Hacking Creating a North American, non-XL New 3DS

[satanicangel]

Hi there.. Just want to make sure everything is correct here. I am trying to change my region of J-N3ds to U. I have a classic 3DS region U. Is there anything wrong if I do like what Wowfunhappy did?

I'm not sure what I did wrong, so could anyone help me? Thanks a lot! Here's what I did:
1) Formated EmuNand and installed DevMenu on n3ds
2) Installed this list of USA CIAs acquired from UpdateCDN. (Will I need to remove cias starting from 0004001B 0004800F 00048005 00040130 00040138 00048005?)
3) Opened system settings, selected format system memory, and waited for the system to reboot
4) Turned off system, put SD card into computer, and used emuNandTool to extract EmuNand from SD card.
5) Used 3DSFAT16Tool to extract EmuNAND's fat16 partition (3DSFat16tool.py -d -n3ds emu.bin emu.iso n3ds.xorpad)
6) Mounted the fat16 partition, and swapped the existing SecureInfo_A file with one taken from a USA classic 3DS.
7) Find the mii plaza, mii maker and ar games cias.(I have no idea on how to identify which are the 3 though, any help on this?)
8) Deleted above list of titles from the "title" folder of the fat16 partiton NAND.
9) Injected fat16 partition back into my emunand dump via 3DSFAT16Tools (same command, but w/ -i instead of -d).
10) Used emunandtool to write my modified emuNand image back to my SD card.
12) Inserted SD card back into 3DS, and attempt to boot into emuNAND...


Any help will be appreciated, michyprima , Oishikatta , Cearp.

Thanks a lot!

 

[tarovisions]

Didn't see too much about it, secureinfo_A donor needs to be obtained from n3ds only? Or is O3ds fine?

Edt: Sounds like a few have tried O3ds upon re-reading it all, so that's good.

 

[gamesquest1]

7) Find the mii plaza, mii maker and ar games cias.(I have no idea on how to identify which are the 3 though, any help on this?)

check 3dbrew for the titleID's of system apps for each region.
but for a US system its
0004001000021800 for Mii plaza
0004001000021700 for mii maker
and 0004001000021E00 for AR games

 

[Wowfunhappy]

For the record: please don't treat the steps I posted earlier in this thread as a tutorial. Referencing them is one thing, but you should also read the posts that have been made since then. The reason I posted those steps was because they were resulting in a brick.

Not that that's actually a huge problem on emuNAND, but I have a feeling someone's going to end up trying them on sysNAND or something. Please don't do that unless you've actually read through the entire thread and understand how the overall process works.

 

[tarovisions]

Yifan's tool also sounds like the way to go with sysnand and I'm assuming this relies on BRM or the like installing the correct US titles first within sysnand. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

Wish I could just flashback emu to sys with reasonable compatibility like on the O3ds. Would make things simpler and give me more tries to work without whippin' out the soldering iron. (yet )

 

[satanicangel]

For the record: please don't treat the steps I posted earlier in this thread as a tutorial. Referencing them is one thing, but you should also read the posts that have been made since then. The reason I posted those steps was because they were resulting in a brick.

Not that that's actually a huge problem on emuNAND, but I have a feeling someone's going to end up trying them on sysNAND or something. Please don't do that unless you've actually read through the entire thread and understand how the overall process works.

I read everything and I felt that I will never understand what is the problem unless I really go to have a try on this.

And yes, no harm trying, since I will be experimenting on Emunand.

 

[Artemis-kun]

So, I had a cursory read of the thread, and perhaps I missed it, but how about an XL unit for region changing? Would the ideas posted here work the same for it, or would I be looking at more trial and error? I realize this thread is specific for non-XL units, but an XL is what I've got, and it would be nice to be able to actually understand what I'm doing in the menus.

 

[bobtheglob101]

I suppose I'll write up the procedure I did to successfully region swap EmuNAND from JP -> US. I'm not responsible if you somehow brick your 3DS. It's highly unlikely since this is only messing with EmuNAND, but you never know.

