Hacking Inexperienced, want to change from RXtools to Luma

[xGrAffitix]

I know there's probably other threads about this. I read a couple but my tiny brain won't let me comprehend what exactly I need to do. So basically, here's a rundown of what I do have.

Sysnand = 9.2.0-20U
Emunand = RX3D 10.3.0-28U

I run RXtools off the internet browser to load up my emunand. The only reason I even got that far was by following a tutorial I found on youtube, (which I can link to.) Well, what I'm trying to do is, some friends tried to add me, and it says I can't access friendcodes unless I update my system. I read that Luma3DS supports upgrading to the latest firmware, but I wanna know how I switch from what I have, to what I'm trying to get.

Also, I've been reading a lot of stuff about how great A9lh is? If I understand correctly, this is something for sysnand firmwares right? I'm a little afraid to touch the sysnand, since I don't wanna brick it. Should I start from scratch and follow the Plialect guide from step 1 or what? Again, sorry if this is a bother, and if it's too much, feel free to delete the post. Don't wanna cause any trouble, just trying to get some information I can understand clearly. Thanks a bunch for any help.

 

[Trolling]

I'm so proud of you son
Here follow this guide
https://github.com/Plailect/Guide/wiki

 

[Lazyjones]

A9lh isn't really that great right now. The only advantage you get is faster boot up times. It requires hours of preparation+work, but it is not worth it at this time. Using emuNAND with Luma is safe.

It could change with future updates, but I doubt that Nintendo implements such radical changes anytime soon.

 

[FTRBND]

A9lh isn't really that great right now. The only advantage you get is faster boot up times. It requires hours of preparation+work, but it is not worth it at this time. Using emuNAND with Luma is safe.

It could change with future updates, but I doubt that Nintendo implements such radical changes anytime soon.

A9LH is theoretically unpatchable. The only way for nintendo to remove it would be to come to your house and manually restore a before-a9lh .bin.
The faster and 100% boot time is only one of the +. You can also run D9 or any other tool before the system even boots to recover from bricks.

 

[justln]

Yeah, just follow Plialect's guide from Step 1. Be warned, it takes hours from start to finish so clear your schedule.

 

[Lazyjones]

A9LH is theoretically unpatchable. The only way for nintendo to remove it would be to come to your house and manually restore a before-a9lh .bin.
The faster and 100% boot time is only one of the +. You can also run D9 or any other tool before the system even boots to recover from bricks.

My statement was refering to using emuNAND, which I doubt will be patched anytime soon. It is true that A9lh is (as far as we know) not patchable. For the vast majority of CFW users A9lh does not offer anything useful other than faster boot times. It is (almost) impossible to brick a system through an emuNAND update.

I would not recommend to anyone to go through all the trouble of getting A9lh to work at this time. I agree it is fascinating from a technical perspective and it feels nice to have an impenetrable fortress of a 3DS, but other than that it is not worth it.

 

[Harvest God]

My statement was refering to using emuNAND, which I doubt will be patched anytime soon. It is true that A9lh is (as far as we know) not patchable. For the vast majority of CFW users A9lh does not offer anything useful other than faster boot times. It is (almost) impossible to brick a system through an emuNAND update.

I would not recommend to anyone to go through all the trouble of getting A9lh to work at this time. I agree it is fascintaing from a technical perspective and it feels nice to have an impenetrable fortress of a 3DS, but other than that it is not worth it.

Um it doesn't offer just faster boot times, like axewfious says, you can boot decrypt9 before system starts and restore nand backup. Emunand is nice and safe, but the space it takes and the reading from SD card is a bit slow. You can keep the Emunand if you don't really care, but if you somehow do something stupid to your Sysnand on Emunand, well there's no way to boot Emunand anymore. If you follow all the steps from top to bottom from Plailect's guide there is no way to break your system. But again it's just preference. Also, A9LH prevents any updates from writing to Firm0/1 so it's foolproof. And we have GBAtemp here to catch our back if there is a new update out. Also, you don't have to use Sysnand if you have a9lh you know that right. You can run emunand with A9lh. So I guess you can have your 3ds "safer" now from more "stability"

 

[samiam144]

OP, every CFW currently supports the latest firmware on EmuNAND. To answer your friend code question, you just have to update your EmuNAND as usual, and you should be able to use all online features, no matter the CFW.

