Hacking Please help. Did I brick my 2DS?

[lynbutnot]

I'm really sorry if I'm posting in the wrong spot. I've been doing this all day and at this point I'm beaten down and don't know where else to ask. I tried Reddit several times and all my comments got deleted, I apparently keep violating rules without trying to. If this is wrong too, I would really really appreciate if someone could direct me to somewhere that I can get help. Sorry for pouting also.

Basically. I followed a tutorial to change ONLY my region from US to Japan—the method had to do with Luma Locale Switcher. You go into the app, find System Settings, and change the region to JP. Somehow, I guess it tricks the locale settings so your region shows up as "Japan", but the language of your device doesn't change. Everything else ran fine at first, but I suddenly couldn't open Flipnote (after some research I found the error code, 0xc8804471, related to a conflicting region) and Homebrew was in Japanese. I did try to manually change back to US in System Settings, but it didn't do anything. And then, stupidly thinking I could make it better, I tried fully region-changing my 2Ds back to US, using the guide on 3ds.hacks.guide. I don't know, maybe that would have worked, but I think I missed a step and now my games won't even show up on my homescreen. It's like they're there, but each one is a blank tile that hasn't loaded. When I went into System Settings, they're grayed-out with an X. I read that meant missing tickets. So what do I do? Do I need to wipe my 2Ds and start over? If so, how do I do that, and is there a way to backup some of my saves? Checkpoint is among the apps that don't load.

I just really want my 2Ds back. I miss Flipnote. I avoided posting this for a while because I was scared no one would help me—I'm not good at hacking and understandably most people don't want to waste time with newbies. I genuinely don't know where else to go if this doesn't work. Despite the earlier incident I'd say I'm pretty good at following instructions, so please, call me all the names you want, but I would really truly from the bottom of my heart appreciate any suggestions or help. I can provide pictures and answer any additional questions (to the best of my abilities) if needed. Thank you for your time if you've gotten this far.

 

[Quantumcat]

Do you have a NAND backup from any point before you started the region changing?

 

[lynbutnot]

Do you have a NAND backup from any point before you started the region changing?

I do. The .bin file, right? It was made a very long time ago, though; I think I made it when I first hacked my 2DS in the middle of 2018. Would that still work?

 

[Dimensional]

I do. The .bin file, right? It was made a very long time ago, though; I think I made it when I first hacked my 2DS in the middle of 2018. Would that still work?

If it's the correct file, which there's no way of confirming without actually using it, then it'll restore your nand back to the moment you backed it up, before you installed any updates, new games, etc after you backed it up. That also means if you have any games on your system and the system is banned, you can't redownload/reinstall them on there.

 

[lynbutnot]

If it's the correct file, which there's no way of confirming without actually using it, then it'll restore your nand back to the moment you backed it up, before you installed any updates, new games, etc after you backed it up. That also means if you have any games on your system and the system is banned, you can't redownload/reinstall them on there.

Yikes. I don't think my system is banned-- or are you saying it is? If that's what I have to do, then that's what I have to do. Is there any way I could backup my saves and then just download the games again?

 

[Dimensional]

Yikes. I don't think my system is banned-- or are you saying it is? If that's what I have to do, then that's what I have to do. Is there any way I could backup my saves and then just download the games again?

If it's not banned, then you might be able to redownload any games you legally own, but anything else won't work, especially since you'll have to update to the latest firmware soon afterward just to be able to access the eShop. If you are able to boot godmode9 through boot9strap, then you might be able to backup every game you have installed. Saves on the other hand require loading homebrew like checkpoint, so you'd lose your saves.

 

[lynbutnot]

If it's not banned, then you might be able to redownload any games you legally own, but anything else won't work, especially since you'll have to update to the latest firmware soon afterward just to be able to access the eShop. If you are able to boot godmode9 through boot9strap, then you might be able to backup every game you have installed. Saves on the other hand require loading homebrew like checkpoint, so you'd lose your saves.

So I wouldn't be able to re-download CIAs at all? Re-download as in actually finding the CIA files and downloading them again through FBI. I don't think I've ever used the eShop. If I understand correctly I can boot godmode9. Is restoring the NAND backup my only way out of this? Is there anything I could do about my saves?

