Hacking Where to get a firmware 4.5 or below 3DS XL?

[drfsupercenter]

Frick!
Just got home, opened up the box for my ©2012 blue 3DS XL, it has firmware 6.1.

I'm thinking Nintendo is just reusing the same boxes for all their units, even those made in 2013.

Serial number aside, I also noticed the UPC from the box was different than the older one I had. At Target, they both ring up the same, as the same Target SKU, but on the back of the box it's different.

The serial number on mine is SW1331XXXX0

The UPC is 045496780586

Well crap. I might have to do what someone else did, buy one somewhere else and try to swap them. At Target they didn't even scan the serial number so you could essentially buy one and return the other. (It's open, but I could just say it's defective, somehow)

I guess I was a bit naive since the last time I bought a 3DS XL I was told having ©2012 on the box meant it was guaranteed to be 4.5 or below. We really need to make a sticky with confirmed info serial/UPC wise, since nobody wants to wade through 34 pages of posts just to find some relevant info (that's what happened in my case)... use the info I provided as another example of a 2012 box that's updated (it's 6.1 even, not 5.x)

 

[vampirebat]

Sw1044****
any one know this serial id number is fw4.5?

 

[Nurio]

Sw104485277 any one know this serial id number is fw4.5?

Very high chance it has firmware 4.5 or below.

 

[gotu]

well check if it has a lower number than reported in this thread SUH number and 2012 incase !!to make it easier

Thanks, but will keep it anyway

 

[Aisorik]

SW129x Black/Black 3DS XL with 5.1 Game over

All the US Blacks are 5.1 I think. (I own one) Haven't you been reading the thread?

EDIT: Just got my red from Amazon. SW10, 4.2. So good.

 

[drfsupercenter]

EDIT: Just got my red from Amazon. SW10, 4.2. So good.

What seller was it? I might consider getting one from there if that same seller has blue ones.

And yes, all black 3DS XLs are 5.x or higher. Those weren't even out until after 5.x came out.

I'm going to check the local Best Buy to see if they have a 12 or lower serial number in stock, but I am doubtful at this point.

 

[Aisorik]

Amazon itself, not third-party. Backordered from last month during the $150 sale.

 

[drfsupercenter]

I was under the impression that Amazon doesn't sell 3DS XLs themselves due to a fallout with Nintendo... pull up any of them on there and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Aisorik]

They started selling them again not so long ago. Checking the page now, the red 3DS XL is just out of stock, so why they're only showing third-parties.

 

[drfsupercenter]

Weird. I don't think I've ever seen XLs on Amazon for list price or lower, they were all third parties. But I also didn't see their Black Friday sales on consoles.

Hopefully my local Best Buy will have a 12 or under, otherwise I'll have to try Walmart, where else would I look? I doubt GameStop would be of use since they don't stock large amounts of them.

 

[Aisorik]

It was real. Here's the deal I got in on http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/107430/amazon---nintendo-3ds-xl-handheld-console-redblack

 

[Aisorik]

EDIT: Double post.

 

[Lush]

i bought 5 new DSs last week from walmart in canada... 2 blue (SW1071x 4.2) 1 red (SW1268x 4.5), 1 red 2ds for my 2 year old son, and 1 black 3ds for legit use... Each came with a $40 gift card... It seems the SW12 and below can't miss in north america...

 

[drfsupercenter]

Went to my local Best Buy during lunch break

Didn't see any 3DS/XL/2DS at all in the video games aisle, just some empty boxes representing one. So I asked a salesperson if they had any, he said yeah they have plenty and asked what color I wanted.

So I said I want a blue one, he walked to the front of the store (there's a locked room past the checkouts with all the consoles), came out with a serial number SW13* system. Since the door was still open and he was standing right there, I said "actually I'm looking for an older unit, one that has a 12 in the serial number, can you see if you happen to have any of those?"

He came back out 30 seconds later with a 12

Also, as I thought... different UPC than my 1331XXXX.

