Hacking Arm9 Error: Data Abort

Heigw

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Not exactly how this happened... My 3ds has been messed up for a long time and I just decided to pick it up again (forgetting it was messed up.) At certain points, with certain actions, it will randomly crash, always with an arm9 error: "Data Abort"

Here are two crash dumps. The first is when I was just in the home menu. Everything is fine, until I scroll with the DPad over certain titles. Some titles that do this for me are Harvest Moon and Checkpoint. The crash dump is when I scrolled over Checkpoint. I'm sure it's got to be something wrong with the titles themselves right?
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pC_acKRS54m846O3ty_Qeddve4YFGrT0

Here is one that happens when I launch certain titles. The dump is from Final Fantasy Explorers. I can scroll over it in the home menu, but when I launch it it gives me this error.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=14ZOvbanpqo0MqcNzqZCQXHOdDNUulLYx

Anyone got any ideas? I already tested my SD card, nothing wrong with that. Past that I didn't know what to do, and didn't want to try anything else in fear of messing it up even more!

Thanks in Advance... Gameboy Advance...
 

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I don't know the answer, but what I would do in your shoes would be the following:
  1. Make a NAND backup and copy of SD card contents to store on your computer so you can return to your starting point at any time
  2. Test your SD card with H2testw by following these exact instructions https://3ds.guide/h2testw-(windows) (or follow the links inside for Linux or Mac instructions) and post a screenshot of the results here so you can stop anyone from thinking it still could be your SD
  3. Uninstall any titles that give you issues, if you manage to get to a stage where you don't get crashes anymore, find fresh sources for the cias and reinstall one at a time and test after each. If you don't get any more crashes you can stop here. I don't think this will work but worth a try. If you only get crashes with some new ones and not others let us know which (may help someone help you)
  4. If the above hasn't fixed anything, try a ctrtransfer (if no crashes right away, try installing some of the troublesome titles)
  5. If that doesn't fix anything try a d9-style ctrtransfer (same as above)
  6. If that doesn't fix anything then hope someone has come up with a better idea by then :-p
 
Last edited by Quantumcat,
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Heigw

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I don't know the answer, but what I would do in your shoes would be the following:
  1. Make a NAND backup and copy of SD card contents to store on your computer so you can return to your starting point at any time
  2. Test your SD card with H2testw by following these exact instructions https://3ds.guide/h2testw-(windows) (or follow the links inside for Linux or Mac instructions) and post a screenshot of the results here so you can stop anyone from thinking it still could be your SD
  3. Uninstall any titles that give you issues, if you manage to get to a stage where you don't get crashes anymore, find fresh sources for the cias and reinstall one at a time and test after each. If you don't get any more crashes you can stop here. I don't think this will work but worth a try. If you only get crashes with some new ones and not others let us know which (may help someone help you)
  4. If the above hasn't fixed anything, try a ctrtransfer (if no crashes right away, try installing some of the troublesome titles)
  5. If that doesn't fix anything try a d9-style ctrtransfer (same as above)
  6. If that doesn't fix anything then hope someone has come up with a better idea by then :-p

So now new question... When I go into settings everything is fine. I can get all the way to data management and 3ds. It is when I click SOFTWARE I get the same ARM9 error... So... How would I uninstall titles without the normal 3ds settings App? Also, is there a way to re-install the settings app? I don't know what I did to this DS, but I've somehow messed it up real good!

Edit: Oh, and I honestly wouldn't mind just wiping it and starting fresh. If only I knew how to do that! All the save data and everything is old and I don't remember where I left off, so I wouldn't mind just starting over.
 
Last edited by Heigw,
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So now new question... When I go into settings everything is fine. I can get all the way to data management and 3ds. It is when I click SOFTWARE I get the same ARM9 error... So... How would I uninstall titles without the normal 3ds settings App? Also, is there a way to re-install the settings app? I don't know what I did to this DS, but I've somehow messed it up real good!

Edit: Oh, and I honestly wouldn't mind just wiping it and starting fresh. If only I knew how to do that! All the save data and everything is old and I don't remember where I left off, so I wouldn't mind just starting over.

Did you make sure to check whether or not your SD card is fake or dying?
  1. Copy everything off the SD card to a computer.
  2. Quadruple reformat.
  3. Full Write + Verify the empty card in H2testw. Do not skip.
  4. If the card passes, delete the *.h2w test files.
    • A reported error means the hardware failed card needs to be replace. Go back to step 1.
  5. Copy everything back to the SD card (or its replacement).

***

A luma ARM9 error generally means there's a problem with the 3DS firmware. Did your 3DS undergo region changing at some point? This sounds like a case of frankenfirmware due to mishap system update or incomplete CTRTransfer.

You can try to repair the 3DS firmware with CTRTransfer (Type D9) - CTRTransfer.

***

You can check which installed titles are corrupt without uninstalling them. In GodMode9 v1.9.1 (or newer),
  1. Hold (R)-shoulder and press (A) on [A:] SYSNAND SDSearch for titles.
  2. Hold (L)-shoulder and press (RIGHT) d-pad to highlight all titles in yellow.
  3. Press (A) → TMD file options...Verify file.
  4. Plug in the AC adapter, close the clam shell, and set the 3DS aside. Leave it alone.
The report will be ready when the notification LED blinks green. It'll tell you which titles failed to match their expected SHA-256 hashes against their *.tmd (title meta data).

