Hacking Could I send my Wii U to someone to get Hardmodded (SLC Nand)?

[wg93589]

P.S. I live in Canada

 

[DeadlyFoez]

Huh? What? What is it you are wanting accomplished?

 

[xtheman]

Huh? What? What is it you are wanting accomplished?

He likely bricked and needs a hardmod from someone

 

[wg93589]

He likely bricked and needs a hardmod from someone

Just look at my signature XD

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

I'm not sure of anyone (in Canada) that can Hardmod the System; but, I don't even know what they would do in the first place. Maybe, Mod the Systems NAND, or something else on the board. Maybe a ModChip; what is it exactly that needs modding?

~PS: I do know that your System is bricked. Hopefully we can help fix that.

 

[DeadlyFoez]

I used to do wii brick repairs all the time and it is actually what I am most well known for on these forums, but I'm not too sure that I would care to get into doing that again. It just doesn't pay enough for all the time that goes into it.

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

Still, nobody has answered my question: what is it exactly that needs modding?

 

[wg93589]

I need a hardmod installed so I can restore my SLC Nand (view here: http://wiiubru.com/rip/)

 

[DeadlyFoez]

Still, nobody has answered my question: what is it exactly that needs modding?

It is just interfacing with the flash memory chips via a hardware programmer to read and write data directly to those chips. I hate how people keep calling it a "hardmod".

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

It is just interfacing with the flash memory chips via a hardware programmer to read and write data directly to those chips. I hate how people keep calling it a "hardmod".

Sounds a lot like JTagging if you ask me; sounds rather simple, since I have JTagged in the past. To reflash my Phones bootloader that is.

EDIT: So my assumption is; that you can somehow reflash the systems NAND back to it's stock form, or restore a backup. Similar to reflashing a Bootloader to a phone, or a Firmware to a BluRayPlayer. I'd do it, but I don't have the time or resources.

 

[wg93589]

I'm not sure of anyone (in Canada) that can Hardmod the System;

I'd be fine shipping to the USA.

 

[TheZander]

Sounds a lot like JTagging if you ask me; sounds rather simple, since I have JTagged in the past. To reflash my Phones bootloader that is.

EDIT: So my assumption is; that you can somehow reflash the systems NAND back to it's stock form, or restore a backup. Similar to reflashing a Bootloader to a phone, or a Firmware to a BluRayPlayer. I'd do it, but I don't have the time or resources.

Hey are you able to downgrade a galaxy phone via hard mod?

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

I'd be fine shipping to the USA.

Still, I don't know of many people who can do it, since we all have other things to do. I'd do it for you no sweat, and not for a dime; yet, I don't have the time. Reason being is my Programming Projects as well as school.

Hey are you able to downgrade a galaxy phone via hard mod?

You can flash a Older bootloader by Jtagging. For example, my GS3 d2vzw (Verizon) was running the OTA 4.4.2 update; meaning that I couldn't install any Custom ROMS. So, I installed Safestrap, a port of TWRP that runs on top of Android, or in front of to be more precise. Anyways, you can flash an older bootloader via JTagging (The 4.1 or 4.2 Bootloader). Then, you can use a Custom Recovery and ROM; like CM 13.

EDIT: It's called Jtag(ging) not Hardmodding x3

 

[TheZander]

Still, I don't know of many people who can do it, since we all have other things to do. I'd do it for you no sweat, and not for a dime; yet, I don't have the time. Reason being is my Programming Projects as well as school.



You can flash a Older bootloader by Jtagging. For example, my GS3 d2vzw (Verizon) was running the OTA 4.4.2 update; meaning that I couldn't install any Custom ROMS. So, I installed Safestrap, a port of TWRP that runs on top of Android, or in front of to be more precise. Anyways, you can flash an older bootloader via JTagging (The 4.1 or 4.2 Bootloader). Then, you can use a Custom Recovery and ROM; like CM 13.

EDIT: It's called Jtag(ging) not Hardmodding x3

right on, you wouldnt be able to flash an older firmware that is blocked because the BL was updated and cant go back.

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

right on, you wouldnt be able to flash an older firmware that is blocked because the BL was updated and cant go back.

Yep, I did get my S3 Jtagged; yet, I'm getting a Nexus 6P soon; quite excited.

 

[TheZander]

Yep, I did get my S3 Jtagged; yet, I'm getting a Nexus 6P soon; quite excited.

cool, I got a note 7 that is practically blacklisted because of the recall. It's on the Fw that's not rootable. There is some secret trick out there though that uses UART connection to do it because people offer the service on ebay.