The UPC on this unit is 045496780043, whereas on the newer 2012 box that had a serial number 1331XXXX and 6.1, it was 045496780586
Anyone else want to share what the UPC code is on the box? While the serial numbers are probably a good indication of what firmware it has, I'm thinking that Nintendo changed the UPC when they started shipping updated units (even though they kept the 2012 box)

My new one has a serial of SW1278XXXXX, even though the 78 is a bit high I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed. Will update you guys when I get home from work tonight and very carefully open the box (that way I can return the old unit in the new box, they won't think I opened it

 

[BigGamerz]

I really need to read this thread more thoroughly next time.

Just bought a 3ds with 2012 on the box but I did not know about the serial number thing so it ended being a 6.1
SW was a #134

Thankfully Target allowed me to return it, but now I would like to know what the general consensus is when picking out one with a small number.

So far,

2012 is good but not an indicator anymore
The lower the first two SW the better
Even if the first two SW is 12, it needs to be as low as possible or else it might be 5.x

Is there any other information that would help me pick one out?

 

[moosehunter]

I really need to read this thread more thoroughly next time.

Just bought a 3ds with 2012 on the box but I did not know about the serial number thing so it ended being a 6.1
SW was a #134

Thankfully Target allowed me to return it, but now I would like to know what the general consensus is when picking out one with a small number.

So far,

2012 is good but not an indicator anymore
The lower the first two SW the better
Even if the first two SW is 12, it needs to be as low as possible or else it might be 5.x

Is there any other information that would help me pick one out?

All the 3DS units I've bought were 1270, and all of them had 4.5. From looking at this thread, it appears that that the cutoff is somewhere above 1270. I couldn't give an exact number, but getting a 1270 or below seems to be safe.

 

[drfsupercenter]

I will let you guys know about 1278 later.

While we're posting serial numbers, can you guys humor me and post the UPC codes too? I'm seriously thinking that will be a better way to determine it than serials, since the 6.1 unit I bought had a different UPC than the 4.4 one I had bought a couple months ago. This new 1278 unit has a different UPC than the 6.1 as well (I don't have the box from the 4.4 anymore so I can't check if those two match)

 

[BigGamerz]

I will let you guys know about 1278 later.

While we're posting serial numbers, can you guys humor me and post the UPC codes too? I'm seriously thinking that will be a better way to determine it than serials, since the 6.1 unit I bought had a different UPC than the 4.4 one I had bought a couple months ago. This new 1278 unit has a different UPC than the 6.1 as well (I don't have the box from the 4.4 anymore so I can't check if those two match)

Sorry don't know what UPC was. I just put it back in the box and returned it. No fuss thankfully. Where and what is the UPC and what info do we have about it?

 

[drfsupercenter]

UPC is the barcode they scan at the store.

Here's a quick picture I got via Google images and made it pretty obvious so you can't miss it.

At Target, both the older 4.x units and the 6.1 one I bought ring up the same in the computer (I actually bought one and returned the other, since they didn't scan the serial number when I bought it )

So here's the facts I know right now.

SW1331XXXX0 has a UPC of 045496780586 and comes with firmware 6.1
SW1278XXXXX has a UPC of 045496780043 and comes with ???

I will check it later and let you guys know. I'm not 100% positive, but I *think* my 4.4 3DS also ended in 80043, so this might be promising.

What I'd like to figure out is:
Do the UPC numbers correspond to what firmware comes with the system? If so, we can have a better way to tell than just guessing from serials alone.

So please, anyone sharing your results after this post, please post the UPC along with the first digits of the serial, it's not that hard and it might help some of us out!

--Edit--

Oh, I probably should have specified - both of the ones mentioned are for the blue 3DS XL (and they both said 2012 on the box)

Red or pink will have different UPCs, I'm like 99% sure. But share those if you have them!

--Edit 2--

Oh, I just noticed. I know it's hard to read the first half of the UPC due to that watermark, but notice how the UPC of the image I posted is the same as my SW1278XXXXX console - 045496780043. And that image has also existed back when all 2012 consoles we knew of came with 4.x. So I'm thinking that the original SKU of the 3DS XL in blue was 045496780043 and after they changed the firmware to 5.x they changed the SKU

Or at least they changed it for 6.x. Since my 6.1 console had a different SKU as you can see from my posts.

 

[BigGamerz]

Ahhh, Now I know what you're talking. Though it's too late, I returned the xl hours after I bought it