Hacking How screwed am I? Fixing a bricked N3DS XL with no backup

jacubillo · Jul 24, 2017

Hello,

I just bought a brand new N3DS XL for a VERY reduced price... only problem is that the previous owner tried to firmware mod it right out of the box and screwed up somehow. I don't have any info as of what he did but I believe it was a hardmod as I've already opened the DS and saw evidence of soldering on the motherboard.

As of right now the 3DS only shows a blue error in the lower screen with this text>

BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FE
00000000 00000000
00000400 00000000

Is there any way I can restore this thing to a usable status? I don't mind losing the ability of online gaming if I have to do something that may get me banned from nintendo's network.
Any gurus in here that may shed some light on how to unbrick this? Any first steps I should take like dumping rom backups or anything?

TheCyberQuake · Jul 24, 2017

If there is signs of hardmod there is a chance he actually fried something on the mobo in the process, which would essentially mean a brick that can't be repaired. You may be able to use hardmod (or ntrboothax in the future) to potentially repair the brick, but I'm unsure of the process. Your best bet would be to buy a working mobo and replace it.

Cjmcgiv · Jul 24, 2017

jacubillo said:
Hello,

I just bought a brand new N3DS XL for a VERY reduced price... only problem is that the previous owner tried to firmware mod it right out of the box and screwed up somehow. I don't have any info as of what he did but I believe it was a hardmod as I've already opened the DS and saw evidence of soldering on the motherboard.

As of right now the 3DS only shows a blue error in the lower screen with this text>

BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FE
00000000 00000000
00000400 00000000

Is there any way I can restore this thing to a usable status? I don't mind losing the ability of online gaming if I have to do something that may get me banned from nintendo's network.
Any gurus in here that may shed some light on how to unbrick this? Any first steps I should take like dumping rom backups or anything?

Sorry man, your bricked. You can send the console into Nintendo and tell them the power went off during and update. If it's under warranty they'll fix it, if not you'll have to pay. Still better than buying a n3ds outright though.

-Cjmcgiv

Cjmcgiv · Jul 24, 2017

jacubillo said:
Hello,

I just bought a brand new N3DS XL for a VERY reduced price... only problem is that the previous owner tried to firmware mod it right out of the box and screwed up somehow. I don't have any info as of what he did but I believe it was a hardmod as I've already opened the DS and saw evidence of soldering on the motherboard.

As of right now the 3DS only shows a blue error in the lower screen with this text>

BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FE
00000000 00000000
00000400 00000000

Is there any way I can restore this thing to a usable status? I don't mind losing the ability of online gaming if I have to do something that may get me banned from nintendo's network.
Any gurus in here that may shed some light on how to unbrick this? Any first steps I should take like dumping rom backups or anything?

Sorry man, your bricked. You can send the console into Nintendo and tell them the power went off during and update. If it's under warranty they'll fix it, if not you'll have to pay. Still better than buying a n3ds outright though.

-Cjmcgiv

TheCyberQuake · Jul 24, 2017

Did you try to Google the bootrom error code?

Cjmcgiv · Jul 24, 2017

TheCyberQuake said:
Did you try to Google the bootrom error code?

I did, that's where I got the info.

Quantumcat · Jul 24, 2017

Cjmcgiv said:
Sorry man, your bricked. You can send the console into Nintendo and tell them the power went off during and update. If it's under warranty they'll fix it, if not you'll have to pay. Still better than buying a n3ds outright though.

-Cjmcgiv

I can't see how that would help, they would be able to see the signs of it being opened and tampered with.

Cjmcgiv · Jul 24, 2017

Quantumcat said:
I can't see how that would help, they would be able to see the signs of it being opened and tampered with.

That's if it was hardmodded, if not then he has a chance. And there have been cases of people sending obviously tampered with 3ds's in to nintendo and nintendo fixing them.

-Cjmcgiv

Adeka · Jul 24, 2017

Fixable with bootntrhax when its released as long as they didn't fuck up the motherboard

Quantumcat · Jul 24, 2017

Cjmcgiv said:
That's if it was hardmodded, if not then he has a chance. And there have been cases of people sending obviously tampered with 3ds's in to nintendo and nintendo fixing them.

-Cjmcgiv

You didn't read his post before replying:

jacubillo said:
I've already opened the DS and saw evidence of soldering on the motherboard.

The Catboy · Jul 24, 2017

Without a NAND backup then you are extremely limited on resources, but it's going to require waiting. This should be fixable with ntrboothax (in theory,) but you are going to have to wait until ntrboothax is released get yourself a preflashed cart when it's released.

Deleted member 408979 · Jul 24, 2017

Wait, did you buy the system and it was already bricked?

