Hacking Sky3DS no blue light in firmware 4.5+

[optikalsaint]

Hey gang, I just bought a new Sky3DS from ModChipsDirect and was curious if anyone else encountered the issues I'm running into? My new Sky3DS (sent in plastic bubble wrap and no proper packaging) doesn't work in any system running firmware 4.5 or above. I have tried with an O3DS on firmware 10.1, a 2DS on firmware 7.x and in its 10.1 emunand via rxTools, and a O3DS XL with sysnand 7.x and emunand 10.1 via emunand. On all three systems the Sky3DS doesn't even light up, with and without a microSD card.

On a whim after two days of trial and error, I decided to downgrade my 3DS XL using my Gateway card to firmware 4.2, and low and behold on a firmware below 4.5 the card will light up when inserted, however the lights just blink and nothing else happens. According to Sky's website firmware 4.5+ is needed, so using retail carts I have laying around I was able to manually update the system above 4.5 again and then the Sky3DS stops blinking altogether.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? I've emailed MCD several times with no response so I am unsure if they are going to swap it out for a properly working one and am hoping there might be something I can try on my end to fix it since it does start blinking below firmware 4.5.

 

[Seita]

What microsd brand are you using? Kingstong doesn't seem to be working properly on it. So, try Samsung or Sandisk quality cards. Cheap ones won't work.
It's pretty tricky to get it working on o3ds. I had that problem,too, and updating the sysnand to 9.2 fixed the issue.
Also make sure you use the latest diskwriter and that you have formatted your sdcard with it.

 

[[^Blark^]]

I couldn't get sky to work on firm. 4.5 o3ds either but anything above it works. try new sd card or keep the blue button pressed while pushing the card into the slot. at times my SKY will act up and just single flash slowly not showing any game. so I have to do the "hold blue button trick" and it then it starts to work again ? Idk exactly what it does but after that my sky resets and goes back to working but cycles to my very first game. it doesn't remember where I left off? not big of a deal though.

edit:removing my SD card and re inserting it also worked just like the hold blue button trick so maybe mine is SD related issue as well.

 

[optikalsaint]

I've tried two Samsung cards, a Sandisk card, a PNY card, and two Kingston cards. The same issue happens on all of them. Unfortunately I do not have a retail cart with 9.2 on it so I cannot try that at the moment. Any recommendations on how to update without Smash Bros or another 9.2 retail cart with an update? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: removing the card from the Sky3DS and inserting it into a 3DS above 4.5 and the light doesn't blink. I'm pretty sure it is due to a faulty card. My other Sky3DS works with no problems whatsoever. It just seems weird it only responds/lights up in a firmware below 4.5 which made me hypothesis it was possibly firmware related.

 

[Seita]

you can update your sysnand with pbt cfw and sysupdater.
But wait, did you initialiaze your sky3ds like Blark said?
Also, if you have a retail cart. put it in the 3ds and see if it's recognised. Then immediately after that, put your sky3ds cart. This is how I got it working once and used cooking mama 5 rom to update to 9.2.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Oh. And also, sky3ds is pretty slow to get detected in o3ds.

 

[optikalsaint]

Yes I've initialized it per the Sky3DS websites instructions as well as the recommendations above. I've also tried loading retail carts first and then loading the Sky and even let it sit for 5min+ in each system during my testing. The problem is on firmware 4.5 and above the light never comes on so nothing can load. It's as if the card is being blocked since the lights flash in firmware below 4.5

 

[Seita]

That's indeed very strange, I must say. Try updating your sysnand to 9.2 or 9.0. You can download the firmware from the iso website and use pbt cfw or pasta cfw.
Maybe not the time to ask this question but why did you even buy it in the first place since you already have an exploitable 3ds system?

 

[optikalsaint]

Maybe not the time to ask this question but why did you even buy it in the first place since you already have an exploitable 3ds system?

One of the kids accidentally updated my launchday auqa 3DS to 9.8 so I needed an extra Sky3DS cart for that system.

 

[Seita]

Ah. Too bad
The sky3ds is a stupid cart. Swapping it between your 3ds systems might have caused the issue. It happens to me when I try mine in my brother's 3ds.

 

[[^Blark^]]

Format Via SD card via Discwriter
(maybe try older version)

Try new SD cards
(You already did...)

Try in a different 3Ds system
(You already did...)

Try the Blue button Trick
(It's not mentioned on their site)

the trick...
1.) Remove SD card from SKY 3DS.
2.)Make sure SD is formatted and 1 game is on it via discwriter.
3.)insert SD into SKY3DS
4.)heres the tricky part... Insert the SKY3DS and make sure to keep the blue button held down while inserting the card until it clicks into place.
5.)let go of the blue button.
6.) there may are may not be flashing lights it's okay. Remove/eject the SKY 3DS normally.
7.) Re-insert Sky into the system again this time don't hold anything down. Insert it normally.
8.)it should flash rapidly.
9.)remove the SKY 3DS a 3rd and final time.
10.)now re insert it and hopefully it will show games...

that's how I get it to work on my systems when they start acting up. others have said this method is pointless it does nothing. but it's weird that it works for me every time no exaggeration.

**Note**
like I said I have had my SKY be 100% incompatible with an O3DS unit @ 4.5 and that same system again at 9.x and Idk why because my 10yr old brother has a O3DS (I gave to him when I upgraded to my O3DSXL and N3DSXL) and his is on the newest firm and SKY boots right up not a single loading issue it shows up just as it does on my O3DSXL and N3DSXL Idk why that 1 system I couldn't get it to work on. only thing I could think is it belongs to my little cousin whose like 8 and he may have dropped his 3ds too many times...

is your system damaged at all would be my last question and thoughts on this

 

[optikalsaint]

Thanks @[^Blark^]. I wiped three of the cards and tried loading them up with only one game on them per the instructions above and the same thing happens. On any system above firmware 4.5 the blue light never lights up. Just to be on the safe side I loaded up the remaining spare microSD cards I had with 1 different game on each card and the same thing happens. I also tried a method I read about online with loading the system menu and then closing it which is supposed to causes the system to refresh the cart, and that was a bust as well.

I'm starting to suspect it is just a faulty card that I will not be able to fix on my end. It does however seem incredibly weird that the lights will only blink if using a firmware below 4.5. I will try using CFW to manually update one of my devices to 9.2 sysnand before calling it quits. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

EDIT: No system damage on any the devices. All in excellent condition and no drops. All other cartridges work 100% of the time with no issues.

 

[optikalsaint]

I manually updated to 9.2.0-20U and still no light. I am chalking this one up to a faulty card and hopefully the folks at MCD replace it with a working one. Thanks for helping out everyone! I wanted to make sure I tried everything possible before doing an RMA with MCD because of how long it takes to ship it back and wait for a new one.

 

[Seita]

Good luck, then

 

[AmandaRose]

Are the sd cards you are trying above 4gb as the sky3ds does not recognise cards smaller than 4gb

 

[optikalsaint]

Are the sd cards you are trying above 4gb as the sky3ds does not recognise cards smaller than 4gb

They're all 16GB-128GB. Sky3DS doesn't light up when inserted into 3DS with no memory card inserted in any firmware above 4.5 (it is supposed to) so I'm pretty sure it is the Sky3DS itself and not the SD cards