Hacking Wii U Disc

[Deleted member 318366]

Any software capable of ripping/extracting data from a wii u disc yet?

 

[djbubba2002]

its coming!!!!just wait for it

 

[Deleted member 318366]

its coming!!!!just wait for it

Haha djbubba, nice SN dude! And really? Any estimate or timelapse when that'll be? Ill wait as long as it takes for a dev to amerge.

 

[TheZander]

No I don't think anybody could give you a time lapse of when, what is exactly do you mean time lapse anyways? Good thing to know you'll wait as long it takes though, whats the alternative you usually get bored and hack the console yourself? I suggest you play with though as long as you have it.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Since we don't have the key yet for actually decrypting these discs, no one can say when they'll be found. It will probably not happen before the Wii U is fully hacked.

 

[mike333]

Is it possible to read WiiU disc using regular Blu-ray drive?
No.

Is it possible to read WiiU disc using Blu-ray drive with heavy customized firmware?
I believe yes, but requires lots of time and effort.

Is it possible to read WiiU disc using WiiU?
Yes, quite easy. But first we need exploit for WiiU mode.

 

[McHaggis]

Since we don't have the key yet for actually decrypting these discs, no one can say when they'll be found. It will probably not happen before the Wii U is fully hacked.

I'm sure the acts of ripping and uploading will happen long before the decrypting. Just like they do with everything else. A Wii Disc is just a Blu-Ray disc, so it's likely that it won't take long before some a ripped. They'll just be no good to anyone, just like the 3DS games floating around the internets at the moment.

Is it possible to read WiiU disc using regular Blu-ray drive?
No.

Is it possible to read WiiU disc using Blu-ray drive with heavy customized firmware?
I believe yes, but requires lots of time and effort.

Is it possible to read WiiU disc using WiiU?
Yes, quite easy. But first we need exploit for WiiU mode.

That's an interesting thought... maybe we won't need a Wii U mode exploit. Maybe it could be done using direct hardware access from Wii mode, since the drive has the firmware necessary to read the discs.

 

[mike333]

That's an interesting thought... maybe we won't need a Wii U mode exploit. Maybe it could be done using direct hardware access from Wii mode, since the drive has the firmware necessary to read the discs.

If N did their homework then:
- all dvd communication is encrypted,
- all memory access is encrypted too (by hardware inside memory controller).

 

[Cyan]

if the discs are not readable on standard blueray drives, it's probably because they don't use a standard format. (or everything is encrypted, Wii disc had few data un-encrypted)
The Wii disc already had a non standard data position per sectors.

It would require analyzing the disc structure and write a custom firmware for computer's BD reader if no drives accept these non standard discs (some LG drives accepted non standard discs natively).
Nobody wrote a custom firmware for Computer's DVD drive, so I don't know if it's possible for BD drives. firmware are certainly not open source, but should be possible (they made firmware for Xbox drives, so everything should be possible, it just need time).

 

[McHaggis]

If N did their homework then:
- all dvd communication is encrypted,
- all memory access is encrypted too (by hardware inside memory controller).

They can't change the way Wii mode reads the disc, which was my point. Technically, they could have put measures in place (ie a flag writeable from Wii U mode) to prevent Wii mode from seeing a Blu-Ray/Wii U disc, but maybe they didn't. I mean, would it really be a high priority? Technically we can't do anything with the data unless the Wii U is hacked, in which case we'd be able to use the Wii U as a dumper anyway, so it seems like it would be a lot of work to prevent it for no real reason.

 

[mike333]

They can't change the way Wii mode reads the disc, which was my point. Technically, they could have put measures in place (ie a flag writeable from Wii U mode) to prevent Wii mode from seeing a Blu-Ray/Wii U disc, but maybe they didn't. I mean, would it really be a high priority? Technically we can't do anything with the data unless the Wii U is hacked, in which case we'd be able to use the Wii U as a dumper anyway, so it seems like it would be a lot of work to prevent it for no real reason.

They cannot change the way IOS provides interface for accessing data to PPC.
What is going in between IOS and rest of hardware is hidden to game.
There are no obstacles in making whole bus (drive<->wiiu) encrypted.
I see no point in encrypting data which is already known (wii iosos) but control channel is most interesting.

