PSO: I was able to enter serial numbers twice on the same console

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Elliander
lithium
Posts: 40

PSO: I was able to enter serial numbers twice on the same console

Post#1 » Wed Jan 19, 2022 5:07 pm

I noticed something interesting today: After playing PSO V.2 (Region NTSC-U) I loaded the Ives modified disc image of PSO (Region: Free) for loading into Sylverant which shows up as V.1 in the GDEMU menu, but is actually V.2. When I started the game up it asked me to enter my serial number again. Confused, I shut down the console and loaded up the vanilla disc image which didn't ask me for the serial number meaning it's still saved to the console OK. I then went back into the modified disc image, entered my serial information a second time, and had no problem loading my character up. Although it did ask me if I wanted to convert to V.2 even though it was already on V.2. (this was a little scary, so I backed up first.) I was also curious about if it would relock an unlocked file, so I went ahead and disabled the copy lock on the save file first.

After loading up the game I saved and exited, then I loaded up the unmodified game. It did not ask me for the serial number, but neither did it let me load the save. "This file cannot be used to play the game." so even though both discs are V.2 it definately required conversion and you can't go back on it (without having a backup, of course). That means I won't be able to use overclock with my GDROM unless I burn the modified disc image. The save file was locked again though, so I went ahead and unlocked it again to see if it was locked by the conversion or just through normal saves. Unfortunately, once the file is saved over it's relocked so I won't be able to use the normal system menu and a second VMU for quicker backups.

It occurred to me that there must be a reason why this modified disc image would not be able to read the serial number and access key already stored, so for one reason or another the game thinks of it as a separate game. If that's the case, however, might there be a simple technique for making small modifications to disc images so as to allow more than one person to be able to share a console for playing PSO each with their own serial number?

Not that I personally care about that. I plan on having a different console for each person in my house. Regardless, I find this potentially useful since I have an old character with a Serial Number I can't access. I imagine that if I could create a new disc image for the sole purpose of using a different access code it might be possible to take it online in the future. It's also useful for people who don't want to wipe the memory of the console when they can't find the code that's stored on it and also potentially useful in situations where you have more than one, don't know which one to use, and don't want to risk all that much. A limitation though is that once the files are converted they won't be able to play on an OEM disc anymore which makes this idea extra risky.

Possible Use Case: Suppose someone started playing with a shared access key, but wants to start playing on their own key. If they can connect to a private server with the shared key and backup their character then connect with a new character on a registered access key maybe the server would be able to change the new character to match the old one, excluding story and bank contents, allowing a system of access key migrations to occur. While I imagine that should already be possible with multiple consoles, having the ability to store multiple access codes on the same console would make the process easier, or so I imagine.

I wonder what exactly makes this work though.

PacketShepard
noob
Posts: 3

Re: PSO: I was able to enter serial numbers twice on the same console

Post#2 » Fri Dec 01, 2023 12:01 am

Regardless, I find this potentially useful since I have an old character with a Serial Number I can't access. I imagine that if I could create a new disc image for the sole purpose of using a different access code it might be possible to take it online in the future. It's also useful for people who don't want to wipe the memory of the console when they can't find the code that's stored on it and also potentially useful in situations where you have more than one, don't know which one to use, and don't want to risk all that much. A limitation though is that once the files are converted they won't be able to play on an OEM disc anymore which makes this idea extra risky.


Hi Elliander,

I know this is an old thread I'm necroing, but a tool has appeared recently that can manipulate saves to bruteforce serial numbers, decrypt, recover lost serial and access keys, and finally re-encrypt with new serial numbers and access keys. I can help you recover your old save and SNAK in about 15 minutes if you need help. This goes for anyone else that's stuck, just PM me and we'll link up on discord.

https://github.com/p1pkin/psotool

On the dual serial keys, I'm in a similar situation as you; I have 5 Dreamcasts that I collected through bargain bin sells overs 20 years and 2 were swapped around with friends and family to play PSO -- including motherboards in some cases to solve freezes and overheats. Somewhere along the way with many dc flash resets, my main console ended up with my cousin's US PSOv2 serial and my imported PAL PSOv2 serial (no hunter's license on PAL. Back in the day, this let me play on schthack's server with just a BBA and simple DNS A record changes on my local DNS server). This caused one of my characters to load up correctly using my PAL serial and inadvertently save using my cousin's serial without my knowledge. Moving the VMU to other consoles with just my PAL serial then resulted in "press a to reload character" at the select screen.

I have since dumped the flash from the only console that still works with this save AND my other PAL VMU saves. The hex memory addresses (wxHexEditor) where I was able to find the serials in reverse-byte order (little endian?) are below. While it's interesting that this is possible and Aleron's PSOv2 discs (and US PSOv2) will recognize both serials and load characters, it appears that the saved serial is chosen randomly, causing the save and guild card to migrate without warning.

Console: NTSC-U VA1 (Made in China)

PAL PSOv2 Serial Offsets
0x114906
0x122778
0x122970

US PSOv2 Serial Offsets
0x122974

Based on what I've learned from decrypting saves, they are encrypted with the serial number only. The access key is stored inside the encrypted save and used when going online. This means that the access key was never stored in DC flash, just the serial number that gains the game access to the save contents in memory.

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