PS3 Archiving my library of PSN games

[zecoxao]

My understanding is I shouldn't be sharing these codes otherwise they can be used for spoofing and I would come to harm as a result.

I also don't know who you are. You've not helped me at any point through this little adventure of mine to get this far.


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Sorry about that, i can't be at all the places at the same time.

Allow me to explain.

Rifs, as well as act.dat, contain an ecdsa signature, comprising itself of R and S pairs

Sony might have screwed up with rifs and act.dat and might have reused same R across some rifs and across some act.dat

I am, together with a friend, collecting pairs, where the R is reused (aka the same) so that if there is a flaw, we can use it to sign our own licenses on ps3 (and possibly psp and psvita too as well)

As for helping you out, your best solution is to make a backup of the hdd using HDD Raw Copy Tool and to dump the root key using either rebug toolbox if you're on rebug or evilnat's cfw toolset if you're on evilnat cfw

 

[Berion]

I'd take the HDD out of the PS3 and put it into my caddy and read off it directly, but it's encrypted isn't it? I now have the EID Root Key, but i don't know what to do with it....?

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/tutorial-hdd-mounting-and-decryption-on-linux.23308/

My understanding is I shouldn't be sharing these codes otherwise they can be used for spoofing and I would come to harm as a result.

You shouldn't share IDPS and NAND/NOR dump (those contains IDPS). This key identifying all Sony consoles in SEN network. IDPS cannot be bruteforced currently, so also *.rif/*.edat/*.mln licenses cannot reveal it.

Zecoxao is one of our big heads. ^^

 

[Rissy]

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/tutorial-hdd-mounting-and-decryption-on-linux.23308/

Thanks for this. I guess i'll have to use PS3 HDD Reader instead. I'm not good with Linux. But then I see i'll be able to READ from HDD #1, but I guess i'll have to populate HDD #2 with this information using a USB HDD (If I cannot use FTP) because I wont be able to WRITE it to HDD #2. This will still take a long time!

You shouldn't share IDPS and NAND/NOR dump (those contains IDPS). This key identifying all Sony consoles in SEN network. IDPS cannot be bruteforced currently, so also *.rif/*.edat/*.mln licenses cannot reveal it.

Zecoxao is one of our big heads. ^^

I'm not happy to hand out sensitive information which could land my own hardware and my own PSN account into jeopardy. Sorry.

 

[GuilloteTesla]

By the time I'm done, I'm hoping all evidence of this console ever having CFW on it will be expunged. Can anyone tell me if this will be the case, or are there ALWAYS going to be some sort of trace elements left on the console chipset advising Sony it's been hacked at some point even if not at that time?

I've already told you, nobody knows for sure what sort of information Sony keeps on its devices, but they indeed gather a lot of the user's doings: FW version installed, dates of installation, FW version history, etc. Installing CFW will leave traces regardless of replacing the HDD or whatever other actions you think of (Sony is not THAT stupid, at least not in this field).

So, once again, don't be paranoid. If you really, really want to be pure, safe, clean, then go 100% with Sony's rules and their now non-existing support for the PS3 (which means you are totally screwed because Sony won't move a finger for the PS3 nor its users).

The only time they may have been able to tell anything is when I used PS3ToolSet to flash the chipset. As soon as that got done (even before rebooting), the internet was disconnected and it's been disconnected since.

To be ultra careful, I'll have no intention to ever login to my cherished account using that console, but I can test it with my disposable one instead.

Doesn't matter. Nobody knows if the PS3 web browser sends any kind of data on the background while browsing (most browsers do, so...).

I just hope nothing comes from continuing to use my clean consoles with my cherished account.

What could happen if you are not doing anything shaddy, like running pirated games or playing online with cheats and mods?.

I don't know what HDD tool of Berion's you're discussing. I have the EID Root Key and IDPS already. I hope I've got everything I need intact, as for me, this was a one shot deal. I'm not doing this again. So I hope I've got it right, and continue to do so until complete.

