6 ms·

Wii U has been hacked

59 points by ssclafani 13y ago

knocknock 13y ago
Mirror?
Osiris 13y ago
Wiikey seems to be down. HEre's a article about it: http://www.neoseeker.com/news/22846-wii-u-hack-unlocks-console-completely-claims-group-behind-popular-wii-modchip/ http://www.neoseeker.com/news/22846-wii-u-hack-unlocks-conso...
jonny_eh 13y ago
This is rather surprising, the 3DS has been out a lot longer, and as far as I know remains unhacked.
- ryusage 13y ago
  You sure? I could swear a friend of mine had something at least a year ago that allowed him to play just about anything he wanted on it. Maybe that was the older DS?
  - jerf 13y ago
    The DS stuff still works in DS mode, though they periodically make firmware releases that try to lock them out. Nothing executes in 3DS mode, though.
  - leehro 13y ago
    http://gbatemp.net/threads/nothing-plays-3ds-roms-3ds-still-not-hacked.297281/ http://gbatemp.net/threads/nothing-plays-3ds-roms-3ds-still-...
  - DanBC 13y ago
    There are a range of carts. These carts play DS games, they do not play 3DS games. Each time the console gets an upgrade (DS to DSi; DSxl; 3DS; etc) some of the carts stop working, and manufacturers use it as a marketing opportunity. Cards usually tack '3ds' on the name. EG: "R4i3DS". But these just play DS games on the 3DS. (Some of them include GBA emulation functionality; nothing could play GBA games on the NDS cart slot until recently.)
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- Groxx 13y ago
  If by "hacked" you accept "flash carts", then it appears to be hacked: http://www.r43ds.com/ http://www.r43ds.com/ (and a few other brands) edit: ah, nevermind, see other comments.
- superkamiguru 13y ago
  there are sd carts that allow you to play ds games on 3ds, that is as far as they have gone
daeken 13y ago
The truly sad thing about the state of console security for the past few generations is that as they lock them down more, it becomes significantly easier to play pirated games than to use homebrew content. With both the Xbox 360 and the Wii, it took (very) simple drive authentication hacks to get pirated content to run, but many manhours (probably in the high single-digit manyears, honestly) to get homebrew on either of them. At the end of the day, it's infinitely easier to make a drive say "oh, yes, that disc is clearly on original materials" than to subvert, say, signature checks for code authentication, as required for homebrew code. The console manufacturers really screwed themselves here.
- moloch 13y ago
  Very true, for those interested - Xbox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fOjGLCctEY&hd=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fOjGLCctEY&hd=1 Xbox 360: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxjpmc8ZIxM&hd=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxjpmc8ZIxM&hd=1 PS3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4loZGYqaZ7I&hd=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4loZGYqaZ7I&hd=1 Wii: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z81BCko-UY&hd=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z81BCko-UY&hd=1
- mikec3k 13y ago
  This is why I like an open console like the OUYA (which I should be receiving any day now).
  - Narishma 13y ago
    I would like it more if it was a true console with no yearly refreshes.
- mtgx 13y ago
  If wonder if with the rumored always-on Internet requirement for the next Xbox, it will spur the creation of a ton of private servers for Xbox games, with most next-gen Xbox players playing pirated games on those private servers, instead of the expensive always-on DRM'ed games from the Xbox store. I figure this should be that much easier with the next Xbox using PC hardware. It would be quite ironic if by forcing always-on DRM on users, the next Xbox becomes the most hacked/with most pirated games console ever.
nthitz 13y ago
Too bad there aren't really any good Wii U games. That system has been a real disappointment. I hope Nintendo releases those updates soon. And a decent library.
- minimaxir 13y ago
  The top-tier first-party games (Super Smash Bros, Wind Waker HD) are expected to be announced/demoed in a few weeks at E3, but by the time they hit the shelves, it may be too late.
  - chimeracoder 13y ago
    This seems to be a theme with Nintendo, and it's rather unfortunate. When I first got the Wii, I was blown away by the console itself, but I was rather underwhelmed with most of the games available (Super Mario Galaxy was the only one at the time that both used the Wiimote extensively and was fun to play). Nintendo has a pattern of overdelivering with the consoles, and then underdelivering with the games available for said console (at least at first). EDIT: I should add that this is a relatively recent pattern; the N64 and the Game Boy Color are definitely stronger as platforms (with all their available games) than as consoles. Somewhere between the Game Boy Advance -> 3DS (which has terrible game availability for an awesome console) and the GameCube -> Wii, the pattern reversed itself.
    - prawks 13y ago
      The N64 has a fantastic library of games (and had very good launch titles) and a mediocre console.
      - DanBC 13y ago
        There were 2 US launch titles for N64. Admittedly, they were very good games - Super Mario 64 and PilotWings64. The European launch (5? 6 months later) had those two, plus Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.
      - rayiner 13y ago
comex 13y ago
I'm quite curious how far they've gotten and how they did it. For the record, the security of the Wii U software was pretty thoroughly broken by the group fail0verflow and friends, including me, as of last Christmas, with the goal of running homebrew, but a lot of work still needed to be done - both reverse engineering, to find additional vulnerabilities, integrate with the OS, and use nonstandard hardware like the GamePad, and the regular kind, in order to do things like run Linux - and interest and time spent petered out around then, without anything being released. I'm bummed out about it, but I'm spending my time posting on Hacker News rather than doing anything to help. ;p
- parktheredcar 13y ago
  Is there any central repo of progress this far?
  - comex 13y ago
    It has been kept secret, partly to prevent Nintendo from patching vulnerabilities, partly, I think, to prevent it from being used for dubious purposes before a proper homebrew stack could be released. Certainly this style of development did not impress me back when I was an outsider, but, well...
- new299 13y ago
  Interesting, I guess the thing about the WiiU is you've almost got two devices in one, does the game pad need jail breaking independently? Or is it just a display as far as the console is concerned?
  - comex 13y ago
    I haven't been involved with GamePad hacking, but from what I understand, the GamePad firmware is upgradable but does not have any security, so it needs to be reverse engineered, but not hacked as such.
solistice 13y ago
I don't quite see how this is a new thing though, as there was a hack of the Wii U literally on launch day. http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/threads/511978-WiiU-Running-Homebrew-on-launch-day http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/threads/511978-WiiU-Running...! So the title should be "Wii U has been hacked again, better".

