Hacking [Gateway 4.5] Games on my homescreen and my saves sometimes get deleted randomly when rebooting

[chrisluna413]

So I was playing alpha sapphire and fire emblem all weekend, but when I booted up my 3DS this morning, nearly all of my .cia games on my homescreen were gone (fantasy life and link to the past seem to be there). I reinstalled pokemon, but it's not even recognizing my save, it's as if I never even played it before. The same thing happened to fire emblem, too. Anyone know how to fix this issue and reinstall my saves? They're still on my SD card, they're just not being recognized by their respective games.

 

[thorasgar]

So I was playing alpha sapphire and fire emblem all weekend, but when I booted up my 3DS this morning, nearly all of my .cia games on my homescreen were gone (fantasy life and link to the past seem to be there). I reinstalled pokemon, but it's not even recognizing my save, it's as if I never even played it before. The same thing happened to fire emblem, too. Anyone know how to fix this issue and reinstall my saves? They're still on my SD card, they're just not being recognized by their respective games.

Are sysnand and emunand linked? Have you visited Data Management?

 

[chrisluna413]

Are sysnand and emunand linked? Have you visited Data Management?

Not really sure if they are. How do I check if they are, and what does it mean if they are linked? Are there any consequences? And I haven't checked data management yet, brb.

 

[thorasgar]

If after setting up emunand from gateway menu (formatting). You have not formatted sysnand or emunand for system settings then they are still linked. If they are linked every time you boot into gateway mode your cia files will have to unwrapped yet again. Also if you enter Data Management from sysnand when they are linked all your cia files will be deleted.

Sounds like data management is not your issue. Pokemon is a card 2 game so the save is contained within the rom itself so reinstalling from another copy will not work to save your save. FE might be card 2 as well, not sure. 3ds.essh.co will tell you.

Another stupid question. Are you sure you booted into emunand?

 

[chrisluna413]

If after setting up emunand from gateway menu (formatting). You have not formatted sysnand or emunand for system settings then they are still linked. If they are linked every time you boot into gateway mode your cia files will have to unwrapped yet again. Also if you enter Data Management from sysnand when they are linked all your cia files will be deleted.

Sounds like data management is not your issue. Pokemon is a card 2 game so the save is contained within the rom itself so reinstalling from another copy will not work to save your save. FE might be card 2 as well, not sure. 3ds.essh.co will tell you.

Another stupid question. Are you sure you booted into emunand?

Yeah, I'm sure I'm booting into emuNAND. And you seem to be right since I always have to deal with the games unwrapping themselves. So what should I do now?

 

[thorasgar]

Yeah, I'm sure I'm booting into emuNAND. And you seem to be right since I always have to deal with the games unwrapping themselves. So what should I do now?

Well, your nands are linked so the homemenus share the same folders and therefor the games. Do the games show up in emunand or sysnand or are they gone from both?

To unlink the two you format sysnand but that completely wipes sysnand. If you have any purchased eshop games they will be lost unless they are functioning in emunand, so don't go there yet. What FW are you running on sysnand and emunand?

 

[chrisluna413]

Well, your nands are linked so the homemenus share the same folders and therefor the games. Do the games show up in emunand or sysnand or are they gone from both?

To unlink the two you format sysnand but that completely wipes sysnand. If you have any purchased eshop games they will be lost unless they are functioning in emunand, so don't go there yet. What FW are you running on sysnand and emunand?

The games used to not show up in emuNAND, but they did show up on the sysNAND, till I deleted them. My sysNAND is on 4.2 and my emuNAND is on 9.4

 

[thorasgar]

The games used to not show up in emuNAND, but they did show up on the sysNAND, till I deleted them. My sysNAND is on 4.2 and my emuNAND is on 9.4

That's screwy, really screwy.

My solution would be to backup up everything, sysnand, emunand, sd card all of it and then format the cards and start fresh. That is what I would do, but that is the Nuke it approach and might not be right for you. It is late so you could give it until tomorrow and see if anyone has any fresh ideas on this problem.

If you do nuke it, make sure you power cycle frequently while playing to make sure everything is running and saving correctly before you invest to much time in saves.

 

[chrisluna413]

That's screwy, really screwy.

My solution would be to backup up everything, sysnand, emunand, sd card all of it and then format the cards and start fresh. That is what I would do, but that is the Nuke it approach and might not be right for you. It is late so you could give it until tomorrow and see if anyone has any fresh ideas on this problem.

If you do nuke it, make sure you power cycle frequently while playing to make sure everything is running and saving correctly before you invest to much time in saves.

Power cycle? Like turn the 3DS on and off and check to make sure everything is running smoothly?

 

[thorasgar]

Power cycle? Like turn the 3DS on and off and check to make sure everything is running smoothly?

Yes. Rerun exploit many times, pull cards, back up stuff. You know Sea Trials.

Have you booted into the gateway menu and run the SPI diagnostics test?

 

[chrisluna413]

Yes. Rerun exploit many times, pull cards, back up stuff. You know Sea Trials.

Have you booted into the gateway menu and run the SPI diagnostics test?

