Hacking Luma3ds and the Black Screen of Death

[aragorn23]

Have you tried contacting the seller yet? Have you tried booting Decrypt9WIP or Hourglass9 according to what I said yet?

Haven't heard from the seller yet, but hope to soon. I had no luck with either the start button or the up on the direction pad.

 

[PrincessLillie]

Haven't heard from the seller yet, but hope to soon. I had no luck with either the start button or the up on the direction pad.

Well, that figures. From what people are saying, it's a messed up a9lh update. I can't help you there, because I don't plan on updating a9lh unless there's a huge feature added or a massive bug fix.

 

[Xiphiidae]

In case these haven't been suggested, these are from the 3ds.guide Troubleshooting section:

Try deleting the config.bin in the Luma folder (back it up to your computer first) and see if that helps.

Try other payloads. You've tried Luma and Hourglass9, maybe try GodMode9 and Decrypt9 just to be sure.

Try booting without any cartridges inserted, if you haven't done so already.

 

[aragorn23]

In case these haven't been suggested, these are from the 3ds.guide Troubleshooting section:

Try deleting the config.bin in the Luma folder (back it up to your computer first) and see if that helps.

Try other payloads. You've tried Luma and Hourglass9, maybe try GodMode9 and Decrypt9 just to be sure.

Try booting without any cartridges inserted, if you haven't done so already.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have tried booting without a cartridge already and tried deleting the file you suggested without success. How, exactly, do you install other payloads like GodMode9 or Decrypt9? Is it as simple as copying over files from the build's zip file?

 

[Quantumcat]

Thanks for the suggestions! I have tried booting without a cartridge already and tried deleting the file you suggested without success. How, exactly, do you install other payloads like GodMode9 or Decrypt9? Is it as simple as copying over files from the build's zip file?

Yeah you just need the bin file renamed to up_Decrypt9.bin etc in your payloads folder.

 

[RHOPKINS13]

In case you didn't know, if you use the payloads folder and filenames like up_Decrypt9.bin you will have to hold the respective button (i.e. UP on D-PAD) while turning on your 3DS to launch them.

 

[aragorn23]

In case you didn't know, if you use the payloads folder and filenames like up_Decrypt9.bin you will have to hold the respective button (i.e. UP on D-PAD) while turning on your 3DS to launch them.

Which one is the payloads folder? There isn't a folder named "payloads"...is it the "files9" folder?

 

[KunoichiZ]

Which one is the payloads folder? There isn't a folder named "payloads"...is it the "files9" folder?

It's in your luma folder.

 

[aragorn23]

It's in your luma folder.

Thank you!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

It's in your luma folder.

Yeah. Get nothing. Either blue light comes on and then shuts off, blue light comes on and shuts off with lower screen flashing, or the blue light stays on with nothing on screens no matter what payload I try (up, start, down, etc). I've tried hourglass, decrypt9, and godmode.

I honestly think something is fubar'd in the hardware.

 

[skullkeeper94]

I

Thank you!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------




Yeah. Get nothing. Either blue light comes on and then shuts off, blue light comes on and shuts off with lower screen flashing, or the blue light stays on with nothing on screens no matter what payload I try (up, start, down, etc). I've tried hourglass, decrypt9, and godmode.

I honestly think something is fubar'd in the hardware.

I will post everything everything I had with a similar problem, regardless of it's been mentioned prior or not.

1) First, try getting SAFEA9LHUPDATER, putting it in your "SD:/luma/payloads" named "right_a9lhinstaller" (it should have a .bin extension), and uninstalling A9LH if you can get it to boot.

2) Go into your "SD:/luma/payloads" and tell me everything that's in there. Not to help, but for a visual.

3) As mentioned, try and get the latest arm9loaderhax.bin and place it in the root of your SD Card.

4) Just a suggestion, but try holding select while booting. If you open the configuration menu, then we can assume the previous user has Luma3DS installed.

5) Delete the "arm9loaderhax.bin" file, rename "arm9loaderhax.bin.bak" file to "arm9loaderhax.bin", and try booting like that.

6 [Last suggestion]) Get the following:
Hourglass9
GodMode9
Decrypt9
OTPHelper
EmuNAND9

Obtain the .bin files from their respected downloads, and place them in the "SD:/luma/payloads" folder assigned to a certain button (All buttons except A, B, Select, L, and R I believe. You use the D-Pad for the directional presses, NOT the circlepad.)

If none of these help at all, I apologize in advance for wasting your time. I hope I can continue to assist you.

EDIT: For suggestion 6, use https://github.com/AuroraWright/Luma3DS/wiki/Other-features-and-notes and go to "Payload Chainloading" to help you if needed.

 

[Xiphiidae]

How, exactly, do you install other payloads like GodMode9 or Decrypt9? Is it as simple as copying over files from the build's zip file?

You don't 'install' payloads; they're run from the SD card. Download the appropriate .zip, extract the .bin file, rename it to arm9loaderhax.bin, put it on the root of your SD card and boot your 3DS.

Don't follow the above posts telling you to put them in your payloads folder: if you're having trouble running Luma at all, I doubt trying to chainload other payloads with Luma will help.

 

[aragorn23]

You don't 'install' payloads; they're run from the SD card. Download the appropriate .zip, extract the .bin file, rename it to arm9loaderhax.bin, put it on the root of your SD card and boot your 3DS.

Don't follow the above posts telling you to put them in your payloads folder: if you're having trouble running Luma at all, I doubt trying to chainload other payloads with Luma will help.



