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New GameCube Network Loader Runs Homebrew Games

Posted by timothy on Mon Oct 13, 2003 05:43 PM
from the little-holes dept.
GameCube (Games) Entertainment Games Hardware
An anonymous reader submits: "Cube Hacker is reporting that a new network loader has been released which allows you to execute retail code by exploiting a known bug in Sega's online game, Phantasy Star Online. Obviously piracy is not condoned but this certainly opens the door for future home-brew development! Linux on GameCube anyone?" Update: 10/13 23:33 GMT by S : Previous update removed, due to it only referencing retail titles.
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  • Not explained well... (Score:3)

    by Doomrat (615771) on Monday October 13 2003, @05:47PM (#7202989) Homepage
    I don't get it. Does this mean that you can now execute non-official code on a Gamecube? The Slashdot post doesn't really explain it properly, and the linked site is intended for people who knew what this all means in the first place. I'm sacrificing myself here so that other people don't have to look stupid too.
    • A while back, someone hacked the GameCube disc format. They found a way to get the raw data off of GameCube discs. This data then could be posted to the internet or saved on your computer hard drive. However, that was a pretty useless trick, piracy-wise. You couldn't burn that data to a blank CD and put it into a GameCube and play your pirated games. GameCube discs are custom sized. You can't get a spindle of GCD's at CompUSA, and conventional burning software wouldn't write to it properly if you did. So it was a neat mental excercise, but with no practical applications.

      Until now. Now these guys have hacked the GameCube broadband adapter. These adapters are hard to find, and currently the only game that supprots them is Phantasy Star Online (although the new version of Mario Cart coming soon will support it, and they should make more broadband adapters available for that). So now, you can load a game over the GameCube broadband adapter.

      Those GameCube discs you previously could rip to your computer, now you can load them to your GameCube over the broadband adapter. That opens the door for piracy pretty wide. It also opens the door for you to load just about any code you want to the GameCube, hence the remarks about a Linux version for the console. So now it is possible to play pirated games our custom software on the cube. It is still a pretty involved and difficult process, involving hard-to-find hardware and requiring a lot of technical know-how, but it is possible.
      • Here's the link to the article about breaking the GameCube disc format:
        http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid= 03/06/16/ 119233&tid=213
      • GameCube discs are custom sized.

        Actually, they aren't. They're 80mm DVDs, which is a standard size. While I couldn't find any at CompUSA, the media is a standard format. You can place a GameCube disc into your PS2, if you really want to. Pop open your CD-ROM drive. Look at the smaller circle groove. That's for 80mm discs. A GameCube disc will fit nicely in there. I haven't actually tried reading one through a DVD drive, but it will fit.

        [C]onventional burning software wouldn't write [a GameCube g

      • So, you are cheering the circumvention of anti-piracy protection by *claiming* you want to spread Linux to the gamecube. Seems like one of those "wink wink nudge nudge" statement I make about *trying* games out on my GBA emulator.

        You are aware that there is a steadily growing number of homebrew dreamcast games, being that its the only other easily "hacked" modern-ish console.

        Not only that, but loaders like these allow those of us who look forward to games which will never be released in the US or who wan
        • Not only that, but loaders like these allow those of us who look forward to games which will never be released in the US or who want to get their hands on them early play them without voiding warranties or paying twice as much for a second copy of essentially the same hardware, only with the "Japan" bit set instead of "US".

          Freeloader [videogamedepot.com]- nice little boot disc that allows a US Gamecube to play Japanese games, and without requiring any modifications or (as far as I can tell) voiding your warranty. Much bette

  • Maxconsole (Score:5, Informative)

    by CrazyConsole (715391) on Monday October 13 2003, @05:47PM (#7202992) Journal
    www.maxconsole.com has lots more information about this subject matter.
    • http://www.maxconsole.com/?mode=comments&newsid=10 33 , this link will help you alot as will the whole of www.maxconsole.com , I honestly don't know why cubehacker was reported for this news , as it maxconsole was certainly the first to report of it and most informative.
  • Granted, I know it's a n00b question. I looked at the Gamecube site and couldn't quite understand the gist of this. Anyone want to step up to the plate?
  • How would you do Linux on the Gamecube? It uses a smaller disc, so you can't just stick it on a CD-R (I don't know if the mini ones work). The only way I can see is through the broadband adapter or something. Does the Gamecube have any USB ports or the like? It'd be awesome to have a cluster of $100 computers, though... I'd love to see some benchmarks comparing them to other computers...
      • Yes; the point appears to be to load Linux/other OS over the network. There is some discussion on Planet Gamecube [planetgamecube.com] about Linux on Gamecube.

