Homebrew ROM Hack Defeating Devolution

[RetroGen]

Thanks for doing this. I used Devolution early on but switched to Nintendont years ago. It's great to finally be able to use this application with the silly, tedious, anti-piracy stuff removed. I suspect a lot more games will be tested now that the application can be used without that restriction.

Got the r266 boot.dol and loader.bin compiled on my Windows 10 PC and tried them out with the GC games on my backward compatible Wii (all load perfectly with Nintendont). Was somewhat surprised how long the compiling operation took as well as the ~8GB Docker install required.

Most of the games work without issue, but I found something peculiar with Wave Race. This game was ripped and verified using CleanRip 2.1.1 and works with the standalone Cracked Devolution boot.dol, but not with the loader.bin using Wiiflow Lite v5.5.3; it just locks up the machine with a black screen. I also managed to get the Peach's Castel demo working with the standalone boot.dol, but again not with the loader.bin in Wiiflow Lite (this tech demo ISO is only a few MB). Is there any reason why the standalone loader and loader.bin should have different compatibility, perhaps some extra verification checks in the loader.bin?

 

[bobmcjr]

Thanks for doing this. I used Devolution early on but switched to Nintendont years ago. It's great to finally be able to use this application with the silly, tedious, anti-piracy stuff removed. I suspect a lot more games will be tested now that the application can be used without that restriction.

Got the r266 boot.dol and loader.bin compiled on my Windows 10 PC and tried them out with the GC games on my backward compatible Wii (all load perfectly with Nintendont). Was somewhat surprised how long the compiling operation took as well as the ~8GB Docker install required.

Most of the games work without issue, but I found something peculiar with Wave Race. This game was ripped and verified using CleanRip 2.1.1 and works with the standalone Cracked Devolution boot.dol, but not with the loader.bin using Wiiflow Lite v5.5.3; it just locks up the machine with a black screen. I also managed to get the Peach's Castel demo working with the standalone boot.dol, but again not with the loader.bin in Wiiflow Lite (this tech demo ISO is only a few MB). Is there any reason why the standalone loader and loader.bin should have different compatibility, perhaps some extra verification checks in the loader.bin?

Yeah sorry about the tooling, but Devo is a complex beast (and I'm too lazy to push a prebuilt docker image so it takes extra time).

The cracked dol is built from that loader.bin, so it might be an issue with Wiiflow. My loader.bin is much larger than the original so maybe Wiiflow isn't allocating a large enough buffer? Or maybe it's doing something else wrong?

Again, once the discs are verified and work in the cracked version, you can switch back to the original unmodified loader.bin from gc_devo_src.zip.

 

[godreborn]

I installed Docker but was unable to run it on my ancient PC, would it be possible to have someone PM me the modded binaries? Thank you so much

:deleted: due to not knowing the dev's wishes.

 

[eduall]

I always thought the author's choice was retarded, as if his and an army of software pirates were going to be responsible for taking Nintendo down... I mean he's probably the type of guy who got the shot, four boosters, wears the mask, and has still caught covid eight times. None the less I respect his choice as an author, but I'm glad someone finally came along to remove that silly limitation.

Each software author has the right to establish the limits of use, also wanted to avoid a possible lawsuit from nintendo (by that date there were cases of lawsuits by nintendo to the piracy of the 3ds)

 

[godreborn]

Each software author has the right to establish the limits of use, also wanted to avoid a possible lawsuit from nintendo (by that date there were cases of lawsuits by nintendo to the piracy of the 3ds)

do you know if the cracked devolution files contain Nintendo code? I'm not too familiar with devolution, only remember dios mios, and then nintendont, but I think there's an option for devolution in usb loader gx.

 

[eduall]

do you know if the cracked devolution files contain Nintendo code? I'm not too familiar with devolution, only remember dios mios, and then nintendont, but I think there's an option for devolution in usb loader gx.

I don't know that, but for something he made the decision...

 

[XDel]

Each software author has the right to establish the limits of use, also wanted to avoid a possible lawsuit from nintendo (by that date there were cases of lawsuits by nintendo to the piracy of the 3ds)

Yes, I am aware that he is not a slave and has free will of his own. As for Nintendo, the only way they could come after him is if he were sharing Nintendo's personal software with his downloads, selling warez, etc. He would have been in the clear.

