Hacking N3DS Wonky Activity Log

[Oracleofire]

Hey guys!

So I've been hit by a bug probably only I care about because I'm OCD and weird. "System Settings" has taken over my activity log (for some reason it has 9999:00 hours which is ridiculous) and whenever I play a game or launch any other application, the activity log logs it as System Settings instead of what it actually is. This kind of really bugs me because I am the weird sort that loves looking at this kind of data lol .

I have been using Gateway on the o3ds for over a year and never had this problem-- things were always recorded in the log as what they were. But yesterday I decided to upgrade to a N3DS and system transferred the emunands after setting it up. Now my activity log is in love with System Settings. I boot into emunand with menuhax, but that's also how I booted into it on the o3ds as well, so it can't be some side effect of hax. My nands are unlinked as well (formatted sysnand on the n3ds after the transfer and taking the microsd out).

So, does anyone know what's going on here? Specifically,
1. Is there a way to make it so that my activity log tracks the right apps?
and
2. Less important, but is there a way to change the number of hours logged for System Settings? (Seeing 9999 hours is triggering my OCD so hard LOL, it's like a slap in the face)

Thanks a lot! I know it may seem like a minor issue, and it kind of is, but it would mean a lot to me if we could fix this.

 

[Quantumcat]

This is normal. Depending on your entry point, it logs different apps. Other people have the browser gaining hours. Mine logs system setting a 24 hrs a day even when I'm not using my 3DS at all. No known fix I'm afraid.

 

[Oracleofire]

Oh my gosh, it's you, I was literally looking at your thread about this issue yesterday HAHA. So I'm guessing this problem is still a problem? Do you know why this problem sprang up after all this time of working correctly? I mean, my entry point hasn't changed from since it was working correctly. It was working fine even a couple days ago on the o3ds. Could it be the system transfer that turned my activity log into a janky mess? Or is it just an issue with the N3DS? I just hate the feeling of not understanding. Thanks for your input, australian cat .

 

[Hkari]

Are your nands linked? Is it saying 9999 hours on your sysnand or your emunand? Which do you normally play on?

 

[Quantumcat]

Oh my gosh, it's you, I was literally looking at your thread about this issue yesterday HAHA. So I'm guessing this problem is still a problem? Do you know why this problem sprang up after all this time of working correctly? I mean, my entry point hasn't changed from since it was working correctly. It was working fine even a couple days ago on the o3ds. Could it be the system transfer that turned my activity log into a janky mess? Or is it just an issue with the N3DS? I just hate the feeling of not understanding. Thanks for your input, australian cat .

I hate not understanding either :-( I also did a system transfer from old to new 3DS, and it started right at that moment (no problem on old 3DS).

 

[wsquan171]

If your nands are unlinked, the activity log in emuand should work without problem. It's normal that activity log in sysnand keeps track of only your entry point title. It will only stop the timer next time you start another title in sysnand. If you don't want to see this buggy record, I recommend using menu hax since homemenu won't be documented as a title in activity log. You can also try to delete mset in the log so that the nine thousand hours of play time will probably disappear.

 

[Oracleofire]

Are your nands linked? Is it saying 9999 hours on your sysnand or your emunand? Which do you normally play on?

My nands are unlinked, it was the first thing I did after the system transfer. It gives 9999 hours on my emunand, which I normally play on. Strangely, my sysnand's activity log has no issues at all (has like a minute logged for Internet Browser and some other minutes for System Settings, but that's it). Thanks for the reply.

I hate not understanding either :-( I also did a system transfer from old to new 3DS, and it started right at that moment (no problem on old 3DS).

This is true for me too! Don't give up! This time, we are going to figure out this issue!! MEOW!!!!

If your nands are unlinked, the activity log in emuand should work without problem. It's normal that activity log in sysnand keeps track of only your entry point title. It will only stop the timer next time you start another title in sysnand. If you don't want to see this buggy record, I recommend using menu hax since homemenu won't be documented as a title in activity log. You can also try to delete mset in the log so that the nine thousand hours of play time will probably disappear.

