I shell swapped this originally turquoise Lite to black ExtremeRate one some time ago but I struggled loads with fitting SUPER5 screen into it without any gaps and ended up with a damaged LCD port due to trying to line up ribbon too many times. Fixing that motherboard is beyond my soldering skills and repair costs almost the same as a second hand Lite so I decided to buy some beat up and scratched yellow one to harvest shell and motherboard from. Screen snapped so easily into original shell that it could probably hold without any adhesive. Lesson learned on aftermarket shells, I guess. Quite happy how it turned out in the end. New looks heavily inspired by this guy:

Hey gang, working on a 360 corona 4GB and Band flashers are a pain in my area. I know there's pico flasher, is there any chance I can run it on a tiny instead of buying a pico? I really don't want to buy a tech piece I'll never use again.

About advices on how to not get banned on switch 2

RE: https://thebrainbin.org/m/random/p/758579

OP on Reddit went pretty hard on the precautions of his #Switch1 #consolemod, but adding to his questions about the risks if sharing data/carts with the #Switch2:

a) using the same account on a modded and a non-modded console is a risk, as sooner or later the user may make some mistake and tarnish his account

b & c) afaik the Switch cartridges track where they have been inserted, but I have yet to hear Nintendo do anything with the information

d) same as question a, so better to avoid getting the two consoles to communicate / share data.

Iirc, one of the very few ways to get a Vita banned was to use your account on a modded PS3 and the PS3 to get banned. Similarly, Reddit bans spread by both IP and accounts, the accounts tarnishing IPs, and IPs tarnishing accounts that try to connect through them. Two precendents of how the banning technologies may be used, so worth isolating the two consoles as much as possible.

Additionally, like the native tripwires I mentioned in another post, cartridges tracking consoles they've been used on is an useful tool for Nintendo too, if/when they decide to crack down on that.

About patiently waiting for a Switch 2 mod

RE: https://thebrainbin.org/m/random/p/757841

#consolemods #patientgamers #swtich2

Going by memory...

In 2016, the guy behind PS Vita's HENkaku said the console would no longer be moddable. In 2018, he found a new exploit that Sony was never fully able to patch, plus supposedly there are two more exploits someone found but is holding until they might be needed.

Apparently earlier this years, the revised Xbox 360 models finally became moddable.

The PS5 had a same exploit as the PS4 due to the shared base. Same with the PS Vita on later system updates with some PSP games on the PSN.

Also everyone's afraid of anti-consumer Nintendo doing lawfare, so staying low on the radar is understandable.

Recent and recent-ish developments & setbacks should serve as examples that patience is good in such cases.

Also, if one wants to mod the console for legitimate reasons, and not just to be a dirty pirate, do push for consumer-friendly systems, as well as for better laws and culture. Even if that means the Switch 2 ain't getting a mod any time soon, it should be a small price for a better future.

While waiting for a Switch 2 mod, some observations about the system

Got a #Switch2 recently and so, while the memory is fresh, some observations, a.k.a. potential fail points for #consolemods, or even a potential #plannedobsolescence I noticed.

First, like with the Switch 1, while it's docked, you can't keep the console completely offline. Because of that, I'd suggest connecting to a phone's hotspot, changing the hotspot password afterwards, and connecting if/when needed only.

Second, some peripherals may force you to go online or even update the system online:

• Some Switch 1 cartridge I tried as soon as I got the console, system update demanded to be able to run the game.
• Some express SD card I tried just now, system upate demanded.
• Game key cards require at least some data to be downloaded, despite coming as cartridges, meaning online needs to be tapped again
• You can't get DLCs without connecting to a Nintendo account (this one expected in this day and age, sadly)

Means to mod a console are too varied to be able to guess which will be for the Switch 2, but so much enforced connectivity feels like a bunch of trip wires just waiting to be triggered. So beware if planning to use the console while waiting for an eventual mod.

I'm modding a 360 and as a strictly Linux user I've spent the last 4 hours of my night trying to get Iso2god running with no success. About 15 videos, 6 Reddit threads, 2 complete reads of the Xbox 360 section of consolemods.org, and it's the stupid AI agent on DuckDuckGo that says "install xboxforgod with snap"! I assumed it was hallucinating but no, it's actually there and it worked right out of the box! Even did the OG Xbox isos too!

Why on Games on Demand's green earth is this not on the wiki?!

I have a jailbroken PS4 on 5.05. Should I update to a newer version? Most of my game discs are too new to even install on it.

After 12 years , the "unhackable" Xbox One has finally been hacked thanks to the new Bliss exploit that triggers a hardware glitch in the Xbox One console Boot-ROM. In today's episode we take a closer look at the exploit and discuss what this could mean for all things unsigned code, homebrew and the preservation of Xbox One games.

