Hacking 3DS XL NAND access via USB Mod

[Deleted User]

Ah, actually i don't care if it usb or sd - i didnt have any time to write more in my break so i just went with the first thing that came to my head
i doubt theres any difference
sorry for the confusion (and this topic was about usb mod anyway...)

 

[ChrisX930]

Hey, today I found my old Micro-SD Card reader and I want to use it for a NANDMod for someone in this forum who bricked his 3DS.
I thought: Instead of buying a new Card reader, can I use this one?
Will this one work?

 

[ad2099]

I have a doubt
If I upgrade my console and then charge the backup of 95-22
Do the changes of the update remain? or if?

 

[Jaitsu]

Couple of questions:

1. Unlike other NAND-to-USB mods, it is safe to connect this to a PC using a normal micro-USB cable, correct?

2. Is there something special about that particular MicroSD card reader, or will any do? For instance, something easier to find, like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-micr...62092&sr=8-4&keywords=usb+microsd+card+reader
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-SDDR-...62287&sr=8-2&keywords=usb+microsd+card+reader

 

[Gadorach]

Couple of questions:

1. Unlike other NAND-to-USB mods, it is safe to connect this to a PC using a normal micro-USB cable, correct?

2. Is there something special about that particular MicroSD card reader, or will any do? For instance, something easier to find, like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-micr...62092&sr=8-4&keywords=usb+microsd+card+reader
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-SDDR-...62287&sr=8-2&keywords=usb+microsd+card+reader

1. Yes, you can connect this particular version of the mod to your PC directly with a USB cable. You cannot, however, recover from a Gateway brick through this method, as you cannot do low-level eMMC operations through a non-specialized USB reader.

2. The microSD readers you've listed all have boards that are too large to easily fit inside the 3DS's case alongside its mainboard. Additionally, it just so happens that the microSD reader used in this guide is able to read the eMMC chip correctly, where many won't due to limitations on the implementation of the eMMC code used in most of the USB microSD readers. It's a test of luck to find a good microSD reader, so you're going to have to either find the one specified in this guide, or take your chances on finding others that are of the appropriate size and are also compatible. Unfortunately, there is not currently any guide to detail the readers that are compatible, so beyond the posts you'll find in this and similar threads, you're mostly on your own to find one that works.

 

[Jaitsu]

1. Yes, you can connect this particular version of the mod to your PC directly with a USB cable. You cannot, however, recover from a Gateway brick through this method, as you cannot do low-level eMMC operations through a non-specialized USB reader.

2. The microSD readers you've listed all have boards that are too large to easily fit inside the 3DS's case alongside its mainboard. Additionally, it just so happens that the microSD reader used in this guide is able to read the eMMC chip correctly, where many won't due to limitations on the implementation of the eMMC code used in most of the USB microSD readers. It's a test of luck to find a good microSD reader, so you're going to have to either find the one specified in this guide, or take your chances on finding others that are of the appropriate size and are also compatible. Unfortunately, there is not currently any guide to detail the readers that are compatible, so beyond the posts you'll find in this and similar threads, you're mostly on your own to find one that works.

Alrighty, thanks. Wasn't aware that the eMMC behaved differently than a typical SD card... Ah, well, I'm not in a hurry anyway. My soldering iron seems to have burned itself out. ...Oh, also. Out of curiosity - when you say you can't do low-level eMMC operations, do you mean as a limitation of the (Windows) operating system, or some sort of incapability of the reader itself? (i.e. if I were to boot into Linux and use hdparm -r 0, would it potentially fix it?) Not that I'm saying I have a bricked 3DS, just call me a curious noob. I'm curious as to why a Raspberry Pi can do it and a PC can't.

 

[Just3DS]

The typical card reader that you get as a device or built in PC uses a controller between the SD card and PC interface for I/O. It does not allow direct control from the PC to the SD card and only allows for normal/basic read write operations.

It is similar to devices that are on market today for USB to LPT printer port which 'emulates' the communication protocol (just an example, as I tried once to use my old thermal printer to work with PC that didn't had a physical parallel printer port, it doesn't work with the USB to LPT converter I bought).

The Rasberry Pi on the other hand can be programmed to provide necessary special commands directly from its I/O lines to the SD/eMMC which allows unbricking (soft unlock the read write mode) if data on it is not modified.

