Did the Vita hacking scene shoot itself in the foot?
So, Vita firmware 3.30 is out, and as expected, it seems to patch a bunch of exploits.
As described by The Z in his article yesterday, it appears Sony did not patch the 50 game saves that got recently leaked, instead they patched the firmware somehow. That was the simplest entry point to patch everything in one go, but it also means that the game exploits are still potentially useful. People are already investigating, for example, if these game exploits could be reused for a VHBL release on 3.30. Again, it seems the game exploits themselves might not have been patched, but reusing them might not be as easy as it seems, because what got patched seems to be deeper. The typical “H.BIN” file (used as a binary loader, as explained here) for example cannot be properly loaded anymore, according to some reports from several hackers.
Additionally, the leak last month included more kernel exploits, and at the time of this writing I am not sure if those also got patched. My gut feeling says no but I am waiting for confirmation of that. It means those exploits could also be reused on 3.30 to run TN-V again.
The PS1 exploits allowed to run TN-X, a tool to run PS1 isos on the Vita with perfect sound compatibility. These have been patched as well, it seems.
More importantly, the Package Installer trick from SKFU has been patched. The tool is apparently still here, but gets force-closed by the system if you try to run it (see TomTomdu80’s video showcasing it below). This one could be the biggest hit to the Vita scene in the long run.
SKFU was confident because he had found “other” ways to run the package Installer, but the Sony developers haven’t merely patched the email trick, they have blocked the package installer interface entirely. I’d wait for SKFU’s statement (or other people who knew about the original trick) on this, but this could really be the biggest hit to the scene that happened with 3.30. And yeah, you’ll notice this one was totally unrelated to the gigantic leak of PSP exploits, which in the long run might be less of a problem.
Finally, yes, there exists a native hack, that was mentioned by Acid_Snake here, but that is reportedly patched in 3.30.
What’s interesting with firmware 3.30 is that it’s not the massive “PSP exploit leak” drama that could be the most hurtful to the scene in the long term, but the two “native” experiments that are being patched in 3.30, and that were publicly announced outside of any leak. One because the devs knew Sony already had a patch in 3.30, the other because the dev assumed he’d have other ways to access the loophole.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a VHBL release, or even a TN-V release, for 3.30. I’m more concerned about what will happen on the Native front. Hopefully Acid_Snake, or other people working secretly on native software or hardware hacks, will have good news to share in the near future.
So the following questions remain: will the native hack on 3.18 be useful to unlock further secrets on the Vita? Is there another (publicly unknown) way to run the package installer? Is anyone actively working on VHBL/TN-V ports for 3.30 at this moment, considering the massive hackers exodus from the PSP emulator that happened last month?
Until those get an answer, it’s probably best for people to stay on 3.18 if they want to keep enjoying TN-V
“Until those get an answer, it’s probably best for people to stay on 3.18 if they want to keep enjoying TN-V” and probably the native hack 😀
it got patched, Acid_Snake might as well release it
damn it acid_crap you ruined the scene whatever was there
come back when you have a proper exploit
We want some native love
. . . 😐
Good thing I got 2 Vitas to work with.
If man can create it man can hack it. Nothing is unhackable.
You are lucky… i got no 2nd vita and no ps3… but a friend got a ps3 xd isn’t easy to get a new game
It is easy to get 2 vitas i want 4 lol
Currently rocking 3 vitas myself. All fat 1 black, 1 white and 1 miku edition. Gotta have one for hacks, my US and my JP accounts. Definitely staying on 3.18 if thats the only hope for a potential native hack.
Just picked up borderlands slim vita combo. Came at 3.15 and digital copy of borderlands. So I updated to 3.30 for slim and kept fat vita at 3.18. By the way the backlight on slim goes really dark as opposed to fat which is bright on lowest setting( probably where they got better battery life). Feels less bulky but colors on LCD vs. Oled really suck and are very apparent when initially used, maybe over time I will get used to it.
thanks for the review on 1000 vs 2000 vitas…
haha
You got a good humor taste my friend, lol :v
Ironically the trade in value of the PS Vita went down just before the 2000 release, but has gone up significantly higher than it originally was a few weeks after. It wasn’t the lack of people trading in Vitas, it was the run on 1000s after 2000 owners realized how much a half hour of use really costs.
They said I would get 170$ at game stop for trade in on old vita. They are selling on eBay and Amazon for 250$ used and more than that for new or like new. Sorry for the “review” but I was surprised at all the differences from 1000 to 2000 models. Design wise better, for actual game play worse. On a side note it took me six stores to find one vita, and that one was the last they had at game stop. They said sony wasn’t shipping for months on all things related to vita, so, so much for the “push” in ps4 and vita being sold hand and hand 🙁
If the 2000 is in production, they aren’t going to be producing anymore 1000s, so what they can ship is just what they have in inventory. Most accessories were discontinued, so it would be the same for them. Best Buy still had a couple in stock up until two weeks before the 2000 hit shelves. I have a feeling the employees at your GameStop either figured it was common sense or don’t really understand how it works when hardware is discontinued.
