Hardware Homebrew 11.5 DS should I buy one?

[MPhili]

Hi, I'm new to all this and have a few questions but not sure who or where to ask.
I've been looking to buy a DS and looking at my options to hack it.
There is So much information online about it, but too much, lots of out of date information and advice, it's hard to sift through.
From what I have gathered is you can only hack into them now with flashcards now (r4 etc)? Because the homebrew hack has been patched? Is that right?

I've come across someone selling a 3ds xl 11.5 that already has homebrew on it. Is it ok to buy it? Will I have any problems with it?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Jayro]

There's a little bit of maintaining you need to do here and there, but nothing the average person with a computer can't do.

 

[wormdood]

Hi, I'm new to all this and have a few questions but not sure who or where to ask.
I've been looking to buy a DS and looking at my options to hack it.
There is So much information online about it, but too much, lots of out of date information and advice, it's hard to sift through.
From what I have gathered is you can only hack into them now with flashcards now (r4 etc)? Because the homebrew hack has been patched? Is that right?

I've come across someone selling a 3ds xl 11.5 that already has homebrew on it. Is it ok to buy it? Will I have any problems with it?

Thanks in advance for any help.

can i ask how much for that 3ds? and what it comes with? . . . its usually cheaper to buy a console and do it yourself

if you get a lower than 11.4 fw 3ds you wont need a flashcard

and as @Jayro said its fairly simple to maintain

if you want up to date info look here 3DS Guide - 3DS Guide

 

[Shadow#1]

Hi, I'm new to all this and have a few questions but not sure who or where to ask.
I've been looking to buy a DS and looking at my options to hack it.
There is So much information online about it, but too much, lots of out of date information and advice, it's hard to sift through.
From what I have gathered is you can only hack into them now with flashcards now (r4 etc)? Because the homebrew hack has been patched? Is that right?

I've come across someone selling a 3ds xl 11.5 that already has homebrew on it. Is it ok to buy it? Will I have any problems with it?

Thanks in advance for any help.

"Homebrew" does not mean "cfw" so check to be sure it's cfw they mean by "homebrew"

 

[Ryccardo]

I would also say having the work already done for you is BAD, since then you would have no idea about how it works (even people that have blindly followed the guide not always do) and at the first trouble or doubt you will end up without any idea or the knowledge to make an educated guess

"with homebrew on it" is already an extremely vague claim, there are many different things that could be called "homebrew" (but the word is not commonly used for all of those)

 

[MPhili]

Thanks for your replies.
It has freeshop on it and a lot of already downloaded games.
What would I need to do to maintain it? What problems could I run into?
I thought you already have to have cfw on it to get homebrew/freeshop?
It's $190 aud

 

[Shadow#1]

Thanks for your replies.
It has freeshop on it and a lot of already downloaded games. What would I need to do to maintain it?
I thought you already have to have cfw on it to get homebrew/freeshop?
It's $190 aud

Ok then if it has freeshop that is def cfwed

 

[The Catboy]

I heavily advice against buying a pre-hacked system. You can buy the system, but you can't buy the knowledge needed to maintain it. Which is why I always suggest people study the guide and buy everything they need before diving into the scene. It's not as hard as it looks and with a little research and asking around, you can really get a hold of the most basic of needs involved in hacking/maintaining your system.

 

[MPhili]

I heavily advice against buying a pre-hacked system. You can buy the system, but you can't buy the knowledge needed to maintain it. Which is why I always suggest people study the guide and buy everything they need before diving into the scene. It's not as hard as it looks and with a little research and asking around, you can really get a hold of the most basic of needs involved in hacking/maintaining your system.

What sort of problems could arise?
How do I maintain it? I can't find any specific answers when I search for them :/

 

[wormdood]

What would I need to do to maintain it?

knowledge and a pc or android

What problems could I run into?

your system appearing to be broken upon updating, and depending on what you do with your cfw you can possibly get banned from online play and/or the eshop, errors during game installs and random crashes if things are not set up properly

I thought you already have to have cfw on it to get homebrew/freeshop?

most homebrew can be obtained without cfw . . . in the past homebrew was how we installed/loaded cfw . . . cfw allows for homebrew to run with more permissions this allows homebrew to go deeper into the system and freeshop needs that . . . so if it has freeshop it has cfw

 

[The Catboy]

What sort of problems could arise?
How do I maintain it? I can't find any specific answers when I search for them :/

Nintendo may update the NATIVE_FIRM requirement with 11.6, this happened with 11.3 and 11.4. When this happened, it broke the reboot patches for every CFW. These kinds of updates can result in booting a black screen or features not working properly, which will require updating your CFW. Which is a simple task, but ultimately an issue worth being aware of, if it happens again.
Other issues of course being lack of knowledge for proper maintenance. The 3DS homebrew scene is still an ever changing scene and it's worth watching to make sure you are at least up to date on the basics. For example; freeShop recently went through three different devs, this is something worth keeping up on in order to be on the most recent branch.

