Hacking NTRCardHax Progress?

[Kitlith]

Sure would be nice if @smealum were to follow up on his promise and throw the slides out there so people can link to them.

Did you even Google Search? https://imgur.com/a/ONPoa

I think this goes without saying now, but just in case: He finally put them up. http://smealum.github.io/3ds/32c3/

Because you need to in order to trigger ntrcardhax.....

My personal explanation: The cartridge header is read upon insertion, and after it is finished reading, we can't get it to read again unless we take it out and insert it again. That is... unless we can somehow trigger re-reading from arm11. @173210 , have you done something like that, or are we just not on the same page?

 

[173210]

My personal explanation: The cartridge header is read upon insertion, and after it is finished reading, we can't get it to read again unless we take it out and insert it again. That is... unless we can somehow trigger re-reading from arm11. @173210 , have you done something like that, or are we just not on the same page?

If you use DSTWO, at first, you should launch DSTWO to execute the program. After that, you'll quit TWL_FIRM and go back to NATIVE_FIRM. Since ARM11 doesn't know what's inserted at the time, it should read again.

 

[Normmatt]

If you use DSTWO, at first, you should launch DSTWO to execute the program. After that, you'll quit TWL_FIRM and go back to NATIVE_FIRM. Since ARM11 doesn't know what's inserted at the time, it should read again.

You need arm11 control to trigger ntrcardhax.... its not triggered automatically... and at that point the cart has already been init'd so you need to reinsert the cart to read the header again...

EDIT: The power is also turned off to the cart slot on cart init so....

 

[Plailect]

but it still basically requires a hardmod to do anyhow

I'm glad you were wrong about that

 

[zoogie]

Well here's some progress from @Normmatt .
https://github.com/Normmatt/ntrcardhax
It's mostly done but lacks the nds app to flash the hax header to the AK2i (I think).

 

[Logan Pockrus]

NTRCardHax's status to the general public? Dead as shit. Excuse my language, but I justify it with the need to convey that NTRCardHax is not going to be useful in the long run, it's my MemChunkHax2 and MemChunkHax3 (for 10.4 through 10.7) exist. Oh, and if Gateway releases support for 10.3 (not downgrade support, actual support) utilizing MemChunkHax2, I think I just might kill myself due to their idiocy.

 

[CreAtor135]

NTRCardHax's status to the general public? Dead as shit. Excuse my language, but I justify it with the need to convey that NTRCardHax is not going to be useful in the long run, it's my MemChunkHax2 and MemChunkHax3 (for 10.4 through 10.7) exist. Oh, and if Gateway releases support for 10.3 (not downgrade support, actual support) utilizing MemChunkHax2, I think I just might kill myself due to their idiocy.

Mind rephrasing that?

 

[zoogie]

NTRCardHax's status to the general public? Dead as shit. Excuse my language, but I justify it with the need to convey that NTRCardHax is not going to be useful in the long run, it's my MemChunkHax2 and MemChunkHax3 (for 10.4 through 10.7) exist. Oh, and if Gateway releases support for 10.3 (not downgrade support, actual support) utilizing MemChunkHax2, I think I just might kill myself due to their idiocy.

Downgrading is a pain in the ass for beginners and does carry danger (mostly user induced). GW's market is hacking/computer newbs who want no-fuss piracy like the DS days.

If ntrcardhax allows booting straight into arm9 piracy mode like I think it should, that would be pretty awesome actually and lot of folks would pay $60 for that.

 

[Logan Pockrus]

Mind rephrasing that?

Un-intentional hypocrisy detected (EDIT: In my statement, not yours). What I meant was NTRCardHax is only useful to developers, and having to try to launch Gateway ~100 times every single time you want to launch emuNAND would be a beating. NTRCardHax could be useful to non-developers if it offered safe downgrade support, but sysUpdater with MemChunkHax 2 and 3 implemented is already good enough.

I apologize for my former post...I was being an idiot.

 

[Zidapi]

Oh, and if Gateway releases support for 10.3 (not downgrade support, actual support) utilizing MemChunkHax2, I think I just might kill myself due to their idiocy.

If ntrcardhax allows booting straight into arm9 piracy mode like I think it should, that would be pretty awesome actually and lot of folks would pay $60 for that.

Gateway have all but confirmed they'll be implementing ntrcardhax in their latest blog update.

They speak of the difficulty they've had ensuring that they maintain compatibility with their existing hardware which is now ~3 years old.

Native support for 9.3 to 10.3 sysNAND compatibility and AH9L support are due in the coming days. I expect they'll announce a hardware revision shortly afterwards.

 

[Matson25]

I apologize for my former post...I was being an idiot.

YUP. YES YOU WERE. I don't think you understand what NtrCardHax IS. It's an exploit for ARM9, not ARM11 Userland, not ARM11 Kernel, but ARM9. It's not like MemChunkHax, that's used to downgrade and install cia and stuff. It's used to load CFW's, like we were once able to do in 9.2. That's why most peaple find it unnecessary and annoying, because we already have downgrades. I don't know if you noticed that, but I think you didn't.

An ARM9 exploit would be great for everyone that's scared or can't or don't know how to downgrade. It would be an awesome solution and would open up lots of possibilities, since Nintendo doesn't often, if she even does, update the ds card reader. I'm not big into programming (I think you noticed it), but that's what I understand by it.