Berion posted lots of explanations, links to the tutorial and tools, multiple times over this thread (and in many others), always telling you that the best way to backup this is by decrypting the HDD and copy the data directly:

• May 14, 2024
• May 19, 2024
• May 20, 2024
• May 21, 2024
• May 23, 2024
• May 24, 2024

Trust the devs here, they have the knowledge and are here to help, not harm.

 

[Charles_n_town]

I've gone through with it, and I hope I'm being careful. My I ntention now is to keep my internet connection completely separate from this console while it's on CFW. My ongoing intention will be to take it back to OFW again, then completely remove the HDD and replace it with a brand new larger one which has never been used, then rebuild the console on that instead. By the time I'm done, I'm hoping all evidence of this console ever having CFW on it will be expunged. Can anyone tell me if this will be the case, or are there ALWAYS going to be some sort of trace elements left on the console chipset advising Sony it's been hacked at some point even if not at that time?

The only time they may have been able to tell anything is when I used PS3ToolSet to flash the chipset. As soon as that got done (even before rebooting), the internet was disconnected and it's been disconnected since.

To be ultra careful, I'll have no intention to ever login to my cherished account using that console, but I can test it with my disposable one instead.

I just hope nothing comes from continuing to use my clean consoles with my cherished account.

If I get banned, my cherished account trashed, and my consoles taken out, then that's the end of my PlayStation career. No point buying any more consoles, or games. I'll spend my money on motorbikes instead.


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This is the bit I don't know about. I'm not bothered about backing up the HDD. I just want the data off it for transfer to my dedicated CFW machine.

I don't know what HDD tool of Berion's you're discussing. I have the EID Root Key and IDPS already. I hope I've got everything I need intact, as for me, this was a one shot deal. I'm not doing this again. So I hope I've got it right, and continue to do so until complete.


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I understand what you mean about not supporting sony anymore. I know someone who spent about $5,000 on psn content, then got banned for having cfw. I don't know how he got banned though. I got banned myself, and I don't know how. I lost all content on all systems, in a way, because I could no longer log into psn. it sucked, but it's a good deterrent...unless you pirate, which I don't believe in anyway.
My understanding is I shouldn't be sharing these codes otherwise they can be used for spoofing and I would come to harm as a result.

I also don't know who you are. You've not helped me at any point through this little adventure of mine to get this far.

 

[Rissy]

I've already told you, nobody knows for sure what sort of information Sony keeps on its devices, but they indeed gather a lot of the user's doings: FW version installed, dates of installation, FW version history, etc. Installing CFW will leave traces regardless of replacing the HDD or whatever other actions you think of (Sony is not THAT stupid, at least not in this field).

So, once again, don't be paranoid. If you really, really want to be pure, safe, clean, then go 100% with Sony's rules and their now non-existing support for the PS3 (which means you are totally screwed because Sony won't move a finger for the PS3 nor its users).

Doesn't matter. Nobody knows if the PS3 web browser sends any kind of data on the background while browsing (most browsers do, so...).

What could happen if you are not doing anything shaddy, like running pirated games or playing online with cheats and mods?.

Berion posted lots of explanations, links to the tutorial and tools, multiple times over this thread (and in many others), always telling you that the best way to backup this is by decrypting the HDD and copy the data directly:

• May 14, 2024
• May 19, 2024
• May 20, 2024
• May 21, 2024
• May 23, 2024
• May 24, 2024

Trust the devs here, they have the knowledge and are here to help, not harm.

I take what you're saying, and I understand. I'm just nervous. Therefore I'm trying to think of everything I can to protect myself. I think i'll just pack this console away when I'm done with this rather than risk putting it anywhere near the internet again. Not expose myself any more than I've had to so far with it, just to back up my paid for content. So that's now two Slim consoles I'm owning which I wont go online with. I can handle that. As long as my OFW consoles and PSN account remain good and not banned through any fleeting occurrence of evidence given to Sony of me converting two consoles to CFW just for the use of backing up purposes.

