Hacking Gateway and CFW on the same system possible? Take 2

urherenow

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If you use a 9.2 EmuNAND booted with firmware90.bin using Luma3DS you can launch Gateway onto SysNAND in the Gateway menu.
Once Gateway adds support for A9LH (Arm9loaderhax) then you can switch, and remove the EmuNAND.

You could keep your EmuNAND if you want to but really there's no reason to do so.


Anyone can learn, but the real question is do they want to do so?

You can also use a 9.2 EmuNAND with firmware90.bin and Luma3DS to boot into updated SysNAND using Gateway.
Umm... I updated my AuReiNAND just last night to the latest Luma3DS. There isn't a firmware90.bin. There is no longer a firmware.bin at all. I just marked "use SYSNAND as default", and with a 9.2 sysnand, I can launch GW just fine. No button holding required. on an N3ds, you can install 4.5 MSET and still use that exploit. On O3DS, you need to use Gateway_CIA or some other method to load GW.3dsx.

I must say though... with the latest Luma source, there are only 2 things left that GW can do that CFW doesn't. The in-game cheat menu, and playing .3ds roms. That's it. Luma3ds can run out of region DLC now without the need for NTR. It's an amazing piece of CFW!
 
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Jiro2

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Since nobody seems willing to actually answer this:
-- The current custom firmware that most people use is Luma (formerly AuReiNand).
-- Although you asked about using the profile exploit, you can't use the profile exploit because doing what you want means being able to select two methods of booting, either booting into Gateway or into Luma. In order to do that you need a boot manager. You can't use the profile exploit to boot into a boot manager because you can't use it to boot directly into homebrew. (Because nobody bothered to write such a thing.)
-- So you will have to use Menuhax. I know it wasn't what you asked, but you don't have any choice.
-- I assume you have EmuNAND already. If not you will need to create it. Don't forget making sure your NANDs are unlinked--Menuhax doesn't work well with linked NANDs.
-- The first step is upgrading to 9.2. Plailect's guide at https://github.com/Plailect/Guide/wiki/9.2.0-Update is okay, but not perfect if you have a Gateway. If you have a Gateway you can put FBI on your Gateway and use it to install sysupdater.cia to SysNAND, without injecting anything. Then install an old version of rxtools as suggested, boot into rxtools devmode, and run sysupdater (on SysNAND). In order to use sysupdater you must use devmode of rxtools; doing it from Gateway (or from regular mode rxtools) won't work and may brick.
-- I don't know what firmware you're on. If your browser version is lower than normal for 4.x, the guide might not work since you can't start rxtools in the browser--you'll have to use the profile exploit to start rxtools too.
-- Once you have the 9.2, follow Part 1 of the guide at https://github.com/Plailect/Guide/wiki/Part-1-(Homebrew) to install menuhax on the 9.2. No date change is needed since you are on 9.2. Now you have 9.2 and Menuhax but you are not yet in a position to run Gateway or CFW.
-- Then get a boot manager such as ctrbootmanager. https://gbatemp.net/threads/ctrbootmanager-3ds-boot-manager-loader-homemenuhax.398383/ . At this point what's left is just copying and editing files. Copy the ctrbootmanager files. ctrbootmanager has a boot.3dsx and so does your Homebrew Menu. You may want to save the boot.3dsx from Homebrew Menu for later if you want to keep Homebrew Menu.
-- In order to choose between Gateway and Luma, you copy the GW.3dsx from Gateway, then copy the Luma files, but renaming the Luma menuhax boot.3dsx as something else. Create boot.cfg entries for each of these. When you boot your machine you can choose either Gateway or Luma. Technically you're done at this point. Use the Luma to run DSiware/GBA CIA files (after installing them to both SysNAND and EmuNAND).
-- You probably want Homebrew Menu as well. Homebrew Menu and ctrbootmanager both use boot.3dsx, and Menuhax boots the boot.3dsx. I *think* you're okay with just renaming the Homebrew Menu boot.3dsx to something else. I know that if you want to use yellow8's Homebrew Menu .cia you will have to hexedit one of the payloads to point to something other than boot.3dsx.
-- The machine has to reboot to run the GBA/DSi. I forget exactly how Menuhax interacts with it--if it puts you in the boot menu you'll have to ask around for the proper thing to do.
-- People are recommending a9lh, but it doesn't actually work well with Gateway (and is dangerous to install.)

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also, if you find the boot rate to be very low after you get into the boot menu, you can try different values of autobootfix in the boot.cfg. Having it not always get to the menu in the first place is normal--just try again.
 
