Hardware Are there any alternative DAT0, CMD and CLK points I can use to hard mod my old 3DS XL?

[pedrohmc]

Yes, it seems I have lifted the copper pads from all of the points which are necessary for the hard mod by not knowing what I was doing with a soldering iron. So now I can no longer get the wires to stick with solder... Here's a photo of my board: https :// imgur . com /a/quoOq5k

In case there are alternative points for all of these, can someone please point them for me? I know an experienced electronics technician who's willing to help me if I'm able to find out where they are located on the board. The system still works, so is the hard mod attempt still worth it or are the risks of permanent damage too high?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ryccardo]

One of the resistor packs (probably RA2) has the pullups for the dat0/1/2/3 lines (though I see the nand side is covered in glue...)

As for the other ones, they probably go through a SMD resistor somewhere; but without having a broken console (from which cleanly remove almost all components) and LOTS of patience with a continuity tester, will be quite hard to find...

Plutooo did map out the CPU pins, maybe you could ask if he found any alternate points? (though I don't know on which console he experimented)

 

[pedrohmc]

All that seems like quite a lot of trouble tbh... Which got me thinking of some way to do this hard mod without having to use solder on the board at all. The contact pads are gone but I suppose I can still bridge those points to the SD card adapter using some different materials.

This guy came up with a brilliant one (1st attached photo), but I can't really see exactly what he's using. And there's another guy on reddit who claims he managed to hard mod his 3DS succesfully with conductive tape (2nd photo), but that doesn't seem ideal to me... Any thoughts?

 

[tech3475]

Why are you trying to hardmod the console? Couldn’t you use b9s?

 

[pedrohmc]

Why are you trying to hardmod the console? Couldn’t you use b9s?

I have a stock v11.6.0 old 3DS XL and want to install CFW on it. Don't I need to do the hard mod in order to use boot9strap?

 

[tech3475]

I have a stock v11.6.0 old 3DS XL and want to install CFW on it. Don't I need to do the hard mod in order to use boot9strap?

Sorry, I was thinking of ntrboot.

AFAIK you can use ntrboot with just a compatible flash cart, possibly a way to flash it or a card designed for ntrboot and a magnet.

https://3ds.hacks.guide/ntrboot

Smea was also supposed to announce something but I haven't looked into it:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/defcon-...-free-arm9-exploit-chain-on-august-11.508086/

 

[pedrohmc]

Sorry, I was thinking of ntrboot.

AFAIK you can use ntrboot with just a compatible flash cart, possibly a way to flash it or a card designed for ntrboot and a magnet.

Oh yeah, I'd seen that on 3ds.hacks.guide before, but I never really looked into it. I decided to go with the hardmod to save money, so I'll give it a few last tries before I buy myself a compatible flash cart.

 

[pedrohmc]

The contact pads are gone but I suppose I can still bridge those points to the SD card adapter using some different materials.

Guess I was wrong. I tested them out with a multimeter and... no current there. Except for DAT0, but only through a tiny tip of its path (which goes under the glued chip). Soooo I'm afraid I'll give this one up. It's probably best that I leave it at that since the system still works after all.

My friend wants to sell his old 3DS XL, so I'll buy it for a nice little price and transfer my system into it before I can sell mine. Then I'll do the hardmod again, but this time I'll have someone else do the pcb soldering part for me (and leave it there for good).

Thanks for the help anyway, folks!

 

[Hayato213]

Guess I was wrong. I tested them out with a multimeter and... no current there. Except for DAT0, but only through a tiny tip of its path (which goes under the glued chip). Soooo I'm afraid I'll give this one up. It's probably best that I leave it at that since the system still works after all.

My friend wants to sell his old 3DS XL, so I'll buy it for a nice little price and transfer my system into it before I can sell mine. Then I'll do the hardmod again, but this time I'll have someone else do the pcb soldering part for me (and leave it there for good).

Thanks for the help anyway, folks!

https://gbatemp.net/threads/list-of-hardmod-installers-by-region.414224/

Try contacting modders in that thread.