Do I update firmware before jailbreaking?

[TheOogieBoogieman]

I just bought a New 3DS LL. I'm planning on installing CFW, but I was wondering if I should update the preexisting firmware before hacking it. Do I need to be on the latest firmware so the hack goes as smoothly as possible or is the one I'm at now fine?

Firmware is "Ver. 9.8.0-25J"

Apologies if this is a dumb question, I just wanted to be certain I'm not messing anything up.

 

[ihaveahax]

In general you should not update any device before you hack it as older firmwares usually contain more exploits that are easier to use than later firmwares. Updating is done *after* setting up custom firmware.

https://3ds.hacks.guide/

 

[splaca]

It's not a dumb question at all! In the case of the 3DS family, it turns out that with current exploit methods it doesn't really matter.

But to reiterate the above point by ihaveahax, as a general principle for jailbreaking devices, older firmware versions will tend to have more known vulnerabilities (which is a good thing when we wish to run/install homebrew). So, when there are firmware version limitations with regards to jailbreaking, it's more often something like "you should be at firmware version XYZ or older".

 

[ihaveahax]

it turns out that with current exploit methods it doesn't really matter.

Strictly speaking it wouldn't make it significantly more difficult on newer firmwares. But on a version like 9.8, that opens up options like Soundhax, which is far easier and more reliable than the free methods for 11.17. So not updating is ideal.