Hacking Should I?

[moopas]

Greetings,

Just a question regarding if I should finally go for a9lh. I never really took the plunge because the risk wasn't worth the small amount of time that I have to wait to boot menuhax+emunand, as mine never really took more than 19ish seconds on average.

So, first off, some information on my setup:
New 3DS
emuNAND - 10.7
CFW - reinand
sysNAND - 9.2
menuhax entrypoint (19ish seconds overall boot time)
64GB SDXC
NO hardmod
about 13 games installed (and a few utilities like FBI, BBM, jk's save manager, etc)

I was waiting because other than faster boot times, and custom boot animations, a9lh was basically useless. And yes, that does include decrypt9 unbricking option, because technically emuNAND is by far safer, as if something ridiculously and miraculously happens (or you are stupid and don't get a cfw with FIRM update protection) and your FIRM gets updated, then you are screwed HARD. Or even if a small tweak messes up the protection, same thing, whereas with emuNAND, you literally never touch sysnand, so it is 100% guaranteed safe for life (even from retarded people if you have autoboot into emunand). Yes I know you can use emuNAND with a9lh, but to me, even with the slightly faster boot times, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? A large portion of the incentive other than the boot times and animations was the ~2GB freed from the SD card.

Anywho, those are my reasons and thoughts as to why I have been THINKING about a9lh, and haven't actually taken the plunge. Now, as for my question, is menuhax+emunand still relevant, and will it always work with newer games (provided emunand is updated of course) and new homebrew? I know this option has always had a few difficulties with virtual console, console restarts, etc. (another benefit to a9lh), though 99% of the time for those, I would just MUCH MUCH rather use an emulator on my PC, so that's not a make or break point for me, just something to think about. And secondly, are the install options for a9lh regarding the N3DS noob-proof now? I've always heard there was great success with the N3DS, but few and seldom(though common enough to cause concern), there were unexplained bricks, and I'm not willing to take that chance unless it is truly and exotic rare now.

So that's it. With my tastes and points, would I be suggested to stick with my current easy and guaranteed setup, or should I take the plunge and risk for something I MAY not even care for the difference on? I suppose the answer would be highly dependent on the answers to the few questions I asked.

Thoughts? Opinions? (and please no a9lh master race people saying "scrub install m8" or slander/flaming)

Thank you for your time,
~moopas

 

[Kingy]

scrub install m8 or ill rek u
But seriously, if you want, you can. There is no one that is going to stop you from using Menuhax, if you feel ok with your current setup, keep it .
- A9LH user
(If you are not scared, you should install it in my opinion.)
If you want more info, see the post below me.

 

[solress]

Menuhax+emuNAND will work as long as A9Lh+sysNAND works. The best thing about A9LH has a better better battery time, does less writing and reading from SD so this has a longer life and you'll have an additional GB on your SD. The fast boots are worth it, really. Never having to leave on your console, just a fast boot.

 

[koffieleut]

I personaly still use menuhax, because I never shutdown my 3ds. So I don't have any issues with menuhax and the boottime, but if I need to go to the setting screen I'm screwed. The boot rate I have is 1 on 5. So choose your side

 

[Chrushev]

The boot time increase will never make up for the time you spent installing it. it would take 10+ years. I did math in another thread like this, dont feel like typing it all out again. But basically it takes 6+ hours to do the conversion, you save 5 to 10 seconds per boot. Thats around ~2200 boots to break even.

The whole "unbricking protection" thing... 99% of people have zero benefit from that because they wont be doing stuff that would brick their 3DS.

And remember you are having a risk of brick when converting.

 

[4gionz]

yes do it, 99% of devs are using a9lh which means it'll just get harder and harder for them to keep supporting menuhax and its quirks at all. take the plunge you wont regret it. plus it's fun to install a9lh, it feels like hacking the psp or wii back in the days.

Also i said this once ill say it again once your using a9lh ditch emunand you wont regret that either. i know its hard to convince some people, but you get literally 0 benefits from emunand anymore

 

[Temptress Cerise]

If it works for you, then stick with it.

Back before liomajor's A9LH workaround for Gateway3DS was out, I still used A9LH, because I don't trust anyone to not mess around with my 3DS system and accidentally update it. (I had A9LH setup, but with a 9.2 sysNAND with menuhax+GW EmuNAND to use my Gateway3DS. Now I just use the A9LH workaround that liomajor made.

Again, if you like your current setup and it still works, just keep using it.

 

[Ryccardo]

[...] the risk wasn't worth [...]

Did your console come with 9.0 or 9.2?

Because the initial downgrade is the only part where there is a "known" chance of failure (that can be greatly reduced if you factory reset first).
Installing 2.1 and back is extremely safe in comparison (if you correctly follow the instructions), since the week-before-easter update of OTPHelper!

 

[solress]

The boot time increase will never make up for the time you spent installing it. it would take 10+ years. I did math in another thread like this, dont feel like typing it all out again. But basically it takes 6+ hours to do the conversion, you save 5 to 10 seconds per boot. Thats around ~2200 boots to break even.

