

so now both parties agree? stay on 3.15 and follow the mschum guide...i suppose I will post with the results once complete. However, thank you both for contributing to this thread to clear up incomplete information.

Yes man go for it, I'm sure your results will be positive once complete

 

[mechadylan]

Yes man go for it, I'm sure your results will be positive once complete

I trust him. Go for it.

 

[xjeremyx]

Here goes the something...

Thanks fellas. I do think that the Tuts should be updated with the info that was brought up in this thread.
I spent several hours just looking for this information before posting and PMing.

S U C C E S S ! !
And now from this point, I'll use an FTP manager to transfer files to/from the internal HDD on the PS3.
I need to use Multiman or Iris Manager...(read that Iris is less....all around atm?) I am to understand its
similar to Homebrew channel or Gecko loader or XBMC?
Lastly....Am I going to need a disc in the drive to launch anything?

 

[mschumacher69]

Here goes the something...

Thanks fellas. I do think that the Tuts should be updated with the info that was brought up in this thread.
I spent several hours just looking for this information before posting and PMing.

S U C C E S S ! !
And now from this point, I'll use an FTP manager to transfer files to/from the internal HDD on the PS3.
I need to use Multiman or Iris Manager...(read that Iris is less....all around atm?) I am to understand its
similar to Homebrew channel or Gecko loader or XBMC?
Lastly....Am I going to need a disc in the drive to launch anything?

Good to hear that!
My tut is already up to date, it says If you're on 3.55 or lower OFW and OFW 3.15 is lower, so you you can install it on top of OFW 3.15

Regarding FTP Server and Backup Manager, use the latest version of mM, the download link to 4.46.03 is in my tut and then you would update to 4.46.04 from within mM.