Reports began hitting the forums and other news sites several days ago that Nintendo 3DS consoles that had been playing with Nintendo 3DS flash kit devices had become inoperable or bricked. Gateway had reached out to its user base several days ago admonishing about the dangers of using clone flash kits such as the R4i 3DS Gold Deluxe or 3DSLink devices, vaguely hinting at something happening should users continue to use the hardware. The unexpected issue involved the complexities of repairing the bricked devices, as not even a reflash of the device's NAND could help in this case, resulting in many being forced to send their console in to Nintendo.
One of the more disturbing aspects of this incident involves the fact that the Gateway team may have had knowledge in this case, as evidence from several high profile developers in the scene indicated that a "kill code" of sorts was embedded in the code to activate on a certain date, rendering the device unusable, not to mention the fact that this code was implemented on the latest beta firmware v2.0b2 only. This apparently is triggered by exiting the emuNAND system settings, and the damage goes beyond chip damage and according to users zeroes the real system NAND. Additional information has pointed out that even a slight corruption not even from the fault of the user could result in an inoperable device. The Gateway team has acknowledged that such a situation has arisen due to a modification of the "launcher.dat" file needed to launch the 3DS exploit, arising from the use of clone software or through the use of "Region-free patches" that had hit the internet days ago. It is accepted that the only time a brick will occur is in the scenario such that a user is mixing files around from different cartridges. What that means is if a user sticks only uses Gateway's files found on their website, then they will not have to deal with bricking consoles.
Gateway Notice said:
As of right now, users who wish to proceed onward are urged to do so with caution, taking note about not mixing files from different flash cart teams, as the Gateway team has noted that the console will not brick when using only pure Gateway software. As a routine, users should check their launcher.dat md5 hash value frequently to insure proper values are given, as a slight corruption in this value may render a bricked console (optional step). The issue has since become more isolated and down to the b2 firmware, so if the user should become concerned a recommendation is to simply not use the b2 firmware or the 3.1-3.2 firmwares for the R4i/3DSLink.
This move on the Gateway team's behalf is definitely a bit concerning and we are currently waiting for more concrete information as to how users should proceed at this time. More information will be added in the scenario that an explanation is given. However, from my perspective, I would honestly suggest that users hold off on their 3DS flash kit purchases until more information is provided.
UPDATE: The Gateway team has responded in an email statement claiming that no Gateway user has encountered issues. The full statement is below.
Link to ongoing discussion (topic has since been locked)