59 points by ssclafani 13y ago

Mirror?

Wiikey seems to be down. HEre's a article about it: http://www.neoseeker.com/news/22846-wii-u-hack-unlocks-console-completely-claims-group-behind-popular-wii-modchip/ http://www.neoseeker.com/news/22846-wii-u-hack-unlocks-conso...

jonny_eh 13y ago

This is rather surprising, the 3DS has been out a lot longer, and as far as I know remains unhacked.

ryusage 13y ago
You sure? I could swear a friend of mine had something at least a year ago that allowed him to play just about anything he wanted on it. Maybe that was the older DS?
- jerf 13y ago
  The DS stuff still works in DS mode, though they periodically make firmware releases that try to lock them out. Nothing executes in 3DS mode, though.
- leehro 13y ago
  http://gbatemp.net/threads/nothing-plays-3ds-roms-3ds-still-not-hacked.297281/ http://gbatemp.net/threads/nothing-plays-3ds-roms-3ds-still-...
- DanBC 13y ago
  There are a range of carts. These carts play DS games, they do not play 3DS games. Each time the console gets an upgrade (DS to DSi; DSxl; 3DS; etc) some of the carts stop working, and manufacturers use it as a marketing opportunity. Cards usually tack '3ds' on the name. EG: "R4i3DS". But these just play DS games on the 3DS. (Some of them include GBA emulation functionality; nothing could play GBA games on the NDS cart slot until recently.)
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
Groxx 13y ago
If by "hacked" you accept "flash carts", then it appears to be hacked: http://www.r43ds.com/ http://www.r43ds.com/ (and a few other brands) edit: ah, nevermind, see other comments.
superkamiguru 13y ago
there are sd carts that allow you to play ds games on 3ds, that is as far as they have gone

daeken 13y ago

The truly sad thing about the state of console security for the past few generations is that as they lock them down more, it becomes significantly easier to play pirated games than to use homebrew content. With both the Xbox 360 and the Wii, it took (very) simple drive authentication hacks to get pirated content to run, but many manhours (probably in the high single-digit manyears, honestly) to get homebrew on either of them. At the end of the day, it's infinitely easier to make a drive say "oh, yes, that disc is clearly on original materials" than to subvert, say, signature checks for code authentication, as required for homebrew code. The console manufacturers really screwed themselves here.

