Hacking A9LH EmuNAND "Advantages"?

[mokmoki]

So - I've heard all the arguments for ditching EmuNAND on an A9LH setup and just using an updated SysNAND. And I agree, I have that setup on two of my N3DSes.

I'm just curious and simply want to ask those who did not go with the SysNAND route and/or kept their EmuNANDs on A9LH - are there any other untold advantages in using EmuNANDs that you want to share?

P.S. I'm more interested in hearing out the other "pros" with an EmuNand, so re-iterating the pros of a SysNand setup is of no interest to me as of the moment (I'm already on a SysNand setup).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gingerbread Crumb]

Well I can play online with with different friend codes.

 

[yifan_lu]

I like having a 9.2 sysnand to test/develop with. I could have made a 9.2 emunand instead but oh well. As an added benefit, I can also load the FIRM directly from emunand instead of relying on firmware.bin or the title directory reading from Luma.

 

[The Catboy]

There's really no advantages to keeping an emuNAND with A9LH. emuNAND were just a safe guard to protect your CFW, but with A9LH, you no longer have to worry about an update breaking your CFW.
I mean, with the release of 11.0.0-33, it shows that even with updating the NATIVE_FIRM, your A9LH install is still safe and your sysNAND can be updated just fine.

 

[TecXero]

Keeping an EmuNAND is just a nice way to not have to worry about your SysNAND. It's a bit easier to restore and manage your EmuNAND. Not really needed on A9LH setups but no real downsides to it, either. Just a nice extra layer that you can muck about with all you want.

 

[yifan_lu]

Keeping an EmuNAND is just a nice way to not have to worry about your SysNAND. It's a bit easier to restore and manage your EmuNAND. Not really needed on A9LH setups but no real downsides to it, either. Just a nice extra layer that you can muck about with all you want.

The only downside is that AGB games must exit to sysnand or else the game won't be saved. Then if your sysnand is linked, you end up with presents in emunand.

 

[TecXero]

The only downside is that AGB games must exit to sysnand or else the game won't be saved. Then if your sysnand is linked, you end up with presents in emunand.

Yeah, I guess that's true. I don't worry about it as I avoid AGB_Firm.

 

[The Catboy]

Keeping an EmuNAND is just a nice way to not have to worry about your SysNAND. It's a bit easier to restore and manage your EmuNAND. Not really needed on A9LH setups but no real downsides to it, either. Just a nice extra layer that you can muck about with all you want.

Actually that's not really true anymore. A9LH works before your sysNAND even loads. Meaning your sysNAND is about as protected as an emuNAND would be. So as long as your not stupid and overwrite your FIRM0/1 (which all CFW's protect out of the box,) you can easily manage your sysNAND like you would an emuNAND.
Now I am not going to lie, I have my 9.2 emuNAND chilling on an old SD, but that's for extreme emergencies and thus far I haven't needed it for anything.

 

[TecXero]

Actually that's not really true anymore. A9LH works before your sysNAND even loads. Meaning your sysNAND is about as protected as an emuNAND would be. So as long as your not stupid and overwrite your FIRM0/1 (which all CFW's protect out of the box,) you can easily manage your sysNAND like you would an emuNAND.
Now I am not going to lie, I have my 9.2 emuNAND chilling on an old SD, but that's for extreme emergencies and thus far I haven't needed it for anything.

I thought writing to the SysNAND was still a bit slower. I'd still be paranoid about something mucking with the a9lh sectors, like what some homebrew did back on the PSP (luckily most of us still had jigkick batteries).

 

[The Catboy]

I thought writing to the SysNAND was still a bit slower. I'd still be paranoid about something mucking with the a9lh sectors, like what some homebrew did back on the PSP (luckily most of us still had jigkick batteries).

Considering all CFW's have protection for your A9LH, it would be pretty unlikely. But this is partly why I properly search through the entire thread before installing anything.
I didn't find much of a difference between installing on my sysNAND vs installing on my emuNAND. I am using a Samsung Class10, so that might make a difference.

 

[TecXero]

Considering all CFW's have protection for your A9LH, it would be pretty unlikely. But this is partly why I properly search through the entire thread before installing anything.
I didn't find much of a difference between installing on my sysNAND vs installing on my emuNAND. I am using a Samsung Class10, so that might make a difference.

I'm using a SanDisk Class 10 UHS II. Yeah, I've seen the whole protection thing before, didn't stop some stuff working on the PSP's NAND before. Not saying everyone should go out and switch to EmuNAND, just that it's an extra layer of protection with little to no drawbacks, depending on the user.

 

[The Catboy]

I'm using a SanDisk Class 10 UHS II. Yeah, I've seen the whole protection thing before, didn't stop some stuff working on the PSP's NAND before. Not saying everyone should go out and switch to EmuNAND, just that it's an extra layer of protection with little to no drawbacks, depending on the user.

I mean, it's kind of worth it if you are that worried about it. I am not going to judge.
Honestly I couldn't never go back to it myself since the latest update basically confirms that it's not needed anymore. But to each their own.

 

[TecXero]

I mean, it's kind of worth it if you are that worried about it. I am not going to judge.
Honestly I couldn't never go back to it myself since the latest update basically confirms that it's not needed anymore. But to each their own.

If I had a guarantee like the jigkick battery for the PSP, or took the time to hardmod my 3DS, then sure. As it is, I'm lazy and EmuNAND is the easiest guarantee I have. I don't use AGB_Firm so it has no downsides for me.

