Hacking [Tutorial] How to convert Arm9LoaderHax payloads to FIRMS

Status
Not open for further replies.

Slattz

Easygoing Fairy
Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
1,259
Trophies
1
XP
1,776
Country
Ireland
Would anyone like a .bat to semi-automate the process? Or perhaps firmtool in a .exe format (converted using py2exe) which should remove the need for python?
 

urherenow

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
4,702
Trophies
2
Age
48
Location
Japan
XP
3,571
Country
United States
Yea, GW won't work AT ALL on 11.4. Don't think it's possible to break sighax though. Could cause a brick maybe, but not just break sighax.
 

mrjoshuaco

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
195
Trophies
1
XP
951
Country
United States
that is what i meant sry. because GW removed a9lh or Bricked 3ds on 11.3/4
You're using these words interchangeably. They don't mean what you think they mean. Here's the actual deal:

When you chainload in to Gateway on 11.4 (and only then) on Sysnand, that firmware version will, for lack of a better term, overwrite A9LH because Gateway doesn't protect it. This does NOT result in a brick, it simply removes A9LH, leaving you with an unhacked console for all intents and purposes. It doesn't "brick" your 3DS.
 

Purple_Heart

GBATemp´s weirdest Individual
Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
4,374
Trophies
1
Age
28
Location
Hamburg
XP
3,682
Country
Germany
You're using these words interchangeably. They don't mean what you think they mean. Here's the actual deal:

When you chainload in to Gateway on 11.4 (and only then) on Sysnand, that firmware version will, for lack of a better term, overwrite A9LH because Gateway doesn't protect it. This does NOT result in a brick, it simply removes A9LH, leaving you with an unhacked console for all intents and purposes. It doesn't "brick" your 3DS.

thanks because a friend of me told me it CAN brick... he gave me false information then

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

does the same happen if i would boot it in 11,4 sysnand with b9s?
 
  • Like
Reactions: wolf_

mrjoshuaco

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
195
Trophies
1
XP
951
Country
United States
thanks because a friend of me told me it CAN brick... he gave me false information then

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

does the same happen if i would boot it in 11,4 sysnand with b9s?

There was a brief period years ago where Gateway's cart firmware would brick systems using Gateway clones and in a few rare cases, legit Gateway carts. Also, their implementation of A9LH is poor and had brick potential, but that only holds true if you're using their downgrade and installation method, but the chances weren't terribly higher than other very early conventional methods. Simply using the chainloaded binary however won't cause a brick.

As to your second question, if you're not using Gateway, you'll have no issue with A9LH being overwritten (at least up to current firmware) and B9S is theoretically more safe.
 
Last edited by mrjoshuaco,

Purple_Heart

GBATemp´s weirdest Individual
Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
4,374
Trophies
1
Age
28
Location
Hamburg
XP
3,682
Country
Germany
ok

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

i used gw because of cheats but know i use NTR. i dont need GW anymore (the redcard i only use the bluecard because of NDS roms)
 

TheCyberQuake

Certified Geek
Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
5,012
Trophies
1
Age
28
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
XP
4,407
Country
United States
Got bored and decided to throw together a quick POC batch file for easier converting. Probably broken in some way, but worked in my very limited testing. It accepts drag and drop as well as manually opening and typing in a file. Currently only testing with bin files placed in the same directory as the firmtool and batch file. Don't have time to give it a full test right now so let me know if any issues come up. I'll probably try to see if I can figure out a python version later so it will work across platforms instead of just windows.
Code:
@echo off
cls
set name
IF [%1]==[] (
    SET /p file="What is the file you want to convert? (ex. Decrypt9WIP.bin) "
) else (
    set file=%1
    set name=%~n1
)
IF [%name%]==[] set name=%file:.bin=%
cls
echo Converting %name% to firm format
python firmtool build %name%.firm -n 0x23F00000 -e 0 -D %name%.bin -A 0x23F00000 -C NDMA >> debug.txt
echo Complete
pause
 
  • Like
Reactions: Majickhat55

ih8ih8sn0w

Koreaboo
Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2015
Messages
1,677
Trophies
0
Age
25
Location
Hell
XP
898
Country
United States
Most of the things that properly runs that way (not everything will work in my experience) can simply be converted to .firm anyway so why even bother
I never said that it would be useful or effective. Hell, almost anything that works when converted to .firm is likely outdated.
 

