Hacking 3DS NOOB PARADISE - Ask questions here

[rariteh]

AS doesn't require a seed to run, and IIRC the title id for the game in either U, EU or JP is the same, and saves are cross compatible, i personally did it from a US to a EU version. Also why not install a cia of the game (from online) for now to play the game, and later if you want to troubleshoot your cart do so on your own leisure.

Damn… I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do that because I’ll have to migrate to a larger SD card, but tbf that would’ve happened soon or sooner anyway. Thank you!

 

[Mimiak]

hello before I give advice I want to know you are doing it correctly so first are you sure it's a dstt clone and not a r4 or aki clone with a dstt lable? Second have you tried the app designed for properly loading dstt on 3ds https://gbatemp.net/threads/r4-stage2-twl-flashcart-launcher-and-perhaps-other-cards-soon.416434/
But I think the problem from what you describe points to your sd card being corrupt or fake (as in it has been made to report a larger size than it's capacity) so back up your sd card and run this https://3ds.hacks.guide/h2testw-(windows).html to test for errors let me know the results and we will go from there

Well, to be honest I'm not absolutely sure if it's a DSTT clone, so I'm sending some pictures of it.
I've checked the SD card and it's fine, so the issue is not it.
Thanks!

 

[CoolMe]

Hello! I've recently got a second-hand 3DS (with CFW) that came with a DSTWO flashcart. However, as the 3DS isn't refurbished and its battery life, although not terrible, isn't exactly good either, I would like to use my old DSTTi Gold (a DSTT clone) with it.
I hadn't used this flashcard since 2014 I think, so I got a new 8GB good quality microSD card and basically copied everything I had backed up on my HD from the old card to this one, menu, games, saves and all. The thing is, the flashcard menu loads just fine but when I try to open any game the menu freezes before loading. Could someone help me to find out what's wrong?

You said 3DS came with CFW, is it installed on the 3DS's SD card or is it using the NTR-boot method with the flashcart DSTWO? Anyway, it could be that the TT flashcart is patched by Nintendo, why you're encountering the error, and you need CFW with a homebrew app that can launch these old flashcarts.

 

[Mimiak]

You said 3DS came with CFW, is it installed on the 3DS's SD card or is it using the NTR-boot on the flashcard DSTWO

It's installed on the 3DS' SD card

 

[CoolMe]

Hello! I've recently got a second-hand 3DS (with CFW) that came with a DSTWO flashcart. However, as the 3DS isn't refurbished and its battery life, although not terrible, isn't exactly good either, I would like to use my old DSTTi Gold (a DSTT clone) with it.
I hadn't used this flashcard since 2014 I think, so I got a new 8GB good quality microSD card and basically copied everything I had backed up on my HD from the old card to this one, menu, games, saves and all. The thing is, the flashcard menu loads just fine but when I try to open any game the menu freezes before loading. Could someone help me to find out what's wrong?

It's installed on the 3DS' SD card

Ok, see what firmware it's on, and see this thread when it says TTi flashcart & how to set up YS-Menu on the TT's SD card. After use NTR Launcher homebrew app, also on the thread, to boot your flashcart.

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Damn… I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do that because I’ll have to migrate to a larger SD card, but tbf that would’ve happened soon or sooner anyway. Thank you!

Hey, what kind of error did you get? Is it an Arm11 or Errdisp? Or any other could help to see if it's the cart, and not a software related issue.Also Is this newly purchased or is it from your collection, it could be because of this new wave of 3DS carts dying or something else inside is broken..

 

[wormdood]

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Well, to be honest I'm not absolutely sure if it's a DSTT clone, so I'm sending some pictures of it.
I've checked the SD card and it's fine, so the issue is not it.
Thanks!

so it's definitely a clone card but the question is of what the original website is long down. interestingly enough although the files in your SD card seem to be dstt labeled it seems to be running wood (or an ak-2i menu).

So here's a question do you have an official NDS game you can attempt to load? I ask because if you do and it loads then the problem definitely lies within your flash card or it's SD card but if it doesn't load then the problem is the twl firm on your 3DS

 

[Mimiak]

so it's definitely a clone card but the question is of what the original website is long down. interestingly enough although the files in your SD card seem to be dstt labeled it seems to be running wood (or an ak-2i menu).

Well now that's quite unexpected It does make the whole updating thing harder though I'm sure

So here's a question do you have an official NDS game you can attempt to load? I ask because if you do and it loads then the problem definitely lies within your flash card or it's SD card but if it doesn't load then the problem is the twl firm on your 3DS

I do have an official game which I've tested and it's running absolutely fine. The games on the DSTWO are running okay as well
So I guess it's probably flashcard firm issues?

