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Fail0verflow running Linux, Steam and Portal 2 on PS4 ! - Console Hacking 2016 (33c3)

Edit: Skip to 43:00 to see it in action.

PS4: PC Master Race

Last year, we demonstrated Linux running on the PS4 in a lightning talk - presented on the PS4 itself. But how did we do it? In a departure from previous Console Hacking talks focusing on security, this year we're going to focus on the PS4 hardware, what makes it different from a PC, and how we reverse engineered it enough to get a full-blown Linux distro running on it, complete with 3D acceleration.

pressrtoreload3447d ago

Just got Portal 2 on PC... hope it is good

ziggurcat3447d ago

why would you need to be able to run linux on a console?

Silly gameAr3447d ago

They don't really need a reason. Remember these clowns from last gen? I guess they're trying to make a come back.

ziggurcat3447d ago

of course i remember them. it seems rather pointless to run steam on a device that's probably woefully less powerful than what their PCs are capable of doing.

syrdread3447d ago

at a 400$ price tag the ps4, and even more so the pro, is powerful enough to run a decent chunk of your steam library without problems. see how portal 2 performed in that demo

ziggurcat3447d ago

and I'm sure the $400 laptop you can buy these days would be able to run portal 2 just fine as well...

nitus103446d ago (Edited 3446d ago )

@ziggurcat

You are quite correct, however the only thing you can upgrade on the PS4 is the storage device. On a desktop PC you can upgrade pretty much everything although if you buy/build a cheap one you will be upgrading every year or two compared to years for a decent but more expensive build.

Since I only need to use my motherboards inbuilt graphics (can go up to 4K@30 fps) since I am not a PC gamer and can't be bothered with overclocking and I don't need an expensive graphics card although if I do get one it will probably cost more than a PS4.

At the moment I am happy with my desktop's raw power (Core i7) and 16GB DDR4 memory coupled with a SATA3 data bus, plus an SSD for my system disk (applications start within a second or two, reboot and login takes less than a minute) and a 3TB 7200rpm disk for mass storage (can add more disk if I wish).

BTW My operating system is Linux (Fedora 25) which does everything I want and more and legitimately costs me nothing.

TheROsingleB3446d ago

You realize Portal 2 came out on Xbox 360 and PS3, right? Both those older consoles also ran the game just fine. How is it a surprise that the PS4 could run it as well, considering it is using PC-based hardware?

nitus103446d ago (Edited 3446d ago )

I prefer to use my PS4 for games but my laptop and desktop both run a Linux (Fedora 25) distribution and if I like I can even run games if I choose to.

In fact, if you go to Steam there are over 5,000 Linux games and if there is a game you want that does not run natively on Linux you can always use compatibility software such as Wine or Play for Sure.

A major feature I like about my desktop is the fact that it is fully upgradable although I did make sure that I probably won't need to change the CPU (Core i7), memory (16GB DDR4), SATA3 bus and disks for quite some time while the only upgrade you can make on the PS4 is to change the storage device.

BTW. I do have an additional dual disk laptop as well but it is overheating and while I could replace the fan it's a PITA so I will take out the 1TB 7200rpm drive (about 24% better performance) and install it in my PS4 and put the 500GB drive in my faulty laptop for use when I finally get around to fixing it.

I can also run a virtual Windows machine on my desktop (it easily powerful enough) although from monitoring Windows 10 even after I locked it down I just don't trust that operating system so I can't be bothered running it since I can do everything I want under Linux.

syrdread3446d ago

i for one don't have room for an actual desktop computer (that is no joke) and my 5yo mac laptop isn't up to snuff to run anything much anymore. so i'd be glad if i could run a good chunk of my steam library on my ps4. or an xbone. and i even considered a steam machine a while ago, but none are at a 400$ price point. and the one that is at a 500$ price point has very mixed reviews on steam.

so yeah. i'd welcome this kind of thing.

