Hacking 3DS unbricking progress

[greyneon]

I've built the SD voltage divider in an arduino shield form but no luck.

Trying to unbrick a blue 3DS XL with an Arduino Duemilanove (the code is not valid for Arduino leonardo).

With SD everything work as it should.
With 3DS I'm not able to go to the menu.

But... I've noticed that if I boot the arduino again after that I've removed the 3DS-SD... The program go to the menù and recognise the MMC as "unlocked". But in fact there is nothing on the SD slot.
This happens only when I remove the 3DS eMMC from Arduino SD slot.

I've tried to hotplug the eMMC-SD adapter when the program arrives to the menù, but again, it doesn't work. eMMC is recognised as "Locked" after the "x" command.
Trying to send "e" command (erase) it gives the error: IMPOSIBLE TO SET_BLOCKLEN to 1 byte.

that voltage divider is not working that good =/ i would recommend a logic level shifter IC SN74LVC245AN it works much better and are safer to use to connect to the 3DS

Datasheet: http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/28538/TI/SN74LVC245AN.html
and here is a quote from Ladyada

One is that they are strictly 3.3V devices and the power draw when writing to the card can be fairly high, up to 100mA (or more)! That means that you must have a fairly good 3.3V power supply for the card. Secondly you must also have 3.3V logic to interface to the pins. We've found that SD cards are fairly sensitive about the interface pins - the newest cards are edge triggered and require very 'square' transitions - things like resistor dividers and long wires will have a deleterious effect on the transition speed, so keep wires short, and avoid using resistor dividers for the 3.3V logic lines. We suggest instead using level shifters, such asHEF4050, 74LVX245 or 74AHC125 chips.

i personally use the SN74LVC245AN

link for the quote by ladyada: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-micro-sd-breakout-board-card-tutorial/look-out

 

[krisztian1997]

that voltage divider is not working that good =/ i would recommend a logic level shifter IC SN74LVC245AN it works much better and are safer to use to connect to the 3DS

Datasheet: http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/28538/TI/SN74LVC245AN.html
and here is a quote from Ladyada




i personally use the SN74LVC245AN

link for the quote by ladyada: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-micro-sd-breakout-board-card-tutorial/look-out

whoops... my and ryuga's shield uses resistors... so thats why sometimes it failed to initializate some card...

 

[greyneon]

yupp. Resisitors isn't a reliable voltage divider with such delicate electronics ^^


Can post a pic of my wiring/schematic later if you want to as i am using the SN74LVC245AN

 

[kalimero]

What about OpenKubus? One should be able to write something for this thing, right? I have one lying around with an AT90USB1287 chip.

http://www.atmel.com/devices/at90usb1287.aspx?tab=parameters

My stick has only the chip, a button, a led and the USB port and no other contact points to solder to on the pcb.

Like this:
http://cache1.willhaben.apa.net/mmo/1/734/298/31_-1905728684.jpg

 

[bkifft]

What about OpenKubus? One should be able to write something for this thing, right? I have one lying around with an AT90USB1287 chip.

http://www.atmel.com/devices/at90usb1287.aspx?tab=parameters

My stick has only the chip, a button, a led and the USB port and no other contact points to solder to on the pcb.

Like this:
http://cache1.willhaben.apa.net/mmo/1/734/298/31_-1905728684.jpg

before you'd try to connect the wires to this thing i'd strongly advise you to buy something more suitable (wouldn't even have to be an arduino, you could also cobble together something from a microcontroller and a few other components on a breadboard).

 

[kalimero]

before you'd try to connect the wires to this thing i'd strongly advise you to buy something more suitable (wouldn't even have to be an arduino, you could also cobble together something from a microcontroller and a few other components on a breadboard).

I don't thought this through. Ok it's lacking a power source? I just came up with this stupid idea to connect the usb port with the emmc
I even don't need this, because my 3DS is not bricked. Consider it a brain fart.

 

[bkifft]

I don't thought this through. Ok it's lacking a power source? I just came up with this stupid idea to connect the usb port with the emmc
I even don't need this, because my 3DS is not bricked. Consider it a brain fart.

USB is only a single line serial bus, for the eMMC communication you'd need at least three lines (although going the home built way SPI aka 4 signal lines would be more advisable).

 

[naxil]

hello! thank u for this hard work!
Exist some video about the 3ds unbrick?

 

[bkifft]

hello! thank u for this hard work!
Exist some video about the 3ds unbrick?

none that i know of, someone has posted some pics on elololololoterado (that spanish board) though

edit: http://www.elotrolado.net/hilo_ho-b...-malicioso-en-2-0b2_1972148_s1070#p1735025700

 

[pizzatime]

Hmmm!
You cheater! You used the flux capacitor to go back in time and avoid using the Launcher that bricked your 3DS....

Yeah, sure. Unfortunately don't work as the original one. It's only Arduino-powered, not by nuclear reaction lol https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AlanDoro/posts/FaaXFSwYwaV

in other words: how big is your nand dump

988807168 byte, Toshiba THG8M463P1HBAIR

Post pics!

I've written a guide in italian, you can check it out here: www dot moddingstudio dot com/content.php?1697
I've done many photos of the entire procedure, you can use all images for an english guide if you need it.
I'll try to translate my guide in english next days.

