Changing Region on HAN/HEN via xRegistry.sys
- Thread starter Peppe90
- Start date
There is absolutely nothing that HAN could do but HEN could not!
The Debug Settings can be toggled by swapping a number of cex system files with dex system files. This could actually be done with a file manager in HEN..
Keep in mind however that there is no dex firmware available for 4.85 & 4.86.
In theory HEN can do it all, but afaik there are no working HEN payloads for CEX/DEX hybrids even on 4.84. I think Joonie said there was some bug when exiting games or something like that so he never bothered with it, especially since CEX QA debug settings can be enabled easily.
If there is such a bug exiting games, changing regions is unlikely to be something done everyday on a regular basis & iirc it's is a permanent setting (correct me if I am wrong), if so, I could think of 2 ways HEN users might do it (Use at your own risk).
1. Set up the Debug menu by swapping the various files via any backup manager, rebooting, changing the region settings, swapping all the files again & rebooting.
In theory, that should work fine.
2. The Debug menu installer/swapper for 4.84 is available on github, for those who don't want to copy the files manually. With this tool, the same operations described in 1. can be done entirely without HEN. Users can enable HEN once the region has been modified, the original files restored & the console rebooted.
Users wishing to try the 1st method can find the files to swap (both debug files & originals) in the Debug menu installer repo on github.
The Debug menu installer was never technically a HAN tool either btw, it's 100% unrelated to HAN in fact, we just released that file swapping tool based on the archaic rop triggerer we had at the time. It would have existed with or without HAN.
Like I said, overall, there is nothing that HAN can do & HEN cannot do. From there, it's only a matter of making things happen & fixing possible bugs along the way.
Thing is also, 4.84 is 2 versions behind the current version so it may not be so much of a priority.
1. Set up the Debug menu by swapping the various files via any backup manager, rebooting, changing the region settings, swapping all the files again & rebooting.
In theory, that should work fine.
2. The Debug menu installer/swapper for 4.84 is available on github, for those who don't want to copy the files manually. With this tool, the same operations described in 1. can be done entirely without HEN. Users can enable HEN once the region has been modified, the original files restored & the console rebooted.
Users wishing to try the 1st method can find the files to swap (both debug files & originals) in the Debug menu installer repo on github.
The Debug menu installer was never technically a HAN tool either btw, it's 100% unrelated to HAN in fact, we just released that file swapping tool based on the archaic rop triggerer we had at the time. It would have existed with or without HAN.
Like I said, overall, there is nothing that HAN can do & HEN cannot do. From there, it's only a matter of making things happen & fixing possible bugs along the way.
Thing is also, 4.84 is 2 versions behind the current version so it may not be so much of a priority.
So it is possible for my 4.86 Ps3 (Ultra-slim) to revert back the region??
I'd really like a easy method to change Ps3 region.
I'm never been interested in modding the Ps3, but I needed to change region from Europe to North America (my Ps3 is connected to a CRT Tv with a SCART-RGB cable. So changing the region is the only way to play games at their correct 60Hz refresh rate), I installed HAN back then just for this reason.
All is fine (aside 2 games out of 54 that couldn't work), youtube, Netflix, Prime ,correctly work.
However I can't play PSN-Ps1 games (they give me the output mode error). It'd be perfect if there was a easy way to switch region.
I'd really like a easy method to change Ps3 region.
I'm never been interested in modding the Ps3, but I needed to change region from Europe to North America (my Ps3 is connected to a CRT Tv with a SCART-RGB cable. So changing the region is the only way to play games at their correct 60Hz refresh rate), I installed HAN back then just for this reason.
All is fine (aside 2 games out of 54 that couldn't work), youtube, Netflix, Prime ,correctly work.
However I can't play PSN-Ps1 games (they give me the output mode error). It'd be perfect if there was a easy way to switch region.
Not with current tools/files, there are no available 4.86 dex files to do the files swap with.
The 4.84 dex files (sprx/rco/xml) might all be usable in 4.86 cex but the dat & txt files might need some tweaking & I dunno about the 4.84 dex vsh, someone would need to test this stuff. If ever 4.84 dex vsh crashes the system, a HEN patch might suffice to get it to work.
In theory one might reverse the sysconf_plugin.sprx code (and whatever other file it may rely on in userland) to see exactly what changes are made & how they are made when using the ps3 region change feature then (if it's possible & I think it should be, this dex feature doesn't require a DEX kernel to work so everything should be doable at userland level) implement an equivalent either in the HEN payload at kernel level or at userland level in the HEN plugin or in homebrews like the xai_plugin or backups managers.
Maybe this stuff has already been reversed by someone, I never really checked.
Last edited:
I would imagine you could use an xRegistry editor tool (or maybe even a hex editor) to change the PS3's region, and this would probably be the best method because you could FTP the file back to the PS3 regardless of whether you were running HEN or CFW. Although, I'm not entirely sure what variable the console's region is saved into, it's been a while since I've looked at xRegistry.sys but IIRC it has quite a few settings related to console region. I guess you could swap between regions using the QA settings menu and compare the xRegistry files to ascertain that.
If it's only a Xregistry setting then it's a piece of cake. Changing region could be implemented in homebrew with minimal effort ie just one vsh export call..
