changes for clarity - no major changes in function.

remove PyInstaller stuff

use NOPs to fill in the end of `new_and_improved_bytes`

prevent corrupting the exe if the script is interrupted

I verified this works on my Steam copy of Trials: Rising on Linux

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
-name: Package Application with Pyinstaller and Create Release
-
-on:
-  push:
-    tags:
-    - 'v*'
-  workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      release_version:
-        description: 'Release version (e.g., v1.0.0)'
-        required: true
-        type: string
-
-jobs:
-  build-and-release:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-
-    steps:
-    - name: Checkout code
-      uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-    - name: Set up Python
-      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-      with:
-        python-version: '3.11'
-
-    - name: Install dependencies
-      run: |
-        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-        pip install pyinstaller
-
-    - name: Build with PyInstaller
-      run: pyinstaller patcher.spec
-
-    - name: Prepare artifact for release
-      run: mv dist/patch dist/trials_patcher-linux
-
-    - name: Create and Publish Release
-      uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1
-      with:
-
-        artifacts: "dist/trials_patcher-linux"
-        token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-        tag: ${{ github.event.inputs.release_version || github.ref }}
-        releaseName: Release ${{ github.event.inputs.release_version || github.ref }}

.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+__pycache__/

README.md

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ Disabling Easy Anti-Cheat in trialsrising.exe so that the game works on Linux +
 
 
 ## Usage:
+This is a Python script, it requires Python 3, which is already installed on SteamOS and virtually every Linux distribution.
+
 Run this script on the Linux device that Trials: Rising is installed on with:
 
 `python3 patch.py`
@@ -11,6 +13,8 @@ If the patcher says it couldn't find the file, you can specify the path to `tria
 
 `python3 patch.py /path/to/trialsrising.exe`
 
+Before patching, the script saves a backup of your original executable to `trialsrising.exe.bak` so you can revert the change (for example, after a game update).
+
 
 ---
 

patch.py

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import sys
 import getpass
+import os
+import tempfile
 
 # Check if user specified a path
 if len(sys.argv) > 1:
@@ -15,7 +17,9 @@ else:
 # so we would end up patching many places that don't need to be patched,
 # causing unintended functionality (likely) or else just causing the program to crash (extremely likely)
 # instead, we specify *just* enough bytes such that the sequence only occurs in one place:
-original_bytes = b'\x48\x89\x54\x24\x10\x55\x56\x57\x48\x81\xEC\xF0\x00\x00\x00\x48\xC7\x44\x24\x78'
+original_bytes = (
+    b'\x48\x89\x54\x24\x10\x55\x56\x57\x48\x81\xEC\xF0\x00\x00\x00\x48\xC7\x44\x24\x78'
+)
 # translated (from Ghidra (used to disassemble this program)):                                                                                  15a0b00dc(*)
 #        14178b6c0 48 89 54        MOV        qword ptr [RSP + 0x10],RDX
 #                  24 10
@@ -27,17 +31,28 @@ original_bytes = b'\x48\x89\x54\x24\x10\x55\x56\x57\x48\x81\xEC\xF0\x00\x00\x00\
 #        14178b6cf 48 c7 44        MOV        qword ptr [RSP + 0x78],-0x2
 #                  24 78 fe
 #                  ff ff ff
-new_and_improved_bytes = b'\xB0\x01\xC3\x24\x10\x55\x56\x57\x48\x81\xEC\xF0\x00\x00\x00\x48\xC7\x44\x24\x78'
+new_and_improved_bytes = (
+    b'\xB0\x01\xC3\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90\x90'
+)
 # Translated:
 # mov al, 1
 # ret
-# (then the rest of these bytes don't matter because they will never be reached)
 # or in pseudocode, `return True;`
+# (The rest of the bytes won't be reached, but they are there to ensure that the length of the new_and_improved_bytes is the same as the original_bytes, so that we don't accidentally shift any other bytes in the executable.)
 