 

[The Catboy]

If I had a guarantee like the jigkick battery for the PSP, or took the time to hardmod my 3DS, then sure. As it is, I'm lazy and EmuNAND is the easiest guarantee I have. I don't use AGB_Firm so it has no downsides for me.

Fair enough.

 

[mokmoki]

I did a comparison between EmuNand and SysNand boot times using the same NAND image. EmuNand boots in 10-13 seconds while SysNand boots in around 8 seconds. Just putting it out there haha.

The reason why I'm asking though is because there have been a number of reports recently of their NANDS partially dying and won't boot their SysNand for some reason - but can still boot A9LH payloads. Consensus points to hardware failure, so i figured if i can minimize the read/writes to and from the NAND then that might decrease chances of that happening to me.

Just not sure if i'm willing to give up the "full A9LH experience" for that, so I'm asking if there are other significant reasons that might make me switch to EmuNand.

 

[Goombi]

Consensus points to hardware failure, so i figured if i can minimize the read/writes to and from the NAND then that might decrease chances of that happening to me

I'm sorry but could you explain what makes you think that? What about non cfw users always on sysnand? They have about the same amount of read (firm1 is read with a9lh) and the only write a9lh has they don't is the installation (we even don't write to firm0).

 

[mokmoki]

I'm sorry but could you explain what makes you think that? What about non cfw users always on sysnand? They have about the same amount of read (firm1 is read with a9lh) and the only write a9lh has they don't is the installation (we even don't write to firm0).

hm. good point. haha.

 

[Deleted member 333767]

If you have an enormous SD card, you really shouldn't even notice the emuNAND partition is there, tbh. If you've got a small SD and tons of games, then yeah, by all means, updated sysNAND mode is for you.

 

[SirByte]

I have a 11.0.0-33U SysNAND and a 11.0.0-33E EmuNAND that way I can play European titles on the EmuNAND without "compromises" like the manual not working or being asked for a PIN.

For some the biggest advantage might be that you can double the number of installed eShop titles (keep in mind to install TWL and AGB titles on your SysNAND, but any 3DS titles that are not US-exclusive can go to the EmuNAND). And vice-versa for European (n)3DSes of course.

I still have my 9.2.0-20U pre-A9LH SysNAND backed up of course so it's easy to roll things back.

 

[kamenrider-darkglass]

I have a 11.0.0-33U SysNAND and a 11.0.0-33E EmuNAND that way I can play European titles on the EmuNAND without "compromises" like the manual not working or being asked for a PIN.

For some the biggest advantage might be that you can double the number of installed eShop titles (keep in mind to install TWL and AGB titles on your SysNAND, but any 3DS titles that are not US-exclusive can go to the EmuNAND). And vice-versa for European (n)3DSes of course.

I still have my 9.2.0-20U pre-A9LH SysNAND backed up of course so it's easy to roll things back.

Can you explain the details regarding the doubling of eShop titles if you have emunand? (especially explain niche things like the TWL and AGB thing that you mentioned since I don't know what they are.) The doubling of eShop titles is something that I didn't know about and it would indeed be a worthy reason to use emunand.

Also, an additional advantage to using emunand is to be able to use public WIFI on the N3DS. Normally, to use public WIFi, you open your internet browser and are directed to a login portal and must accept the terms and agreements before you are allowed to use that location's free public WIFI. With the N3DS, if your firmware version is above a certain number: if you try to connect to a wireless network at let's say a Starbucks, McDonald's, or Shopping Mall; then the console boots you out of the internet browser with the message: "The Internet browser cannot be used at this time. Please check your network environment or try again later."
The reason why this occurs is that if your console senses that you are not connected to a wireless network for 10 seconds; you are booted out, which means that you don't even have the chance to be redirected to that login portal.

This creates a paradox: In order to connect to a wireless network (Public WIFI), you need to already be connected to a wireless network. Essentially what this ultimately means is that you are locked out of using Public WIFI using just the console and unless you use some convoluted method to access said wireless network by coupling the usage of your console with something like a laptop or Smart phone, you're basically fucked. Blame Nintendo for including this worthless Internet Browser patch that shuts you out of your attempts to connect to Public WIFI (wireless Network).



NOW LET'S GET TO THE GOOD PART. HOW DO I BYPASS THIS WITH EMUNAND?

The answer is simple. If you set up your EmuNAND so that it is on the latest version and your SysNAND is on version 9.2.0-20, what you do is use your internet browser on the NAND that has 9.2.0-20. The internet browser that is on this system version, pre-dates the N3DS firmware patch that boots you out of your internet browser after 10 seconds if you are not connected to a wireless network. Since 9.2.0-20 pre-dates this patch, you are able to successfully connect to the Public WIFi (Wireless Network) without a hitch. Once that's done, switch to EmuNAND which is on the latest version and enter the internet browser again. This time, because you connected your console to the local wireless network on your SysNAND; you will not get booted out, and will have the opportunity to access that login portal that was always out of your reach.



Once you accept the terms and agreements of the login portal on your EmuNAND, then VOILA. YOU NOW HAVE ACCESS TO PUBLIC WIFI ON YOUR N3DS ON THE LATEST VERSION (albeit on EmuNAND but who cares? I get to trade Pokemon online again!)

P.S. Remember to Unlink your NANDs. Failure to do so will result in having that annoying gift wrap bug forcing you to unwrap all your CIA installed games every time you enter EmuNAND.