ILostMyMind3446d ago

It would be cool if there was an option to reset the console with a Linux version. It can be useful for anyone (for some reason) who does not have a PC. Or Sony could allow the console to run apps freely, as Microsoft is doing with XBOX.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3446d ago
ILostMyMind3446d ago

Nice! But what will they do with that knowledge now? Will they create some system improvement software? Any graphics upgrade for PS4 users? Any useful app on console? What's the purpose?

I would like an option to freely change my wallpaper, please.

MAULxx3446d ago

Congratulations (golf clap).

KoroSenpai3446d ago

That is pretty cool hack....i don,t know why some PC master race are so pissed >.<

40°

Games Done Quick is coming to Europe for the first time with 3 days of Gamescom speedruns

The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.

Read Full Story >>
videogameschronicle.com
50°

Microsoft Lowers the Price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate And PC Game Pass, But What’s Next For Xbox?

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is getting cheaper but Call of Duty is leaving day-one access. Here’s what we think the price drop means for Xbox, PC Game Pass, and the future of the service.

Read Full Story >>
theouterhaven.net
38d ago
VaNdAl38d ago

Phil Spencer killed the Xbox Let It Go move on to PC

Jingsing38d ago

They would be better breaking up what valued assets they still have and put them out to auction for the competition.
There is no more financial gain for them on any trajectory in the entertainment space.

180°

PlayStation Confirms New DRM, Digital Games Will Vanish If Players Don't Log-In For 30 Days

Tech4Gamers writes: "A PlayStation Support assistant has confirmed that the 30-day timer implemented by the new DRM policy is part of an update and isn’t a bug. While responding to a fan’s query, PS support revealed that all games purchased digitally after March 2026 will be affected by this time limit.

If your PS4 or PS5 does not connect to the internet within 30 days, the game’s license will expire, and it won’t launch on the console unless the connection is restored. Hence, every digital game you purchase from now on will require an online check-in, or else you will lose ownership."

Read Full Story >>
tech4gamers.com
Goodguy0140d ago

That is wild lol. Steam already does this for some games depending on the developer...but man...all digital games on ps5...

Eonjay39d ago

FYI, it hasn't actually been confirmed. This is just a lot of assumptions. If this is the case i would expect Sony to come out and say so. Chat bot response doesn't count as official confirmation.

People are also saying this is also an inadvertent mistake. If this is the case Sony and its customers would be best served by coming out and saying so.

If this isn't a mistake I think they need to confirm it and Playstation gamers should complain.

darthv7239d ago

Sounds like Sony quietly did what MS openly said they were going to do with the once a month check in... and MS got so much flak they had to change course.

People need to give Sony even more flak if its true.

blacktiger39d ago

If the response is from Sony whether irresponsible employee or chatbot. That's from SONY until Sony reiterate

Dandizzle39d ago

seriously, a large company like sony wouldnt do that without an announcement or else it would result in bombardment of customer service

BlackOni39d ago

Sony's chatbot is notoriously garbage at providing even basic information and functioning properly. I wouldn't take anything it says seriously.

That said, if this is true, this is serious af. Major L for gamers across the board.

1Victor39d ago

It’s no mistake someone got paid to code that in the update and it wasn’t just for the lol

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 39d ago
phatak39d ago (Edited 39d ago )

This is beyond nuts, this was pretty much the exact thing that the playstation execs during the ps4 era mocked the xbox one over and xbox never recovered after it, this is why you need stiff competition folks, Sony high on their own supply just like the early ps3 days where we apparently needed 2 jobs to afford one, I was a massive Ps3 fanboy mainly due to the fact that the xbox 360 pushed sony into a corner resulting in them actually trying real hard to get market share back and as a result we got crazy good exclusives, just for old times sakes like I used to do back in 2012 right here on n4g ill relist some of the major exclusives of ps3 again

