Hacking I've heard closing a n3DS on 2.1 bricks it... why is this?

[Sketchy1]

If so that could be a possible explanation.

The n3ds hardware just doesn't handle the o3ds led command well.

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MCU and NAND are completely separate, and the nand doesn't contain any MCU firmware, so it can't repair itself.

So therefore it isn't recoverable?

 

[gnmmarechal]

If so that could be a possible explanation.

The n3ds hardware just doesn't handle the o3ds led command well.

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So therefore it isn't recoverable?

I suppose theorically a MCU hardmod is possible?

Sent from my cave of despair where I collect souls

 

[Halvorsen]

Why doesn't someone just make a NAND backup of a 2.1 n3DS (working), close it, and take a NAND backup of the brick? Then we'd know for sure if there were any differences.

 

[Sketchy1]

Why doesn't someone just make a NAND backup of a 2.1 n3DS (working), close it, and take a NAND backup of the brick? Then we'd know for sure if there were any differences.

But if it were possible to dump, then it would be possible to restore.
And we cant restore, so dump prolly isnt possible then.
Plus, if it isnt recoverable, i doubt that someone is willing to sacrifice a $200 n3ds XD

 

[Halvorsen]

But if it were possible to dump, then it would be possible to restore.
And we cant restore, so dump prolly isnt possible then.
Plus, if it isnt recoverable, i doubt that someone is willing to sacrifice a $200 n3ds XD

It is possible to restore.

 

[Sketchy1]

It is possible to restore.

STEP 1) brick your 3ds.
LML

 

[GBHAKC75]

It is possible to restore.

No it's not. Even hardmod can't fix it AFAIK so there's no way to fix an MCU brick.

 

[Noroxus]

We once had a guy closing his N3DS on 2.1 to go to sleep and after he woke up and open the 3DS again it didnt work anymore.
The thing here is that recovery mode worked and Aurora tried to help him out but no input did anything (music played tho)
You could still see everything displayed on the screen under very bright light so the brightness was on 0 or sth. idk

Well we defo couldnt really do anything.
@Ryccardo Even though it might have been automatic updates, going into recovery mode as that user did cleans the cache and deletes all updates files. It didnt resolve anything at all tho.

Since the OS itself still kinda worked that brick is really weird since according to that one guy no input did anything

 

[Ryccardo]

We once had a guy closing his N3DS on 2.1[...]

Very interesting.
Actually, when updates are downloaded, the current files are renamed even if you clear the updates afterwards, which is very interesting although by now I doubt that it's the immediate cause...

 

[YourHero]

Beeecause you're not supposed to take the SD card off when the console is on? That's like removing an USB drive from your computer just by grabbing it. That in itself can corrupt files on the card/stick, and what did the guide say about checking the SD card for any errors ... yep that's right. Idk about you but I'd rather not take any risks.

Yes, you are. You go in Decrypt9 or Hourglass9 and you press a button to suspend the console and dismount the SD card. You're crazy to turn it off. And unplugging a USB like that has not corrupted anything since windows 98.

 

[Halvorsen]

No it's not. Even hardmod can't fix it AFAIK so there's no way to fix an MCU brick.

Who said it was an MCU brick?

 

[GBHAKC75]

Who said it was an MCU brick?

People around here, and that make sense. If it was a NAND brick, hardmod would recover it.

 

[Halvorsen]

Beeecause you're not supposed to take the SD card off when the console is on? That's like removing an USB drive from your computer just by grabbing it. That in itself can corrupt files on the card/stick, and what did the guide say about checking the SD card for any errors ... yep that's right. Idk about you but I'd rather not take any risks.

I don't know about you, but I'm living in 2016...

taking out SD cards on the 3DS has always been completely safe and so has hotswapping USB drives.

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People around here, and that make sense. If it was a NAND brick, hardmod would recover it.

Did anyone ever actually hardmod it?

 

[GBHAKC75]

I don't know about you, but I'm living in 2016...

taking out SD cards on the 3DS has always been completely safe and so has hotswapping USB drives.

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Did anyone ever actually hardmod it?