 

[Supercool330]

Technically we can't do anything with the data unless the Wii U is hacked, in which case we'd be able to use the Wii U as a dumper anyway, so it seems like it would be a lot of work to prevent it for no real reason.

This is not the case. If we had the Wii U common key, having a game dump would be hugely important as that would be by far the easiest way to find an in game exploit to run unsigned code (think Twilight Hack). You obviously wouldn't be able to play pirated games, but a decrypted game dump would go a long way to hacking the Wii U.
(P.S. So far none of the games I have at least would be good candidates for this because the saves don't store any user entered data)

 

[McHaggis]

This is not the case. If we had the Wii U common key, having a game dump would be hugely important as that would be by far the easiest way to find an in game exploit to run unsigned code (think Twilight Hack). You obviously wouldn't be able to play pirated games, but a decrypted game dump would go a long way to hacking the Wii U.
(P.S. So far none of the games I have at least would be good candidates for this because the saves don't store any user entered data)

Those exploits rely on modifying save data, analysing a game dump would take much more time than trial and error to find a save game exploit. Generally, you would randomly modify strings in a save file in order to make the game crash, then see if the crash is exploitable. Much quicker than reversing and analysing a ridiculous amount of code.

(p.s. don't count on Wii U games having exploitable saves, the chances are slim)

 

[crediar]

Only problem is that you can't copy WiiU game save files to SD.

 

[B.alpha]

Is this a problem? As far as I know you can copy your Save Files to USB instead of SD or is there a specific difference?

 

[crediar]

Even IF you can copy them to USB, the WiiU formats it in a custom per console encrypted FS.

 

[Supercool330]

Really, so there is no way to transfer save files between consoles? That really sucks. Are you sure that the save files are encrypted per console?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I'm sure the acts of ripping and uploading will happen long before the decrypting. Just like they do with everything else. A Wii Disc is just a Blu-Ray disc, so it's likely that it won't take long before some a ripped. They'll just be no good to anyone, just like the 3DS games floating around the internets at the moment.


That's an interesting thought... maybe we won't need a Wii U mode exploit. Maybe it could be done using direct hardware access from Wii mode, since the drive has the firmware necessary to read the discs.

OP is talking about ripping data from the disc, not making backups.
But of course ripping the discs will happen long before they can be decrypted.

Really, so there is no way to transfer save files between consoles? That really sucks. Are you sure that the save files are encrypted per console?

Wow, that sucks. I preordered the physical NSMBU version because the eShop version wouldn't be as easy to bring (I'd have to bring the whole Wii U) but if I can't bring the save I'm back to square one.
I was thinking maybe they put this limitation in place to avoid another Twilight Hack.

 

[Supercool330]

Ya, it also means hacking Wii U mode is a lot harder. If there are no games that read unencrypted data that originates from outside the Wii U, then it means that finding a purely software exploit will be very difficult if not impossible.

Yep, I just found article confirming that you can't transfer any data from one Wii U to another, and it sounded like even in the future you might be able to transfer the entire contents of the system (like you can do from one 3DS to another), but it doesn't sound like they ever plan on allowing you to move saves. I guess I am never again buying a retail Wii U game, as the only reason I purchased the discs was so that I could play them with a buddy without bringing the entire system. I suppose you could still lend a disc to a friend, but the main intensive for me to have physical copies of games is gone, and there are so many advantages to digital downloads.

 

[uyjulian]

Ya, it also means hacking Wii U mode is a lot harder. If there are no games that read unencrypted data that originates from outside the Wii U, then it means that finding a purely software exploit will be very difficult if not impossible.

Yep, I just found article confirming that you can't transfer any data from one Wii U to another, and it sounded like even in the future you might be able to transfer the entire contents of the system (like you can do from one 3DS to another), but it doesn't sound like they ever plan on allowing you to move saves. I guess I am never again buying a retail Wii U game, as the only reason I purchased the discs was so that I could play them with a buddy without bringing the entire system. I suppose you could still lend a disc to a friend, but the main intensive for me to have physical copies of games is gone, and there are so many advantages to digital downloads.

Yeah, someone needs to write a filesystem driver before we can do savegame exploits.