Hacking Can I have hidden games that my children can't get to?

[daddoh]

Is it possible to have games that are hidden and not accessible unless you have the parent PIN? I have been setting up a 3DS with CFW which is for my 7 year old. I would like to put a few new games on there that I can test out and only 'release' them to him when I'm ready. I may also want to play a few titles that aren't appropriate for him. Currently I have a few games in a folder on the home screen with a boring name that is way over the right of the home screen but he's bound to find them eventually. I could remove and reinstall but this is a bit of pain as the device either needs to be put back on wifi each time (it's not online for him by default) or I have to take out the SD card or use the samba access. My solution at the moment is to have a few CIAs on the SD card and just delete them from the home screen and reinstalled when I want them back.

I was hoping there'd be something like a parent PIN secured folder but that's probably wishful thinking. Any suggestions for a tool, hack or a better work round for what I need?

Thank you.

 

[LinkBlaBla]

maybe il be wrong but ... BUY YOUR SON A NEW 3DS !! and configure it to have limited games that it.

 

[javicrazy]

install in a emunand?

 

[Trojaner]

http://en-americas-support.nintendo...57/~/what-can-i-block-with-parental-controls?

• Software Rating - Restrict the use of Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DSi software based on ESRB ratings. *These restrictions do not apply to Nintendo DS Games.*

 

[PrincessLillie]

If they have a particular rating, use Parental Controls.

 

[Quantumcat]

As above, this will also stop him from getting into any homebrew apps.

 

[BARNWEY]

Is it possible to have games that are hidden and not accessible unless you have the parent PIN? I have been setting up a 3DS with CFW which is for my 7 year old. I would like to put a few new games on there that I can test out and only 'release' them to him when I'm ready. I may also want to play a few titles that aren't appropriate for him. Currently I have a few games in a folder on the home screen with a boring name that is way over the right of the home screen but he's bound to find them eventually. I could remove and reinstall but this is a bit of pain as the device either needs to be put back on wifi each time (it's not online for him by default) or I have to take out the SD card or use the samba access. My solution at the moment is to have a few CIAs on the SD card and just delete them from the home screen and reinstalled when I want them back.

I was hoping there'd be something like a parent PIN secured folder but that's probably wishful thinking. Any suggestions for a tool, hack or a better work round for what I need?

Thank you.

Parental Controls are going to be your friend, just set the rating of the games you want your son to play and BOOM! He can only play games of that rating and below, you can also do this inside an EmuNAND for added S T A B I L I T Y

Edit: I forgot to mention, SAFETY....

 

[BADDINOROX99]

if parental controls aren't your thing put all the Homebrew apps and settings app in a folder and hide them all the way to the right and simply try to educate your son on the risks of opening anything in that folder (lie if you have to) besides since it'll be somewhat hidden it probably won't temp him to use anything and problem solved

 

[RHOPKINS13]

Using a separate emunand is probably your best solution. You can set it up to launch when holding a certain button on boot, and that will probably be enough.

3DSafe would possibly have been an even better tool for you, but it hasn't been updated for B9S, and is no longer being maintained.

Added benefit: You get your own set of saved game files!

 

[Toasty]

Personally I'd look into getting him his own 2DS or getting yourself a 2DS. I have kids too and they destroy everything. My step kids managed to ruin their 3DS to the point of it not reading games anymore and theyre older than 7 lol. I know it's not what you're asking, but I just wanted to warn you.

 

[daddoh]

Thanks for all your suggestions. What I want is to hide the games completely so that he doesn't even know they are there. If he sees something then he'll want to play it!

I'm clear on parental controls. Games are set to 7 and below. Freeshop requires the parental PIN, I assume as it needs a net connection, which I've also turned off.

It sounds like a separate emunand could be promising - I think I know what this is. From my limited understanding I think it's like booting up and mounting a different hard disk on a PC. I seem to recall seeing an option to switch emunand when I interrupt the loader when powering on and pressing select (rather than start, which takes you to godmode9).

Can any one point me to a resource that would walk me through configuring a second emunand?

-thanks!

 

[Quantumcat]

Thanks for all your suggestions. What I want is to hide the games completely so that he doesn't even know they are there. If he sees something then he'll want to play it!

I'm clear on parental controls. Games are set to 7 and below. Freeshop requires the parental PIN, I assume as it needs a net connection, which I've also turned off.

It sounds like a separate emunand could be promising - I think I know what this is. From my limited understanding I think it's like booting up and mounting a different hard disk on a PC. I seem to recall seeing an option to switch emunand when I interrupt the loader when powering on and pressing select (rather than start, which takes you to godmode9).

Can any one point me to a resource that would walk me through configuring a second emunand?

-thanks!

This might help a little https://3ds.guide/godmode9-usage

 

[daddoh]

I have looked through that guide but it's not immediately obvious to me how to add an emunand to my setup. Are you talking about the 'Format an SD card' section where you can add an emunand when formatting a new SD card?

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

Thanks for all your suggestions. What I want is to hide the games completely so that he doesn't even know they are there. If he sees something then he'll want to play it!