Yeah, the FPGA, SPI, and SPI Read Tests all came back ok. I think I'm just going to format it all. How should I go about formatting? Should I just format the SD card, or should I go into emuNAND, format it through settings, and then do the same with sysNAND?

 

[thorasgar]

Yeah, the FPGA, SPI, and SPI Read Tests all came back ok. I think I'm just going to format it all. How should I go about formatting? Should I just format the SD card, or should I go into emuNAND, format it through settings, and then do the same with sysNAND?

If you elect to take that approach go all in. Format the SD CARD with the Panasonic SD FORMATTER V4 from the SD association (1st Google hit). Can do the same with microSD unless it is 64GB and you need to format as exFAT, use windows. The SD card has a hidden partition that contains emunand that needs to get nuked.

Then start the whole process over, launcher on SD card, run exploit, format(create emunand) install dev/BBM install cias etc. if it all works you can back up all of that and then try injecting your old emunand into the working one and see if you can get old data back. Personally though, I wouldn't bother. Don't fix what ain't broke.

 

[chrisluna413]

If you elect to take that approach go all in. Format the SD CARD with the Panasonic SD FORMATTER V4 from the SD association (1st Google hit). Can do the same with microSD unless it is 64GB and you need to format as exFAT, use windows. The SD card has a hidden partition that contains emunand that needs to get nuked.

Then start the whole process over, launcher on SD card, run exploit, format(create emunand) install dev/BBM install cias etc. if it all works you can back up all of that and then try injecting your old emunand into the working one and see if you can get old data back. Personally though, I wouldn't bother. Don't fix what ain't broke.

Alright, I'll do that and report back to you to see how it goes. Would it not be linked this time?

 

[thorasgar]

Alright, I'll do that and report back to you to see how it goes. Would it not be linked this time?

When you format (create) emunand from the gateway menu it is linked to sysnand. It becomes unlined when you format sysnand from sysnad settings menu. Think of it as a 1:1 copy but they share the same data on the SD card. No need to worry about that right unlinking right away. Make sure everything works first.

Do you have any eshop content or saves? If not you could format sysnand before you start anything to make sure it is clean. After setting up emunand many get an error trying to access eshop in emunand. If sysnand is not set up with the NNID before creating emunand causes this. This can be corrected by entering your NNID in sysnand and then eshop in emunand should work fine.

I like starting from clean slates. About once a year I get so frustrated with Windows crap I just say fuck it and nuke it. It takes me a whole day, but damn it runs great for a few months.

 

[chrisluna413]

When you format (create) emunand from the gateway menu it is linked to sysnand. It becomes unlined when you format sysnand from sysnad settings menu. No need to worry about that right away.

Do you have any eshop content or saves? If not you could format sysnand before you start anything to make sure it is clean. After setting up emunand many get an error trying to access eshop in emunand. If sysnand is not set up with the NNID before creating emunand causes this. This can be corrected by entering your NNID in sysnand and then eshop in emunand should work fine.

I like starting from clean slates. About once a year I get so frustrated with Windows crap I just say fuck it and nuke it. It takes me a whole day, but damn it runs great for a few months.

How do I format sysNAND? Through the settings?

 

[thorasgar]

How do I format sysNAND? Through the settings?

Yes. Last page I think. Don't worry it won't update.

Another note I personally like to keep sysnand clean and bare. If you ever leave your console in sysnand in sleep mode by accident it will download an update and then nag you about it. All you have to do is format sysnand again and problem solved. Though with you on 4.x an always on Internet connection is not as crucial.

Off to bed. Good luck.

 

[chrisluna413]

Yes. Last page I think. Don't worry it won't update.

Another note I personally like to keep sysnand clean and bare. If you ever leave your console in sysnand in sleep mode by accident it will download an update and then nag you about it. All you have to do is format sysnand again and problem solved. Though with you on 4.x an always on Internet connection is not as crucial.

Off to bed. Good luck.

Decided to start from 0 and just reinstall everything after formatting it all. Hopefully it works

 

[MrJason005]

If you format emuNAND instead of sysNAND, does it wipe the SD card (including the emuNAND partition)?

 

[thorasgar]

If you format emuNAND instead of sysNAND, does it wipe the SD card (including the emuNAND partition)?

It wipes all the settings out of emunand and at least the pointers to any installed games the same as it does with sysnand. Not sure what exactly it does with the files in the folders but should at least make them inaccessible as four as the emunand is concerned.

 

[thorasgar]

Double posted

 

[MrJason005]

It wipes all the settings out of emunand and at least the pointers to any installed games the same as it does with sysnand. Not sure what exactly it does with the files in the folders but should at least make them inaccessible as four as the emunand is concerned.

What I'm planning to do when my Gateway arrives:

1. Load up the Gateway menu
2. Format emuNAND via the Gateway menu
3. And THEN Format system settings while in emuNAND

What I'm asking is that, since the SD card must be in while you are in Gateway mode, what will happen if I format system memory (The 3DS settings method)
Of course it will unlink any .CIA (If there are any) And of course it will make the Old folders unrecognizable by the new emuNAND.
Of course it will wipe the SD card if it finds one (And it will find one since it must be in at all times while you are in emuNAND), but will it wipe the emuNAND Partition?