Hacking Modifying the minor version of a .cia file

[Nynrah]

Some of games I've installed as a .cia on y CFW N3DS XL keep prompting me to update when I launch them, like Resident Evil Revelations for example. It's not a showstopper, but I do consider it annoying. After some searching I read that the .cia's version string being 0.0.0 is the problem and that the base game's version is apparantly higher, leading the system to conclude there's an update while in reality there's no update at all. I tried to modify the version string to 0.1.0 and repack the .cia files with 3dstool and rommake using a decrypted .3ds file instead of my .cia file as input, but I can't get it to work. I always get errors involving NCCH and the 'best' result I got so far is a cia with the desired version string that can't be installed by FBI. By now I've managed to get myself too confused to figure out how to proceed.

In general I just got .cia files for my games. In general I only got .cia files - don't know if they are encrypted or decrypted. How do I rebuild a .cia file with its version string modified?

 

[Shadow#1]

Some of games I've installed as a .cia on y CFW N3DS XL keep prompting me to update when I launch them, like Resident Evil Revelations for example. It's not a showstopper, but I do consider it annoying. After some searching I read that the .cia's version string being 0.0.0 is the problem and that the base game's version is apparantly higher, leading the system to conclude there's an update while in reality there's no update at all. I tried to modify the version string to 0.1.0 and repack the .cia files with 3dstool and rommake using a decrypted .3ds file instead of my .cia file as input, but I can't get it to work. I always get errors involving NCCH and the 'best' result I got so far is a cia with the desired version string that can't be installed by FBI. By now I've managed to get myself too confused to figure out how to proceed.

In general I just got .cia files for my games. In general I only got .cia files - don't know if they are encrypted or decrypted. How do I rebuild a .cia file with its version string modified?

Just go find the .3ds then use Godmode9 to convert to .cia then install

 

[tfocosta]

Just go find the .3ds then use Godmode9 to convert to .cia then install

Or you can use Google to find the *.cia files of the updates you need and install them with FBI.

 

[Nynrah]

Or you can use Google to find the *.cia files of the updates you need and install them with FBI.

I already do that in general. Sometimes I miss an update, but I can install those without any problems. The problem is when I got a game that keeps nagging me for updates presumably because of the 0.0.0 version despite there being no actual updates for that game. In other words, there is update .cia file to be found in those cases.

Just go find the .3ds then use Godmode9 to convert to .cia then install

Tried that. For some games it works, but for some it seems like it doesn't matter. Just about every .3ds or .cia file I can find has the same update nag issue. It's honestly a matter of luck when trying a different file. That's why I wanted to know how I can edit the version string of a .3ds or .cia file and then rebuild it.

 

[PabloMK7]

There is a bug (or was, @d0k3 can confirm) in GodMode9 that set the cia version to 0.0.0 when it was converted from a .3ds instead of keeping the proper one. You will need to unpack the .cia and edit the two bytes at offset at 0x112 in the NCCH header with a hex editor (set it to 00 02 for example).

EDIT: Wrong!!!! The byte at 0x112 is not for the game version, but for the NCCH version. The game version is stored somewhere else which I'm not sure where is.

 

[Nynrah]

There is a bug (or was, @d0k3 can confirm) in GodMode9 that set the cia version to 0.0.0 when it was converted from a .3ds instead of keeping the proper one. You will need to unpack the .cia and edit the two bytes at offset at 0x112 in the NCCH header with a hex editor (set it to 00 02 for example).

Thanks. I'll be sure to try that a try. By unpacking the cia you mean I need to unpack the .cia to an decrypted .3ds file, right?

Update: Maybe it's because I'm new to messing with these pack/unpack and edit shenanigans, but somehow my attempt at doing this was just one big mess. If you don't mind, could you talk me through the process in a noob-proof way (e.g. step by step) on how to do this when starting with a installable .cia file?

 

[Nynrah]

Although I would still try to fix the infinite update nag, provided someone can talk me through the solution @PabloMK7 proposed, is there also a way to block update notifications and prompts? I don't care if I need to shut down wifi for that because I have no intentions of using online functionality when playing games.

Update: Never mind this post. Just disabling my wifi at least prevents the update prompt. That just means that the version modification is more of a novelty fix now.

 

[tfocosta]

I already do that in general. Sometimes I miss an update, but I can install those without any problems. The problem is when I got a game that keeps nagging me for updates presumably because of the 0.0.0 version despite there being no actual updates for that game. In other words, there is update .cia file to be found in those cases.

Never had that issue. I have all my games with the required updates installed with the FBI. The games that don't require an update don't ask me for anything. Sorry, I'm afraid I can't help you with this one...