I'm sorry if I'm annoying you, it's not my intention. I'm doing my best, but i'm up against:

• Limited time available to me to continue from where i last left off, sometimes with a good amount of time between sessions meaning I can forget
• Limited knowledge of the subject matter, so not always sure of the correct order of doing things, or what's most relevant to pay attention to at each stage of what i'm doing
• Explanations in sometimes questionable broken English (which is hard enough not even compounded by it being about in-depth technical detail on a subject I don't have a good understanding about), but i don't complain too much about as people's English is far better than my Polish (as an example)
• Acronyms I don't know the meaning of
• Tools and documents being discussed but with me having prior knowledge of, or where to find them, or what they do.
• Words in peoples messages turning out to be links which i don't always find obvious, so sometimes miss.

I could go on, but i think you may get my point.

I can only apologise. Berion has been a super star, and i'm very grateful for his help. He's patient and willing to help me. I wish more people could be. The way I see it, i'm sure there will be other noobs following up from behind me, so all this is good information, not only for me, but for others in the future too.
If I had my way, I'd have one of you sit with me and go through it with me at every stage, but that's not going to happen, so this is the best alternative besides someone doing a full video throughout all of this or having a fully prepared instruction manual instead of scattered information all over a very large forum where you don't even know what you're looking for, never mind the key search words required to start looking most of the time.

 

[GuilloteTesla]

I'm sorry if I'm annoying you, it's not my intention.

You are not annoying me, rest assured . You just need to relax a little bit and not overthink it too much. By what you've said in your other posts, you are on the clean side, never playing online with a hacked device nor tampering with piracy on PSN. Sony is not worried about you, at all.

I'm doing my best

It's alright, we've all been there and you are doing pretty good!. Baby steps, one at a time, always doing the shortest, easiest way. And when in doubt, ask the questions needed.

I can only apologise.

No need to. Just follow his guidance and work over it. You will avoid lots of frustrating steps and results while learning new stuff (trust me, I've been there too and learned it the hard way by destroying one PS3 in the process).

So, back on track!.

 

[Charles_n_town]

I noticed I made a mistake with the posting, so it's been corrected. in addition, I meant to say that even though I got banned, I didn't have much psn content at the time, so I kept supporting sony afterwards. I have about as many ***PlayStation Store*** as retail with the ps3-5. I don't mess with the ps vita. I hope for the best with your account.

 

[zecoxao]

If sharing the idps and the act.dat is not ok for you, please at least share the rifs, otherwise this opportunity will be lost forever

 

[Rissy]

I noticed I made a mistake with the posting, so it's been corrected. in addition, I meant to say that even though I got banned, I didn't have much psn content at the time, so I kept supporting sony afterwards. I have about as many ***PlayStation Store*** as retail with the ps3-5. I don't mess with the ps vita. I hope for the best with your account.

So did you take your hacked console online? Did you access particular content or do anything in games to suggest a reason for your ban?

I have a console hacker at work. He says that if you remove the CMOS battery for a minute or so before you return it to OFW, and you do two OFW flashes to the console, so today would be the OFW 4.90 followed by OFW 4.91, that completely removes any trace of anything Sony can see to suggest any CFW otherwise. Apparently Sony can see not only the most recent firmware version identity, they can also see the version identity before that too. Killing the CMOS also blanks cache memory on the motherboard which would otherwise be saved for sending "home" on next internet or PSN connection login.

That's what he says anyway.


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If sharing the idps and the act.dat is not ok for you, please at least share the rifs, otherwise this opportunity will be lost forever

What are rifs?

I'm still using my content on my OFW full time machine. I don't want to risk being blocked from my own content for whatever reason.


