Hacking Save File Hacking

[drfsupercenter]

Hi,

I have the VC channel of Pokémon Snap (I bought this back when it was released on VC, and AFAIK that was before the WAD manager was created).

Well they added a nifty feature that you can put one picture on the Wii Message Board each day when you view your album. I thought I'd change the date around so I could post like 30 at once.

The problem was I changed the date to an entire year ahead, and every date BEFORE that now won't work, since it realizes I messed with it.

Is it possible to modify the save so it says the last picture I saved was, say, yesterday? I haven't played Pokémon Snap on VC since because I beat all the levels and now only need it to post my pictures to the Wii. (Yes I know I can record a DVD of me going through the album, and then just take screenshots, but I have a feeling that won't look as good)

Also, on that note, is it possible to turn the VC save into a save that works with N64 emulators? Or are they entirely different?

 

[nanika]

Hi,

I have the VC channel of Pokémon Snap (I bought this back when it was released on VC, and AFAIK that was before the WAD manager was created).

Well they added a nifty feature that you can put one picture on the Wii Message Board each day when you view your album. I thought I'd change the date around so I could post like 30 at once.

The problem was I changed the date to an entire year ahead, and every date BEFORE that now won't work, since it realizes I messed with it.

Is it possible to modify the save so it says the last picture I saved was, say, yesterday? I haven't played Pokémon Snap on VC since because I beat all the levels and now only need it to post my pictures to the Wii. (Yes I know I can record a DVD of me going through the album, and then just take screenshots, but I have a feeling that won't look as good)Try searching through the save looking for a date, it may be possible.

QUOTE(drfsupercenter @ Jul 11 2008, 06:06 PM) Also, on that note, is it possible to turn the VC save into a save that works with N64 emulators? Or are they entirely different?

I think it would depend on whether the save has two parts or one, two being one loaded by a standard N64 on Wii emulator, and one having the Wii-specific data, or if one, it holding all the data.

Can you access the screenshot-sending function directly from inside Pokémon Snap?

 

[drfsupercenter]

You just open a picture in the album, and press 1. There's no on-screen option, since Nintendo doesn't really tamper with the games before putting them on a channel. (I didn't even find out about it except when reading the operation manual)

How would I search for a date? Opening it in a hex editor or something?
And if I do change it, can I just save it? Or does it need to have some special method to get around menu 3.3?

 

[nanika]

You just open a picture in the album, and press 1. There's no on-screen option, since Nintendo doesn't really tamper with the games before putting them on a channel. (I didn't even find out about it except when reading the operation manual)

How would I search for a date? Opening it in a hex editor or something?
And if I do change it, can I just save it? Or does it need to have some special method to get around menu 3.3?

Search in a hex editor probably, yes. And you'd need a drivechip to install a VC save on 3.3 afaik.

Edit: bah, I forgot about that cahnging the is_copyable byte, drf.
So yes, you may not actually need a drivechip. ^^

 

[drfsupercenter]

Well how did the Twilight Hack people do it?

And wouldn't it be legit again as soon as I open the game and resave it?

 

[nanika]

Well how did the Twilight Hack people do it?
Probably wrote their own. With the tools available you can burn a custom ISO that lets you insert unencrypted VC saves though.
QUOTE(drfsupercenter @ Jul 11 2008, 06:33 PM) And wouldn't it be legit again as soon as I open the game and resave it?

Err... what do you mean?

-----

Sorry if I'm not making myself clear.

To check the unencypted data you need the unencrypted data.

You can either:

Install your modchip,
Make a custom ISO by replacing the ticket from a game with the Pokémon Snap one,
Then, use this ISO in Save Extractor.

(to get the ticket you need to FS dump your Wii, and find the ticket.)

Or:

Get the bin,
split it according to its file table,
then remove the encryption on it with the SD-key.

-----

Of course, it could be that neither of these work, in which case I have no idea how to or if you can.

 

[drfsupercenter]

Well,

Using the Save Extractor you can mess with your Brawl save and make it copy-able to the SD card (using the menu.) But as soon as you play Brawl it restores its old state where you can't copy it.

I think it would do the same thing here... once I open the game and save it, it wouldn't be "hacked" but as legit as any other save would be.

 

[drfsupercenter]

I just opened it in Hex Workshop... And there's no date anywhere.

Guess it's more complicated than that.

 

[nanika]

I just opened it in Hex Workshop... And there's no date anywhere.

Guess it's more complicated than that.

Which are you trying to open, the data.bin or the unencrypted save?

Edit: oops, data, not content

 

[drfsupercenter]

I opened data.bin.

That's where the save is stored, right?

 

[nanika]

I opened data.bin.

That's where the save is stored, right?

Oops, yeah. x.x
The problem is that data.bin is encrypted.

Good news is that it's encrypted with a key public to all Wiis. (SD-KEY, SD-IV)
Bad news is you shouldn't distribute this key, afaik.

You can use this page to get an idea of how to split the save before decrypting it.

Edit: sorry, the link's data only partially matches. This is a better link.

 

[Syangel]

Some tool packs come with the key

*wink*

 

[drfsupercenter]

So that program will let me recompile a save that I don't need a drivechip for? Or am I not understanding correctly?

 

[drfsupercenter]

I decrypted it and opened it in Hex Workshop... still no date, I searched for "2008" and even "20" in case I made it 2009. And this searches the "converted to normal text" field, not the actual hex.

The first values read:
;..}...!.y....Y.HAL_SNAP_V1.0-1....l

It looks like a bunch of jibberish but it does have SNAP v1.0 so does that mean it worked OK? Because if so there's no date stored in the file.

 

[Pikachu025]

Try searching for the hex values of the date instead, not plaintext.

I'm not sure how you're gonna make the save copyable back to the Wii again btw, I didn't think that was possible, but whatever. We need some unencrypted save dumper/inserter homebrew that doesn't rely on disc IDs.

 

[nanika]

Try searching for the hex values of the date instead, not plaintext.

I'm not sure how you're gonna make the save copyable back to the Wii again btw, I didn't think that was possible, but whatever. We need some unencrypted save dumper/inserter homebrew that doesn't rely on disc IDs.

 

[drfsupercenter]

So the only way to put the savefile back on the Wii is to install the modchip?

I couldn't find the date so I made two new saves: both with no stored pictures (as in I just typed in my name and saved it), one on today's current date and one on today's current date in 2009. I'll decrypt them and then see if I can find any differences... that's where the date must be stored. Right?

 

[nanika]

So the only way to put the savefile back on the Wii is to install the modchip?

I couldn't find the date so I made two new saves: both with no stored pictures (as in I just typed in my name and saved it), one on today's current date and one on today's current date in 2009. I'll decrypt them and then see if I can find any differences... that's where the date must be stored. Right?

Maybe. The date could be stored on the Message Board, though. Or somewhere completely different on the Wii NAND. (i.e., Mario Kart Wii keeps a copy of your FC in a Wii shop file, iirc.)