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ArsTechnica: Hackers unlock NES Classic, upload new games via USB cable

I

I am Christina Aguilera

Member
joeygreco1985 said:
I'd wager there were plans to expand the games in the NES classic at some point that ended up being scrapped. Why else would they use micro USB?
Click to expand...

If this at least expands *cleanly* to double the library, is there any possibility that Nintendo might still have designs on some sort of USB plug-in expansion (or two) of thirty additional games upon the Classic Mini selling well enough during the 2016 holidays to have an install base?
 
//ARCANUM

//ARCANUM

Member
shanafan said:
The steps are actually outlined in the program itself. But yes, it is quite that simple. Click "Upload games" and the prompts will start to tell you what to do.
Click to expand...

i downloaded and ran the program and it doesn't list any steps... what am I missing?

also, how do we *know* there's no malware? my windows defender is going off like once a minute or less....

edit - ah you have to click dump kernel and then it gives you the steps

edit - okay seriously my windows defender is going nuts and I'm not running the program any more. how are we sure this isn't malware and how do I get windows defender to stop alerting me? what I'm getting is: Trojan:Win32/Spursint.F!cl

edit 3 - oh man this keeps getting worse, now google chrome isn't working for me after a restart, it just loads a white page for anything. even settings doesn't work. I've tried uninstalling, re-downloading and installing. nothing fixes it. and I'm getting the malware popups constantly. I've deleted the download and extracted file and everything. really bummed that I decided to give this a shot. ugh. :(
 
M

Memorabilia

Member
Awesome thread. Didn't have time to read much yet, but aim to learn more about this going forward. Hopefully the holier-than-thou piracy police keep it to a dull roar and don't spoil the fun...there's major value in preservation here and even amongst people like myself who believe in owning legit copies of everything, the gray area about "pirating" is vast and we could get lost in the nuance of fair use (especially in the case of classic games no longer readily for sale at reasonable prices). At any rate, I really can't wait to check one of these out at some point and add the 20+ games I own to this thing. And yeah, I'll be building a rasberry pi at some point... But this is just too cool as an official product.
 
J

jmizzal

Member
Ok I didnt wait til tomorrow lol

I added 6 games wow, that was so simple to do

Tecmo Bowl with 2017 roaster update
Metal Gear
Dark Wing Duck
Mike Tyson Punch out
TMNT Arcade
Batman

Edit added more Sports games
Arch Rivals
Jordan Vs Bird
Blades of Steel
Bases Loaded
Pro Wrestling
Double Dribble
 
Psykotik

Psykotik

Member
just go into windows defender settings and add an exclusion to the hakchi2 .exe file

the program is safe.

not sure what's wrong with your chrome though.

//ARCANUM said:
i downloaded and ran the program and it doesn't list any steps... what am I missing?

also, how do we *know* there's no malware? my windows defender is going off like once a minute or less....

edit - ah you have to click dump kernel and then it gives you the steps

edit - okay seriously my windows defender is going nuts and I'm not running the program any more. how are we sure this isn't malware and how do I get windows defender to stop alerting me? what I'm getting is: Trojan:Win32/Spursint.F!cl

edit 3 - oh man this keeps getting worse, now google chrome isn't working for me after a restart, it just loads a white page for anything. even settings doesn't work. I've tried uninstalling, re-downloading and installing. nothing fixes it. and I'm getting the malware popups constantly. I've deleted the download and extracted file and everything. really bummed that I decided to give this a shot. ugh. :(
Click to expand...
 
//ARCANUM

//ARCANUM

Member
Psykotik said:
just go into windows defender settings and add an exclusion to the hakchi2 .exe file

the program is safe.

not sure what's wrong with your chrome though.
Click to expand...

well, a restart fixed chrome. odd, but false alarm.

but i guess about the malware that I'm asking is how do we actually know it's safe? like what steps did someone take to identify the safety of it?

The file is completely deleted from my system and I keep getting malware alerts...

also, i started getting the malware alerts once the file was downloaded, but even after I made an exception for it, I was still getting the alerts.
 
Psykotik

Psykotik

Member
you'll need to go into the filepath in the windows defender logs for the detected 'virus'. it should be something like C:/ProgramData/Microsoft/WindowsDefender etc etc etc (recalling at the top off my head)

enable hidden files first. then physically delete the file that is in the /scan/filestash folder if you followed the stated filepath correctly.

this will get rid of the constant alerts.


