Hacking How can anyone be okay with Gateway's behavior?

[frown]

Just imagine if Sony or Dell started installing trojans in their laptops that would automatically destroy your computer if you tried to use any "unorthorized" parts (like cheaper third-party batteries). There would be an uproar, and people would be crying for Sony's head. I really believe the only people defending Gateway are diehard fanboys who don't like the idea of choice.

No one seems too upset about McAfee Anti-Theft coming pre-installed on most Windows laptops, and that comes close. ;o

Back on subject though:
Did the Gateway 3DS team honestly not think anyone would look into the cause of the brickings?
Perhaps their explanation would've gone largely unquestioned had it not been for Normatt's mod also being released and affected.

 

[TheCruel]

That's what you get when you pirate a piracy device

Anyone saying shit like this has no idea what they're talking about.

Let me phrase it very clearly: People using legit Gateway cards can get bricked too!

Some Gateway users (though very few) have reported being bricked. And any simplton that understands checksums and binary corruption can see why every Gateway user is at risk if they don't watch their back (verify checksums).

In fact, you don't need to be using *any* 3DS flash card, many people were using Gateway's launcher (modified) to simply make their 3DS region-free and playing legit non-pirated games. Some of these people got their 3DS bricked too.

What's clear from this move is that Gateway cares more about hurting their competitors than they do about protecting their customers.

 

[gamesquest1]

Has anybody ever thought to look into the idea that this "malicious code" that Gateway put in their launcher could just be the anti-"accidental update" code that they decided not to release with the 2.02b launcher?

Why did they leave that code in if it could brick the system? They could have left this code in as it would have taken a while to remove every trace of it which would delay the release of the update (which would piss people off) but disabled it (and put checks in the launcher) in order to prevent people from bricking their 3DS' using the 2.02b launcher.

From what I read, the 3DS bricking occurs when people are using modified launchers and leave the settings screen while in emunand. What was the reason for the accidental updates to the main nand when people were just trying to update their emunands? They were leaving the settings screen then updating their 3DS. Gateway was working on a way to prevent this.

My thought on this is that the cloners bypassed the code that disabled this unfinished feature which is causing the bricks.

They even stated on their site -

2.02b now available

23/12/2013
First of all, thanks to everyone who has been testing our public beta.

We mentioned previously that we would have a solution against accidental updates, but we decided not to release this just yet.
While we did succeed in preventing accidental updates for our test 3DS unit, it took trial and error to get it in that state, and we bricked the unit many times before succeeding.
Ultimately we decided that it was too dangerous for public use right now.

This scenario is why I'm okay with Gateway's behavior

Yeah I have said this a few times in a few threads....some people love drama and controversy though

Maybe it is the case maybe it isn't.....afaik they haven't actually examined the code properly yet...just seen some functions that "could" be used maliciously.....just like saying any formatting tool is a virus.

 

[Arras]

Anyone saying shit like this has no idea what they're talking about.

Let me phrase it very clearly: People using legit Gateway cards can get bricked too!

Some Gateway users (though very few) have reported being bricked. And any simplton that understands checksums and binary corruption can see why every Gateway user is at risk if they don't watch their back (verify checksums).

In fact, you don't need to be using *any* 3DS flash card, many people were using Gateway's launcher (modified) to simply make their 3DS region-free and playing legit non-pirated games. Some of these people got their 3DS bricked too.

What's clear from this move is that Gateway cares more about hurting their competitors than they do about protecting their customers.

No, the launcher just crashes without doing anything else if the checksums don't match. If that crash is patched over, that's when the bricking code is reached. Simple corruption won't trigger it.

 

[gamefan5]

Why would they release a fix when it "Apparently" only effects users of clone cards? They already said they don't give a shit about anyone not using their products.

When did he ever said that said fix would be provided by gateway?

 

[benzs129]

Why not just create a poll? So we all know each other's opinion.

 

[Huntereb]

When did he ever said that said fix would be provided by gateway?

Oh yeah, good point.

