Hacking Question about arm9hax

[funnystory]

My understanding is that arm9hax requires the SDcard to be able to function which seems perfectly reasonable,however I heard if the sdcard is not in the 3ds will not boot. Is this in anyway true or am I misunderstanding something? In other words,if I install arm9hax will I be able to boot to normal sysnand without an sd card?

 

[FenrirWolf]

You'll always need an SD card with an arm9loaderhax.bin payload of some kind or another. Otherwise the console will just shut down immediately after power-on.

 

[funnystory]

You'll always need an SD card with an arm9loaderhax.bin payload of some kind or another. Otherwise the console will just shut down immediately after power-on.

Thats unfortunate,guess I will stick with menuhax for the time being. Do you think in the future this could potentially be fixed?

 

[3xkrazy]

menuhax also requires an sd during boot. Im not sure where you're going with this.

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you can boot aureinand sysnand with arm9haxloader

 

[Deleted User]

Thats unfortunate,guess I will stick with menuhax for the time being. Do you think in the future this could potentially be fixed?

Could it be? perhaps. Though it would be incredibly annoying to say the least. The payload is currently loaded from the SD. That means if you wanted to switch to a different CFW, you'd have to reflash FIRM0/FIRM1 each time. Doesn't sound like it would accomplish much.

 

[FenrirWolf]

Thats unfortunate,guess I will stick with menuhax for the time being. Do you think in the future this could potentially be fixed?

Possibly? I know that BootMii on the Wii will fall back to normal console boot if it doesn't find anything on the SD card, but I don't know if the same can be accomplished with A9LH on the 3DS.

Even then, the Wii and the 3DS are pretty different beasts to begin with. For one, even an unhacked 3DS assumes that you're going to have an SD card in it at all times. When would you ever *not* want to be running it with an SD card installed?

 

[funnystory]

Possibly? I know that BootMii on the Wii will fall back to normal console boot if it doesn't find anything on the SD card, but I don't know if the same can be accomplished with A9LH on the 3DS.

Even then, the Wii and the 3DS are pretty different beasts to begin with. For one, even an unhacked 3DS assumes that you're going to have an SD card in it at all times. When would you ever *not* want to be running it with an SD card installed?

If you sold the n3ds on craigslist to a kid for example and he messed with SD his 3ds would essentially be bricked as far is he is concerned.

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menuhax also requires an sd during boot. Im not sure where you're going with this.

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you can boot aureinand sysnand with arm9haxloader

Menuhax does not require an SD card because the console still functions without an SD card installed. From what I am understanding once you install arm9hax if you try to boot it without an SD card the console will turn itself off and will not function until you put the sd card with the correct files.

 

[FenrirWolf]

Any time you sell someone a hacked console, they have to be made aware of how the hacks work and how to maintain them. As long as they're also provided with the OTP dump and can keep it safe on hand, they'll always be able to bring the console back into working order.

Or if need be, the console could even be flashed with a backup that was made prior to the installation of A9LH to restore it to default behavior.

 

[funnystory]

Any time you sell someone a hacked console, they have to be made aware of how the hacks work and how to maintain them. As long as they're also provided with the OTP dump and can keep it safe on hand, they'll always be able to bring the console back into working order.

Or if need be, the console could even be flashed with a backup that was made prior to the installation of A9LH to restore it to default behavior.

Something like bootmii would be amazing. Quite frankly,it seems like too much trouble for me to go through in getting my OTP just to be able to use A9LH. With that being said,I am grateful that we have people that dedicate time and energy into these exploits. Guess I will hold on tight. Besides the boot time I just don't think it can really be considered a complete "real" cfw solution since it requires the SD card to function.

 

[FenrirWolf]

Literally every other hack out there has required something to exist on the SD card. Why should a9lh be any different? And I'd say it's absolutely a real cfw configuration because the console is owned from the instant you power the thing on. When you use it, there's never any time where you're not running in a patched environment.

 

[funnystory]

Literally every other hack out there has required something to exist on the SD card. Why should a9lh be any different? And I'd say it's absolutely a real cfw configuration because the console is owned from the instant you power the thing on. When you use it, there's never any time where you're not running in a patched environment.