//ARCANUM said:
well, a restart fixed chrome. odd, but false alarm.

but i guess about the malware that I'm asking is how do we actually know it's safe? like what steps did someone take to identify the safety of it?

The file is completely deleted from my system and I keep getting malware alerts...

also, i started getting the malware alerts once the file was downloaded, but even after I made an exception for it, I was still getting the alerts.
Click to expand...
 
M

Minions

Member
Malware alerts don't mean something you downloaded is inherently malicious. It just means whatever you downloaded uses the same kind of scripting/processes that malicious software often does. This is obviously going to be the case when you are injecting roms since the methods to inject them are likely going to be the same ones they would use to put software other places.
 
//ARCANUM

//ARCANUM

Member
Psykotik said:
you'll need to go into the filepath in the windows defender logs for the detected 'virus'. it should be something like C:/ProgramData/Microsoft/WindowsDefender etc etc etc (recalling at the top off my head)

enable hidden files first. then physically delete the file that is in the /scan/filestash folder if you followed the stated filepath correctly.

this will get rid of the constant alerts.
Click to expand...

Minions said:
Malware alerts don't mean something you downloaded is inherently malicious. It just means whatever you downloaded uses the same kind of scripting/processes that malicious software often does. This is obviously going to be the case when you are injecting roms since the methods to inject them are likely going to be the same ones they would use to put software other places.
Click to expand...

Ah gotcha! Thanks, much appreciates!
 
D

dock

Member
Has anyone tried Famicom Disk System games on this yet? Does it emulate loading times like the Famicom Mini?
 
A

AgeEighty

Member
I wonder how people feel now who were disappointed the NES Mini doesn't have online features. Now it's impossible for them to patch the exploit out of devices already in the open.
 
DCharlie

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
dock said:
Has anyone tried Famicom Disk System games on this yet? Does it emulate loading times like the Famicom Mini?
Click to expand...

Disk system games won't load via Hakchi2 - they're fds files, will only accept nes files
 
Z

ZeroCoin

Member
dock said:
And from a couch with gamepad ? And loading saves via thumbnails?
Click to expand...

Many of the raspberry pi images designed for retro gaming have hotkeys for resetting games, returning to the menu, and save state loading/saving/slot changes. I'm not sure any have thumbnails, so there's a slightly better usability case on an NES classic, but it's not like it takes long to load save states up to check on them.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
This is awesome, I dumped all my games ages ago, would be cool to play them in this, as the nes classic gui is great.

Do we know how roughly how many games it can take - allowing enough space for maximum snapshots per game?
 
Shadax the wizard

Shadax the wizard

Member
Does anyone know if Nintendo will be producing any more of these as they seem to be sold out?

Edit: Also can anyone comment if the Adventure of Lolo games, battletoads, battletoads & dd, blaster master and solstice works fine on the mini?
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
The one huge downside to this mod is it's going to make things even harder to get hold of them, scalpers are going to have a field day buying them all up and loading them with roms before turning them onto ebay for rip off prices. Well even more rip off than they are doing already.
 
D

dock

Member
ZeroCoin said:
Many of the raspberry pi images designed for retro gaming have hotkeys for resetting games, returning to the menu, and save state loading/saving/slot changes. I'm not sure any have thumbnails, so there's a slightly better usability case on an NES classic, but it's not like it takes long to load save states up to check on them.
Click to expand...
Even being able to save over an save state is annoying with slots, because you have no measure of the contents.

I'm also not convinced that the cost of a good USB controller plus Pi plus SD plus case is cheaper, not to mention the hassle of setting it up. My Pi turned out to be a waste of money because even prebuilt retroarch packages couldn't do simple things like mount/read USB sticks.
 
Z

ZeroCoin

Member
dock said:
Even being able to save over an save state is annoying with slots, because you have no measure of the contents.
Click to expand...

Actual question because I don't have one to test. Does the NES classic actually use save states, or does it eliminate the save state on load. I know Nintendo has used save states in that way before to prevent people from 'cheating' in the past.

Regardless, it's a minor point to quibble on. Some distributions even allow an automatic save on exit and reload on start. My point earlier was simply that you can easily control save states via the controller with a raspberry pi. I even conceded the fact that the NES classic had a cleaner system than what you'll find from a homebrew solution.

dock said:
I'm also not convinced that the cost of a good USB controller plus Pi plus SD plus case is cheaper, not to mention the hassle of setting it up. My Pi turned out to be a waste of money because even prebuilt retroarch packages couldn't do simple things like mount/read USB sticks.
Click to expand...