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[zecoxao]

rifs are licenses which are tied to the idps and to the act.dat. without those two, they're useless and sony cannot trace the rif by itself, only if accompanied by the other two. the act.dat is the account data and the idps is the console unique identifier.

here's the example of rifs:

usually located at /dev_hdd0/home/<username id>/exdata

easily ftp'd, just remember to not include the act.dat as well.

 

[Berion]

Thanks for this. I guess i'll have to use PS3 HDD Reader instead. I'm not good with Linux.

Guide was made for people which seeing Linux first time in their life. Just turn off FastBoot in Windows (important only if You want use partition mounted as "C:\" in Windows to place for backuped data). Then download latest Linux Mint with Cinnamon and write it to USB by Rufus (choose image, for UEFI mode or for BIOS/UEFI mode). Then boot computer from that USB and now You will have fully working Linux (live session works fully from RAM, You don't need installing it on HDD/SSD).

Using PS3 HDD Reader, You will be alone with that, due it is fully CLI app and I didn't used it for long time (so I don't remember syntax).

But then I see i'll be able to READ from HDD #1, but I guess i'll have to populate HDD #2 with this information using a USB HDD (If I cannot use FTP) because I wont be able to WRITE it to HDD #2. This will still take a long time!

There is no safe way to write into PS3 HDD. Safest is on Linux but... with decrypted yet unmounted UserData partition, exposed this mapper as device and passed to e.g QEmu, backup dir exposed as device to QEmu, run VM with NetBSD 6.0 and on it mount that virtual devices to copy stuff. That's needs some knowledge about Linux, BSD and virtualisation. Definitely not for new comers, more like for dev ops.

Another way is using Linux alone, with custom compiled ufs.ko with write flags, then loading it on demand. This is not super safe.

And last way is easiest but super unsafe. Also Linux but using FuseUFS2+BE and mount decrypted UserData partition by it. App was never finished and breaking UFS2 if You try send to much data at once. So not recommended method.

No other methods exists.

 

[Charles_n_town]

So did you take your hacked console online? Did you access particular content or do anything in games to suggest a reason for your ban?

I have a console hacker at work. He says that if you remove the CMOS battery for a minute or so before you return it to OFW, and you do two OFW flashes to the console, so today would be the OFW 4.90 followed by OFW 4.91, that completely removes any trace of anything Sony can see to suggest any CFW otherwise. Apparently Sony can see not only the most recent firmware version identity, they can also see the version identity before that too. Killing the CMOS also blanks cache memory on the motherboard which would otherwise be saved for sending "home" on next internet or PSN connection login.

That's what he says anyway.


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What are rifs?

I'm still using my content on my OFW full time machine. I don't want to risk being blocked from my own content for whatever reason.


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Yeah, I took it online, but I wasn't gaming online. I didn't have much invested into the system though. If I had, I'd probably no longer support Sony. Now that I've invested a lot of time and money to my psn account, I will definitely not take any chances. If you don't mind this observation, I'd suggest you don't put your account on a cfw machine. You sound like you have a lot invested.

 

[Rissy]

Yeah, I took it online, but I wasn't gaming online. I didn't have much invested into the system though. If I had, I'd probably no longer support Sony. Now that I've invested a lot of time and money to my psn account, I will definitely not take any chances. If you don't mind this observation, I'd suggest you don't put your account on a cfw machine. You sound like you have a lot invested.

Well it's too late now. It was an OFW machine when I put it there, but it's now a CFW machine where I have no intention on putting it back on PSN unless it's completely scrubbed clean and returned to OFW. I have another console to use with my account, so I have no need to put this one or my full time CFW machine back online. The other reason I even logged on to it was to collect my PS Store purchases. Once that job was done, it was logged off straight away again, and that was all done using OFW. It's not been online (or especially PSN) since flashing the memory to allow the CFW to take hold. Once rebooted, it was already unplugged from the internet. So I've been as quick and precise as I can be. Only time will tell now.