Whilst I do agree that many consoles require an SD card in some vicinity to install the hack,I have never heard of a console that ceases to function without the SD card. I was extremely eager to try this hack out until I read that the console will literally cease to function if theres no files on the SD card. In fact I cannot think of one console that I have modded that works like this. I got a flashed 360,cfw ps3,cfw psp,softmodded wii,softmodded xbox,loadine wii u if you want to call that a hack. I don't have the technical knowledge so maybe you could enlighten me,but why can we not install the payload directly on to the nand instead of having to load it from the SD?Or for example when you hold down a certain button combination the system boots as normal. Essentially what I am understanding from what Ive read and what you've told me,is that If my SDcard breaks and I dont have a flash copy of my SDcard my n3ds is essentially a brick unless I do a hardmod.What I am trying to say is that a bootmi esque solution where it checks files on the SDcard and if not found proceeds to boot as normal would be more convenient than the current solution. A true coldboot IMO would mean that you could flash a CFW over the sysnand.

 

[Classicgamer]

Honesty...who cares? You understand how the hack works so if your msd dies you know how to handle it. If you're thinking of selling it you know how to remove a9lh. You always need a msd installed to have your games on and if on cfw your hacks and emulators etc.

I don't get it...take the plunge and enjoy all a9lh benefits man!

 

[funnystory]

Honesty...who cares? You understand how the hack works so if your msd dies you know how to handle it. If you're thinking of selling it you know how to remove a9lh. You always need a msd installed to have your games on and if on cfw your hacks and emulators etc.

I don't get it...take the plunge and enjoy all a9lh benefits man!

I was going to install it but I moved across the country and decided I wouldnt even play my n3ds and since I already have an o3ds i just didnt see the point in keeping it. I havent returned it just yet but it as at my parents house accross the country so at this point if I want it I would have to pay to get it shipped back to me.

 

[Deleted User]

Whilst I do agree that many consoles require an SD card in some vicinity to install the hack,I have never heard of a console that ceases to function without the SD card. I was extremely eager to try this hack out until I read that the console will literally cease to function if theres no files on the SD card. In fact I cannot think of one console that I have modded that works like this. I got a flashed 360,cfw ps3,cfw psp,softmodded wii,softmodded xbox,loadine wii u if you want to call that a hack. I don't have the technical knowledge so maybe you could enlighten me,but why can we not install the payload directly on to the nand instead of having to load it from the SD?Or for example when you hold down a certain button combination the system boots as normal. Essentially what I am understanding from what Ive read and what you've told me,is that If my SDcard breaks and I dont have a flash copy of my SDcard my n3ds is essentially a brick unless I do a hardmod.What I am trying to say is that a bootmi esque solution where it checks files on the SDcard and if not found proceeds to boot as normal would be more convenient than the current solution. A true coldboot IMO would mean that you could flash a CFW over the sysnand.

As stated above the reason is for example if you wanted to switch payloads you'd be forced to restore a Nand backup and reflash firm0/1 over again. That comes with its own inherent risks of bricking. Also there's a good chance that there isn't enough space in the firm0/1 partitions for the payload.

In that case if you flashed a payload to firm0/1 and it had an issue or problem, you've caused yourself a brick as at that point you have a non-bootable console with no recovery short of hard modding. So it becomes a cyclic issue.

Since there are no private signing keys available, you won't be seeing a "true CFW" any time soon.

The best case at this point is to just load from SD. There's no real speed penalty to doing so and you can swap payloads at the drop of a hat.

The n3ds would only be a brick if you had no arm9haxloader.bin on the SD. Though personally I keep a folder on the Unit with different payloads and just use the file manager to move them around if necessary.

That and if at some point you don't want A9LH you just restore your SysNAND. To me it just seems installing on the nand just makes things worse as the worst case scenario becomes more likely. All it takes in that's case is maybe a bad compile or compiler errors and you have yourself a brick.

 

[dkabot]

Whilst I do agree that many consoles require an SD card in some vicinity to install the hack,I have never heard of a console that ceases to function without the SD card.

Pandora battery. Required a "Magic Memory Stick" to do anything, and that had to be a specific memory stick with MagicGate encryption support.

Granted, Pandora had the benefit of being transferable between systems, but it needed a MS when used.