***

Titles that were found to be corrupt in the above check will require reinstalling or replacing. :!: However, reinstalling a game title's CIA (000040000XXXXXXXX) will overwrite and delete its save.

In the event the saves cannot be backed up in Checkpoint or JKSM, they can be extracted with CTRTransfer (Type D9) - Rebuild 3DS Database: Option (C) Manual. This will individually pull out the decrypted version of the individual 00000001.sav files out of the [A:] SYSNAND SD for the Nintendo 3DS folder. Keep in mind some games make their saves as extdata, which this script leaves alone (reinstalling a game CIA does not delete extdata).
 
Last edited by TurdPooCharger,

Heigw

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Well Mr. Turdpoo, you seem to be on to something! I have tested my card with h2test before, when it was broken the first time about a year or so ago, and it seemed to be fine. But since you used red in saying to do it again, I did. This is what came up:
Error reading file 'E:\16.h2w', offset 0x4100000.
(The device is not ready. Code 21)
Writing speed: 10.3 MByte/s
Reading speed: 15.8 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

So what now good sir? New card? That's all I can do? Thanks for the help!
 
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Well Mr. Turdpoo, you seem to be on to something! I have tested my card with h2test before, when it was broken the first time about a year or so ago, and it seemed to be fine. But since you used red in saying to do it again, I did. This is what came up:
Error reading file 'E:\16.h2w', offset 0x4100000.
(The device is not ready. Code 21)
Writing speed: 10.3 MByte/s
Reading speed: 15.8 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

So what now good sir? New card? That's all I can do? Thanks for the help!
That result is inconclusive. Are you using a shitty or cheapie SD-to-USB reader like this T-FLASH adapter?
  1. Delete the *.h2w test files.
  2. Reformat the card again but first with SD Memory Card Formatter.
    • This program was created by the SD Association to revive flash memory that have softlocked or are unreadable by Windows File Explorer.
    • * Does not revive or cannot fix hardware failed card.
  3. Quadruple reformat again.
  4. Full Write + Verify the empty card in H2testw once more but this time with a different:
If you get the same result despite being even more thorough with more reformats and testing the card with a different setup combination, your SD card probably has the rarer failure type where its I/O controller is bad. Here's an explanation of what this is:
Check my signature if you need to get a replacement (micro)SD card. Make sure to also test that card with H2testw before using due to prevalent counterfeits. If you need one ASAP or don't trust online retailsers, there's walmart in-store onn. brand [H2testw brick-&-mortar bought card anyway].
 

Heigw

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Hmm... Well I had kind of hoped it was just a bad SD Card after that first error, but I did what you said and now this came up:

Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 13.0 MByte/s
Reading speed: 18.7 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

So... What now friend?
 
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Hmm... Well I had kind of hoped it was just a bad SD Card after that first error, but I did what you said and now this came up:

Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 13.0 MByte/s
Reading speed: 18.7 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

So... What now friend?
  1. Delete the *.h2w test files and copy everything back to the SD card.
  2. In GodMode9 v1.9.1, verify that all the installed titles in the Nintendo 3DS folder are still intact (see post #4).
  3. If titles were found to be corrupt, write down a list for the ones that will need to be reinstalled. Find and collect replacement CIAs.
  4. (Conditional if step 3 reported bad titles) Backup the saves with that script's Option (C) Manual: (1c) Backup Saves.
    • If you can launch Checkpoint, you can also mass back up saves + extdata. In that app, hold the (SELECT) button to see its menu choices.
  5. (Step 3 conditional) Boot to HOME Menu. FBI install the replacement CIAs.
  6. (Conditional) Go back to GodMode9. Because reinstalling game CIAs deletes their saves, restore the saves with Option (C) Manual: (2c) Restore Saves.
***

If the 3DS still crashes with a luma ARM9 error despite (trying to) follow[ing] this post's above steps 1-6, attempt repairing the 3DS firmware with CTRTransfer (Type D9) - CTRTransfer.
 
Last edited by TurdPooCharger,
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Hello, I have got a similar issue when Anemone or Checkpoint are booting. I want to to try the TurdPooCharger steps, but I don't understand what "Full Write" means. Can someone help me?
 
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Hello, I have got a similar issue when Anemone or Checkpoint are booting. I want to to try the TurdPooCharger steps, but I don't understand what "Full Write" means. Can someone help me?
H2testw
  1. Select targetRemovable Disk (D:') or whichever letter drive of the SD card
  2. Data volumeall available space (# MByte)
    • The SD card you want to test has to be empty (no folders, files, items).
  3. Write + Verify
Once the program finishes, you'll get a result.
  • GOOD - Test finished without errors.
  • BAD - The media is likely to be defective.
 
Last edited by TurdPooCharger,
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I can't copy to my computer all the content of my SD card because some files are damaged... What should I do?
 

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