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Guide was made for people which seeing Linux first time in their life. Just turn off FastBoot in Windows (important only if You want use partition mounted as "C:\" in Windows to place for backuped data). Then download latest Linux Mint with Cinnamon and write it to USB by Rufus (choose image, for UEFI mode or for BIOS/UEFI mode). Then boot computer from that USB and now You will have fully working Linux (live session works fully from RAM, You don't need installing it on HDD/SSD).

Using PS3 HDD Reader, You will be alone with that, due it is fully CLI app and I didn't used it for long time (so I don't remember syntax).

There is no safe way to write into PS3 HDD. Safest is on Linux but... with decrypted yet unmounted UserData partition, exposed this mapper as device and passed to e.g QEmu, backup dir exposed as device to QEmu, run VM with NetBSD 6.0 and on it mount that virtual devices to copy stuff. That's needs some knowledge about Linux, BSD and virtualisation. Definitely not for new comers, more like for dev ops.

Another way is using Linux alone, with custom compiled ufs.ko with write flags, then loading it on demand. This is not super safe.

And last way is easiest but super unsafe. Also Linux but using FuseUFS2+BE and mount decrypted UserData partition by it. App was never finished and breaking UFS2 if You try send to much data at once. So not recommended method.

No other methods exists.

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't understand very much of any of that. I'll take a look at the Linux solution too then.

I've been having another go at FTP from the console to my laptop using FileZilla. I've found that if you keep the maximum file transfer speed to about 2500Kbps, that it's a lot more stable than allowing it limitless speed. Also, I've found that some files just do not want to be transferred and even just by trying, this sometimes breaks the transfer connection. I've found that if you switch off FTP from the XMB, and then switch it back on again, this sometimes fixes the disconnection, allowing you to continue. Sometimes though, this still doesn't work, so you have no choice but to reboot the console again. It's definitely time consuming, but i'm making a dent in progress despite this. This seems to be the easiest way for me, so I think i'l persevere with this method right now.

As for files which don't want to transfer, i've found that files without extensions mostly don't work, but sometimes do. I still cannot figure out why some transfer but others don't, but a regular guilty file name is "ICON_FILE" (no extension, but is clearly an image, and you can add a ".png" extension on to those which DO transfer ok on to a laptop, and then you can also remove the extension again, seemingly without altering the file. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get access to this files on the PS3 (over FTP) for adding extensions there, to see if this allows them to transfer more successfully from the console. I think I may have to try transferring these via USB instead.

Right now, I'm transferring the following path: dev_hdd0\vsh. This will take a while at the rate I can go. My intention will be to transfer this content into the same folder on my main CFW console. I still don't really understand what I need and what I don't, so i'm using the sledgehammer approach, which I know will take me a while, but then I'll have no doubt (hopefully) that I've successfully transferred what I need to do to complete the task at hand.

#FURTHER UPDATE (30-MAY-2024)
Flying now! I've got a system in place, and I'm successfully transferring files over to my laptop using FTP. Not as slow as I suspected previously. I'm hoping I may be done the extraction process tonight, and then comes the downloading on to console #2 part of the process. If you understand what's going on with FileZilla and the PS3, it's not so bad once you apply a bit of patience to the process.

I can confirm that for definite, all packages are stored in the dev_hdd0\vsh folder, not anywhere else. I'll be planning to put these all in the same folder on console #2 where I can then try unpacking them, which I suspect will then result in them appearing in the dev_hdd0\game folder. This situation is different from what people were advising, so I think perhaps some people need a memory refresh for this detail (I guess I'm providing this refresh information here already) For the items that downloaded and unpacked immediately, these are already located in the dev_hdd0\game folder.
For the problematic extensionless "ICON_FILE" files which wouldn't transfer using FTP, I can confirm that you can copy these to USB directly on the console itself, no problems. This means you can then reunite them to their respected folders on the laptop backup.

