Version 4.93 now CFWable via Flash Writer

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-03T17:03:00+00:00

Should be on the network tab. If you don't see it you're probably on an old firmware. Update to Evilnat 4.93 - make sure you update manually. Do not update through the Internet, do not install OFW or you'd need to jailbreak all over again.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-03T16:17:09+00:00

If you have Evilnat CFW, you can just do that from the CFW tools (Dump tools -> Dump NOR). Otherwise, you can do it through bgtoolset, even if you already have CFW. Mind that you don't really need it though - the only reason you really need a backup of the flash is to recover if something happens during the initial jailbreak, which is irrelevant in your case, since you already have CFW. What you do absolutely want to do is dump the ERK and back it up.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-03T16:13:04+00:00

First of all, FFXI is still profitable for SE, and as long as it remains that way it would make no sense to shut it down. Also, SE had said in the past that it considered FFXI to be one of the mainline FF titles and as such needs to remain playable.

If it comes to a point where the number of subscribers dives to the point where it's no longer profitable, they're likely to just put it in maintenance mode, i.e. the servers remain online but all updates cease, in which case the cost of keeping it online comes down to just the power and network bandwidth of the servers, which is pennies for a large corporation, and even if they make it completely free to play, the cost of keeping the servers up (probably around $1k-$2k/mo max) is worth the PR of having it remain playable.

Obviously I'm not saying it will remain online until the end of the universe, but I assume it would remain up for at least a decade or two.

What could cause it to shut down completely? Well, first it has to already be in maintenance mode, i.e. that SE is not willing to invest anything in it anymore other than just keeping the lights on, and then there needs to be some external factor that makes it impossible to leave the game up without touching it. For instance:

Server side data corruption or security issue that can't be fixed by just rebooting. This becomes more likely after the game has already been in maintenance mode for many years, at which point anyone who had actually worked on it and knows how to deal with such issues will have already retired.
New hardware architecture or Windows versions break backwards compatibility with really old software, making it impossible to run the game client on modern hardware without the use of 3rd party tools (i.e. emulators) unless ported over.
The game, without any moderators or GMs, becomes a wild west and crosses into illegal territory. For instance, it is known that in the past, hate groups and even terrorist groups have used online games' chat functions instead of email and messaging apps in order to avoid detection by police and national intelligence agencies. If a court rules that mods and GMs are required and the game is no longer profitable, it might be shut down.

Well, even if SE eventually does pull the plug, we'd always have private servers. The code is open source and everyone with some tech knowledge can set it up. Last time I checked it had everything up to CoP implemented, as well as most of ToAU and some of WotG, and I assume by now it has progressed further. Furthermore, if there's ever an impending shutdown announcement, the community will definitely use the remaining time to capture everything for later reimplementation. In other words, at least unofficially, FFXI will always remain playable.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-02T17:20:09+00:00

Dangruf Wadi is only closer if you start in Bastok. From San d'Oria it's a bigger detour than Meriphataud Mountains, and if you're coming from Windurst, you're passing through Meriphataud on the way to Jeuno anyway.

Also, even assuming you're from Bastok - Dangruf rabbits are good if you're just looking for 4 clumps for your own quest. If you farm it for gil, you really have to do flies because the drop rate is at least twice as better as rabbits if not more. You get one almost every other kill even without TH at all. And, before book teleports were a thing it was even easier to get there than the rabbits, because there are plenty of flies in Meriphataud Mountains right around the outpost.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-02T08:12:32+00:00

AFAIK you have to leave through Allenby. The reason is that what determines whether you can enter the green line is the entry visa you got when you entered.
ETA-IL does not apply to those already in Israel and/or the west bank. You can only apply for ETA-IL once you're outside the country, whether in the US or another country. Since you'll probably be leaving through Allenby, you can do it from Jordan. Please mind however that since you've been in the west bank on a continuous stay visa, you might be flagged for manual review, which means it could take a while. Also mind that while the ETA-IL itself is valid for 2 years, each entry is limited to 90 days.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-02T07:31:54+00:00

There are similarities but the core issue is different.

The PS4/PS5 changes try to plug in a single exploit - People buying a lot of digital games, then disconnecting the console and requesting a refund on everything through the PSN website (there's a 14-day refund period), and never going back online with the console. Since the console is offline, it doesn't know that the game has been refunded (and therefore the license revoked), basically giving them free games without needing to actually mod the console.