+# Older releases of this patcher wrote the original tail bytes back after `B0 01 C3` instead of
+# NOP padding. Detect that form too, so people who already patched with an older version don't
+# get a misleading "couldn't detect the patch" error.
+old_patched_bytes = b'\xB0\x01\xC3\x24\x10\x55\x56\x57\x48\x81\xEC\xF0\x00\x00\x00\x48\xC7\x44\x24\x78'
+
+# Sanity check: the replacement must be exactly the same length as the original so we never shift
+# any other bytes in the executable. This is a hard requirement, so use sys.exit rather than assert
+# (assert statements are stripped when Python runs with -O, which would silently remove this guard).
+if len(original_bytes) != len(new_and_improved_bytes):
+    sys.exit("Internal error: original_bytes and new_and_improved_bytes differ in length. Refusing to patch.")
 
 try:
     with open(path, 'rb') as file:
-        # read the .exe file
         data = file.read()
 except FileNotFoundError:
     print(f"Error: The file '{path}' was not found.")
@@ -45,21 +60,49 @@ except FileNotFoundError:
     print(f"python {sys.argv[0]} /path/to/trialsrising.exe")
     sys.exit(1)
 
-# Perform the replacement, limited to 1 occurrence
+# The signature is chosen to be unique to this one function. Enforce that at runtime: patching the
-patched_data = data.replace(original_bytes, new_and_improved_bytes, 1)
+# wrong occurrence would corrupt the executable, so fail loudly instead of silently patching one.
-
+matches = data.count(original_bytes)
-# Ensure we actually changed *something*
+if matches == 0:
-if patched_data != data:
+    # Nothing to patch. Either it's already patched, or we don't recognize this build.
-    # Write the modified data back to the file
+    if data.count(new_and_improved_bytes) or data.count(old_patched_bytes):
-    with open(path, 'wb') as file:
-        file.write(patched_data)
-    print(f"Success: Byte sequence found and replaced in {path}.")
-else:
-    if data.find(new_and_improved_bytes) >= 1:
         print("The patch had already been applied to your .exe, no further changes were needed.")
-    else:
+        sys.exit(0)
     print("The original bytes were not found in the binary, and we couldn't detect the patch either. \n\n \
             Please try running the patch again with the full path to your .exe, like this:")
-        print("python patch.py /path/to/trialsrising.exe")
+    print(f"{sys.argv[0]} /path/to/trialsrising.exe")
     print("")
     print("If that still doesn't work, open an issue to let me know: https://github.com/kylefmohr/Trials-Rising-Steam-Deck-Patch/issues")
+    sys.exit(1)
+elif matches > 1:
+    sys.exit(
+        f"Error: expected exactly 1 match for the original bytes, but found {matches}. "
+        "Refusing to patch to avoid corrupting the executable. Please open an issue."
+    )
+
+# Keep a one-time backup of the original so the patch can be reverted (for example, after a game update).
+backup_path = path + '.bak'
+if not os.path.exists(backup_path):
+    with open(backup_path, 'wb') as backup:
+        backup.write(data)
+
+# Write atomically: `open(path, 'wb')` truncates the file immediately, so an interrupted write would
+# leave an unusable large executable. Write to a temp file in the same directory, flush it to disk,
+# then atomically replace the original.
+patched_data = data.replace(original_bytes, new_and_improved_bytes, 1)
+temp_path = None
+try:
+    with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile('wb', dir=os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(path)), delete=False) as temp:
+        temp_path = temp.name
+        temp.write(patched_data)
+        temp.flush()
+        os.fsync(temp.fileno())
+    # NamedTemporaryFile creates the file as 0600, so copy the original file's permissions over.
+    os.chmod(temp_path, os.stat(path).st_mode)
+    os.replace(temp_path, path)
+finally:
+    if temp_path is not None and os.path.exists(temp_path):
+        os.remove(temp_path)
+
+print(f"Success: Byte sequence found and replaced in {path}.")
+print(f"A backup of the original file was saved to {backup_path}.")

patcher.spec

@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-# -*- mode: python ; coding: utf-8 -*-
-
-
-a = Analysis(
-    ['patch.py'],
-    pathex=[],
-    binaries=[],
-    datas=[],
-    hiddenimports=[],
-    hookspath=[],
-    hooksconfig={},
-    runtime_hooks=[],
-    excludes=[],
-    noarchive=False,
-    optimize=0,
-)
-pyz = PYZ(a.pure)
-
-exe = EXE(
-    pyz,
-    a.scripts,
-    a.binaries,
-    a.datas,
-    [],
-    name='patch',
-    debug=False,
-    bootloader_ignore_signals=False,
-    strip=False,
-    upx=True,
-    upx_exclude=[],
-    runtime_tmpdir=None,
-    console=True,
-    disable_windowed_traceback=False,
-    argv_emulation=False,
-    target_arch=None,
-    codesign_identity=None,
-    entitlements_file=None,
-)