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7/22/17: Thread is temporarily dead. I'm in the process of a new writeup, but since Life™ is a bitch, it's not going to be for a while. I haven't forgot about this, I've just been busy. Thanks for your patience!
5/29/17: Just a quick FYI for people who are just tuning in: B9S is the SAME THING as Sighax. Derek's installer and B9S are just different implementations of Sighax. Also, updates are coming Soon™.
We're all in one of a few boats right now. You're either one of the people who accidentally updated to 11.4 without custom firmware, a developer who wants even more power, a pirate who wants to get their hands on all of the games on all of the platforms, or a complete newbie who just wants to impress their friends.
So you've come to GBATemp's 3DS Homebrew forum, and you see some stuff about this "sighax" thing, and open up a thread to find technical jargon way above your head (unless you're a dev, of course). After looking around, you probably have found very little that's in the "user friendly" side of this exploit. Well, worry no more! Because Sighax for Dummies is here to try and answer all your questions!
Remember to check back on this post frequently for updates, as I'll try to be as efficient with updating this post and answering questions as I can.
1. So what the heck is a sighax?
Sighax is an exploit discovered by derrek, where he used a dumped copy of the bootrom in order to have every custom firmware be read as valid during the verification part of the 3DS power-on sequence.
2. Woah woah, slow down. Tell me what this "bootrom" is!
A bootrom is a piece of code burned into the system-on-chip, a little circuit that integrates all the necessary hardware for an electronic device to run. In the case of the 3DS, it has the processor, the bootrom, and a few other electrical things that, for this thread, don't matter too much. The bootrom is a teeny tiny piece of code stored in a tiny rom chip in the SoC that provides some basic encryption keys that validate the NAND, and other system components, and then allows for the 3DS to turn on.
3. Why would we need to mess with that?
At first, it was so we could get at one of the encryption keys used to decrypt 3DS games, but while trying to get this key, we managed to find the bug that allows us to use the sighax exploit on pretty much any 3DS family system, allowing us to run any custom firmware as if it were made by Nintendo themselves.
4. So what can we do with it?
It can do pretty much anything a9lh can do (including the "true firmwares" everybody's on about), but can be installed with dsiware hax or a hardmod, which is easier than having to downgrade to 2.1.0 in order to grab the console-unique keys from the OTP, as well as being fix-proof by any system updates. Additionally, if you're of the developing type, the execution environment will be cleaner for you too.
5. Does that mean my 3DS is safe to update?
Technically, yes! Since Sighax is out now, you'll be able to install it on 11.4 and up! Go ahead and update, friendo, you're in the clear. Just remember, you'll need a second 3DS with CFW already AND a copy of one of the dsiware games listed on the Holy Guide (3ds.guide), in order to fully be able to install sighax. Or, if you already have a9lh, dsiwarehax, or a hardmod on the system you want to sighax, you can just use those to directly install sighax! Ain't that neat!
If you're still on 11.3 or below, and you don't own a dsiware hackable game, and you still want sighax, just go ahead and install a9lh through soundhax or some other homebrew entry point, and then upgrade to boot9strap after that. It saves time AND effort!
6. When do we get it then?
It's here now! Check 3ds.guide for instructions on how to install sighax with an already implemented a9lh setup (upgrading to b9strap), or without that (the normal guide)!
7. Why won't we get the bootrom?
Previously, it's because that would be illegal, because the bootrom is copyrighted code, and unleashing it upon the internet is a pretty major crime. Now, sighax will allow you to dump your own bootrom! You probably won't need it, unless you're gonna do a bit of tinkering, especially since all the necessary keys are just out there on the internet now. Happy hunting!
8. So what now?
You get out there, and you get sighax now! Because pretty much everything from this point onward will require it, and it's better to get it early than later.
So that's about it for what you need to know about sighax. If you want to know anything else, you should ask about it on the discussion thread, hedge's stream, or even here, and somebody will probably answer it.
