Hacking [TUTORIAL] How to downgrade sysNAND and maintain old data (like Mii, StreetPass, etc)

[mvmiranda]

Hello guys,

After I needed to do this and one user asked me how I did this for his own reasons, I decided to create this little tutorial explaining how you could downgrade from 9.2< to 4.X using Gateway DGPacks while keeping your old sysNAND data, like Miis, Mii Plaza data, StreetPass and Friend List.

I claim no credits for this as I only used already released work (tools) from other people.
Credits go to the creators of:
3DSFAT16tool
3DS Multi Decrypter
etc

TIP1:
It's required that you take NAND backups. It doesn't really matter what "type" of backup you take: GW or HW mod. Although having the HD mod will save you if something goes wrong in the first try (as it happened to me, but since I was going this on emuNAND I just wrote back a backup and started over)

Prerequisites:
1) Python 2.7.9 64bits
2) 3DSFAT16tool (here)
3) 3DS Multi Decrypter (here)
4) slot0x25KeyX.bin (I won't give it to you but you know how to find it... Google is your friend! )
5) WinImage (here)

The steps:
01) Do a backup of you current 8.1 sysNAND and ENTIRE SD Card!!!
02) Downgrade to 4.5 using Gateway ULTRA + DGPacks (Gateway downgrader) and do a backup of it!!!
03) Using the 3DS Multi Decryptor extract your NAND XORPADS (4th option)
04) Using 3DSFAT16tool extract your 8.1 sysNAND FAT16 (the one you have the data to be extracted) and your new 4.5 sysNAND FAT16
05) Using padxorer.exe un-XOR both FAT16 partitions (very straight forward)
06) Rename the .out files to .iso so you could open them with WinImage
07) Using WinImage extract the following "saves" from your 8.1 sysNAND (the one you have the data to be extracted) to some place in your computer

Common to USA, EUR and JPN
extdata

0xf000000b - Misc data for Miis and a lot of other stuff​

sysdata

0x00010032 - Friends module savegame​

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
JPN only
sysdata

0x0002008D - Friend List applet savegame​

0x00020207 - Mii Maker application savegame​

0x00020208 - StreetPass Mii Plaza application savegame​

USA only
sysdata

0x00020096 - Friend List applet savegame​

0x00020217 - Mii Maker application savegame​

0x00020218 - StreetPass Mii Plaza application savegame​

EUR only
sysdata

0x0002009F - Friend List applet savegame​

0x00020227 - Mii Maker application savegame​

0x00020228 - StreetPass Mii Plaza application savegame​

08) Using WinIso inject the saves you extracted to your 4.5 sysNAND (the downgraded and clean one)
09) Save your 4.5 FAT16 ISO file
10) re-XOR your modified FAT16 file for 4.5 NAND with the same command
11) Using 3DSFAT16tool inject your encrypted modified FAT16 to your sysNAND 4.5
*** If everything went OK until now you should already have a working 4.5 sysNAND with your old NAND shared saves working. This is good!
*** Do not boot your 3DS yet!
*** Since the saves are "split" (some of them) between the SD card and the NAND, you'll need your SD card inserted before booting.
12) Insert your SD card (I'm assuming you did a backup of it just in case anything goes wrong).
13) Turn your 3DS on and see if everything is there. If not, double check you copied the correct saves and your SD card if properly inserted.

TIP2
The very first time I opened my Friend List, after a ridiculous amount of time (more than 5 minutes) the console appeared to be frozen, so hard powered it off and did the process another time from scratch. The second time it "hanged" for too long again, then I shouted "f*uck it" and left the console alone.
I went to do something else and after 20 minutes, when I came back, the friend list was there, so don't panic if your Friend List takes too long to open.
For the sake of sanity I did the whole process a third time and timed the Friend List opening from tap until it actually open. It took 10 minutes!

PS: if you see any error or if you have anything to add, please, post bellow!

Thanks!

 

[LoneGrenade]

I'm not really sure what the purpose is, can you explain why you had to do this?

When I downgraded, all my features seemed to be working fine. Then again, I never checked the mii plaza, but my friends list definitely worked as it normally would.

 

[mvmiranda]

I'm not really sure what the purpose is, can you explain why you had to do this?

When I downgraded, all my features seemed to be working fine. Then again, I never checked the mii plaza, but my friends list definitely worked as it normally would.

Nice!
I had to do this for a very specific reason, actually, but for emuNAND.

Basically all of my data (mii, mii plaza data, streetpass, friend list, etc) in on my emuNAND while my sysNAND is completely "blank", as I only used it to access my emuNAND.

So I had to create a brand new emuNAND from scratch (format emuNAND in GW menu). This made my brand new emuNAND to be an exact copy of my sysNAND also "blank", with no old data at all, of course

So I had to "figure out" how to move my old emuNAND NAND shared saves to my new "blank" emuNAND, after I have updated it to 9.4.

So, if you have data on your sysNAND 5.0+ (mii, streetpass, etc) and you decide to do a downgrade, will this wipe the data of your sysNAND or the data will be preserved?

 

[LoneGrenade]

Nice!
I had to do this for a very specific reason, actually, but for emuNAND.

Basically all of my data (mii, mii plaza data, streetpass, friend list, etc) in on my emuNAND while my sysNAND is completely "blank", as I only used it to access my emuNAND.

So I had to create a brand new emuNAND from scratch (format emuNAND in GW menu). This made my brand new emuNAND to be an exact copy of my sysNAND also "blank", with no old data at all, of course

So I had to "figure out" how to move my old emuNAND NAND shared saves to my new "blank" emuNAND, after I have updated it to 9.4.

So, if you have data on your sysNAND 5.0+ (mii, streetpass, etc) and you decide to do a downgrade, will this wipe the data of your sysNAND or the data will be preserved?

I believe that it completely preserves your data. I haven't looked into it much, but when I downgraded from 9.2, everything seemed to be intact.

Thanks for the clarification and nice tutorial.

Edit: I'm currently back on 9.2 so I can play my retail Pokemon saves, sorry that I can't check on that for you. I'm sure there are other people that can confirm it though.

 

[Celebrimbor360]

I was on 9.2,downgraded to 4.2, didn't do anything special, sysnand and emunand linked, I didn't lose anything after downgrade.

 

[mvmiranda]

I was on 9.2,downgraded to 4.2, didn't do anything special, sysnand and emunand linked, I didn't lose anything after downgrade.

Nice.
I'll change the tutorial to accommodate this. I'lol change to emuNAND only.

 

[overlord00]

Thanks for the tutorial!
I tried it and I believe I followed all the steps, however;
--my streetpass mii plaza data complains about being corrupt (like it did when I first downgraded and checked it - so no difference)
--mii maker still has my mii (no difference between downgrade)
--friend data is still here - didnt take 10 mins. only like 2 secs. (no difference between downgrade)

also, a step is sorta needed
step 11.5) write new data to 3DS via hardware mod / inject back into emunand.

I'm going to go double check everything again just in case.

Lastly, any way to get rid of the UPDATE NOW nag screen using this method? (or any method? [without system formats]).

Thanks for putting this all together



EDIT: I've tried again. I edited my Mii and added an extra one for good measure. I did the data relocation nand flash. The Mii data was 'downgraded'; ie only one Mii as there should be. So it worked. The issue with streetpass still remains.

EDIT2: turns out the people I've met still exists within streetpass, however, the data related to "achievements" and the actual mii data is non-existant. Puzzle pieces and Street Pass Quest have reset too.

 

[blinkzane]

i just left my nands linked after formatting emunand and downgrading....