Hacking 3DS Firmware Update Compatibility

[Mariko]

Ever since the Gateway cartridge got announced and the way it worked explained, I was wondering about one thing. I know that some games require a certain firmware version, or at least they they try to install one once you try to start them. I know this is true for ROM images as well, so my question is:

If you're on 4.5.x, as most of the Gateway owners are, will a game from another region ran on the Gateway cartridge still try to update your console? That's assuming you're not on Gateway 1.2. I was wondering if the updates were region-specific, or universal.

If they aren't universal, I guess another question would be if applying a JP update to a US console would region-convert the 3DS or screw things up, or not run at all.

If someone from the 3DS hacking scene reads this, I'd really appreciate an answer to this question (rather than just an educated or an uneducated guess from anyone who happens to own a 3DS).

 

[Armadillo]

If you're on 4.5.x, as most of the Gateway owners are, will a game from another region ran on the Gateway cartridge still try to update your console? That's assuming you're not on Gateway 1.2. I was wondering if the updates were region-specific, or universal.

Won't try to update. 1.1 (region free release) & onwards have the firmware spoof as well. Only release of Mario & Luigi - Dream Team Bros is an EU release with 5.1E on it, other region users have used it with no problems, no prompt to update.

1.0 (no firmware spoof) won't run an out of region game.

 

[Mariko]

Right. I forgot all about the fimware spoof appearing in the same release as the multi-region ROM update. So my question should be: Would a JP game with firmware above 4.5 update a non-JP console if the spoof wouldn't give the game false version info. If i understood you right, there's no way to run a different region game without the spoof being active.

 

[chaosdarkneo]

Right. I forgot all about the fimware spoof appearing in the same release as the multi-region ROM update. So my question should be: Would a JP game with firmware above 4.5 update a non-JP console if the spoof wouldn't give the game false version info. If i understood you right, there's no way to run a different region game without the spoof being active.

I've heard (not certain) that for some games, if it requires both the region and the firmware spoof to play, it might not work properly. Someone wrote that it's only limited to the 3DS homescreen with the game banner not showing up, and another wrote that the game doesn't play at all.

Can someone clarify on this?

 

[Mariko]

I've heard (not certain) that for some games, if it requires both the region and the firmware spoof to play, it might not work properly.

That's not what I was asking, though. I wanted to know whether or not a game containing an update above 4.5, but from another region than the console, would try to update it. To see if it would, one would have to run a region-free Gateway launcher, but without the firmware spoofing, so that the console returns a correct firmware revision number.

I guess it would be possible to simply compare the update data for the same firmware revision (e.g. 5.1E compared against 5.1J) that can be found within the ROM image. Since this data is not encrypted (or is it?), it should at least reveal whether the updates are completely different or not.

It all comes down to what gets updated when a new firmware revision is being installed and where is the console region information contained. I was kind of hoping Nintendo overlooked this, because they didn't assume people would be able to run out of region games. In a perfect world, firmware updates would be an easy way to convert a console to any region with an update.

Sub-question! This deserves its own topic, but let's post it here, anyway. I'm not sure how Gateway's firmware spoofing works, but I can only assume it returns a higher FW value once a game checks for it. If it indeed is a value, it could be set to anything. It's just an idea without any practical implementation for the moment, but if the firmware spoof returned a value below 4.5, would a game containing a 4.5 update try to apply it?

Example: My 3DS is on 4.5.0. The spoof is set to return a value of 4.1. If I ran a game (ROM image via Gateway, of course) containing the 4.3 update, would it install? It would be a way to downgrade, but only below 4.5, and only using the available in-game updates. It's just an idea, anyway. If it was discussed here somewhere, I haven't seen it and would appreciate a link. If not, what do 3DS hackers think about this?