 

[Quantumcat]

I think there may be something you can do with your saves - @TurdPooCharger will know.

While waiting, I would advise making a NAND backup of what you have now, and a copy of your SD card contents, and keep them safe on your computer. You can restore those later if TPC can tell you how to try recovering saves. Then restore your old NAND backup, at least you can use your console then.

 

[lynbutnot]

I think there may be something you can do with your saves - @TurdPooCharger will know.

While waiting, I would advise making a NAND backup of what you have now, and a copy of your SD card contents, and keep them safe on your computer. You can restore those later if TPD can tell you how to try recovering saves. Then restore your old NAND backup, at least you can use your console then.

Alright. I'll do that right now, thank you

 

[Deleted User]

I'm really sorry if I'm posting in the wrong spot. I've been doing this all day and at this point I'm beaten down and don't know where else to ask. I tried Reddit several times and all my comments got deleted, I apparently keep violating rules without trying to. If this is wrong too, I would really really appreciate if someone could direct me to somewhere that I can get help. Sorry for pouting also.

Basically. I followed a tutorial to change ONLY my region from US to Japan—the method had to do with Luma Locale Switcher. You go into the app, find System Settings, and change the region to JP. Somehow, I guess it tricks the locale settings so your region shows up as "Japan", but the language of your device doesn't change. Everything else ran fine at first, but I suddenly couldn't open Flipnote (after some research I found the error code, 0xc8804471, related to a conflicting region) and Homebrew was in Japanese. I did try to manually change back to US in System Settings, but it didn't do anything. And then, stupidly thinking I could make it better, I tried fully region-changing my 2Ds back to US, using the guide on 3ds.hacks.guide. I don't know, maybe that would have worked, but I think I missed a step and now my games won't even show up on my homescreen. It's like they're there, but each one is a blank tile that hasn't loaded. When I went into System Settings, they're grayed-out with an X. I read that meant missing tickets. So what do I do? Do I need to wipe my 2Ds and start over? If so, how do I do that, and is there a way to backup some of my saves? Checkpoint is among the apps that don't load.

I just really want my 2Ds back. I miss Flipnote. I avoided posting this for a while because I was scared no one would help me—I'm not good at hacking and understandably most people don't want to waste time with newbies. I genuinely don't know where else to go if this doesn't work. Despite the earlier incident I'd say I'm pretty good at following instructions, so please, call me all the names you want, but I would really truly from the bottom of my heart appreciate any suggestions or help. I can provide pictures and answer any additional questions (to the best of my abilities) if needed. Thank you for your time if you've gotten this far.

Do you have access to Godmode9?

 

[lynbutnot]

Do you have access to Godmode9?

Yes, I do.

 

[Deleted User]

Yes, I do.

You could always try this

1: Boot Godmode9

2: Highlight the directory labeled [A:] SYSNAND SD and press R + A

3: Then select the option Search for titles frome the drop down menu

4: Reply to the thread with your results

 

[lynbutnot]

You could always try this

1: Boot Godmode9

2: Highlight the directory labeled [A:] SYSNAND SD and press R + A

3: Then select the option Search for titles frome the drop down menu

4: Reply to the thread with your results

Alright, I did that, and it looks like all my games are there! Is there something I should do next?

 

[Deleted User]

Alright, I did that, and it looks like all my games are there! Is there something I should do next?

Excellent!

1: Select a title and select TMD file options...
2: Now Select Build CIA (Standard)
3: Before doing these steps is there any save data you wish to recover?

 

[lynbutnot]

Excellent!

1: Select a title and select TMD file options...
2: Now Select Build CIA (Standard)
3: Before doing these steps is there any save data you wish to recover?

Yes. Preferably everything lol. I did find a way to open Checkpoint, but none of my games show up there. Is there another way I can do it?

 

[Deleted User]

Yes. Preferably everything lol. I did find a way to open Checkpoint, but none of my games show up there. Is there another way I can do it?

this is a long shot but you could try instead of selecting TMD file options... select open containing folder then press B copy the data folder just do this and copy them to a safe location for now

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Busy day with Coronavirus hoarder's grocery shopping.

***

A Mighty Cat has summoned me. Please standby while I catch up.

