Hacking Wiikey = ATMEGA8L = Chiip,Wiip etc

[panther_512]

Today I received my Wiikey from cheapmod (official reseller).

To my surprise I saw that the chip is an ATMEGA8L !!!

Remember this chip? The same is used for the open source Chiip.

Also, the Wiip, another open source modchip, is based on AT90S2313 which has more or less the same functions.

What all these means?

That if you have the slightest experience with electronics, go for open source modchips, since they have more frequent updates and because whatever features the Wiikey has, the open source modchips can certainly have them in the near future since they are based on the same chip.


The funny thing is that I've built the Wiip several days ago, but wanted to try this Wiikey because everyone said that it is the best of the best.....

Since Wiikey is an ATMEGA8L, it is just a matter of time to dump its code and use it to the open source modchips.

I feel I wasted my money......

 

[plexo]

you try dumping it, fit lift the chip then put it in a compatible programmer, easy part, now unprotect it

also about the wiikey fakes, why wouldnt they update if they used same components? and they wud have a byte to byte DUPLICATE of the chip

 

[panther_512]

you try dumping it, fit lift the chip then put it in a compatible programmer, easy part, now unprotect it

also about the wiikey fakes, why wouldnt they update if they used same components? and they wud have a byte to byte DUPLICATE of the chip

I don't know what's happening with the fakes, but my point is that the famous Wiikey component-wise is identical to Chiip and almost the same with Wiip.

It's just the same chip on a different PCB. The only difference is in the code.

 

[vashie]

thank you for rediscovering fire

 

[Kaphis]

lol~ this is no different then the whole wiinja thing..wherever went...oh its just a PIC...we can all just dump the code DDD

and here we are now...a few months after its release...where are all those guys that say they will release the code...XD

no offense but its not as simple as you think dumping code from a chip because when you compile and flash the code...it won't be in the same language its written in.

 

[Soybomb]

That if you have the slightest experience with electronics, go for open source modchips, since they have more frequent updates and because whatever features the Wiikey has, the open source modchips can certainly have them in the near future since they are based on the same chip.

Meh to each his own, the wiikey allows me to play backups and imports with ease now and no waiting on the community to finish the next code revision so I can reprogram. I figure the wiikey's days are numbered anyway and within 6 months we'll all be putting in different chips that allow us to do wii homebrew. I'll take low hassle working out of the box now until "the real thing" is ready. Ymmv.

 

[marlin]

Thank you very much for this post. I was about to buy a Wiikey. Now i know it's just the same crap of all the others...

They won't see my money. Chiip, here i go!

 

[moshii]

it won't be in the same language its written in.

Eh? That's what a disassembler is for... You write in assembly for mcu's unless you want to waste the tiny bit of code and work memory you have.
And to be honest .. if you dumped the eprom or flash from the wiinja why would you need to "compile" it? you'd just burn it to another PIC....

 

[Perplexer]

Umm, so you expect each modchip company to produce their own microcontroller? Of COURSE you're going to use off-the-shelf components for things like flash memory!

For example, the most popular Xbox modchip, the Xecuter2 series, used a standard flash memory chip; you could just as easily use the same chip for a "cheapmod."

You're paying for code (Wiikey has the best code for any retail or homebrew at this time) and support. Not the physical part...

 

[panther_512]

lol~ this is no different then the whole wiinja thing..wherever went...oh its just a PIC...we can all just dump the code DDD

and here we are now...a few months after its release...where are all those guys that say they will release the code...XD

no offense but its not as simple as you think dumping code from a chip because when you compile and flash the code...it won't be in the same language its written in.

LOL!!!!! No offense but I am professional electronics Engineer for the last 10 years. Programming microcontrollers is my job.

The Wiinja code has been released many days ago, reassembled.

Of course it's a little difficult to reverse engineer the reassembled code but it's nothing impossible. But you can use the released code as it is make now a Wiinja clone with 5 bucks.

What I am telling and you didn't understand is that it's only a matter of time for someone to use a logic analyser, take the Wiikey code, reassemble it and modify it for opensource modchips.

Bottom end, you can expect the open source modchips to surpass the commercial ones very very fast...

 

[ps2.au]

wiikey is not 100% region free atfter all

 

[Kaphis]

lol~ this is no different then the whole wiinja thing..wherever went...oh its just a PIC...we can all just dump the code DDD

and here we are now...a few months after its release...where are all those guys that say they will release the code...XD

no offense but its not as simple as you think dumping code from a chip because when you compile and flash the code...it won't be in the same language its written in.


