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knutwurst--patchdl/README.md
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PatchDL

A standalone PlayStation 5 ELF payload that downloads and installs official game patches on your terms. It serves its own web UI and runs without etaHEN.

PatchDL is built for setups where nanoDNS blocks Sony's servers for the whole console. It resolves the Sony patch CDN on its own path, so the rest of the system stays offline and only the patches you pick get fetched.

by Knutwurst

What it does

  • Scans installed titles and classifies each one: genuine install, ShadowMountPlus mount, preinstall, or unknown.
  • Reads the title name, installed version, and the Sony version.xml URL from the PS5 app database.
  • Fetches each title's version.xml from Sony's CDN past nanoDNS (a raw DNS query to 1.1.1.1) and verifies TLS against the pinned SCEI DNAS root.
  • Picks the newest patch compatible with the current firmware (system_ver <= firmware), so an update never forces a firmware upgrade.
  • Downloads the patch package and installs it through Sony's AppInstUtil service.

Safety model

Deny-by-default. A patch is installed only for a genuine install, and only when the patch metadata targets the installed game:

Source Check Download Install
official yes yes yes
shadowmount yes yes no
preinstall / unknown yes no no

Two independent guards stop the wrong target being installed: the patch target id (read from version.xml / manifest_url) must match the installed game, and the install call receives the installed game's content id from app.db. Sony may store the actual patch bytes under a regional/master title id that differs from the target; that storage id is accepted only when version.xml targets the installed title. A true target-title mismatch is refused instead of installed as a phantom title.

Build

Requires ps5-payload-dev/sdk. The network and install features also need the prebuilt libcurl + OpenSSL from ps5-payload-dev/pacbrew-repo placed in the SDK sysroot (target/user/homebrew); scripts/build_ps5.sh enables them automatically when present. libmicrohttpd is vendored under vendor/etahen, and SQLite is vendored under vendor/sqlite.

scripts/build_ps5.sh        # produces patchdl-ps5.elf

Deploy

This console uses the BD-JB autoloader with itsPLK's Payload Manager on port 8084 (not a 9021 elfldr). scripts/deploy_ps5.sh uploads the ELF named with its version and launches it; the payload replaces any running instance itself.

PS5_HOST=<console-ip> scripts/deploy_ps5.sh

On start it shows an on-screen notification with the URL. Open the web UI at:

http://<console-ip>:12880/

Status

0.0.2, early. Title scan, source classification, version resolution, firmware-compatibility filtering, download, and install work and have been verified on firmware 11.60. Patches download internally to /data/patchdl and are removed once the install has applied. Each title has a single action button (Download then Install, or Update when "install after download" is on). Open items: the web UI marks a title "Installing…" but reads progress from the PS5's own notifications rather than a percentage; a download queue is not built yet; disc-based games need the disc inserted for their patch to apply (a normal Sony requirement). Settings (global policy and the per-game toggle) persist to /data/patchdl/config.json and survive a restart.