Backing up CFW 3DS in case it breaks

[CaptainKoloth]

Hello everyone: I have a CFW N3DS XL. Everything works well and is in good shape. However, I’m concerned that if one day it were to be stolen/damaged/dropped in water etc I would lose the large number of software titles I have on it. I’m trying to understand how I can make a backup of the software contents now such that if, in the future, I somehow lose access to this 3DS, I can completely restore it on a different 3DS using the backups. I am confused because most of the guides I see assume you have the other 3DS working and able to do a system transfer, and also a lot focus specifically on saved games.

My two concerns are that all the guides I've seen rely on a) having the source 3DS working and b) using Nintendo servers to do a PC-based system transfer, which won't be up forever. There's no way to make some kind of "cold backup" that can just reside on my PC in case the first 3DS breaks or Nintendo's servers one day go down?

 

[nl255]

Just be sure you have a backup of the following: movable.sed, otp.bin, boot9.bin, and boot7.bin. You can backup your movable.sed with godmode9 and you can get your otp/boot* using a couple different methods depending on whether you use b9s or fastboot3ds. Once you have that you can use your PC to decrypt nand backups or files on the SD card even if your console breaks.

https://ihaveamac.github.io/dump.html

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Hello everyone: I have a CFW N3DS XL. Everything works well and is in good shape. However, I’m concerned that if one day it were to be stolen/damaged/dropped in water etc I would lose the large number of software titles I have on it. I’m trying to understand how I can make a backup of the software contents now such that if, in the future, I somehow lose access to this 3DS, I can completely restore it on a different 3DS using the backups. I am confused because most of the guides I see assume you have the other 3DS working and able to do a system transfer, and also a lot focus specifically on saved games.

My two concerns are that all the guides I've seen rely on a) having the source 3DS working and b) using Nintendo servers to do a PC-based system transfer, which won't be up forever. There's no way to make some kind of "cold backup" that can just reside on my PC in case the first 3DS breaks or Nintendo's servers one day go down?

Inserting the encryption KeyY into the target system could do the trick. This carries ban potential as long as the servers are still up. I would not recommend doing this. Backing up the saves with Checkpoint and/or JKSM (storing the decrypted backups in multiple different locations) should suffice. The only personal data that cannot be replaced are the saves.
For the games: A new installation with FBI or with newer GodMode9 followed by restoring the saves as needed is the most clean way. There is also Custom Install. Consider this if you are impatient.

Not sure about internal things like Mii figures (but I guess this stuff can be shared somehow in an intended way – don't ask me, I don't do multiplayer).

Good luck and have fun!