Hacking Cartridges to update to 4.5

[Ryft]

It is really totally unnecessary to update your system firmware to v4.5.0, if you are already between v4.1 - 4.5 no need because you will update your Emunand to v7.1.0 - 16E, the latest firmware, so basically you just rely on your Gateway Emunand all the time to use your 3DS/XL, not your system firmware, so there is no point whatsoever!

Well some people have reported issues with 4.1 and Gateway... may just be coincidence, but better safe than sorry I suppose.

 

[mvmiranda]

Well some people have reported issues with 4.1 and Gateway... may just be coincidence, but better safe than sorry I suppose.

I was one of them.
I had to upgrade to 4.5 to get my emunand working properly.
Same with 4.3. Didn't work until I upgraded to 4.5.

It was lucky from my side I had Luigi's mansion back then...

Cheers

 

[SharkSmile]

Just update to 4.1 and then update to 4.5 with a viable ROM (like Luigi's Mansion). The update files are identical, as with the ROM itself. Just make sure you download the ROM from a reliable source and its region matches your device's region.

Also the problems with 4.1 and 4.3 was with older versions of Gateway, if I remember correctly. There shouldn't be a problem with the OMEGA release.

 

[mvmiranda]

Just update to 4.1 and then update to 4.5 with a viable ROM (like Luigi's Mansion). The update files are identical, as with the ROM itself. Just make sure you download the ROM from a reliable source and its region matches your device's region.

Also the problems with 4.1 and 4.3 was with older versions of Gateway, if I remember correctly. There shouldn't be a problem with the OMEGA release.

Hang on... newbie question coming: is it possible to update 3DS FW with a ROM, like Luigi's Mansion ROM?

 

[SharkSmile]

Hang on... newbie question coming: is it possible to update 3DS FW with a ROM, like Luigi's Mansion ROM?

Yes, though it's advised against by Gateway team, there shouldn't be a problem in doing so. They are advising against it probably because ROMs may not be clean etc, so make sure that you download it from a reliable source.

Edit: You also need Gateway 3DS v.10 files if you want to do so because later versions of Gateway block the updates automatically. You can find them here (BTW, I don't know if sharing a link to these files is illegal and can remove it if it is).

 

[hippy dave]

You also have to be on a version that Gateway works with already, so you can use a rom to upgrade from 4.1 to 4.5, but not from, say, 2.2 to 4.5, which would need a real cartridge.

 

[SirByte]

Question: just in case a software-based downgrader based on a previously made NAND dump becomes possible, what else would you need to save under the older firmware before you upgrade for the first time? Do you need some kind of aes key dumper as well before you can upgrade to 4.5 which may change these keys (so your 4.1 dump is useless)?

In that case you'd need a nand.bin and a second file that contains the extras.

As well, how are bad blocks handled? On the PSP reflashing a dump was possible but not advisable; if the system marked a NAND block bad in-between you made the dump and tried to reflash it, issues would arise. That is why the "official" flashers are used that work around bad blocks.