PS3 Apollo save tool (development thread)

[depaul]

@Algol cool man. There is nothing wrong with playing games you love even at age 62. Wish you happiness my friend!

As devs said there are methods to get saves from PS2. You can use the tool uLaunchELF to export ps2 memory card saves to usb.

Back to the topic about Apollo save tool. It worked flawlessly with my games except Samurai Warriors 4 (US version). When I enable any cheat, I save and resign successfully. But when I start the game sadly it detects the save as corrupted. Please take a look. thank you and keep up the good work!

 

[Algol]

uLE can only mount it. And only without ECC.

On PS2 side, Memory Card images (for both PSX mc and PS2 MC) can be created by Memory Card Annihilator or FMCB/FHDB Installer of v1.9xx. @Algol On PC side, if You have PS3 Memory Card Adaptor only by Jimmikaelkael tool for writing FMCB (but also allow dumping). If one day someone write proper drivers, also IsoBuster will allow to do that since v4.7 (for now it supports only images but if this app would see device just like i.e HDD or ODD, then also will parse it, the same with Dreamcast memory cards).

PS2 emus on PS3, using images with ECC. Images without ECC are unsupported (as I remember, Apollo deal with both, right? @bucanero).

Bonjour @Berion.

C'est très gentil à toi ce conseil car il y a bien longtemps que je n'ai plus eu à utiliser le "Memory Card Annihilator" ni même l'installateur de "FMCB/FHDB" et encore moins le "IsoBuster". C'est avec plaisir que tu me rafraichis la mémoire. Je pensai que uLE était capable de faire une copie complète d'une MC mais non, il ne peut que copier les SAVEs une par une contenues dans une "Memory-Card" physique.
Je vais tenter l'essai via "MCA" en premier puis par l'installateur de "FMCB/FHCB".
Je possède tout de même le "CECHZM1" original de SONY ainsi qu'une interface compatible. Tous deux fonctionnent très bien. J'ai aussi fait de nombreuses installations gratuites (pour qui me le demandait) de FMCB via le CECHZM1 via Windows-XP-SP3 lancé en AutoBoot sur mon vieux MacMini.

Merci encore une fois @Berion, mon vieil ami de longues dates sur nos PS2.


In English via G-Trad :

Hello @Berion.

This advice is very kind to you because it's been a long time since I had to use the "Memory Card Annihilator" or even the "FMCB / FHDB" installer and even less the "IsoBuster". It is with pleasure that you refresh my memory. I thought uLE was able to make a full copy of an MC but no, it can only copy the SAVEs one by one contained in a physical "Memory-Card".
I will try the test via "MCA" first then by the installer of "FMCB / FHCB".
I still have the original "CECHZM1" from SONY and a compatible interface. Both work very well. I also did many free installations (for whoever asked me) of FMCB via CECHZM1 via Windows-XP-SP3 launched in AutoBoot on my old MacMini.

Thank you once again @Berion, my longtime old friend on our PS2s.

Algol "le papy".

 

[Algol]

to narrow down the issue, have you tried applying the "Max Money" cheat using Bruteforce Save data? if you could do the test, please let me know the results. If the patch worked with BSD, then is a bug in Apollo and I'll review how I'm handling this code.

thanks!

Me revoilà ...

J'ai testé le "cheat" par le BSD et il n'est pas fonctionnel. La SAVE modifiée n'est pas correcte. Lorsque j'ai lancé GT5, le jeu affiche seulement le Logo de GT5 et reste sur cette image indéfiniment. La sortie du jeu peut se faire par l'appuie sur la touche PS de la manette DS3. Seul le logiciel sur PC "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31" y parvient sans problème, il n'a aucun besoin de l'ERK ni d'aucun IDPS ou PSID pour faire les Hacks, implanter les "Cheats" sur la SAVE "BCES00569".

Pourriez-vous @bucanero vous inspirer de "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31" pour que le "cheat" disponible (voire TOUS les cheats) soit applicable via "Apollo SaveTool" ???

Je vous en remercie vivement par avance.


I'm back ...

