PS3 [UPDATE x5] What is Evilnat brewing up in his next PS3 CFW Release? 4.89.3 in development

PlayStation 3 developer @Evilnat has been researching and developing some new features for his popular Evilnat's Cobra CFW for the PS3. Sony may have dropped official updates, but the development community has not stopped support and continues to pack new features and functionality directly into the firmware. With 4.89.3 now confirmed in development by @Evilnat

Some of these features are still in the PoC stage and some should be implemented in the next stable release (once fully tested) of the CFW. Currently the community developer's only have access to 4.84 DEX firmware, so the developer is trying to find (if it exist) 4.89 DEX (or a higher then 4.84 DEX) but the developer seems to be experimenting with "porting 4.84 DEX Kernel and required modules to 4.89 (like Rebug REX/D-REX) and is working as expected until now". However the developer warns at this time its still needs alot of testing but its encouraging to see some great development still going into PlayStation 3 CFW and to the Cobra Payload.

Below you will see a summary of tweets of new additions to Evilnat's xai_plugin that comes included in the firmware

Slide 1

• 
  Added in xai_plugin
  
  • [Convert to CEX/DEX] - Convert your PS3 to DEX/CEX
    • 
  • [Check TargetID].- Check your current TargetID through the XMB
    • .
  • Options [Enable OtherOS] and [Boot OtherOS] I need more testing and maybe I'll need some testers who want to test it with flasher on NAND.
    • 
  • [Convert savedata] ported PS3 Cobra's function to xai_plugin. Now it works faster and freeing up space in stage2.bin
    • (video)
  • [Check 8th SPE] and [Toggle 8th SPE] added in xai_plugin. Now you can enable or disable 8th SPE (thanks to @notzecoxao)
    • 
  • [Buzzer Tools] and [Check GPU/RAM clock speed] added in xai_plugin, requested by
    @LuanTeles
    • 
  • [Led Tools] added in xai_plugin,
    • .
  • Update
    
  • [Dump Flash] (Dumps current NOR/NAND)
    • 
  • [Toggle Plugins] (Enables/disables Cobra plugins)
    • 
  • [Enable FTP] (Enables FTP server in port 21)
  • [Disable FTP] (Disables FTP server) New menu structure
    • 
  • Update 2
  • [Spoof IDPS] (Spoofs IDPS in LV2)
  • [Spoof PSID] (Spoofs PSID in LV2)
    
  • [Dump SYSROM] (Dumps SYSROM on HDD or USB)
  • Improve OtherOS menu (like Rebug Toolbox)
    
  • Final menu structure
    • Screenshot seen here

Update 3

via Evilnat
I have made a BETA of 4.89.3 without DEX's Kernel/modules because it is unstable right now with debug settings (crashes LV2).

If anyone wants to try it I will send it, I have tested OtherOS and CEX/DEX on my PS3 FAT with NOR, but it's not tested on NAND. If anyone wants to try it please send me a PM, but remember, if you are going to use CEX/DEX or OtherOS options on NAND, is highly recommended a HW Flasher to avoid problems. If you still want to use it, I'll send it anyway (it must work fine anyway).

Update 4 (source link):

Finally I can use ProDG with converted modules from 4.84 DEX, next step is fix/merge XMB layouts, I'll start with Remote Play

Update 5 (source link):

vsh.self from OFW 4.84 DEX successfully ported to 4.89, I patched it with RE and it seems that fixes all XMB layouts and now is compatible. Now I can use Target Manager on 4.89. Next step : add DEX Kernel to CoreOS

https://twitter.com/xXEvilnatXx/status/1594981965207375872
Update 6: Added in xai_plugin:

[Toggle HDD Space] (Unlocks/restores 8% extra total space on the PS3 internal HDD)
[Enable VSH Debugging] (Enables debugging vsh.self)
[Swap Kernel] (Swaps between CEX and DEX Kernels from CoreOS)
[Enable FTP] now shows current IP if it is available​

Source Links (info)

Spoiler

• https://twitter.com/xXEvilnatXx/status/1580504359015940096
• https://twitter.com/xXEvilnatXx/status/1576419393348636673
• https://twitter.com/xXEvilnatXx/status/1568724802751307778
• https://twitter.com/xXEvilnatXx/status/1568532170871869441
• https://twitter.com/xXEvilnatXx/status/1583778661878358017
• https://www.psx-place.com/threads/cfw-4-89-evilnat-cobra-8-3-cex.37294/page-20#post-346828

 

@Evilnat Today I submitted 3 new pull requests (sorry I couldn't find how to merge them) to Cobra 4.89
https://github.com/Evilnat/Cobra-PS3/pulls

They come from this improvement to ps3mapi by OsirizX
https://github.com/OsirizX/Mamba/commit/a5b7908efe1783e2ce499b9a13db8b241df00504

These changes are required for dynarec implementation here:
https://www.psx-place.com/threads/mapi-dynarec-lib.33875/page-3#post-348843

 

@Evilnat

@Evilnat

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your commitment, effort and dedication so far.
I know how exhausting it can be at times and that there are times when you may wonder whether or not it's worth doing all this.

I, on behalf of the PS3 scene and community, say YES! And I want to leave my THANK YOU. It is very important to have your work recognized.

Finally, I would like to ask you to implement the option to overclock natively in the next version. This would be a huge upgrade and addition to the firmware.
And one more thing, would it be possible to insert a fan control similar to webmanmod and implement native compatibility with external HD in NTFS?

Those are the only two things I still use webman mod for, if you can get that incorporated into the firmware I would say it would reach the level of perfection.

 

Hello Evilnat
hey I could help if you want you can send me the beta of evilnat 4.89.3 and I could help for testing if you want of course and keep going like this he does a gods job but I know that the home brew community and others on ps3 will thank you I'm sure Greetings bye .PS: Will this update of your wonderful cfw come out next year?

 

@Evilnat
Is it possible to enable and disable overclocking?

not possible, but 8th SPE enabling is included which does the same thing essentially.

 

not possible, but 8th SPE enabling is included which does the same thing essentially.

Not, they are completely different things

Unlocking the 8th will not give any performance boost as the system/game does not know what to do with it, maybe someone can write a homebrew to use thi extra power but it is mainly for linux.

About the overclock, it is not possible at the moment without packing/unpacking and patching the core OS, it is dangerous and Nat tried other ways but LV1 reboots all changes, more research will be needed.

 

Not, they are completely different things

Unlocking the 8th will not give any performance boost as the system/game does not know what to do with it, maybe someone can write a homebrew to use thi extra power but it is mainly for linux.

About the overclock, it is not possible at the moment without packing/unpacking and patching the core OS, it is dangerous and Nat tried other ways but LV1 reboots all changes, more research will be needed.

Nathan told me it would, idk what to say mate.

 

Nathan told me it would, idk what to say mate.

Nathan maybe confirmed you that it will be possible to enable 8th SPE
or maybe he plans to release multiple versions already overclocked. IDK

What is not currently possible is to overclock on demand. It requires install a PUP with a CoreOS patched with the specific clock values.

 

Nathan maybe confirmed you that it will be possible to enable 8th SPE
or maybe he plans to release multiple versions already overclocked. IDK

What is not currently possible is to overclock on demand. It requires install a PUP with a CoreOS patched with the specific clock values.

I tried the latest Evilnat 4.89.3 V2 CEX and it always freezes in the new Enable FTP setting. I have to click the power button to turn off the PS3.

I found out what causes this issue. If my external HDD is connected to the PS3, it always freezes when clicking the FTP setting, but it never does if not connected to it.

Also, IRISMAN's FTP server is faster than this new XMB FTP server.