Hacking Gateway + A9LH questions

drfsupercenter

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Hey guys,

I'm new to a9lh - right now I have a N3DS on OFW 9.2. I mostly use the community-made CFWs (CakesFW or ReiNAND as a fallback), but every once in a while I use my Gateway either for RAM hacks or to test ROM hacks that won't run on a Sky3DS).

So my current setup is - I installed HomeMenuHax on the sysNAND with it set to auto-boot into the Homebrew Launcher unless I hold B. From there I either press A right away to load CakesFW or I scroll down to Gateway and launch that one.

a9lh seems much faster (from trying it on my spare N3DS that I don't have any actual games on) and much more reliable - I was able to get AuReiNAND installed and it starts up in less than half the time, plus I never have it flake out like the HBL method.

But the big downside is that I can't boot Gateway that way - my emuNAND is on 10.6 and even if I use Cubic Ninja to load the HBL, Gateway won't boot up from that.

To be honest, I don't really care about the sysNAND at all - I even reformatted it on my spare and AuReiNAND loads up fine on 10.6. So I know you can use L or R to boot sysNAND, but I don't need or want that functionality at all. What I would rather have is a way to hold a button and launch Gateway.

Would that require Gateway to make an a9lh-compatible loader? The only workaround I can think of is to use HomeMenuHax on the sysNAND again and then hold R at boot time..., but that's a lot more annoying and booting Gateway from HBL (just like any other CFW) seems to hang once in a while and require a hard shutdown and reboot anyway.

What do you guys suggest? And is it possible to set AuReiNAND to NOT do the "updated sysNAND" boot options if I don't want them? I read somewhere about being able to make a text file with preferences but I haven't tried it.
 

Scarlet

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Hey guys,

I'm new to a9lh - right now I have a N3DS on OFW 9.2. I mostly use the community-made CFWs (CakesFW or ReiNAND as a fallback), but every once in a while I use my Gateway either for RAM hacks or to test ROM hacks that won't run on a Sky3DS).

So my current setup is - I installed HomeMenuHax on the sysNAND with it set to auto-boot into the Homebrew Launcher unless I hold B. From there I either press A right away to load CakesFW or I scroll down to Gateway and launch that one.

a9lh seems much faster (from trying it on my spare N3DS that I don't have any actual games on) and much more reliable - I was able to get AuReiNAND installed and it starts up in less than half the time, plus I never have it flake out like the HBL method.

But the big downside is that I can't boot Gateway that way - my emuNAND is on 10.6 and even if I use Cubic Ninja to load the HBL, Gateway won't boot up from that.

To be honest, I don't really care about the sysNAND at all - I even reformatted it on my spare and AuReiNAND loads up fine on 10.6. So I know you can use L or R to boot sysNAND, but I don't need or want that functionality at all. What I would rather have is a way to hold a button and launch Gateway.

Would that require Gateway to make an a9lh-compatible loader? The only workaround I can think of is to use HomeMenuHax on the sysNAND again and then hold R at boot time..., but that's a lot more annoying and booting Gateway from HBL (just like any other CFW) seems to hang once in a while and require a hard shutdown and reboot anyway.

What do you guys suggest? And is it possible to set AuReiNAND to NOT do the "updated sysNAND" boot options if I don't want them? I read somewhere about being able to make a text file with preferences but I haven't tried it.

You can setup AuReiNand fine for emuNAND. A good setup for you might be to have AuReiNand autoboot via A9LH, and if you want Gateway for cheats etc, set Menuhax up to boot when holding L.

That's how I have it setup. Holding L on boot with AuReiNand launches you into sysNAND with the 9.0 firm, which'll let you launch GW.

Hope that helps!
 
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Lacius

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If you want to be able to boot into Homebrew Launcher and load other emuNAND versions (e.g. Gateway), there is only one way to do it with A9LH right now. Using normal AuReiNand mode, you need to hold L on boot. This will load your 9.2 sysNAND (and menuhax if you have it set up), taking you to the Homebrew Launcher. From there, you can load your emuNAND of choice. If you try to load Homebrew Launcher any way other than first holding L at boot, other emuNANDs won't successfully launch.

Until other emuNAND versions (e.g. Gateway) provide A9LH support, this is your only option.