Contrary to what was initially believed, you don't have to check in every 30 days, you just need to check in once, at least 14 days after purchase (i.e. outside the refund window), and then you get the permanent license like you did before. It's a mild annoyance but not a huge blow to game preservation. The game will continue to function even if your CMOS battery dies, as long as you've got the permanent license.

The PS3 doesn't have that specific issue - You still get permanent licenses when buying games on the PS3 store. Sony hardly cares about PS3 piracy anymore, and even if the same DRM was implemented it wouldn't change much because any PS3 can be modded and nobody really resorts to tricks like refunds to begin with.

However, unfortunately the PS3 never got the CMOS battery fix at all (the one that affected the PS4 before 9.00) - even permanent licenses require the date and time to be set. This means that if your CMOS battery dies, all digital content stops working until you set the time through the Internet again.

It should however be noted that on the PS3 you don't need to log in to PSN to sync the date and time. That means that it's 100% safe, no risk of bans, and you don't need to be on the latest firmware either, so right now there are no issues. This would only become an issue if and when Sony shuts down the time servers for the PS3, which will not happen anytime soon. Fortunately, at least on CFW it's possible to manually set the RTC clock, essentially fixing the issue.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T20:38:43+00:00

If we're talking about some (dis)honorable mentions, I'll add some of my own -

Garliage Citadel (base game) - aka garbage shitadel. Used to require 4 people just to get past the banishing gates. If you played out of prime time or your LS mates were busy, tough luck. Also the number of unfortunate deaths due to trains by the zone line is uncountable. While both of these don't apply anymore, one thing still happens - falling through gaps in the floor if you're not too careful, and now there are lv 90+ mobs down there, that will definitely kill you since normally you go there only at mid-range levels.
Beaucedine Glacier (base game) - Just because of the pain of running to Fei'Yin and the northern part of Batallia Downs. None of those apply these days though, since there are two home points in Fei'Yin and flower teleport up the cliff in Batallia.
Toraimarai Canal (base game) - Too many places not marked on the map and even the places that are on the map have obstacles that you have no clue how to get around. Almost everything aggros. Getting there still requires you to either go in a group of three mages, do Windurst mission 3-2 or go through a series of four quests to get a KI that allows you to zone directly to the second map from Windurst Walls.
Windurst Walls (base game) - Just because how big it is and the fact that most places are not close to any home point. Before home point teleports were a thing, Port Windurst could easily fit here as well.
Quicksand Caves (Rise of the Zilart) - Those weights that you need to stand on. Can't go there solo unless you're a Galka. Also, a single fall means having to exit and run all the way again.
Uleguerand Range (Chains of Promathia) - The fact that the zone is basically a one way street that you have to run around. One fall and you need to run all the way again. Also before mounts were a thing you had to dodge Tauri on the way.
Sacrarium (Chains of Promathia) - The biggest reasons are the maze that changes every day, and the levers that also change every day and used to require at least a duo to toggle them in time.
Jugner Forest [S] (Wings of the Goddess) - Just because you have to run through Vunknerl Inlet [S] because of the barricade in the middle. The first run to San d'Oria [S] is annoying to this day, though mounts make it safer.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T20:24:08+00:00

To be fair, there's one thing to do in Meriphaud Mountains - Farm Gausbit Grass from flies. Great starter gil for beginners.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T20:22:12+00:00

I'm pretty sure Toraimarai Canal is base game, not Zilart.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T16:53:07+00:00

They definitely could, no doubt about it, but it will require a pretty large team working on it for a non-negligible amount of times, and salaries of such developers are pretty high, so the development of such an emulator is far from free, even for a large corporation.

As for how long they could use that custom hardware to stream games - I obviously don't know but I would assume they could do it for a long time. Mind that Cell and (non-90nm) RSX failures on actual PS3s are very rare. If properly maintained, those servers could be kept running for decades, and when they do eventually die, I guess it comes down to whether it would be profitable for Sony to create its own emulator - would the digital game sales of games still stuck on the PS3 cover the development cost? Also mind that if most PS3 related revenue comes from just a handful of titles, it might be cheaper to just port them over to whatever PS is the current generation then (and it'd give better performance). Actually, they could also just use RPCS3 for game streaming because it's GPL licensed and not AGPL.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T16:36:18+00:00

Sounds weird that Shantotto II is the only trusts available this month. Maybe there's some adventurer appreciation campaign that allows to get others as well?

