Hacking "What is a legit cia?" (and other noob CIA questions ANSWERED)

PityOnU

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
1,182
Trophies
1
XP
1,614
Country
United States
Old, and late, but no, this is not a thing, especially since not all CDN downloaders used the exact same templates for their tickets, so hashes can differ even if the contents and tmd are valid.

If you need to verify updates and dlc, use the CIA checker in GM9. As long as tmd is legit and the checks pass you're good.

Note that (standard) dumps made through GM9, while they work fine on console, they are not valid for archival purposes, because they are decrypted and no longer match original eShop contents. You can get all updates and dlc via ctrcdnfetch instead (in the case of dlc though, the CIA will likely fail to build if all the DLC is not yet available.)

Either that, or if you've bought the DLC or installed the updates yourself, you can make a (legit) dump through GM9, and zero out the console ID from the ticket. GM9 (legit) dumps retain all encryption, but you can't install a CIA which has a non-zero console ID in the ticket, so you have to zero it out (unless Luma updated at some point to patch out those checks.) This makes the ticket illegit, but it's the best you can realistically get if you want your dumps to be actually useable.


Okay, this is all great information. Thank you very much!

Assuming I have some time and some data processing background, would it make sense for me to go through and get all the DLC/updates using the method below

Either that, or if you've bought the DLC or installed the updates yourself, you can make a (legit) dump through GM9, and zero out the console ID from the ticket. GM9 (legit) dumps retain all encryption, but you can't install a CIA which has a non-zero console ID in the ticket, so you have to zero it out (unless Luma updated at some point to patch out those checks.) This makes the ticket illegit, but it's the best you can realistically get if you want your dumps to be actually useable.

Generate hashes, and contribute to the existing datfiles? Seems having a dump using the method above would be identical across the board with maintained data integrity for everything other than the console ID.

I'm not an expert with any of these files formats, though (.3ds or .cia), so maybe this is somewhat naive.
 
D

Deleted-236924

Guest
Generate hashes, and contribute to the existing datfiles? Seems having a dump using the method above would be identical across the board with maintained data integrity for everything other than the console ID.

I'm not an expert with any of these files formats, though (.3ds or .cia), so maybe this is somewhat naive.

CIA is not really the format to be used for this kind of thing, outside of universal legit CIAs. Valid tickets are different for everyone, and fake tickets are never guaranteed to be identical (not that fake tickets are worth archiving, anyway.)

The proper way to archive eShop content, is to keep raw CDN contents by themselves, then you can document hashes for tmd and contents. This is what no-intro does, and if you have valid tickets, you can retrieve those via ctrcdnfetch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cearp

RookieKid

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2017
Messages
113
Trophies
0
Age
37
XP
244
Country
Is it safe to install the software update for all cia-games? Sometimes when I install a new cia-file, it says that a software update is available.
 

Halbour

Love yourself
Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2021
Messages
250
Trophies
1
XP
1,096
Country
Israel
Is it safe to install the software update for all cia-games? Sometimes when I install a new cia-file, it says that a software update is available.
It is- if it will work. most installed CIA's won't be able to recieve CDN Updates. You're safe to try!
 

Dragons

Well-Known Member
Newcomer
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Messages
66
Trophies
0
Age
42
Location
Chicago
XP
145
Country
United States
If I download 3ds rom from site try converting it to cia will only work if buy game from eshop ?

I download 3ds rom from sites try convert it with gmode9 I fail message every time
 

CoolMe

That's the way she goes..
Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2019
Messages
7,462
Trophies
1
Age
29
XP
33,102
Country
United States
If I download 3ds rom from site try converting it to cia will only work if buy game from eshop ?
You meant to say :"..will only work if you've bought the game from the eShop"? If that's what you what meant to ask then, no.
I download 3ds rom from sites try convert it with gmode9 I fail message every time
Fyi, you can just install them directly with GM9 without the need of converting them to .cia format.
 

Dragons

Well-Known Member
Newcomer
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Messages
66
Trophies
0
Age
42
Location
Chicago
XP
145
Country
United States
Are you converting a .3ds or a .cia file when you do that?
Yeah I am least I’m trying to put Roms in gm9 in folder doesn’t convert them I’m still looking at different videos try to do it
You meant to say :"..will only work if you've bought the game from the eShop"? If that's what you what meant to ask then, no.

Fyi, you can just install them directly with GM9 without the need of converting them to .cia format.
That was my first attempt didn’t work I may try this trick where I need downgrade 3ds to play 3ds yes I have decrypted some games still don’t work , I have some cia games put in proper folder still don’t work
 

lone_wolf323

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
May 27, 2011
Messages
5,480
Trophies
2
XP
4,918
Country
Canada
Yeah I am least I’m trying to put Roms in gm9 in folder doesn’t convert them I’m still looking at different videos try to do it

That was my first attempt didn’t work I may try this trick where I need downgrade 3ds to play 3ds yes I have decrypted some games still don’t work , I have some cia games put in proper folder still don’t work

eh?. Whats your end result trying to be? installing a .cia to a 3ds or using roms for citra emulator?
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
    Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo: https://www.youtube.com/@legolambs