Hacking Question SX OS, Stealth Mode and Online play

[CooledOregon]

Hi! I have a little question for you, If i play online (OFW) with my clear nand backup, Stealth mode active on SX Os and autorcm on. I will get banned? Sorry for my english, thanks to all

 

[Ashura66]

AutoRCM is irrelevant, SX OS's stealth mode blocks ALL Nintendo based communications so no online play when it's on. If you want to play online DON'T USE CFW, PERIOD

 

[chippy]

SX OS blocks Nintendo addresses but not capture the error logs that could be generated. So going online without restoring your nand to before use of SX OS can get you baned from just the error logs

 

[CooledOregon]

This means i can't play online if i'm not restore the Nand everytime i want play online and i used SX Os?

 

[Ashura66]

This means i can't play online if i'm not restore the Nand everytime i want play online and i used SX Os?

Yes. If you want to play online, don't hack your system, simple as that

 

[CooledOregon]

I want download the fw 6.0 from ofw with a clear nand and do a new backup from 6.0 and play a little bit to fortnite ahahahah. I think it's dangerous to restore nand but the fw update it's important .Thank you for the reply

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Last thing, how i can close this thread?

 

[dataslanger]

I was about to ask roughly the same question(s), so I'll post here.

I have a 5.1 firmware with SX OS 1.9 and autoRCM working fine, booting from my phone ($30 for the software license? Sorry Team EX, I wasn't going to shell out an additional $30 for a dongle when an old Android dedicated to it and an OTG cable+USB-C adapter does fine, and I can load ReiNX etc ). No problem with any games and the homebrew addition along with the FTP to access the SD card is nice. Stick a 128GB high-performance card in there with the FTP server enabled, and you never have to shut the thing off! Running Skyrim, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, etc. without problems plus NSP installs thru SX or Tinfoil work great. Very impressed. I have only just recently put the Switch on the WIFI with Stealth Mode so that the FTP access would work.

With that being said, I play Fortnite with my son and I am, to my surprise somewhat, unable to connect to Fortnite's servers from the Switch. I was under the impression that Fortnite does NOT use Nintendo's online servers and utilize their own. Am I missing something? Also, should I allow thru the Fortnite servers, am I going to have to upgrade to 6.0? From what I understand SX OS has support for 6.0. Am I to assume I must disable auto-RCM prior to upgrading to 6.0?

Does anyone have any suggestions based on fact and not conjecture about what Nintendo is doing, what data is being grabbed, etc? This stuff about logfiles.. are they actually grabbing this data and, if so, why not clear it off OR, since things like "LayeredFS" exist, feed "clean" data to Nintendo? After all, we're hooked into the kernel at a very low level here obviously and control the Switch' system calls including, as I mentioned with LFS, ostensibly the ability to return whatever data we want from the read calls to the filesystem, the firmware, etc. If Nintendo is asking for checksum values of the NAND, why not just report back the checksum of a firmware that hasn't been modified? This doesn't seem to make much sense to me. I crack applications on Linux, BSD, etc. and in the case that information phones home, I often have to resort to over-writing libraries or hooking system calls in the kernel; in this case, hooking them is easy as these custom FWs take *full* control of the Switch. Maybe I'm just clueless as to how the Switch hax0r1n6 works. Who knows.

But, back to my question - if I disable Stealth mode but block Nintendo's sub/root domains via my DNS server, will I be able to play Fortnite? Do they indeed use Epic's own servers and nothing to do with Nintendo?

Regards!

dataslanger

 

[cattivik66]

Using the Switch online is not safe. Only way to avoid ban is to not connect to any nintendo server by blocking the connections (using DNS filters for example), that makes every official game not working online. So basically make that is userful only for homebrew applications.

Fortnite, like all nintendo switch official games, requires the connection to Nintendo Servers. It even requires to have a Nintendo Account, and cannot play without it!

 

[dataslanger]

Using the Switch online is not safe. Only way to avoid ban is to not connect to any nintendo server by blocking the connections (using DNS filters for example), that makes every official game not working online. So basically make that is userful only for homebrew applications.

