Hacking "game card has been removed" error and spi test fail

[bobbintb]

I got my Gateway card and followed the instruction but when I tested a game it get the "game card has been removed" message. I ran the diagnostic and it says the SPI test (and at times SPI read test) failed. I read you can fix it with the test rom but I haven't seen any clear instruction on how to do so. When I image the test rom on the sd card and run diagnostics it just stays on the SD test indefinitely. Any help is appreciated.

 

[kyogre123]

Protip: Don't run Diagnostic Test ever again.

 

[Dust2dust]

Good advice, kyogre123, but it doesn't really help him much with his problem. First, make sure you're not using 2.0b2 firmware. Switch immediately to 2.0b1. In your situation with a possibly defective Gateway card, it's very important. You don't want your 3DS bricked.

Next, test with a different microSD, if possible, and different games. If you can see the game's icon in Gateway mode, but get the Gamecard was removed message as soon as you try to launch it, your Gateway card may be defective. I had the exact same problem with my first Gateway card. I had it replaced, and the second one works flawlessly. Good luck.

 

[bobbintb]

I do see the icon first. I will try what you suggested. Hopefully it will work as I really don't want to deal with the vendor. It took long enough to get here as it is. I suspect it is defective or damaged though. The vendor did not package it well at all as it was out of the box and just loose in the padded envelope. Out of curiosity, who was your vendor?

 

[alexenochs]

Protip: Don't run Diagnostic Test ever again.

unless your on 2.02b i think diagnosis is safe however if your on 2.02b just be glad your 3ds works still

 

[Dust2dust]

My vendor was modchipcentral, in Canada. They were cool about replacing it.

 

[IronClouds]

I had a similar issue with my first Gateway. I just contacted the vendor (RealHotStuff) and they replaced it. I had to pay return shipping, but whatever. Was only a few bucks. My point is that you should contact your vendor and look into replacing it.

 

[bobbintb]

I tried different ROMs and cards, still the same thing. Is there a guide to downgrade to 1.2 from 2.0b2? I tried to just follow the same procedure but I cannot get into the Gateway menu. It just freezes when I hold L and click on the profile button.

 

[gamesquest1]

there is no menu with 1.2, just the LED diagnostics

 

[gamesquest1]

there is no menu with 1.2, just the LED diagnostics

to somewhat prove its a faulty card(save chip), run one of the kiosk demo carts, they don't save so they will run perfectly fine

 

[bobbintb]

there is no menu with 1.2, just the LED diagnostics

How do I enter diagnostics then? Or use the testrom to correct the SPI?

 

[gamesquest1]

if its not been fixed by running diagnostics, you can give running the test rom a shot, but if its still not working, the chip may be broken, only thing you can do is either get a replacement from your reseller, if that's not a option, its possible that 2.0 final (if the ever release it) would bypass the issue as it would be saving directly to the SD so its might not be using the built in spi chip.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I tried different ROMs and cards, still the same thing. Is there a guide to downgrade to 1.2 from 2.0b2? I tried to just follow the same procedure but I cannot get into the Gateway menu. It just freezes when I hold L and click on the profile button.

Simply download the version you want, and place the launcher.dat on the 3DS SD card. 2.0b1 and lower are brick-safe, some suggest to use 1.2 as b1 has some occasional trouble saving. I use b1 myself. When it doesn't save correctly (gets stuck on closing the game) I simply restart the 3DS, load the game back up, change something or save the game manually, then close it again so it saves.

 

[mznova]

The Test Rom only worked on firmware 1.2 for me. When I did it on 2.0b1, I got a failed test every time, but it passed with a game rom. Makes no sense but either do the test on 1.2 or just load up roms and make sure you can save properly.

 

[bobbintb]

How do I run the diagnostic test on 1.2 though? I've been looking but can only find how to do it for 2.0x

 

[gamesquest1]

Just hold L like how you enter gateway menu on 2.0 but instead of a menu a light will appear on the back of the card and cycle through some colours. if you read the 1.2 readme it will tell you what each light means

 

[bobbintb]

Just hold L like how you enter gateway menu on 2.0 but instead of a menu a light will appear on the back of the card and cycle through some colours. if you read the 1.2 readme it will tell you what each light means

The test rom doesn't seem to be working for some reason. The LED goes from red to green with or without the test rom. When trying the test rom there is no flashing or anything. It just acts the same as if there were no test rom.

 

[gamesquest1]

try running one of the kiosk demo's see if its actually reading the SD card properly

 

[Reecey]

Just run 2.0b2 bud its much easier. You have gone in to diagnostics mode once but it will probably be OK if it has not bricked first time around. If something goes wrong though don't blame me please! I have been on 2.0b2 with both 3DS/XL systems and touch wood no problems so far but then again I have never ran diagnostics mode on either!

 

[gamesquest1]

Well if he has spi errors running any variation of launchers won't help, he will with have to get a replacement or hope 2.0 final Bypasses the need for the spi chip