Roger. I've tried all the payloads that I can find and all of them result in the same thing: blue light comes on, nothing on the screens. Only way to turn blue light off is to remove the battery.

When I the arm9loaderhax.bin (latest version from luma) the blue light comes on and then off again. With older versions of luma (and I've tried all of them) the blue light comes on and off and the lower screen flashes.

 

[Xiphiidae]

Only way to turn blue light off is to remove the battery.

If you hold down the Power button for ten seconds the 3DS should shut off.

When I the arm9loaderhax.bin (latest version from luma) the blue light comes on and then off again. With older versions of luma (and I've tried all of them) the blue light comes on and off and the lower screen flashes.

That's really strange. The blue light turning off suggests that A9LH is installed correctly, but it can't find a payload, but the blue light staying on with non-Luma payloads suggests a brick. No idea what makes the lower screen flash.

Have you tried using a formatted SD card that only has a payload, and nothing else? Do you have any information regarding what firmware the 3DS was on before you bought it?

Also, reading your first post, when you say "with my N3DS XL I bought broken via ebay", do you actually mean that it was advertised as being broken, or that it was advertised as working and only discovered that it was broken after you received it?

 

[GothicIII]

I think that the seller did an a9lh update and put wrong files on it (incompatible payload/different OTP) and that bricked the console. Nothing you can do without nand-backup. A hardmod could work if you exploit the firm partition and replace it with a valid one but I'm not sure because firm0/1 is broken (you can do it because the firm partition is always the same on all console+has always the same offset and you can recalculate the firm without xorpads)
I recommend buying a new mainboard and not messing around with it anymore.

 

[gamesquest1]

is the blue light fading off or just abruptly turning off, it could be something really simple like a faulty sd slot, or even just a loose connector, and if the led is just fading off it means a9lh is setup and running, I think there has been a couple of a9lh builds that have used alternate boot paths like shadownand uses

homebrew/3ds/boot.bin

although shadownand should boot without a sd card inserted

 

[CrispyCola]

I think the seller updated it from 2.1 or used a wrong OTP. You can try to ctrtransfer to 9.2 via hardmod.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CheatFreak47]

To me this sounds like a really old Arm9LoaderHax installation that isn't compatible with any of the more recent payloads.

Try following this.
https://3ds.guide/updating-a9lh.

If I recall correctly SafeA9LHInstaller should probably boot properly on any A9LH install.

 

[aragorn23]

If you hold down the Power button for ten seconds the 3DS should shut off.


That's really strange. The blue light turning off suggests that A9LH is installed correctly, but it can't find a payload, but the blue light staying on with non-Luma payloads suggests a brick. No idea what makes the lower screen flash.

Have you tried using a formatted SD card that only has a payload, and nothing else? Do you have any information regarding what firmware the 3DS was on before you bought it?

Also, reading your first post, when you say "with my N3DS XL I bought broken via ebay", do you actually mean that it was advertised as being broken, or that it was advertised as working and only discovered that it was broken after you received it?

They advertised it as broken, so there was no dishonesty there. The sales description said was that the blue light came on but the unit wouldn't boot.

I will try formatting with only the payload later today after work.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I think that the seller did an a9lh update and put wrong files on it (incompatible payload/different OTP) and that bricked the console. Nothing you can do without nand-backup. A hardmod could work if you exploit the firm partition and replace it with a valid one but I'm not sure because firm0/1 is broken (you can do it because the firm partition is always the same on all console+has always the same offset and you can recalculate the firm without xorpads)
I recommend buying a new mainboard and not messing around with it anymore.

Thanks, I will look into finding one.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

is the blue light fading off or just abruptly turning off, it could be something really simple like a faulty sd slot, or even just a loose connector, and if the led is just fading off it means a9lh is setup and running, I think there has been a couple of a9lh builds that have used alternate boot paths like shadownand uses

although shadownand should boot without a sd card inserted

With the luma3ds .bin file, the light fades out. With other renamed .bin files from other payloads, the light stays on.

I've replaced the sd card slot AND run tests on the sd card itself to ensure there were no errors. I will also look into alternate boot paths.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I think the seller updated it from 2.1 or used a wrong OTP. You can try to ctrtransfer to 9.2 via hardmod.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am tempted to try a hardmod. Nothing seems to work at this point and I figure it probably won't make a difference now, particularly if I end up getting a new motherboard.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

To me this sounds like a really old Arm9LoaderHax installation that isn't compatible with any of the more recent payloads.

Try following this.
https://3ds.guide/updating-a9lh.

If I recall correctly SafeA9LHInstaller should probably boot properly on any A9LH install.

I will give this a shot later today.

THANKS TO EVERYONE for your advice and help. Even if I don't get this fixed, I really appreciate your time and patience.

 

[aragorn23]

Interesting thing I noticed today: when I remove everything from the sd card and only put arm9loaderhax.bin on the card and I try to boot it, the blue light comes on and tuns off...but when I put the sd card back into the computer there is now a "luma" folder on the sd card that wasn't there before.

 

[GerbilSoft]

Interesting thing I noticed today: when I remove everything from the sd card and only put arm9loaderhax.bin on the card and I try to boot it, the blue light comes on and tuns off...but when I put the sd card back into the computer there is now a "luma" folder on the sd card that wasn't there before.

This seems to imply that Luma is starting up, but then hits an unrecoverable error and powers off.

What happens if you hold Select while turning it on?