Short answer: YES
However, since I didn't play any DS games in a while I thought I'd try this just for fun.
My OLD USA 3DS XL is on original fw 4.4 too. I updated my emunand yesterday to 9.7 using the new GW 3.2 launcher.dat.
Now, I use an R4i3DS with Wood fw 1.64 when I feel like playing some DS. After, I re-install the DS exploit from the same R4i3DS, using a folder called GATEWAY_INSTALLER
with the Blue Card GW_INSTALLER.NDS (1.2 - 2.0b2) in it.
I tried it, and the blue card installer keeps hanging at the last Programming dot. Damn!
I tried twice, same thing. The trick is to close your 3DS and temporarily remove the internal SD card and run the blue card installer once more.
Close the 3DS, put back the SD card and reboot.
Profit! (as they say here)