Talk:Softmod

There is also what is essentially a softmod for the Wii

There is also what is essentially a softmod for the Wii. It exist within the game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Much like other savegame exploits it was found that Twilight Princess could be fooled into running executable code. Perhaps that should be mentioned.--Monsuco (talk) 04:17, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Just a couple of quick things

Just a couple of quick things - I wasn't sure about how much to write on the history of xbox mods. I could have given more, but I think I gave an overview of everything, without it overspilling into what would otherwise have become vast tracts of information. The other thing is I'm not sure whether to add a section on the gamecube - my knowledge on it is less thorough, but somehow it seems to me this article has effectively been a bit hijacked. Any suggestions? --Wrayal

ps2 softmod?

there is also a ps2 softmod, as referenced on the modchip page. If more information could be gathered on that it would make this entry more useful

hmm i dont know but does anyone know if you can get your xbox unbanned from live?

Dappled Sage 05:45, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Suggestion - split and disambiguate

Hello, Wiki

I think this should be split-up as soft-modding includes a lot more than what can be sensibly fit on one page..

Just a thought..

I agree - there's too much, and it's not really getting added, as I certainly am reluctant to make this article yet more ramshackle. Any other comments? 83.104.63.171 (talk) 20:18, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

MRE64 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.167.191.132 (talk • contribs) 23:11, 24 Jul 2007 (UTC)

I disagree with splitting the article, each example is still a clear case of software-modified hardware. Also, this term is a neologism, being a new and specialized term in a narrow field of study/work. I vote for cleanup over division. -- mordel (talk) 14:29, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Strong Disagree -- per StephenWeber's comments. This article isn't ready for disambig. I'm removing the tag. --Teancum (talk) 13:21, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Following link return an error 403 (forbidden)

• Softmod Depot

JeanLucCoulon (talk) 08:43, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

"Wikipedia is not an instruction manual"?

per Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not. This page is very much like an instruction manual. 2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:A532:215B:D9B1:D570 (talk) 16:56, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

Can you elaborate on which sections you are applying this to? Just to point out that I've written the majority of PS3/PS4/PS5/Nintendo Switch sections that have brief overviews on how the softmods are performed; let's assume you're a user wanting to succeed in the softmods, you'd still need additional external resources (i.e. linked to an exploit host that injects malicious HTML/JS in the console's web browser) to be able to accomplish the softmods. So assuming if you meant for those sections, I disagree on the basis that if you strictly adhered to what is there right now, it's incomplete and you wouldn't be able to, therefore calling them 'instructions' is inaccurate and is there to give some technical insight in regards to how they work from a security/software perspective. – Ozankk 23:30, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, I am not sure my concern with this page is that it is an instruction manual. I would say, however, that it is little more than a softmod list. It could be improved by a general section up front talking about what softmods are, why people might use them, the legal situation etc., all sourced to one or more secondary sources. As it stands, we are not really telling the reader what a softmod is, even though they could glean it, perhaps, if they read their way through the whole page. When it comes to softmods on specific devices, you might want to consider what the inclusion criteria are. Why these devices and no others? Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 07:35, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

Good points, I've added two new sections - Function and Legality. As for those specific devices - they're ones I personally own and as a result I'm confident writing about them due to first hand experience. – Ozankk 23:01, 1 September 2024 (UTC)

Switch softmod section - MigSwitch

The Switch softmod section is a bit of a mess, but the Mig Switch section is particularly not great. I tried fixing it a bit, but it needs clarification and additional citations. There's also the question of if it belongs here to begin with, which considering it doesn't enable Homebrew, I don't think it does. However, this is also seemingly the only place on Wikipedia that even mentions it, and I believe it's notable enough to warrant being on Wikipedia. If the Mig Switch stays in this article, a Switch 2 section containing it might be warranted, considering Nintendo's actions towards the cartridge on that console. DeadPixelPro (talk) 18:46, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

AFAIK, a softmod becomes a modchip if the internals are tampered with (like soldering).

Flash carts in general (not just Mig Switch) have a degree of programming that allow for arbitrary code execution. So for this reason to me, it's still a softmod. The Xbox 360 can be softmodded with a USB key, and a flash cart isn't really much different in the sense the internals are untouched and an external device is connected. Yes it may not allow for homebrew but some security has still been defeated to allow the game "backup" to run.

I do personally think a Switch 2 section should be created to mention that the Mig Switch works for Switch 1 games. 2A02:C7C:C034:4A00:BD56:72C4:1AE1:25FE (talk) 19:18, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

I've added a Switch 2 section about the Mig Switch (now known as Mig Flash). Also, anon above was me. – Ozankk 21:41, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

I'm aware of certain flash carts for other consoles allowing unsigned code (such as the R4 cart), but as far as I'm aware, the Mig Switch can only run game backups. I believe it makes total sense that the DS section, for example, mentions flash carts, but I personally don't think the Mig Switch should be here until it's proven to run unsigned code. Otherwise, I feel that "softmodding" would be a bit too broad. This is entirely my opinion though. DeadPixelPro (talk) 02:56, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

If you took a blank cart with the same pin layout that could connect to Switch 1/2 (or any console for that matter) it simply won't work on its own without some kind of programming on the cart's flash. Taken from the Flash cartridge article: A flash cartridge (also known as a flashcart) is a homebrew video game cartridge that uses flash memory for storage as well as running applications. Of course, we can't run homebrew applications which makes it less obvious. The point I'm trying to make is, some trickery has been done by the flash cart authors to get the console to recognize the cart as playable. That is the unsigned code. Sure, it's not a full-blown system exploit that has reached kernel or hypervisor level, but it's still some degree of code nevertheless. – Ozankk 12:13, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

3DS softmod section

While, I'm here, the 3DS softmod section directly named an active 3DS piracy site. I don't think that's allowed to be on Wikipedia. If you think otherwise, the change can be reverted. Anyways, the section needs some major work overall. There's only two sources cited (one of which is rather loosely connected), and needs some grammar-checking. DeadPixelPro (talk) 03:16, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, the piracy promoting stuff is lame. As far as I'm concerned it can be removed. Nintendo are notoriously brutal cracking down with piracy, we'd be here all day writing essays if we were to document all the instances of them cracking down lol. – Ozankk 12:15, 19 June 2025 (UTC)