You will need:

• A 3DS/N3DS target system that you wish to region change (Ex. JP N3DS LL)
• A SecureInfo_A file extracted from a 3DS from your desired region. (Ex. US old 3DS)
• Various other software/hardware mentioned throughout the guide

1. On your target system use a compiled .3dsx of Decrypt9 (precompiled here) and launch it in the homebrew menu on ninjhax. It may take a few tries but eventually you'll be presented with a white screen with options that will allow you to dump your NAND xorpads. Once it's done take the resulting fat16 xorpad and save it for later.
2. Format EmuNAND and install BigRedMenu & BigBlueMenu on the EmuNAND.
3. Use UpdateCDN or 3DNUS and download the firmware .cia files for your desired region on the same version of your target 3DS (Ex. if you're on 9.2.0-20J download 9.2.0-20U). Be sure to exclude the following .cia's that begin with: 0004001B, 0004800F, 00048005, 00040130, 00040138, and 00048005 (Thanks michyprima!).
4. Place these .cia's on the SD card of the target 3DS.

From here on out, do not power off the 3DS until you format. You won't permanently brick anything if you do, but you'll need to re-create your EmuNAND, which is annoying.

5. On the target 3DS' EmuNAND launch Big Red Menu and delete Mii Maker, Streetpass Mii Plaza, and AR Games. Deleting the rest of the system titles are optional but recommended for a clean region swap. Do keep in mind BRM is a bit buggy and it may take a few tries to get it to delete the titles. Once you're finished exit BRM by pressing start.
6. Launch BBM and navigate to the place where you placed all your firmware .cia's of your desired region. Press L + R + A and hit A once more to install all of the .cia's for that firmware.
7. Once BBM is finished installing the .cia's exit to the home menu and launch system settings and initiate a system format. Wait for it to reboot and take out the SD card.
8. Extract the EmuNAND partition from the SD card with EmuNANDTool.
9. Use 3DSFAT16tool or any other tool to decrypt the EmuNAND.bin with the xorpads you made from step 1.
10. Mount the decrypted EmuNAND and go into the /rw/sys folder.
11. Replace the SecureInfo_A inside the sys folder with the SeucreInfo_A you extracted from that other 3DS.
12. Dismount the EmuNAND and use 3DSFAT16tool once more to inject the EmuNAND.iso into the EmuNAND.bin
13. Use EmuNANDtool to inject the new EmuNAND.bin into your SD card.
14. Insert the SD card into the 3DS and boot into GW mode. You're successful if you are greeted with a setup screen with your desired region's language.

Note: Although the rest of the steps are optional, they are highly recommended. A few portions of the EmuNAND will be dysfunctional such as Amiibo usage or internet problems people have reported in its current state. The rest of the steps will correct this.

15. Obtain a ROM in your EmuNAND's region that has a firmware packaged in it that's above your current EmuNAND's version. In my case that will be Codename Steam since it comes with 9.4U while my EmuNAND is 9.2U.
16. Enter GW menu while holding the d-pad up button. This will allow you to install the updates that come with the games.
17. Attempt to launch the ROM and it will prompt you with an update. Let it do its thing and it should restart once it's done updating.
18. You should now be on an updated EmuNAND firmware with most, if not all issues fixed.

If you're like me who wants the latest and greatest firmware on EmuNAND that's possible (9.5.0-23) the rest of the steps are for you. Otherwise you may disregard the rest of the steps.

19. Use UpdateCDN/3DNUS to obtain the 9.5.0-23 .cia's from your desired region. Be sure to remove the same .cia's from step 3.
20. Place the cia's on the SD card and use BBM to install all these cia's.

Done. You should now have 9.5.0-23! If any clarification is needed just let me know.

 

[michyprima]

just writing to let you know that using my method I upgraded succesfully to 9.4.0E with the Xenoblade rom.
Amiibo is fine

... snip snip ...

Just wanted to say that the "exclude cias starting with" portion is valid for all regions.

 

[vingt-2]

So, I had a cursory read of the thread, and perhaps I missed it, but how about an XL unit for region changing? Would the ideas posted here work the same for it, or would I be looking at more trial and error? I realize this thread is specific for non-XL units, but an XL is what I've got, and it would be nice to be able to actually understand what I'm doing in the menus.

