I wanted to make this little blog post to help try and inform users why they should stop using rxTools (a custom firmware for the Nintendo 3DS), since some users might not know what's happening or what they should do. Any additional info or pointing out inaccuracies would be appreciated.
tl;dr rxTools might not boot your EmuNAND anymore when Nintendo releases another update! You should switch away as soon as possible to prevent issues with any future system updates.
rxTools works for me right now. Why should I switch?
It's true that rxTools currently does work and can boot the latest version (11.2.0-35) through EmuNAND at the time of this writing, and that all(?) of the custom firmware features work as intended right now.
That's part of the problem: it "works", but it doesn't "work properly". Because of this and a few other reasons, rxTools will soon no longer work and you'll be forced to switch.
The biggest reason to move is the main rxTools no longer gets updates, it's basically a discontinued project. It will not get updates to fix bugs or support future firmwares.
"rxMode" of rxTools is still using the NATIVE_FIRM (the "firmware") for 9.6.0-24, and it could get away with doing this for the longest time, because of how the kernel version works. Games and applications only check the major and minor parts of the kernel version. 9.6 has 2.50-1, so the major and minor is 2.50. 10.0, 10.2, and 10.4 updated it to 2.50-7, 2.50-9, and 2.50-11 respectively, but 9.6 could be used just fine since the revision (the -1, -7, -9, and -11) isn't checked.
11.0.0-33 was the first update since 9.6 to update the minor version, so it is now 2.51-0. However, nothing in the 11.0 update actually requires this kernel version yet. In particular things like Home Menu (last updated 10.6.0-31) and ErrDisp ("error display", last updated 9.0.0-20) have yet to be updated to require the 2.51 kernel or later. This is why you can still use 11.0 with rxTools/2.50 kernel. No known games or applications use this yet either.
11.1.0-34 and 11.2.0-34 bumped the version up to 2.51-2 and 2.52-0 respectively, but still no system titles require 2.51, therefore older NATIVE_FIRM versions can still boot 11.2.
There is a good chance that Nintendo will update an important title to require the kernel version to be 2.51 or later, which means it will no longer boot on rxTools since it's still using 2.50, which then means your EmuNAND no longer works!
It's highly recommended you switch to a different custom firmware soon, before a future update is released and renders rxMode unusable.
As an extra, games will soon be released requiring 2.51 or later, making them unplayable on rxTools, regardless of what version you're on.
But I need the tools! Like NCCHInfo Padgen, NAND dumping, etc.
Take a look at Decrypt9WIP by d0k3, it has all the features you'd need from rxTools (content decryption, dumping, etc).
Oh, I'll just stay on 11.0.0-33/11.1.0-34/11.2.0-35!
Doing this doesn't give you any actual benefit; you're trying hard to stay behind on outdated software. And older is not better in this case, unfortunately.
This only really worked for 9.5 on New3DS, because it was impossible to go beyond that for the longest time. Now since this is no longer an issue and you can go past 9.5, there's little reason to actually stay behind on custom firmware.
Keep in mind that trying to stay behind won't work for long or it will be rather tedious to do. You would be doing the same thing as users who have not downgraded yet, and want to stay behind on "official firmware".
Updating things like the friends system module and eShop can stop working at any moment when they are updated to require the 2.51 kernel version or later. updating a sysmodule that can't start could make the 2.50 kernel unable to start the module, rendering the EmuNAND un-bootable or at the very least cause games to not function.
Games can also start requiring 2.51 or later, making them unable to start on rxTools.
You could use ctr-httpwn, but this means you need to keep using the Homebrew Launcher/*hax to stay online. This is not a good choice because it's not a permanent solution, when you have much better permanent solutions to stay updated and use online services. It also doesn't work with extended memory games on Old3DS (Smash Bros/Monster Hunter/etc), rendering it ineffective when you play these games.
Okay, so what should I start using instead?
In most cases (and what you'll be suggested a lot), your best option is Luma3DS by Aurora Wright. It is a noob-friendly custom firmware with several features that rxTools has, plus more:
https://github.com/AuroraWright/Luma3DS/wiki/Installation-and-Upgrade
If you are using a boot manager like CTRBootManager or BootCTR, you can switch "rxTools/sys/code.bin" to "Luma3DS.dat". The same offset (0x12000) works just fine.
Are there any other options? What if I want to use something else?
There's more options for custom firmware that you can take a look at if you are interested. Look at Crystal the Glaceon's thread on "What CFW is best for me?".
I found this fork of rxTools that's actively updated, what about that?
You probably mean dukesrg's fork of rxTools. I don't think he is interested in working on the "custom firmware" part aka "rxMode", they're instead working on the 'tools'. If you are interested in seeing this project move forward, check out the thread and you can help support the project.
tl;dr rxTools might not boot your EmuNAND anymore when Nintendo releases another update! You should switch away as soon as possible to prevent issues with any future system updates.
rxTools works for me right now. Why should I switch?
