Hacking New 3DS XL will not turn on.

[TomRyder]

I am completely new to all this 3DS stuff, I have previously owned a 3DS when it first came out but I only played games - no downloads no exploring the app store or anything.
I've looked at previous posts and don't understand any of the abbreviations for software and these different boot up options.

Problem:

I bought a New 3DS XL off ebay my mistake being that is was being sold as parts only as it's not booting up.
I've had experience repairing handheld consoles but never a 3DS so I'm comfortable taking it apart if need be. When I press the power button the blue light flashes once then nothing happens, no sound occurs nor does the screen turn on. The orange light turns on when I try to charge and nothing happens if I press L + R + A + Up ( D-Pad ) and the power button at the same time. I have tried powering with and without the charger plugged in. Upon taking off the back I've found that there isn't a micro SD in the slot ( No card in the SD slot either ).
Are there any possible fixes to this issue ? Should it be able to turn on without a micro SD ? I've ordered a micro SD that should come in a day or 2 if that is the only issue here.

Thank you.

 

[Kubas_inko]

By flashes, do you mean that it immediately turns off or does it fade out?

 

[TomRyder]

By flashes, do you mean that it immediately turns off or does it fade out?

it fades out but quickly. All happens in less than a second.

 

[GerbilSoft]

it fades out but quickly. All happens in less than a second.

This happens if boot9strap (or the older arm9loaderhax) is installed on the system, but there's no payload on the SD card.

Get the latest version of Luma3DS and extract its boot.firm to the root of the SD card. Put the SD card back in the 3DS and try turning it on. If this works, you should see the Luma3DS configuration screen.

 

[TomRyder]

This happens if boot9strap (or the older arm9loaderhax) is installed on the system, but there's no payload on the SD card.

Get the latest version of Luma3DS and extract its boot.firm to the root of the SD card. Put the SD card back in the 3DS and try turning it on. If this works, you should see the Luma3DS configuration screen.

Sound's good, thank you - I'll do this when I get the micro SD ordered. Does it need to be in the SD slot using a converter or does it not matter where the memory is coming from ? Also considering it will be a new memory card, is 'boot.firm' the only file I need on the card and also does the card need to be formatted ?

 

[Kubas_inko]

Sound's good, thank you - I'll do this when I get the micro SD ordered. Does it need to be in the SD slot using a converter or does it not matter where the memory is coming from ? Also considering it will be a new memory card, is 'boot.firm' the only file I need on the card and also does the card need to be formatted ?

it has to be fat32 formated.

 

[Dani Dandelion]

Sound's good, thank you - I'll do this when I get the micro SD ordered. Does it need to be in the SD slot using a converter or does it not matter where the memory is coming from ? Also considering it will be a new memory card, is 'boot.firm' the only file I need on the card and also does the card need to be formatted ?

Micro SD card goes in the slot located under the back plate of the New 3DS XL. You don't need a converter. The larger slot on the 3DS isn't for SD cards, it's for game cartridges, in case you were confused.

 

[TomRyder]

it has to be fat32 formated.

I've got the micro sd now, I'll update on here when / if it works for anyone else who may have this problem.

Micro SD card goes in the slot located under the back plate of the New 3DS XL. You don't need a converter. The larger slot on the 3DS isn't for SD cards, it's for game cartridges, in case you were confused.

Ah thank you, my bad - I've been used to the game slot on the back haha

 

[TomRyder]

This happens if boot9strap (or the older arm9loaderhax) is installed on the system, but there's no payload on the SD card.

Get the latest version of Luma3DS and extract its boot.firm to the root of the SD card. Put the SD card back in the 3DS and try turning it on. If this works, you should see the Luma3DS configuration screen.

Right, I've done everything but there seems to be no progress. I have the boot.firm file on the micro SD and I have put it into the 3DS, this time the screen flicks once and nothing happens - still have the blue light and when I open up the micro SD on my laptop it now has an empty luma file which I'm guessing always appears when you try to boot up. Is there any way to just factory reset the 3DS without having access to the console and only being able to edit the micro SD or will I need to boot it using the previous fireware it was using and then reset it there once I have access ?

 

[GerbilSoft]

Right, I've done everything but there seems to be no progress. I have the boot.firm file on the micro SD and I have put it into the 3DS, this time the screen flicks once and nothing happens - still have the blue light and when I open up the micro SD on my laptop it now has an empty luma file which I'm guessing always appears when you try to boot up. Is there any way to just factory reset the 3DS without having access to the console and only being able to edit the micro SD or will I need to boot it using the previous fireware it was using and then reset it there once I have access ?

If it doesn't work with boot.firm, it's possible that the system has arm9loaderhax instead. Get a copy of Luma3DS v7.x; this should have an arm9loaderhax.bin file. Put that in the SD root and try again.

EDIT: Misread the post. If you hold SELECT while turning on the system (with boot.firm), does it show the Luma3DS configuration menu?

 

[TomRyder]

If it doesn't work with boot.firm, it's possible that the system has arm9loaderhax instead. Get a copy of Luma3DS v7.x; this should have an arm9loaderhax.bin file. Put that in the SD root and try again.

EDIT: Misread the post. If you hold SELECT while turning on the system (with boot.firm), does it show the Luma3DS configuration menu?

Thanks for the reply, I’ll have to try by holding select and I’ve already tried using v7.x but when I done that I transferred all the files alongside the arm9loaderhax.bin file so I’ll try that aswell. I won’t be able to until tomorrow so I’ll post an update when I have.

 

[Quantumcat]

Make sure to try all three of:

• boot.firm from 7.1
• Arm9loaderhax.bin from 7.0.5
• Boot.firm from 9.1

 

[NovaXoXO]

Hopefully its okay to post links but here a video on how to fix these issues:

 

[TomRyder]

Hopefully its okay to post links but here a video on how to fix these issues:

That's the first thing I tried, I looked through a lot of youtube videos with no luck - thank you though.

Make sure to try all three of:

• boot.firm from 7.1
• Arm9loaderhax.bin from 7.0.5
• Boot.firm from 9.1

Thank you, I've now attempted using all 3 of them and I guess I have made slight progress. When loading boot.firm from 7.1 the screen flashes a message, it was too fast to read so I took a video and paused it at the right moment. It was this error: - this is a screenshot from another post in which I tried to find an answer for in which it still didn't work. It's weird because from 7.1 onwards the screen flickers for a split second when I attempt to turn on my DS and also when that error message shows ( when using boot.firm from 7.1 ) it says 'press any button to shut down' yet it's already shut down because it was only on the screen for 1 frame. It may also be worth to mention that no 'luma' folder is created on my micro SD when using boot.firm from 7.1 but there is when after I attempt to use the latest, v9.1. These are the only files present on the micro SD, no other 3DS files are present since it didn't arrive with one so I had to use a new one.

edit: The picture is from another post but it is the example I've used since this is the exact message that appears on my screen when using luma v7.1

I have also just followed a post which says to download the file under the section 'b9s-next' on this site: https://astronautlevel2.github.io/Luma3DS/ in which I come to this screen for a split second:

I had to video and screenshot to get this image, is the 3DS crashing before you can read the screen common or could this also be a hardware issue on top of this ?