Talk:1.00 CEX

Firmware updates archaeology 1.00, 1.02, 1.10, etc...

• Links to wiki pages: System Firmware  · 1.00 CEX  · 1.02 CEX  · 1.10 CEX  · 1.11 CEX

Problems

Mobile Suit Gundman Target in Sight (BLJS10002)

Link and release date: (BLJS10002 2006/11/11)

We have two pages in wiki that tells the same game disc BLJS10002 includes two different firmware updates versions: 1.02 CEX and 1.11 CEX, thats literally imposible so one of them is wrong, and based in the info posted in 1.02 CEX (where appears the hash of the "RETAIL/CEX-DISK", different than the hash of the "1.02 RETAIL/CEX" because for disc releases the file is padded with zeroes) it makes me think that info is right and BLJS10002 contains update 1.02 (so the info in 1.11 page about BLJS10002 is wrong)

• Well, to prove this, someone would need to buy the disc from this game, dumping the Game and verifiying the Firmware but I think 1.02 CEX makes more sense since it was released on launch day. I found here that 1.10 CEX was released one day after launch (and 1.11 CEX 17 days later) but such Games got pressed on disc at least 2 weeks before release from my real life experience (in real life, I don't press PS3 Games, but other "stuff" on Blu-ray Discs which can take even more time depending on the "application"). This update allowed PSN support, which would make sense since everyone were able then to play online against each other on Day 1, or at least Day 2.

But wait... so CEX 1.00 existed at some point ?

There are basically two reasons why the bluray game discs contains a firmware update, 1) because the game requires it, and 2) because this way is posble for all consumers included the ones without an internet connection to play the game by installing the firmware updated required by the game

• It's likely both because I never saw any Game where PARAM.SFO says it needs Firmware 1.11 CEX but the Disc includes a disc-based version of 1.02 CEX only.

It seems that BLJS10002 included 1.02 firmware update ...so this means at that time existed some PS3 with a lower firmware installed, right ?, and it needs to be 1.00 or 1.01

• This could be and this was the reason why I posted my PS3's Guarantee Card on 1.10 CEX. My console was bought by the end of December with 1.10 CEX pre-installed and it still runs on this firmware.

Also we know other firwares 1.00 exists: 1.00 DEX, 1.00 DECR, 1.00 AV (this last one contains the emulators with compilation timestamps)

• The earliest known fw differentiation between DEX and DECR was 0.85 . The CEX prototype CBEH-1000-D was properly built around the same time as the DEH-H1001-D (the suffix denotes the stage of the prototype, -E came with 0.95), which came with 0.85. So it would make sense that there is 1.00 CEX, because there was also 1.00 DEX and DECR.
  • This could be for non-retail Hardware for sure since my experience showed that Version "X.XX" got always released for DEX, SEX, DECR, AV, ARCADE and so on way before the same Version "X.XX" got released for a retail CEX version, which makes sense, since Sony use probably at least DEX hardware to test out things on newer Firmwares (see 3D functionality on DEX FW vs. CEX FW for example).
    • I don't know if the following Sony did for the PS3 Firmware Releases but on PS4, the newest Firmware is always finished and "ready or installment" way before it's publlc release. See the latest Firmware Update 5.01, which got released on 24^th October 2017 but the direct download link shares the filedate together with the MD5 checksum, which mismatches in this case --> http://djp01.ps4.update.playstation.net/update/ps4/image/2017_1018/sys_8606691c0201e4db2a4100f80fbaddb3/PS4UPDATE.PUP?dest=jp (6 days before public release but no one can download this Update File before since the ps3-updatelist.xml needs to get updated as well). This means that 1.00 CEX could be finished on 11^th November 2006, but also on October or even way longer before. If Sony worked with this system for the PS3 as well, then I think you will never can say if there was a 1.00 CEX Update File since there is no 100% proof that Sony worked this out like above mentioned with the DEX and DECR versions compared to the CEX releases. And with those Date mismatches, it makes it way more difficult to find any 1.00 CEX Update File, especially without any MD5 hash. On the other hand, no one knows when Sony started to implement this ps3-updatelist.xml feature especially if they implemented it already on Day 1 after release. Sadly the waybackmachine has only entries until March 2007 :(
      • And yes, they probably did the same for the PS3, check the "imageBuildDate" from the following two pictures right after the Version Number:
        • http://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/images/9/9c/MoreSystemInformation-CECHA01-102.JPG
        • http://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/images/d/d3/IMG_0148.JPG
      • 1.02 CEX and 1.10 CEX were already finished way before the PS3 was released. This could even mean that if you bought a PS3 on 11^th November 2006, you already had Firmware 1.02 CEX pre-installed, which would also make sense that all japanese Launch titles shares the same MD5 hashes for the included disc-based Update File, which is the MD5 hash for the disc-based 1.02 CEX Update file like on this Mobile Suit Gundman Game (Google for "df96debb4c014f5673e0ce259e4fb835" and you will find a lot of hashes shared on several japanese launch titles). This means that if you bought a PS3 at Launch Day, there was no need to Update your PS3 to play the launch games, since the PS3 was "up to date" at that time with both pre-installed 1.02 CEX and the same Version on your launch title Discs. So 1.00 CEX was never released in public probably.
      • The build date shown in that screens such http://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/images/d/d3/IMG_0148.JPG is the same that can be seen in the emualtor timestamps here http://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/Talk:PS2_Emulation#PS2_Emulator_Types_and_Revisions, by looking at that emualtor timestamps it can be seen where the "clicked" in the compile button (or run the make -all command, or activated the "buildbot" server, or whatever hehe), by looking at that timestamps i think all the firmware "families" are compiled in a row... this dates should be different than the date where they makes the firmwares availables for sure, the firmwares are compiled a day and several dates later (when passes all the testigs) enters in production (send to the factories, game companies, included in SDKs, availables in web servers, etc...)

