UPDATE: Regarding the recent 3DS banwave

fb-3ds-400x400.jpg

It appears that users are being banned from 3DS online services, en masse. There's no direct cause right now, and seemingly no linking factor. This post is meant as an announcement for users, to be wary, and that GBAtemp will keep you updated as soon as more info rolls in. If you have been banned, please post in the thread below, and we will try to keep tabs on the situation. To be extra sure, it can't hurt to turn off your 3DS's wireless capabilities, so you might as well do that for now.

Edit 1: it appears that e-Shop access isn't restricted if you are banned.

Edit 2: A caller to Nintendo reported that the company said this ban is due to "unauthorized software usage".

Edit 3: @LinkSoraZelda is collecting info. Contact him if you are banned.

Edit 4: Click and fill this out if you were BANNED.

Edit 5:
[11:28:19 PM] Clector: Curiously the page of that error in Nintendo Support website used to have this:Error Code: 002-0102 Situation: You receive the error code 002-0102 when attempting to connect online. What to Do: If you continue to experience this issue, please contact Nintendo by calling 1-800-255-3700. Representatives are available from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., Pacific Time, 7 days a week.
[11:28:44 PM] Clector: Now it says this: What to Do: If you are experiencing this error code, your Nintendo 3DS family system has been banned due to unauthorized system modifications, play of unauthorized versions of one or more games, and/or connecting to the official game servers in violation of our terms of service. This ban is effective immediately and requests to remove the ban will not be processed.
Thanks to @Joom

Edit 6: Aurora Wright is taking another poll here

Edit 7: Not a lot is known but

There are bans happening, they are happening in all regions.
All models in the 3ds family seem to be candidates for banning.
There is no indication they will be anything other than permanent.
A game or DLC may end up being a cause but there is no one game or DLC that ties banned users together.
The cause or causes are as yet unknown, though it does seem to be related to modifications. Reports of unmodified consoles being banned are as yet unproven.
The banning is tied to something you can modify, thus you can unban. Doing it while the causes are unknown is likely only going to burn a working token though.
There are semi public tokens out there, Nintendo knows how to browse a forum as well as you so don't be surprised if they also get banned.
It does not seem to be limited to a given base firmware version, it does not seem to be limited to any one custom firmware type. There is some speculation that older hacking methods are not being hit as hard but nothing to confirm this yet.
The data collection could have happened this morning, or it could have been months in the making.
A simple check to see is checking your friends list, by itself it will not ban you.
Some are turning their wifi off. It is doubtful this will be of much use and being banned does not seem to come with any downsides that wifi being off will not also mimic.
You may have escaped a ban thus far but it could happen at any point. It could be that they stop in the future, it has happened on other consoles, but you would be living in hope rather than any particularly well founded logic.
The bans are done on the side of Nintendo's servers rather than your 3ds so there is also that.

If you hack your devices/games then their online functionality may be troubled. This has been known for decades, Nintendo seems to have finally caught up with that.

Please continue to share information with the thread or the links in previous edits.

Update 5/30

HOW TO HELP AVOID BANS (we think)​

If I was to guess from the information we have gathered since the ban wave, it seems likely that they are looking for TitleIDs that don't exist. Homebrew shows up in the activity log as the Download Play app, and fake CIA's show up as just ??????. That last one is what I'm guessing they are looking for.

If you are not banned yet or before you unban yourself, go into your friends list, choose settings, and turn off the option to "show friends what game you are playing." This will prevent you from playing games online with friends, so turn it back on when you wanna game with someone, but ALWAYS keep it off when running custom CIAs. Next, go into system settings -> internet settings -> spotpass, and turn off BOTH options. One is auto download software, the other sends system information to Nintendo. Also, make sure you don't have your favorite title set to something stupid like FBI or any other non-Nintendo CIA.

Its VERY likely that these options are what tipped off Nintendo, but we aren't 100% certain yet. The amount of banned people that had one of these options turned on was over 80% for each. If I was to assume that some of those people overlap, its very possible (but not confirmed) that 100% of banned people in the survey had at least one of those options turned on. I personally had all of them off and I have TONS of reasons for Nintendo to ban me.... yet I am not banned (yet).

