Dumping games from PS Vita Cartridges is now possible! – The beginning of piracy?
After Yifan Lu’s great hardware reports about the PS Vita, its motherboard and its nand, our user Katsu found a way for dual booting the PS Vita, which can kind of be seen as a downgrade solution.
But that is not everything that he was able to do. Katsu is on fire and also looked at the Vita cartridges… see below for some more electronics joy!
PS Vita Cartridge dumps now Possible – Does this enable piracy?
Katsu seems to be able to dump a PS Vita cartridge – you know, those tiny physical modules that contain PS Vita games, a cartridge, like we know them from the Nintendo DS and 3DS – and is therefore able to retrieve the games in the format how they are at the cartridge itself, instead of as a .PKG, like you get them via PSN, or encrypted for the CMA backup, like you get them via the PS3 or PC backup method.
This does not imply that the files from the cartridge are decrypted, that would be a pretty big security flaw for Sony, but we might be able to do more with these files, than we could do with the files as a .PKG or in the backup format.
Keep in mind that this will require hardware modification, and that there is currently no software solution for this. Do not try it yourself, except if you are experienced in hardware modding!
But do those cartridge dumped files enable piracy at our beloved PS Vita? Well, currently there is no way to install PS Vita games without the help of a PC (backup), a PS3 (backup/PSN) or the PSN, so we can say that this does not enable piracy at a PS Vita, … yet.
There might be a possibility to use these cartridge dumps for piracy in the future, but before that happens, more knowledge of the PS Vitas file system would be needed, instead of just the current ePSPs file system. There also would need a way to fake these dumps as cartridges, since (digital/) PSN versions of games are account bound and need a valid license file.
Piracy is currently, thank god, not possible on the PS Vita, and we, at least I, hope that this will stay like that for a long time.
Disclaimer:
We at wololo.net do not support piracy in any way. We do not allow questions about how to pirate software, but we do inform about software and hardware hacks of devices. Wololo.net is not responsible for your actions!
Source and more pictures: Katsu via /talk
Sell memory cards for the price of a psp and then make me ‘re-purchase games I already own. Man please, start making online games that can support 8-16 players and lower the price on those memory cards.
Everyone on here going on about piracy here piracy there the vita is a long time away from playing backed up games. But if he can decrypt the game file and we can have a native vita homebrew loader it would be a great leap in the homebrew community wich will improve vita sales in the end Homebrew=System sales. yes these sales arent for the right reason i guess but if we dont see vitas getting off the shelf soonish the system will die then you dont have to worry about piracy because there wont be any games to pirate.
Piracy is bad yes but the vita will be long dead before we hit that point if sony doesnt pull up its pants and get developers on board.
Also sorry about my grammer and or spelling it is not one of my strengths lmao
Haterz will hate. All that say the Vita is dead/dying are just pessimistic. I love my Vita and use it more than my Pc..I only have a few games (Killzone:Mercenary, Star Wars Pinball),just recently got TN-7 via KOP ( glad to have Psp games on my Vita finally, especially The Force Unleashed) but mainly use Bookr/PspComic for Star Wars novels. Have y’all forgotten that PlayStation Now is right around the corner? That being said, we’ll either need a second Vita (if you want to keep your ecfw) or hope a mod will happen that lets us access PSN on lower firmware when the next update comes (probably soon).
I have not owned a PS3 yet and will soon get one as the prices are coming down bc of PS4, but PlayStation Now is a magic box for Vita owners bc we’ll have access to a plethora of titles from the PS1/2/3 vault. Good times for Vita owners, I say.
Haterz will hate.
I hope it gets hacked and pirated the non-living *** out of it. What a piece of expensive junk.
All I want is to be able to install cxmb on the PS VITA interface. I hate the bubble design. And with the stunning OLED screen, I think cxmb will be awesome.
Happy to see this progress after all the time, but I wonder about you sayin’ you don’t want piracy on the vita. you see: the selling numbers are not as high as sony would like to see. As with the PSP, a real Hack enabling piracy would be an incredible system seller. Even if Sony patches it or sth like that: People will buy the vita and Devs will kinda have to develope more vita games for a bigger market.I’m just beginning with programming and coding but when I’m ready to, I will work on the vita with help of a few others. Hopefully there will alredy be a kernel exploit or full hardware hack 😀
I dont really care about piracy as it doesnt really hurt anyone. It only makes the CEO get a couple less dollars.
Cool i guess, but I really just want vita homebrew and not piracy anytime soon. That’s the last thing the Vita needs right now
Personally i am just glad to see developers talking an interest in the vita, that lack of interest is what has prevented us, the end users, from being able to get everything we can from our incredible piece of hardware. Just want to send my thanks out to all of the developers out there devoting whatever amount of time and effort they choose to dedicate to the vita. Thank You!
