Files
knutwurst--ps5-patchdl/README.md
T
Knutwurst 9006965a75 Add download cancel/delete and harden the patch pipeline
Cancel a running download (the worker aborts mid-piece and the partial
file is removed) or delete a finished package, from the queue or the
title card. The progress callback now returns an abort signal that
reaches libcurl and the manifest merge loop.

Manifest merge: bound the piece scan to the "pieces" array so a later
"url" key (e.g. playgoChunkCrcUrl) can't be appended as a bogus piece,
and require each piece's fileOffset to match the bytes written so far so
an out-of-order manifest fails instead of silently producing a corrupt
package.

Report real free space on the download partition via statvfs; it was a
hardcoded 0.

Fixes found in review:
- scan: bound the SFO entry table to the bytes actually read and require
  the key to be NUL-terminated before strcmp (OOB read on a crafted
  param.sfo from a shadow-mounted dir).
- proc: bound the kinfo_proc walk and the name compare to the record and
  the buffer.
- install: publish the API probe under the lock (data race with the MHD
  worker thread) and initialize rc2.
- verxml: reject a truncated attribute value instead of returning it as
  valid.
- web: keep download/install/downloaded flags across a refresh, stop the
  queue poll only after repeated empty results, coerce the progress
  number, and treat a cancelled download (HTTP 200, ok:false) as
  not-downloaded.
2026-06-23 17:52:29 +02:00

4.2 KiB

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 installable package from Sony's manifest pieces 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.

For PS5 titles, delta_url often points to a small *-DP.pkg helper package. That bootstrap can make the system fetch the full patch, but it follows the package's storage/master title id and can create a duplicate/ghost title for cross-region updates. PatchDL therefore prefers the Sony manifest_url, downloads every listed pieces[] entry in order, and concatenates them into one local .pkg before handing it to AppInstUtil. The delta_url title id is kept only as the storage/master-id diagnostic.

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, target/storage-id handling, and the local AppInstUtil HTTP stream have been verified on firmware 11.60. PatchDL now downloads PS5 update manifests as merged piece packages under /data/patchdl; large retail updates can be tens of GB. The download queue shows live progress, and each download can be cancelled (the partial file is deleted) or a finished package deleted again, from the queue or the title card. Manifest pieces are verified in offset order and against their declared size while merging. Open items: a full large-title manifest download/install still needs an end-to-end run, the web UI marks a title "Installing…" but reads progress from the PS5's own notifications rather than a percentage, and 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.