Hacking (Gateway)Play Fire Emblem Awakening (US) on Nintendo3 DS XL 4.2 (EU)

johnny_bad_good

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Can I update 4.2 console to 7.x emunand version? I have read somewhere that Fire Emblem requires 4.5 software.

Today I bought my first 3ds xl console (YAY!) and Gateway card.
It has 4.2 firmware.

I have read on gateway website that I need to activate "emunand" mode and then update console (its old emulated firmware) via Nintendo servers to latest one in order to get latest software and games compatibility.

But there is also news on Gateway site that 8.0 firmware is not supported:


You may have noticed that system firmware 8.0.0 has recently been released.
We have analysed this update and we want to advise our users the following:
- Currently do not update emunand to this version as it will not boot. Old emunand versions (7.x or lower) will keep booting fine.

What to do except wait until Gateway create a patch for 8.0?
 

zhdarkstar

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I believe that FE:A will work just fine on your Gateway due to the firmware spoofing, as FE:A doesn't actually need anything that was added in 4.5 to run. It's simply what the highest firmware was at the time of production, as most 3DS games released by Nintendo contain. The only thing you won't be able to do is use the in-game eShop to buy DLC for two reasons.

1. You need to be on latest firmware to use eShop (8.X issue)
2. You need to use the version of the game from the same region as your 3DS (aka use the EU rom)

Also, it's impossible to update emuNAND to 7.x now as the process involves getting the firmware from the Nintendo servers, which only distribute the latest version.
 
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johnny_bad_good

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Thanks zhdarkstar,

I have a few questions if you don't mind :rolleyes:

What do I need to do to successfully play FE:A?

To hack console I did these steps:
1) Hack console with blue gateway card
2) Copied laucher.dat to Nintendo 3DS SD card
3) Backed up system NAND (after I copied it to my HDD and can I delete it from SD?)
4) Format EmuNAND? (I did not do it yet. Is there any point of doing it in current situation (emunand 8.0 is broken)


And then I just need to do step 5 and everything is OK - FE:A will launch?
5) Insert Red Gateway card with game and Boot Gateway mode

Thanks in advance for your help.
 

zhdarkstar

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Thanks zhdarkstar,

I have a few questions if you don't mind :rolleyes:

What do I need to do to successfully play FE:A?

To hack console I did these steps:
1) Hack console with blue gateway card
2) Copied laucher.dat to Nintendo 3DS SD card
3) Backed up system NAND (after I copied it to my HDD and can I delete it from SD?)
4) Format EmuNAND? (I did not do it yet. Is there any point of doing it in current situation (emunand 8.0 is broken)


And then I just need to do step 5 and everything is OK - FE:A will launch?
5) Insert Red Gateway card with game and Boot Gateway mode

Thanks in advance for your help.

If you ever plan on using emuNAND, I would go ahead and format the emuNAND now while you have less files on the big SD to worry about backing up beforehand. Even though it'll serve little purpose now, it'll save your time in the long run, when the 8.X patch is released and you can update emuNAND to it. It'll also delete the backed up sysNAND from your SD card in the process, so one less step to worry about.

However, I cannot stress enough that you need to backup everything you want to keep from the big SD BEFORE formatting emuNAND. I would also consider saving a second copy of the backed up sysNAND to another storage medium as a backup. Google Drive and Dropbox both give enough free online storage space to house the sysNAND.

Other than that, the steps you listed are correct. Just bear in mind that you'll need to reinstall the exploit via the blue card if you ever play any DS games. Even if all you do is boot up the blue card, but not play a game, you will need to reinstall. Therefore, training yourself to always run the exploit and re-enter Gateway mode after any DS gaming session is a good habit to form.

EDIT: Two more tips for you.

1. Make the home screen of your emuNAND look different than sysNAND. I accomplish this by having sysNAND zoomed all the way in and emuNAND all the way out. I also have a set of empty folders in the corner of the screen that spell out emuNAND as a secondary reminder.

2. Since you have to exit Gateway mode whenever you want to play a DS game, I find entering and exiting System Settings to be the more ideal way of exiting Gateway mode. While it's only marginally faster than turning the system off and on, it puts less stress on the battery and system than power-cycling.
 
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gamesquest1

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All games except 7.x encrypted games will run even on 4.x, there is only one bug that I know of that happens if you don't have an updated emunand, is that local trade in Pokemon doesn't work........other than that even most games that require 7.x will work fine except about 3
 
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johnny_bad_good

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zhdarkstar,
Thanks mate. So much valuable info for me!

gamesquest1
>most games that require 7.x will work fine except about 3

I want to play these games first: (so many cool games! :) )
1) Fire Emblem: Awakening
2) Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
3) Animal Crossing: New Leaf
4) Shin Megami Tensei IV
5) Etrian Odyssey IV

Do you know if they will run on 4.2?
 

zhdarkstar

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All of those should work fine. The only games that have the 7.X encryption are newer titles like Pokemon Art Academy or the western release of Tomodachi Life. You'll need to rename ACNL as a .3dz and inject header data if you plan on going online with it.

3ds.essh.co is your best source of information about 3ds rom releases.

Edit: :ph34r:'d
 
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