Chad
I never looked seriously at vita game cards because I don’t see what use there is for dumping a game aside from piracy. The game is encrypted, so it won’t be a way to exploit. Maybe, there’s some way to exploit game cards like the USB hack on the PS3, but that’s a slim chance given that Sony is much more cautious this generation.
how long do you think its going to take before the Ps vita if fully hacked?
Being liberal, I’d say someone would find a kernel exploit by this time next year. Of course, I’m most likely going to be proven wrong.
Well, we don’t even have a (public) Vita user exploit, so that seems really soon. Apparently your user exploit was patched a long time ago. Is there even anyone anywhere with a user exploit currently?
Does this mean Homebrew will be capable on PS Vita? I hope it does, since i would LOVE to remove those extra stuffs I won’t be using…
this has nothing to do with homebrew.
That’s a funny look PS Vita Game PCB. What game is that? Like all the several other ones I’ve torn apart for things like this never looked anything close to that.? But at least someone found something 🙂
Never mind. It’s a SD Card. dang I need to catch up on some sleep. This guy must be pro to be able to solder on the points on the Vita games that are about the size of sewing needles. Cause the Vita games cards only have the pin connection the makes the game run on the vita and when tou take the CHIP out of the plastic its really really small and it has small contacts.
Pro like I soldering like I said. Circle Contacts almost as small as my finger print holding the Vita Chips.
http://wololo.net/talk/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=36863
piracy is a crime… what wil happen to Yifan Lu? Sony will pursue him ? just like what happen to Dark Alex…
Sony hasn’t got him like they did with GeoHot. If I remember right Dark_AleX was in college also while he was performing the PSP CFWs and Sony Scared him off when Sony made a big deal about the PS3 CFW.
Here’s Dark_AleX last words
“Bye, scene.
I’ve decided to cease OE development, and leave PSP scene.
The reasons are various.
One of them is the time it consumes, which i’m losing from other things.
The other is related to my security. I didn’t like Sony menaces to PS3 hackers.
I think it is better to leave now rather than end paying the consequences.”
“OE Development”
He made the M33 CFWs later. This statement seems to be very outdated!
Yeah but from what I read and told by others the M33 CFW was his work and his last ones before leaving does it really matter if it was OE Development. No it does not. The point was that Sony has’t got a hold of him. This site has been up for a while now.
http://www.darkalex.com/
That was left ages ago -_- That was put up the first time he left the scene during the thriving ages of OE, not M33.
I know. But what I’m saying Sony hasn’t got a hold of him. This whole discussion jumped from him getting caught up by sony to OE and M33. I dont care. But if it wore soo true it would be known. Someone would of said something or spoken out to the public. Someone would of known, friends, family, peers, teachers, people at the college he was at. Someone would of known and someone would of spoken. It’s not that hard to under stand. You been in college and High School and all that. You should know people wont keep there mouths shut. Even if I was being paid millions by Sony I would of still said something. Probably not you opening your mouth but there are other people that would. If you understand what I mean.
….i already knew this…i kept it a secret.
Thanks Obama!
Disclaimer:
We at wololo.net do not support piracy in any way. We do not allow questions about how to pirate software, but we do inform about software and hardware hacks of devices.
INFORM is the same thing of supporting in any way..
WTH with this post… such a hypocrite wololo
First, I did not write that article, The Z did. Second, no, talking about it and the progress made on it has nothing to do with condoning any of the misuses of the discovery, so next time you talk about hypocrisy, get your facts straight.
Does he have a photo on the soldering of the Vita game cards? And can you find out how he did it. Cause the contacts on the Vita game are really small and when I tried to solder on them it didn’t go so well. I would appreciate any info you can get. Thanks
i think you should modify the template and make the poster name bigger and directly under the title. well people usually missed these stuff unless it shoved to their eyes.
Good point.
You understand what I was talking about? I would like to see pictures of the soldering on the Vita card not the SD Card. Like in my photos on the link. I want to know which wire went to what.
http://wololo.net/talk/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=36863
i support freedom of speech and the press but if u dont support piracy then why the heck would you post an article about it. you support things by advertising them regardless if you claim to support them or not
That’s liek saying doing a rundown on 3D printers encourages people printing guns.
And playing/watching violent video games encourages violence.
accept responsability for your own actions. nothign makes you do anything but your own concious decisions being at the lead.
There is nothing wrong about informing the community about the advancements of hacking a vita. From here it’s opend the posability of getting a blank cartdirge and loading that up with homebrew rather than using the SD card.
Just because you have a hatchet doesnt mean you’re going to kill someone with it. You may only want to chop wood….
yeah but some people are dumb enough to use this as an excuse to try it. if you dont support something then why would you write an article about it? news companies dont support violence and yet thats all they report about. still doesnt make it ok
you’re dumb as heck.