tomx86

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2015
Messages
776
Trophies
0
Age
38
XP
2,157
Country
Poland
Last edited by tomx86,

Hihomaster

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2008
Messages
184
Trophies
0
XP
486
Country
France
hello there i tried to simplify the process by creating this small tool i called Simple Firm Creator :
you need the latest python ( at least 3.2) and cryptography ("pip install cryptography" )

Usage : to launch it you have to open a cmd or a terminal and type " python SimpleFirmCreator.py "
then you just have to open the .bin you want to convert and click on create firm and tada profit

Edit : i forgot to delete the arm9loaderhax.bin inside but you can delete it / i left it for test purpose
 

Attachments

  • SimpleFirmCreator.rar
    13.7 KB · Views: 247
Last edited by Hihomaster,

rd2k3

Well-Known Member
Newcomer
Joined
Jun 30, 2005
Messages
70
Trophies
1
XP
870
Country
Brazil
ABOUT GATEWAY AND B9S
- Gateway wont brick your 3ds. But if you try load gateway on sysnand 11.3 or 11.4, give you a black screen. And when reboot, your 3ds is in official firmware 11.4 (or 11.3). In other words, LOSE YOUR B9S and only a hardmode solve this (i test many times, but i have hardmode)

ABOUT BIN2FIRM
- in windows, you have a many steps to follow
1) install KB2999226 for windows 7 (only with windows update active - change in services.msc. After install, you can disable windows update)
2) install VCForPython27 (microsoft visual c++ compiler) - otherwise, python will not install PIP
3) install python-3.6.1 and openssl-0.9.8h-1-setup
4) open CMD with admin rights and type this lines


"C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Common\Microsoft\Visual C++ for Python\9.0\vcvarsall.bat" x86_amd64
change USER for your username

set LIB=C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\lib;%LIB%
if your windows is x86, change this line (this folder is about openssl-0.9.8h-1-setup)

set INCLUDE=C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\include;%INCLUDE%
if your windows is x86, change this line (this folder is about openssl-0.9.8h-1-setup)

"C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32\Scripts\pip.exe" install cryptography
change USER for your username
after this line, msdos will load a progress bar and install cryptography


IN PYTHON INSTALED FOLDER
copy firmtool (https://github.com/TuxSH/firmtool)
copy your archive.bin (for converte) and rename for TEST1.bin
open CMD and set python folder (ex: CD C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36-32)

run command
firmtool.py build TEST2.firm -n 0x23F00000 -e 0 -D TEST1.bin -A 0x23F00000 -C NDMA
 
Last edited by rd2k3,
Joined
Feb 17, 2017
Messages
1,214
Trophies
1
XP
2,473
WARNING: I am not responsible for any damage to any devices.

Anyway, so head on over to https://github.com/TuxSH/firmtool.git
Download the firmtool file
Scroll down to "Building a firmware binary from an arm9loaderhax.bin payload "
Copy the code "firmtool build test.firm -n 0x23F00000 -e 0 -D arm9loaderhax.bin -A 0x23F00000 -C NDMA"
Run that but replace the arm9loaderhax.bin with the payload of your choice
It should create a test.firm file.
Just rename that to whatever you chose and put it in your luma/payloads

Anyway, I'm bad at making quality tutorials, but this should work. It at least worked for me

Also, I would also like to point out that I haven't done anything in the development of the firmtool. i just figured the makefile of godmode9 would say something about firm files. All credit goes to TuxSH.
What the hell is 'the firmtool file'?
 

tomx86

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2015
Messages
776
Trophies
0
Age
38
XP
2,157
Country
Poland
hello there i tried to simplify the process by creating this small tool i called Simple Firm Creator :
you need the latest python ( at least 3.2) and cryptography ("pip install cryptography" )

Usage : to launch it you have to open a cmd or a terminal and type " python SimpleFirmCreator.py "
then you just have to open the .bin you want to convert and click on create firm and tada profit

Edit : i forgot to delete the arm9loaderhax.bin inside but you can delete it / i left it for test purpose
Will you update it to work with "boot9strap-1.2"?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2: Sorry for accidentally bending over