There is no currently no known distinction between XL and non-XL model in software or in hardware. Everything applicable to N3DS is valid for N3DSXL

 

[gog3]

snip

Just wanted to add that I followed a similar procedure last night to swap from E to U and it worked flawlessly. I was even able to take my backup of 9.2U emuNAND and flash it to sysNAND. I don't recommend doing that unless you have a working hardmod. I didn't have one, but I'm crazy like that.

I never did have any stability issues before the 9.4 update though, I wonder what caused that for you.

To all the helpful people in this thread, Thank you!

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I was even able to take my backup of 9.2U emuNAND and flash it to sysNAND!

Did you have to modify the emuNAND in any way before flashing it? Other people have said this resulted in a brick.

 

[vingt-2]

Just wanted to add that I followed a similar procedure last night to swap from E to U and it worked flawlessly. I was even able to take my backup of 9.2U emuNAND and flash it to sysNAND. I don't recommend doing that unless you have a working hardmod. I didn't have one, but I'm crazy like that.

I never did have any stability issues before the 9.4 update though, I wonder what caused that for you.

To all the helpful people in this thread, Thank you!

Could you hint me to the tool you used to flash to sysnand ?

 

[gog3]

Did you have to modify the emuNAND in any way before flashing it? Other people have said this resulted in a brick.

I didn't have to change anything. After I confirmed my swap from 9.2E to 9.2U worked; I used emuNAND Tool to make a backup, named it nand.bin, copied it to my microSD, and used Gateway's launcher.dat to flash it to sysNAND.
It worked flawlessly, but I still recommend a hardmod and a good backup of sysNAND just to be safe.

I should also note that when I finished the swap I was missing a few apps. I used 3DNUS to download them and installed them using BBM. These are for US firmware.

Activity Log - 0004001000021200 v2064
Nintendo 3DS Sound - 0004001000021500 v3088
Mii Maker - 0004001000021700 v2055
Streetpass Mii Plaza - 0004001000021800 v5136 (If you wan't to install the latest update, it can be found at that ISO place)
AR Games - 0004001000021E00 v1040
and just for the hell of it...
Nintendo Zone - 0004001000021B00 v1034

 

[Oishikatta]

Did you have to modify the emuNAND in any way before flashing it? Other people have said this resulted in a brick.

I assume his worked because he had installed the 9.2U FIRMs inside of emunand.

 

[Taslion]

I suppose I'll write up the procedure I did to successfully region swap EmuNAND from JP -> US. I'm not responsible if you somehow brick your 3DS. It's highly unlikely since this is only messing with EmuNAND, but you never know.

You will need:

• A 3DS/N3DS target system that you wish to region change (Ex. JP N3DS LL)
• A SecureInfo_A file extracted from a 3DS from your desired region. (Ex. US old 3DS)
• Various other software/hardware mentioned throughout the guide

1. On your target system use a compiled .3dsx of Decrypt9 (precompiled here) and launch it in the homebrew menu on ninjhax. It may take a few tries but eventually you'll be presented with a white screen with options that will allow you to dump your NAND xorpads. Once it's done take the resulting fat16 xorpad and save it for later.
2. Format EmuNAND and install BigRedMenu & BigBlueMenu on the EmuNAND.
3. Use UpdateCDN or 3DNUS and download the firmware .cia files for your desired region on the same version of your target 3DS (Ex. if you're on 9.2.0-20J download 9.2.0-20U). Be sure to exclude the following .cia's that begin with: 0004001B, 0004800F, 00048005, 00040130, 00040138, and 00048005 (Thanks michyprima!).
4. Place these .cia's on the SD card of the target 3DS.

From here on out, do not power off the 3DS until you format. You won't permanently brick anything if you do, but you'll need to re-create your EmuNAND, which is annoying.