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Jiro2

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The risk of messing it up is a type of danger. Human beings are not good at following guides that contain over 100 steps and mistakes in that should not be blamed entirely on the human trying to follow the guide.
 
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Margen67

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The risk of messing it up is a type of danger. Human beings are not good at following guides that contain over 100 steps and mistakes in that should not be blamed entirely on the human trying to follow the guide.
If someone misreads the guide or doesn't do what the guide says then they are at fault, not the guide.
If you're going to go with the "risk of messing it up" logic then you shouldn't downgrade, or install anything to SysNAND either.
It's just hearsay and paranoia without proof. So once again, what proof do you have that A9LH is "dangerous"?
 
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Jiro2

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If someone misreads the guide or doesn't do what the guide says then they are at fault.

The fact that someone misreads a guide containing 119 steps is *not* their fault. Humans are not robots and following such a long sequence is inherently hard and error-prone for humans.
 
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The fact that someone misreads a guide containing 119 steps is *not* their fault. Humans are not robots and following such a long sequence is inherently hard and error-prone for humans.
I was extremely nervous while installing a9lh, and when I'm as nervous as I was when setting it up I make really stupid mistakes very easily, yet I was fine.
 
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Bu2d85

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I still don't know what browserhax and menuhax are, but that sounds fair enough. And seeing what you guys are talking about here, this A9 thing seems to be something that will be good for... well, everything. Since both GW and all these CFW's want to use it so much.
1. Ugrade to 9.2.
2. Download the files needed for the homebrew launcher. http://smealum.github.io/3ds/
3. Use the internet browser on your 3DS to load the homebrew launcher. (Browserhax) https://yls8.mtheall.com/3dsbrowserhax.php
4. In the homebrew launcher run menuhax manager. (Menuhax) Note: After menuhax is installed changing the theme on sysnand will remove it. You can reinstall with browserhax.

With menuhax installed your system will automatically start the homebrew launcher when you turn it on. From the homebrew launcher you can choose to launch Gateway or the CFW of your choice. The system settings entry point (MSET) will no longer be usable after you update to 9.2.

I hope this clears up some confusion you may have. It does take a while to learn all of the terms.
 

Zan'

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Okay so let's stop the A9LH talk. We all know it's to conplicated to deal with for OP and it doesn't make sense to him.

I do still believe menuhax & bootloader would be the "optimal" solution for OP.

But let's hang on for a minute. Can't you manually patch part of the EmuNANDs system titles to make DSiWare and GBA run?
So just give patched system cia files to the OP which he installs on his emuNAND and he has a perfectly working GW setup with DSiWare and GBA? Or am I mistaken here? (I know you can patch them. But I don't use GW and have no idea if that would work with GW)
 

Gcentrex

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Okay so let's stop the A9LH talk. We all know it's to conplicated to deal with for OP and it doesn't make sense to him.

I do still believe menuhax & bootloader would be the "optimal" solution for OP.

But let's hang on for a minute. Can't you manually patch part of the EmuNANDs system titles to make DSiWare and GBA run?
So just give patched system cia files to the OP which he installs on his emuNAND and he has a perfectly working GW setup with DSiWare and GBA? Or am I mistaken here? (I know you can patch them. But I don't use GW and have no idea if that would work with GW)

Menuhax with a bootloader would be the best setup for OP

No even if you patched the files in emunand GW still can't load DSi/GBA games thanks to the reboot patch used
 
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yoshinatsu

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The earlier responses on this thread reveal the immature side of the GBAtemp community.
I've asked the same question about Gateway + A9LH before, and all people said was "get rid of Gateway and just use CFW, Gateway is obsolete anyway, lol"
For starters, some people still prefer using .3ds/.3dz files (with a private header of course), because you can swap games fast and easily, and all your saves stay on your SD card at all times, and you can keep a backup of all of them with just a copy and paste on your computer.
Secondly, moving from .3ds to .cia is not an easy task. You have to tediously convert all your old Gateway saves that use an old encryption, and either re-download or convert ALL YOUR GAMES.
This is a big no-no if you have a lot of games. So I perfectly understand people who want to keep using what they know works just fine. And frankly, there aren't many downsides on using Gateway compared to CFWs.

But people love badmouthing Gateway nowadays, just because there are "superior" options now.
Personally, I've had an incredibly pleasant experience with their product. At least, if you had the legit thing, not a clone.
It was quite expensive at first, yes, but I always had access to the latest firmware, I was never locked out of games that used newer AP protections, I always had access to online games and the eShop, I never got banned, they never bricked my console, and up until a few months ago, it was the best and most convenient way to play your games. Now the kids who only recently got homebrew access think it's "totally obsolete", just because Gateway users were earlier to the scene, and don't want the (huge) hassle of upgrading to A9LH + CFW (without Gateway).
I know I shouldn't be expecting a lot from a community who is mostly comprised of kids, but next time if you have nothing to add to the discussion, skip the thread and shut up.

