O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: bootloader

  • Hacker cracks iPod nano, finds support for slew of additional supported features

    Irish hacker James Whelton announced Monday that he has successfully hacked Apple’s current iPod nano using a springboard hack. That process allowed him to create a “blank space” on the device by removing an app, and Mr. Whelton said that he hopes to be able to use this process to allow further modification to the device. Per The Mac Observer, Whelton stated that he also discovered support for movies, games, and more in the device.

    “The springboard hack is just the removal of a app and creation of a blank space,” Mr. Whelton wrote at his site, Nanohack.me. “Not that amazing, but what’s important is the bypass of nano’s cache comparison, which compares any modded SB file and reverts it if it doesn’t like it, this opens up the possibility of hacking and modding, while not adding bootloaders or any of that fun stuff.

    He was able to then root around in the devices files, and discovered a list of supported features in the nano’s preference plist file, including Movies, TV Shows, Apps, Games, vCards, Calender events.

    “With the bypass I figured out,” he wrote, “I hope to enable these pretty soon.”

    Mr. Whelton has opened up the process of hacking the device to other people, posting progress reports at Nanohack.me, as well as through his Twitter account. He also posted the following movie below to YouTube to demonstrate that the springboard hack was real:



    As always, let us know what you think in the comments.

  • Apple Wins Key Legal Ruling Against Clone Maker Psystar

    The lesson for the day: If you didn’t develop or actually license an operating system, you can’t sell computers with that operating system on it. Late last week, clone Mac maker Psystar discovered this in a court decision in the company’s ongoing legal battle with Apple. According to AppleInsider, judge William Alsup ruled this week in a summary judgment that Psystar infringed on copyrights owned by Apple in order to place Mac OS X on unauthorized computers built and sold by the Florida corporation. In addition, Psystar was found to be in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by circumventing Apple’s protection barrier that prevents installation of its operating system on third-party hardware.

    “Psystar infringed Apple’s exclusive right to create derivative works of Mac OS X,” the ruling reads. “Specifically, it made three modifications: (1) replacing the Mac OS X bootloader with a different bootloader to enable an unauthorized copy of Mac OS X to run on Psystar’s computers; (2) disabling and removing Apple kernel extension files; and (3) adding non-Apple kernel extensions.”

    Alsup also denied Psystar’s own motion for summary judgment, in which the company attempted to prove that Apple engaged in copyright misuse. The judge ruled that Apple’s End User License Agreement only attempts to control use of Apple’s own software, which is within its rights.

    The summary judgment isn’t the final blow and a number of issues remain to be resolved. Apple has alleged that Psystar has also engaged in breach of contract, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition, among other activities.

    Another hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 14, and trial between the two companies is due to start in January of 2010.

    The decision came after both companies requested summary judgments, which turned into a positive for Apple and a significant defeat for Psystar.

    The decision marks the latest of many setbacks for Psystar as it has attempted to defend itself from Apple’s suit. In September, a member of the Psystar defense team withdrew himself from the case. And in July, the Florida-based corporation brought on a new legal team after it emerged from bankruptcy.

    The company, which sells machines with Snow Leopard, Apple’s latest operating system, preinstalled began to license its virtualization technology to third-party hardware vendors as of October. The Psystar OEM Licensing Program intends to allow Intel machines made by companies other than Apple to run Mac OS X 10.6.