Hacking Just got my Sky3DS ! Pic inside

Mr_Pichu

かわいいね!
Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2013
Messages
170
Trophies
0
XP
133
Country
United States
Beyond erasing the flash chip for reuse, I don't see much that can be done to increase the capacity of the Sky card, that is unless it is a feature that can be unlocked in some way. Given the card is built with an ASIC, there is no chance of updating the logic. So with Sky you get what you pay for it seems. Best thing to do is wait for an improved version with less restrictions.
 

LaserZX

Well-Known Member
Newcomer
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
64
Trophies
0
XP
119
Country
United States
They can release a user friendly tool like the Disk Writer that will help with erasing & refreshing of the games. Heck, maybe they could even some how build it into an updated versions of the Disk Writer? 10 games limit at any given time isn't as bad as 10 games limited forever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Danjal

Danjal

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
342
Trophies
0
Age
36
XP
354
Country
Netherlands
They can release a user friendly tool like the Disk Writer that will help with erasing & refreshing of the games. Heck, maybe they could even some how build it into an updated versions of the Disk Writer? 10 games limit at any given time isn't as bad as 10 games limited forever.
Which - if the post from earlier is correct and not just someone messing - may already be figured out by someone.
Guess we'll have to wait and see.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LaserZX

gamesquest1

Nabnut
Former Staff
Joined
Sep 23, 2013
Messages
15,153
Trophies
2
XP
12,247
They can release a user friendly tool like the Disk Writer that will help with erasing & refreshing of the games. Heck, maybe they could even some how build it into an updated versions of the Disk Writer? 10 games limit at any given time isn't as bad as 10 games limited forever.
yeah but that would surely depend on if the card was programmed with the capability to erase the chip they are stored to, you cant just magically make a update on the SD card that wipes it if the actual sky3ds card has no functions to do so....i'm thinking they would probably have some backdoor to erase the 10 card limit like some sort of file that if present just resets the card, funnily enough RomAnOCrY said both the sky3ds team and his reseller said they had tested the card and it worked before it was shipped when he was having troubles.......so wouldn't that mean they had used up 1 or more of his 10 slots in order to test the card worked :P
 

Foxi4

Endless Trash
Global Moderator
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
30,831
Trophies
3
Location
Gaming Grotto
XP
29,873
Country
Poland
yeah but that would surely depend on if the card was programmed with the capability to erase the chip they are stored to, you cant just magically make a update on the SD card that wipes it if the actual sky3ds card has no functions to do so....i'm thinking they would probably have some backdoor to erase the 10 card limit like some sort of file that if present just resets the card, funnily enough RomAnOCrY said both the sky3ds team and his reseller said they had tested the card and it worked before it was shipped when he was having troubles.......so wouldn't that mean they had used up 1 or more of his 10 slots in order to test the card worked :P
I wouldn't be surprised if they had a function like that built-in, even if only for the sake of testing the kit. It would seem terribly counter-productive for them to create a pile of "dead" sky3DS'es or de-solder the memory every single time they need to test something.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Danjal

FAST6191

Techromancer
Editorial Team
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
36,798
Trophies
3
XP
28,377
Country
United Kingdom
Beyond erasing the flash chip for reuse, I don't see much that can be done to increase the capacity of the Sky card, that is unless it is a feature that can be unlocked in some way. Given the card is built with an ASIC, there is no chance of updating the logic. So with Sky you get what you pay for it seems. Best thing to do is wait for an improved version with less restrictions.

Are we sure it is an ASIC? ASIX do make various microcontrollers it seems http://www.asix.com.tw/products.php?op=pItemdetail&PItemID=106;72;104 and do not appear like a chip designer/fab house that would be doing this sort of thing.
 

Foxi4

Endless Trash
Global Moderator
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
30,831
Trophies
3
Location
Gaming Grotto
XP
29,873
Country
Poland

FAST6191

Techromancer
Editorial Team
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Messages
36,798
Trophies
3
XP
28,377
Country
United Kingdom
I am impressed if they have made an ASIC for this. There were rumblings a few years ago of fab houses, PCB makers and those they all deal with opening up their higher gate size processes to those with the skills to make use of them but a desire for lower volumes (think hobbyist market), however I never saw anything offered on the likes of alibaba and Taobao (and I can usually get very odd custom things if I am willing to do sensible volumes from those) and never properly followed up.
 

Mr_Pichu

かわいいね!
Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2013
Messages
170
Trophies
0
XP
133
Country
United States
FAST6191 Opened up mine, it's most certainly an ASIC, or at least that's what it says.

If you use a Chinese fab to make your chip, you can have any markings you want on it. So who knows if this is actually an ASIX chip, it doesn't have a logo. Traditionally it has been quite expensive to design and manufacture ASIC devices; like with everything else the Chinese have managed to reduce the costs considerably. I would think they would need to produce these things in mass quantity to make them cheaper per unit than an FPGA. Unless someone decaps the chip in question or can analyze it, we might never know what is actually there.
 