As an interesting comparison, the only difference in between ps2_emu.elf (decrypted) from firmwares 1.30 AV and 1.30 CEX are 3 bytes of the timestamp, ps2_emu.elf for 1.30 CEX was compiled at 06/12/05/05:33 and ps2_emu.elf for 1.30 AV 06/12/05/07:15... around 2 hours after, based on this we can deduce the ps2_emu.elf for 1.00 CEX was compiled a couple of hours before the ps2_emu.elf for 1.00 AV and the code of that ps2_emu.elf was exactly the same (except the timestamp with the delay of two hours)

• Hmm, maybe we could compare this with the relase from the PS4. Launch Day Devices where on 1.00 ???

• There's no 1.00 CEX firmware on a launch model, similarly to how there's no 1.00 CEX firmware on a launch game. Similar to how PS4 was released to the market, PS3s came with 1.01 fw pre installed. PS4s instead came with 1.01 pre installed, and later, when sony figured out this contained some bugs, they put available in the market 1.05 PS4s.

PS3 launch games availables

The release date of the first PS3 model in japan matches with the release of BLJS10002... that date was 2006/11/11 as far as wikipedia and that official link to the store BLJS10002

Im guessing this was one of the games availables at the PS3 release date in japan... the kind of thing you had to wait in a row for all night waiting for the shop to open at morning and you could buy the CECHA00 + BLJS10002

Perhaps that first CECHA00 models was shipped with firmware 1.00... and that same day people updated them to 1.02 with the disc

• Sounds logical but yep, those people were crazy waiting in a row for several days just to buy a toaster :P (see --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEfamAuJR_8 --- Yes, this video was uploaded 1 day before launch oO)

So where is CEX 1.00 ?

Most probably was used at factory and it was not used for much time because was replaced at factories soon by a higher firmware version, or the consoles was updated manually (as a second firmware installation)

So probably we will never see the firmware 1.00 PUP, the only way to take a peek at the files that was used in it is to make a flash dump of a CECHA00 that was never updated manually, or was updated a max of one times manualy, because the flash has two "banks" there are some files from the "previous" firmware installation that remains in it

• I think this is the same for the PS4.

Wikipedia may be the source of errors

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_system_software#History_of_updates The first sentences in that link is weird, if is true that all the consoles had 1.10 installed at release date then the 1.02 update inside BLJS10002 and other launch games was pointless, it could be because the games was manufactured/pressed way before the PS3 release date, but still i dont like this theory... it could be interesting to see whcih firmware updates was included in other "available at launch day" games

• Actually there was a time I liked the entry from the official Wikipedia itself since it listed every update and all functions in detail in a big table but for some reasons, they removed it. Several people claiming it in the Talk page to bring this back but you can look for an older revision like here --> https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PlayStation_3_system_software&oldid=676645457

Build dates of the first firmware versions

Firmware	build date
1.00 AV	06/10/04/12:16 (real timestamp for CEX should be around 1:30 before)
1.02	06/10/21/00:01
1.10	06/11/09/06:09
1.11	06/11/21/17:55
1.30	06/12/05/05:34
1.31	06/12/12/18:48
1.32	06/12/18/05:55
1.50	07/01/18/22:53