 

[wormdood]

Well now that's quite unexpected It does make the whole updating thing harder though I'm sure

I do have an official game which I've tested and it's running absolutely fine. The games on the DSTWO are running okay as well
So I guess it's probably flashcard firm issues?

ok, yep it's either the firmware files on the flashcard or the SD card ... I still think it's the latter but in case it is the firmware you can back up your current SD card and test these two (Btw I found these via a Google search and don't know how well they work but they are hosted by gbatemp if that helps)
https://gbatemp.net/download/dstti-gold-kernel.27053/
https://gbatemp.net/download/wood-for-ttds-i.25826/

But like I said I think the problem is the SD card perhaps there is a corrupt file on it or it's a larger capacity than your flashcard can handle my personal suggestion is to try with another micro SD card before attempting to replace anything firmware related

 

[SkyDX]

Is it still safe to just hop on the eShop and download games from there with Luma and my self-dumped .cias installed?

 

[wormdood]

Is it still safe to just hop on the eShop and download games from there with Luma and my self-dumped .cias installed?

as in you're redownloading your legally purchased downloadable games? that's fine
as in attempting to quote re-download a title you don't actually own? Insta-ban

 

[SkyDX]

as in you're redownloading your legally purchased downloadable games? that's fine
as in attempting to quote re-download a title you don't actually own? Insta-ban

I bought Culdecept Revolt on the latest sale and wanted to download that

 

[wormdood]

I bought Culdecept Revolt on the latest sale and wanted to download that

yeah your fine as long as you don't attempt any shady things on the eShop you won't be banned

 

[rariteh]

Hey, what kind of error did you get? Is it an Arm11 or Errdisp? Or any other could help to see if it's the cart, and not a software related issue.Also Is this newly purchased or is it from your collection, it could be because of this new wave of 3DS carts dying or something else inside is broken..

It’s an ErrDisp, but about that… I’ve just tested it on an American old 3DS with OFW and yeah. He’s dead, Jim. Guess it’s not just the German carts that were made shoddily.

For context, I bought this card in used–like new condition in early 2018. Old owner says it had only been booted five times; judging by the appearance of the cart and box, I’m inclined to believe them. I myself only booted it some five more; I was only going to actually start playing it now. I don’t remember if there was a save in it, but Checkpoint allegedly backed up whatever was stored. I’ll find out if the save is usable as soon as I upgrade my microSD. In any case, this is a bit of a wake-up call to back up your saves as often as you can.

Edit: I’m attaching some pictures of the error screens for reference. Sorry for the potato quality, but country girls make do

 

[MDS01]

I've been gradually getting some answers over on the 3DS hacks reddit, but thought I would spread the burden out here as well.

The short version of my problem. I have a legitimate copy of PixelMaker Studio on an NA New 3DS. I would like to transfer it over to my JP New 3DS LL. However, the .cia created via gm9 fails its first-time extdata setup (acts as if there is no SD card inserted) when installed on the JP device. It seems like the .cia has some remaining console-tag information that lingers, which causes it to not find its target directory when installed on a new device. Unfortunately this prevents the software from proceeding into a usable state.

I can confirm 100% that it is not an SD corruption issue. This .cia installs, runs, and successfully sets up initial data on either SD I have when formatted and used on the original NA device.

I have tried creating a .cia from a fresh install that has yet to do the first-time SD card setup in case there was some flag that got thrown, but the same issue occurs.

Checkpoint does not see any extdata when the .cia is installed on the JP LL device.

So, my question is: is there any other method for creating a .cia that may be able to remove this tie it seems to have with the original NA device? I have used the gm9 'standard' .cia creation method.
OR, is there a way for me to inject backed up extdata for a title PRIOR to it creating that data itself?

Thanks in advance for your time and help with those two questions.

 

[CoolMe]

It’s an ErrDisp, but about that… I’ve just tested it on an American old 3DS with OFW and yeah. He’s dead, Jim. Guess it’s not just the German carts that were made shoddily.

For context, I bought this card in used–like new condition in early 2018. Old owner says it had only been booted five times; judging by the appearance of the cart and box, I’m inclined to believe them. I myself only booted it some five more; I was only going to actually start playing it now. I don’t remember if there was a save in it, but Checkpoint allegedly backed up whatever was stored. I’ll find out if the save is usable as soon as I upgrade my microSD. In any case, this is a bit of a wake-up call to back up your saves as often as you can.

Edit: I’m attaching some pictures of the error screens for reference. Sorry for the potato quality, but country girls make do

It's a shame about the cart, kinda defeats the purpose of collecting physical carts.. You can look further into the issue, and if you want to fix it there's a thread on the 3DS section about 3DS carts dying, you might get some insight/help from others there.
About the game, just start a new save from the beginning, if you weren't that far into the game and you don't have any Pokémons that you care about.

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I've been gradually getting some answers over on the 3DS hacks reddit, but thought I would spread the burden out here as well.

