Hacking It seems that someome has found a way to reset eMMC to fix bricks

[TomJinWoo95]

the original post is here(http://infinityconsole.org/forum/guide-e-modding/549-guida-al-debrick-del-nintendo-3ds.html), which is written in Italian. But I can't read Italian and the Google Translate sucks when the post is translated in Chinese.(English is better, though)

Then I tried to read in English and get some of the main idea. (Sorry for my bad English)

You must have the NAND backup or the Emunand Backup from softwares like Emunand Tool which belongs to your own console.
These steps are followed using Windows, not a Mac.
the main idea is to do the hardware mod on the 3DS and plug the modified SD card into a Raspberry PI.(something like a small computer with SD card and Internet support,about 35 dollars in China) Then you should connect Raspberry PI and the Windows PC in the same network. Then fix the eMMC with PC and Raspberry and finally flash the original nand with backup.

Details are translated into English version (I'm not resopnsible for the translation!)
http://translate.google.com.hk/tran...ng/549-guida-al-debrick-del-nintendo-3ds.html

I wish someone would make a better translation.

 

[Xexyz]

the original post is here(http://infinityconsole.org/forum/guide-e-modding/549-guida-al-debrick-del-nintendo-3ds.html), which is written in Italian. But I can't read Italian and the Google Translate sucks when the post is translated in Chinese.(English is better, though)

Then I tried to read in English and get some of the main idea. (Sorry for my bad English)

You must have the NAND backup or the Emunand Backup from softwares like Emunand Tool which belongs to your own console.
These steps are followed using Windows, not a Mac.
the main idea is to do the hardware mod on the 3DS and plug the modified SD card into a Raspberry PI.(something like a small computer with SD card and Internet support,about 35 dollars in China) Then you should connect Raspberry PI and the Windows PC in the same network. Then fix the eMMC with PC and Raspberry and finally flash the original nand with backup.

Details are translated into English version (I'm not resopnsible for the translation!)
http://translate.google.com.hk/tran...ng/549-guida-al-debrick-del-nintendo-3ds.html

I wish someone would make a better translation.

There's already a thread about this

 

[TomJinWoo95]

OK, I just ignore that, sorry for posting again.

 

[TomJinWoo95]

OK, I just ignore that, sorry for posting again.

 

[kyogre123]

You are posting a link to what is probably a translation of a thread of this same subforum... nice

 

[bkifft]

I wish someone would make a better translation.

And your wish shall be (retroactively even ) granted: https://github.com/bkifft/RPU/blob/master/RPU_guide.txt .

You are posting a link to what is probably a translation of a thread of this same subforum... nice

As far as I can tell it's not even a translation but a blatant ripoff of http://www.moddingstudio.com/content.php?1697-Guida-al-recupero-dei-3DS-brickati-(Gateway-brick) which was done by pizzatime

 

[Msparky83]

Wow, just wow. Thanks bkifft and ryuga for your wonderful app (hang in their Krisztian, things will work out for your setup) that I cant wait to sample when I receive my Pi, and great job pizzatime for your wonderful guide with pics. Now, if someone could make a video.... any takers?

In the end, there was absolutely no reason for this wonderful guide to be plagiarised, and credits should have at least been given to those who deserved it.

 

[KamazasBl]

Sorry to revive this, but i just read the entire guide, and it just suggests itself isn't it possible to do this without raspberry pi? for example using virtual linux or normal computer with linux? or is the code somehow designed for raspberry only?

 

[Elusivo]

I can imagine you can use for example a simple rs232 to spi converter using a cheap pic chip (or maybe even a standalone pic chip or whatever dongle with code just for erasing the nand), but i don't think it's worth the trouble...

 

[Mr_Pichu]

I can imagine you can use for example a simple rs232 to spi converter using a cheap pic chip (or maybe even a standalone pic chip or whatever dongle with code just for erasing the nand), but i don't think it's worth the trouble...

