Hacking What is a legit .CIA and what makes them different from illegit .CIA?

[d0k3]

Oh well, I already feel stupid for asking because everyone and their dog already seems to know the answer to this. But, Google and GBATemp haven't helped me so far, so I my question ist:

What actually is a legit .CIA? And, what makes a legit .CIA a clean .CIA? A quick answer will suffice, I already know what a .CIA is.

Speculation from here: I assume a legit .CIA is from an eShop title you actually purchased and created, f.e. with FunkyCIA. Legit .CIA seem to contain stuff that illegit ones (ones created from .3DS files or downloaded from the net) don't have. For this reason, legit .CIAs are installable (without any additional tools or hardware?) on an unmodified SysNAND. I have no idea what makes a .CIA a 'clean' .CIA.

EDIT: Already perfectly solved, and we also have a sticky for that now.

 

[plasma]

legit cia are cia's ripped from a console that had them preinstalled (such as ORAS, MH4U etc) and can be installed onto a sysNAND, because they have a generic title key (i may be wrong here)

 

[d0k3]

legit cia are cia's ripped from a console that had them preinstalled (such as ORAS, MH4U etc) and can be installed onto a sysNAND, because they have a generic title key (i may be wrong here)

You mean in theory they can be installed onto ANY 3DS sysNAND, not just the one they came with?

 

[Death78793]

You mean in theory they can be installed onto ANY 3DS sysNAND, not just the one they came with?

Exactly. The reason for this is because the cia's ticket is generic and when installed to another console, it treats the cia as if the console had the game preinstalled. IIRC, they even show up in the eshop as games you downloaded, but don't quote me on that.

EDIT: The difference of this against illegit cia's is that illegit cia's have a certain key (that might have been tampered with) and are made to work with a certain system/NNID combination. They are spoofed to work on CFW or GW, and as such become unsigned in some way. Legitimate cia's are actually signed.

 

[d0k3]

Exactly. The reason for this is because the cia's ticket is generic and when installed to another console, it treats the cia as if the console had the game preinstalled. IIRC, they even show up in the eshop as games you downloaded, but don't quote me on that.

EDIT: The difference of this against illegit cia's is that illegit cia's have a certain key (that might have been tampered with) and are made to work with a certain system/NNID combination. They are spoofed to work on CFW or GW, and as such become unsigned in some way. Legitimate cia's are actually signed.

Alright! So, that also means that there are not many legit .CIAs around, right? Just a handful of preinstalled games (LoZ:MM, MH4, Mario Kart 7, NSMB2 and Animal Crossing) come to my mind + system stuff like Browser, Mii Creator, System Settings, etc....

 

[Death78793]

Alright! So, that also means that there are not many legit .CIAs around, right? Just a handful of preinstalled games (LoZ:MM, MH4, Mario Kart 7, NSMB2 and Animal Crossing) come to my mind + system stuff like Browser, Mii Creator, System Settings, etc....

Exactly, here's a list of all the legit cia's I've found so far:

Region Free Games :​

(As far as i know, only the main pokemon games are Region Free, this means they will work on all regions)​

Pokemon Alpha Sapphire​

Pokemon Omega Ruby​

​

Pokemon X​

​

Pokemon Y​

​

EUR Games :
​

Animal Crossing New Leaf​

Fire Emblem Awakening​

​

Kirby Triple Deluxe​

​

Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask 3D​

Luigi's Mansion 2​

Mario Kart 7​

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate​

​

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate​

​

New Super Mario Bros. 2 Special Edition​

Super Mario 3D Land​

​

Super Smash Bros. For 3DS​

Tomodachi Life​

USA Games :​

Animal Crossing New Leaf ​

​

Fire Emblem Awakening​

​

Luigi's Mansion 2​

Mario Kart 7​

Mario & Luigi Dream Team​

​

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate​

New Super Mario Bros. 2 Gold Edition​

​

Super Mario 3D Land​

​

JPN Games :​

Tomodachi Collection New Life

Source: A popular site that provides ISO's.​

 

[plasma]

Gateway patches signature checks to allow any cia to be run, I wouldn't think they are tampered with to make them work (unless the user makes them region free and firmware spoofs them)

 

[Xue]

Wouldn't you be able to use slot0x25KeyX.bin and xorpads from your system to make any cia legit for your system then?

 

[Deleted-19228]

It will work on YOUR system but they aren't signed from Nintendo. Those preinstalled ones can be installed in GW mode and then ran on your sysnand. Why anyone would need to do that I have no idea.

 

[CreativeMan]

It will work on YOUR system nut they aren't signed from Nintendo. Those preinstalled ones can be installed in GW mode and then ran on your sysnand. Why anyone would need to do that I have no idea.

One Gateway, multiple consoles. Or to please friends ^^

 

[keven3477]

do the legit cias still needs to be the correct region or can they be from any region

 

[Deleted-19228]

correct region as far as i know except pokemon

 

[polki]

It will work on YOUR system nut they aren't signed from Nintendo. Those preinstalled ones can be installed in GW mode and then ran on your sysnand. Why anyone would need to do that I have no idea.

I like having some games I can play from coldboot. Not necessary but useful.

 

[gamesquest1]

It will work on YOUR system but they aren't signed from Nintendo. Those preinstalled ones can be installed in GW mode and then ran on your sysnand. Why anyone would need to do that I have no idea.

Well for people who are clinging to the buggy cfw for their romz fix it was a nice gift to be able to play newer games, finally they can play pokemanz and da 7.exes romz With rxtools.....wowza's so l33t

And for n3ds users it means having a bunch of games available in sysnand without needing to have zelda/oot at hand

Plus then there is the people who are no doubt selling consoles preloaded with all the romz to make a fast buck

 

[Deleted-19228]

Our definition of "a bunch" widely differs

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Plus then there is the people who are no doubt selling consoles preloaded with all the romz to make a fast buck

Uggggh. The thought of this actually makes me nauseous. And I'm sure you're right too.

 

[gamesquest1]

Uggggh. The thought of this actually makes me nauseous. And I'm sure you're right too.

Oh there is already seen a few people trying to do it........oh well if Nintendo has any sort of logs of what console own these games legit I'm sure they could wipe them if the users are connected to the internet, then these people will have a bunch of people wanting refunds

 

[d0k3]

Thanks everyone! I still wonder, is there no identifying information in a legit .CIA then? So, basically a legit .CIA fetched from one 3DS (let's call it 3DSA) is the same as one fetched from another one (call it 3DSB)? As long as it's the same game / region, of course!

 

[Duo8]

IMO a legit CIA is one with a valid ticket, signed by Nintendo.
I guess the CIAs from bundled systems have a generic ticket not bound to any system/account. That's why they can be freely installed.

 

[GhostLatte]

Are there any N3DS legit cia's?