The short version of my problem. I have a legitimate copy of PixelMaker Studio on an NA New 3DS. I would like to transfer it over to my JP New 3DS LL. However, the .cia created via gm9 fails its first-time extdata setup (acts as if there is no SD card inserted) when installed on the JP device. It seems like the .cia has some remaining console-tag information that lingers, which causes it to not find its target directory when installed on a new device. Unfortunately this prevents the software from proceeding into a usable state.

I can confirm 100% that it is not an SD corruption issue. This .cia installs, runs, and successfully sets up initial data on either SD I have when formatted and used on the original NA device.

I have tried creating a .cia from a fresh install that has yet to do the first-time SD card setup in case there was some flag that got thrown, but the same issue occurs.

Checkpoint does not see any extdata when the .cia is installed on the JP LL device.

So, my question is: is there any other method for creating a .cia that may be able to remove this tie it seems to have with the original NA device? I have used the gm9 'standard' .cia creation method.
OR, is there a way for me to inject backed up extdata for a title PRIOR to it creating that data itself?

Thanks in advance for your time and help with those two questions.

So do you have a problem with launching the game, the save data or both? Did you create a 3DS file of your cart on GodMode9, and then converted into cia there?

 

[MDS01]

So do you have a problem with launching the game, the save data or both? Did you create a 3DS file of your cart on GodMode9, and then converted into cia there?

The program launches, but throws an error when it should be doing the step of setting up the extdata, and does not proceed. It complains that it cannot find any save data, and that the SD may be full or not inserted (neither of which are remotely true). I can assure you that this is not a problem with the SD card itself.

The .cia was created using the title management options within gm9. It is originally a download-only game, so it is not ripped from a cart, but from the install itself.

 

[CoolMe]

The program launches, but throws an error when it should be doing the step of setting up the extdata, and does not proceed. It complains that it cannot find any save data, and that the SD may be full or not inserted (neither of which are remotely true). I can assure you that this is not a problem with the SD card itself.

The .cia was created using the title management options within gm9. It is originally a download-only game, so it is not ripped from a cart, but from the install itself.

I'm not sure how digital games are dumped, and if so i think it should be in 3DS format and not directly Cias. Also did you backup your extdata of the game on your US 3DS with Checkpoint? Try and restore extdata in Checkpoint in JP 3DS and see if it does anything.

 

[lone_wolf323]

I'm not sure how digital games are dumped, and if so i think it should be in 3DS format and not directly Cias. Also did you backup your extdata of the game on your US 3DS with Checkpoint? Try and restore extdata in Checkpoint in JP 3DS and see if it does anything.

Those files are dumped as cia. 3ds format was widely used before with gateway which that became obsolete. And MDS01 really should use the h2testw app to make sure the sd card is properly working. Idc if they say it is. It needs to be fully empty and format FAT32. 32kb clusters.

 

[MDS01]

Try and restore extdata in Checkpoint in JP 3DS and see if it does anything.

Yeah I want to try that, but the issue is that the title doesn't appear under the Checkpoint extdata save recovery menu. I am able to backup and restore the extdata on the NA device without issue. My understanding is that a title that has not yet created extdata itself cannot have its extdata written until first launch and that directory stuff being set up. (everything I have read emphasizes that in order to restore extdata, you must first launch the title and have it make that data, then you can overwrite with your backup). That's what I was meaning in my original post when I asked if there was a way to 'inject' extdata without the title having yet created that extdata directory/file structure (because that appears to be the failure point). I wasn't as clear as I could have been.

MDS01 really should use the h2testw app to make sure the sd card is properly working. Idc if they say it is. It needs to be fully empty and format FAT32. 32kb clusters.

Sorry for being obtuse. I had already used h2testw, and it is properly working. Prior to doing this check, I was separately confident to rule out the SD card because I have used the same memory card to successfully install from my own ripped .cia on the US device and have it create extdata without issue, and install the same .cia successfully on my JP device and have it fail to create the extdata (and not be able to proceed in using the software).

My original tone was just lingering annoyance from previous discussions because I've struggled to find out whether there is *any* alternative means of creating a .cia for a title that may have a shot at a different outcome. If there isn't, that's all good, just want to know. Thanks for your time, lone_wolf323 and CoolMe.

 

[CoolMe]

you must first launch the title and have it make that data, then you can overwrite with your backup

Yep, that's correct. So if the SD card is fine, the problem is with the Cia file and it's creation is faulty, and something in GodMode9 is not working as it should in your NA 3DS, and not the LL, maybe try updating GM9 and try again and delete the game on your NA 3DS, and download it again.
As for another method to dump your 3DS digital game, i don't have experience with it, maybe someone would chime in and help. And you could always use an online Cia file from somewhere *wink* of the same region, it should the be the same thing.