Ultimately feeling quite happy right now. I just hope this continues on the download trajectory, and then the unpack process, and then ultimately, the testing of the games process too...

 

[Rissy]

01 June 2024: New update again.

I've now completed backing up all my console #1 PSN content on to my laptop. Before moving over to console #2 (to start copying over from my laptop to it), I decided to install a couple of the packages on console #1, just to try them out. To remind; this is the console where I downloaded them to, from PSN, while it was OFW and I was logged in with my PSN account to be able to collect my PSN content from the PS Store. I then converted it to CFW and have kept it offline (entirely) since then.

I installed a game from the package (unpacked it), and this seemed to work just fine. But then when I went to actually try to play it, I was faced with this error: An error occurred during the start operation. (80010007)
So basically, the game wont load up. What's going on here?

Further update. The problem stretches even further. A game which was already installed on console #1, and worked fine before converting it to CFW, now no longer works!? I've not done anything with that game, or that account.

I'm starting to feel that this has all been a bit of a waste of time, and that i've risked my PSN account with Sony, for nothing, and i've not even moved anything on to console #2 yet!

Can anyone give me any ideas?

Before I disconnected console #1 from PSN, I deactivated the console, thinking I could reactivate it from within Cobra options later on. Is that where i've gone wrong? (See this is what I'm talking about. No instructions for any of this ANYWHERE, and then I get criticised for asking questions, and asking for advice to give me clarity of the process order of what to do)

If i've cocked this up, then that's it. I'm sticking with OFW. I'll not be risking my PSN account for this again, it's not worth it.

 

[GuilloteTesla]

Before I disconnected console #1 from PSN, I deactivated the console, thinking I could reactivate it from within Cobra options later on. Is that where i've gone wrong?

There was no need to deactivate your console. Now, all your RIF licence files are invalid and downloaded games will not work until a new act.dat is created in order to generate proper RIF licences from the RAP files.

(See this is what I'm talking about. No instructions for any of this ANYWHERE, and then I get criticised for asking questions, and asking for advice to give me clarity of the process order of what to do)

Many, many times you've been told to just make a backup using Berion's tools and guides, and in no post nor comment there was the slightest mention to deactivate the console. But you chose to do it your way. There is no step-by-step guide of everything, even less on uncommon, specific and convoluted things like what you've wanted to do.

I've already told you, it's OK to not know and we are here to help. What it's not OK is to throw a problem and expect the community to give a full, detailed, step-by-step, foolproof guide on how to solve it.

The PS3 is already one of the most complex systems out there. You can't simply step into the scene expecting everything to be "a walk in the park" without some basic knowledge and the will to do some personal research using Google or here on the forums.

 

[Rissy]

There was no need to deactivate your console. Now, all your RIF licence files are invalid and downloaded games will not work until a new act.dat is created in order to generate proper RIF licences from the RAP files.

I thought I could reactivate the console using Cobra!?

What is the point in that option then? What does it actually do if not activate your console and assign a new act.dat for everything to use?! This is what isn't written down anywhere. A step by step guide would do absolute wonders for people like me.

I deactivated my console because I've already used up my "deactivate all" this year. I'd have to wait 6 months before I could do that again.

So is everything I've done and got, a waste of time?

Or do I just need to make that console OFW (again), put it online, and download EVERYTHING (again), and then make it CFW (again), and then drag just the new act.dat and game RIFS off, or do I need all three parts? The games, the act.dat AND the RIFS?


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[GuilloteTesla]

I thought I could reactivate the console using Cobra!?

No. What Cobra does is generate the RIF licence file using the RAP file of the game (the licence template) and the act.dat (the activation file binded to your console and your PSN account).

Once you have the RIF license, the game will run perfectly as long as you don't deactivate your console nor delete the act.dat.

What is the point in that option then? What does it actually do if not activate your console and assign a new act.dat for everything to use?!