5/29/17: Just a quick FYI for people who are just tuning in: B9S is the SAME THING as Sighax. Derek's installer and B9S are just different implementations of Sighax. Also, updates are coming Soon™.
We're all in one of a few boats right now. You're either one of the people who accidentally updated to 11.4 without custom firmware, a developer who wants even more power, a pirate who wants to get their hands on all of the games on all of the platforms, or a complete newbie who just wants to impress their friends.
So you've come to GBATemp's 3DS Homebrew forum, and you see some stuff about this "sighax" thing, and open up a thread to find technical jargon way above your head (unless you're a dev, of course). After looking around, you probably have found very little that's in the "user friendly" side of this exploit. Well, worry no more! Because Sighax for Dummies is here to try and answer all your questions!
Remember to check back on this post frequently for updates, as I'll try to be as efficient with updating this post and answering questions as I can.
1. So what the heck is a sighax?
Sighax is an exploit discovered by derrek, where he used a dumped copy of the bootrom in order to have every custom firmware be read as valid during the verification part of the 3DS power-on sequence.
2. Woah woah, slow down. Tell me what this "bootrom" is!
A bootrom is a piece of code burned into the system-on-chip, a little circuit that integrates all the necessary hardware for an electronic device to run. In the case of the 3DS, it has the processor, the bootrom, and a few other electrical things that, for this thread, don't matter too much. The bootrom is a teeny tiny piece of code stored in a tiny rom chip in the SoC that provides some basic encryption keys that validate the NAND, and other system components, and then allows for the 3DS to turn on.
3. Why would we need to mess with that?
At first, it was so we could get at one of the encryption keys used to decrypt 3DS games, but while trying to get this key, we managed to find the bug that allows us to use the sighax exploit on pretty much any 3DS family system, allowing us to run any custom firmware as if it were made by Nintendo themselves.
4. So what can we do with it?
It can do pretty much anything a9lh can do (including the "true firmwares" everybody's on about), but can be installed with dsiware hax or a hardmod, which is easier than having to downgrade to 2.1.0 in order to grab the console-unique keys from the OTP, as well as being fix-proof by any system updates. Additionally, if you're of the developing type, the execution environment will be cleaner for you too.
5. Does that mean my 3DS is safe to update?
Technically, yes! Since Sighax is out now, you'll be able to install it on 11.4 and up! Go ahead and update, friendo, you're in the clear. Just remember, you'll need a second 3DS with CFW already AND a copy of one of the dsiware games listed on the Holy Guide (3ds.guide), in order to fully be able to install sighax. Or, if you already have a9lh, dsiwarehax, or a hardmod on the system you want to sighax, you can just use those to directly install sighax! Ain't that neat!
If you're still on 11.3 or below, and you don't own a dsiware hackable game, and you still want sighax, just go ahead and install a9lh through soundhax or some other homebrew entry point, and then upgrade to boot9strap after that. It saves time AND effort!
6. When do we get it then?
It's here now! Check 3ds.guide for instructions on how to install sighax with an already implemented a9lh setup (upgrading to b9strap), or without that (the normal guide)!
7. Why won't we get the bootrom?
Previously, it's because that would be illegal, because the bootrom is copyrighted code, and unleashing it upon the internet is a pretty major crime. Now, sighax will allow you to dump your own bootrom! You probably won't need it, unless you're gonna do a bit of tinkering, especially since all the necessary keys are just out there on the internet now. Happy hunting!
8. So what now?
You get out there, and you get sighax now! Because pretty much everything from this point onward will require it, and it's better to get it early than later.
So that's about it for what you need to know about sighax. If you want to know anything else, you should ask about it on the discussion thread, hedge's stream, or even here, and somebody will probably answer it.
- 5/11/17 12:35 PM EDT: Added clarification about OTP
- 5/11/17 12:58 PM EDT: Revised section 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8
- 5/20/17 8:55 PM EDT: Inital release update, updated sections 5, 6, 7, and 8
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