I'm clear on parental controls. Games are set to 7 and below. Freeshop requires the parental PIN, I assume as it needs a net connection, which I've also turned off.

It sounds like a separate emunand could be promising - I think I know what this is. From my limited understanding I think it's like booting up and mounting a different hard disk on a PC. I seem to recall seeing an option to switch emunand when I interrupt the loader when powering on and pressing select (rather than start, which takes you to godmode9).

Can any one point me to a resource that would walk me through configuring a second emunand?

-thanks!

Start doesn't take you to GodMode9... It takes you to the chainloader, except if you only have a single payload (in this case, GodMode9 for you).

 

[Chrushev]

You could do multiple SD cards one for you one for him. Put in his with limited stuff installed on it, then put in yours when you want the full library.

 

[Olmectron]

You could do multiple SD cards one for you one for him. Put in his with limited stuff installed on it, then put in yours when you want the full library.

That sounds nice. But, still, it sounds way easier to have a 64GB SD Card and make an EmuNAND.

Why? Because the SD card reader wears out really fast. Well, at least my O3DSXL's SD card reader was damaged because of this.

But that was a long, long time ago...

 

[Quantumcat]

I have looked through that guide but it's not immediately obvious to me how to add an emunand to my setup. Are you talking about the 'Format an SD card' section where you can add an emunand when formatting a new SD card?

Yep I think so. You'll want to back up all your data before doing this.

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

That sounds nice. But, still, it sounds way easier to have a 64GB SD Card and make an EmuNAND.

Why? Because the SD card reader wears out really fast. Well, at least my O3DSXL's SD card reader was damaged because of this.

But that was a long, long time ago...

That happened to my 2DS too, sadly. Just a little bump on the side where the SD Card is (well, yes, it is a microSD Card with an adaptor, but still, it shouldn't cause any problems), and I get the error "The SD Card has been removed". That's why I'm always careful while handling it and saving in almost every 2 minutes.

 

[RHOPKINS13]

Thanks for all your suggestions. What I want is to hide the games completely so that he doesn't even know they are there. If he sees something then he'll want to play it!

I'm clear on parental controls. Games are set to 7 and below. Freeshop requires the parental PIN, I assume as it needs a net connection, which I've also turned off.

It sounds like a separate emunand could be promising - I think I know what this is. From my limited understanding I think it's like booting up and mounting a different hard disk on a PC. I seem to recall seeing an option to switch emunand when I interrupt the loader when powering on and pressing select (rather than start, which takes you to godmode9).

Can any one point me to a resource that would walk me through configuring a second emunand?

-thanks!

EmuNAND treats a separate partition on your SD card as if it were your NAND. In order to create this partition, you will have to re-format your SD card.

First make a NAND backup using GodMode9, just in case something goes wrong (later you're going to want to run a System Format on either your Sysnand or Emunand to "unlink" them. If something goes wrong, you're going to want this backup to get your stuff back). Then, copy all of the files from your SD card onto your computer.

Then throw it back in your 3DS and run GodMode9. Go to More -> SD format menu. In most cases, using the minimum size with Rednand should work fine (unless you're using a Gateway.) When it asks you if you want to copy sysnand, pick Yes.

Afterwards, you will need to copy the backup you made of your SD card earlier back onto the SD. Then your console will boot to Sysnand by default, but if you hold D-Pad UP while turning on the power it should load your Emunand instead (I'm assuming you're running Luma 3DS btw). Now the problem is that they're "linked", so so they're sharing the same "Nintendo 3DS" folder and will both have the same games. This isn't what you want, to unlink them you'll need to format one of them. You can use a homebrew software called TinyFormat to do this, pick whether you want to wipe your SysNand or EmuNand. Then boot into that one, run TinyFormat, and it will format your system without formatting your SD card (if you use the regular System Format in the System Options menu, it wipes your SD card, which you don't want to do!). After this, your SysNAND and EmuNAND will be unlinked, and you can install whatever games you want on either of them.

Important Notes:

• Unless things have changed and I am mistaken, GBA Virtual Console games on EmuNAND must also be installed on SysNAND to work properly.
• Whichever NAND you format using TinyFormat you will lose everything on. The latest version of Luma has Rosalina, which will let you get into the homebrew launcher, and then you can re-install FBI, FreeShop, and whatever else you need. If you're using an old version of Luma and don't want to upgrade, you can use GodMode9 to inject FBI.cia into your Health & Safety app, and install whatever you need using that afterwards.
• Having multiple NANDs allows you to go beyond the 300 game limit. You can have 300 games on SysNAND, and 300 games on EmuNAND. You can also set up more than one EmuNAND.

 

[daddoh]

EmuNAND treats a separate partition on your SD card as if it were your NAND. In order to create this partition, you will have to re-format your SD card.

Got it. And thank you for your excellent walk-through of what I need to do. I followed that and all seemed straightforward as I'm familiar with all the concepts you've mentioned from my installation of Godmode9/Luma3DS.

This looks to be the ideal solution as the one 3DS effectively becomes two different devices. Perfect!

Thank you again!