# Where to buy an Old 3ds with exploitable firmware in the UK



## duwen (Aug 11, 2015)

I recently upgraded my old 3ds to a new 3dsxl - a purchase that I'm very pleased with (along with the recent acquisition of a Sky3ds - despite it's naysayers and the recent AP development, it does exactly what I bought it for), but I still have my old 3ds sitting on the shelf, feeling a little unloved.

I system transferred my old console to the new one - meaning both are now on the current firmware - and was planning to sell my old 3ds to a friend...
...but then it dawned on me - "Why don't I trade it in for the same model, but one that's on an exploitable firmware version? Then I can have me some of this CFW action that I'm a little envious of!"
This is now my goal.

So, this morning I trekked into my nearest town with the aim of doing just that... the outcome of which is that I still have my old 3ds on 9.9 fw. 

There are several shops in my town that sell new and pre-owned games and consoles. The main two being Game and CEX (both have a couple of stores here).
I'll start with the information gleaned from CEX, as it's short and not very sweet - CEX upgrade every used product they buy in, so don't expect to buy a pre-owned console from them on anything but the latest firmware (or certainly the firmware that was current when they bought it in).
Game were surprisingly really helpful, although ultimately unable to provide me with what I wanted.
Game don't upgrade their pre-owned 3ds's, but they do factory reset them. So, theoretically at least, they sell them with the firmware that was on them when they bought them in. The problem is they won't let you open them (as they seal all their pre-owned stock) to find out what firmware is on it. The only option is to buy one, take it home, and see how lucky you got. They will only give a full refund on an unopened item, or exchange if it's faulty. If it turns out you didn't get one with the firmware you were after you'd essentially have to trade in again (at a loss) in the hope that the next one they gave you would have the firmware you were after... not an exercise I was prepared to go through.

It was also slightly interesting that all the stores I tried commented that they'd never had anyone asking for a 3ds on an old firmware before. I told them that I found that surprising, but that they maybe ought to expect it to happen more regularly.

If anyone else has further information on this topic, please comment.
I'm considering my options, and at the moment it looks like I'll be resorting back to plan A and selling my old 3ds to a friend.
Amazon.co.uk are currently selling brand new Ice White old 3ds's with a download code for New Super Mario Bros 2 Special Edition for £94.01, and I'm led to believe that all 'new stock' old 3ds's will have firmware lower than 9.0 - at the moment, this is my frontrunner option.
Ebay will be my backup plan.

Anyway - I thought I'd post my findings in the hope that it helps others out.

tl;dr - finding a 3ds with exploitable fw = not as easy as hoped


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## Lucifer666 (Aug 11, 2015)

All brand new old 3DS systems are on exploitable fw

Alternatively just look for an old 3DS on eBay and if the firmware isn't listed (most of the times it's not), message the seller and ask. most should respond fairly quick


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## duwen (Aug 11, 2015)

Well, my friend has offered me a fairly generous £60 for my old one (he's not bothered about having an exploitable console, he knows mine is in mint condition with all original packaging and peripherals, and it's still cheaper than him buying pre-owned on the high street), so I decided to order the Ice White O3ds (with NSMB2:SE download code) from Amazon for £94.
...I'm justifying the little extra outlay with the fact that if I were to buy NSMB2 off of the eshop it would cost me £40 - the fact that I would never spend £40 on a download title is irrelevant! 
Hopefully it will be delivered before the end of the week. I'll report back with what firmware it's got, in case anyone else is interested in making a similar purchase.


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## duwen (Aug 15, 2015)

My new O3ds from Amazon arrived today.
Just posting to let others know of the firmware that it comes with: Ver. 2.1.0-4E

...now I need to figure out my next steps to back up sysnand, and create emunand


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