Quite a number of pic chips have an SPI interface and cost is as little as $0.50 per unit. There are a few 8 pin devices that might work for the suggested application. No external power would be required.

I had previously posted sample schematics and code.
http://www.microchip.com/forums/m530149.aspx

 

[bkifft]

Sorry to revive this, but i just read the entire guide, and it just suggests itself isn't it possible to do this without raspberry pi? for example using virtual linux or normal computer with linux? or is the code somehow designed for raspberry only?

RPU uses the dedicated EMMC interface of the Broadcom SoC (in other words it's RPi only and will lead to strange behavior when run on another system).

Krisztians and Ryugis code is suitable for all microcontrollers that offer SPI (and can even be rewritten to bitbang over regular GPIOs).

You just need 4 parallel data lines at 3.3V logic with low level access (e.g. USB SD readers won't work, while PCIe or PCMCIA SD readers should).

 

[gamesquest1]

Any way of testing it out on Linux? I have an old mmc card and a build in SD. Reader on my laptop

 

[bkifft]

Any way of testing it out on Linux? I have an old mmc card and a build in SD. Reader on my laptop

just boot linux (any livecd will do) and check if the sd reader (or better said SD/MMC cards) are detected as /dev/mmcblck0 (good) or /dev/sdX (bad).

you/someone will have to write an dedicated unlock tool for that though.

 

[Mr_Pichu]

Here is a working sd locker/unlocker bulilt with a micro controller including source code:
http://www.seanet.com/~karllunt/sdlocker2.html

 

[Deleted User]

Noob question.
Do I need to open the 3ds for this process?
Can I unbrick the 3ds without touching his hardware?

 

[KamazasBl]

Noob question.
Do I need to open the 3ds for this process?
Can I unbrick the 3ds without touching his hardware?

http://gbatemp.net/attachments/02black-jpg.6294/ i think hardly..

 

[bkifft]

Noob question.
Do I need to open the 3ds for this process?
Can I unbrick the 3ds without touching his hardware?

Unless the 3DS has some kind of low level recovery mode (which should have been found by now) there will be no software only recovery option (as for that you'd need to get software running on the brick).

 

[Msparky83]

Unless the 3DS has some kind of low level recovery mode (which should have been found by now) there will be no software only recovery option (as for that you'd need to get software running on the brick).

To do that, one would have to be able to access "Service Mode" (if one exists) to be able to use said software, and to do that we would have to have and know how to manipulate the boot rom and its code.

 

[obcd]

We know from the Team f0f presentation at 30C3 that the wiiu can boot from it's sd slot if it contains the properly signed stuff. It's very well possible that the 3ds has such a recovery mechanism as well. eMMC contents can become corrupt (for instance due to a low battery condition during writing) It's in Ninty's own interest if they can fix such a unit without much trouble, specially during it's warranty period. Even if it exists, without the proper keys to sign stuff, it's not something you can use unless you are ninty.
We'll have to wait till someone gets his 3ds back with the recovery sd forgotten in the sd slot...

 

[Foxi4]

We know from the Team f0f presentation at 30C3 that the wiiu can boot from it's sd slot if it contains the properly signed stuff. It's very well possible that the 3ds has such a recovery mechanism as well. eMMC contents can become corrupt (for instance due to a low battery condition during writing) It's in Ninty's own interest if they can fix such a unit without much trouble, specially during it's warranty period. Even if it exists, without the proper keys to sign stuff, it's not something you can use unless you are ninty.
We'll have to wait till someone gets his 3ds back with the recovery sd forgotten in the sd slot...

The eMMC controller is not meant to be written into - it contains scripts used when writing to and reading from NAND. If you power your 3DS off during writing to NAND, you will corrupt the NAND, but you won't corrupt the memory controller, and the bricks you're talking about are specifically caused by formatting that controller. The moment the controller blanked, the only way to write anything to it is by connecting it to a low-level access device. This is not a matter of Ninty's best interest, there is no fail-safe, this is just how eMMC works.