Fortnite, like all nintendo switch official games, requires the connection to Nintendo Servers. It even requires to have a Nintendo Account, and cannot play without it!

I didn't know that - I recall creating an Epic Games account to use the game, but not the Nintendo account. I must've already had it loaded.

Well that's a bummer. I may just end up being a guinea-pig and see what works and what doesn't. I don't buy anything from the eShop and don't play anything online besides Fortnite and, tbh, I am going to end up purchasing another Switch for anything that needs to be done online.

I would say it is worth looking into exactly what Nintendo is grabbing from the consoles. It seems like overkill to get a checksum (it would have to read bit by bit the NAND for instance) of the boot0 etc every single time you connect; to transfer logs; etc etc. It might behoove of someone to setup a MITM SSL proxifier and see what Nintendo is doing at the start of connects. I assume it's pretty standard stuff during authentication etc at the time of connect, prior to the proprietary stuff for games.

Also, might want to log system calls and their parameters such as files accessed by the calls that open / write them, the data sent over the wire, etc. Without a doubt guys coding the lower level stuff for the Switch can do this, and put our mind at ease as to what they're collecting. But as I said before I don't care so much as they can go ahead and scheisse-can my account it's no biggie. But for others I imagine it is.

Just ideas.

Probst!

 

[cattivik66]

The problem would happen anyway, even if you did not played Fortnite. Having the Switch online means having the Switch trying to connect to Nintendo's server.
The point is block the connections to these servers, that would make the internet work only for homebrew applications.

 

[rmorris003]

Simple search would have saved this thread from being created. This issue is all over the place.

 

[CooledOregon]

I had doing restore of my clear nand and actually i play to Paladins/Fortnite no ban for now. If you are interested to play online this is the only solution for now.

 

[dataslanger]

Confirming I am still able to play Fortnite online. I have tried only when booted into OFW from SXOS boot screen. I am not going to attempt it from CFW. I am not restoring any NAND or anything prior to running it, either. It appears Fortnite operates their own servers. However, if people were using CFW to hack Fortnite I'd imagine they'd step up their ban hammer.

 

[Drban789]

Honestly just invest in a Nintendo Switch Tablet only from ebay or something. Use it to play online.

 

[dataslanger]

Well it looks like I opened my mouth and got Nintendo's foot jammed into it. No sooner did I write my response there above did I goto logon to Fortnite and found myself unable to access it. The message referenced NIntendo's ban of my console.

When I am told that another Switch all together is needed, I am a bit confused. I know nothing about the particulars of the way Nintendo handles authorizing devices to their network, identification, and how it is determined if a console has been modified to the point of it being 'hacked'. However, with what i hear about if a NAND is backed up it can be used to go online safely if restored between CFW launches (and you stay offline while in CFW) it would seem that they sign a certificate for the device and that certificate is validated on connection to Nintendo's play servers. Every Switch manufactured would have their own signed certificate and that certificate hash would be stored in Nintendos database for authentication.

HOWEVER, with that being said and with the device being completely under the control of the hacked firmware and thus all of its API/system calls/etc, how is it not possible to, say, provide various other certificates? I would imagine there is some kind of private trade out there, if this is a way to bypass this, for a NAND that is clean and can be used to bypass the checks. Of course these wouldn't be available publicly as more than one player could then be seen by Nintendo as being online from the same device, but I'd imagine something like this exists. Or maybe purchase a clean Switch, dump its certificates and whatnot, and use that as its replacement NAND while you've returned the Switch to the store. Again I am speculating and I haven't read anything about how the authentication/signing is done but it surely isn't a trivial matter of spoofing an ID otherwise the ban wouldn't be a problem.

Regards,

data

 

[Draxzelex]

Well it looks like I opened my mouth and got Nintendo's foot jammed into it. No sooner did I write my response there above did I goto logon to Fortnite and found myself unable to access it. The message referenced NIntendo's ban of my console.