Full talk YT video

Full technical write up

Sony was an unstoppable force in the early 2000s. The release of the PS2 went swimmingly, and gamers worldwide were enjoying the technological advancements made by the console. Despite going on to become one of the best-selling consoles of all time, Sony wasn't fully satisfied with how things were going later in the PS2's lifespan. Much like its predecessor, the PS2 had a serious security problem. Once the copy protection was broken, it became the wild west, so much so, that if you buy a used PS1 or PS2 in 2026, there's a good chance it has some kind of modchip inside. Things had to change for the PS3, and Sony had a plan.

For a late-1990s engineer with good soldering skills, many a free pint of beer could be earned by installing modchips on the game consoles of the day. Modchips were usually a small microcontroller connected with a few wires to selected pins on the chips or pads on the board that masked or overrode the copy protection and region locking. This scene was brought back for us by a recent [Modern vintage gamer] video looking at the history of console hardware mods, and it’s worth a watch (see the video, below).

The story starts in 1996 with the original PlayStation, largely the source of those free pints for a nascent Hackaday scribe back in the day. Along the way, as he expands the story, we find other memories, for example, the LPC bus-based hijacks of the first XBox console, and the huge modding scenes on both that machine and Sony’s PS2. The conclusion is that this community left its mark on today’s consoles even though the easy hardware hacks may be a thing of the past on the latest hardware, and as past Hackaday articles can attest, jailbreaking older consoles still has a way to go.

The Sony PlayStation 2 contains a chip called MechaCon. Its job was to be the system's ultimate security gatekeeper, controlling disc authentication, region locking, MagicGate encryption, and KELF file decryption. For years, it was considered the last unbreakable barrier in PS2 security. Modchips could only bypass it. But buried inside Sony's redesigned Dragon MechaCon it was discovered that it was EEPROM patchable and exists a factory service feature.

In this video take a closer look at the exploit chain from the PS2's boot certification handshake through the cryptographic failures, and the tools that finally cracked it open: MechaDump and MechaPwn. The factory backdoor Sony built for their own service centers became the front door for the homebrew community.

I have a PS3 for quite a while now, and for years it worries me, the worst part to find replacements is the original controller. With very important functions being bound to the PS button, and my console being compatible to my knowledge only with HEN, the lack thereof would easily be a problem, and in my case, I'm already having to use the PS Move controller I have for PS button functions.

When I watched the video, I remember the thought crossing my mind: would this method help circumventing this issue?

Thanks in advance!

With the launch of optical media in game consoles such as the Sony PlayStation 1. The console could be hacked with a use of a simple modchip - an unauthorized hardware modification that was soldered directly onto the motherboard. This was done to circumvent security features. While the original goal was for piracy and backups, as modchips evolved, so did their use cases. Everything from Region Free, homebrew, emulators, makeshift development kits and more were soon possible. In today's video we look at the earliest modchips and how they shaped the video game landscape.

Since the PlayStation 5's release in late 2020, console hackers have attempted to gain complete access to the system by discovering and exploiting vulnerabilities, using software exploits to access features not normally available to consumers.

But on New Year's Eve, console hacking groups detonated another sort of explosive that could have massive consequences for the PlayStation 5 hacking scene, opening the door for permanent jailbreak, custom firmware, emulation, and much more.

Got a second hand Wii earlier this year, but got some weird but sporadic glitches, like certain Wii ROM formats not working, and that the previous owner, whom I still talk to, didn't recognize said glitches.

As I could circumvent the glitches I found, I didn't mind them enough to care. But then, as I started tinkering with the GameCube compatibility, I started seeing way more errors.

CleanRip, when starting, would estimate dumps to take, as a manner of speaking, 1/256 of an eternity. Physical games couldn't save through Nintendont. ROMs wouldn't appear on USB Loader GX. And maybe a few more errors I'm forgetting.

It was fun. /s

Also can't remember why I didn't try another USB, but maybe it was a mix of not having devices easily available and coning from consoles where for things to work, the stars would need to align just right coughcoughps3coughcough

Then I had to put it aside for some months because life happens.

Then, some months later, 3 days ago, I noticed the USB stick I had gotten somewhat recently wasn't being used and the data in it was minimal, and I remembered the warnings about trying different USB sticks if problems appeared.

Been using everyday since, the stuff I put in the USB has been working near flawlessly! Even the USB recognition issues from the Wii, which I had read that is spotty indeed, hasn't yet happened.

So moral of the story, if you see weird behaviour when modding the Wii, please do try another stick, even if you have to buy a smaller one from your local electronics shop.

YT link