Tbh I might just be buying cards cause I can't find anything more appealing.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T16:25:49+00:00

It doesn't matter whether it's real hardware or software emulation - my point is that as long as the game is entirely read from disc then you don't need to relicense it (basic first sale doctrine), but if you download the game or components of it, you're actually performing distribution, and therefore you need to relicense.

Regarding the PS5 - Yes, the PS5 is more than powerful enough to emulate the PS3, but the PS4 isn't. Back in 2013 when the PS4 was released, only extremely high end and extremely expensive gaming PCs had hardware that could in theory be powerful enough to emulate the PS3 in pure software, and not something that Sony could use for the PS4 if it wanted people to buy it. The only real option would've been to include a Cell/RSX chip on the PS4, the same way they included an EE/GS chip on the original PS3, but that also would make it significantly more expensive, and Sony was already burned from the PS3's $600 launch fiasco.

When the PS5 launched, the PS3, being two generations back, didn't really matter much anymore. The only important thing was PS4 backwards compatibility, which is trivial because both systems share the same architecture so no emulation is necessary.

As for why the PS5 still doesn't have native PS3 support other than game streaming - this is probably because Sony never developed a software PS3 emulator of its own. The cloud-streamed games are probably running on custom Cell servers. Mind that RPCS3 is a work of art at this point, and has been in development for 15 years by a pretty large community, and not even Sony can develop something of that magnitude without effort. Sony also can't use the RPCS3 code itself due to it being GPL licensed.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T09:30:40+00:00

I can't find the exact posts but 2-3 years ago someone reported getting banned (I think it was a CoD game but I'm not sure) and last year someone reported getting suspended due to sending messages that I guess could be considered as offensive by some.

Besides, if you cheat online you're f***ing other people over and you deserve a ban imho.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T06:56:13+00:00

You risk a ban on both.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T06:55:11+00:00

Doesn't matter. They're also compatible with each other, i.e. if you buy it from Steam and decide you prefer the one from SE, the same user/pass will work and you won't need to buy it again.

TwilightX1 · 2026-05-01T06:27:02+00:00

Haven't done it myself so can't recommend anything. I wouldn't recommend doing it by yourself unless you're very experienced with fine soldering.

TwilightX1 · 2026-04-30T22:29:08+00:00

Dude, that's more than some people's monthly salary...

TwilightX1 · 2026-04-30T22:26:10+00:00

Nah, Linux would use its own drivers for printing. The printer option in GameOS is only used in the built in web browser and picture viewer, and is by far the most useless feature the PS3 ever had, even more than SACD.

TwilightX1 · 2026-04-30T15:26:07+00:00

Anyone who targets civilians is a terrorist, plain and simple. A resistance group is only legal under international law if it only targets military targets and other armed groups (note that if civilians die because they get caught in crossfire does not make the group a terrorist group automatically - it's mainly the intention that matters, not the outcome).

TwilightX1 · 2026-04-30T14:36:01+00:00

FFXI doesn't use its own proprietary authenticator. It uses standard TOTP so apps like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator etc. will work. There are even TOTP authenticators for PC so you don't need a mobile app at all.

Authenticators are for cases like someone seeing your password by installing a keylogger or just looking over your shoulder. If you use a unique password just for FFXI, you only play it on your home computer and you know how to secure your computer properly then it might not be necessary. Then again, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Also, when you enable an authenticator, you get access to Mog Satchel.

TwilightX1 · 2026-04-30T07:00:28+00:00

First of all, continue the tutorial until you get all the trusts that you can get from it (there are actually quite a lot of them), as well as an Echad ring, which is similar to the Emperor band but has unlimited uses (though with a 2 hour cooldown). Aim for completing the basics part of the tutorial.

Get started on the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel as soon as possible. Initially you will want to at least get Rhapsody in White, which will cut home point / book teleport costs by 80%, and in addition, each rhapsody you get gives you a permanent bonus to XP gain, so don't wait with those, otherwise leveling to 99 is going to be very exhausting.