It's not cheaper for doing exactly what the NES classic does. A ready to go raspberry pi kit will run about 50 - 60 dollars, and then you will want a nice controller. Add another 30 for a good wireless 8bitdo, or 20 for a wired Buffalo controller. So yes, it's more expensive if you just intend to play 30-60 different NES games.

The actual savings come in when you branch out to different systems.

I'd boil it down to this... If the Nintendo asthetic is the top priority for you, the classic is the way to go. Little NES, authentic controller, charming UI. Great.

The minute you start to have issues with the limitations imposed by Nintendo with limited games list, controller cable length or even using cables at all, needing to mess with the console to stop games, not even touching adding other consoles, a raspberry pi system looks very attractive.
 
C

Cheetos is Pretty Awesome

Member
I decided to see if the NES port of Retro City Rampage would run on this thing, and well... lol

ZJtWCEf.jpg
Click to expand...
 
J

Joe Shlabotnik

Banned
ZeroCoin said:
Actual question because I don't have one to test. Does the NES classic actually use save states, or does it eliminate the save state on load. I know Nintendo has used save states in that way before to prevent people from 'cheating' in the past.
Click to expand...

Actual save states, four slots per game. When you hit reset the game is suspended and then you can save that suspended state to a slot. The save states are retained until you manually delete them.
 
JaseMath

JaseMath

Member
Alright, well, I think I'm going to give into the scalpers and take one off of CL for $125. I'm worried that if I don't, Nintendo will fix the exploit in future shipments.
 
TLZ

TLZ

Banned
JasonMCG said:
Alright, well, I think I'm going to give into the scalpers and take on off of CL for $125. I'm worried that if I don't, Nintendo will fix the exploit in future shipments.
Click to expand...

I don't think they'd care. This should actually help them sell the system even more. It's not like they're selling carts for the NES mini and losing money from this exploit.
 
oo7

oo7

Member
Up to 124 games total using the hachki 2 software. No issues.


Edit. Hmmmm c8 error when trying to launch a game. Uh oh
 
C

Chairhome

Member
I had to do this for my sister in law, too, so if anyone is curious as to how to do it for another console using the same computer, just make another hakchi2 directory and repeat the steps. Easiest way.
 
W

Whifflebat

Member
Hakchi2 tells me that "the system cannot find the specified file" when I try to upload the games and it attempts to flash the custom kernal. Anyone have any idea what's wrong?
 
N

nusilver

Member
samsveds said:
Does anyone know if Nintendo will be producing any more of these as they seem to be sold out?

Edit: Also can anyone comment if the Adventure of Lolo games, battletoads, battletoads & dd, blaster master and solstice works fine on the mini?
Click to expand...

It's been mentioned by several people just in the last couple of pages that Battletoads does not work correctly. It crashes on the second level. Blaster Master is fine.
 
Spukc

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
well i gave it a try

30 included games
archon
arkanoid
battle city
battletoads (seems bugged at level 2 according to thread)
bionic commando
blaster master
chip n dale recue rangers
contra
dragon warrior
dragon warrior 3
dragon warrior 4
dragoon x omega (hack)
duck tales
final fantasy 3 (translation hack)
joust
the legend of zelda outlands (hack)
little samson
Marble madness
megaman 1
megaman 3
megaman 4
megaman 5
megaman 6
megaman ultra (hack)
metal gear
ninja gaiden 3
rc pro am
river city ransom
smash tv
sonic the hedgehog improvement (hack)
spy hunter
tmnt the arcade game
tetris
track&field


64 games in total 0 errors

mario adventure (hack) did NOT work
 
Robin64

Robin64

Member
Reading this about Battletoads and the struggle emulator authors had:

The second level of Battletoads appears to be sensitive to NMI timing, sprite 0 hit detection and sprite overflow detection. If NMI timing or sprite 0 hit detection is slightly off, the stage can freeze. If the overflow detection is slightly off, then enemy hit detection can fail completely, making it impossible to advance (the player nor the enemies can get injured).
Click to expand...

So I guess the NES Classic Mini has that same problem.
 
S

Snookie

Member
Wow simple to do. I tried blaster master and i dont remember if that game had that much slowdown. Castlevania 3 works great. Wonder why they never included that to begin with. I was kinda meh on it because i wanted the ability to add games that I wanted and now I can. Now i'm happy with this.
 
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