Hackers Unlock NES Classic, Upload New Games Via USB Cable (arstechnica.com)

Just because Nintendo doesn't officially let their tiny replica NES receive new games doesn't mean hackers won't find a way to add their own. This week, hackers in Japan and Russia figured out soft-mod solutions to adding new games to the NES Classic, meaning you don't need to grab a screwdriver or a soldering iron to mod your own console. Ars Technica reports: According to the whiz kids at Reddit's NESClassicMods community, the solution won't work until you've created a save file in Super Mario Bros' first slot. (Chances are, you've already done this just by playing the game, since creating game saves is so easy with this system.) Once you've done that, connect your NES Classic Edition to a computer via a micro-USB cable, then boot the NES in "FEL" mode. This is done by holding down the system's reset button while pushing down the power button from a powered-off state. While you're booting, you should also run a "sunxi-FEL" interface on your computer. (An open-source version of compatible "USBBoot" software can be found here.) The rest of the steps land firmly in "operate at your own risk" territory, as they require copying your NES Classic's internal data to your computer, then modifying and adding files via an application made by hackers. Doing so, by the way, includes the dubious step of supplying your own ROM files, which you may have either dumped from your own cartridges or downloaded from other Internet users. One tool linked from that Reddit community, however, comes with two open-source NES ROMs that are in the legal free-and-clear to upload to your hardware. Once you've added your own game files, which should also include custom JPGs that will appear in the NES Classic's "box art" GUI, you'll have to repack the hardware's kernel, then fully flash the hardware yourself. Do all of those steps correctly, and you'll see every single game you've added appear in the slick, default interface.

Comments

Re: Nice

[meta-monkey]

Or just build a RetroPie and you don't have to worry about this. Rasberry Pi + 2 USB game pads + RetroPie boot ROM + torrent of 6000+ ROMs that you can load as you please over WiFi and you've got every NES game, every SNES game, every Genesis game, every TurboGrafix 16 game, every atari game, every N64 game, etc. Cost about $80. My four year old and I have been having a blast playing TMNT IV, Bubble Bobble, Golden Axe, etc.

Re:Hackers?

[meerling]

Actually Crackers break through security (mostly into other computers, but also anything that thinks it's protected)
Hackers write code. Anyone writing code without having previously written a flow chart and and the entire algorithm before actually putting it into the whatever development platform they're using, is hacking. It is not breaking into other computers, that is cracking.
You know, like a safe cracker. I'm sure you've heard of that from the pre-computer days. I'm also sure you've heard of writers being called hacks in the pre-computer days as well. If you haven't heard that, just stream some classic movies.

Re: Nice

[meta-monkey]

I think they're these: https://www.amazon.com/Gtron-R...

They feel fine and work great. But the cords are only 4ft long so I got USB extension cords. If you want to play N64 games there are also pads with the analog stick, etc, but I haven't bothered with that. My goal was to play simple games with my kid because vidya games these days on the Xbox One and such are way too complicated.