It's true that rxTools currently does work and can boot the latest version (11.2.0-35) through EmuNAND at the time of this writing, and that all(?) of the custom firmware features work as intended right now.
That's part of the problem: it "works", but it doesn't "work properly". Because of this and a few other reasons, rxTools will soon no longer work and you'll be forced to switch.
The biggest reason to move is the main rxTools no longer gets updates, it's basically a discontinued project. It will not get updates to fix bugs or support future firmwares.
"rxMode" of rxTools is still using the NATIVE_FIRM (the "firmware") for 9.6.0-24, and it could get away with doing this for the longest time, because of how the kernel version works. Games and applications only check the major and minor parts of the kernel version. 9.6 has 2.50-1, so the major and minor is 2.50. 10.0, 10.2, and 10.4 updated it to 2.50-7, 2.50-9, and 2.50-11 respectively, but 9.6 could be used just fine since the revision (the -1, -7, -9, and -11) isn't checked.
11.0.0-33 was the first update since 9.6 to update the minor version, so it is now 2.51-0. However, nothing in the 11.0 update actually requires this kernel version yet. In particular things like Home Menu (last updated 10.6.0-31) and ErrDisp ("error display", last updated 9.0.0-20) have yet to be updated to require the 2.51 kernel or later. This is why you can still use 11.0 with rxTools/2.50 kernel. No known games or applications use this yet either.
11.1.0-34 and 11.2.0-34 bumped the version up to 2.51-2 and 2.52-0 respectively, but still no system titles require 2.51, therefore older NATIVE_FIRM versions can still boot 11.2.
There is a good chance that Nintendo will update an important title to require the kernel version to be 2.51 or later, which means it will no longer boot on rxTools since it's still using 2.50, which then means your EmuNAND no longer works!
It's highly recommended you switch to a different custom firmware soon, before a future update is released and renders rxMode unusable.
As an extra, games will soon be released requiring 2.51 or later, making them unplayable on rxTools, regardless of what version you're on.
But I need the tools! Like NCCHInfo Padgen, NAND dumping, etc.
Take a look at Decrypt9WIP by d0k3, it has all the features you'd need from rxTools (content decryption, dumping, etc).
Oh, I'll just stay on 11.0.0-33/11.1.0-34/11.2.0-35!
Doing this doesn't give you any actual benefit; you're trying hard to stay behind on outdated software. And older is not better in this case, unfortunately.
This only really worked for 9.5 on New3DS, because it was impossible to go beyond that for the longest time. Now since this is no longer an issue and you can go past 9.5, there's little reason to actually stay behind on custom firmware.
Keep in mind that trying to stay behind won't work for long or it will be rather tedious to do. You would be doing the same thing as users who have not downgraded yet, and want to stay behind on "official firmware".
Updating things like the friends system module and eShop can stop working at any moment when they are updated to require the 2.51 kernel version or later. updating a sysmodule that can't start could make the 2.50 kernel unable to start the module, rendering the EmuNAND un-bootable or at the very least cause games to not function.
Games can also start requiring 2.51 or later, making them unable to start on rxTools.
You could use ctr-httpwn, but this means you need to keep using the Homebrew Launcher/*hax to stay online. This is not a good choice because it's not a permanent solution, when you have much better permanent solutions to stay updated and use online services. It also doesn't work with extended memory games on Old3DS (Smash Bros/Monster Hunter/etc), rendering it ineffective when you play these games.
Okay, so what should I start using instead?
In most cases (and what you'll be suggested a lot), your best option is Luma3DS by Aurora Wright. It is a noob-friendly custom firmware with several features that rxTools has, plus more:
- Region-free patches that also work properly with out-of-region game cards (removes update partition checks)
- Region and language emulation like NTR CFW
- Force New 3DS CPU to always use faster clock speed and L2 cache
- arm9loaderhax support
- Automatic AGB_FIRM/TWL_FIRM patches
- Ability to use up to four EmuNANDs/RedNANDs
https://github.com/AuroraWright/Luma3DS/wiki/Installation-and-Upgrade
If you are using a boot manager like CTRBootManager or BootCTR, you can switch "rxTools/sys/code.bin" to "Luma3DS.dat". The same offset (0x12000) works just fine.
Are there any other options? What if I want to use something else?
There's more options for custom firmware that you can take a look at if you are interested. Look at Crystal the Glaceon's thread on "What CFW is best for me?".
I found this fork of rxTools that's actively updated, what about that?
You probably mean dukesrg's fork of rxTools. I don't think he is interested in working on the "custom firmware" part aka "rxMode", they're instead working on the 'tools'. If you are interested in seeing this project move forward, check out the thread and you can help support the project.
