PS4-HEN-VTX being ported to multiple PS4 firmwares, as a “temporary” solution until GoldHEN gets there
Developer Echo Stretch, along with BestPig, has been porting and releasing PS4-HEN-vtx to multiple firmwares for the recent PS4 Jailbreak. The developer says this is a temporary measure for folk who want/have to stay on their current firmware, and if GoldHEN isn’t available for them.
This is under active development, and fixes/updates are being added almost every day by the developer.
Why a new Homebrew Enabler for all firmwares is a good thing
Popular CFW GoldHEN has been ported to multiple new Firmwares for the PS4, following the release of the latest PS4 Jailbreak on firmwares 11.00 and below. But developer Sistr0 is only human, and has to prioritize some firmwares over others, with each release*.
Now, in theory, with GoldHEN now available on multiple firmwares (9.60, 10.00, 10.01, and 11.00 were added recently, on top of course of 9.00 and several firmwares below that), one could say that it is ok to update to the next supported firmware and call it a day.
For many reason, some people won’t, or can’t upgrade to another firmware.
In particular, some folks are stuck on a given firmware, and cannot upgrade their consoles due to the “NoBD” issue:
Your PS4 is said to be “NoBD” if its BluRay drive is missing or has been damaged. If you have such a “NoBD” console, you probably already know (or will soon discover) that you cannot update your PS4 Firmware anymore. This is annoying for multiple reasons, if only for the fact that there is no legit technical reason for this limitation on the PS4 firmware. You could still technically use the PS4 for a lot of other things, including digital game downloads, but the PlayStation gods have decided otherwise.
It’s up to the community to fix this mess, and make it technically possible to update your firmware to the latest and greatest, by bypassing a few checks during installation of the firmware. These techniques are typically referred to as “NoBD updaters”.
Adding a kernel exploit for lower firmwares gives users additional ways to eventually upgrade their console if they need to. This is just one of the benefits of porting a given exploit to multiple firmwares.
What is PS4-HEN-vtx
If you match the description above and have been desperately waiting for GoldHEN, then PS4-HEN-vtx is the next big thing and I recommend you give it a try. The “vtx” here stands for “Vortex” who was the original developer. As far as I know, PS4-HEN-vtx was actually the base for GoldHEN, and so, even though GoldHEN has evolved significantly since the vtx day, many of the features are similar.
Currently EchoStretch and BestPig have the Homebrew Enabler ported to the following firmwares:
- 7.55
- 8.03
- 8.50
- 9.00
- 9.03
- 9.04
- 9.50
- 9.60
- 10.00
- 10.01
- 10.50
- 10.70/10.71
- 11.00
Features:
- Homebrew Enabler
- Jailbreak
- Sandbox Escape
- Debug Settings
- External HDD Support
- VR Support
- Remote Package Install
- Rest Mode Support
- External HDD Format 7.xx Support
- FW Version Spoof to 7.02
- Debug Trophies Support
- sys_dynlib_dlsym Patch
- UART Enabler
- Never Disable Screenshot
- Remote Play Enabler
UPDATE, @bestpig and I have been working on porting HEN to all firmware versions. This is a temporary solution until Sistro releases GoldHEN. In the meantime, keep an eye on our GitHub repositories for updates. As for the code, we have a small difference, but it’s nothing major.
— Echo Stretch (@StretchEcho) June 8, 2024
Download and install PS4-HEN-VTX
You can download the version that matches your firmware on the github’s release page: https://github.com/EchoStretch/ps4-hen-vtx/releases (pick the one that matches your firmware)
For details on how to run the PPPwn exploit you can check our PS4 jailbreak page. For any specific issues with PS4-HEN-vtx, get in touch with Echo Stretch at the source link below.
Source: Echo Stretch
* Normally I’d say that open sourcing GoldHEN could fix that, but Sistr0 has been quite vocal that open sourcing his stuff has bit him in the back before and he doesn’t intend to do it with GoldHEN while he is actively working on it
I’m pretty new to all this (last time I got involved was softmodding with original xbox) but my understanding is as time goes on we’ll find some FW version will be better for this new exploit vs others. I myself am on 9.03 and am not upgrading to 9.60 (or higher) because of this. So finding out these guys have a temporary solution in the meantime is great news!!