Changing the xRegistry settings was the first thing I tried (editing the video output, console region and maybe another string too), but it worked only for a few games. It's all in this thread: https://www.psx-place.com/threads/xregistry-editing.23466/page-2
Changing region from the debug menu seems to be a different thing.
@Imn7 lol, it was actually you that helped me that time, so you know that editing xRegistry is a different thing.
Even changing region from debug menu wasn't enough for a few games (I needed to edit their Param.sfo).
Anyway I would gladly try to edit again the xRegistry since it could be enough for making Pal-Ps1-Psn games to work.
The Ps3 region will remain North America, so I'd need to change the video output to PAL in the registry for playing Ps1 games and revert it back for Ps3 games (It's possible that I won't even need to do so. Maybe being the actual region North America, Ps3 games will keep outputting in NTSC even with PAL video output as they used to do when things were the opposite. But unfortunately it seems to depends on games...).
I remember I helped you, but the settings I told you to change in xRegistry.sys were nothing more than an assumption on my part. I can't think of any other file that the console's region setting would be saved in, and I know for sure that some other settings from the QA menu are saved in the xRegistry so it's the most likely candidate IMO.
Louis Garry
Member
I have tried vsh.self from 4.84 DEX applied to 4.84 CEX HEN, the bug occurs when "quits game", kicking us into recovery mode.
Louis Garry
Member
Louis Garry
Member
@aldostools @bguerville , I see in wMM it can map_path wm_proxy to idle_plugin, and on main.c paylod HEN, map_path hfw_settings.xml, my question is, is it possible to map_path vsh.self?
I can patch vsh.self from 4.84 DEX to work on CFW 4.86 CEX, of course it can't be replaced vsh OFW (HEN) due to unsign self.
I can patch vsh.self from 4.84 DEX to work on CFW 4.86 CEX, of course it can't be replaced vsh OFW (HEN) due to unsign self.
wMM allows to map any native path to another without restriction.
However mapping system files on /dev_flash could freeze the system, depending of the files used.
IIRC vsh.self is one of them, but I don't remember exactly due I tested that years ago.
You could try yourself using /remap.ps3<path>&to=<redirection-path>
Ultimately someone would need to find out what changes are made to the system when changing region.
If it's a mixture of TargetID + Xregistry, it's easily reproduced & there should be no need to swap files with dex versions.
In fact, ideally one day, someone would need to reverse all those Debug menu settings once & for all, especially those usable with a cex kernel.
Maybe @mysis has already done that?
The Debug settings that require a dex kernel are more complicated to reproduce on a cex kernel, that would require adding equivalent code in a kernel payload & make that stuff callable from userland.
If it's a mixture of TargetID + Xregistry, it's easily reproduced & there should be no need to swap files with dex versions.
In fact, ideally one day, someone would need to reverse all those Debug menu settings once & for all, especially those usable with a cex kernel.
Maybe @mysis has already done that?
The Debug settings that require a dex kernel are more complicated to reproduce on a cex kernel, that would require adding equivalent code in a kernel payload & make that stuff callable from userland.
Then I think I'll install HEN (maybe a dual boot installation, since I use the Ps3 for online playing sometimes).
I'm a 100% noob about Ps3 hombrew scene. What I should actually do for using this sysconf_plugin?? I have to make it a pkg and install it as a app??
I hope soon or later it'd be possible to have something like this on Ps3 (all models) for easilly changing region (If the video starts from the beginning skip to 1:05):
The dex sysconf_plugin.sprx would be useless to you unless you wrote custom code to use it because this sprx is not the only file you need to display & use the Debug menu on XMB.
If your console cannot run a CFW & your current firmware version is > 4.84, I don't think you can change the PS3 region, at least not with available tools.
To use the DEX files you need to be on 4.84 max because vsh.self is included in the revoke list so afaik DEX vsh 4.84 cannot be loaded by the 4.86 kernel & if your console is not CFW compatible, you cannot downgrade back to 4.84.
Like I said earlier, in theory, it should be possible to change the PS3 region without the DEX files swap but someone needs to reverse engineer that process so that we can make identical changes ourselves.
I never investigated that feature so I cannot tell you what those changes are.
If ps3 region changing is a permanent setting, those changes must be applied in regions that don't get overwritten by a firmware installation or system restore, which narrows the possibilities a little. I assume that the changes must be done in one or two of the following storage regions:
1. xregistry (/dev_flash2)
2. flash memory outside of ros regions
3. syscon
Those storage regions are the most likely candidates. We know that the TargetID is most likely changed (that is stored in Flash memory) & we also have know that the Xregistry contains certain region related settings but all this requires further investigations & testing.
Last edited:
Again, anything can be implemented, that's not the issue, the problem here resides in the research required to write the implementation.
The implementation is the "easy part" really, researching takes time & usually specific skills too. Very few people research the PS3 OS nowadays & region changing is but a detail in the vast amount of research still to be done.
Last edited:
Similar threads
-
PS3 Seeking Evilnat’s "DVD/BD Region Free" PKG or any alternative fix
- Started by Raj
- Replies: 0
-
-
PS3HEN GameData Reverse sorting after installing latest HEN
- Started by sakran
- Replies: 2
-
PS3 NA A01 ps3 Frankie with CFW anyway to play pal ps1 and ps2 discs?
- Started by HGKnap
- Replies: 0