 

[gamesquest1]

i'm sure that some more obscure reader would have the technical capabilities (but would no doubt need a whole lot of work software side in terms of custom drivers, and software to actually use said features), but the simple fact is, with the raspberry pi being pretty cheap and easily accessible, plus once your finished with it it is actually useful to have around or easy to sell on if you don't need it its unlikely there will be any effort to develop such a complicated process when firstly there is more realistic and ready to go solutions with the raspberry pi and arduino, and the more glaring fact that its been over a year since the last brick, unless someone goes out of there way to use an older hard to find launcher file, or starts messing about with stuff they don't understand, there is pretty much no reason anyone should actually need to unbrick via raspberry pi, for you standard "flashed a bad nand backup" or "installed the wrong system title" etc a SD reader is sufficient

 

[Jaitsu]

...ergh. Does anybody know either an alternative SD card reader, or a good place to buy one of those Kawau C266's? I've found all of three sites (focalprice, onestop-e and FancyCost) and all three of them are sold out or broken (onestop-e claims to have them, but Paypal blocks the transaction due to "problems with the merchant's account")

Edit: Well, since the C266 seems to no longer exist, I'm going to try my luck with this: http://www.amazon.com/elago-Mobile-...TF8&qid=1435301943&sr=8-1&keywords=elago+nano

I'll let you guys know how it goes. Wish me luck.

 

[happydance]

done a couple of hard mod, but decided to give this usb mod a try

so far so good and the read/write speed are great, but I still got that blue screen even though the CMD and CLK was disconnected, but when I remove the GND form the usb card reader it boots fine.

any ideas? is it okay not to connect the GND from the motherboard to the USB reader? VDD/GND

BTW this is on n3ds xl

 

[Deleted User]

Im going to trying this later on a New 3ds XL. Would all of the points be the same or will they be in different spots?

If it's the latter would someone be kind enough to direct me to where the points would be?

 

[scicol]

Im going to trying this later on a New 3ds XL. Would all of the points be the same or will they be in different spots?

If it's the latter would someone be kind enough to direct me to where the points would be?

https://3dbrew.org/wiki/Hardware#New_3DS_XL
Also there's no convenient hole for the microUSB like the old 3DS XL so you'll have to drill your own.

 

[dizz00]

i have a question, is this mod have the same purpose as the original dumb/flash mod(as someone mention that you can't unbrick than you can't flash nand right?). i am trying to downgrade my firmware from 11.0 and having a hard time finding the compatible sd card reader

 

[gamesquest1]

i have a question, is this mod have the same purpose as the original dumb/flash mod(as someone mention that you can't unbrick than you can't flash nand right?). i am trying to downgrade my firmware from 11.0 and having a hard time finding the compatible sd card reader

its kinda hard to understand what you mean by that, but all you need is a compatible reader, if you have got a reader from the list of compatible models and its still not working i suggest you double check all your soldering to make sure they are wired up correctly and are properly connected

 

[dizz00]

its kinda hard to understand what you mean by that, but all you need is a compatible reader, if you have got a reader from the list of compatible models and its still not working i suggest you double check all your soldering to make sure they are wired up correctly and are properly connected

so this mod still need a specific reader to work too? can it dump and flash nand?

 

[gamesquest1]

so this mod still need a specific reader to work too? can it dump and flash nand?

depends on the model, if your sure your soldering is good and it still isnt working then you will need to get hold of one of the readers from the list of know good readers

and yeah this mod can be used to dump/write the nand directly

 

[dizz00]

depends on the model, if your sure your soldering is good and it still isnt working then you will need to get hold of one of the readers from the list of know good readers

and yeah this mod can be used to dump/write the nand directly

ah ok than thanks.
the thing is i can get the more expensive one from the list that available here, but there is someone i know who can downgrade mine just for ~$15-17 plus a9lh but i need to wait until next month for him to do it, and before then i want to try to do it myself but it seem like a waste if he can do it cheaper than buying a more expensive reader with no guarantee that it will work

 

[modzlink]

I tried doing this mod on my 3DSXL. I had to remove the ground cable like @happydance said previously for it to be able to work with the switch. If the ground cable was connected it always booted into the blue screen. I soldered everything correctly but it seems that the SD reader I used was not compatible. When I plugged the console in via USB windows gave me an error saying the hardware malfunctioned and windows could not identify it.

This is the reader I used: http://amzn.to/2hwCp8e

DO NOT BUY IT!!!

I may try another reader later on and report back with any findings.

I have another USB 3.0 micro SD card reader but it has 9 points not 8. I didn't realize this until I had taken the whole thing apart and dismantled the pins. If anyone can help me figure out where to wire the points on this I'll report back with info.