To address your other question: A9LH is an exploit that modifies firm0 & firm1 if I recall correctly. Basically, it exploits the part of your system that runs just as you turn on your 3DS, which allows CFW use (and other things) even if you break your SysNAND somehow. You can also use Emunand with it.
The only downside is that it can be difficult to set up for inexperienced users, but that's why the Plailect guide is there; it will walk you through every step. There is also a very small brick risk, but that is usually due to user error.
If you're not comfortable with doing it just yet, you can have a Menuhax setup. It is the second best thing you can use to access CFW.

Edit: forgot to mention, since you already have a basic CFW setup, you can just start from Part 4 of the Plailect guide. Don't forget to make a SysNAND backup, and emunand as well.

 

[Glyptofane]

If OP is still booting rxtools through browserhax instead of autobooting through menuhax, suggesting he install A9lh isn't the best idea at this time. Setting up autoboot for cfw was in all of the old guides which were much simpler than the A9lh tutorial. If he didn't even make it that far, A9lh is just asking for a brick. I think the best idea for now would be to help him replace rxtools with Luma3DS and setup autobooting with menuhax with or without CtrBootManager.

 

[The Catboy]

My statement was refering to using emuNAND, which I doubt will be patched anytime soon. It is true that A9lh is (as far as we know) not patchable. For the vast majority of CFW users A9lh does not offer anything useful other than faster boot times. It is (almost) impossible to brick a system through an emuNAND update.

I would not recommend to anyone to go through all the trouble of getting A9lh to work at this time. I agree it is fascintaing from a technical perspective and it feels nice to have an impenetrable fortress of a 3DS, but other than that it is not worth it.

Actually, there's plenty of reasons to go with A9LH, beyond faster loading. A9LH is not patchable by Nintendo, the update to 11.0.0-33 has proven that. Since it runs before even the sysNAND is loaded, it allows CFW sysNAND. This also means that your sysNAND is safe and can always be restored so long as you don't patch your FIRM0/1, which every tool now protects you from that.
Other minor features include
Only needing to install DSi/GBA games once since it's sysNAND
More memory since you no longer need your redNAND/emuNAND
And better CFW support since most CFW's have started moving focus towards A9LH

Not to mention most of time spent during the A9LH is taken up by safety checks. The actual install time is a lot shorter if those weren't there, but they are there for our protection and make the set up safer.
I would seriously suggest ditching MenuHAX for A9LH.

 

[CrispyYoshi]

I'm so proud of you son
Here follow this guide
https://github.com/Plailect/Guide/wiki

Yeah, just follow Plialect's guide from Step 1. Be warned, it takes hours from start to finish so clear your schedule.

Yes, I recommend that guide. No, I do not recommend starting from part 1: If you already have a working RxTools, you've already done the first 3 Parts of that guide, and should start from Part 4.

Besides that, unless the guide says otherwise, do not skip a single step: Every single step is done for a good reason.

 

[nickwhit]

My statement was refering to using emuNAND, which I doubt will be patched anytime soon. It is true that A9lh is (as far as we know) not patchable. For the vast majority of CFW users A9lh does not offer anything useful other than faster boot times. It is (almost) impossible to brick a system through an emuNAND update.

I would not recommend to anyone to go through all the trouble of getting A9lh to work at this time. I agree it is fascintaing from a technical perspective and it feels nice to have an impenetrable fortress of a 3DS, but other than that it is not worth it.

Anyone who doesnt recommend A9LH either doesnt have it, cant get it, or is too lazy/afraid to attempt it. There are plenty of reasons and advantages to having it over menuhax+emunand.