 

[aireca]

Since when it's a company, this is piracy. Cant's stand it, don't get piracy.

 

[Deleted User]

I thought the article made Gateway sound like they had a giant stick up their ass. I mean, I like Gateway and all they've done, but they always respond to questions and problems with "Gateway Master-Race, if you don't follow only us, you're fucked".

 

[Kupie]

I thought the article made Gateway sound like they had a giant stick up their ass. I mean, I like Gateway and all they've done, but they always respond to questions and problems with "Gateway Master-Race, if you don't follow only us, you're fucked".

What, they don't get to be proud?

You're right. It's not like they're the sole reason we have the flashcarts + clones out there. [/sarcasm]

 

[mickcris]

They should have made it so that if your console was bricked by a clone, you could recover it using an official gateway card or something. I don't think it's right that they bricked peoples consoles without being able to easily be recovered.

 

[Deleted User]

What, they don't get to be proud?

You're right. It's not like they're the sole reason we have the flashcarts + clones out there. [/sarcasm]

They're being arrogant is what I was getting at.

Let's bring in an example: Hitler took over a wide amount of countries faster then anyone else to date. Now, just because they (being Wehrmacht) were the first to do it, doesn't make what they do okay. Point in case Gateway, just because they were first, doesn't make what they do okay.
(That was worded badly, I was actually going to aim at more of a Nazi example, but Hitler is just as good)

 

[Vengenceonu]

Inb4 someone makes a Change.org petition to boycott and remove gateway.

 

[Ryukouki]

Anyone with a grain of sense shouldn't be okay with Gateway's actions. Sure, they did the work first, but this stuff is already in a gray area as it is. There were also many other alternatives that the team could have chosen but the method they chose was to brick consoles beyond repair. I fail to see how people are able to justify an action like that.

 

[gamesquest1]

This is all the same stuff over and over YES gateway is a flashcards, we ALL know this fact, stop acting like it's some revelation....the card you are defending is ALSO a flashcards......just as illegal and imoral and unjust and blah blah blah......I don't think people are talking about the morals of using flashcards here. It's no shocking discovery, it all boils down to....should gateway be allowed to protect their code however they see fit........*most* clones users will say "no", *most* gateway users will say "sure....kinda....to a degree....but maybe not as excessively as has been the case here"

And random people will say PIRATES piiiiirrrratessssssss.....but that's a whole different topic

 

[badbob001]

I'm surprised this thread took only six pages for someone to bring up the nazis.

 

[tomiga]

Anyone with a grain of sense shouldn't be okay with Gateway's actions. Sure, they did the work first, but this stuff is already in a gray area as it is. There were also many other alternatives that the team could have chosen but the method they chose was to brick consoles beyond repair. I fail to see how people are able to justify an action like that.

I agree, it's not acceptable. Especially when all you're doing is modifying the launcher to play your legally owned games, like I was doing. I don't know why people think that destroying the limited amount of 3DS systems that are hackable is acceptable in any way, 'cuz it's not.

 

[gamefan5]

Anyone with a grain of sense shouldn't be okay with Gateway's actions. Sure, they did the work first, but this stuff is already in a gray area as it is. There were also many other alternatives that the team could have chosen but the method they chose was to brick consoles beyond repair. I fail to see how people are able to justify an action like that.

^Pretty much this, no question. I own a gateway cart, but to say that I approve their actions would be lying. .

 

[gamesquest1]

I'm surprised this thread took only six pages for someone to bring up the nazis.

Lets be honest they where probably running out of analogies between all these threads

 

[drproton]

I supported Gateway in good faith because they seem to be actively developing their firmware. But now I feel like I'm being held hostage a bit. This firmware "feature" is reckless, and could possibly brick 3DSes for nothing more than a normally corrupted launcher.dat.

I'm not going to update until this is removed. I don't have any interest in piracy since I've played all of the 3DS games I'm interested in, but I figured Gateway would be the first venue for a fully-featured homebrew solution. Now I'd be happier if I didn't need to use their launcher/card at all.