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

cool, I got a note 7 that is practically blacklisted because of the recall. It's on the Fw that's not rootable. There is some secret trick out there though that uses UART connection to do it because people offer the service on ebay.

Oh boy, be careful with that bomb. x3

 

[KevinX8]

EDIT: It's called Jtag(ging) not Hardmodding x3

JTAG= XBOX 360 NAND flashing
hardmod= Nintendo NAND flashing
General term= NAND flashing

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

JTAG= XBOX 360 NAND flashing
hardmod= Nintendo NAND flashing
General term= NAND flashing

Wrong, JTAG is a universal term, not limited to xbox systems. So, you should actually do your research first. JTAG can be referred to anything that uses a firmware and some form of nand.

Spoiler: Uses

Except for some of the very lowest end systems, essentially all embedded systems platforms have a JTAG port to support in-circuit debugging and firmware programming as well as for boundary scan testing:
ARM architecture processors come with JTAG support, sometimes supporting a two-wire "SWD" variant or high speed tracing of traffic on instruction or data busses.
Modern 8-bit and 16-bit microcontroller chips, such as Atmel AVR and TI MSP430 chips, support JTAG programming and debugging. However, the very smallest chips may not have enough pins to spare (and thus tend to rely on proprietary single-wire programming interfaces); if the pin count is over 32, there is probably a JTAG option.
Almost all FPGAs and CPLDs used today can be programmed via a JTAG port. A Standard Test and Programming Language is defined by JEDEC standard JESD-71 for JTAG programming of PLD's.
Many MIPS and PowerPC processors have JTAG support
Intel Core, Xeon, Atom, and Quark processors all support JTAG probe mode with Intel specific extensions of JTAG using the so-called 60-pin eXtended Debug Port [XDP]. Additionally the Quark processor supports more traditional 10-pin connectors.
Consumer products such as networking appliances and satellite television integrated receiver/decoders often use microprocessors which support JTAG, providing an alternate means to reload firmware if the existing bootloader has been corrupted in some manner.
The PCI bus connector standard contains optional JTAG signals on pins 1-5;[16] PCI-Express contains JTAG signals on pins 5-9.[17] A special JTAG card can be used to reflash a corrupt BIOS.
Boundary scan testing and in-system (device) programming applications are sometimes programmed using the Serial Vector Format, a textual representation of JTAG operations using a simple syntax. Other programming formats include 'JAM' and STAPL plus more recently the IEEE Std. 1532 defined format 'ISC' (short for In-System Configuration). ISC format is used in conjunction with enhanced BSDL models for programmable logic devices (i.e. FPGAs and CPLDs) that include addition ISC_<operation> instructions in addition to the basic bare minimum IEEE 1149.1 instructions. FPGA programming tools from Xilinx, Altera, Lattice, Cypress, Actel, etc. typically are able to export such files.
As mentioned, many boards include JTAG connectors, or just pads, to support manufacturing operations, where boundary scan testing helps verify board quality (identifying bad solder joints, etc.) and to initialize flash memory or FPGAs.
JTAG can also support field updates and troubleshooting.

Spoiler: Clients

The target's JTAG interface is accessed using some JTAG-enabled application and some JTAG adapter hardware. There is a wide range of such hardware, optimized for purposes such as production testing, debugging high speed systems, low cost microcontroller development, and so on. In the same way, the software used to drive such hardware can be quite varied. Software developers mostly use JTAG for debugging and updating firmware.

If you want to acquire a JTAG adapter, you first need to decide what systems it must support. Everything else follows from that, including your software options. Low-end adapters may cost less than $US 50 and have limited hardware and software support. High-end adapters can cost a hundred times as much, including software support, and have corresponding improvements in capability.
ConnectorsEdit
A Netgear FVS336G firewall with a 14 pin JTAG header at lower left.
A Netgear DG632 ADSL modem with an 8 pin JTAG header at location "5".

There are no official standards for JTAG adapter physical connectors. Development boards usually include a header to support preferred development tools; in some cases they include multiple such headers, because they need to support multiple such tools. For example, a microcontroller, FPGA, and ARM application processor rarely shares tools, so a development board using all of those components might have three or more headers. Production boards may omit the headers; or when space is tight, just provide JTAG signal access using test points.

