Hacking Chain of weird problems on my n3DS (pls help)

[Kurlo]

Hi all,

Recently, I've been facing a weird chain of different problems that I think may be related to something else I can't figure out.

First, I used NSUI to inject Pokémon Emerald as a Virtual Console .cia, but I must have set the save type wrong because when I tried to save the game got stuck and I had to close it during the save.
But I think it all started after I tried to change some weird video setting on RetroArch (awful idea), and it caused the 3DS to crash. After that event (which was about the second time it happened), whenever I tried to do a quick save during play, it caused more crashes due to write errors, until my SD card wasn't accessible anymore.
I restored all the files from the SD, which seemed intact, but still decided to buy a brand new microSD and do a CFW update and reinstall all applications I had previously.

Here comes the weird part. After that, I ran into problems.
First, Universal Updater wasn't able to install TwilightMenu++; it keeps failing during the extraction of the archive. I could install it manually, tho.
Second, NetPass got stuck in the first loading screen. No network errors, CFW scripts run correctly (DSW dump, time offset reset...).
EDIT: RetroArch problem solved. My bad.

What could the problem be? I excluded it was a microSD fault because it happens even on a new one. Could the CFW be corrupted and unable to read or write correctly, or do some specific operations on the microSD like extracting archives?

Is there a way to do a clean reinstall of the CFW, even overwriting the present one?

Is it a hardware fault, and so I can throw my 3DS away?

Thank you all.

*EDIT*: I just ran CFW and hardware tests, and they report no errors. Just recently upgraded to Luma 13.3.3.

 

[Kwyjor]

Why do you think it's necessary to write "(pls help)" in your thread title..?

I restored all the files from the SD, which seemed intact, but still decided to buy a brand new microSD and do a clean update of the CFW and reinstall all applications I had previously.

Not sure what you mean by "clean update". If you were reusing stuff from your old SD card, then that could definitely explain some problems.

I hope you've been following https://3ds.guide and not some random Youtube tutorial. I also hope you tested your new SD card with h2testw before you started using it.

Second, NetPass got stuck in the first loading screen. No network errors, CFW scripts run correctly (DSW dump, time offset reset...).

NetPass doesn't seem to be very reliable. In any case the dev just released CEC Tool, which is probably worth a try. https://gitlab.com/sorunome/cectool

ETA: Someone over here also says it is broken.

also it's not able to run any ROM, getting stuck on a monocolor screen, but seems able to do save states.

I don't know what this means either. Retroarch can run many different ROMs in many different ways.

Is there a way to do a clean reinstall of the CFW, even overwriting the present one?

You suggested you already did that, which adds to the confusion.

*EDIT*: I just ran CFW and hardware tests, and they report no errors.

Wouldn't it be useful to know which specific tests you ran?

 

[Kurlo]

Why do you think it's necessary to write "(pls help)" in your thread title..?

I'm having problems that I didn't have before, and I fear I may have damaged the whole console irreparably. I don't know, I'm actually asking for help since my Google searching wasn't enough.

Not sure what you mean by "clean update".

Just "update". Edited.

If you were reusing stuff from your old SD card, then that could definitely explain some problems.

I tried and now I know, but after that I'm using just the freshly formatted brand new microSD.

I hope you've been following https://3ds.guide and not some random Youtube tutorial. I also hope you tested your new SD card with h2testw before you started using it.

I am not following any video guides.

ETA: Someone over here also says it is broken.

Thanks, I didn't find this reply. But if this is from Oct 25, why was I able to use NetPass up until last week? Are there problems on the next updates? Or the servers, since the site netpass.cafe can't be reached?
I'll try your suggestion anyway.

You suggested you already did that, which adds to the confusion.

This time I'm writing "clean reinstall", like when you format your PC's hard drive and reinstall the operating system from scratch, not updating an already existing one.

Wouldn't it be useful to know which specific tests you ran?

My bad, I gave it for granted. I ran ctrcheck.gm9 to check firmware integrity and 3ds_hw_test.firm for hardware integrity.

News: arm11 prefetch abort (kernel panic) when using 3DShell to extract the TwilightMenu++ archive downloaded via Universal Updater. Sorry, I didn't save the stack trace. I'm having crashes for everything lately.
I also did the factory reset.

 

[Kwyjor]

I'm having problems that I didn't have before, and I fear I may have damaged the whole console irreparably. I don't know, I'm actually asking for help since my Google searching wasn't enough.

Well, yes, most people posting about a "chain of weird problems" would be looking for help. Moving on...

I tried and now I know, but after that I'm using just the freshly formatted brand new microSD.

But did you run h2testw on the empty card? It's hardly impossible for a brand-new card to be defective. https://3ds.hacks.guide/h2testw-(windows).html

But if this is from Oct 25, why was I able to use NetPass up until last week?

If you try scrolling just a teensy bit further you will find that the last posts in that thread are from today.

I also did the factory reset.

Do you mean a System Format..? Doing a System Format does not remove boot9strap, and there is also not much point in trying to reinstall boot9strap.

The usual strategy when starting over with a fresh, tested, properly-formatted SD card is to follow https://3ds.guide/restoring-updating-cfw .

News: arm11 prefetch abort (kernel panic) when using 3DShell to extract the TwilightMenu++ archive downloaded via Universal Updater.

Also, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using 3DShell to extract any archives downloaded from Universal Updater, so I don't know why you're doing that.

 

[Kurlo]

Well, yes, most people posting about a "chain of weird problems" would be looking for help.

I am really sorry that a title requesting help in a forum where you can talk about literally anything related that you want bothered you.

But did you run h2testw on the empty card?

Yes, I did it on the brand new Sandisk card, and it reported no errors.

It's hardly impossible for a brand-new card to be defective.

That's why I think I damaged the firmware or the hardware.

The usual strategy when starting over with a fresh, tested, properly-formatted SD card is to follow https://3ds.guide/restoring-updating-cfw .

Thank you, this is exactly what I am doing repeatedly this week. Following every step, one by one, in the correct order, and verifying that the result is correct.

Also, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone using 3DShell to extract any archives downloaded from Universal Updater, so I don't know why you're doing that.

This is the story.
> Once upon a time, some months ago, I bought this used n3DS and installed Luma on it.
> That same time, I used Universal Updater to install TwilightMenu++, and it worked correctly.
> Now, I experienced repeated crashes and needed to format the microSD, etc.
> Then, I tried reinstalling TwilightMenu++ from Universal Updater.
> No matter how I try, the installation keeps failing exactly at the part when it must extract the archive TwilightMenu.7z.
> "Hey, this looks wrong to me! Wasn't my 3DS able to extract the archives before?"
> So, just for testing, I decided to try extracting the archive with 3DShell and BOOM! It crashed.

At last, my question is: Can a 3DS actually extract an archive that's inside the microSD? If it can, why can't mine? Is it damaged permanently? Is there a way to make it extract archives again? Will I ever again have a 3DS that doesn't crash this often?