Demons souls
Metal gear solid 4
uncharted 1,2,3
infamous 1,2, festival of blood
little big planet 1,2 & little big planet karting
gran turismo 5 and 6 & ridge racer 7
killzone 2,3
twisted metal
journey
ratchet and clank tools of destruction, quest for booty, crack in time, all for one, into the nexus
resistance 1,2,3
last of us 1
god of war 3 and ascension
motorstorm collection
ico & shadow of the colossus collection
folklore
modnation racers
warhawk & starhawk
sly collection & jack and daxter collection
Puppeteer & comet crash & tokyo jungle & rain & gravity crash & Echochrome & the last guy
Heavenly Sword
3D Dot Game Heroes
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Mag & Socom 4
Fat Princess
Ni no Kuni, Valkyria Chronicles, Yakuza 3,4,5 (these all came to pc later )

But just think and compare this catalog of games to ps5 ?
Saros, astro bot, demons souls remake, ghost of yotei, I would have included gran turismo 7 but that came on ps4 as well so not really an absolute exclusive that one needs to buy a ps5 to play like the other 4.

We are almost in the 6th year of the ps5, the 6th year of the ps3 was around 2012 and almost all the games from the list above were already released on the ps3, now if they are really pulling this online crap every 30 days non sense its only because of a lack of competition from xbox and so they have console players by the ba**s, now I don't know whether this is confirmed or not but regardless if this is in general where their headspace is at it seems like we should be worried, its the real playstation gamers that will be affected if its true, Im not even a playstation gamer anymore but my recommendation is put your money where you mouth is and really abandon playstation if this ends up being true.

Extermin8or3_39d ago

No it isnt. The xbox one require you to check in online every 24 hours. Also alot has changed in terms of Internet infrastructure and provision globally since 2013.....

hiawa2339d ago

Looking at what consoles cost now, many need 2 jobs.

cytricks39d ago (Edited 39d ago )

Not quiet. Xbox wanted to do DRM for physical games so they would be locked to your account and not sharable

Zerobalance39d ago

Most of those games are trash. Deal bro🤣 Ponies gotta pony up. Muma Sony wants some more cash. PC bro! Good ol' games. Look it up.

Ashunderfire8639d ago

O man you remember that PS3 statement from crazy Ken Kutagri whatever is last name is, was so cringe for saying,”Your gonna want PS3 so bad you need 2 jobs!” That guy overhype the crap out of PS3, that was the most expensive console, an a lot of misinformation about the graphics and performance delta over 360.

Kyizen39d ago

Xbox drm was for physical games also and 24 hours with no sharing

vTuro2438d ago

Yeah stuff like this is why competition is needed. The ps360 era was peak gaming. Microsoft and Sony waging a full on war and Nintendo just kinda doing their own thing. The gamers only benefited from that. Then Microsoft shot themselves in the dick with the Xbone and that gen felt like a step down from the previous (imo), though it wasn't bad still.
Then you have the current gen, which honestly feels like one big nothingburger. Barely anything interesting gets released while prices keep going up which to me is just insane. Astro Bot is basically their only exclusive that I'd be interested in buying, but I'm not buying an console just for that. Especially not one as expensive as the ps5... I would add Demon's Souls to that, but I already played the original. Loved the game, but a remake isn't a system seller for me.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 38d ago
Loktai39d ago

@darthv72 Yeah LIKE 14 years ago. Its like saying "Give sony flak for raising game prices, because it would have made you mad in 2012"

PRIMORDUS39d ago

Pirate on PC what you can, you will own it, nothing will be taken from you. I feel like your just throwing money away and have nothing to show for it, with digital games.

1Victor39d ago

Well all I’m going to say is I’ll vote with my wallet and keep refusing to buy digital and will cancel my ps extra this is bs and you all that still think digital is the future should take note because once the servers goes down so does your digital game library. Good luck and good bye

blacktiger39d ago

what game on steam has that/?

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 38d ago
Jin_Sakai40d ago (Edited 40d ago )

This has to be a mistake.

“Received word from an anonymous insider. The Sony DRM issue is unintentional. From what we gathered, Sony accidentally broke something while fixing an exploit. They've known about the confusing UI for a while, but didn't see it as urgent. Hoping for a clarifying statement now.”