 

[Logan Pockrus]

YUP. YES YOU WERE. I don't think you understand what NtrCardHax IS. It's an exploit for ARM9, not ARM11 Userland, not ARM11 Kernel, but ARM9. It's not like MemChunkHax, that's used to downgrade and install cia and stuff. It's used to load CFW's, like we were once able to do in 9.2. That's why most peaple find it unnecessary and annoying, because we already have downgrades. I don't know if you noticed that, but I think you didn't.

An ARM9 exploit would be great for everyone that's scared or can't or don't know how to downgrade. It would be an awesome solution and would open up lots of possibilities, since Nintendo doesn't often, if she even does, update the ds card reader. I'm not big into programming (I think you noticed it), but that's what I understand by it.

But, my main argument was:

1.) NTRCardhax would cost money (for the hardware), and it could be un-user-friendly.
2.) MemChunkHax2 is useful for downgrading, but trying to boot it every time you want in to emuNAND would be horrific.

But on the other hand, NTRCardHax could be useful for a kernel exploit above 9.2, and safer then A9LH to setup (although not as useful in the long run).

 

[Kitlith]

1.) NTRCardhax would cost money (for the hardware), and it could be un-user-friendly.

The hardware at the moment would be an acecard2(i), until someone makes one specifically for ntrcardhax. A really brief search tells me that's around $15. You are, however, correct about the user-friendliness, I think, with the acecard. flash -> already have homebrew -> run homebrew -> blah.

2.) MemChunkHax2 is useful for downgrading, but trying to boot it every time you want in to emuNAND would be horrific.

Hehe, yeah. Though... *maybe* it could be used to setup a9lh on a firmware <= 10.3 without needing 9.2. (Why 10.3? That'll be the next answer.)

But on the other hand, NTRCardHax could be useful for a kernel exploit above 9.2, and safer then A9LH to setup (although not as useful in the long run).

I... hope you meant arm9 exploit, not kernel exploit, because this requires kernel exploit to function. Anyway...
I heard (though I haven't personally confirmed) that NTRCardHax has been patched already, in 10.4. So, yeah, probably not useful at all at this point, and more of a novelty. STILL. It exists. And, at the very least, it can hopefully be fully documented.

Once again, it being patched was said by someone else, so until someone (who we trust more) can fully confirm, feel free to disregard the firmware limit. Just keep it in mind.

Tux was the one who said this. I think we can trust them on this.

 

[zoogie]

The hardware at the moment would be an acecard2(i), until someone makes one specifically for ntrcardhax. A really brief search tells me that's around $15. You are, however, correct about the user-friendliness, I think, with the acecard. flash -> already have homebrew -> run homebrew -> blah.


Hehe, yeah. Though... *maybe* it could be used to setup a9lh on a firmware <= 10.3 without needing 9.2. (Why 10.3? That'll be the next answer.)


I... hope you meant arm9 exploit, not kernel exploit, because this requires kernel exploit to function. Anyway...
I heard (though I haven't personally confirmed) that NTRCardHax has been patched already, in 10.4. So, yeah, probably not useful at all at this point, and more of a novelty. STILL. It exists. And, at the very least, it can hopefully be fully documented.

Once again, it being patched was said by someone else, so until someone (who we trust more) can fully confirm, feel free to disregard the firmware limit. Just keep it in mind.

@TuxSH was the one who made the 3dbrew commit that claimed the 10.4 patch
https://www.3dbrew.org/w/index.php?title=3DS_System_Flaws&diff=prev&oldid=16304

He's pretty reputable, and I'm sure he got confirmation by others on #3dsdev as well. Maybe he'll clarify.

 

[WulfyStylez]

ntrcardhax was fixed in 10.4. If you diff 10.3 process9 vs 10.4, it's literally the only thing that changed. Since it requires an ARM11 kernel exploit anyway, there's no reason to not just downgrade (unless public downgrade tools are bad or something)

 

[tivanh]

ntrcardhax was fixed in 10.4. If you diff 10.3 process9 vs 10.4, it's literally the only thing that changed. Since it requires an ARM11 kernel exploit anyway, there's no reason to not just downgrade (unless public downgrade tools are bad or something)

Unless the public are bad at using the tools or something, I think is more accurate..... Many have done a lot of downgrades on varied firmware/regions without a single failed downgrade. Apart from the possibility of a faulty or inferior sd, which would be minimal, user error causes the errors. I can only repeat the commonly said downgrade failures deliberately.

 

[TuxSH]

@TuxSH was the one who made the 3dbrew commit that claimed the 10.4 patch
https://www.3dbrew.org/w/index.php?title=3DS_System_Flaws&diff=prev&oldid=16304

He's pretty reputable, and I'm sure he got confirmation by others on #3dsdev as well. Maybe he'll clarify.

Actually the page for 10.4 on 3dbrew said it was fixed, and this was the case, but the 3DS System Flaws wasn't updated. That needed a fix.

 

[Logan Pockrus]

So, yeah, probably not useful at all at this point, and more of a novelty. STILL. It exists. And, at the very least, it can hopefully be fully documented.

Well, we surely can agree on that!

 

[Matson25]

Wow! I revived a thread with one post that I don't even know if made sense! That's a new.

 

[Kitlith]

Well, we surely can agree on that!

I'd hope so. (Why aren't you documenting it, then! )

Wow! I revived a thread with one post that I don't even know if made sense! That's a new.

That's what happens sometimes. Not quite a necro, which is good.