The whole "unbricking protection" thing... 99% of people have zero benefit from that because they wont be doing stuff that would brick their 3DS.

And remember you are having a risk of brick when converting.

Good thing that you included the 61% bootrate for menuhax

 

[Temptress Cerise]

Good thing that you included the 61% bootrate for menuhax

The bootrate is hit or miss, I guess. Since my Cosmo Black o3DS had a high bootrate, possibly around the 80-90% area. While my Ice White o3DS had a super low bootrate, somewhere in the 10-20% area, made me cry at times, and made me happy when it actually worked.

But yeah, his//her calculations probably don't take that into account at all.

 

[4gionz]

The boot time increase will never make up for the time you spent installing it. it would take 10+ years. I did math in another thread like this, dont feel like typing it all out again. But basically it takes 6+ hours to do the conversion, you save 5 to 10 seconds per boot. Thats around ~2200 boots to break even.

The whole "unbricking protection" thing... 99% of people have zero benefit from that because they wont be doing stuff that would brick their 3DS.

And remember you are having a risk of brick when converting.

stop fear mongering, going from 9.2 and back with otphelper is way safer than downgrading to 9.2 at this point,(both of which will not result in a permant brick). opthelper LITERALLY MAKES SURE ITS SAFE BEFORE FLASHING. then you restart your on 2.1, you run otphelper dump otp then your restoring your nice clean safe nand backup without ever looking back.all in all your on 2.1 fimrware for all of like 3 minutes. Also you dont have a9lh and have obviously never installed it so your not experienced enough in BOTH fields to have a valid opinion anyway. not saying this to be an ass but its true.

OP just by your first post i can tell you not stupid enough to mess up installing a9lh, literally retarded noobs (no offense) can do it, you will not have any problems i guarantee it. if you need any help even feel free to pm me(you shouldnt since the guide is really amazing)

 

[retrofan_k]

You will probably benefit more with a n3ds having faster boot rates with a9lh, since it has a faster processor anyway.

Tbh, nobody can answer that question of whether you stay or move over to a9lh, as only yourself can really. If it ain't broke don't fix it and if menuhax/emunand suits you're needs then stay as you are.

Me personally have been waiting for this since the 3ds started and used GW cards since and rxtools and other cfw never interested me, plus I didn't want to give up 3ds rom drag n drop support. However, after looking at a9lh, I joined the club last week after modding my console and have no regrets, as it's fantastic. All depends on what you want out of it at the end of the day.

 

[Roomsaver]

Personally, I'm not going to use A9LH for at least another 6 months. Too much risk for me.

 

[mgrev]

Do it. it feels way better

 

[Chrushev]

Good thing that you included the 61% bootrate for menuhax

Stop spewing nonsense. I have both A9LH and Menuhax consoles. Menuhax fails to boot maybe once every 10 to 20 boots.. which translates to once every few weeks.

 

[solress]

Stop spewing nonsense. I have both A9LH and Menuhax consoles. Menuhax fails to boot maybe once every 10 to 20 boots.. which translates to once every few weeks.

That's for you.... I have modified around 30 consoles now, and like half of them definitely didn't boot through menuhax first try. It's system dependent really.

 

[Chrushev]

stop fear mongering, going from 9.2 and back with otphelper is way safer than downgrading to 9.2 at this point,(both of which will not result in a permant brick). opthelper LITERALLY MAKES SURE ITS SAFE BEFORE FLASHING. then you restart your on 2.1, you run otphelper dump otp then your restoring your nice clean safe nand backup without ever looking back.all in all your on 2.1 fimrware for all of like 3 minutes. Also you dont have a9lh and have obviously never installed it so your not experienced enough in BOTH fields to have a valid opinion anyway. not saying this to be an ass but its true.

OP just by your first post i can tell you not stupid enough to mess up installing a9lh, literally retarded noobs (no offense) can do it, you will not have any problems i guarantee it. if you need any help even feel free to pm me(you shouldnt since the guide is really amazing)

Wow, you sound like an angry 10 year old. I do have both A9LH and Menuhax consoles. The only reason I have A9LH is because the console had nothing on it. If you have a fresh unmodded console you should go A9Lh. If you already have Menuhax just stay on Menuhax. Or you will turn out like this guy... who thinks his epeen is bigger because he has A9Lh. lol

 

[Viri]

Yes my son, convert to the church of a9lh, leave those heathens at the menuhax church!

The church of a9lh is a loving and caring one, except if you insult us, then we'll behead you, and have your local news media cover it up!

 

[Purge]

If you don't think it's worth setting up a9lh, then don't. You shouldn't be taking other people's opinions into consideration regarding whether or not you should do it. It's something that you should decide for yourself.

I agree that, contrary to popular belief, A9LH doesn't really provide that many benefits. The main reason why I have it on both of my 3DSs is I'm a bit of a completionist. Whether it's video games, hacking my 3DS, or anything really, I like to go all in when I decide I'm going to do something.

 

[yifan_lu]

For me the boot time was bearable but the failure was not. If it failed, you have to hold the power button and try again. I thought I would wear out that button doing it all the time.