When I am told that another Switch all together is needed, I am a bit confused. I know nothing about the particulars of the way Nintendo handles authorizing devices to their network, identification, and how it is determined if a console has been modified to the point of it being 'hacked'. However, with what i hear about if a NAND is backed up it can be used to go online safely if restored between CFW launches (and you stay offline while in CFW) it would seem that they sign a certificate for the device and that certificate is validated on connection to Nintendo's play servers. Every Switch manufactured would have their own signed certificate and that certificate hash would be stored in Nintendos database for authentication.

HOWEVER, with that being said and with the device being completely under the control of the hacked firmware and thus all of its API/system calls/etc, how is it not possible to, say, provide various other certificates? I would imagine there is some kind of private trade out there, if this is a way to bypass this, for a NAND that is clean and can be used to bypass the checks. Of course these wouldn't be available publicly as more than one player could then be seen by Nintendo as being online from the same device, but I'd imagine something like this exists. Or maybe purchase a clean Switch, dump its certificates and whatnot, and use that as its replacement NAND while you've returned the Switch to the store. Again I am speculating and I haven't read anything about how the authentication/signing is done but it surely isn't a trivial matter of spoofing an ID otherwise the ban wouldn't be a problem.

Regards,

data

It is indeed theoretically possible but it has not been accomplished because it is simply not practical. Buying another console means you can just use that console to go online instead of extracting the certificate from that one and injecting it into the banned one.

 

[RedHunter]

Just create an emunand and do all your dirty stuff in there. Use your ofw ONLY with originals games, nothing else.

In 2 months it's been 1 year I've been online with SX, and I play online every week.
Everytime I read these kind of threads I ask myself if I'm incredibly lucky or people are just stupid and can't avoid doing things that are obviously dangerous.

 

[pbb76]

Just create an emunand and do all your dirty stuff in there. Use your ofw ONLY with originals games, nothing else.

In 2 months it's been 1 year I've been online with SX, and I play online every week.
Everytime I read these kind of threads I ask myself if I'm incredibly lucky or people are just stupid and can't avoid doing things that are obviously dangerous.

I only hacked mine yesterday, so this is all new for me. Sounds like you are doing what I'm doing - can I check...?

If I want to play my original games (and go online), I can reboot into SXOS and choose "Original Firmware" and safe to do anything online or not? Or do you literally have to install a clean NAND each time you want to go online at all (which for my situation is really impractical).

Thanks!

 

[RedHunter]

I only hacked mine yesterday, so this is all new for me. Sounds like you are doing what I'm doing - can I check...?

If I want to play my original games (and go online), I can reboot into SXOS and choose "Original Firmware" and safe to do anything online or not? Or do you literally have to install a clean NAND each time you want to go online at all (which for my situation is really impractical).

Thanks!

Yes I simply boot sx choosing original fw when I play online, that's it. Also because my ofw nand is not even clean at all, I've played there (inside "boot custom fw" option, that's was shared with "original fw" at that time) some roms before emunand was even released. Heck I even played with the gba emulator and finished castlevania, always while being offline, even tho a couple of time I booted online while being inside "custom fw" by mistake.

That's another reason why I'm surprised when I see all these people banned.
I've always used my personal game cert for the games, so maybe that made a difference, but now that we have emunand there is not point in using cert there anymore.

 

[pbb76]

Yes I simply boot sx choosing original fw when I play online, that's it. Also because my ofw nand is not even clean at all, I've played there (inside "boot custom fw" option, that's was shared with "original fw" at that time) some roms before emunand was even released. Heck I even played with the gba emulator and finished castlevania, always while being offline, even tho a couple of time I booted online while being inside "custom fw" by mistake.

That's another reason why I'm surprised when I see all these people banned.
I've always used my personal game cert for the games, so maybe that made a difference, but now that we have emunand there is not point in using cert there anymore.

Thanks - I'm finding it all really confusing and can barely follow it (despite having done stuff like this on pretty much every system I've ever owned in the last 20 years!).

I can't get HBG to work reliably, cant find any other sources with up to date stuff and the confusion about how safe it is to go into OFW and say browse the (legit) eShop has me really regretting doing it.

Guess I'll just carry on till I get banned or will have to buy another tablet to use as my 'legit' machine now?