Out of curiosity, say flash carts pop up for the Vita, couldn’t someone also run homebrew with one?
that depends on how the flashcard works.
if it’s like the first 3DS flashcards, then it won’t work for homebrew.
a “dumb” flashcard can hold 1 game(or a limited amount using a hardware switch)
it’s simply a copy of a regular gamecard but with writable memory, and can only be used to run properly signed code.
an “average” flashcard can hijack the system using an exploit or properly signed header, and then load games from a memory card or chip regardless of whether they are signed.
there are also a few “smart” flashcards for the DS, these are special cards with a built-in CPU allowing for homebrew that exceeds the capabilities of the host device and more advanced methods of bypassing security.
for average/smart flashcards: yes, these will likely be able to run homebrew if they ever pop up.
for dumb flashcards: initially not, homebrew would have to be signed since it doesn’t actually disable any security.
Well said wololo ! some people don’t really understand the fact that talking about something is rather much more different than showing HOW to do it. I salute you !
I’d rather the PS Vita not be hacked fully until more games are available.
Wololo what up!!!!!!!!!!!! I come to your site everyday and try to read every post! Keep up the good work and ignore the haters or fools
Buya! har har har
Once the Vita can load backups and homebrew, sales will skyrocket. And then people will begin to actually make decent damn games on this thing. The Vita is pretty much dead and my most regretted purchase to date. I have TN-V on it but I still end up leaving it at home and bringing my PSP Go instead. A hack of that kind of caliber will not kill this system. It will resurrect it.
Bundling it with the PS4 shows Sony are quite desperate. And newer and better mobile hardware coming out every day, is a menace for PS Vita.
You must be special kind of stupid, Once the Vita is hacked nobody will buy games for it anymore, everybody will just pirate. And teh our beloved Vita will die just like the PSP.
It must be really nice there in LaLaLand.
I think he meant the sales on the Vita itself more than the games. As of now, the Vita games are expensive, the good ones at least, and people who know that there aren’t any known public so-called “jailbreaks” or hacks for the system, will choose to either wait for a hack or not buy it at all. A release of a fully functioning, stable exploit or hack for the PSVita would cause people to think more on the ability to get many games and the functionality of the Vita compared to the PSP. So in comparison, without a hack or exploit, few people buy the Vita, few people buy the games. With a hack or exploit, lots of people buy the Vita, few people buy the games. If you managed to sell 100 Vitas and no games, assuming one Vita is 200 bucks, you’d have earned 20000 bucks, but if you sold 20 Vitas at the same price and those 20 buyers each buy a 50-60 dollar game? You’d only make less than 10,000. So which is better?
Mmm, well, its not like dumping games will be the only thing possible. There could be modified dumps that allow us to access the vita itself, not only the epsp.
Given the power of the hardware it could lead to awesome homebrew. How cool would be an gamecube emu running on vita ? ***.
My family are military and government officials. So screw Sony coming after people and the Crooked Police. My family supports everything you guys do. As long as there is no piracy. I had to delete tons of games that I got on a MS Pro that was givin to me. Because of my family member`s. But it’s pretty cool have military and governmental official in a family. Cause you hear or learn things that others don’t about companies. 🙂
It may well be the beginning of piracy… on the PSP it started with the release of 3 UMD dumps by PARADOX that no one was able to use at the time.
The ‘danger’ of gamecarts is that they can be played on any VITA i.e. may be encrypted but will use a non-unique key, but Sony should have (and may have) seen that coming, so countermeasures may already be in place.
NOTE: this doesn’t just pertain to piracy but will also be relevant to software conservation and hardware emulation purposes.
Leaving the pirating of games aside for a moment, can this be valuable for cheap counterfeit made in china memory cards for Vita? this proprietary overpriced BS needs to stop. I have a freaking Lexar cheap made in china memory card for my PSP since 2007 and it’s in perfectly working condition. Not a single problem i had with it.
And knowing that PS Vita memory cards are slower than a super trash regular memory card, makes Sony look bad even more…
ps3 games were dumped years before they became playable
and 3ds.
This is the CAT OUT THE BAG !!
The PC will now be the new vita memory card, you will be able to load just about anything into it
China will make fake cards now from this !!
hope becomes a reality.I live in the philippines andit would be awesome to be able to dump games for one reason, that is I want to backup my physical copy. I cant afford to buy it digitally due to no wifi connection or if I have access its it has bad reception. Its also a plus since I lost my Disgaea 3 cartridge and I dont think sony or NISA has a support for it.
If the cartridge works same as SD cards then some electronics manufacturing company should come up with a model that can be fitted to the PS Vita or a micro SD adapter to fit it in the Vita.These memory card should contain dumped or backup games of Official Cartridges to play in to the Vita
my ps vita game card is a tiny card the same size as the ps vita memory card the game is uncharted golden abbys
Sony should use their ressources for better games, instead of shitting out useless updates.
The more the PSvita is understood, the better game are made.
But since the Vita has this arrogant, uptight, “locked tight as a nun’s legs” security,
no one gives a *** except hackers.
What do we do anyway after Sony drops the Vita 2016? Will it turn into a quad-core brick?