 

[godreborn]

I don't know that, but for something he made the decision...

I deleted the compiled files until I know if the dev cares or not.

 

[eduall]

I seem to remember that he made a comment clarifying why he had implemented that.

 

[Peninsula]

Why in the world a backup loader will literally need you to insert the original disc before inserting the backup?

it's just nonsense to require the original disc to boot the backup... Makes the homebrew only useful as a proof of concept tech demo

Devolution required the disc ONCE. You would launch the iso with Devolution then insert the disc to prove you owned the game (which created the DVV file on your USB/SD). If you had a valid DVV file on your device you wouldn't need the disc to play your iso in the future.

The idea was you would rip all your physical discs with Clean Rip, verify all your games, and then use Devolution to load your backups. Tueidj wanted to make an actual backup loader, and not program that could be used for piracy. I certainly think it's a bit ridiculous, but Devolution is a technical marvel for its time. It had near 100% compatibility before Nintedont ever released, and it still has unique features like wireless Dualshock 3 support.

Also, amazing work @bobmcjr

 

[bobmcjr]

do you know if the cracked devolution files contain Nintendo code? I'm not too familiar with devolution, only remember dios mios, and then nintendont, but I think there's an option for devolution in usb loader gx.

Lol, the patches are a tiny bit of PowerPC assembly I wrote myself that gets pasted into the right spot, and a 4-byte checksum fix at the end.

The cracked version of Devolution contains no Nintendo code whatsoever, unless Devolution itself originally did.

Why do you think I have this absurdly complicated patching system in the first place?

 

[godreborn]

Lol, the patches are a tiny bit of PowerPC assembly I wrote myself that gets pasted into the right spot, and a 4-byte checksum fix at the end.

The cracked version of Devolution contains no Nintendo code whatsoever, unless Devolution itself originally did.

Why do you think I have this absurdly complicated patching system in the first place?

so it doesn't matter if I post it?

 

[bobmcjr]

so it doesn't matter if I post it?

The patched files don't contain copyrighted Nintendo code, but they do contain code copyrighted by tueidj, the author of Devolution, and he has previously expressed that he does not want unpacked/unprotected versions posted here (hi @crediar ).

So no, please don't post them here, they're kind of like ROMs.

 

[RetroGen]

The cracked dol is built from that loader.bin, so it might be an issue with Wiiflow. My loader.bin is much larger than the original so maybe Wiiflow isn't allocating a large enough buffer? Or maybe it's doing something else wrong?

Again, once the discs are verified and work in the cracked version, you can switch back to the original unmodified loader.bin from gc_devo_src.zip.

Thanks! Will give the original loader.bin a try shortly.

 

[Foxi4]

In all fairness to the original build, the verification is only required once - after the image is matched as a 1:1 valid copy of the disc you own, it’s not required in the future. Not ideal for archival purposes, but a minor inconvenience only. Sadly, this doesn’t help users who have broken disc drives, which is one of the reasons why one would switch to an alternate loading method (besides convenience).

The patched files don't contain copyrighted Nintendo code, but they do contain code copyrighted by tueidj, the author of Devolution, and he has previously expressed that he does not want unpacked/unprotected versions posted here (hi @crediar ).

So no, please don't post them here, they're kind of like ROMs.

This is the only bone of contention I can see in this entire affair. As long as your patch exists as a separate entity as opposed to a modified program, I don’t see an issue. If users want to modify their own installations, they can do so at their own discretion - you’re not redistributing anybody else’s code. The original developer hasn’t been seen since 2017, so it’s hard for us to ask him for their opinion, we can only rely on what was posted in the past. It seems that you’re aware of @tueidj’s wishes and found a way to amicably circumvent them - the liability is on you, not the original developer. If that’s clear to you, all is well.

 

[godreborn]

I deleted the compiled version out of respect for the dev. I didn't realize he didn't want a compiled version posted. I was just trying to help someone who couldn't build it with docker. my apologies.

