PlayStation 4 Hacked to Run Custom Software, PS2 Games
It's now possible to run custom software on the PlayStation 4 from a set of homebrew kits after hackers were able to finally get a reliable kit on the console using an exploit that lets users control the low-level system of the device. PlayStation 2 titles, as well as unsigned software, can now be run on Sony's latest console, for those willing to put in the work.
It's taken hackers years of work to get to this point, and the results are not yet perfect. The surprising discovery that the PlayStation 4 can run games released for the PlayStation 2, however, has been worth it for the tinkerers, as Ars Technica notes.
The PlayStation 4 hacking community has been able to override the console's operating system to install Linux even years back, but the process has remained difficult and error-prone. That changed last month when a couple of hacker groups were able to come up with a new exploit that reliably works if a PlayStation 4 unit still has its version 4.05 firmware.
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This limitation is a deal-breaker for most PlayStation 4 owners since Sony was able to spot and patch over the vulnerability hole with a version 4.06 update as early as November of 2016. The fact has not stopped the PS4 homebrew community from building on the new exploit, however, as Eurogamer points out.
Now, PlayStation 4 kits include not just Linux support and full access to the console's file system via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) interfaces. Last week also saw the arrival of a homebrew enabler kit called PS4HEN, as the community comes one step closer to a plug and run package to compromise a console.
This kit also lets hackers load package files into a modified PlayStation 4, letting it run decrypted games. There has been significant progress on understanding the PS2 Classics emulator built into the home console as well, letting tinkerers not just run PS2 games on the latest console, but run them at a 4x resolution boost and higher performance as well.