I tested the "cheat" by BSD and it is not functional. The modified SAVE is not correct. When I launched GT5, the game only displays the GT5 Logo and stays on that image indefinitely. You can exit the game by pressing the PS button on the DS3 controller. Only the software on PC "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31" achieves this without problem, it does not need any ERK or any IDPS or PSID to make the Hacks, to implement the "Cheats" on the SAVE "BCES00569 ".

Could you @bucanero take inspiration from "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31" so that the available "cheat" (even ALL cheats) is applicable via "Apollo SaveTool" ???

I thank you very much in advance.


Algol "le papy".

 

[bucanero]

I tested the "cheat" by BSD and it is not functional. The modified SAVE is not correct. When I launched GT5, the game only displays the GT5 Logo and stays on that image indefinitely. You can exit the game by pressing the PS button on the DS3 controller. Only the software on PC "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31" achieves this without problem, it does not need any ERK or any IDPS or PSID to make the Hacks, to implement the "Cheats" on the SAVE "BCES00569 ".

Could you @bucanero take inspiration from "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31" so that the available "cheat" (even ALL cheats) is applicable via "Apollo SaveTool" ???

I thank you very much in advance.

thanks for the information... so it seems that either the GT5 Game genie code is wrong, or both BSD and Apollo are applying it in a wrong way.
@aldostools just by any chance, do you remember if the GT5 cheat had any issues in BSD?

I can't promise any fix, but I'll take a look on a GT5 savegame next time I have some free time (lots of things to do at work)

 

[aldostools]

thanks for the information... so it seems that either the GT5 Game genie code is wrong, or both BSD and Apollo are applying it in a wrong way.
@aldostools just by any chance, do you remember if the GT5 cheat had any issues in BSD?

I can't promise any fix, but I'll take a look on a GT5 savegame next time I have some free time (lots of things to do at work)

I don't recall any report about GT5.

To be honest I never used BSD myself. All the features and cheats were tested by Gingerbread, chaoszage and others.

 

[Algol]

OK, mais le "cheat" pour GT5 ne fonctionne pas, il détruit la SAVE alors que le logiciel "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31" fonctionne très bien. Il est capable d'implanter de très nombreux cheats en même temps sur la SAVE.

Pouvez-vous découvrir pourquoi le cheat pour le BSD ainsi que pour APOLLO ne fonctionne pas ???
Merci par avance.


OK, but the "cheat" for GT5 does not work, it destroys the SAVE while the "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31" software works fine. It is able to implement a large number of cheats at the same time on the SAVE.

Can you find out why the cheat for BSD as well as for APOLLO doesn't work ???
Thanks in advance.

 

[bucanero]

Can you find out why the cheat for BSD as well as for APOLLO doesn't work ???
Thanks in advance.

the game genie code for GT5 is:

[Max Money]
80010004 00000609
88000004 04000000
28000005 3B9AC9FF

I only see 1 suspicious thing, and it's that it has two search codes (8xxxxx) one after the other.
I think that maybe the second search needs to be starting from the previous search pointer...

 

[aldostools]

the game genie code for GT5 is:

[Max Money]
80010004 00000609
88000004 04000000
28000005 3B9AC9FF

I only see 1 suspicious thing, and it's that it has two search codes (8xxxxx) one after the other.
I think that maybe the second search needs to be starting from the previous search pointer...

Yes, it seems you're right.
80zzxxxx is an absolute search.
88zzxxxx is a relative search (pointer).

 

[Algol]

@aldostools, @bucanero.

Merci messieurs pour votre recherche.
D'après ce que je viens de lire, il faudrait peut-être éliminer une ligne de code ou simplement en inverser les deux première entre elles ???
Avez-vous trouvé une solution pour cette erreur SVP ???


Thank you gentlemen for your research.

From what I just read, maybe we should eliminate a line of code or simply reverse the first two between them ???
Did you find a solution for this error please ???

 

[aldostools]

@aldostools, @bucanero.

Merci messieurs pour votre recherche.
D'après ce que je viens de lire, il faudrait peut-être éliminer une ligne de code ou simplement en inverser les deux première entre elles ???
Avez-vous trouvé une solution pour cette erreur SVP ???


Thank you gentlemen for your research.

