If you absolutely need homebrew and backups today, trade up to a 9.00 console. If you just want to play games, update to the latest firmware and enjoy PSN.
For gamers who accidentally updated to 9.60 (or bought a pre-owned console on that version), the question is urgent: how to downgrade ps4 9.60 to 9.00
There is one specific scenario where a software downgrade is possible: if you are on firmware 9.60 specifically . In some regions and scenarios, the official 10.00 or 10.01 update files were recognized as compatible updates for 9.60 systems. However, this upgrades you to a higher firmware, not down to 9.00. To actually get down to 9.00 from 9.60, standard methods are insufficient. If you absolutely need homebrew and backups today,
Use tools like PS4 Wee Tools to check the hashes of your dumps. If the two dumps aren't identical, your soldering is likely bad. In some regions and scenarios, the official 10
However, Sony quickly patched this vulnerability in firmware 9.03 and subsequent updates. If your console is on 9.60, that specific "window" of software exploitability is closed. Therefore, users look to "downgrade"—the process of reverting the system software to a previous, vulnerable version.
A common myth is that swapping the hard drive with one from a 9.00 console forces a downgrade.