Foxi4

Endless Trash
Global Moderator
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
30,831
Trophies
3
Location
Gaming Grotto
XP
29,873
Country
Poland
If you use a Chinese fab to make your chip, you can have any markings you want on it. So who knows if this is actually an ASIX chip, it doesn't have a logo. Traditionally it has been quite expensive to design and manufacture ASIC devices; like with everything else the Chinese have managed to reduce the costs considerably. I would think they would need to produce these things in mass quantity to make them cheaper per unit than an FPGA. Unless someone decaps the chip in question or can analyze it, we might never know what is actually there.
ASIC's are cheaper per unit than FPGA's, it's the design stage and the manufacturing stage that are expensive for an ASIC.

http://www.xilinx.com/fpga/asic.htm

You have a point though, it could be anything if it's made by a no-names.
 
D

Deleted-355425

Guest
one photo it looked like it had somthing written on it across the stamped on details.
 

Danjal

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
342
Trophies
0
Age
36
XP
354
Country
Netherlands
What is it they say about these things?
It takes three seperate instances to determine a pattern?

Anywho, so far I've just seen accounts of this one guy managing to do it, with no accounts of *how* its done or how to reproduce it.
So wouldn't get too enthousiastic just yet. Also, while 11 is more than 10 and thus implies that the limit of 10 isn't necessarily rock solid.
Its 'just' 1 more game. Not really groundbreaking either.

I'd be more interested in the other nebulous claim that the 10-limit is erasable. Course, another unbacked claim.
 

Duo8

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2013
Messages
3,613
Trophies
2
XP
3,043
Country
Vietnam
What is it they say about these things?
It takes three seperate instances to determine a pattern?

Anywho, so far I've just seen accounts of this one guy managing to do it, with no accounts of *how* its done or how to reproduce it.
So wouldn't get too enthousiastic just yet. Also, while 11 is more than 10 and thus implies that the limit of 10 isn't necessarily rock solid.
Its 'just' 1 more game. Not really groundbreaking either.

I'd be more interested in the other nebulous claim that the 10-limit is erasable. Course, another unbacked claim.
From the pics it looks like he just fill the flash chip with FF.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • BakerMan
    I rather enjoy a life of taking it easy. I haven't reached that life yet though.
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    imagine not having hands, cringe
    +1
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    ESPECIALLY for things I do to myself :sad:.. :tpi::rofl2: Or others :shy::blush::evil:
    +1
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    @SylverReZ if you could find a v5 DS ML you would have the best of both worlds since the v5 units had the same backlight brightness levels as the DS Lite unlockable with flashme
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    but that's a long shot
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    i think only the red mario kart edition phat was v5
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    A woman with no arms and no legs was sitting on a beach. A man comes along and the woman says, "I've never been hugged before." So the man feels bad and hugs her. She says "Well i've also never been kissed before." So he gives her a kiss on the cheek. She says "Well I've also never been fucked before." So the man picks her up, and throws her in the ocean and says "Now you're fucked."
    +2
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    lmao
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    anyways, we need to re-normalize physical media

    if i didn't want my games to be permanent, then i'd rent them
    +1
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Agreed, that why I try to buy all my games on disc, Xbox anyways. Switch games (which I pirate tbh) don't matter much, I stay offline 24/7 anyways.
    +1
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    I don't pirate them, I Use Them :mellow:. Like I do @BigOnYa 's couch :tpi::evil::rofl2:
    +1
  • cearp @ cearp:
    @BakerMan - you can still "own" digital media, arguably easier and better than physical since you can make copies and backups, as much as you like.

    The issue is DRM
    +1
  • cearp @ cearp:
    You can buy drm free games / music / ebooks, and if you keep backups of your data (like documents and family photos etc), then you shouldn't lose the game. but with a disk, your toddler could put it in the toaster and there goes your $60

    :rofl2:
  • cearp @ cearp:
    still, I agree physical media is nice to have. just pointing out the issue is drm
    +1
  • rqkaiju2 @ rqkaiju2:
    i like physical media because it actually feels like you own it. thats why i plan on burning music to cds
  • cearp @ cearp:
    It's nice to not have to have a lot of physical things though, saves space
    +1
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    Nor clothes 🤮 . Saves on time, soap, water and money having to wash them. :D
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @rqkaiju2, Physical media is a great source for archiving your data, none of that cloud storage shiz.
    +1
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    [squeezes @SylverReZ onto a physical media, then archives you in my old stuff box] :tpi::rofl2::tpi:
    +1
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    guys, should i change my pfp to one of these or keep it the same?
    iu

    iu

    (i guess i could change it to one of my other pfps too, but i just want to see what you guys think first)
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @BakerMan, Up to you.
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    smug sonic time lmao
    +1
    BakerMan @ BakerMan: smug sonic time lmao +1