To be clear, you cannot currently set things up to coldboot into Homebrew Launcher and successfully boot other emuNAND versions unless you hold L at launch.
 
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drfsupercenter

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Yeah, that's what I was afraid of, it just seems a bit more roundabout. The only reason I even need the launcher.3dsx to be Homebrew Loader is so that I can use it from Cubic Ninja inside emuNAND...
 

Lacius

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Yeah, that's what I was afraid of, it just seems a bit more roundabout. The only reason I even need the launcher.3dsx to be Homebrew Loader is so that I can use it from Cubic Ninja inside emuNAND...
Alternatively, AuReiNand could be updated to support coldbooting into sysNAND + 9.0 FIRM mode (instead of having to hold L). This would at least give people the option of having all of the options they had before with menuhax without having to remove A9LH.
 
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drfsupercenter

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Alternatively, AuReiNand could be updated to support coldbooting into sysNAND + 9.0 FIRM mode (instead of having to hold L). This would at least give people the option of having all of the options they had before with menuhax without having to remove A9LH.

Yeah, I know, but I don't trust the "updated sysNAND" thing... I'd rather just stick to emuNAND so I can easily back it up too. Originally I was going to try to replace boot.3dsx with the CakesFW boot so it would just coldboot right into CFW, but I decided not to do that so I can actually use HBL inside of emuNAND.

I guess I'll set sysNAND back up again and set things up how I have them now... just the added benefit that I can insta-coldboot into CFW emuNAND without pressing anything which is much faster and more reliable.

Can I remap the buttons? I prefer using B instead of L or R, harder to accidentally bump.
 

Lacius

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Yeah, I know, but I don't trust the "updated sysNAND" thing... I'd rather just stick to emuNAND so I can easily back it up too. Originally I was going to try to replace boot.3dsx with the CakesFW boot so it would just coldboot right into CFW, but I decided not to do that so I can actually use HBL inside of emuNAND.

I guess I'll set sysNAND back up again and set things up how I have them now... just the added benefit that I can insta-coldboot into CFW emuNAND without pressing anything which is much faster and more reliable.

Can I remap the buttons? I prefer using B instead of L or R, harder to accidentally bump.
I'm not recommending anyone use "Updated sysNAND" mode, and you wouldn't be able to boot other emuNAND versions from it.

In an ideal world, what do you want to be able to coldboot into without pressing anything?
 

Supster131

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I'm not recommending anyone use "Updated sysNAND" mode, and you wouldn't be able to boot other emuNAND versions from it.

In an ideal world, what do you want to be able to coldboot into without pressing anything?
Wait, what? What are you talking about?

You can boot into emuNAND with updatedsysnand just fine. My sysNAND's on 10.6 while my emuNAND's on 9.2. You boot into your emuNAND by pressing L at boot.
 

drfsupercenter

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I'm not recommending anyone use "Updated sysNAND" mode, and you wouldn't be able to boot other emuNAND versions from it.

In an ideal world, what do you want to be able to coldboot into without pressing anything?

My updated emuNAND.
Wait, what? What are you talking about?

You can boot into emuNAND with updatedsysnand just fine. My sysNAND's on 10.6 while my emuNAND's on 9.2. You boot into your emuNAND by pressing L at boot.

No, I'm saying in the original AuReiNAND thread (the one I installed to my N3DS) - if you don't press any buttons it boots into emuNAND, if you press R it boots into sysNAND with signatures checked and if you press L it does some "updated sysNAND" mode where you can update your sysNAND past 9.2 and it will still work or something? I don't know the details, but I have no reason to want to do either of those. (Save for if I need to use sysNAND for now to load HBL+Gateway)
 

Supster131

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My updated emuNAND.


No, I'm saying in the original AuReiNAND thread (the one I installed to my N3DS) - if you don't press any buttons it boots into emuNAND, if you press R it boots into sysNAND with signatures checked and if you press L it does some "updated sysNAND" mode where you can update your sysNAND past 9.2 and it will still work or something? I don't know the details, but I have no reason to want to do either of those. (Save for if I need to use sysNAND for now to load HBL+Gateway)
Pressing L just boots into sysNAND, period. That's not updatedsysnand mode. This is updatedsysnand mode:
"Updated sysNAND" mode:
- For this, you NEED A9LH. You can toggle it by creating a "/rei/updatedsysnand" file.
It boots into sysNAND automatically, rather than booting into emuNAND automatically.
 

