Now, when recent PS3 official firmware versions have been jailbroken, the natural question arises: if you update to latest CFW, can you login to Playstation network and be safe?
The short answer is yes you can, but that is not safe. First, you don’t really have to update to get PSN access. You may just use a spoofer, which changes the 3.55 firmware number to a higher one without actual update. In fact, it is very useful to use spoofer at all times to better protect yourself from accidental firmware upgrades. But Sony can detect you’re jailbroken and ban you for playing online. Generally, ban for online play usually refers to Xbox Live, but it’s even worse with PSN. As for Xbox 360, it is impossible to install homebrew , that is software not approved by the console manufacturer, Microsoft, unless you’re on a JTAG console. Microsoft disabled JTAG pretty fast, and the recent slim version hack that enabled freeboot came almost at the end of Xbox 360 life cycle. So, the majority of hacked Xbox 360 out there are not jailbroken and their firmware is untouched, except for several bytes of the optical drive firmware, which is actually a separate device. That change enabled backups to run, and the devs do their best to mask the change. Despite that, console bans are not uncommon on Xbox Live. With Playstation 3, it’s much worse that that. All hacked consoles are jailbroken and have homebrew software installed, that is not approved by Sony. Nothing is done by devs to hide that, and the majority of CFW users have at least a backup manager installed. So you only have to open the GAME folder, and existence of a directory with a certain number gives a 100% guarantee the console is jailbroken. As all modifications are explicitly forbidden by PSN terms of service, Sony has the authority to ban your PS3. So, accessing Playstation Network from a jailbroken console is always a risk of getting ban. But what to do if got one? On Xbox 360, that’s a life-long sentence, without parole, even if you get everything back to factory default. There’s no parole with Sony either, however, there is a way to address the issue. The problem is, it’s a question of dignity and moral. No, not towards Sony – in fact, it would be even honorable to go Robin Hood on the corporation for treating their customers as a piece of shit. No, it’s immoral towards those customers – gamers, other PS3 owners like yourself. Later on that. So, to unban your console you’ll need a special utility. I only could find it for the very first CFW, which is 3.41. Perhaps you would be luckier than me. Anyway, if you’ve been following the advice I keep repeating like a freaking parrot – QA flag you console while you’re still on 3.55 – good for you, and you shouldn’t have any trouble downgrading to 3.41. If you didn’t, well, downgrade we’ll be harder for you, since first you have to install a hybrid CFW which tells it’s a higher version, but is 3.55 in essence, and then downgrade. Then you could install the utility. And here comes the moral dilemma. Each Playstation 3 has a network card – in fact, two of them, Ethernet and WiFi, which, like all other network devices, has a unique MAC-address. This is exactly the address PSN uses to pick out and ban you device. The utility allows to change the address to any other, the problem is, it has to be in the PS3 range. Where you can get one? Well, I leave this up to you, just bear in mind, that if two consoles with the same MAC-address get online simultaneously – both users will get banned, that is you and the innocent other gamer whose MAC address you are using. So, having two consoles – one with OFW, which you use for online play, and the other with CFW for backups is the best option for both XBOX Live and Playstation Network.