OK, so I'll get right to it: can I back up cartridge games into cia or 3ds files? Don't tell I can't do it on latest firm, I know that. But lets say I downgraded to 9.2. Could I take my copy of oot3d and turn it into a game on my SD card?

cartridge to 3ds - yes, gateway 3ds loader/ decrypt 9.2 can do it on <= 9.2. braindump even on all firmwares. don't know if they could dump directly into .cia, but with xorpads of this 3ds rom you can convert them really easy.

Can someone confirm that?Grab Gateway's Launcher.dat, put it in the root of your card, then grab GW.3dsx and install that like a typical 3dsx file. Then just launch it with your favorite exploits (or Yellows8's Homebrew Launcher). It has an option to dump your cartridge as a .3DS file. You can convert it to CIA easy enough.



Oh boy.I suggest that you use the Gateway 3.0.4 ULTRA -snip-, because that doesn't got brick code in it.
Rename the file to "LAUNCHER.DAT", and use "the internet" to launch it. Make sure that if the bottom screen shows "Gateway3DS is loading", then start spamming L until the bottom screen fills with garbage. After that just dump your gamecart to the 3DS's internal SDCard. Always make sure that you have enough free space on it, or else very bad things could happen!
The brain dump link lead to something called uncart, which apparently requires Brahma. Does that work on 10.2?cartridge to 3ds - yes, gateway 3ds loader/ decrypt 9.2 can do it on <= 9.2. braindump even on all firmwares. don't know if they could dump directly into .cia, but with xorpads of this 3ds rom you can convert them really easy.

EmuNAND is easy to set up and a much safer route, especially if you don't have your 3DS hardmodded. You'll still need to boot up SysNAND with rxTools or whatever CFW you decide to go with. If you're going to go as far to dump your cartridge games and convert them to CIA, you might as well take the extra step to EmuNAND to help ensure you won't brick it and to take advantage of newer firmware.I don't want to use emunand. I just want to have my cartridge games on sysnand without any major hassle.
EDIT: I'm OK with some hassle. Failing being able to do the above, is there any way to downgrade, then have menuhax autoboot emunand via the gateway.3dsx?
So does that mean I'd have to boot up emunand manually? I thought there was a gateway.3dsx that could boot via menuhax?EmuNAND is easy to set up and a much safer route, especially if you don't have your 3DS hardmodded. You'll still need to boot up SysNAND with rxTools or whatever CFW you decide to go with. If you're going to go as far to dump your cartridge games and convert them to CIA, you might as well take the extra step to EmuNAND to help ensure you won't brick it and to take advantage of newer firmware.