Lacius

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My updated emuNAND.
Be specific. What kind of emuNAND? rxTools? AuReiNAND? Gateway? Does it matter?

No, I'm saying in the original AuReiNAND thread (the one I installed to my N3DS) - if you don't press any buttons it boots into emuNAND, if you press R it boots into sysNAND with signatures checked and if you press L it does some "updated sysNAND" mode where you can update your sysNAND past 9.2 and it will still work or something? I don't know the details, but I have no reason to want to do either of those. (Save for if I need to use sysNAND for now to load HBL+Gateway)
Holding L boots into regular sysNAND mode, not updated sysNAND mode. You don't have to update your sysNAND.
That's why I said you could always hold L to boot into your Homebrew Launcher to select different emuNAND versions to launch.
 
Last edited by Lacius,

drfsupercenter

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Be specific. What kind of emuNAND? rxTools? AuReiNAND? Gateway? Does it matter?


Holding L boots into regular sysNAND mode, not updated sysNAND mode. You don't have to update your sysNAND.

No it doesn't matter, as long as it boots I don't care. I'm using AuReiNAND because it's the first one I found that actually has a compiled binary for N3DS a9lh... even though someone on Reddit said CakesFW supports it too, I didn't see an a9lh .bin I can use.

Well I guess I misunderstood then. So pressing L or R both boot into sysNAND? I know pressing R does in the version I'm using. I also compiled the newest a9lh with my OTP, the one that instantly powers off if you don't have an SD inserted.
 

Lacius

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If you want to coldboot into AuReiNAND emuNAND, then it already does that by default. If you want to boot into Gateway, you will have to hold L, which will take you to your sysNAND. If your sysNAND still has menuhax on it, it should load the Homebrew Launcher, where you can launch Gateway from.

Does that answer your previous questions?
 

Supster131

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No it doesn't matter, as long as it boots I don't care. I'm using AuReiNAND because it's the first one I found that actually has a compiled binary for N3DS a9lh... even though someone on Reddit said CakesFW supports it too, I didn't see an a9lh .bin I can use.

Well I guess I misunderstood then. So pressing L or R both boot into sysNAND? I know pressing R does in the version I'm using. I also compiled the newest a9lh with my OTP, the one that instantly powers off if you don't have an SD inserted.
I'd recommend you update AuReiNAND. R no longer does anything on the latest version, and pressing L boots into sysNAND with the 9.0 FIRM.
 

drfsupercenter

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I'd recommend you update AuReiNAND. R no longer does anything on the latest version, and pressing L boots into sysNAND with the 9.0 FIRM.

Funny, I literally just downloaded it two days ago.

I'm a bit confused about the difference between the L and R though. On the version I downloaded, it mentioned that R literally just boots sysNAND, the way it is, but with signatures patched. L was some special thing that used the older FIRM. Since I'm not using anything above 9.2, this seems unnecessary. But if you're 100% sure it will work either way...
 

Supster131

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Funny, I literally just downloaded it two days ago.

I'm a bit confused about the difference between the L and R though. On the version I downloaded, it mentioned that R literally just boots sysNAND, the way it is, but with signatures patched. L was some special thing that used the older FIRM. Since I'm not using anything above 9.2, this seems unnecessary. But if you're 100% sure it will work either way...
Gateway won't work with a 9.3+ FIRM so...
 

Lacius

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Funny, I literally just downloaded it two days ago.

I'm a bit confused about the difference between the L and R though. On the version I downloaded, it mentioned that R literally just boots sysNAND, the way it is, but with signatures patched. L was some special thing that used the older FIRM. Since I'm not using anything above 9.2, this seems unnecessary. But if you're 100% sure it will work either way...
If you hold R, Gateway won't launch.
If you hold L, it should load your menuhax and Homebrew Launcher, and you should be able to launch Gateway from there.
 

Supster131

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Yeah but I'm on 9.2 sysNAND, hence it would be completely irrelevant to me. It's just that you're using a 9.0 FIRM on 9.2 instead of a 9.2 FIRM on 9.2, that's all.
R boots with the 10.x FIRM. So it's not really irrelevant. As @Lacius stated, you cannot boot into Gateway by pressing R, only by pressing L.
 

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