 

[funnystory]

As stated above the reason is for example if you wanted to switch payloads you'd be forced to restore a Nand backup and reflash firm0/1 over again. That comes with its own inherent risks of bricking. Also there's a good chance that there isn't enough space in the firm0/1 partitions for the payload.

In that case if you flashed a payload to firm0/1 and it had an issue or problem, you've caused yourself a brick as at that point you have a non-bootable console with no recovery short of hard modding. So it becomes a cyclic issue.

Since there are no private signing keys available, you won't be seeing a "true CFW" any time soon.

The best case at this point is to just load from SD. There's no real speed penalty to doing so and you can swap payloads at the drop of a hat.

The n3ds would only be a brick if you had no arm9haxloader.bin on the SD. Though personally I keep a folder on the Unit with different payloads and just use the file manager to move them around if necessary.

That and if at some point you don't want A9LH you just restore your SysNAND. To me it just seems installing on the nand just makes things worse as the worst case scenario becomes more likely. All it takes in that's case is maybe a bad compile or compiler errors and you have yourself a brick.

Very comprehensive response,I appreciate the effort you took to explain the technicalities for me.I might have to go ahead and install it after all lol.

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Pandora battery. Required a "Magic Memory Stick" to do anything, and that had to be a specific memory stick with MagicGate encryption support.

Granted, Pandora had the benefit of being transferable between systems, but it needed a MS when used.

Yeah but once it was hacked you no longer needed the pandoras anymore so the system would boot fine without a memory stick once the hack process was done. Ahhh the nostalgia from the PSP cfw,gave me too much joy as a teenager running all my favorite GBA games/psp games from one console. The psp truly was one of the best handhelds IMO,it is unfortunate that better games weren't released.

 

[dkabot]

Yeah but once it was hacked you no longer needed the pandoras anymore so the system would boot fine without a memory stick once the hack process was done. Ahhh the nostalgia from the PSP cfw,gave me too much joy as a teenager running all my favorite GBA games/psp games from one console. The psp truly was one of the best handhelds IMO,it is unfortunate that better games weren't released.

Yes, the battery was only needed once, which makes it not the best comparison. It was just the only other example I had, though the PSP has a different setup for MS anyway.
However, recall that every 3DS ships with an SD card (2/4GB, not horrible but not amazing), they are standard cards only dropping in price (32GB is only what, ~$16 now) and that the 3DS expects them to exist.
Sure, it boots without one, but a good few games expect it to exist (Fantasy Life, Persona Q come to mind), any information that's not from Settings is stored on it, I'm pretty sure it's only really removable to upgrade (or swap, I guess).
The N3DS even has the card behind the back cover, with screws. I'd say that shows their expectation for you to put one in and leave it.

Even in current hacking setups, anything other than Sky3DS pretty much needs an SD card.
EmuNAND? It's on the SD card.
CIA installation, even on SysNAND? Goes to SD.
MenuHax? Menu info is stored on SD.
Homebrew launcher and any homebrew? SD itself, so even browserhax won't help.

Unless you've got a collection of legitimate, physical games that don't rely on SD, whether it boots to something basically useless or doesn't boot is moot.
Just to clear a "so that means you openly admit to pirating everything", my O3DS' content is all digital. No 3DS game I have is physical, except for some Skylanders cart I grabbed to dump for a header.

This isn't the Vita, where you have 1GB of storage (on new ones) unless you buy a proprietary card.
This isn't the PSP, where savedata and DL'd games are on the card, but the system doesn't care if one exists or not (the XMB doesn't drastically change without one).

I'd say it's a fully reasonable expectation for there to be an SD card in at all times.
Even if you blew up your SD card, it'd be easy for someone to scrape up all of $8 or something to get a new card from most stores and bring it back.

Of course, you might think it's a terrible idea on principle (I don't know why) and thus none of this can convince you.
In that case, go on enjoying MenuHax or something else, and having a blank system menu that launches carts without it.
Maybe that's what you want, I just know I have no need for it.