From what I just read, maybe we should eliminate a line of code or simply reverse the first two between them ???
Did you find a solution for this error please ???

The code in Apollo's script parser needs to be updated. It's based on BSD's script parser which doesn't support GG code 88*

 

[Algol]

Oui, mais il y a un autre souci, c'est qu'avec le BSD il est impossible d'avoir une SAVE qui fonctionne pour la BCES00563 (GT5 Save) alors qu'avec le logiciel sur PC "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31", cela fonctionne à merveille sur la même SAVE ...
Il faudrait s'inspirer du fonctionnement de ce logiciel pour voir où sont les hacks des "Cheats Codes" qu'il implante.

Yes, but there is another problem, it is that with the BSD it is impossible to have a SAVE which works for the BCES00563 (GT5 Save) while with the software on PC "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31", it works wonderfully on the same SAVE ...
It would be necessary to be inspired by the functioning of this software to see where are the hacks of the "Cheats Codes" that it implements.

TIA.

 

[bucanero]

Yes you need to register... you are missing 99.99% of the content.

hi @aldostools, regarding the BSD forum, perhaps you can help me out

a few days ago I registered on the forum, I've got an email that says the account needs to be activated by the admin, but since then I never got any "activation" or update, so I still can't access

I was wondering if you had any contact with the admins there, could you ping them and see if they can validate my account? maybe with a message from the BSD author they'll let me in

btw, I registered with username "siberianlord", and with my @yahoo.com.ar email address.

thanks for your help

 

[aldostools]

hi @aldostools, regarding the BSD forum, perhaps you can help me out

a few days ago I registered on the forum, I've got an email that says the account needs to be activated by the admin, but since then I never got any "activation" or update, so I still can't access

I was wondering if you had any contact with the admins there, could you ping them and see if they can validate my account? maybe with a message from the BSD author they'll let me in

btw, I registered with username "siberianlord", and with my @yahoo.com.ar email address.

thanks for your help

I sent a PM to @chaoszage via his forum

You can try to contact him via Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaoszage

 

[bucanero]

I sent a PM to @chaoszage via his forum

You can try to contact him via Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaoszage

thanks! let's see if he answers, or I'll try pinging on twitter

regarding the 2nd layer encryption and the specific tools in BSD, I was reversing the DmC Devil may cry tool, and again I found the same method used by Naughty Dog, and Need for speed.
So I assumed that 3 times couldn't be "coincidence", and did a bit of digging with Google, until I realized the encryption method was Blowfish (ECB). doh! it took me 3 reversings to realize it, but at least now I understand more about it... I guess developers pick Blowfish because is a block cypher not subject to patents (so its freely available)

Anyways, my idea now is to add some new "commands" to the BSD scripting, to support cyphers like AES and Blowfish in a generic way (similar to the crc hashes). For example, for Uncharted 3:

[Decrypt USR-DATA (Required)]
set [end]:read(EOF-3, 4)
set range:0x000008,[end]+7
DECRYPT blowfish_ecb("(SH[@2>r62%5+QKpy|g6")

that will decrypt the specified range using blowfish with key = (SH[@2>r62%5+QKpy|g6

since I'm already using polarSSL, I can probably add other algorithms like DES, just for future reference.

 

[aldostools]

thanks! let's see if he answers, or I'll try pinging on twitter

regarding the 2nd layer encryption and the specific tools in BSD, I was reversing the DmC Devil may cry tool, and again I found the same method used by Naughty Dog, and Need for speed.
So I assumed that 3 times couldn't be "coincidence", and did a bit of digging with Google, until I realized the encryption method was Blowfish (ECB). doh! it took me 3 reversings to realize it, but at least now I understand more about it... I guess developers pick Blowfish because is a block cypher not subject to patents (so its freely available)

Anyways, my idea now is to add some new "commands" to the BSD scripting, to support cyphers like AES and Blowfish in a generic way (similar to the crc hashes). For example, for Uncharted 3:

[Decrypt USR-DATA (Required)]
set [end]:read(EOF-3, 4)
set range:0x000008,[end]+7
DECRYPT blowfish_ecb("(SH[@2>r62%5+QKpy|g6")

that will decrypt the specified range using blowfish with key = (SH[@2>r62%5+QKpy|g6

since I'm already using polarSSL, I can probably add other algorithms like DES, just for future reference.