Thanks for your reply. It seems I have more problems then: the activity log in my sysnand is normal and doesn't seem to track my entry point for some reason. I boot into emunand through menuhax with the official gateway launcher. My nands are unlinked. Should I just format my sysnand again?

 

[Hkari]

My nands are unlinked, it was the first thing I did after the system transfer. It gives 9999 hours on my emunand, which I normally play on. Strangely, my sysnand's activity log has no issues at all (has like a minute logged for Internet Browser and some other minutes for System Settings, but that's it). Thanks for the reply.

Ah, I don't know what's wrong then. I have that problem on my sysnand but I never use it so it's not important. Unlinking solved it on my emunand. I wonder why a system transfer caused that.

 

[TaintedByte]

So I've been trying to find a solution for this issue for the past three days and I'm happy to say I found one. I know this topic is a few days old and I don't know if you also found a way to fix it but it annoyed me as much as it annoys you so I wanted to share the fix with you.

Of course I found posts regarding this issue after I had to deal with this alone (and after I made a post about it)

Anyway, here's the fix:

Please be aware that I used Windows to do this so the instructions will be written for it.

YOU WILL BE EDITING NAND SYSTEM FILES, THIS IS DANGEROUS AND YOU ARE DOING THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

The above being said, as long as you apply this fix to your emunand and not your sysnand you can always restore a backup (which you should make) of the emunand and be okay.

You will need the following tools:

• padxorer (which I was able to find in this repo)
• Decrypt9WIP
• Python installed (64 bit if possible)
• 3DSFAT16Tool
• WinImage

For easier setup, extract padxorer and 3DSFAT16Tool on the same directory, I'll refer this as the working directory from now on.

1. Launch Decrypt9 on your 3DS and create a backup of your emuNAND by going to EmuNAND Options > EmuNAND Backup.
2. Still in Decrypt9 under XORpad Generator Options run CTRNAND Padgen and let it finish.
3. Mount your micro/SD card on your PC. You should have a NAND.bin and a nand.fat16.xorpad on the root directory. Copy these files to the working directory. Keep a separate copy of the NAND.bin somewhere else in case you have to restore.
4. Open up a command prompt on your working directory. Then run:
   3dsfat16tool.py -d -n3ds nand.bin fat16.bin
   NOTE: If you have an OLD 3DS, REMOVE the -n3ds tag from the command.
   This will exctract the FAT16 Partition from your NAND.
5. Still in the command prompt, execute:
   padxorer.exe fat16.bin nand.fat16.xorpad
6. You should now have a file called fan16.bin.out on your working directory. Open it with WinImage.
7. Navigate and delete the files INSIDE these folders (the files you're deleting should be titled 00000000) We will be deleting the PTM and Activity Log savegames.
   \data\{random id}\sysdata\00010022\
   \data\{random id}\sysdata\00020212\ (This is for a US 3DS. The ID for JPN is 00020202 and for EUR 00020222)
8. Save and return to your command prompt. Re encrypt your FAT16 partition by running:
   padxorer.exe fat16.bin.out nand.fat16.xorpad
9. Finally, reinject the FAT16 partition back into the NAND image (remember to remove the -n3ds argument if you're on an old 3DS):
   3dsfat16tool.py -i -n3ds nand.bin fat16.bin.out.out
10. Move this NAND.bin image back to the root of your SD card, put it in your 3DS and turn it on.
11. Launch Decrypt9 and under EmuNAND Options run EmuNAND Restore and select the NAND.bin that we just moved back.
12. If it all goes well, boot back into your emuNAND and your Activity Log will act as a first time setup and everything will be clean

I suspect this fix MIGHT also work on the sysNAND but I don't really care to risk that since I do everything in emuNAND anyway and I'm not hardmodded.

Plus, it's possible that this will happen in sysNAND either way since from what I read this is caused by the *hax entrypoint, however for some reason on systemtransfers this also affects emuNAND (found these two threads with people who had the same problem after a system transfer: https://gbatemp.net/threads/system-settings-activity-log-bug-after-system-transferring.399502/ and https://gbatemp.net/threads/n3ds-wonky-activity-log.412201/)