Some common pinouts[18] for 2.54 mm (0.100 in) pin headers are:

ARM 2×10 pin (or sometimes the older 2×7), used by almost all ARM based systems
MIPS EJTAG (2×7 pin) used for MIPS based systems
2×5 pin Altera ByteBlaster-compatible JTAG extended by many vendors
2×5 pin AVR extends Altera JTAG with SRST (and in some cases TRST and an event output)
2×7 pin Texas Instruments used with DSPs and ARM-based products such as OMAP
8 pin (single row) generic PLD JTAG compatible with many Lattice ispDOWNLOAD cables
MIPI10-/20-connectors (1.27 mm 050") for JTAG, cJTAG and SWD

Those connectors tend to include more than just the four standardized signals (TMS, TCK, TDI, TDO). Usually reset signals are provided, one or both of TRST (TAP reset) and SRST (system reset). The connector usually provides the board-under-test's logic supply voltage so that the JTAG adapters use the appropriate logic levels. The board voltage may also serve as a "board present" debugger input. Other event input or output signals may be provided, or general purpose I/O (GPIO) lines, to support more complex debugging architectures.

Higher end products frequently use dense connectors (frequently 38-pin MICTOR connectors) to support high-speed tracing in conjunction with JTAG operations. A recent trend is to have development boards integrate a USB interface to JTAG, where a second channel is used for a serial port. (Smaller boards can also be powered through USB. Since modern PCs tend to omit serial ports, such integrated debug links can significantly reduce clutter for developers.) Production boards often rely on bed-of-nails connections to test points for testing and programming.
Adapter hardwareEdit

Adapter hardware varies widely. When not integrated into a development board, it involves a short cable to attach to a JTAG connector on the target board; a connection to the debugging host, such as a USB, PCI, or Ethernet link; and enough electronics to adapt the two communications domains (and sometimes provide galvanic isolation). A separate power supply may be needed. There are both "dumb" adapters, where the host decides and performs all JTAG operations; and "smart" ones, where some of that work is performed inside the adapter, often driven by a microcontroller. The "smart" adapters eliminate link latencies for operation sequences that may involve polling for status changes between steps, and may accordingly offer faster throughput.

As of 2009, adapters with full speed USB links are probably the most common approach, and new products often include high speed USB support. Higher end products often support Ethernet, with the advantage that the debug host can be quite remote. Adapters which support high speed trace ports generally include several megabytes of trace buffer and provide high speed links (USB or Ethernet) to get that data to the host.

Personal computer parallel port adapters are simple and inexpensive, but they are relatively slow because they use the host CPU to change each bit ("bit banging"). They have declined in usefulness because newer computers do not have parallel port hardware. Driver support is also a problem, because the adapter electronics varied so widely.[citation needed]

Serial port adapters also exist, and are similarly declining in usefulness. They generally involve either slower bit banging than a parallel port, or a microcontroller translating some command protocol to JTAG operations. Such serial adapters are also not fast, but their command protocols could generally be reused on top of higher speed links.

With all JTAG adapters, software support is a basic concern. Many vendors do not publish the protocols used by their JTAG adapter hardware, limiting their customers to the tool chains supported by those vendors. This is a particular issue for "smart" adapters, some of which embed significant amounts of knowledge about how to interact with specific CPUs.
Software developmentEdit

Most development environments for embedded software include JTAG support. There are, broadly speaking, three sources of such software:

Chip Vendors may provide the tools, usually requiring a JTAG adapter they supply. Examples include FPGA vendors such as Xilinx and Altera, Atmel for its AVR8 and AVR32 product lines, and Texas Instruments for most of its DSP and micro products. Such tools tend to be highly featured, and may be the only real option for highly specialized chips like FPGAs and DSPs. Lower end software tools may be provided free of charge. The JTAG adapters themselves are not free, although sometimes they are bundled with development boards.
Tool Vendors may supply them, usually in conjunction with multiple chip vendors to provide cross-platform development support. ARM-based products have a particularly rich third party market, and a number of those vendors have expanded to non-ARM platforms like MIPS and PowerPC. Tool vendors sometimes build products around free software like GCC and GDB, with GUI support frequently using Eclipse. JTAG adapters are sometimes sold along with support bundles.
Open Source tools exist. As noted above, GCC and GDB form the core of a good toolchain, and there are GUI environments to support them.

All such software tends to include basic debugger support: stopping, halting, single stepping, breakpoints, data structure browsing, and so on. Commercial tools tend to provide tools like very accurate simulators and trace analysis, which are not currently available as open source.

 

[TheZander]

Wrong, JTAG us a universal term, not limited to xbox systems. So, you should actually do your research first. JTAG can be referred to anything that uses a firmware and some form of nand.

I associate it more with motorolla brand cable modems.

Without actually googling it, isn't a jtag made for specific boards or chips?