[NTLK] Abandonware Serial Numbers

Hello, David!

On 1/28/07, David Mills <solidsilver@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
> if I find an app I like that is not being developed anymore, how do I
> register it? Is there serial numbers donated to the unna archive for
> us to use?
>

Some were published here on NewtonTalk, so you may search archives. If
the application is not being developed anymore, the publisher
vanished, and that kind of stuff -- you may as well play with
something like ViewFrame and create a key generator or patch the
package to accept any key you'd like.

Some applications uses only NewtonScript (which ViewFrame decompiles
to readable code) and system functions like DESCreatePasswordKey, so
they're usually pretty easy to crack -- just create another key, edit
the package on your favorite hex editor and hard code your new key.

Other programs uses functions written in languages such as C and
Assembly, so they're harder to modify. Fortunately, most programs
calls them from NewtonScript code, so you'll just need to see their
return value for valid registration keys and modify the code (probably
using a hex editor too) to return that value regardless of the
function parameters. ARM assembly isn't hard at all, so usually two
instructions will do the trick. Something like (using GNU AS) should
work if 0 is the return value for valid keys:

.org 0
main:
        mov r0,#0
        mov pc,r14

Assembling and linking this code should produce some codes, which
you'll use to change the original with a hex editor -- to know where,
just search for some code snippet found with ViewFrame. Just reinstall
the package and have fun.

ViewFrame and ViewFrame Editor are amazing tools which you can also
use to experiment with NewtonScript and do all kinds of different
experiments -- I've learned a lot about Newton OS internals by playing
with these two invaluable tools, and grew a passion for this OS.

Even the script language -- that I didn't like at first by reading the
Apple manuals -- I've found it to be quite easy to master and
extremely powerful (perhaps by playing with Python and LISP before
helped me -- I don't know). The object system, the way things are
organized and the way software seamlessly inter operates within the
platform is really something to look into and try to replicate on
newer platforms...

Having said that, only use this information on software not actively
developed, which the authors are long gone, which you can't register
anymore, even if you were willing to pay the license fee. Programs
still being developed should be -- well -- supported, as developers
for this platform are, unfortunately, rare and vanishing.

Cheers!

-- 
  Leandro A. F. Pereira <leandro@tia.mat.br>
  Developer, Tiamat Software Wizardry.
-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/