Homebrew [Important poll] What hardware problem does your 3DS have?

[Sono]

I have finally got the equipment to work around broken hardware by patching software. Well... you can already do that, but nobody has done it yet (or at least, not publically) for things like the volume and the 3D slider. There are some nice possibilities now that <overdramatization>I've got the power</overdramatization> to patch MCU_FIRM.

Let me name a few possible patches:
- disable volume or 3D slider and only allow it to be controlled from software
- re-add the WiFi button (or a broken HOME button) via a keycombo (double-tapping Power is the most reliable keycombo possible out of the limited keycombos)
- repurpose 3D slider as a brightness slider
- swap 3D slider and volume slider with eachother (useful for new3DSXL models where the sliders are mirrored on the sides of the screen)
- automatically disable WiFi and put the 3DS into sleep mode when you plug in the charger (quick docking?)

There are other possibilities I haven't thought of because the MCU controls so many things that there are some very interesting things you can do with it.


So yeah, please vote in the poll and once it closes I'll start working the patches. One patch should take around a few weeks to a few months to make due to my fear of my custom assembler breaking and thus bricking my 3DS completely.
Don't worry though, the final patches should be tested by the time they are released for download, and the included patcher has extensive amounts of sanity checks to make sure that it's impossible to brick while flashing.

 

[Jayro]

My Home button and Amiibo functionality are both broken because I thought the ZIF connectors were latched, when they aren't... so they don't connect inside and I'm now without a working Home button or amiibo support. And I can't get that stupid amiibo puck thing to work either.

 

[noahc3]

Using the 3D slider as a brightness slider would be fantastic. Having some button combo to swap between the functionality would be nice too (not really sure the best way to implement that though).

 

[Sono]

My Home button and Amiibo functionality are both broken because I thought the ZIF connectors were latched, when they aren't... so they don't connect inside and I'm now without a working Home button or amiibo support. And I can't get that stupid amiibo puck thing to work either.

I'm not sure about Amiibo, but I'll add the Home button into the list. Instead of having double-Power as WiFi, you could have double-Power as HOME button.

Using the 3D slider as a brightness slider would be fantastic. Having some button combo to swap between the functionality would be nice too (not really sure the best way to implement that though).

Well... even though I have ~1.7k bytes free space on the code flash, I might not have enough RAM to store the config anywhere. I haven't yet fully explored the RAM area (because there is some extra hardware mounted inside an already very poorly documented memory space), but I have documented enough of it to be able to make the above mentioned patches. I don't think I'll ever implement the ability to switch between configs since I have to patch inside the original MCU_FIRM, and since I can't move instructions I have no space to put the config checker instructions in.

 

[AxlSt00pid]

My cameras stopped working at all all of the sudden many months ago, and my mic doesn't work either (might be because it's jammed with lotsa dust, because it was lost under my brother's bed for 3 months)

 

[sansnumen]

Hey @Sono. The L and R buttons on my New 3DS XL have become less responsive over time. Would it be possible to swap L and R with ZL and ZR? Who really uses ZL and ZR anyway?

 

[Sono]

My cameras stopped working at all all of the sudden many months ago, and my mic doesn't work either (might be because it's jammed with lotsa dust, because it was lost under my brother's bed for 3 months)

Sadly cameras are attached with a ribbon cable, so if they don't work then it's 97% the ribbon is fucked up, ~2.7% that it's due to Ninty devs not being able to code the cam sysmodule prolerly, ~0.18% that the actual cameras are dead, and the rest is that there is a problem with the MCU's ability to control the cameras.

As for the microphone, again, the ribbon could've disconnected or broken. Or there is too much dust inside your 3DS which is shorting things.

Hey @Sono. The L and R buttons on my New 3DS XL have become less responsive over time. Would it be possible to swap L and R with ZL and ZR? Who really uses ZL and ZR anyway?

That is very complicated to do. It's somewhat possible to patch ir to replace ZL/ZR with a different button, but in reverse it's very difficult.

 

[pivix]

My cameras stopped working at all all of the sudden many months ago, and my mic doesn't work either (might be because it's jammed with lotsa dust, because it was lost under my brother's bed for 3 months)

I had five 3ds and sincerely I never used cameras ( or maybe once or twice when i was playing bravely default).

