Scene developer Zecoxao might be known for their contributions to the PlayStation hacking world, but this time around, they've got something major for the Nintendo scene. The longtime scener teased the existence of what they claim to be a $3 modchip for the Nintendo Switch, and which is said to work with Mariko and OLED systems, though not patched Erista consoles. A teaser video was also uploaded, where the modchip itself was revealed to be a Raspberry Pi--specifically, a RP2040 Zero unit, soldered into the Switch board, demonstrating Hekate launching on an OLED unit.

Given the tease of "coming soon", we can expect to see more details about the exploit eventually.

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[PRAGMA]

What's the TL;DR? I don't want to read 23 pages...

No real info other than it seems to exist, small evidence going towards it, clash of who is the dev, and bickering over impatience

 

[Mr Skinner]

What's the TL;DR? I don't want to read 23 pages...

Nothing substantially important. Just a bunch of people reacting to a bunch of baseless speculation, mostly generated by the developer's silence. You can choose to side with the guys who trust what zecoxao says or doesn't say, or side with the guys who trust what a reddit anon says (this is the latest hot rumor), or side with what a guy who says he's in touch with the original dev, acting like the oracle of delphi, speaking in riddles.

Anyway, my advice is be here for the fun, the latest rumor is that the original dev sold the project to China People's Liberation Army. Choose a side and be happy.

 

[Viri]

original dev sold the project to China People's Liberation Army. Choose a side and be happy.

I would do the same. I would sell you all out for the Chinese, to get a few grand. lol

 

[FruithatMods]

or side with what a guy who says he's in touch with the original dev, acting like the oracle of delphi, speaking in riddles.

Who is the guy that speaks in riddles?

 

[RexSonic]

Who is the guy that speaks in riddles?

They probably mean linuxares

Post automatically merged: Jan 19, 2023

Ya know the firmware on those chips can be dumped right? So once it's public its done

You think it won’t be encrypted?

 

[ghjfdtg]

The encryption doesn't matter that much. The RP2040 has no protection whatsoever and the flash serial can be bruteforced.

 

[linuxares]

The encryption doesn't matter that much. The RP2040 has no protection whatsoever and the flash serial can be bruteforced.

No the rp2040 can't but theirs ways to encrypt and protect your software

 

[saladus]

No the rp2040 can't but theirs ways to encrypt and protect your software

can you elaborate? only way i could think of would be decrypting the data on the fly, as it's being sent to the 2040, but that wouldn't make a lot of sense.

 

[linuxares]

can you elaborate? only way i could think of would be decrypting the data on the fly, as it's being sent to the 2040, but that wouldn't make a lot of sense.

Not sure how, but I Googled on it and people say its the only way. I never touched the chip nor can I write code. So I have no clue. Flash the firmware with som decrypter maybe?


Long explanation here:

https://electronics.stackexchange.c...rotection-firmware-security-in-pi-pico-rp2040

 

[ghjfdtg]

You can't protect firmware on a RP2040. There is simply no hardware protection. The best you can do is use the flash serial and derive encryption keys from it. It's not hard to bypass for a skilled reverse engineer and as you can see in previous posts people are already at it.

 

[Jefix]

No the rp2040 can't but theirs ways to encrypt and protect your software

I think they can do some simple custom encryption with a serial number. But I don't think this will be a big problem for the average "hacker".

 

[BigHorse420]

Not sure how, but I Googled on it and people say its the only way. I never touched the chip nor can I write code. So I have no clue. Flash the firmware with som decrypter maybe?


Long explanation here:

The website you linked literaly says it's impossible, what are you on about

 

[linuxares]

The website you linked literaly says it's impossible, what are you on about

Its one of them. As I said, all I know. The dumps we saw seem to be encrypted or broken as heck.

 

[saladus]

Its one of them. As I said, all I know. The dumps we saw seem to be encrypted or broken as heck.

what dumps? where were they dumped from? if they are from these supposed chinese chips i don't see any reason to keep things so hush hush

 

[impeeza]

also remember, the RP2040 has a bootloader and a firmware, the bootloader can only be written but no read, so the code on bootloader remains unknow and you can not duplicate the chip.

similar to the sx chips, if you can't get the FPGA code you have nothing, there are several firmware opensource, but without the FPGA you can make a functional chip.

 

[saladus]

also remember, the RP2040 has a bootloader and a firmware, the bootloader can only be written but no read, so the code on bootloader remains unknow and you can not duplicate the chip.

similar to the sx chips, if you can't get the FPGA code you have nothing, there are several firmware opensource, but without the FPGA you can make a functional chip.

i mean it's still gotta be stored stored somewhere right? or is it stored on the chip itself?

 

[batwings21]

The RP2040 1st stage bootloader is in ROM. There is nothing programmable in the chip. It's all in the flash.

Confirmed by this post
https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=328640

 

[saladus]

well in that case it shouldn't be impossible to read it right?

 

[linuxares]

what dumps? where were they dumped from? if they are from these supposed chinese chips i don't see any reason to keep things so hush hush

I dont know from where they're dumped. He say some Chinese chip but I havent found it anywhere. Og dev havent release the firmware so those must be some own code from a Chinese group.

Edit: its on the other thread

 

[saladus]

i see, totally forgot about the other thread. some big developments over there from what I'm seeing