Eonjay39d ago

I find their communication to be very poor. If this is an error on their part why let people get worried about it? I understand they don't respond to rumor but sometimes they make it worse by not responding and this is an unforced error on top of and apparent unforced error.

Kribwalker39d ago

There’s people that talked directly to people, not chat bots, that confirmed it’s real 🤷‍♂️
I expect those fans that were so against Xbox doing it to eat a whole lot of crow

Outside_ofthe_Box39d ago (Edited 39d ago )

Damn, we having diehards coming out of the woodworks for this. 😳

But you're right this is literally what led to the demise of the Xbox One and led to some calling it the Xbone.

There is literally no need for this and Sony has been doing just fine without it. If I don't turn on my console for 30 days and want to play offline I should be able to play the game that I paid for, no if and or buts about it.

Jin_Sakai39d ago

If it’s real it won’t last long. Almost every PlayStation YouTube video is full of revolt comments about it.

CrashMania40d ago (Edited 39d ago )

The screenshot from the article is from an AI chat bot, there are plenty of screenshots floating around from actual human chat reps stating the opposite.

SkilledGamer39d ago

It's also worth noting that the text stating a 30 day license seems to only be visible on PS4, PS5 users aren't seeing it at all.

Warrior9439d ago

It this is real then I will never buy digital again and if the PS6 is digital only then it will be the first Playstation Console I wont buy

VersusDMC39d ago

"Games will vanish" is click baity as hell...all you have to do is log in and the license is restored.

phatak39d ago

@ VersusDMC The entire goal for us gamers is to want to avoid that lol, what if sony's servers are down or having some maintenance, many times ive just played my installed games without even signing into psn, from now one it means every 30 days I have to at the very least sign it to psn to even play my installed games, cannot even play single player games without singing in, so for example if sony just decides to ban me from psn, I cannot even play the games locally already installed on my drive that I purchased after march 2026, you don't think thats insane ? you just want to accept that ? abandon playstation right now if this story gets confirmed.
we officially have started renting games from march 2026, it was a good run we had 1994 to 2026.

VersusDMC39d ago

Maintenance doesn't last 30 days

Who doesn't sign in to psn for 30 days? Missing out on game updates, new games, messages, demos, etc...

You already lost all your purchases if you got permanently banned from psn so that's not new.

And if for some reason you don't have internet for 30 days you can use your smartphone as a Hotspot to connect your ps5 to the internet.

phatak39d ago (Edited 39d ago )

@VersusDMC my point isn't not about the 30 days maintenance man, the fact that you are willing to accept this 30 days sign in means they totally OWN you now, what if they change this later to 7 days, im sure you will be making the exact same point right " who doesnt sign into psn every 7 days" ? eventually say it becomes every 24 hours you cool with that too ? by psn banning you I mean to say if I get banned on psn right now for some weird reason that they decide, but I have 20 installed games already downloaded and ready to play just by clicking X, basically all the exclusives from ps4 and ps5, even if my psn is banned I still get to play the games already installed right now same like putting the disc into a banned console, from march 2026 will I be able to play my locally installed games with a banned PSN ? Its not about the length of time, its the fact that the corporation gets total control over how I choose to even play my single player offline games with mandatory sign ins, a simple thing such as forgetting my password would mean I cant even play ghost of yotei offline without signing into psn.

You ever heard the phrase "give someone an inch and they will take a yard", thats what will happen here, it doesn't just end at 30 days sign in, that's just the start

cytricks39d ago (Edited 39d ago )

Is it that difficult to sign in for one second every 30 days? Especially if you are ps plus member who wants to get their free games?

phatak39d ago (Edited 39d ago )

@cytricks You are focusing again on the 30 days too, "oh sony said its only 30 days so we are safe" While its not a probability YET, just know that your playstation turns into a brick if sony decides to turn off those servers.

Sony's lack of communication is telling my conspiracy filled mind lol that they're testing to see if they can get away with this. If it was truly a mistake, they would have acknowledged it, apologised, and stated they're working on a fix.

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