5. On the target 3DS' EmuNAND launch Big Red Menu and delete Mii Maker, Streetpass Mii Plaza, and AR Games. Deleting the rest of the system titles are optional but recommended for a clean region swap. Do keep in mind BRM is a bit buggy and it may take a few tries to get it to delete the titles. Once you're finished exit BRM by pressing start.
6. Launch BBM and navigate to the place where you placed all your firmware .cia's of your desired region. Press L + R + A and hit A once more to install all of the .cia's for that firmware.
7. Once BBM is finished installing the .cia's exit to the home menu and launch system settings and initiate a system format. Wait for it to reboot and take out the SD card.
8. Extract the EmuNAND partition from the SD card with EmuNANDTool.
9. Use 3DSFAT16tool or any other tool to decrypt the EmuNAND.bin with the xorpads you made from step 1.
10. Mount the decrypted EmuNAND and go into the /rw/sys folder.
11. Replace the SecureInfo_A inside the sys folder with the SeucreInfo_A you extracted from that other 3DS.
12. Dismount the EmuNAND and use 3DSFAT16tool once more to inject the EmuNAND.iso into the EmuNAND.bin
13. Use EmuNANDtool to inject the new EmuNAND.bin into your SD card.
14. Insert the SD card into the 3DS and boot into GW mode. You're successful if you are greeted with a setup screen with your desired region's language.

Note: Although the rest of the steps are optional, they are highly recommended. A few portions of the EmuNAND will be dysfunctional such as Amiibo usage or internet problems people have reported in its current state. The rest of the steps will correct this.

15. Obtain a ROM in your EmuNAND's region that has a firmware packaged in it that's above your current EmuNAND's version. In my case that will be Codename Steam since it comes with 9.4U while my EmuNAND is 9.2U.
16. Enter GW menu while holding the d-pad up button. This will allow you to install the updates that come with the games.
17. Attempt to launch the ROM and it will prompt you with an update. Let it do its thing and it should restart once it's done updating.
18. You should now be on an updated EmuNAND firmware with most, if not all issues fixed.

If you're like me who wants the latest and greatest firmware on EmuNAND that's possible (9.5.0-23) the rest of the steps are for you. Otherwise you may disregard the rest of the steps.

19. Use UpdateCDN/3DNUS to obtain the 9.5.0-23 .cia's from your desired region. Be sure to remove the same .cia's from step 3.
20. Place the cia's on the SD card and use BBM to install all these cia's.

Done. You should now have 9.5.0-23! If any clarification is needed just let me know.

Ah, this looks like a pretty good guide. I'll probably try giving in a go within a week or so.

 

[toastytwo]

Hi, long time reader, first time poster here! Wanna go JPN --> EUR

Tried following bobtheglob's steps above and got stuck with BigRedMenu.
Deleted Miiplaza etc. many times, nothing happens.
Made full reboot as mentioned before but the Icons are still alive and happy in emunand.
After formating sysnand to unlink from emu i tried again deleting those cia's i got a black screen when going to emunand, so i assume that the delete finally had worked.

So bobtheglob, is it possible that unlinking Sysnand is a required step to get rid of the CIA's ???

BTW, which other CIA's do you mean with "the rest of the system titles" ???
All of them ???

 

[Oishikatta]

Hi, long time reader, first time poster here! Wanna go JPN --> EUR

Tried following bobtheglob's steps above and got stuck with BigRedMenu.
Deleted Miiplaza etc. many times, nothing happens.
Made full reboot as mentioned before but the Icons are still alive and happy in emunand.
After formating sysnand to unlink from emu i tried again deleting those cia's i got a black screen when going to emunand, so i assume that the delete finally had worked.

So bobtheglob, is it possible that unlinking Sysnand is a required step to get rid of the CIA's ???

BTW, which other CIA's do you mean with "the rest of the system titles" ???
All of them ???

Deleting them won't necessarily remove the icons. What worked for me... delete them once, exit BRM, start BRM, delete each twice. They remained in the list but it took care of the freezing. I only deleted the mii/ar stuff and then updated to 9.4 with a rom.

 

[toastytwo]

OK, thanks! So no unlinking before deleting those CIA's... Will try that when my emunand is ready again.
You have any doubles now or is everything looking normal?
I wanted to try michyprima's list because i havent found the "AR-Games" in BRM:

20e
207
208
201
203
200
204
205
202
209
20b
200203
20020D

 

[Oishikatta]

OK, thanks! So no unlinking before deleting those CIA's... Will try that when my emunand is ready again.
You have any doubles now or is everything looking normal?
I wanted to try michyprima's list because i havent found the "AR-Games" in BRM:

20e
207
208
201
203
200
204
205
202
209
20b
200203
20020D

I have doubles of pretty much everything but I just stuck them in a folder. I think 20e, 207, 208 are the important ones to remove.