The Real Jdbye · Jul 24, 2017

jacubillo said:
Hello,

I just bought a brand new N3DS XL for a VERY reduced price... only problem is that the previous owner tried to firmware mod it right out of the box and screwed up somehow. I don't have any info as of what he did but I believe it was a hardmod as I've already opened the DS and saw evidence of soldering on the motherboard.

As of right now the 3DS only shows a blue error in the lower screen with this text>

BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FE
00000000 00000000
00000400 00000000

Is there any way I can restore this thing to a usable status? I don't mind losing the ability of online gaming if I have to do something that may get me banned from nintendo's network.
Any gurus in here that may shed some light on how to unbrick this? Any first steps I should take like dumping rom backups or anything?

Look on the motherboard around the solder points that are used for hardmod, see if anything looks off (blackened/melted components or traces) that would indicate a botched hardmod, and post pics as well.

CrispyCola · Jul 25, 2017

Hello,

I just bought a brand new N3DS XL for a VERY reduced price... only problem is that the previous owner tried to firmware mod it right out of the box and screwed up somehow. I don't have any info as of what he did but I believe it was a hardmod as I've already opened the DS and saw evidence of soldering on the motherboard.

As of right now the 3DS only shows a blue error in the lower screen with this text>

BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FE
00000000 00000000
00000400 00000000

Is there any way I can restore this thing to a usable status? I don't mind losing the ability of online gaming if I have to do something that may get me banned from nintendo's network.
Any gurus in here that may shed some light on how to unbrick this? Any first steps I should take like dumping rom backups or anything?[/QUOTE]

You're screwed. No wonder it was so cheap. I feel sorry for you.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yepi69 · Jul 25, 2017

This is just a theory of mine but, can a console with no NAND backups be hard modded and injected a CTRtransfer without formatting the NAND?

TheCyberQuake · Jul 25, 2017

Yepi69 said:
This is just a theory of mine but, can a console with no NAND backups be hard modded and injected a CTRtransfer without formatting the NAND?

No. And based on the fact that there were signs of hardmod I would say it's not just a brick, but actual hardware damage. If that's the case it's for sure not getting a repair without a mobo replacement.

jacubillo · Sep 1, 2018

Hello all!
So.. a year has passed and I just found out my still bricked New 3DS XL gameboy on a box of old stuff... Man.. this thing is NEW but it's not booting. Are there any new tools/methods that may allow me to fix the error shown on boot:
BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FE
00000000 00000000
00000400 00000000
I have RPIs, cables,, am good at soldering.. just let me know how should I proceed with this and I will... if I have to buy any flashcarts as well thats ok. I just want to re-enable this device and hopefully play some old games via emulators

Hayato213 · Sep 1, 2018

jacubillo said:
Hello all!
So.. a year has passed and I just found out my still bricked New 3DS XL gameboy on a box of old stuff... Man.. this thing is NEW but it's not booting. Are there any new tools/methods that may allow me to fix the error shown on boot:
BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FE
00000000 00000000
00000400 00000000
I have RPIs, cables,, am good at soldering.. just let me know how should I proceed with this and I will... if I have to buy any flashcarts as well thats ok. I just want to re-enable this device and hopefully play some old games via emulators

Nope, look like emmc brick where it is unrecoverable, probably board is damaged, even ntrboot can't help you if the board is damaged.

lAkdaOpeKA · Sep 1, 2018

jacubillo said:
Hello all!
So.. a year has passed and I just found out my still bricked New 3DS XL gameboy on a box of old stuff... Man.. this thing is NEW but it's not booting. Are there any new tools/methods that may allow me to fix the error shown on boot:
BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FE
00000000 00000000
00000400 00000000
I have RPIs, cables,, am good at soldering.. just let me know how should I proceed with this and I will... if I have to buy any flashcarts as well thats ok. I just want to re-enable this device and hopefully play some old games via emulators

3dbrew calls it a "NAND not found error". If you have the tools, try doing the hardmod, connect it to the PC, and see if it gets recognized and if the error code changes.

Bubblegoose90 · Sep 12, 2018

So just to clarify, I can replace the motherboard to fix a bricked 3ds? I mean I know that seems obvious but better to ask before I buy one.

lAkdaOpeKA · Sep 12, 2018

Bubblegoose90 said:
So just to clarify, I can replace the motherboard to fix a bricked 3ds? I mean I know that seems obvious but better to ask before I buy one.

Most of the times yes, but sometimes other components are the issue. For example, of you get a black screen on boot, someone the camera unit is at fault, and of that's the case, disconnecting it and trying to power on the console will confirm the issue. What problem does the console have?

Hacking How screwed am I? Fixing a bricked N3DS XL with no backup

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