 

[sansnumen]

That is very complicated to do. It's somewhat possible to patch ir to replace ZL/ZR with a different button, but in reverse it's very difficult.

That is quite a shame. I'm assuming the problem is that Nintendo decided to map ZR/ZL to the IR module to mimic what happens on Old 3DS when hooked up to the Circle Pad Pro. I guess I will have to hunt eBay for some new shoulder buttons. Thanks for your reply Sono.

 

[Sono]

That is quite a shame. I'm assuming the problem is that Nintendo decided to map ZR/ZL to the IR module to mimic what happens on Old 3DS when hooked up to the Circle Pad Pro. I guess I will have to hunt eBay for some new shoulder buttons. Thanks for your reply Sono.

Yup, that is the reason. The ir sysmodule could read HID_PAD directly, but hid would need to communicate with ir which is where it fails to be possible.

 

[Deleted User]

snip

 

[The Catboy]

This is the same old3DS that I use to this very day.
https://gbatemp.net/entry/3ds-repairs.11371/
TL: DR, old3DS had issues with the Wifi card and antenna, so I replaced them with parts from an old2DS. That's actually still the only hardware issue that I have between my 2 systems.

 

[Sono]

Make it so you have to double tap the power button to turn off the system. Prevents accidental power off.

I could perhaps increase the time it requires to register the button press. Y'know, debouncing is implemented in software via a small timer variable in RAM for each button (5 ticks for the HOME button, 27 ticks for a single Power button press, and 375 ticks for an "emergency" shutdown when you hold down the Power button for long enough), so it's as easy as patching a single byte in the firmware to increase the time required to register a button press.

Edit: this is so easy to do in fact that once I get in a good enough shape I'll quickly do this, will probably take 1-3 days if everything goes right.

 

[Nutez]

Very cool project! Would it be possible to double tap the home button for wifi instead? I'd be afraid of closing out a game. Or use the 3D slider for wifi? I liked the physical 'slider' for wifi on the old 3DS. Thanks.

 

[wormdood]

i have a 2ds with screen damage (indent on touch screen) causing the touch screen to constantly believe i am pressing it . . . would it be a possibly to turn off touch input?

 

[Sono]

Very cool project! Would it be possible to double tap the home button for wifi instead? I'd be afraid of closing out a game. Or use the 3D slider for wifi? I liked the physical 'slider' for wifi on the old 3DS. Thanks.

I'm avoiding the HOME button on purpose. I doubt you'd want to hold down the HOME button for one second to be able to exit out of a game due to this patch. I NEED TO increase the delay on the button in order to be able to detect doublepress. But if you're fine with it then sure, reply and I'll add it to my queue.

Edit: my doubletap-Power patch would prevent accidental closes from happening, but it only works for the Power button. Also, there might be not enough RAM to be able to keep track of the slider position and wifi state (to avoid false triggering due to ADC noise). Besides, I can't place anything anywhere. The 3D slider is an analog value, so if I were to place it in the wrong RAM address, you could brick the MCU while flashing if the value were to fluctuate while the flashing is happening.

i have a 2ds with screen damage (indent on touch screen) causing the touch screen to constantly believe i am pressing it . . . would it be a possibly to turn off touch input?

The best thing I could recommend is you try InputRedirection. After patching InputRedirection you could send a malformed touch release value which should confuse the patch, resulting in a permanently released touchscreen.

 

[Balallax]

Using the 3D slider as a brightness slider would be fantastic. Having some button combo to swap between the functionality would be nice too (not really sure the best way to implement that though).

I'm really looking foward for the brightness 3D slider. 98% of the time its disabled and the 2% of the time its enabled, is by accident.

 

[Ryccardo]

No problem except the touchscreen border scratching the top one

But if it's possible, select + volume = brightness, almost like on the DSi, would be quite cool!

 

[Itzumi]

- automatically disable WiFi and put the 3DS into sleep mode when you plug in the charger (quick docking?)

Oooooooooo. Sounds pretty neat!

 

[Sono]

No problem except the touchscreen border scratching the top one

But if it's possible, select + volume = brightness, almost like on the DSi, would be quite cool!

I highly doubt it's possible because I haven't yet discovered if any of the buttons are hooked up to the MCU other than HOME, Power, WiFi, and sleep switch. This should explain why I chose double-Power to toggle WiFi.