It sounds good! I think it would be convenient that the function also receive binary strings in non printable characters.

 

[bucanero]

It sounds good! I think it would be convenient that the function also receive binary strings in non printable characters.

yes, for sure it also has to accept hex binary, for example

ENCRYPT aes_ecb(0x010A0BFFDEADBEEF....etc)

btw, here's the PC build of my DmC decrypter: https://github.com/bucanero/dmc-ps3save-decrypter

 

[bucanero]

Yes, but there is another problem, it is that with the BSD it is impossible to have a SAVE which works for the BCES00563 (GT5 Save) while with the software on PC "GT5 Garage Editor v1.31", it works wonderfully on the same SAVE ...
It would be necessary to be inspired by the functioning of this software to see where are the hacks of the "Cheats Codes" that it implements.

TIA.

A user has uploaded today a GT5 save with 900+ cars and 20 million credits. The save is now available under the Apollo Online Database. I know it's not a cheat patch, but if you want to have lots of cars and credits, you can just download the file using Apollo and resign it.

 

[Kevstah2004]

A user has uploaded today a GT5 save with 900+ cars and 20 million credits. The save is now available under the Apollo Online Database. I know it's not a cheat patch, but if you want to have lots of cars and credits, you can just download the file using Apollo and resign it.

Sorry for the off-topic discussion, yes mods please move it to an appropriate thread.

My question still remains though, are you going to add the ability to mount all save types so you can browse their content / folders &
delete, copy, rename etc without using external tools? something akin to Irisman windowed setup?, mounted import save file on the left, mounted export save file on the right, so you don't have to import whole saves.

What's the difference between the normal & backup GT6 copy protected save?

 

[Algol]

A user has uploaded today a GT5 save with 900+ cars and 20 million credits. The save is now available under the Apollo Online Database. I know it's not a cheat patch, but if you want to have lots of cars and credits, you can just download the file using Apollo and resign it.

Bonjour @bucanero ,

Non, ce n'est pas ce qui m'intéresse. Je préfère faire avancer le jeu par moi-même. Mais, si cela me plait, alors j'utiliserai un "cheat" disponible dans APOLLO voire le BSD, l'utilisation de SAVE toutes faites n'est d'aucun intérêt à mes yeux. Je sais utiliser le logiciel "GT5 Garage Editor" mais il me faut passer par un PC pour cela, alors que votre "APOLLO" est plus pratique car installé sur la console et prêt à l'emploi immédiatement.

Avez-vous trouvé l'erreur du "cheat" pour la BCES00569 ou non ?


No, that's not what interests me. I prefer to move the game forward on my own. But, if I like it, then I will use a "cheat" available in APOLLO or even BSD, the use of ready-made SAVE is of no interest to me. I know how to use the "GT5 Garage Editor" software but I have to go through a PC for that, while your "APOLLO" is more practical because it is installed on the console and ready to use immediately.

Did you find the "cheat" error for the BCES00569 or not?

 

[bucanero]

My question still remains though, are you going to add the ability to mount all save types so you can browse their content / folders &
delete, copy, rename etc without using external tools? something akin to Irisman windowed setup?, mounted import save file on the left, mounted export save file on the right, so you don't have to import whole saves.

not for the moment, but maybe in the future.

What's the difference between the normal & backup GT6 copy protected save?

no idea, perhaps it's only a backup in case the original savegame becomes corrupt. (e.g. GT6 detects the save is corrupt, then tries to load the backup)

Bonjour @bucanero ,
Did you find the "cheat" error for the BCES00569 or not?

no, I didn't have time to check the GT5 code, but if you want to learn a bit about BSD patches and hex editors, there are a few tutorials I've saved on a wiki:
- https://github.com/bucanero/apollo-ps3/wiki/How-to-find-cheats-(BSD-Patch-Creator)
- https://github.com/bucanero/apollo-ps3/wiki/How-to-find-cheats-(Hex-Editor)