@lynbutnot, if you were able to see X's in Data Management, you do not need to dump and reinstall CIAs.

 

[lynbutnot]

Busy day with Coronavirus hoarder's grocery shopping.

***

A Mighty Cat has summoned me. Please standby while I catch up.

@lynbutnot, if you were able to see X's in Data Management, you do not need to dump and reinstall CIAs.

That is definitely understandable!

Is that good news? Do you have a suggestion on what I could do?

 

[Ericzander]

II'm not good at hacking and understandably most people don't want to waste time with newbies. I genuinely don't know where else to go if this doesn't work. Despite the earlier incident I'd say I'm pretty good at following instructions, so please, call me all the names you want, but I would really truly from the bottom of my heart appreciate any suggestions or help. I can provide pictures and answer any additional questions (to the best of my abilities) if needed. Thank you for your time if you've gotten this far.

I'm sorry you felt the need to include this paragraph. I'd like to think that you won't get picked on here as we all make mistakes and helping newbies and sharing information is what it's all about here. As you can see from those helping you right now.

It seems like you're already on the right track here. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[TurdPooCharger]

I'm really sorry if I'm posting in the wrong spot. I've been doing this all day and at this point I'm beaten down and don't know where else to ask. I tried Reddit several times and all my comments got deleted, I apparently keep violating rules without trying to. If this is wrong too, I would really really appreciate if someone could direct me to somewhere that I can get help. Sorry for pouting also.

Come join the club. You're not the only one who has gotten the cold shoulder asking for help elsewhere. Which subreddit was it that was deleting your posts?

Basically. I followed a tutorial to change ONLY my region from US to Japan—the method had to do with Luma Locale Switcher. You go into the app, find System Settings, and change the region to JP. Somehow, I guess it tricks the locale settings so your region shows up as "Japan", but the language of your device doesn't change. Everything else ran fine at first, but I suddenly couldn't open Flipnote (after some research I found the error code, 0xc8804471, related to a conflicting region) and Homebrew was in Japanese. I did try to manually change back to US in System Settings, but it didn't do anything. And then, stupidly thinking I could make it better, I tried fully region-changing my 2Ds back to US, using the guide on 3ds.hacks.guide. I don't know, maybe that would have worked, but I think I missed a step and now my games won't even show up on my homescreen. It's like they're there, but each one is a blank tile that hasn't loaded. When I went into System Settings, they're grayed-out with an X. I read that meant missing tickets. So what do I do? Do I need to wipe my 2Ds and start over? If so, how do I do that, and is there a way to backup some of my saves? Checkpoint is among the apps that don't load.

I just really want my 2Ds back. I miss Flipnote. I avoided posting this for a while because I was scared no one would help me—I'm not good at hacking and understandably most people don't want to waste time with newbies. I genuinely don't know where else to go if this doesn't work. Despite the earlier incident I'd say I'm pretty good at following instructions, so please, call me all the names you want, but I would really truly from the bottom of my heart appreciate any suggestions or help. I can provide pictures and answer any additional questions (to the best of my abilities) if needed. Thank you for your time if you've gotten this far.

That is definitely understandable!

Is that good news? Do you have a suggestion on what I could do?

1. For good luck, perform the battery trick.
2. In GodMode9, if you haven't done so already, backup your SysNAND.
   
3. Go into the [1:] SYSNAND CTRNAND/dbs directory.
4. Press (A) on ticket.db → Copy to 0:/gm9/out.
   
5. Press (A) on ticket.bak → Copy to 0:/gm9/out.
6. Press (X) on ticket.db to delete this file.
   • This file was added in from standard CTRTransfer / region changing.
7. Hold (R)-shoulder and press (X) on ticket.bak. Rename this to ticket.db.
   • This will restore your original ticket database.
8. Repair your 3DS firmware + custom firmware with CTRTransfer (Type D9) - CTRTransfer.
   • This is not the same CTRTransfer mentioned in step 6.
   • Please carefully read and follow that page's Instructions.
   • You can keep whatever region changed 3DS firmware you switched over to.
   • Games, saves, and user profile settings should be retained.

Edit - Fixed the link in step 2 to directly point to 'Creating a NAND Backup' section.