To be fair, an USB device should still be unmounted before unplugging it. It will not explode if you don't do it, but it could interrupt some work on it (eg. files transfers, this kind of things). It's even more true in Unix systems, OS X "shouts" at you if you don't do it, for example.
Data loss due to this is pretty uncommon nowadays because file transfer are fast, but they can still happen. A while back, it used to be way more common because of cache/UltraDMA.

It's pretty much the same with SD card. The "SELECT" option to unmount SD card in *9 software is here for a reason. You shouldn't remove SD card when system is powered on (with SD mounted).

Yes, we have some people who tried it when they started investigating the "mysterious" bricks in 2.1.

 

[chaoskagami]

I suppose theorically a MCU hardmod is possible?

Sent from my cave of despair where I collect souls

It's been discussed before on #cakey, anyways. It'd probably require tracing the MCU and figuring out what protocol it uses (if an eFuse wasn't blown to prevent programming, anyways)

I don't know about you, but I'm living in 2016...

taking out SD cards on the 3DS has always been completely safe and so has hotswapping USB drives.

If you like data loss from failure to synchronize delayed writes, sure. The 3DS is only "safe" since it doesn't delay writes.

 

[Halvorsen]

To be fair, an USB device should still be unmounted before unplugging it. It will not explode if you don't do it, but it could interrupt some work on it (eg. files transfers, this kind of thing). It's even more true in Unix systems, OS X "shouts" at you if you don't do it, for example.
It's pretty much the same with SD card. The "SELECT" option to unmount SD card in *9 software is here for a reason. You shouldn't remove SD card when system is powered on (with SD mounted).

Yes, we have some people who tried it when they started investigating the "mysterious" bricks in 2.1.

It'll be completely safe if there aren't any file transfers going on. If there is, though, you're asking for a corrupt drive.

The only reason that Decrypt9 specifically asks to unmount the card is because the entire function of D9 is to manipulate the card. If you take the card out, and try to dump/decrypt a game, what will you expect it to do?

And while the system is used normally, it still is 100% safe unless files are being processed.

 

[chaoskagami]

It'll be completely safe if there aren't any file transfers going on. If there is, though, you're asking for a corrupt drive.

The only reason that Decrypt9 specifically asks to unmount the card is because the entire function of D9 is to manipulate the card. If you take the card out, and try to dump/decrypt a game, what will you expect it to do?

And while the system is used normally, it still is 100% safe unless files are being processed.

No. Even then, it leaves the dirty bit set on the FAT partition. That is NOT clean.

Also, how do you know if a transfer is running? Hint: you don't. Not unless you properly sync and unmount.

 

[GBHAKC75]

It'll be completely safe if there aren't any file transfers going on. If there is, though, you're asking for a corrupt drive.

The only reason that Decrypt9 specifically asks to unmount the card is because the entire function of D9 is to manipulate the card. If you take the card out, and try to dump/decrypt a game, what will you expect it to do?

And while the system is used normally, it still is 100% safe unless files are being processed.

Thing is, just because the file transfer window disappears doesn't mean there's no file transfers ongoing...

So, what's your point ? That he is crazy because he prefers to be safe and unmount SD before removing it, as he should do ?

 

[Halvorsen]

Thing is, just because the file transfer window disappears doesn't mean there's no file transfers ongoing...

So, what's your point ? That he is crazy because he prefers to be safe and unmount SD before removing it, as he should do ?

Just because I said it's usually safe to pull out a card doesn't mean that it's always safe or that people are crazy for not doing it... don't assume.

No. Even then, it leaves the dirty bit set on the FAT partition. That is NOT clean.

Also, how do you know if a transfer is running? Hint: you don't. Not unless you properly sync and unmount.

The effects of this are rare and miniscule.

 

[GBHAKC75]

Just because I said it's usually safe to pull out a card doesn't mean that it's always safe or that people are crazy for not doing it... don't assume.


The effects of this are rare and miniscule.

Right, my bad, it was @YourHero who said that.
Anyway, I don't see the point of telling a guy that he shouldn't properly remove it, because... well, he should.