Posted Sep 18, 2007 at 01:20PM by Gino D. Listed in: Homebrew Development, News Tags: Sony, Dark AleX, Team M33
Ó

Dark AleX's Open Edition... all too open - Image 1If you find yourself deeply involved in the PSP scene, you're bound to eventually realize how such a small world it is. Today, we'll play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Dark AleX. No, Dark AleX isn't Kevin Bacon, we'll give you that. But if you're really up-to-date in the PSP scene, you might be hearing a lot of news lately surrounding some key people that pose lasting impressions on the homebrew community.

Dark AleX, Team C + D, Team Wilc*rd, Team M33... If you know these names and how they're all interconnected with one another, then consider yourself very much in the know. Right now, it all revolves around the leaking of Dark AleX's OE Firmware source code from a few weeks back. This leakage has allowed Sony to grab hold of DAX's power brew and use it to bolster every single official system firmware they roll out for the PSP. Looks like the Open Edition has gotten all too open.

See, if Sony's gotten hold of the source code, they could easily use it to improve security measures with every firmware update. "Know thy enemy," that's what people say. And for Sony to effectively combat homebrew, their key to victory would be nothing less than DAX's OE source code itself. Aw, snap. Too bad it was leaked.

We won't give you guys the facts of how the leak started since we ourselves still aren't quite clear of what really went on. However, we can divert you to a certain blog which could potentially shed light to the whole drama. We're currently asking around to see what we can gather about this whole fuss and investigate it ourselves. But for now, we'd have to lead you to our Read link below.


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34 Comments


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   by mohaas05 - 2007-09-18
 » an idea

an effective but very time consuming solution to the OE leak would be a complete rewrite of custom firmware. but that would likely be a large effort even for team M33.


   Re: Wicked_Insider - 2007-09-18
 » Sooo....

Long story short, the guy that cheated DA by
releasing the OE's Source Code not only screwed
DA but screwed us all due to SONY getting this
data and using it against us.

Way to go Farquaad!

Because you did what you did, we're all Farqed!

No worries though, QJ is on top of the
investigation and soon we will all know who you
are.

Soon, very soon, you will be a cast out, a leper
and nobody will ever trust you again.

Even if your part of a team we currently trust,
that will be no more, once the PSP Community
finds out what a Farqing douche bag you are.

   Re: Binary - 2007-09-18
 » hmm

I dont say how would Sony got the source when they can just put it on their psp and run flash0 on recovery.

or sony cant afford their self one and use a psp emulator. lol


But lets not blame all on Dark_AleX and all teams.


When its leak, its leak! no stop on it.

   Re: Wicked_Insider - 2007-09-18
 » ?Binary?

What!

Binary, you make no sense.

And nobody blames DA, we blame the party
responsible for the leak.

Get your facts straight and use better English
next time when you post something so others
can understand what it is your trying to say,
cause you just came off totally non-coherent.

   Re: whitelightnig - 2007-09-18
 » to Wicked_Insider

we already KNOW who leaked the sources. it was the jerkoffs at ps3news.

everybody knew it was them from day one, but didnt say it because it would only get more hits to their site

   Re: Aces In The Palm - 2007-09-18
 » to wicked_insider

have you ever stopped to think english might be binary's second language?
after all the web is WORLD WIDE
and if english is his second language, then i have to say that he did a pretty decent job

   Re: xche78x - 2007-09-19
 » gomenasai

me speak no engrish,
pardon me for my funny words
i dont even speak fluently on my native filipino language.
i am just trying to contribute to the topic.

anyways i think there's no need to further investigate, i think we homebrew users are just looking for a scapegoat to blame for what happen, human nature perhaps?
dont worry sony already knew those coedes way before it was leaked, sony made the psp afterall so it was natural to know most of the loopholes on it. sony knows homebrew made psp sales go up, they can also completely lock it from homebrew but they have to balance demands, sales and security. they cannot shut off homebrew completely due to the simple reason that the homebrew psp users make up a big percentage of the psp users.

   Re: Binary - 2007-09-19
 » Second lang. yes

Thanks Aces In The Palm for correcting that.
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   by Hissatsunowaza - 2007-09-18
 » feh

just a minor setback. I have faith in the hacking community's power to destroy homebrew. I also have faith that the $ony execs spend all their time in opium dens. Power to the purchase!

   by The Last Master - 2007-09-18
 » WTF

WTF

:(

This makes me a sad panda...


