Nintendo DSi update (256 MB internal flash+it’s now hacked)

November 7th, 2008

The Nintendo DSi is out in Japan, and except for what was already known, here’s the latest news:
1) It has a 256 MB internal flash storage. It was known before that it has internal memory, but not how much. This memory is presumably meant for storing items purchased in the new Nintendo shop.
2) Nintendo has upped the security when it comes to running homebrew. Homebrew on the original DS/DSLite was shamelessly easy to do by using the many existing flash cards available on the market. Here’s a video of someone trying practically every flash/pass card on the market, and all fail. So far it is unknown whether these devices have been blacklisted or if there’s a whitelist of all existing games in the firmware. This will probably be discovered later. There are two different ways the cards are failing a) by producing an error message (So far only available in Japanese. Is there a translation of this message?) b) and more curiously, some cards don’t appear at all in the menu (As if there’s no card in the slot)


3) A small update is that the DSi has support for WPA encryption for WiFi. WPA works only for new DSi games, though.
4) The biggest news is that just 3 days after the release, Japanese hacker Yasu has managed to run unsigned code on the DSi. There has been some speculation which method he has used. He’s not telling, but hes saying that it is the method that everybody was atalking about. The consensus on the scene seems to be that it is a buffer overflow TIFF exploit. The TIFF image format seems to be a goldmine for buffer overflow attacks. There are already TIFF exploits for the iPhone/iPod Touch and PSP, and just recently a TIFF exploit for the PS3 was found.
I have another idea. What if he used a savestate exploit for an old DS game… Since old DS games will still boot normally, that should be a fully possible way, given that you manage to find a savestate exploit in the first place, of course. Even if that’s not what he was using, I think people should be looking for them. I think savestate epxloits have been widely overlooked because of the availability of flash cards. However, a rumour (although unconfirmed) tells me that classic DS games running on a DSi will run in a restricted environment.
Anyway, here’s Yasu’s video of his exploit.

Follow the discussion on the GBATemp forum

Gakken SX-150 DIY synthesizer now for sale internationally!

November 7th, 2008


SX-150 button mod from Collin Cunningham on Vimeo.

Remember the this? Gakken SX-150 is a DYI synth that came with the Japanese magazine Otona no Kagaku. Guess they noticed the international demand. It’s now for sale on from MakerShed.

Cheers γGoblin for notifying me!

Amazing spray painter

November 6th, 2008


Super Sprayer on metacafe

Amazing technique. I saw a painter using similar techniques in Greece once, but sadly I didn’t buy a piece from him. :(

New vinyls: Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir and Quarta330 - Sunset Dub

November 4th, 2008

Covers

Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir
Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir

Quarta330 - Sunset Dub / Kode9 - Samurai (Quarta 330 Remix)
Quarta330 - Sunset Dub / Kode9 - Samurai (Quarta 330 Remix)

Info

Cat#: WARP161LP
Side A: Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir.
Star Time 2, The Coathanger, Open Society, A Real Woman, Delta-V, Aqueduct, Potential Govaner
Side B: Planet Gear, Tensor In Green, The Glass Road, Fluxgate, Duotone Moonbeam, Quadrature, Yes Sequitur

Buy from Warpmart

Cat#: HDB007 (Hyperdub)
Artist: Quarta330
Side A: Sunset Dub
Side AA: Kode9 - 9 Samurai (Quarta 330 Remix)

Buy from Warpmart

Comments

Despite my quite cynical and widely misunderstood (Boohoo) review of this album, I knew from the start I just needed to get it on wax. And as promised in that post, I did. :) Sunset Dub is Gameboy dub by the Japanese virtuoso Quarta330. This one was actually cut so deep and loud that I almost didn’t need speakers, hehe.

Electronic components (Pictures)

November 2nd, 2008

Before my local shop electronic components, Labb Elektronik, (RIP) shut down, they gave away free bags with random stuff. These pictures are the result of sorting the components in these bags. Most of it is pretty useless for what I want to do, apart from building tube circuitry, where the capacitors and high wattage resistors might be useful. But some of the things are pure eye candy!

Each picture has a title attribute - hover an image to see a tooltip, or click it to go to its flickr page.

I fixed my headphones with these orange wires Old school high wattage resistors

Plastic capacitors Capacitors

Electrolytic capacitors IC chips

Mystery Gameboy MIDI videos…

November 1st, 2008

Rumours say that these videos may have something to do with an upcoming Gameboy MIDI project of mine. Rumours also say that these rumours might in fact be true! Until more news arrives, check out Arduinoboy.

(The videos are silent)


Glitching a Gameboy from Gameboy Genius on Vimeo.


Gameboy hex numbers (Read the description!) from Gameboy Genius on Vimeo.