        The discussion on PlanetGamecube aside, the point of the announcement linked to on maxconsole seems to be the use of illegal game images. Not everyone that hacks something does it to run Linux.

  • No! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by PhoenixFlare (319467) on Monday October 13 2003, @05:54PM (#7203046) Journal
    Linux on GameCube anyone?

    For the love of god, no. Can't we have a (modern) console that just stays as a gaming machine?

    If you want an everything-box that can run Linux, go buy a PS2, Xbox, or just a cheap computer, but leave the Cube. It's designed to be for gaming and gaming only.

    I guess that sounds incredibly jealous, narrow-minded, or fanboyish of me, but that's my gut reaction upon seeing this story.
    • Can't we have a (modern) console that just stays as a gaming machine?

      The GameCube is now under $100. It has a fairly fast processor, Ethernet capabilities, and a very small case. Put these together, and you have a serious option for cluster nodes. Of course, real benchmarks would be needed to tell if the price/performance is good.

      That said, I do tend to agree with you -- a single GameCube, hacked to run Linux, is pretty much useless.

    • Can't we have a (modern) console that just stays as a gaming machine?

      Note to PhoenixFlare.

      When I port Linux to my Xbox, your Xbox is unaffected.

      Thank you.
      • I don't own an XBox, and I never will, as I absolutely abhor the things.

        I own a Platinum Gamecube.

        Where in the world would you infer that I own an XBox?
        • And I GUESS your CAPITAL letters are SUPPOSED to make me UNDERSTAND somehow?

          I take issue with hacking a Gamecube to run Linux, or other devices on which it would make no sense at all. Nothing else.

          And if people can have the attitude that everything can or should be hacked somehow, i'm entitled to have the opposite opinion, thank you.

          I'm also quite well aware that nothing he does affects me, but again, this is free discussion, and I can say what I like.
      • I don't know, something about it just rubs me the wrong way. Granted, Sony and Microsoft have put out some nice games, but Nintendo seems to be one of the last focused on a pure gaming machine.

        Why would you want Linux on a Cube, anyway? No hard drive, no mouse, non-standard media format, etc...

        Looking at more details about this exploit, seems like it's going to be more useful for playing illegal copies of games, something I don't really think should be condoned either.

        And also, I fail to see how my above
        • I think Linux running from a cartridge which would work as harddrive (or flash-drive) too would do the trick. It's not "Why would one want that?" but "Can it be done?" question. Launch Linux on Cube just to show it can run there. And nothing more... well, maybe except turning it into an inexpensive game development platform? AFAIK GameCube developer kits cost a small fortune, this could be alternative. Plus the border between "game" and "reality" is blurred. (I personally consider hunting Mozilla bugs on bu
          • Yes, and that's what i'm taking issue with. That argument gets trotted out everytime something hackable comes out, but I don't think it always makes sense.

            What would you do with a Linux-running Cube that you couldn't do with a PS2 or XBox that's only $50-100 more, and better suited for the job in terms of media type and perhipherals?

            The ultimate fate of every computing device is not to have Linux installed somehow, l33t as it may be :P

  • Maxconsole more helpful (Score:3, Informative)

    by CrazyConsole (715391) on Monday October 13 2003, @05:54PM (#7203056) Journal
    Maxconsole [maxconsole.com] shows a tutorial on how to actually use this and explains it in more depth! maxconsole [maxconsole.com] has lots more information on this , I don't know why cubehacker was mentioned at all.
  • From what I have read, the hack consists in exploiting a weakness in the sega video game PHANTASY STAR ONLINE using the same method than with the xbox memory card exploit: a modified saved game that will cause a buffer overflow. Exploiting the overflow allows the user to gain control of the ethernet adaptor, enabling him to transfer the 'loader' bootstrap, causing the reboot of the Nintendo Gamecube, and from there, the loader will open a connection to the user's computer, and using the server software inc
  • that the webserver was running on the Gamecube as well.

  • Here's the software to do it (Score:4, Informative)

    by TheBadger (131644) on Monday October 13 2003, @06:11PM (#7203174) Homepage
    All the software is available from dextrose [dextrose.com]

  • Slashdoted

    I wonder if Nintendo submitted this link to /. to take down www.cubehacker.com.
  • Thinking further on this: This is a security hole that allows remote execution of code on the affected machine. Sure sounds like what's needed to write a worm!

    Any bets on how long it'll be until the first ones show up?

