DEH-FH1500J Prototype

Hello,

I've recently acquired a PS3 console marked DEH-FH1500J, which has a prototype sticker on the bottom. The only information I'm able to find about this specific model online is an entry in PS3DevWiki that classifies this console as "Internal QA Flagged". I'm also pretty sure the one pictured on the wiki page is the actual console I acquired - so I'm guessing someone else in the community previously came across this one.

Here are pictures of the unit:
http://www.ps3devwiki.com/ps3/DEH-FH1500J-A

The console arrived without a HDD, and it's currently running FW 2.45 according to the error message telling me to install 2.45 or later. I'd like to get this running, but I'd also like to preserve the existing FW in case there are any interesting features. Is it possible to do any kind of dump on the system as it currently sits or install a new HDD without flashing a new FW? From reading it sounds like a jig could possibly work, but I don't have one.

There's a ribbon cable hanging outside the system that can be seen in the pictures. I haven't opened the system yet to see where it's going, does anyone have any idea what it was used for?

Anyway, any information would be greatly appreciated. I will most likely open it and photograph the inside soon.

 

Peterr928 did you get that on ebay? it had THE SAME pictures as the link you posted on an auction, i really think it's a pre-release kisok type of console. the ribbon probably allowed for the system to reset or something like that's my best guess. Usually you would just have to reformat the HD not install firmware. thats quite a curiosity.

 

I did get it on eBay and the pictures were definitely the same - so I'm guessing someone here knows about this console. The only way I can think of to get it booted without a jig/dongle would be to install a new drive and try to find a 2.45(DEX?) FW to flash. Unfortunately it won't let me just install a new drive without flashing the FW as well - from what I've read this seems to be the case with all PS3s.

I'm sure I could load a different FW on the console to get it working, but I was hoping there would be a way to dump the existing FW first in case there's anything special about it.

 

it's an odd one because when i saw it i looked EVERYWHERE and couldn't find anymore info on it other than the same pics in the auction. i don't think its the same as a TEST but who knows.

 

Me too, I couldn't find anything anywhere searching this model number aside from that wiki page that's clearly this console. I saw one other fat proto posted here that had the same cable hanging out, but it was a different model number.

 

It's likely a QA unit for hardware testing purposes.

Still a very nice find regardless (and I do remember this auction as well). If you can get a 2.5" sata hdd, you can put it right in there to get it running. The firmware shouldn't do much because it usually requires manual updating via flash drive (or flashing via ribbon i guess?) so adding a hard drive into it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Not sure if it would be worth it but a NAND/NOR dump could be a bit fun as well, though I normally don't like touching that stuff so that's your call. @TriMesh What do you think of this? Is there any info that could be of good use?

 

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I've tried a new drive and received an error telling me I need to flash the FW in order to use the new HDD. If you guys think the current FW wouldn't be worth dumping, I may upgrade in order for it to allow me to use the new HDD. Any idea if these use CEX or DEX? Speaking of which, on the wiki I only see 2.45 existing for CEX...

I'm guessing anything of importance would have been on the HDD which is gone, unless there's an unreleased 2.45 DEX FW on there, but that's a longshot

 

You should ALWAYS use DEX OFW (though if you're like me, that doesn't matter as much), though I cannot honestly say it would work due to what model it is.
I'll see if I can find a DEX OFW update, but I would wait for TriMesh to give some thoughts about dumping the FW before we go into updating it. Dont update it

EDIT - there's a lot of OFW for DEX available, but the problem is that it jumps from 2.42 to 2.52.

EDIT 2 - all the links I used to use have been removed sadly. I don't know where else the DEX OFW updates are located, but I'm sure I'll find something. If I can't the best I can offer is 4.00 OFW. Your other option would be 4.75.3 D-REX from the Rebug crew which I don;t recommend if you wanna be on OFW.


Let's wait on TriMesh's response to dumping the FW

 

Thanks for looking for the FW! I haven't done much digging yet so I will shortly. I'll wait to see what other suggestions come up before messing with anything, in the meantime I'll probably open it up and take some pics.

 

After looking around online I should warn you NOT to reflash the FW. Disregard my previous post about updating the FW.

The firmware used on it is not that of a normal DEX unit. It's specifically made for hardware testing purposes and the likelyhood of ruining the item is dangerously high.

Keep it in its original state at all costs.

 

If it's a stress test unit, Def keep it original, it more of a historical piece, stress test firmware wouldn't be very useful I don't think since it's just to monitor durability. Still an awesome unit, wonder where it came from?

 

Well, you could try to update it to some 3.55 cfw. The old fw will still be in one of the banks and you can dump the full NAND including the old fw + root keys + QA Token via software. That is ofc if you dare to
You would find out pretty easy if its a CEX or DEX console by just trying to update - only one of them will install.

 

Please understand that this isn't a normal unit. The DEX firmware would likely not even work as an update, and even if it does this unit wasn't meant to handle DEX FW, only a special system debugging FW.

I REALLY cannot stress it enough. DONT install a new FW, as the FW needed for this is used internally by SCE and hasn't yet been leaked.

 

it actually is a regular DEX, it is QA flagged most likely QA flagged as most QA units are, it can (and probably has been in the past) be updated with a regular DEX firmware, in fact 2.45 is not the current firmware, it's the minimum firmware it can be flashed to (DEX can be downgraded), although if it has been updated to 3.56+ you will need to use the 3.55 or newer PUP regardless of what is written (the keys changed)

The initial firmware probably was interesting and might be kept in a backup bank, the only way to make sure you can preserve what's there is to dump the NOR using hardware prior to flashing anything (the coreos of a stress firmware could be interesting to look at), if you are lucky it might never have been updated and you could dump the NOR on a cfw and get the original firmware from the backup bank (if you updated twice however, the backup bank will be gone)

If you really are up to it, just find some game repair shop that can mod an infectus or an E3 chip (E3 can even be solderless) and ask him to dump the NOR for you.

The only units that ever require special firmwares (I mean ones not available at anytime to 3rd parties on devnet) were system debuggers (which use special sets of keys), good luck ever getting one of these. Most use the same hardware as the DECR-1000A but have an extra board for system debugging, some have a slightly different hw with the EE+GS chip and were given to the ps2 emulator staff.

Good luck getting a system debugger out of a Sony building.

 

Wow, this is all some great info, thanks guys. Sorry I've been away for a couple days so I haven't had time to look into this. My first step will be to open it up this week to take a look then look into my options for dumping the FW (again, not sure if I'll end up touching it). If it looks like one of the mentioned dumping methods is safe I may look into it further. I'm sure I'll reach back out to all those who provided info.

Thanks again!

 

According to the wiki this is a NOR console, so most of the firmware is on the missing hard disk drive (which is why putting in a blank hard disk doesn't work). So what you're suggesting won't help.

I would get the NOR dumped first and then install a standard DEX. That way if it dies you can get back to the current state.

 

I have an E3 flasher to dump the NOR... But this is a major console and would be nervous working on it. I have done quite a few PS3 Slims so I know how to use it well, just never done something like this before.

 

Dump the contents (as much as possible). Once done and all has been checked off, by all means try messing with the FW.

But until we get things looked at I would 100% refrain from messing with the FW.