Console Hacking 2016 (33c3)

What people said

s1gsegv · 2024-04 · Recommendation

This is a good watch, it goes into detail on the architecture of the PS4 showing how it differs from a standard x86_64 “PC.” [VIDEO] The “too long; didn’t watch” summary is that there’s several peripherals, timers, RTC, etc outside of the processor that software will expect to be present (or at least emulated) with specific interfaces. You can implement x86_64 without a lot of this, or redone in a more modern style, but software such as a Linux kernel will have to be patched for it. Typically a modern laptop will have all the legacy peripherals emulated, and the modern peripherals will live alongside them.

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lathiat · 2021-11 · Recommendation

The key is on the console (not server side). Historically either they made some silly choices or there was a hardware bug or glitch that let you read out the key that the processor has to be able to access to decrypt the firmware. Search YouTube for fail0verflow and there are some great CCC talks very approachable and understandable about how it was done on other consoles historically. PS4: [VIDEO] Wii U: [LINK]

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izacus · 2017-03 · Recommendation

While the CPU is indeed x86-64, the architecture of the SoC and the device is rather different so emulation still won't be all that easy. This 33c3 talk gives a lot of fascinating information on how PS4 differs from your run-of-the-mill PC and what kind of issues they hit when trying to run Linux on it: [VIDEO]

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