If youre one of these people thats sad for you.. but dont discourage others from making the jump, or act like its not as great as it is, just because you fear it.

 

[wiiu more like pee u]

I did the exact same thing you did, and now i have successfully installed a9lh.

If you already have a CFW setup on any version between 9.0.0 and 9.2.0, change menuhax to type 1, set your menuhax trigger to D-Pad down, then start the guide at Part 4. Note that anywhere "RedNAND" is mentioned, you can pretend it says "EmuNAND" instead as they are very similar and the instructions will be the same other than that.

 

[nickwhit]

I did the exact same thing you did, and now i have successfully installed a9lh.

If you already have a CFW setup on any version between 9.0.0 and 9.2.0, change menuhax to type 1, set your menuhax trigger to D-Pad down, then start the guide at Part 4. Note that anywhere "RedNAND" is mentioned, you can pretend it says "EmuNAND" instead as they are very similar and the instructions will be the same other than that.

OP would have to setup menuhax for that.. as he/she was using browser to load up rxtools

 

[Zoma]

I did the exact same thing you did, and now i have successfully installed a9lh.

If you already have a CFW setup on any version between 9.0.0 and 9.2.0, change menuhax to type 1, set your menuhax trigger to D-Pad down, then start the guide at Part 4. Note that anywhere "RedNAND" is mentioned, you can pretend it says "EmuNAND" instead as they are very similar and the instructions will be the same other than that.

Thank you sir, I'm like OP and I have also a tiny brain. I was close to ask about RedNAND because I had no clue what is.
My question is, do I have to deinstall rxTools? or just following the 4th part of the guide with rxTools installed will work?

 

[wiiu more like pee u]

Thank you sir, I'm like OP and I have also a tiny brain. I was close to ask about RedNAND because I had no clue what is.
My question is, do I have to deinstall rxTools? or just following the 4th part of the guide with rxTools installed will work?

I asked the same question. Just follow the guide and then when you're finished you will see a picture in the guide which shows all the files you need on your sd card. Delete all other files, and you will be good

 

[Lazyjones]

Anyone who doesnt recommend A9LH either doesnt have it, cant get it, or is too lazy/afraid to attempt it. There are plenty of reasons and advantages to having it over menuhax+emunand.

If youre one of these people thats sad for you.. but dont discourage others from making the jump, or act like its not as great as it is, just because you fear it.

No, there are not "many good reasons for A9LH". Decrypt9 boot before system boot and the patch-proof feature is of no use to anyone right now. Why? Because, right now, a plain old emuNAND is still safe. Installing A9LH is future proof, yes. However, until the old menuhax/emuNAND is no longer viable there is NO advantage other than
1. safer than the already safe old emuNAND
2. faster system boot

Please stop praising A9LH. Right now, it is simply not worth it. Also stop recommending it to someone that is new to the CFW scene. It may scare them away for life by even looking at the guide. Even if it is safe, it takes HOURS to set up because the hardware in the 3DS is so old and slow.

 

[nickwhit]

No, there are not "many good reasons for A9LH". Decrypt9 boot before system boot and the patch-proof feature is of no use to anyone right now. Why? Because, right now, a plain old emuNAND is still safe. Installing A9LH is future proof, yes. However, until the old menuhax/emuNAND is no longer viable there is NO advantage other than
1. safer than the already safe old emuNAND
2. faster system boot

Please stop praising A9LH. Right now, it is simply not worth it. Also stop recommending it to someone that is new to the CFW scene. It may scare them away for life by even looking at the guide. Even if it is safe, it takes HOURS to set up because the hardware in the 3DS is so old and slow.

How is it of no use? Its the only way to brick-proof your system without the need for a hardmod. If anything WERE to ever happen to my sysnand, either due to my own error or anything random, I can use Decrypt9 to bring my 3DS back to life. That alone is a big enough reason to recommend A9LH to ANYONE.