Basically these are small issues, but they can pile up really fast if you aren't careful. It's worth working these out yourself and having us help you over buying something already pre-made for you.

 

[MPhili]

Thanks for your replies. Very helpful.
He's just told me that he bought the ds already modded when I asked a few questions last night, like if the "Sending of System Information" was disabled.. he didn't know what I meant.
So the general consensus would be to buy a unhacked ds and buy the r4 card?
You can't do it any other way atm yeah? (Besides for soldering hardmod method or already having a second ds already with cfw is that right?). Will there be other methods in the near future?

Also if I were to say, buy an old 2ds from the store brand new still in box. What version would it be?

 

[benjbanjo]

Thanks for your replies. Very helpful.
He's just told me that he bought the ds already modded when I asked a few questions last night, like if the "Sending of System Information" was disabled.. he didn't know what I meant.
So the general consensus would be to buy a unhacked ds and buy the r4 card?
You can't do it any other way atm yeah? (Besides for soldering hardmod method or already having a second ds already with cfw is that right?). Will there be other methods in the near future?

Also if I were to say, buy an old 2ds from the store brand new still in box. What version would it be?

Probably 11.5
EDIT: don't take my word for it, I'm not really sure. If anything listen to @wormdood

 

[wormdood]

So the general consensus would be to buy a unhacked ds and buy the r4 card?

yes

You can't do it any other way atm yeah? (Besides for soldering hardmod method or already having a second ds already with cfw is that right?).

if you get a console 11.3 or lower you will not need a flashcard

Also if I were to say, buy an old 2ds from the store brand new still in box. What version would it be?

11.3 or lower . . . 11.4 at the absolute highest (it really depends on the production date so look for bundles if possible as they were/are "short print" so its easy to tell when it was made ... any mario kart bundle 2ds should be good)

or with a simple flashcard my advice is moot

 

[MPhili]

yes

if you get a console 11.3 or lower you will not need a flashcard

11.3 or lower . . . 11.4 at the absolute highest (it really depends on the production date so look for bundles if possible as they were/are "short print" so its easy to tell when it was made ... any mario kart bundle 2ds should be good)

or with a simple flashcard my advice is moot

Awesome, thanks heaps!

 

[iAqua]

I'm not sure how there's really any knowledge needed to maintain the setup whatsoever, these days everyone uses luma and a luma update, problems almost never arise and when they do they are patched out very fast, all one would have to do is make a nand backup from time to time and then you're fine.

that's just my two cents though.

 

[wormdood]

I'm not sure how there's really any knowledge needed to maintain the setup whatsoever, these days everyone uses luma and a luma update, problems almost never arise and when they do they are patched out very fast, all one would have to do is make a nand backup from time to time and then you're fine.

that's just my two cents though.

you know they said the same of a9lh but as the scene evolves . . .
i would agree except i still apparently have to be able to determine the latest compatible luma updater as b9s evolves

 

[iAqua]

you know they said the same of a9lh but as the scene evolves . . .
i would agree except i still apparently have to be able to determine the latest compatible luma updater as b9s evolves

even with that b9s is not mandatory whatsoever, the only reason everyone is saying to update is because they're luma slaves and that's apparently the only cfw that exists, there is virtually no difference between b9s and a9lh for the end user, especially if they don't use luma.

 

[YTElias]

*insert i need it spongebob picture here*

 

[The Catboy]

I'm not sure how there's really any knowledge needed to maintain the setup whatsoever, these days everyone uses luma and a luma update, problems almost never arise and when they do they are patched out very fast, all one would have to do is make a nand backup from time to time and then you're fine.

that's just my two cents though.

Expect for situations where basic knowledge is required for proper maintenance. A user could easily be sitting on something like the first version of freeShop and not even know it, making them grossly out of date compared to the rest. Or users who've sat on old versions of Luma3DS for months, then panic when they update and start troubleshooting in the dark. These issues can be prevented with basic knowledge of the scene and proper/regular maintenance. Users shouldn't become stagnate in an ever changing scene, that's how they end up lagging behind.

even with that b9s is not mandatory whatsoever, the only reason everyone is saying to update is because they're luma slaves and that's apparently the only cfw that exists, there is virtually no difference between b9s and a9lh for the end user, especially if they don't use luma.

Luma3DS isn't the only thing to drop previous entrypoints, both GodMode9 and ReiNAND dropped pre-B9S entrypoints. There's also no reason for the user to remain on A9LH when updating to B9S is a 5 minutes (at most) task.