  • Hebrew? (Score:3, Funny)

    by waldoj (8229) * <waldo.jaquith@org> on Monday October 13 2003, @08:08PM (#7204016) Homepage Journal
    Man, for the life of me, I could not understand why it was such a big deal that the "New GameCube Network Loader Runs Hebrew Games." I mean, don't they sell Nintendos in Israel? I found myself quite literally scratching my head over the matter, and even headed over to nintendo.co.il [nintendo.co.il].

    Oh. Homebrew. D'oh.

    -Waldo Jaquith
    • Article is /. but one thing worthy of note is that the copy protection on Gamecube also involves spinning the CD the wrong way round. To make a Linux distro you are going to need a very special CD burner

      I thought it spun normally, but instead the laser reads from outside to inside and not inside to outside?

    • Re:Copy Protection (Score:4, Informative)

      by MisterFancypants (615129) on Monday October 13 2003, @06:16PM (#7203199)
      Article is /. but one thing worthy of note is that the copy protection on Gamecube also involves spinning the CD the wrong way round. To make a Linux distro you are going to need a very special CD burner

      The entire point of the system being discussed here is that it bypasses any need for using the special GameCube formatted discs. The system in question uses an exploit someone found in Phantasy Star Online (a networkable GameCube game) to download executable code over a network. Someone exploited this to make a loader which will stream in game data over a network from some other system, such as a PC. The only disc that will be in your GameCube is an original copy of Phantasy Star Online, everything else will be streamed in from the other networked system, whether it be a Linux distro or warezed GameCube games.

    • Article is /. but one thing worthy of note is that the copy protection on Gamecube also involves spinning the CD the wrong way round. To make a Linux distro you are going to need a very special CD burner

      Rus

      Or you could take your Gamecube to Australia! :)

    • You got the copy protection scheme all wrong (Score:5, Informative)

      by Rolman (120909) on Monday October 13 2003, @07:04PM (#7203566)
      The copy protection scheme works in several ways. You DO need to have a special DVD burner, since the LENS is what's different on the Gamecube. It can't read regular DVDs. Also, the retail discs use a special barcode imprinted on the disc to prevent the cube to be tricked into reading fake discs.

      There's a special debugging Gamecube which can read burned games, it's called the NReader, and you can only get it from Nintendo if you are a) a developer b) an important gaming news house.

      The catch is, this NReader can't read retail discs, it can only play those burned specially for beta testing or magazine reviews.

      Also, the PSO loader works by tricking PSO into loading special code by resolving the DNS of the Sega PSO server to your own PC. Then you have access to the GCN. Animal Crossing is a port of the same N64 game, so it fits on the GCN's memory without having to read the disc more than once, that's why it's completely playable.

      The situation is far from the "retail games pirated!" outcry.

      • Article is /. but one thing worthy of note is that the copy protection on Gamecube also involves spinning the CD the wrong way round. To make a Linux distro you are going to need a very special CD burner.

        ...I own a gamecube. I just popped open the lid and checked. The disc spins clockwise. I don't know if that is what you define to be "the wrong way around"...

        Maybe it spins in different directions depending on what hemisphere you live in, kinda like water down the drain.
    • Hobbies. Some people sail, climb mountains, collect stamps, set up miniature scale railroads, etc. If you got the spare time, you figure out something to do with it, or go crazy.

      These people chose hacking the Gamecube. Not my thing, exactly, but I'm sure it's entertaining as hell to them.

      • That's the whole thing with piracy. You are never going to eliminate it because there is a small group of people who will break copy protection just for the intellectual challenge.

        What you can do is minimize it. It seems like they did a good job with the GameCube. You can play pirated games on it, but it is such a hassle to do so that the average gamer won't. Only the hardcore hacker.

        Incidentally, you to play GameCube ISO's, you need a broadband adapter and a copy of Phantasy Star Online, neither of which
    • The first person to develop a mod chip and learn to press silvers will make cash hand over fist in Hong Kong - the land of piracy.

      The various mobs have their hands in street level piracy (silvers, bootlegs) up to their elbows. The top warez groups get huge "donations" in exchange for 0-day access to new cracks and releases.

      • It is suggested that you remove the memory card during play as it is known to freeze the game. Also, sound issues and load times will be appearent.

        Sounds a lot like headache medacine that gives you cramps.

        I'll just buy the game, thanks.
    • Although I'm not sure about the Game Cube in particular, consensus is that most tales of games being uncopyable because of some oddity of the CD/DVD (recorded outside to inside, spins counterclockwise, ...) are false.

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