 

[bkifft]

Yeah, sure. Unfortunately don't work as the original one. It's only Arduino-powered, not by nuclear reaction lol https://plus.google.com/u/0/ AlanDoro/posts/FaaXFSwYwaV


988807168 byte, Toshiba THG8M463P1HBAIR


I've written a guide in italian, you can check it out here: www dot moddingstudio dot com/content.php?1697
I've done many photos of the entire procedure, you can use all images for an english guide if you need it.
I'll try to translate my guide in english next days.

thanks for giving your nand type.

just read your guide via google translate, great stuff and well done.

just one correction:
if one wants to change the network settings it has to be done on the FAT partition of the USB stick, not on the SD.

and it would be great if you could either mention how to do the offline update or direct them to my text only guide for that.

three thumbs up for that great guide!

edit: exploding cats really are a thing now, aren't they?

 

[Masterchacal]

is there anyone who has fixed there bricked 3ds xl and is living in toronto, and is willing to help. please msg me.
if i cant find anyone which can help me out for my bricked 3ds xl. where can i order a cheap rasberry pi so i can try to do it myself. thanks in advanced.

 

[bkifft]

is there anyone who has fixed there bricked 3ds xl and is living in toronto, and is willing to help. please msg me.
if i cant find anyone which can help me out for my bricked 3ds xl. where can i order a cheap rasberry pi so i can try to do it myself. thanks in advanced.

for a cheap raspberry you could try to get an used one from ebay or craigslist.

the official retailer for canada seems to be newark, link for the small pi (revision a, 256MB ram, no ethernet, only one usb port) http://canada.newark.com/raspberry-pi/raspberry-moda-256m/model-a-assembled-board-only/dp/56W4050 or the beefier one (revision b, 512MB ram, ethernet, 2 usb ports) http://canada.newark.com/raspberry-pi/raspbrry-modb-512m/model-b-assembled-board-only/dp/43W5302 (if you go for the cheaper rev A you'd also need the stuff listed in the offline section in my textguide).

as long as you already have some sort of microUSB power supply (like from a smartphone charger for example or an USB <-> microUSB cable to plug in one of your USB ports) those bare boards would suffice and there would be no real need to buy a starter kit.


you could also try and contact the toronto hacker space https://hacklab.to/ : there at least one should own a raspberry pi, they will most likely also be able to help you if you should run into any problems with your soldering (as long as they are willing to of course, but usually those frequenting hacker spaces might seem a bit strange but are nice people). who knows, perhaps you'd even like it there and join them.

 

[Habbert]

Im thinking of modding my 3DS.
I was going to follow this tutorial:


If my 3DS does end up bricking, I wont need to open it up again and solder more right? aslong as a use a Raspberry pi?

 

[bkifft]

Im thinking of modding my 3DS.
I was going to follow this tutorial:
[video removed]

If my 3DS does end up bricking, I wont need to open it up again and solder more right? aslong as a use a Raspberry pi?

aye. thats exactly the kind of mod needed for the raspberry pi approach. you just might to want to skim through the nand dump thread to look at alternative connectors, perhaps you can find one you like better.

 

[Masterchacal]

for a cheap raspberry you could try to get an used one from ebay or craigslist.

the official retailer for canada seems to be newark, link for the small pi (revision a, 256MB ram, no ethernet, only one usb port) http://canada.newark.com/raspberry-pi/raspberry-moda-256m/model-a-assembled-board-only/dp/56W4050 or the beefier one (revision b, 512MB ram, ethernet, 2 usb ports) http://canada.newark.com/raspberry-pi/raspbrry-modb-512m/model-b-assembled-board-only/dp/43W5302 (if you go for the cheaper rev A you'd also need the stuff listed in the offline section in my textguide).

as long as you already have some sort of microUSB power supply (like from a smartphone charger for example or an USB <-> microUSB cable to plug in one of your USB ports) those bare boards would suffice and there would be no real need to buy a starter kit.


you could also try and contact the toronto hacker space https://hacklab.to/ : there at least one should own a raspberry pi, they will most likely also be able to help you if you should run into any problems with your soldering (as long as they are willing to of course, but usually those frequenting hacker spaces might seem a bit strange but are nice people). who knows, perhaps you'd even like it there and join them.

i just wanna thanks for all the information, and all the help provided. will probably try to fix it myself. will order one from one of the site which u recommended above. hope it turns out good.

 

[Moquedami]

Hi everyone!
Yesterday I finally got my SD shield for Arduino, so I think I'm ready to try this.

Since I've never used an Arduino before I'm not sure I connected the shield correctly.
I took a few pictures for reference. Could you please tell me if everything is alright before I start testing?

The shield has 6 pins, I'm leaving the "+" empty, is that correct?
Do I have to connect anything else beside this 5 cables?

Just in case I also took pictures of my 3DS-SD connection. Does this look ok to you?

I kindda fucked up the DAT0 soldering point, but I managed to solder it to a spot on the board scraping this trace.

 

[ryuga93]

You need to connect the power from arduino to your shield,that would be the + sign.connect it to the 5v of arduino

 

[krisztian1997]

You need to connect the power from arduino to your shield,that would be the + sign.connect it to the 5v of arduino

Connect it to the 3v3 first and see if it work, then try the 5v

 

[bkifft]

ryuga93 krisztian1997

isn't the voltage selector switch used to select the incoming signal level? (just asking as i dont know for sure and wasn't able to get any google hits on it and that would make more sense to me as SD's run allways at 3.3V).