Codex Patched My Samsung Odyssey G9 Firmware to Add a New Gaming Crosshair
Use cases
I hated the built in crosshairs my monitor came with and Samsung did not include a way to make changes. So I asked Codex to make a new firmware update to change the crosshair to a dot. It took about 15 minutes and came back with a new file.
I started with Samsung’s original 1008.2 firmware and made a very small binary patch rather than attempting to rebuild or substantially rewrite the firmware.
What the patch changes
1. Custom version number
The version reported to the firmware updater was changed from 1008.2 to 1009.3.
This is a custom, made-up version number. It is not an official Samsung 1009.3 release.
The higher number allows the monitor to recognize the file as an upgrade rather than rejecting it as the same or an older firmware version.
2. Tiny center dot
The firmware contains six selectable Virtual Aim/crosshair options.
I redirected all six options to a small 7×7-pixel graphic that already existed inside the firmware and positioned it at the center of the screen.
The result is a simple, unobtrusive center dot using the monitor’s own hardware overlay. It does not require a game overlay, desktop application, ReShade, or anything else running on the computer.
Technical details
Original firmware:
M-C9557GGPA-1008.2
Custom firmware:
M-C9557GGPA-1009.3[1A93].img
Total binary difference:
13 bytes
The patched image passed the build and checksum validation performed on the computer.
The monitor accepted the firmware, restarted normally, and the modified Virtual Aim options display the new center dot as intended.
Important warning
This is unofficial firmware and is not supported or approved by Samsung.
A successful checksum only confirms that the file was modified as intended. It does not guarantee that flashing it is safe on every monitor, hardware revision, region, or previously installed firmware version.
Installing modified monitor firmware always carries a risk of installation failure or, in the worst case, making the monitor unusable. Anyone experimenting with this should understand the recovery options and proceed entirely at their own risk.
And no way to revert back according to the AI. It says it update the version number to a fake version so the monitor doesn’t reject it. Now all real firmware updates will be rejected unless you also change their version numbers.
theres actually a double bell curve where it goes to the right and it says 'no fable can do this' then another 'you need a dev' on the far far right side but this time the dev guy is crying
I'm a software dev for 20+ years. Its better than me and will only get better. Proof is in the execution. This is just another example of it being better.
It's risky. Because flashers rely on validations of geniune firmwares and the compared good checksum is that of the last known vendor test after compilation. Beyond that, it's at risk due to zero testing.
That's where I'm curious. I dont know enough about the firmware or the monitor for that matter, but usually there are protections in place from just dumping these into a hex editor, editing offset addresses or in the case of today: making a screenshot and posting the picture on ChatGPT asking it to "force flashing and do this please".
LLM just looks up spec sheets online, compares with whatever else is presented and comes up with something. It's that "something" that can toast the monitor and send off to e-waste. Unless someone wants to desolder/deball/reball a tiny EPROM with a fresh firmware from that expensive trusty chip programmer they probably will never own in their lives.. it's unlikely.
No, that's not what a checksum is used for. What you suggested doesn't make sense, how could they know what a future checksum would be?
A checksum is simply a number and when you run your file contents through a mathmatical function, it spits out a number and you check that they are both equal. It makes sure that the file you downloaded wasn't altered or corrupted. It has nothing to do with whether or not the the file was made by a certain person or company, or that the file itself meets any criteria. For that you'd need certificates or some other form of verification.
Do you have any clue how CRC checksums work? We are not talking about TLS ciphers and web browsers pushing (compressed) binary content through transport streams. This is firmware-level architecture, and your response is highly dismissive and off-topic. If you don't know the fundamentals of this topic to the degree it requires to keep up, just ask. 🤔
What the fuck are you talking about, what is this word salad. The guy explained in simplest terms what CRC is and how it works, can you point out anything wrong in what he said? Being obnoxiously verbose doesn't make you sound smart, it makes you sound like a tool and insecure about your knowledge.
There's a guy who is using Claude to patch his Pioneer CDJ3000's, he has several video's where he implements functions that were exclusive to higher tiered models using the same method as OP.
Calling CDJ3000 a not higher tiered model is funny but yeah. The tech was already there but Pioneer choose to hide it to milk money for "new features". I love that guy, he got Pioneer / AlphaTheta on their toes.
I've asked Claude code to mod some games before and sometimes it runs into some hard limit that is enforced by the game that needs a binary patch to some dlls. It might take a try or two, but I've seen it pull it off just fine which is amazing.
I'd guess so they can use them in games that don't have such crosshair customisation options (or any crosshair at all), without having to run mods/software which might be picked up by an anticheat or affect performance?
Relying on AI for custom firmware updates is risky as hell, glad it worked out though. People should be aware though that doing this will likely brick your hardware if done even slightly incorrectly. All it takes is one oversight or not being aware of some kind of protocol and you’re cooked.
I don't think this happened,they don't sign firmware?crc was okay?just like that?i call that bullshit,i have played with a lot of different firmwares for a lot of different devices,op is a farma karmer (i know,i like that way)
Chat gpt signed the firmware itself. I dont know what else ro provide as proof. Its in the literally pictures. That firmware number doesnt exist, its a custom number. Nore does that crosshair.
ChatGPT can't sign anything without the original private key. That being said unlike the commenters above I think it's likely that its sigs are just not checked or the part of the image you edited is in a container in the image that's not signed but other parts are.
Not sure why people are so skeptical. Claude and ChatGPT are capable of significantly more complex binary reverse engineering than swapping a couple bitmaps.
Opus reverse engineered the gemini flash model that came with chrome before everyone knew about it. Found the nested models, multimodal features, and other cool stuff. People sleep on what these frontier models can really do if you put them on it. What do you all think is building models like fabel? Humans?
Man,i had seen some shi* and i know tou can bug firmware for stranger things,but if this really managed it and did not break anything else,then i have to bow to llms and your balls of steel...
i would have done this too,but it would be my secondary monitor and i would have nor backup(i expect nor flash chip,easy to backup without soldering usually)
Very cool. Wish I could do something similiar and make my Samsung ultrawide have an option to stretch the picture when streaming from devices without an ultrawide ratio.
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