 

[RetroGen]

First off, the original loader.bin does not work with Wiiflow Lite at all with games that were previously verified with the crack; it just locks the Wii with a black screen. The cracked loader.bin does work, with some qualifications noted below. I also could not get the original boot.dol to work either; it doesn't see the games on my HDD's FAT32 partition, while the cracked boot.dol does. Hadn't used Devolution in years, but an older version did work on my HDD.

Spent some more time attempting to find a deterministic answer as to why some games were not working. After some messing around, including deleting the gc_devo directory and re-ripping Wave Race, I got it working. Then Metroid Prime stopped working, so I ripped it again too. One suspect seems to be that it matters which specific Wii remote was used when making the initial verification; if you attempt to launch the game with a different remote sometime later, it hangs the Wii. I switched Wii remotes when I was having difficulty with a few games, then found that other games that had worked were no longer working. So, it seems that even after a "valid" .dvv has been created, Devolution is still checking something on the Wii remote, and will fail if you use a different remote than the initial one. I have several remotes, so this could be a problem, and I suspect many others also use more than one Wii remote.

So, I haven't totally figured out what's going on, but can certainly say that Devolution's verification process is extremely unnecessary, finicky, and frustrating. Devolution doesn't "just work" after the initial verification, at least not if you change Wii remotes. Will continue to do more testing in the next week or so...

Note: This isn't meant to complain, but hopefully a way to help troubleshoot some of these issues for others.

 

[bobmcjr]

First off, the original loader.bin does not work with Wiiflow Lite at all with games that were previously verified with the crack; it just locks the Wii with a black screen. The cracked loader.bin does work, with some qualifications noted below. I also could not get the original boot.dol to work either; it doesn't see the games on my HDD's FAT32 partition, while the cracked boot.dol does. Hadn't used Devolution in years, but an older version did work on my HDD.

Spent some more time attempting to find a deterministic answer as to why some games were not working. After some messing around, including deleting the gc_devo directory and re-ripping Wave Race, I got it working. Then Metroid Prime stopped working, so I ripped it again too. One suspect seems to be that it matters which specific Wii remote was used when making the initial verification; if you attempt to launch the game with a different remote sometime later, it hangs the Wii. I switched Wii remotes when I was having difficulty with a few games, then found that other games that had worked were no longer working. So, it seems that even after a "valid" .dvv has been created, Devolution is still checking something on the Wii remote, and will fail if you use a different remote than the initial one. I have several remotes, so this could be a problem, and I suspect many others also use more than one Wii remote.

So, I haven't totally figured out what's going on, but can certainly say that Devolution's verification process is extremely unnecessary, finicky, and frustrating. Devolution doesn't "just work" after the initial verification, at least not if you change Wii remotes. Will continue to do more testing in the next week or so...

Note: This isn't meant to complain, but hopefully a way to help troubleshoot some of these issues for others.

Interesting.

Yeah the Wii remote validation is in there still, but it's supposed to be more permissive rather than less.

But yeah, try using the original boot dol from gc_devo.zip (not gc_devo_src.zip) in conjunction with my cracked dol to eliminate Wiiflow as a variable (and try USB Loader GX if the standalone dols work).

Also note that Devo's custom FAT32 driver isn't the most fault tolerant, so maybe try it on a cleanly formatted drive. Devolution corrupted a friend's gc_devo folder on a inconsistent/not clean/slightly corrupt filesystem.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Even though it was a bit more daunting to set up, I ended up using DIOS-MIOS back in the day, and when possible moved over to Nintendont. It's cool that someone's still putting some kind of effort into something like this, though! I do believe it's mostly been surpassed, but it's nice for people who still want to use it for some reason or another.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

The need to verify the legit disc first is just douchey. @JuanBaNaNa is right, it's just nonsense to require the original disc to boot the backup... Makes the homebrew only useful as a proof of concept tech demo, at best. Glad someone finally reverse-engineered it. Anti-piracy homebrew devs are a cancer in the homebrew scene.

Devolution wasn't made for people like you, it was made for people who actually buy the games they want to play.
Entitled pirates like you give the homebrew scene a bad rep. Devs are fully in their right to do whatever they want with their creations, if you don't like what they made then go ahead and make something better. People whining about or begging for stuff like this has turned devs away from the scene many times in the past. This behavior is the real cancer.