Another bit of advice: Only run custom CIAs when offline, and after you close them, run a "legit" game like Smash Bros. or something before shutting down or going back online. This way your most recent title won't show up as a fake CIA

Current Theories as to what causes a ban
* SpotPass Settings: 8 users out of 46 users that were banned have SpotPass completely shut off, or SpotPass only (no friends list visibility)
* Firmware Version (Luma, Nintendo): Literally all reports ranged from 10.2+, I can get exact numbers for this if you'd like, but all firmwares were affected.
* Firmware Type (A9LH, B9S): 44 of the 126 B9S users that answered were banned, pattern was mirrored for A9LH users as well.
* Homebrew Titles such as FBI, HBL, Luma Updater, Themely, and freeShop: Literally about 98% of users both banned and unbanned had some combination of these applications installed. However the common ones were: FBI, HBL, LumaUpdater and NTR.
* Save Modification: Equal amounts of users on both sides have reported save modification in some form, either with PKSM or another save editor
* System Transfers: 188 users said that they had not previously system transfered, 61 of those users were banned; 16 users said they transferred from a hacked console, only three of them received a ban; 13 said they transferred from a stock system and likewise were banned. The rest of our sample did not answer this question.
* Activity Log Information: A majority of those who have not been banned have said they had NOT cleaned their activity logs. I can get exact numbers for this too on request.

This information is just what I've found. Like I said, there could be variables or things we haven't even checked for yet. But these are things that I feel should be disproven, at least with the current dataset we have.

  • From the information that we've gathered from some people that have used a packet sniffer such as WireShark, the following data is sent to Nintendo's online gaming servers as soon as the 3DS connects to the internet:
    • Amount of time spent online (timer stops when either the system is disconnected from the internet, or connection drops out, then starts the timer again in a new session when it reconnects to the internet).
    • The game being played and amount of time spent on it during that session.
    • The console's unique hexadecimal ID used in the LocalFriendCodeSeedB, along with it's RSA-signed signature.
    • The console's serial number in which is broadcasted from the SoC and is hard coded in the SoC.
    • Friend Code generated on the Nintendo 3DS system, if one has been generated.
    • Internet connection status (either online or offline).
    • The Nintendo Network ID, if there is one linked to it.
    • Even if the sending of SpotPass Information is switched off, or even hiding your currently playing games. It does not prevent the system from sending currently playing information to Nintendo's online gaming servers, it only hides it from your friends in your friend list (like being invisible on the forum, while mods and admins can still see you). Why? Because even people without a Friend Code on their system have been getting banned too!

  • The following data is NOT sent to Nintendo's online gaming servers:
    • The data from the Nintendo 3DS's Activity Log. Oddly enough, while Nintendo does explicitly state that they collect Activity Log data, they're actually referring to their own server's Activity Log, which always tracks every console's online activity, and keeps a record of them that is stored forever. And is only collected in increments of data through a timer and a currently playing list.
    • Games or apps that have not been played, regardless if they're legitimate or not. You only get tracked when you're online and using that game or app.
    • Using games or apps while offline. Even though it is stored on the 3DS console's Activity Log, that data is NOT sent to Nintendo's online gaming servers.
    • Custom Firmware. Though we can't rule out the possibility of them releasing a 3DS update in the future that adds such function to collect MD5 hashes of files and FIRM data and send them to Nintendo online gaming servers (which would also be updated in a maintenance).

  • Things that people think what happens with consoles, but really doesn't:
    • "LocalFriendCodeSeedB is transferred to the system upon doing a system transfer". This is false, the LocalFriendCodeSeedB remains on the system and does not move to another system.
    • "The console generates a LocalFriendCodeSeedB upon first startup". Again, this is false, the LocalFriendCodeSeedB is made during the manufacturing process at Foxconn. It is generated at the factory, flashed to the NAND flash memory storage, then created as an account on Nintendo's online gaming server and Nintendo eShop server immediately when being manufactured. It is absolutely impossible to generate a LocalFriendCodeSeedB and be able to connect to Nintendo's online gaming server and/or Nintendo eShop server, even if you knew the RSA generation key for it. You'd end up with Error Code 002-0102 "This console's online services have been restricted by Nintendo" if you even tried (the error can either mean two things: The hexadecimal ID doesn't exist on the server, or the request to access the hexadecimal ID has been denied which in other words... banned). So a LocalFriendCodeSeedB generator will NEVER happen! Because it's not worth doing, if it can't connect.
    • Switching off "Currently Playing" information. Once again, this does not hide your online activity from Nintendo's online gaming server, it only hides it from your friends.
    • Switching off SpotPass. Nope, this too doesn't hide your online activity from Nintendo's online gaming server, it only opts-out of receiving SpotPass data, sorry.

So pretty much the bottom line is, if anyone has been using custom apps and/or titles not installed through Nintendo eShop while online in the past, guess what? You're screwed! And it is only a matter of time before your console's unique hexadecimal ID in the LocalFriendCodeSeedB is banned from Nintendo's online gaming server. This will mean, your console can't access the Friend List or play any online functions in games.