I just got that but i kept mine on 3.18 Eu and just installed Borderlands 2 on my US vita =D
Did you keep the old vita on 3.18 eu? Both of mine I have linked to us accounts. Needed to update from 3.15 on slim to 3.30 to initialize account and download borderlands two. Did you do the same?
I already had 3.18 on my US vita but I wanted to put the voucher toward my 3.18 2000 vita EU but the code was region locked =[
Take your time. And good luck 🙂
Technically speaking, Sony DID NOT patch our native exploit, they UPDATED webkit to a new version that already had this exploit patched. Not much is lost though, there’s new webkit hacks found every now and then, we don’t even have to find it ourselves, other (bigger and better) hackers do that already for a living. How much it’ll take for us to work on 3.30 though is another thing. I was already pretty clear that if you wanted to use the webkit exploit, stay on 3.18, if you did not listen to my advise and updated anyways, too bad.
Around when do u think u will release the web kit exploit?
If you have luck with WebKit on 3.18 will it be possible to decrypt updates like 3.30 and so on or do we need Sony to mess up like the memory stick and Pandora battery? I also have time on my hands, not that much but kid is in school, I want to start messing around somewhat and someone suggested raspberry pi to start. I haven’t programmed since Apple two e and ti82 calculator. Should I bother to learn c++ or just forget about it.
In other words, the smart kids are looking at the WebKit vulnerabilities being patched in open source firmware to get a good idea where to look.
As long as you guys find a way to remove or bypass that PSN access BS, every time I use Netflix and Crunchyroll, I want ya to take as much time as ya need for the Native Vita. Whether it’ll take a few months or a year or two, I’ll respect your decision and will wait patiently on 3.18, as long as ya put ya time and devotion into the Project. All I can say now is good luck and stay breezy! 😀
Presumably, with your memory dumps of 3.18 webkit and extrapolation of your knowledge, you can take advantage of more advanced webkit exploits that require knowledge of the memory layout that previously you cannot use blind.
I wish I could help the scene but the only coding that I is for controlling machines to do automated tasks, but I should be going to school for programming soon.
Hi,
I decided to stay on 3.18 to run psp iso. Unfortunately yesterday when copying iso file using ftp, my vita start showing blue screen whenever I go into games memory. Do I left anyother option to stay on 3.18??
Stop using ftp and use OpenCMA 5 =D
OpenCMA 5 doesn’t support linux/osx/bsd
Can’t we just rename the H.BIN file to something like F.BIN? Or will the Vita still recognize that it is the same file?
It’s not recognizing the file name, it’s recognizing what it’s doing in memory and blocking it. It will likely take some forms of obfuscation to get it working again.
native hack will soon be with us?
No. Did you read the article?
some great news in my perspective! Native hacks would be great though im just glad 3.30 is still open for TN-V
so glad i waited and not updated to 3.18
so since your saying to stay on 3.18 if you want the native webkit exploit, will this webit exploit work on firmware 3.0.1?
Can’t wait for more news on the Webkit exploit, staying on 3.18 in the hopes that this gets somewhere :D, if it doesn’t actually turn out to be publicly useful, atleast it’ll hopefully help devs gain a deeper understanding of the vitas inner workings and help in the future
When can we start stealing and pirating vita games, everyone is waiting, hurry!
No, just no.
my open cma doesnt work anymore. the vita will force a update. is there a newer version of open cma?
Use opencma r5 and you will be set.
Darn it, I can’t use CMA anymore… Is there going to be a new openCMA?
Use opencma r5 with the 3.18 fw and it should work.
qcma is good
what is qcma?
I honestly want to know why these folks want to hack the Vita. It’s not a popular console. It has an objectively low-quality and very limited library (http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-uncertain-about-future-of-aaa-western-games-o/1100-6421078/). It’s not a tablet running a flexible OS. Its predecessor’s homebrews (i.e. games, not utilities) were nothing stellar so the community’s track record there is poor. Is it for the prospect of better emulation than the PSP’s? Is it for the challenge?
I honestly want to know why someone like you is even looking at a site like wololo
I think hacking a system to play games designed for the hardware it replaced or homebrew that is better and more functional on other hardware is just something to do. It doesn’t mean I am any less interested in what is done or why. Some people educate themselves, some are just fanatics.
I could say the same thing about Nintendo Gamecube. Why? lol
I honestly want to know why you were bornt among earthlings…..?
Thanks in advance.
Even FailOverflow is searching for exploits in WiiU…….
First, the vita is a portable gaming console, not a tablet or smart phone, and as such you can’t really compare it to one.