Yeah it takes a couple hours, due to NAND backups and such.. but if someone is new to the scene or hacking their 3DS, a couple hours of reading and working isnt gonna be much different than setting up Emunand+menuhax from scratch realistically. You dont just jump here and immediately know how to do either method. Just cause YOU started your hax experience that way or are too scared to upgrade doesnt mean everyone should be that way, new or not.

Honestly if you can read, the guide is noob and brick proof. Setup emunand+menuhax and call it a day if you want... but dont act like A9LH isnt the superior method, or that its usefulness is lessened just because YOU dont use or understand everything it offers.

 

[Ziefer846]

A9lh isn't really that great right now. The only advantage you get is faster boot up times. It requires hours of preparation+work, but it is not worth it at this time. Using emuNAND with Luma is safe.

It could change with future updates, but I doubt that Nintendo implements such radical changes anytime soon.

Once you install it, it pretty much prevents Nintendo from removing your CFW access and if you fuck something up somehow, you can always restore a backup. Basically makes your 3DS invulnerable.

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

If OP is still booting rxtools through browserhax instead of autobooting through menuhax, suggesting he install A9lh isn't the best idea at this time. Setting up autoboot for cfw was in all of the old guides which were much simpler than the A9lh tutorial. If he didn't even make it that far, A9lh is just asking for a brick. I think the best idea for now would be to help him replace rxtools with Luma3DS and setup autobooting with menuhax with or without CtrBootManager.

Plailect's guide is idiot-proof...

 

[The Catboy]

No, there are not "many good reasons for A9LH". Actually, yes there are. Just because you don't think there are, doesn't mean there aren't. I've already presented simple basic reasons, but there are several more advanced reasons to go with A9LH over Menuhax.
Decrypt9 boot before system boot and the patch-proof feature is of no use to anyone right now. That is also incorrect as your statement contradicts itself. Since Decrypt9 is booted with A9LH, it's booted even before the sysNAND is booted. Which means that if anything happens to your sysNAND, you can easily restore it, like you would an emuNAND. And what? The patch-proof feature is completely useful to everyone. Why? Because if you are going to switch your emuNAND with your sysNAND, you need decrypt9 to not break your A9LH install. This is extremely useful to everyone.
Why? Because, right now, a plain old emuNAND is still safe. Installing A9LH is future proof, yes. However, until the old menuhax/emuNAND is no longer viable there is NO advantage other than Running A9LH basically treats your sysNAND the same way as an emuNAND, making it just as safe as running an emuNAND.
1. safer than the already safe old emuNAND
2. faster system boot You only focus on the boot time, yet there's far more to A9LH than just the faster boot time.

Please stop praising A9LH. Stop praising it? It deserves all the praise it can get. It's gotten the 3DS to the levels of PSP CFW's and allows for far more stable and friendly CFW's. It also saves people on NAND space and SD card space, as it removes the need to install DSi/GBA games twice and removes the need for emuNAND/RedNAND.
Right now, it is simply not worth it. It's completely worth the wait, 90% of your wait time is simply backups and stability testing. It takes forever because it's become safer.
Also stop recommending it to someone that is new to the CFW scene. It may scare them away for life by even looking at the guide. Even if it is safe, it takes HOURS to set up because the hardware in the 3DS is so old and slow. People need to learn, telling the not to learn is just hindering them. The guide has become extremely noob proof and easily to follow. As well all the steps have become far safer compared to old days.

I would also like to mention that A9LH would be extremely beneficial to noobs because it would allow them to use CFW's like SaltFW, which they only need to install once and forget about. It also makes their system as close to stock as possible, well allowing them to run their CFW's
Just because you are afraid or not willing to install A9LH, doesn't mean we should stop encouraging others. Maybe the OP is willing to try something new and learn something for themselves. There's no reason to not suggest the guide to them.
I do suggest they study it to make sure they are up to the task. But I would never suggest they just not do something that could befit them. You seem to be afraid of the task, but that doesn't mean you should discourage others from trying. If anyone is going to discourage noobs in the 3DS scene, it's people like you telling them to be discouraged.