Wii U game demo use counter location

[sgv458]

I've been trying to figure out how the Wii U game demo use counters are saved. I know that they are consistent for all users on a console and deleting and reinstalling demos did not reset the use counter when you still could redownload them. But I'm trying to figure out if deleting the user the demo was downloaded with would allow for another user with a different Nintendo Network ID on the same Wii U to download the demo again, but would not have any of the uses used up.

Has anyone figured out where the demo uses are saved—the console, separate from the users and connected Nintendo Network IDs, or on a connected single Nintendo Network ID?

 

[Deleted member 571007]

There really isn't any need to. The ticket patching methods we have on most NUS tools will patch the Demo ticket for infinite uses anyways. But even then that's kind of already made irrelevant by the fact that said NUS tools can just download any title for regular use in the first place. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[sgv458]

Oh I'm not trying to download anything, I'm just interested in how the Wii U's operating system works.

 

[Deleted member 571007]

Oh I'm not trying to download anything, I'm just interested in how the Wii U's operating system works.

Hm, fair enough. In that case it's most likely in one of the title's related XMLs. Either that or it's a flag in the actual RPX that gets updated on launch.

 

[sgv458]

Hm, fair enough. In that case it's most likely in one of the title's related XMLs. Either that or it's a flag in the actual RPX that gets updated on launch.

So would the XML it is in be associated with a Nintendo Network ID on the Wii U? I'm not very familiar with this sort of stuff.

 

[V10lator]

Either that or it's a flag in the actual RPX that gets updated on launch.

Pretty unlikely that Nintendo would decompress the .rpx to an .elf and then either decompile, patch and recompile or do a binary patch and finally recompress into .rpx.

The xml idea also sounds unlikely to me. I guess (and this is really just guessed, would have to investigate) that there's some global demo database stored somewhere on the Wii U. Whenever you install a title whos tmd says its a demo it will get added to the database and increment its counter each time you launch.

 

[Deleted member 571007]

Pretty unlikely that Nintendo would decompress the .rpx to an .elf and then either decompile, patch and recompile or do a binary patch and finally recompress into .rpx.

From what I've seen, especially on the memory side- it's possible to permanently modify RPX variables from within the title. I could just be remembering wrong though, so take that with a grain of salt.

The xml idea also sounds unlikely to me. I guess (and this is really just guessed, would have to investigate) that there's some global demo database stored somewhere on the Wii U. Whenever you install a title whos tmd says its a demo it will get added to the database and increment its counter each time you launch.

That's possible. I think I actually figured this out once a couple years ago, but I'm sure as hell not gonna be able to remember.

So would the XML it is in be associated with a Nintendo Network ID on the Wii U? I'm not very familiar with this sort of stuff.

No. Title's most of the time have various XML files which hold either title information or metadata. You can view them by using a FTP client to view the files for the title.

 

[SDIO]

From what I've seen, especially on the memory side- it's possible to permanently modify RPX variables from within the title.

Wouldn't that break the signature?

Maybe the easies thing is to copy everything (possible) with ftpii u everywhere before and after launching the demo title and then diff it?

 

[V10lator]

Wouldn't that break the signature?

That was what I completely forgot about but yea: The .rpx is signed and the signing secrets not stored on the Wii Us, so impossible to change even a single bit of a rpx.

 

[sgv458]

The xml idea also sounds unlikely to me. I guess (and this is really just guessed, would have to investigate) that there's some global demo database stored somewhere on the Wii U. Whenever you install a title whos tmd says its a demo it will get added to the database and increment its counter each time you launch.

Would it be added from installing the demo or opening the demo? Typically the Wii U doesn't recognize software on the console unless it has been opened.

 

[godreborn]

I'm not sure how this works. I think on the switch they had a demo of captain toad for a limited time, and I owned the game digitally, but it wasn't installed, so it may not be in the meta on that system. The same could be true of the wiiu. Personally, it may be recorded in the versions.bin. that's the file that prevents the game from working if downgraded.

 

[sgv458]

I'm not sure how this works. I think on the switch they had a demo of captain toad for a limited time, and I owned the game digitally, but it wasn't installed, so it may not be in the meta on that system. The same could be true of the wiiu. Personally, it may be recorded in the versions.bin. that's the file that prevents the game from working if downgraded.

Does versions.bin stay on the console when the game is deleted? Demos retain their use count when they are deleted and reinstalled.

 

[godreborn]

Does versions.bin stay on the console when the game is deleted? Demos retain their use count when they are deleted and reinstalled.

yes, even if you uninstall the game or app, it will still retain the latest version. it's just a guess as to whether that's responsible though.

 

[sgv458]

After looking into it, I've found out that game demos have a unique title ID different from full games, updates and DLC, which is 00050002, and that when demos are being downloaded they have a different name from other types of software. So they probably are considered different from regular software and they may not even have a versions.bin file at all.

I also saw in a different thread that the location of the demo uses is in vol/storage_slc/proc but there wasn't any information about how they are saved in relation to Nintendo Network IDs.

 

[ber71]

This is overkill but should restrict the search to a few files:

dump the mlc
extract the dump to location1
play the demo
dump and extract again to location2
compare every file in locations 1-2

 

[sgv458]

This is overkill but should restrict the search to a few files:

dump the mlc
extract the dump to location1
play the demo
dump and extract again to location2
compare every file in locations 1-2

Do you think there is any difference in the system memory between before downloading a demo for the first time and after deleting that demo without playing it? It doesn't seem like there would be.

 

[sgv458]

There really isn't any need to. The ticket patching methods we have on most NUS tools will patch the Demo ticket for infinite uses anyways. But even then that's kind of already made irrelevant by the fact that said NUS tools can just download any title for regular use in the first place. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So is whether or not a piece of demo software has limited uses determined by the ticket? I'm pretty sure the tickets are tied to the NNIDs on the console, so that may mean that demo uses act the same way.

 

[Deleted member 571007]

So is whether or not a piece of demo software has limited uses determined by the ticket? I'm pretty sure the tickets are tied to the NNIDs on the console, so that may mean that demo uses act the same way.

Tickets are just used to sign / verify the content, not really tied to the NNID. It might have something to do with the ticket, but I kinda doubt that.

Anyways, I'd try to look at this more because I'm curious, but I don't own the console anymore so- meh.

 

[godreborn]

After looking into it, I've found out that game demos have a unique title ID different from full games, updates and DLC, which is 00050002, and that when demos are being downloaded they have a different name from other types of software. So they probably are considered different from regular software and they may not even have a versions.bin file at all.

I also saw in a different thread that the location of the demo uses is in vol/storage_slc/proc but there wasn't any information about how they are saved in relation to Nintendo Network IDs.

that title id for demos is known. I still believe it's the versions.bin has something to do with it. it will prevent games from booting if you try downgrading. you can hex in a lower value, and it will allow you to downgrade then, but it's an extremely sensitive app as the os versions are even it there. you fuck up the file, there's a chance of a brick. I've downgraded one thing in there (made a tutorial), and I had no problems, but it wasn't something severe. technically, you could probably downgrade the firmware, but at extreme risk.

 

[sgv458]

Tickets are just used to sign / verify the content, not really tied to the NNID. It might have something to do with the ticket, but I kinda doubt that.

I thought that when you try to open a piece of software on the Wii U without the ticket it gave you the error about how the software cannot be used because the NNID used to purchase it was deleted.