Hacking "What is a legit cia?" (and other noob CIA questions ANSWERED)

PityOnU

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
1,183
Trophies
1
XP
1,617
Country
United States
Old, and late, but no, this is not a thing, especially since not all CDN downloaders used the exact same templates for their tickets, so hashes can differ even if the contents and tmd are valid.

If you need to verify updates and dlc, use the CIA checker in GM9. As long as tmd is legit and the checks pass you're good.

Note that (standard) dumps made through GM9, while they work fine on console, they are not valid for archival purposes, because they are decrypted and no longer match original eShop contents. You can get all updates and dlc via ctrcdnfetch instead (in the case of dlc though, the CIA will likely fail to build if all the DLC is not yet available.)

Either that, or if you've bought the DLC or installed the updates yourself, you can make a (legit) dump through GM9, and zero out the console ID from the ticket. GM9 (legit) dumps retain all encryption, but you can't install a CIA which has a non-zero console ID in the ticket, so you have to zero it out (unless Luma updated at some point to patch out those checks.) This makes the ticket illegit, but it's the best you can realistically get if you want your dumps to be actually useable.


Okay, this is all great information. Thank you very much!

Assuming I have some time and some data processing background, would it make sense for me to go through and get all the DLC/updates using the method below

Either that, or if you've bought the DLC or installed the updates yourself, you can make a (legit) dump through GM9, and zero out the console ID from the ticket. GM9 (legit) dumps retain all encryption, but you can't install a CIA which has a non-zero console ID in the ticket, so you have to zero it out (unless Luma updated at some point to patch out those checks.) This makes the ticket illegit, but it's the best you can realistically get if you want your dumps to be actually useable.

Generate hashes, and contribute to the existing datfiles? Seems having a dump using the method above would be identical across the board with maintained data integrity for everything other than the console ID.

I'm not an expert with any of these files formats, though (.3ds or .cia), so maybe this is somewhat naive.
 
D

Deleted-236924

Guest
Generate hashes, and contribute to the existing datfiles? Seems having a dump using the method above would be identical across the board with maintained data integrity for everything other than the console ID.

I'm not an expert with any of these files formats, though (.3ds or .cia), so maybe this is somewhat naive.

CIA is not really the format to be used for this kind of thing, outside of universal legit CIAs. Valid tickets are different for everyone, and fake tickets are never guaranteed to be identical (not that fake tickets are worth archiving, anyway.)

The proper way to archive eShop content, is to keep raw CDN contents by themselves, then you can document hashes for tmd and contents. This is what no-intro does, and if you have valid tickets, you can retrieve those via ctrcdnfetch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cearp

RookieKid

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2017
Messages
114
Trophies
0
Age
37
XP
249
Country
Is it safe to install the software update for all cia-games? Sometimes when I install a new cia-file, it says that a software update is available.
 

Halbour

Love yourself
Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2021
Messages
252
Trophies
1
XP
1,115
Country
Israel
Is it safe to install the software update for all cia-games? Sometimes when I install a new cia-file, it says that a software update is available.
It is- if it will work. most installed CIA's won't be able to recieve CDN Updates. You're safe to try!
 

Dragons

Well-Known Member
Newcomer
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Messages
66
Trophies
0
Age
42
Location
Chicago
XP
145
Country
United States
If I download 3ds rom from site try converting it to cia will only work if buy game from eshop ?

I download 3ds rom from sites try convert it with gmode9 I fail message every time
 

CoolMe

"Action-packed movie" star
Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2019
Messages
7,568
Trophies
1
Age
29
XP
34,106
Country
United States
If I download 3ds rom from site try converting it to cia will only work if buy game from eshop ?
You meant to say :"..will only work if you've bought the game from the eShop"? If that's what you what meant to ask then, no.
I download 3ds rom from sites try convert it with gmode9 I fail message every time
Fyi, you can just install them directly with GM9 without the need of converting them to .cia format.
 

Dragons

Well-Known Member
Newcomer
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Messages
66
Trophies
0
Age
42
Location
Chicago
XP
145
Country
United States
Are you converting a .3ds or a .cia file when you do that?
Yeah I am least I’m trying to put Roms in gm9 in folder doesn’t convert them I’m still looking at different videos try to do it
You meant to say :"..will only work if you've bought the game from the eShop"? If that's what you what meant to ask then, no.

Fyi, you can just install them directly with GM9 without the need of converting them to .cia format.
That was my first attempt didn’t work I may try this trick where I need downgrade 3ds to play 3ds yes I have decrypted some games still don’t work , I have some cia games put in proper folder still don’t work
 

lone_wolf323

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
May 27, 2011
Messages
5,503
Trophies
2
XP
4,962
Country
Canada
Yeah I am least I’m trying to put Roms in gm9 in folder doesn’t convert them I’m still looking at different videos try to do it

That was my first attempt didn’t work I may try this trick where I need downgrade 3ds to play 3ds yes I have decrypted some games still don’t work , I have some cia games put in proper folder still don’t work

eh?. Whats your end result trying to be? installing a .cia to a 3ds or using roms for citra emulator?
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    dualbooth
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @Xdqwerty, Yeah, I'd recommend having another OS just in-case you want to play games.
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    At least Linux doesn't contain spyware than what Windows has.
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @SylverReZ, cuz of lag?
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @Xdqwerty, No. Whenever you use the internet on Windows, Microsoft collects personal data and installs bloatware that isn't necessarily needed, such as Edge.
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    Speaking of which
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @SylverReZ,
    I recall @impeeza mentioned some trick about not having bloatware when installing windows where you set up your country to "world" or smh like that
    +1
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    Yes, you can debloat the operating system, but in some cases for me it just reinstalls them.
    +1
  • Xdqwerty @ Xdqwerty:
    @SylverReZ,
    I also recall my brother downloded a "non bloated" version of windows 11 on his pc
    +1
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    "Why debloat? Why not embrace and enjoy my bloat?" - Gates
    +3
  • impeeza @ impeeza:
    @Xdqwerty yes, when you are installing Windows on the first steps you are asked for your current location, you MUST to select «international» so no bloatware is installed, because the bloatware is location based. if this night I have some time I will setup a VM and take screenshots.
    +2
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    User Gates "Disliked" your answer.
    +3
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Damn cleaned up 348GB's of crap I wasn't using with that lol
    +2
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    But can it completely remove RealPlayer? Lol jk
    +2
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    I remember at one point it being pretty much labeled as malware lol
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    I think my favorite one was that dancing purple gorilla... I uninstalled that thing from sooo many machine people would be like "Why is my computer so slow?" lol because this thing is using like 30% of your system resources.....
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    This one lady... her son kept installing Kazaa... OK no problem the issue is he would download DBZ movies and they where amazing usually like 2-8KB in size lol can't remember how many times I had to format and reinstall windows over his stupidity. I even explained to him about file sizes multiple times...
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    yeah Bonzi buddy was malware sort of... It was borderline lol
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    At minimum it was nothing anyone should have ever installed lol
    +1
    Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo: At minimum it was nothing anyone should have ever installed lol +1