If you have been online while using custom apps and/or titles not installed through Nintendo eShop and haven't been banned yet, that's because Nintendo hasn't caught up to you yet. They're still going through each unique hexadecimal ID's Activity Log on their server, and by Activity Log, I mean the Activity Log on their server, not the 3DS console's activity log. And it will be only a matter of time before you're banned too.

Thanks to @Platinum Lucario @MadMageKefka and @ShadowEO !
 

TinchoX

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Aside from blocking some network features ban doesn't really "brick" your console in any way, does it? So I understand that if someone doesn't play online anyway, it is not going to hurt much?
No, it just prevents your console from using online gameplay in most games, but it will still let you browse the internet and eshop no problem.
A sure way to brick your console is messing with it's firmware.
Nintendo can't make your console commit suicide... yet.
 
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Elveman

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No, it just prevents your console from using online gameplay in most games, but it will still let you browse the internet and eshop no problem.
A sure way to brick your console is messing with it's firmware.
Nintendo can't make your console commit suicide... yet.
Thinking about all those Korean Wiis...
 

Platinum Lucario

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Yeah, if buying the retail games early before their release date, most likely.
even more, they'd going to dump CIAs from their retail games and post these online.

That's what I think. So, please, be carefully of downloading pirated games before the public release.
It's more likely to happen with Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, in fact they'd be more than likely to hand out hyperbans to users who are playing the game before launch (especially if they use some online feature in the games). Just to be extra safe, stay completely offline when playing US/UM early.

As for a small game like Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (which got leaked recently), they're unlikely to heavily monitor it, but there's still the risk that people can still get a Friend Service ban though.
No, it just prevents your console from using online gameplay in most games, but it will still let you browse the internet and eshop no problem.
Not if you're hyperbanned. A full console ban will prevent access to all Nintendo Network services, including the Nintendo eShop with error code 022-2812 (and 002-0121 when attempting to authenticate with the Friend Service). But yeah, you'll still be able to use the web browser, however.
 

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It's more likely to happen with Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, in fact they'd be more than likely to hand out hyperbans to users who are playing the game before launch (especially if they use some online feature in the games). Just to be extra safe, stay completely offline when playing US/UM early.

As for a small game like Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (which got leaked recently), they're unlikely to heavily monitor it, but there's still the risk that people can still get a Friend Service ban though.

Not if you're hyperbanned. A full console ban will prevent access to all Nintendo Network services, including the Nintendo eShop with error code 022-2812 (and 002-0121 when attempting to authenticate with the Friend Service). But yeah, you'll still be able to use the web browser, however.
That's why I prefer to try US/UM later, I don't need it soon haha.
Superstar Saga is like Samus Return, so you won't be banned. They could only control the Tickets release in the first days, but games which haven't Online features are more safe than anyone (that's obv.)
 

Majickhat55

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Well, we never know...
Yes we do, in 90% of countries with consumer protection laws it's 100% illegal for them to render your personal console useless through a software update or otherwise. The most they can do is ban you from their private services from your broken EULA and continue to patch userland exploits. Nintendo cannot patch NTRbootHaX/CFW with a software update.
 

Majickhat55

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Thinking about all those Korean Wiis...
The Wiis that were bricked in the dreaded 4.2 update were all replaced by Nintendo if people sent them in, not to mention it was reversible if you had bootmii already (which most people with HomeBrew did). They didn't brick people on purpose either technically, they were trying to remotely patch an exploit in the bootloader by updating the boot2 with a patch and in the process bricked unmodified and modified consoles by writing incorrect or unchecked data to flash memory: Which they've never tried to do again since.
 

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That was a mistake from Nintendo and the hacker team, and it was not intentional.
It has been said multiple times already, they can't intentionally brick your system.
The Wiis that were bricked in the dreaded 4.2 update were all replaced by Nintendo if people sent them in, not to mention it was reversible if you had bootmii already (which most people with HomeBrew did). They didn't brick people on purpose either technically, they were trying to remotely patch an exploit in the bootloader by updating the boot2 with a patch and in the process bricked unmodified and modified consoles by writing incorrect or unchecked data to flash memory: Which they've never tried to do again since.
So this story is actually one of the reasons why they won't do that again. That's pretty interesting, thanks, the more you know
 
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So this story is actually one of the reasons why they won't do that again. That's pretty interesting, thanks, the more you know
They didn't want to do it in the first place. They won't do it because they legally can't. The device is yours (not the intellectual property). You can do whatever you want with it as long as it's not illegal. Even then you can still do it, the consequences are on you but they still can't do anything to your device. If you break the EULA they'll cut all access to their services but the device will still work.
Note that the EULA is not legally binding (especially if it goes against the law).
Going against the EULA and going against the law are two different things. Using homebrew is against the EULA but not against the law. Installing a CFW is against the EULA and depending on your country might be against the law.
 