moloch 13y ago
Very true, for those interested - Xbox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fOjGLCctEY&hd=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fOjGLCctEY&hd=1 Xbox 360: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxjpmc8ZIxM&hd=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxjpmc8ZIxM&hd=1 PS3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4loZGYqaZ7I&hd=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4loZGYqaZ7I&hd=1 Wii: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z81BCko-UY&hd=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z81BCko-UY&hd=1
mikec3k 13y ago
This is why I like an open console like the OUYA (which I should be receiving any day now).
- Narishma 13y ago
  I would like it more if it was a true console with no yearly refreshes.
mtgx 13y ago
If wonder if with the rumored always-on Internet requirement for the next Xbox, it will spur the creation of a ton of private servers for Xbox games, with most next-gen Xbox players playing pirated games on those private servers, instead of the expensive always-on DRM'ed games from the Xbox store. I figure this should be that much easier with the next Xbox using PC hardware. It would be quite ironic if by forcing always-on DRM on users, the next Xbox becomes the most hacked/with most pirated games console ever.

nthitz 13y ago

Too bad there aren't really any good Wii U games. That system has been a real disappointment. I hope Nintendo releases those updates soon. And a decent library.

minimaxir 13y ago
The top-tier first-party games (Super Smash Bros, Wind Waker HD) are expected to be announced/demoed in a few weeks at E3, but by the time they hit the shelves, it may be too late.
- chimeracoder 13y ago
  This seems to be a theme with Nintendo, and it's rather unfortunate. When I first got the Wii, I was blown away by the console itself, but I was rather underwhelmed with most of the games available (Super Mario Galaxy was the only one at the time that both used the Wiimote extensively and was fun to play). Nintendo has a pattern of overdelivering with the consoles, and then underdelivering with the games available for said console (at least at first). EDIT: I should add that this is a relatively recent pattern; the N64 and the Game Boy Color are definitely stronger as platforms (with all their available games) than as consoles. Somewhere between the Game Boy Advance -> 3DS (which has terrible game availability for an awesome console) and the GameCube -> Wii, the pattern reversed itself.
  - prawks 13y ago
    The N64 has a fantastic library of games (and had very good launch titles) and a mediocre console.
    - DanBC 13y ago
      There were 2 US launch titles for N64. Admittedly, they were very good games - Super Mario 64 and PilotWings64. The European launch (5? 6 months later) had those two, plus Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.
    - rayiner 13y ago

comex 13y ago

I'm quite curious how far they've gotten and how they did it. For the record, the security of the Wii U software was pretty thoroughly broken by the group fail0verflow and friends, including me, as of last Christmas, with the goal of running homebrew, but a lot of work still needed to be done - both reverse engineering, to find additional vulnerabilities, integrate with the OS, and use nonstandard hardware like the GamePad, and the regular kind, in order to do things like run Linux - and interest and time spent petered out around then, without anything being released. I'm bummed out about it, but I'm spending my time posting on Hacker News rather than doing anything to help. ;p

parktheredcar 13y ago
Is there any central repo of progress this far?
- comex 13y ago
  It has been kept secret, partly to prevent Nintendo from patching vulnerabilities, partly, I think, to prevent it from being used for dubious purposes before a proper homebrew stack could be released. Certainly this style of development did not impress me back when I was an outsider, but, well...
new299 13y ago
Interesting, I guess the thing about the WiiU is you've almost got two devices in one, does the game pad need jail breaking independently? Or is it just a display as far as the console is concerned?
- comex 13y ago
  I haven't been involved with GamePad hacking, but from what I understand, the GamePad firmware is upgradable but does not have any security, so it needs to be reverse engineered, but not hacked as such.

solistice 13y ago

I don't quite see how this is a new thing though, as there was a hack of the Wii U literally on launch day. http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/threads/511978-WiiU-Running-Homebrew-on-launch-day http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/threads/511978-WiiU-Running...! So the title should be "Wii U has been hacked again, better".