Quick Question: That dude mr.serafin is bricking psp's with a modified m33update right? Couldnt we just use the jigkick like right after it got bricked?


   Re: FreePlay - 2007-09-18
 » Yes.

.
   by duncanyoyo1 - 2007-09-18
 » Sony

You think SOny didn't already have it, I know for a fact that with in a week of every CFW release sony has decompiled it. Sony already had the source, before it was leaked.


   Re: nrg_s_a - 2007-09-18
 » fact

I don't know how you could know that for a fact, but I agree that people would be pretty naive to think that the leaked code was the first whiff of the code that sony ever saw.
   by Binary - 2007-09-18
 » gay

This is stupid, like yahoo booters fighting over a peice of pizza.


All we want is to go back on our lives with cfw but no!



Thanks PS3NEWS, FOR F-U-C-K-I-N-G US OVER!

   by Acteon - 2007-09-18
 » Heh...

At least the CFW teams managed to scare the crap out of Serafin, who's obviously one of those lame internet types that never leaves the house.

It's very sad indeed, but since Sony rarely have anything worth updating for in their official firmwares, I'm happy to stick with 3.60 for now.

Ganbare CFW teams!

   by aznboy - 2007-09-18
 » ?

so r they going to make 3.71oe??


   Re: Chaoticgamer - 2007-09-18
 » well not OE

but "3.71/3.70 M33" DA is the one the who made all the OE's 3.40 and below and possibly wont make any more OE's in the near future.


Dude this is some weird news, that damn SONY when will they learn that making the PSP into a Multiplatform device is the best way to go. The PSP without CFW would be a very dull device.

Hardly any good games have been released for it due to the PSPirates who own a PSP.


Its possible that SONY already knew the OE's source code before it was leaked I mean, they made the PSP itself don't you think they would know they're own codes and find out any modifications that have been made to their firmware. But I could be wrong. >_>
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   by MikeyMike01 - 2007-09-18
 » ..

They should just figure out how to remove FW requirements on CFW, then we could hang out on 3.XX CFW forever.

Correct me if this has already been accomplished, the highest my UMDs need is 2.71.


   Re: Shentok - 2007-09-18
 » Firmware

There are some UMDs that require the higher firmware because the newer firmware may require a certain prx or module that older firmwares do not have. For example, the game Star Trek: Tactical Assault requires firmware 2.82 because of a font prx that earlier firmwares do not have.
   by nickwp - 2007-09-18
 » .

Before all the changes in his layout, back when the new TehSkeen was just plain text, pspupdates.qj.net was one of the sites on the list that Brakken said he dissliked, and was going to post why when he has time.

   by power777x3 - 2007-09-18
 » wtf!

ALL I GOT TO SAY IS F-U-C-K Y-O-U_! SONY! YOU WILL NEVER STOP HACKERS! NEVER ! YOU MAY HAD GOTTEN DARK ALEX BUT THERE IS STILL ALOT MORE HACKERS WHERE HE CAME FROM! HAHAHA! BE READY SONY! ALL HACKERS WILL UNITE AND LEAVE YOU IN THE GUTTER WHERE YOU BELONG! YOU CANT STOP US! YOU STOP ONE ANOTHER WILL RISE TO LEAD THE HOMEBREW COMMUNITY!YOU DROP 2 ! 4 WILL RISE TO LEAD THE HOMEBREW COMMUNITY!YOU DROP 4 !8 WILL RISE GET THE #$%^$^*& PICTURE! HACKERS RULE! AND TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH YOU ALREADY LOST!


   Re: whitelightnig - 2007-09-18
 » ...

wow, you're an idiot
   by freyyr890 - 2007-09-18
 » Complete and utter FUD

I call FUD. Source code release does not equal pure evil. In fact, I'm not quite even sure how this causes any issue with combating homebrew. Everything that Sony needs to know is in the public domain. Developers and hackers regularly publish details of their exploits, and most (such as the libtiff exploit) are _already_ public knowledge.

