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Stars! Serial Numbers Wed, 27 October 2021 10:04 Go to next message
ricks03 is currently offline ricks03

 
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Created TotalHost and Stars! utilities

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Registered: January 2012
Location: NC
Pulling the code apart, Stars! can (I think) have serial numbers that start with "C", "E", "G", "S", and "W".

I personally own serial numbers that start with "W", "S", and "E". Does anyone have a serial number that starts with "G" or "C"? ? ?

I'd like to know if "G" or "C" serials were ever released.



[Updated on: Wed, 27 October 2021 10:04]




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Re: Stars! Serial Numbers Fri, 29 October 2021 05:25 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NingunOtro is currently offline NingunOtro

 
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I've got serial numbers on record that start with C or G, flagged for not working with the J patch anymore, so they must have circulated. Also some starting with H, J and I.

Also be aware of the fact that after commercial distribution of serial numbers with perhaps batches with a selected initial letter chosen by the Jeffs finished, this forum took over serial number generation with a third-party serial number generator which probably does not restrict the initial letters of the valid codes it generates. I got some with I, P, K and L.



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If we can not find them, either we are not smart enough, or they are smarter at hiding.

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Re: Stars! Serial Numbers Fri, 29 October 2021 10:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ricks03 is currently offline ricks03

 
Officer Cadet 1st Year
Creator of TotalHost and Stars! utilities
Created TotalHost and Stars! utilities

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Registered: January 2012
Location: NC
Interesting, thanks. I'll see if I can get I, P, K, and L to work.

Well, decompiling I do see a J, H, and I on that list of known cracked serials that won't work.

That could be version dependent, but the serial number calc I don't think changed across the versions, as I think even my 1.0 serials worked with 2.6jrc4.

I'm not worried about 3rd party serials, just trying to not tromp on released ones. I've added a feature to my Stars! hosting site that each account comes with a serial number.

Tho that does make me think, I can probably add a feature to check all the turns for if two turns have the same serial and different hardware signature.




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Re: Stars! Serial Numbers Sat, 30 October 2021 06:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
NingunOtro is currently offline NingunOtro

 
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Location: Brussels, Belgium
There are not only unique Jeffs issued serial numbers, those blacklisted in the J-patch, and the third-party generator, there are also a few legit serials, not blacklisted, that were made public as a donation by some community members. And while the Jeffs must have had a database to make sure they did not issue a serial number twice, and Ron probably does too, multiple copies of the third-party generator may have been used and the same serial generated more than once, or a copy of one of the legit ones distributed by the Jeffs or even those of Ron.

The only way not ever have to tell two players that they are using the same serial number... is to substitute ALL serialnumbers using the same 16 known and different legit ones for every game internally on the host. Supposing the check for a legitimate serial interferes only at the moment the game turn is generated, and not with the creation of the turn file to submit.



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Re: Stars! Serial Numbers Mon, 01 November 2021 01:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ricks03 is currently offline ricks03

 
Officer Cadet 1st Year
Creator of TotalHost and Stars! utilities
Created TotalHost and Stars! utilities

Messages: 222
Registered: January 2012
Location: NC
NingunOtro wrote on Sat, 30 October 2021 06:29
There are not only unique Jeffs issued serial numbers, those blacklisted in the J-patch, and the third-party generator, there are also a few legit serials, not blacklisted, that were made public as a donation by some community members. And while the Jeffs must have had a database to make sure they did not issue a serial number twice, and Ron probably does too, multiple copies of the third-party generator may have been used and the same serial generated more than once, or a copy of one of the legit ones distributed by the Jeffs or even those of Ron.

The only way not ever have to tell two players that they are using the same serial number... is to substitute ALL serial numbers using the same 16 known and different legit ones for every game internally on the host. Supposing the check for a legitimate serial interferes only at the moment the game turn is generated, and not with the creation of the turn file to submit.

Yup, I'm aware of the different paths for serials (although I hadn't realized the prefix on some of them-thanks). I'll see if other prefixes than what I listed can generate valid serials (as I have code that generates serials, and have a complete list of serials starting with the letters mentioned previously).

FYI, a problem with serials can be with creating the .x file, then transferring it to another player. Or if your hardware signature changes in that gap (by at least in part a change of drive size or volume name).

Regardless, I should be able to create a tool that can look at all of the submitted .x files, and detect if they're going to trigger the serial warning. I've also added an only partial list of ~1.5 _million_ valid serial numbers as part of my totalhost project Smile




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https://github.com/ricks03/TotalHost

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Re: Stars! Serial Numbers Tue, 02 November 2021 03:50 Go to previous message
ricks03 is currently offline ricks03

 
Officer Cadet 1st Year
Creator of TotalHost and Stars! utilities
Created TotalHost and Stars! utilities

Messages: 222
Registered: January 2012
Location: NC
It does look like I can create serials starting with other letters as well ("Z" was my test) and have Stars! accept them as valid. Thanks for your feedback!


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