Hacking Gateway Brick Poll

[diffikolt]

Just want to get a consensus of the true opinions reflected here.

Personally, I think Gateway went a bit too far bricking the consoles themselves.

 

[inuyasha555]

Can't answer this. We don't know if Gateway went straight for the console bricking or if they looked into alternatives. Maybe bricking clone devices was out of their control.

 

[Armadillo]

Bricking the console is a bit too far, but I don't object to the point of a boycott etc. I'll still use mine.

 

[diffikolt]

In retrospect, I should have had an option for "I do not own a flash card. Gateway never should have written brick code."

Can't answer this. We don't know if Gateway went straight for the console bricking or if they looked into alternatives. Maybe bricking clone devices was out of their control.

I thought it was established that the code bricked the clone devices too? Am I wrong on that front?

 

[Another World]

i would have gone this route...

Gateway's update bricks clone 3DS flash kits and the hardware running them. How do you feel about it?

1. I support their decision to release an unrecoverable bricking method that affects both flash kits and handhelds
2. I do not support their decision....
3. Fuck you Gateway

-another world

 

[ELok]

I personally don't think "bricking" the cloned device is possible. At worst you could corrupt the micro SD card but that's about it. I highly doubt the hardware of a clone card would allow it.

I'm still not okay with Gateway behavior thought.

 

[inuyasha555]

In retrospect, I should have had an option for "I do not own a flash card. Gateway never should have written brick code."



I thought it was established that the code bricked the clone devices too? Am I wrong on that front?

I thought it only bricked the console. Maybe someone else can answer this.

 

[kyogre123]

Why there's not an option for "R4i can't properly adapt GW's code to their device, I blame them"?

 

[diffikolt]

i would have gone this route...

Gateway's update bricks clone 3DS flash kits and the hardware running them. How do you feel about it?

1. I support their decision to release an unrecoverable bricking method that affects both flash kits and handhelds
2. I do not support their decision....
3. Fuck you Gateway

-another world

Considered that, but I wanted to see what opinions were being driven by owners of clone cards as their is an incredibly obvious bias there.

Why there's not an option for "R4i can't properly adapt GW's code to their device, I blame them"?

That's basically what the top option says. Lol.

 

[stomp_442]

Are you trying to skew the results?

Why does it matter if you own a gateway or a clone, isn't the topic of the poll suppose to be of gateway being right or wrong?

 

[diffikolt]

Are you trying to skew the results?

Why does it matter if you own a gateway or a clone, isn't the topic of the poll suppose to be of gateway being right or wrong?

Option 3 + Option 4 = Results you're looking for.

Again, option 3 carries a bias that I think people will be interested in. I know I am.

 

[stomp_442]

well I would have picked both 1 and 2, the dev has every right to protect his property but to brick console doing it is not good.

Who says the gateway team was aiming to brick consoles, has this been established as fact?

 

[gamesquest1]

I picked 2 but only if it's true that the bricks are un-recoverable....if they are recoverable using the already well documented nand rewriting methods I would fully support 1......not out of malice but to highlight to the end users that the clones are not protecting them and that they shouldn't support people who can't produce their own work


And just to clarify if I though bricking the actual card was possible I would of supported that over any damage to the system, but afaik it's been pretty much proven that the clones are non updatable

 

[jqrn]

Am I in the wrong here or am I understanding this correct? They way i understand it is that the so called code is turning the entire 3ds, not just the cart, into a brick.
If that is the case, then I see it as Gateway is sawing off the branch they sit on. Unless there is a way to retrive the original functionallity of a 3ds on fw 4.5.x.x.

And if that code thingie is true, I am not yet sure that it is, then I would say that gateway are doing it the wrong way

 

[profi200]

For those, who want proof for the bricking code, just wait for the result of the peoples, who try to restore their 3DS and those, who try to find out, what exactly is bricked. If they find out, it doesn't work to flash a NAND dump back and the controller was really overwritten, then that is your proof. Nintendo not even included any code to touch the controller, so why does Gateway need such code?

Let's wait for the result.

 

[escherbach]

I need to know the full story - but for now I vote the 2nd option (they went too far)

The only confirmation we have that Gateway deliberately put bricking code in the firmware is from crediar's post yesterday http://gbatemp.net/threads/warning-gateway-team-bricks-card-on-purpose.360568/

this links to a german site where user profi200 claims that code exists which does something like

    if(<low 4bits u32 output from random-number-generator are zero> && <checksum over arm9 code is invalid>)brick();

already suspicious, since the 3ds is arm11 not arm9

Since then other posters have claimed the code is slightly more subtle - whereby the brick() function exists but is not called at all in the default gateway code (so SD corruption won't lead to bricking on official gateway firmware) - but can be inadvertently called if someone tampers with the code in an unsophisticated way (eg to disable the gateway menu for clone card firmware)

What if the bricking code is something accidental - eg code intended to prevent accidental firmware updates on the 3DS by reprogramming the eMMC controller in a clever way - but which they haven't perfected yet? They might have left it in the firmware code - but inactive until they get it right. BUT the clone card developers are stupidly activating it by deleting certain initialisation checks?

I'm 50/50 on the true story. I find it hard to believe they would go out of their way to write such a malicious routine deliberately - more likely it is accidental - but perhaps deviously they left it there knowing it was a possible banana skin for the cloners clumsily modifying their launcher code.

 

[profi200]

already suspicious, since the 3ds is arm11 not arm9

No, that's not entirely true. The 3DS has a ARM9 used as security core in 3DS mode and for the DS mode sandbox in DS mode.

 

[Deleted User]

This poll isn't really fair, because Gateway brick issue isn't just with clone carts, the Region Free Cart Loading patch also sets off alarm bells (bricks the console).

For sure:

Spoiler

I precise that I have no GW clone.
So I never used any clone firmware.
Only official GW's firmware and the region free patched FW

 

[gamesquest1]

Not to mention I'm sure some clone users would want to skew the results into a favourable outcome whilst appearing as a gateway user crazy paranoid crap yeah probs but I some how doubt only 4 clone users would want to share their opinion on this

 

[osirisjem]

Others have said 2 is not possible.
So it shouldn't be included.

 

[gamesquest1]

Others have said 2 is not possible.
So it shouldn't be included.

I think for all intents and purposes it should just mean anything just below an unrecoverable brick