Second, why hack anything? I’d say most of the devs hacking the vita are mainly doing it to expand their knowledge, and because they find it interesting. A lot were already in the psp scene before the vita, and i’d say they just feel at home here. It’s a console lov.ed by the people attempting to hack it, they legi.timately want to see homebrew on this thing, what better device is there to run homebrew/emulators?
Who cares if the user base isn’t too high, chances are they’re doing it for themselves just as much as they’re doing it for others.
Okay what gives, why are my comments needing moderation? Is it the length?
Don’t worry, I see ^_^
We can hope that a TN-V release comes for 3.30, but that still leaves the TN-X exploit that got patched. I’ll be sticking with 3.18 I think.
I take it, the reason why there has not been a Release for the Native Hack, is because the Dev/s are wanting to make sure it works perfectly first prior to announcing it?
I plan to stay on 3.18 until either the Native Hack is Released and Homebrew is being Released for it, or TV-V## can be run successfully on 3.30 or beyond.
I would just label the H.bin by another File Extension if possible.
Need help m8ts , openCMA is no longer working , and i cant install any more glorious emulators, got any fix?
I suspect that if I update my Vita to 3.30, the demos I have already downloaded through the Package Manager will not run. Is this the case?
I think they do.
So the demos I have already downloaded that way would still run?
this is random, but did you guys knowthe vita has a mouse pointer in the internet browser? not the blue one, but an actual arrow/finger? for those using a firmware that allows the use of hardware buttons, open your browser and push left onthe d-pad twice.
or just press square
Big shout out to all the people working hard in the scene to bring us all the awesome stuff you guys have brought us, it is much appreciated from me at least.. I know it’s not an easy thing, it takes time, skill, money and patience and to do this all and give it to the fans for free (even when many are not grateful) shows a compassionate character and a passion for what you all do.. I don’t have 2 vitas but I do have a 2nd motherboard for my vita, I’m 30 y/o so don’t have time for the childish shiz..so if any of u guys ever need someone to test some things out without worrying about leaks or bragging to others about things let me know I’d be glad to give back since especially you guys have given me a lot here. Peace I got faith in all of y’all
For those asking about can I still do this or that if I upgrade to 3.30, it’s been said many times it’s best to stick to 3.18 right now until everything gets figured out, it may be a long time to get 3.30 fully hacked, and it may not be, but if u love ur exploited vita on 3.18 then just be patient and wait til a scene member says it’s ok to upgrade..and always remember not to bug the *** out of them about release dates and everything you are getting this stuff for free so let them do their work and just be patient…good things take time and they will come just chill out and enjoy what we have so far 🙂
What category was your Grammy in? I missed that part.
i dont know
i know i shot myself in the foot been in the hospital since.
couldbe cgi
Go Sony, block all the entry points!
I have firmware 3,18 and talkman tokyo exploit, I just updated to 3.30 manually
Yes on my own desire to update, playing psp game on psvita is not choice, glicy image due “emulated psp” on psp vita, no native exploit yet, I throw my vita ability to run kernel access.
playing vita game without dlc and without game update is really more paint than playing “suck” psp game on vita 😀
Suck PSP game? What did you expect super HD PSP on vita?
Sony patched some stuff on 3.30 so guess who will probably enjoy native hack on their Vita’s first?people who stayed on 3.18…have fun with your themes on 3.30.
Agreed, that was a dumb move right there. If you had used the proxy method or the PS3 CMA trick method then you wouldn’t have to worry about all that. The only issue that I face is being able to use Netflix and Crunchyroll again. Because I’m relying on the native hack to bypass the PSN access BS, I’ll happily wait until that day comes.
Yeah I know,I do this, I just lost my feel while playing my favorite psp game on vita which better play it on my android phone 😡
My bad xoombie503. That was towards Rikku
Hey guys I need some help here I can’t copy the Gladiator begins save exploit every time I try to copy it from PC to vita it pops up error? I’m only trying to get the save back because I was in safe mode and accidentally reset the settings and wiped every thing including the game and save data
Just keep trying after it says error,try again.
oddly the quality of psvita streaming went terribly bad, and in order to trouble shoot it I had to update the vita as it would no longer connect to the ps4 after enabling the wifi. So annoying. Does anyone else experience lag, poor connection via remote play? Mine is random, it works.. then it does not for days, weeks. Never works over network, just adhoc.
Could have sworn it was just PSP hacking on a Vita, but if you say Vita hacking is dead, it MUST be true. Excuse me while I replenish my Kleenex supply.
I’m one of the ones that were fortunate enough to take advantage of one of the 50 games before the new upgrade, and have not upgraded the new firmware. thanks for the heads up!
If you would like to improve your experience simply keep visiting this website and be updated with
the latest news update posted here.