 

[funnystory]

Yes, the battery was only needed once, which makes it not the best comparison. It was just the only other example I had, though the PSP has a different setup for MS anyway.
However, recall that every 3DS ships with an SD card (2/4GB, not horrible but not amazing), they are standard cards only dropping in price (32GB is only what, ~$16 now) and that the 3DS expects them to exist.
Sure, it boots without one, but a good few games expect it to exist (Fantasy Life, Persona Q come to mind), any information that's not from Settings is stored on it, I'm pretty sure it's only really removable to upgrade (or swap, I guess).
The N3DS even has the card behind the back cover, with screws. I'd say that shows their expectation for you to put one in and leave it.

Even in current hacking setups, anything other than Sky3DS pretty much needs an SD card.
EmuNAND? It's on the SD card.
CIA installation, even on SysNAND? Goes to SD.
MenuHax? Menu info is stored on SD.
Homebrew launcher and any homebrew? SD itself, so even browserhax won't help.

Unless you've got a collection of legitimate, physical games that don't rely on SD, whether it boots to something basically useless or doesn't boot is moot.
Just to clear a "so that means you openly admit to pirating everything", my O3DS' content is all digital. No 3DS game I have is physical, except for some Skylanders cart I grabbed to dump for a header.

This isn't the Vita, where you have 1GB of storage (on new ones) unless you buy a proprietary card.
This isn't the PSP, where savedata and DL'd games are on the card, but the system doesn't care if one exists or not (the XMB doesn't drastically change without one).

I'd say it's a fully reasonable expectation for there to be an SD card in at all times.
Even if you blew up your SD card, it'd be easy for someone to scrape up all of $8 or something to get a new card from most stores and bring it back.

Of course, you might think it's a terrible idea on principle (I don't know why) and thus none of this can convince you.
In that case, go on enjoying MenuHax or something else, and having a blank system menu that launches carts without it.
Maybe that's what you want, I just know I have no need for it.

I personally don't have a moral issue with piracy so even if you did openly admit to it I would say kudos to you. Nintendo has been treating its customers VERY unfairly this past generation. Ive had my Wii U and still there is no zelda U out and rumour is they are going to stall it out until the NX. Nintendo also constantly sells consoles that are 1 generation behind graphics wise under the premise that good graphics don't mean good games, all of this just turns into a giant excuse to maximize profits and rob the consumer blind. Nintendo systems are also filled with rushed shovelware and we rarely get the games that I feel as a loyal nintendo customer of almost 20 years that I deserve. We don't get the content we deserve IMO so I think piracy is perfectly justified. The fact of the matter is that they charge 200$ for an outdated handheld that essentially does the samething as the o3ds. The N3ds is essentially the DSi of this generation and I personally believe it is reprehensible that they use such shady sales tactics instead of giving us quality consoles with quality games. With that being said,the zelda series is my absolute favorite and I will continue to support Nintendo but I just feel as if they could give us loyal consumers a little bit more than what is being had.

The main thing that bothered me about menuhax was the colored screens that pop up when you boot it,however lesshax payload just came out and I think I may just stick to that. The arm9hax in my very personal opinion just seems like a trophy for people to say that they went through the trouble of installing it(which there is nothing wrong with by the way,as I personally really enjoy hacking the new consoles just for the hell of it). I was going to proceed to spend an hour on installing arm9 for the fun of it until I realized that I would essentially be losing functionality for very little reward.I personally have qualms about the system being a semi-brick without the SDcard inserted,I know it may not be popular opinion and I can't logically explain why it bothers me but for the time being I am content with menuhax.

 

[dkabot]

I personally have qualms about the system being a semi-brick without the SDcard inserted,I know it may not be popular opinion and I can't logically explain why it bothers me but for the time being I am content with menuhax.

Alright, fair enough. I already said my piece and I've nothing further to add, so I'm done here.
Enjoy your system your way, it's good we've got these options.

 

[FenrirWolf]

Whilst I do agree that many consoles require an SD card in some vicinity to install the hack,I have never heard of a console that ceases to function without the SD card.

You've never heard of the 3DS itself, then. Even an unmodified console requires the SD card to be present in order to do anything of consequence with it. That's where theme data lives, where eshop games live, where extdata such as game patches and updates live, even some cartridge games assume the presence of an SD card and save their data there rather than onboard memory.

If you wanted a piece of hardware with zero hard dependencies on removable storage, then you bought the wrong console.