LOL!!!!! No offense but I am professional electronics Engineer for the last 10 years. Programming microcontrollers is my job.

The Wiinja code has been released many days ago, reassembled.

Of course it's a little difficult to reverse engineer the reassembled code but it's nothing impossible. But you can use the released code as it is make now a Wiinja clone with 5 bucks.

What I am telling and you didn't understand is that it's only a matter of time for someone to use a logic analyser, take the Wiikey code, reassemble it and modify it for opensource modchips.

Bottom end, you can expect the open source modchips to surpass the commercial ones very very fast...

Not that I am judging your skills, put your skill where your mouth is and make it then. There are lots of things that are " a little difficult" and "not impossible". The wiinja dump, as I understand it, is the V1 code. (I am sorry, I really don't know if this is the case or not).

Unless you have access to all the tools and equipment already, unprotecting a PIC is not an easy task. As for the wiikey code, I would imagine the same thing. Yea it is true that you can reverse engineer microcontrolllers using logic analyzers but please get back to us when you are done

I don't have as much experience as a 10 year professional electrical engineer, but as a electrical engineer student, I know fully that its "possible" technically. And as a forum member for the past 4 months with the whole "I WILL RELEASE WIINJA CODE" ... it will never happen because like you said~ the open source is soooo much better, why waste the time?

 

[panther_512]

You refuse to understand the meaning of what I am saying.

I don't have the time or the logic analyser to dump the code. And I don't have the patience to explore the reassembled version of the dump even if I had it infront of me.

But there are many others who have the equipment, the patience and the skills to do it.

But, what I am really saying is that Wiikey is exactly the same thing component-wise with the Chiip and Wiip, meaning that even if there is no dump of Wiikey's code, the opensource programmers can make the open source modchips to have the same or better features with Wiikey, since the microcontrollers are exactly the same.

 

[Kaphis]

well~ that wasn't what you said in the beginning ~ but no matter ^^~

I agree that the homebrew chips have the potential to do more then the wiikey, but someone extracting the wiikey code will probably not happen and is not as easy u make it sound. I am not defending wiikey, I said the same thing to those guys who said "lets just dump wiinja code"..

So with that said, maybe our conversation here have inspired someone to go and do it

 

[xiaNaix]

I heard the Cheapmod was selling clones.

 

[panther_512]

I heard the Cheapmod was selling clones.

Cheapmod is an official Wiikey reseller.

http://www.wiikey.cn/resellers.html

I am a costumer of cheapmod for a long time and I never ever received a clone from them neither I heard that they sell clones of any kind.

 

[wii_ownz]

I think the reason for clones not updating properly is simply due to flawed code in the chip.

when the setup disc provided by wiikey is used, we're essentially not reprogramming the whole chip, we are just writing bits of information to the chip. with clones, the code inside the chip is different and thus can have a weird issues.

just keep in mind that we are no way programming the entire chip with the setup disc to enable multiregion compatibility.

 

[panther_512]

I think the reason for clones not updating properly is simply due to flawed code in the chip.

when the setup disc provided by wiikey is used, we're essentially not reprogramming the whole chip, we are just writing bits of information to the chip. with clones, the code inside the chip is different and thus can have a weird issues.

just keep in mind that we are no way programming the entire chip with the setup disc to enable multiregion compatibility.

To add to what you said:

With the Wiikey setup disk we don't write/program anything on the chip. There are already these settings in the code of Wiikey. It just changes a few values on ATMEGA8L's EEPROM depending on what we select on the setup disk.

It doesn't change anything on the main code which is located in the Flash memory.

 

[atka]

You refuse to understand the meaning of what I am saying.

I don't have the time or the logic analyser to dump the code. And I don't have the patience to explore the reassembled version of the dump even if I had it infront of me.

But there are many others who have the equipment, the patience and the skills to do it.

But, what I am really saying is that Wiikey is exactly the same thing component-wise with the Chiip and Wiip, meaning that even if there is no dump of Wiikey's code, the opensource programmers can make the open source modchips to have the same or better features with Wiikey, since the microcontrollers are exactly the same.

Sorry I had a look at the datasheet and you would need one.

 

[s7r1k3r]

my wiikey doesnt play import properly even though i burn them the same way i burn usa