*EDIT*
So I caved in this morning on and formatted my OLD 3ds Xl (US).
rip in peace mii plaza T_T

but yes i can CONFIRM, doing a SYSTEM RESTORE will fix any SOFT BRICKING LOOPS.
(on my o3dsxl anyways)


　

So question. Probably a silly dumb obvious one.
Will upgrading to firmware 10.3 be unavailable during the maintenance time?


I've been desperately trying all day to downgrade my O3DS XL (U) all day, but i've only been getting softbricks and had to reupdate to fix the situation.

I'm kicking myself thinking KTM (rip) was gonna fix my problem and i should have just taken the plunge sooner to attempt to downgrade. But now i'm having no sucess with my files i can 100% guarantee are correct.


If anyone knows if we can still update or has a possible fix (i know formatting my system. But i really want to keep my mii plaza/street pass data. Unless anyone knows how i can back up this data on 10.3??) it would be appreciated.


-----------

So little/big things i've been noticing when attempting and if anyone can answer:

1. I actually counted how many cia files were installing one at a time. Number came to 38~41 each trial before "NATIVE FIRM" appeared. All 126 files (o3dsxl U) are suppose to install right?
2. When the cia files are installing, they don't instantly appear one after another. They slowly materialize one at a time then the green "Installed" logo shows after each. Are the files suppose to just pop up?
3. If I were to do a system format, does anyone know a way to backup the systems save data on 10.3? I've searched the forums but can't find any definitive answer. I really want to keep my Mii Plaza data since it's been worked on for years.

Notes:
Using Menuhax 2.1, using frbrony "trick", tried using a separate fresh formatted fat32 sd card, tried switching entry points...

 

This may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to downgrade so keep trying until it works. I just downgraded today and fortunately it worked my second time. I was using a mac and got the extra .[name whatever].cia and deleted it with ftbrony and it worked like a charm (first time was a partial downgrade.) And I did this just using the sysupdater, I didn't format my sdcard or started fresh. Just. Keep. Trying.

 

what should I do im getting my 2ds tomorrow in the mail but won't be home untill 3pm. Should I just come home and use sysupdater and hope everything works out?

 

If ktm is just a "noob-proof" way of checking you inserted the right files, i'm still kinda screwed.
Even if ktm ever does come out, it's most likely just a fork of sysUpdater.
Meaning people who keep getting softbricks will still get them.

 

Yeah, uh, Pingo doesn't have the best track record with that. Besides, all it would've done was to do some hash checks for file integrity. You can do that yourself. If I hadn't downgraded already I'd do it now so softlocks let you have another chance.

 

We should be fine as long as we can still access homebrew, right? I plan on downgrading my sister's 3DS sometime this week and she's on 10.1(I believe). Is there something Nintendo implemented that requires we use their service for any of the downgrade/CFW installation process?

 

The main fear would be that if you soft-bricked your 3ds and updated through recovery mode, you would get 10.4 instead of 10.3, which may not be vulnerable (I'm new here, don't know for sure)

The failure rate for downgrading is relatively high, which is why some people are trying to do it while the exploitable 10.3 is still available

 

Hm. They say IronHax works well, I think different entrypoints have more levels of access to points of the hax, allowing for a higher success rate. Personally, first time I used menuhax and the downgrade failed. Second try, I used Browserhax and it worked smoothly. (30 games installed baby yeah)

 

It also checks after a CIA install whether the CIA actually installed or not and retries the install up to 5 times, something sysupdater doesn't do yet AFAIK. Sysupdater will just give up on a failure.

 

What's the rush? Just because 10.4 might come out doesn't mean you can't downgrade, just don't update from 10.3. Once you're using EmuNAND, chances are you can update that to 10.4 just fine.