The PSN activation process is Sony's way to prevent piracy by sharing purchased games to other people. Years ago, some people figured out that you could share the legally purchased games from many PSN accounts between many PS3 consoles. This lead to reselling tons of games via the sharing system. That's why Sony lowered the limit of maximum activated consoles per PSN account from 5 to 2, and it is mandatory to activate your console in order to run your PSN purchases.

Activating a console will generate the proper act.dat file, but that doesn't mean that it will regenerate the licences (RAP files can't be created from RIF licences).

The CFW option to create a fake act.dat file is just that, a fake file that can be used to generate RIF licences as long as you have the proper RAP files.

This is what isn't written down anywhere. A step by step guide would do absolute wonders for people like me.

It is written only not in one single place, step by step, because it would take ages to make a tutorial of everything. You have tons of information on Sony's official website, here on the forums, on the PS3 dev wiki, other scene sites and forums, YouTube, even on Reddit. Just Google the terms and you'll get their definition.

I deactivated my console because I've already used up my "deactivate all" this year. I'd have to wait 6 months before I could do that again.

No need to do that ever again, unless you want to sell or replace one of your consoles from your PSN account.

So is everything I've done and got, a waste of time?

Or do I just need to make that console OFW (again), put it online, and download EVERYTHING (again), and then make it CFW (again), and then drag just the new act.dat and game RIFS off, or do I need all three parts? The games, the act.dat AND the RIFS?

First things first. Try to activate your console in order for PSN to generate a new act.dat file. Best case scenario, it will be exactly the same as before because your PSID will still be the same (your console is the same, your PSN account is the same).

Once done, try running a digital game.

If unsuccessful, install CFW and redownload everything from PSN.

 

[Charles_n_town]

Iirc, "delete purchase" deletes rif files, but it's per game. I think it's a debug setting, so it requires cfw, possibly hen. It's under triangle when hovering over your game.

 

[Rissy]

First things first. Try to activate your console in order for PSN to generate a new act.dat file. Best case scenario, it will be exactly the same as before because your PSID will still be the same (your console is the same, your PSN account is the same).

Once done, try running a digital game.

If unsuccessful, install CFW and redownload everything from PSN.

The first thing i did when I changed the console to CFW was go to Cobra, and activate it under my account. I only did this to my own account. There was another account on the console with a game which worked before making the console CFW. I didn't activate that once I made it CFW as it was already active under OFW and it was never deactivated with PSN.

As we know now, nothing works under my account now.

Now I wanted to try the other account. I went to the other account which was left active and also had an installed game already, and when i went to load up that game, a message appeared on the screen saying:

"To access this content, you must activate this system." blah blah blah (80029514)

So even this account, which wasn't deactivated, is now inactive as a result of making the console CFW....!?

I've looked through all the content from the console, now on my laptop. I took two stages of backup a few days ago, and i cannot remember what i did inbetween these. From one backup of only my /dev_hdd0/home/00000005 folder, I have an act.dat file, and I also have a bunch of .rap files. When i look at the same location on the console now, as well as in my second stage backup on my laptop, instead of .rap files, these are all .rif files. act.dat is still there, but now i'm losing my memory on whether this is generated under Cobra or not. When i deactivated my console, I'm presuming that this would have deleted the act.dat file, so this one I see, is presumably the one generated by Cobra?!??!?

Unfortunately, I only did a two stage backup of my own account, not the other account which wasn't deactivated, so I have no .rap files for that one, only .rif files, and the original act.dat file. Is that one game under that account now lost without the .rap file?

What do i do with the .rap files I do have here. Do i FTP them back on to the console to replace the .rif files, or put them in beside the .rif files? I can try that with the accompanying act.dat file from my first stage backup (replacing the act.dat file on the console). I reckon that's my best hope for anything working.

I'm not doing anything until I completely understand what exactly I should be doing, in the correct order. If I still have a chance of all my time not being wasted up to now, at least for 90% of the content, then I don't want to balls it up!