Gamecube Hacked!

[fatcatfan]

http://www.dextrose.com/home.php?s=4&m=13&ng=&p=#n_886

Okay, that Gamecube has been hacked is not really news, but this is the first really interesting development to come of it.

For anyone who is wondering, the way you can run your own code (or this MP trainer) on GC requires the GC broadband adapter, a copy of Phantasy Star Online, and an ethernet enabled PC.

[MottZilla]

Interesting news. Action Replay ought to get (if they don't already) a program code upload feature. I also wonder why they kept saying things like "Metroid Prime *ORIGINAL*". I wasn't aware anyone was making copies.

[Ian]

GC requires the GC broadband adapter, a copy of Phantasy Star Online, and an ethernet enabled PC.


I got that, and that, oh and that. Maybe I should hack my GCN....... or not. I like it the way it is, and besides, I don't like screwing around with things that work fine, :p

[copord]

Originally posted by Ian


I got that, and that, oh and that. Maybe I should hack my GCN....... or not. I like it the way it is, and besides, I don't like screwing around with things that work fine, :p

What Ian means is that he'd probably break his GCN if he tried it , come to think of it i would too :P

[Ian]

Yes, I probably would. I treid to modify my controllers a bit by switching the control stick, and now, one of my controllers is always pressing up just a tiny bit

[fatcatfan]

well, you'd have a hard time breaking your GC just by uploading code and running it. I don't think anything on it is Flashable, so a power-off would fix any problems you might create. Though I guess you could potentially overtax the hardware and cause it to melt or something...

[MottZilla]

Well I spent alot of time today doing research on it. It's not easy considering all the idiots out there that really don't know what they are talking about.

From what I figure, someone, I forget their handle but who cares, sniffed the packets of PSO for GC, probably with the intention of hacking or cheating. Then they probably found out that the game downloaded executablr code and thus made their little utility that sends whatever code you want to the system and executes it.

This would seem to be the case. And apparently because of this, PSO is actually still in memory, they are limited with what they can do with the space.

It is all very interesting, but how many people really have DVD burners? I'd be more interested if it were discovered that you could burn mini CDRs and get the GC to read and execute that. So anyway, interesting but at the same time, not very.

[fatcatfan]

I'm sure all these things will come. And yes, 2MB is about all you can upload through this connection, but I would think with that 2MB you could change some interrupts, put your code someplace safe in memory, do a soft reset, and then have complete control over the GC. The folks just haven't figured out how to do it yet.

Or, rather, I think they don't *want* to let that method become general knowledge, because it would allow people to play copied games by uploading them through the ethernet connection.

And, yes, GC disks have been ripped by this method. I have a copy of the Wind Waker ISO sitting on my hard drive... very interesting. (btw, I own WW so don't go calling me a pirate) Some of the files even use the same compression scheme found in the OoT and MM roms. And did you know that through this hack, someone extracted the Zelda URA N64 Rom right off the Master Quest GC disk? The ROM is playable in an N64 Emulator...

As for burning discs to play, you'd have to have special hardware to do that, (even a DVD burner won't help) so don't expect it to happen.

[MottZilla]

Well, I doubt you actually know by having seen that someone ripped a GC disc yourself, that's why I didn't say it was certain, although it's certainly possible. :O

And I know all about the Bonus Disc ripping and taking the rom off the disc.

And GC discs are DVD discs, but from what I have read, the GC doesn't use ISO, but something else, plus the "bar code" (I forget the official name of what it is). I'm sure someone will find a way in time.

Oh and a tidbit of information, did you know that the bootstrap (I believe it is that) can disable regional protection? SegaSaturn had a similar "feature" to disable the CD Security system. I wouldn't rule of GC having certain protectional routines that could be turned off (other than the regional ones.)

Anyways, I'm sure it will be awhile before anything interesting happens.

[Jawa Podracer]

I'm confused both by the link, and this post. What exactly have they done? Did they edit Metroid Prime or something?

[fatcatfan]

They created a trainer, basically a cheat program, for Metroid Prime. You put in your PSO disc, boot it, upload the trainer, put in your MP disc when prompted, and then play Metroid Prime normally, but you can cheat by having infinite missiles, bombs, energy, etc, and can activate the Classic Metroid game. Not exactly special, since you can likely accomplish these things with an Action Replay if you have one, but it's interesting anyway.

[Jawa Podracer]

So, basically like those "Ultimate Codes" disks, which are Actuion Replays for one game?

Wow, I think it's cool how they could do that. Would it be possible to play ROMs that way, since they're smaller than 2 mb(I mean NES ROMs)?

[MottZilla]

If you coded an emulator to run on GC, yes. Also, if they have a trainer running this way, obviously the trainer must be clearing out PSO, because there is no way MP runs in 2MB of space. ;p

So I wonder why someone doesn't make a PSO program to upload that clears all the memory like the trainer must, and then prompts you to load whatever program you want with all 24MB, I believe, available.

If someone had a decent dev kit I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to port a NES emulator to gamecube, and that actually would be something I'm interested in seeing.

Also, probably what I'd like to see more than anything, someone port or create from scratch, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Arcade Game emulator to gamecube. The GC has plenty of power to do it (DreamCast does or almost does.)

Although, I wouldn't mind getting a free copy of wind waker. I rented that game a week ago or so. It was alright, but I really wouldn't pay to play it. Also, the unlocking NES Metroid I'd be interested in too. hehe.

[fatcatfan]

Originally posted by Mottzilla
So I wonder why someone doesn't make a PSO program to upload that clears all the memory like the trainer must, and then prompts you to load whatever program you want with all 24MB, I believe, available.

That's what I was getting at. I'm sure it's possible. Whether or not it's been done is uncertain, but if it has, I think many of the people involved will *not* release that technique widely, because it would allow people to pirate games. Much of what I've seen from the people involvedin this indicates thy don't want to "harm" the GC, just open it up for hobbyists to play around with coding on it.

[MottZilla]

You can't do one without opening the door for the other. But ofcourse even if you can boot your own things like emulators, ports of games like maybe shareware doom, etc. It still won't solve the issue of burning usable DVDs.

Anyway, I think another reason they may not release certain information is to keep their "l337" status, which is from them just having illegally obtained a GameCube devkit. :O