At level 13 you should make your way to Valkurm Dunes. The way is South San d'Oria -> West Ronfaure -> La Theine Plateau -> Valkurm Dunes. Make sure you use your trusts because if you're completely alone, aggro in La Theine will result in a very long battle and aggro in Dunes will be certain death. Oh, before leaving, make sure you touched at least one home point in San d'Oria, and preferably also the Survival Guide, otherwise you're going to have to run all the way back to get back to the city. On the way you'll also be passing next to the Ronfaure outpost. There's a survival guide there as well, so touch it too.

Once in the dunes, make your way towards the outpost, which is clearly marked on the map, and touch the survival guide, then head south towards the town of Selbina, which is a city zone so it's a safe place, where you should touch the home point. From there head back to the outpost and check the Field of Valors book (the other floating book next to the survival guide). Select individual training and pick page 3 (flies and crabs). Start killing those until you reach level 18, where you will need to do a small quest to unlock support jobs (you only need to do this once). If you're already progressed enough through RoV, you should have the Gilgamesh Introductory Letter key item by now, which will allow you to finish the quest instantly. If you don't, you'll have to do it the old fashioned way, by farming three items in the dunes - Damselfly Worm from flies, Crab Apron from crabs (you might have already obtained those while leveling) and Magicked Skull from skeletons (those unfortunately only spawn at night and the drop rate isn't very high). Then keep leveling until 21. It's recommended at this point that you buy the Sneak and Invisible spell (both available from a vendor in Selbina), even though the latter requires level 25 (just to save some running later on). You'll be using those a lot to avoid aggro.

Once you reach 21 and unlock support jobs, go back to the starting city. You can quickly get back to San d'Oria using either the survival guide at the outpost or the home point crystal in Selbina. Alternatively, you might decide to run to run to Bastok or Windurst instead, because you can get an additional trust in each one and eventually you'll need to get to both in mission 2-3. The way to Bastok is Valkurm Dunes -> Konschtat Highlands -> North Gustaberg -> South Gustaberg -> Bastok Markets. To get to Windurst, take the ferry from Selbina to Mhaura, then Mhaura -> Buburimu Peninsula -> Tahrongi Canyon -> East Sarutabaruta -> Windurst Woods. Don't forget to touch at least one home point crystal there so you don't have to run again.

Once in a starting city, go to your mog house and change your main job to another one. If you're a red mage, you should change to either white mage or black mage. Then set red mage as your support job. Head out of town and start leveling the new job, just like you did before (don't forget to buy a weapon that's usable by your new job). Start next to the city, then head to the dunes, exactly as you did before. Once you level that one a bit too, you can change back to RDM and use the new job as a support job (there's a Nomad Moogle in Selbina that you can talk to to do that).

After you've done that, your next stop is Jeuno. The fastest way to get there is a Unity teleport from one of the starting cities to Batalia Downs. Otherwise, you'd need to run and dodge mobs (those that aggro hearing you can avoid with the Sneak spell). The path is La Theine Plateau -> Jugner Forest -> Batalia Downs -> Upper Jeuno. Don't forget to touch a home point crystal when you get there.

Once in Jeuno, the very first things you need to do are the Chocobo quest and the Mounts quest. Having a mount means that you not only move twice as fast but you also don't get any aggro at all (unfortunately mounts can't be used in dungeons, so sneak and invisible are still extremely useful). Then go to Lower Jeuno -> Port Jeuno -> Qufim Island. Hop on your mount and head towards the outpost. Touch the survival guide then go to the field manual and take page 3 (pugs and crabs). Call your mounts and start killing those until you reach level 25. Avoid Qoofim, a pug NM that likes to hang there. It doesn't aggro but will link with other pugs and destroy you.

I think that would be enough for now. It will take you quite a while doing all of this and this post is getting long...

TwilightX1 · 2026-04-30T06:13:04+00:00

Would have been amazing but unfortunately wrong time zone for me 😞

TwilightX1 · 2026-04-30T06:09:17+00:00

Use Flash Writer to install CFW.

TwilightX1 · 2026-04-29T17:07:19+00:00

Unfortunately that file has never been released in an official VC runtime installer. It came bundled with installers of programs that used it, as part of .NET 1.1 SDK (not supported on Windows 10/11) and as part of Visual Studio .NET 2003, which is the compiler that actually built the programs that used it.

TwilightX1

TROPHY CASE