Hacking Can't restore NAND backup with Decrypt9 / Hourglass9

[Wojton]

I've recently hardmodded my Old 3DS in order to restore A9LH on it, after I have foolishly lost it after updating my firmware without FIRM protection. Eventually, I got it to work an restored my NAND backup on Linux using the dd command:

All went well, my 3DS is now back with A9LH, but for some reason, I can't restore my NAND backup with Decrypt9 / Hourglass9, both give me an error "SysNAND write error. File too small or SD failure". My SD Card is working and the backup itself is valid (I've used it before). So here are my questions

1.Could hardmodding my 3DS somehow affected the NAND, so that I can no longer restore my pre-hardmod backups? Can this be fixed?
2.Can I brick my 3DS by using "NAND Restore (forced)" option? Or lose A9LH again (backup was made with A9LH)?
3.How can I check if all of the files in my NAND are valid and if there are no corrupted blocks?

Thanks in advance for help.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

1. No.

2. Yes you can brick, there are checks for a reason (it's not guaranteed though...). No you will not lose a9lh if you made the backup while you had a9lh.

3. I don't know.

 

[Wojton]

forced NAND restore gives me the same error. I'm able to dump my NAND using Hourglass9, but not restore it. It was the same thing with Win32DiskImager and a hardmod, which is why I ended up using Linux.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

forced NAND restore gives me the same error. I'm able to dump my NAND using Hourglass9, but not restore it. It was the same thing with Win32DiskImager and a hardmod, which is why I ended up using Linux.

I have no idea why you'd be having such strange writing issues. It sounds like you're getting incomplete backups, maybe do a couple dumps and md5 them and compare?

 

[Wojton]

--Snip-- thinking

Already did, it looks to me like it might be an issue with the NAND itself, though my 3DS works perfectly fine aside from that problem.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

Already did, it looks to me like it might be an issue with the NAND itself, though my 3DS works perfectly fine aside from that problem.

I have no idea why you'd be having such strange writing issues. It sounds like you're getting incomplete backups, maybe do a couple dumps and md5 them and compare?

Yes, sorry I edited my post, apparently not fast enough.

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

Or maybe your NAND is failing. Your issues really seem like failing SD memory, in this case, your NAND.

 

[Wojton]

maybe do a couple dumps and md5 them and compare?

Will do it now, although I'm pretty sure that just like with hardmod dumping - they'll all be identical, its just writing to nand that is a problem in both cases.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

Will do it now, although I'm pretty sure that just like with hardmod dumping - they'll all be identical, its just writing to nand that is a problem in both cases.

Yes, I worry you may be correct. Your issues seem to indicate failing SD memory, in this case, your NAND. I haven't seen anyone with the issue yet, but it doesn't seem impossible to me.

 

[Wojton]

Yes, I worry you may be correct. Your issues seem to indicate failing SD memory, in this case, your NAND. I haven't seen anyone with the issue yet, but it doesn't seem impossible to me.

The fact that it all started after the hardmod tells me that the issue is related to it. Wiring is done correctly, solder joints look decent to my eye, but maybe the heat input caused some component on the motherboard, related to NAND writing to malfunction. That's my best guess. As long as it's not affecting normal usage of the console I'm fine with just this problem - I'll just use dd on Linux with hardmod if I ever need to write a NAND backup again.

 

[ih8ih8sn0w]

Could you upload high quality pictures of the motherboard around the area you soldered? I probably can't make much use of it, but it would be helpful to others.

 

[Wojton]

I've already assembled my 3DS, but here are the pictures that I've taken of the first version of my hardmod:

Spoiler: CLK point

Spoiler: CMD (green), DAT0 (red), GND (black)

This picture doesn't show the contact points very well, but its the best one I've got.

 

[Wojton]

As I've thought, made 4 NAND dumps, ran 3DS NAND Checker to verify them, same hashes, same sizes, everything checks out. Its just writing to NAND that is a problem. I wonder what Linux "dd" utility does differently that allows it to write to NAND, where Win32DiskImager/Decrypt9/Hourglass9 fail.