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Elveman

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They didn't want to do it in the first place. They won't do it because they legally can't. The device is yours (not the intellectual property). You can do whatever you want with it as long as it's not illegal. Even then you can still do it, the consequences are on you but they still can't do anything to your device. If you break the EULA they'll cut all access to their services but the device will still work.
Note that the EULA is not legally binding (especially if it goes against the law).
Going against the EULA and going against the law are two different things. Using homebrew is against the EULA but not against the law. Installing a CFW is against the EULA and depending on your country might be against the law.
I'm not talking about intentional bricks, I'm talking about this:
they were trying to remotely patch an exploit in the bootloader by updating the boot2 with a patch and in the process bricked unmodified and modified consoles by writing incorrect or unchecked data to flash memory
i.e. unintentional bricks while trying to fix some sensitive things. Maybe that's also one of the reasons they didn't fix HaxChi (because this can potentially brick/semi-brick CBHC users). Anyway, thanks for clarification
 

Redferne

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I'm not talking about intentional bricks, I'm talking about this:

i.e. unintentional bricks while trying to fix some sensitive things. Maybe that's also one of the reasons they didn't fix HaxChi (because this can potentially brick/semi-brick CBHC users). Anyway, thanks for clarification
Well they've been patching exploit all this time. What do you think the "stability updates" are? :)
The only exploit they won't patch is NTRBoot because it requires a hardware revision and at this point it's not worth the time and money.
 

Majickhat55

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I'm not talking about intentional bricks, I'm talking about this:

i.e. unintentional bricks while trying to fix some sensitive things. Maybe that's also one of the reasons they didn't fix HaxChi (because this can potentially brick/semi-brick CBHC users). Anyway, thanks for clarification
It was unintentional in the sense that Nintendo didn't bother to test their shitty code before applying it to the update. They were still trying to patch a homebrew exploit, they just didn't care enough to check their code before disseminating it.

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

Well they've been patching exploit all this time. What do you think the "stability updates" are? :)
The only exploit they won't patch is NTRBoot because it requires a hardware revision and at this point it's not worth the time and money.
Hence the reason for the bans. If they can't remove your CFW remotely they can at least block you from their services!
 

Redferne

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Hence the reason for the bans. If they can't remove your CFW remotely they can at least block you from their services!
The problem is not removing the CFW, the problem is going around the FIRM protection from the CFW. Look at Gateway that doesn't have FIRM protection, you just need to update to lose your CFW without any risk.
As for the ban even with the worst ones, you can still launch your games.
 

Majickhat55

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The problem is not removing the CFW, the problem is going around the FIRM protection from the CFW. Look at Gateway that doesn't have FIRM protection, you just need to update to lose your CFW without any risk.
As for the ban even with the worst ones, you can still launch your games.
It is though, they can't remove the exploit the CFW runs from so it's moot because it does provide that protection. Also, not entirely true you only lose CFW on an O3DS, a N3DS will in fact softbrick trying to update a corrupted firm.

Of course you can still use the console, that's the entire reason people with CFW shouldn't be paranoid to the extreme about it. And the fact that simple online bans are reversible.
 

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It is though, they can't remove the exploit the CFW runs from so it's moot because it does provide that protection. Also, not entirely true you only lose CFW on an O3DS, a N3DS will in fact softbrick trying to update a corrupted firm.
Even with BS9? One argument for B9S is that the FIRM are properly signed not like in A9LH.
Of course you can still use the console, that's the entire reason people with CFW shouldn't be paranoid to the extreme about it. And the fact that simple online bans are reversible.
I totally agree. I mistook you for the guy I replied before, who think that Nintendo could intentionally brick his console.
 

Majickhat55

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Even with BS9? One argument for B9S is that the FIRM are properly signed not like in A9LH.

I totally agree. I mistook you for the guy I replied before, who think that Nintendo could intentionally brick his console.
Even with B9S when running Gateway in SysNAND. The firms aren't corrupted with B9S no but the nature of Gateway results in the same, for whatever reason. It is known.
 
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@Redferne as @Majickhat55 said it's the same outcome when Gateway is ran since it does not protect FIRM0/1.

So N3DS/N2DS will brick running Gateway and updating, Luma3DS and other CFW that protect FIMR0/1 will be fine might need to update the CFW files on your SD card from time to time but it won't remove B9S
 

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