So, yes, Sony could do some messing around with the internal workings of their firmware so it'd require a greater effort when reverse engineering, but it'll be done.

I'm sorry, but QJ.net has gone down the tubes. My PSP broke about six months back (back when we were all on 3.10 OE, DaX was king and the No Gravity demo had just blown our minds) and QJ seemed a decent homebrew news outlet - professional, to the point, well edited, on par with xbox-scene for the Xbox. It had a few quirks - mainly the language filter, I have no idea why QJ is so opposed to us saying whatever the ***** we want - but it was bearable.

For whatever reason, the RSS feed stayed on my firefox quicklink bar, so I would check back peroidically.

Recently, I must say, this place has become absolutely terrible. First off, why the hell do you trigger the full screen splash ad *after* the browser has received and rendered it? And why, after that, must the page refresh and reload all content again? Splash ads are bad enough, but for people on a slow internet connection, this is hell. Could you pass that on to your web developer?

Another annoying thing is the habit of editors to spinelessly take positions that can benefit them in debates and to spread articles that promote fear, such as this one. "Open Edition has gotten a little too open." That's an opinion. No. News outlets should take the Switzerland position - with the exception of editorials, the function of a site such as this is to relay facts and events in a most balanced and unbiased way. C'mon, I thought you people were supposed to be journalists! Start acting like it! And kill the FUD.


Oh, and the quote you were looking for is:

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Chapter III, Paragraph 18.


   Re: freyyr890 - 2007-09-18
 » .

And now they've modded me down. How typical.
   by mobile247 - 2007-09-18
 » site down?

is the site down? firefox says 'the server at www.tehskeen.com is taking too long to respond.'

   by Silvio6 - 2007-09-19
 » Why not remove it from ppp/web etc..

Why not remove the source code from everywhere you can find it, as big companies does it sometimes for some music, pictures, software ... if they can do it, i am sure some good hackers can do better, and just wipe it from the internet ;-)


   Re: Shentok - 2007-09-19
 » www

Nothing can be wiped from the internet, it's always somewhere.
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   by su43berkut17 - 2007-09-19
 » 1.50

I've got a FAT PSP with 1.50 official firmware, I'm not sure if I should update to a custom Firmware, what do you think? shall I update? or stick with my 1.50?
Also which custom update do you think is suitable for me?

Thanks!


   Re: Mister Common Sense - 2007-09-19
 » .

M33's 3.52 rev 4 is the best and latest for the fat PSP. I don't know if the slim PSP's firmware will work on it right or not.
   by power777x3 - 2007-09-19
 » hey frey 890!

hey i totally agree with you this site has become a piece of s_h_i_T . hey f-u-c-k you whitelightning f-a-g get the hell out of this forum ! bastard! once again YOU CANT STOP HACKERS! OPEN YOU'RE EYES SONY THERES A GIANT FINGER FLICKING YOU OFF!AND ALL YOU WHO ARE AGAINST THE KING DARK ALEX! f==u==-c--k you!


   Re: Binary - 2007-09-19
 » chirst sakes

Calm the f*ck down, It's not end world for custom firmware boy!
   by Chw42 - 2007-09-19
 » wow...

This news is literally half a month old. The source leaked because the *****got admin of ps3news.com helped leak it. Plus this attributes nothing to Sony knowing what holes the CFW goes through. If you get kernel mode on your PSP (meaning 1.5 or any other way of accessing the kernel), there is nothing Sony can really do to block any homebrew from running. So in the correct sense, this can do nothing against future CFWs. Sony isn't blind folks, they can hack this ***** as easy as anything, after all they made the official firmware, which the CFW uses as resources. So you QJ blogger need to start posting some new news (after all news contains the word new in it...) and make yourself clear of WTF happened before you post. Don't go sayin.."well we don't know how it leaked either". Because if you write an article on it, you sure as hell should know.

   by power777x3 - 2007-09-20
 » agreed.

yo! all i got to say is qj seriously needs to get info on whats going on. i keep heading to this site i see the same news!

   by K33PY - 2007-09-20
 » calm the f-u-c-k Down PPL

It's only a f-u-c-k-i-n-g game ppl. And yes this site could do with some new news. And yes we could worry like fu--ck about never having another CFW but we have too much ammo now to be defeated by sony.



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