Corrupting Files with FileStub
For general use with files, directories, and more.
Guide written by: Mistsofnowh3r3 Software used in guide: RTCV, FileStub
Assumptions
This guide will assume the following things:
You know the basics of using RTC.
You understand basic RTC terminology.
Forewarning
Do not ever corrupt a file you are not prepared to lose.
While FileStub has safeties in place to restore files, it is better to act as if corrupting a file would leave it permanently corrupted. This means it is good to make backups of what you will be corrupting prior to corrupting them.
Do not upload corrupt media directly to Discord or similar.
It is unlikely, but possible, that when trying to display a corrupt image, audio, or video file Discord could freak out and crash for anyone that tries to view the media. So for this reason it is better to externally capture the corrupt media using something like OBS or the Snipping Tool.
Another reason to externally capture the media is that it will likely be displayed differently in different applications, so externally capturing it is better.
Basic Layout
Left side
Status
Shows info on the currently loaded target(s)
Session
Restore Targets
Restores a backup of the file(s) currently loaded into RTCV from the Vault.
Reset Backups
Creates a new backup from the current state of the file(s) currently loaded into RTCV. If they are currently corrupt, you will lose the original backup.
Vault Data
Shows how many files are currently corrupt or “dirty”.
Restore All Dirty
Restores all backups in the Vault. This includes backups of things from previous sessions which are not currently loaded as targets.
Bake All Dirty
Bakes the corruptions of all dirty files. Currently, clicking this will automatically permanently corrupt all currently dirty files with no warning.
Clear Vault Data
Clears all data in the Vault and unloads all targets. Cannot be done if any files are dirty
Top
Install Templates from Package Downloader
Opens the Package Downloader.
Advanced Options
Expands the view to show extra options. Will go over below.
⚙️Cog
Big endian
Likely unneeded. Sets the endianness in cases where that is needed.
Auto-Uncorrupt
When enabled, reloading a backup performs an uncorruption on the corrupted files instead of copying the file from the Vault. This has a minimal effect when working with small files, but speeds up the backup restoration process as the files get larger.
Use Caching + Multithreading
When on, current loaded targets are cached in RAM. Turning off makes the program slower, but is recommended when targeting files larger than the amount of RAM available on your device.
Target Type
Single File
Allows only one file to be selected and corrupted.
Multiple files (One domain)
Allows multiple files to be selected and corrupted. All files are added to a memory blob and are laid out one after another, this blob is then represented as a single domain in RTC.
Multiple files (Many domains)
Allows multiple files to be selected and corrupted, gives each file a separate Domain.
Multiple files (Many domains + Full path)
The same as Multiple files (Many domains) but file path is shown in the domain list. Useful if you're targeting multiple files with the same name.
Installed Templates will also show up under this menu.
Target Loading
This is where you select what you will be corrupting.
Target List
Unlabeled in the program, but this shows a list of all the files you have currently selected.
Browse Target
Browse Target opens a file dialog allowing you to pick which file(s) you will be corrupting.
If any of the Multiple Files are selected as the Target Type this will open a separate file picker which I will explain below.
Quick Load drag and drop zone
Automatically selects and loads files you drag and drop here into RTCV
Set base dir
Theoretically, all files in the selected folder will be added to the Vault backup. Considered unfinished and should not be used.
Load targets into RTCV
Loads all targets in the list into RTCV. This button becomes the Unload button afterwards and will unload all targets from RTC.
Clear targets
Removes all targets from the list
Multiple Files Select Dialog
File Selection List
Unlabeled in the program, but this shows a list of all the files you have currently selected.
Add
Opens another separate file dialog to select a file to add to the File Selection List.
Add Folder
Open another different file dialog, choose a folder and add all the files contained in it to the File Selection List. Adds files from all sub folders in the selected folder as well.
Remove Selected
Remove the highlighted file from the File Selection List.
Clear
Clears all files from the File Selection List.
Save list to File
Saves the current File Selection List to a .txt in a location of your choice. This .txt will contain the file path of all the files in the File Selection List.
Load list from File
Opens a file dialog to select a previously saved List.
Cancel
Closes the Multiple Files Select Dialog.
Load Multiple Files in FileStub
Loads all files in the File Selection List into FileStubs Target List.
Ignore loading errors
Suppresses error messages when loading files. Useful if you are loading a folder that contains multiple files that otherwise would display an error when trying to load
Advanced Layout
Loaded target information
Shows info on the currently loaded target(s).
Target execution
Depending on the selection, the options “Edit Exec”, “Kill Process”, and “args” will be shown
No execution
Nothing is executed upon corruption of target. No options shown.
Execute corrupted file
Will attempt to execute the targeted file upon corruption.
“Edit Exec” is shown in error and has no effect.
“Kill Process” listed but has no effect
Execute with
Will attempt to execute the targeted file with a selected program upon corruption.
“Edit Exec” allows you to choose which program to attempt to execute with.
“Kill Process” kills the selected program when it is running.
Execute other program
Will execute the selected program upon corruption of target.
“Edit Exec” allows you to choose which program to execute.
“Kill Process” kills the selected program when it is running.
“Args” adds arguments to be added to the selected program upon execution.
Script
Unimplemented.
Selected Target settings
Header padding & Footer padding
Set the length in bytes of padding of each for the currently highlighted target. Each Target can have its own header and footer offset. This will be explained in Concepts.
Save target padding
Saves the inputted paddings to the Vault
Global Target settings
Unimplemented.
The RTC window
RTC will be much the same as it usually is with only a few key differences:
There is no button to Auto-Corrupt.
The Savestate Manager in Glitch Harvester is blanked out.
The Manual Blast button is replaced with a Corrupt button which is linked to the Glitch Harvester corrupt button. This works the same as the Glitch Harvester corrupt button and will add items to the Stash.
Closing FileStub
When FileStub is being closed it will check if there are any dirty files in the vault. If there are, FileStub will warn you that there are dirty files and ask you if you would like to restore them or not.
If there are dirty files in the Vault when the program is closed and this message is not shown either due to a crash or something similar. The Vault should still be able to restore any dirty files the next time that FileStub is reopened.
Concepts
The Vault
The Vault is a system used to create virtual ROMs which can hold entire file structures in them. This is useful for creating Stockpiles. A new Vault copy is created when saving a Stockpile.
Templates
Templates make corrupting certain things easier. Each template has different options and settings and I will not be going over them in this guide. These act similarly to RTC Plugins and are created in a similar way. Due to this, typical users will not be able to create or edit these.
Session
A session is everything that happens between loading a target(s) into RTC and unloading that target(s) from RTC.
File structure
Simple File Structure
Above is a simple example of a file’s structure.
Header
The header stores information about the file such as: the file type, the file size, and many other things. Because of this, corrupting the header will usually cause the file to become unreadable even if none of the data is corrupt.
Data
The data, in most cases, is what we actually want to corrupt.
Footer
The footer, like the header, contains info on the file. It will also contain a section to mark the end of a file.
Realistic File Structure
Above is a more realistic depiction of a file structure, we will use it for learning purposes, but it should not be referenced for usage.
Here’s a more realistic depiction of a file’s structure. The footer and header have been rendered with more detail. Still, the only thing we want to touch is the data. So, In this example, the header should be set to 28 and the footer to 20.
A note on stockpile creation
It is not recommended to use header and footer padding when creating a stockpile is the goal. Anyone else who would open the stockpile would have to have their header and footer settings exactly the same as you do to get the same results.
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