Only this last page is worth reading for OP.
 
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Jiro2

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I still don't know what browserhax and menuhax are, but that sounds fair enough. And seeing what you guys are talking about here, this A9 thing seems to be something that will be good for... well, everything. Since both GW and all these CFW's want to use it so much.

Running just homebrew requires fewer permissions than running a full custom firmware. We normally have a way to run homebrew, and a separate way to run custom firmware once the homebrew is available. That way when someone finds a new way to run homebrew (a new entry point) the custom firmware doesn't need to be rewritten to support it, and that way you can use a boot manager. Gateway has one of those too; that's what the GW.3dsx is for--you get into homebrew and then you run the GW.3dsx.

The profile exploit goes directly from nothing to full custom firmware rather than having one program to get into homebrew and another to run the custom firmware, but that's unusual compared to modern exploits.

Menuhax is considered the best way to get into homebrew because it lets you turn on your 3DS and immediately boot into homebrew without touching anything. You don't need to go into the profile, or run a game, or anything else. You can set up the menuhax to immediately boot the custom firmware or Gateway, or run the boot manager to let you choose which one.

However, in order to install Menuhax, you already have to have homebrew and already be on 9.2. You need some other less convenient homebrew method to get to 9.2 and to install the menuhax. This method is browserhax. It requires a compatible browser, which 4.x normally has (but may not have if you updated using a cart).

a9lh does *not* work well with Gateway, although using Gateway with it is still possible if you create a 9.2 EmuNAND and run Gateway off of that.
 
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zhdarkstar

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There's another way to use GW alongside a9lh+Luma3DS that allows for autobooting straight into GW Mode. It requires a 9.2 SysNAND and 10.7 EmuNAND.

Configure Luma3DS to autoboot SysNAND. On the 9.2 SysNAND, set up MenuHax with Trigger 1 (no-buttons) and CtrBootManager to autoboot GW.3dsx.

The drawbacks to this setup are that you're still relying on MenuHax and GBA/DSiWare have to be double installed to work with EmuNAND. However, I find this build to be far more user-friendly for everyday use. Want to boot into GW Mode? Insert GW card and press the power button. Want to play GBA/DSiWare? Hold L while turning on the console.

Edit: When using a GW+CFW setup, having QuickReboot installed also makes switching between the two easier.
 
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yoshinatsu

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There's another way to use GW alongside a9lh+Luma3DS that allows for autobooting straight into GW Mode. It requires a 9.2 SysNAND and 10.7 EmuNAND.

Configure Luma3DS to autoboot SysNAND. On the 9.2 SysNAND, set up MenuHax with Trigger 1 (no-buttons) and CtrBootManager to autoboot GW.3dsx.

The drawbacks to this setup are that you're still relying on MenuHax and GBA/DSiWare have to be double installed to work with EmuNAND. However, I find this build to be far more user-friendly for everyday use. Want to boot into GW Mode? Insert GW card and press the power button. Want to play GBA/DSiWare? Hold L while turning on the console.

Edit: When using a GW+CFW setup, having QuickReboot installed also makes switching between the two easier.
You can already have all that without A9LH though.
Saving a few seconds and having brick protection isn't really worth the A9LH effort for Gateway users. Especially if they're not comfortable with such hacks.
They don't really need brick protection, cause they're already using emuNAND. And I don't think I've heard anyone bricking their sysNAND by installing a corrupt GBA CIA or something.
Upgrading to 9.2 with PlaiSysUpdater and setting menuhax and CtrBootManager is all our friend has to do.

He can either do that, or use two separate .nds MSET patches, if he's feeling more comfortable with that.
One for Gateway (that the's already using), and one for rxTools.
 
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zhdarkstar

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You can already have all that without A9LH though.
Saving a few seconds and having brick protection isn't really worth the A9LH effort for Gateway users. Especially if they're not comfortable with such hacks.
They don't really need brick protection, cause they're already using emuNAND. And I don't think I've heard anyone bricking their sysNAND by installing a corrupt GBA CIA or something.
Upgrading to 9.2 with PlaiSysUpdater and setting menuhax and CtrBootManager is all our friend has to do.

He can either do that, or use two separate .nds MSET patches, if he's feeling more comfortable with that.
One for Gateway (that the's already using), and one for rxTools.
Very true. I always advocate that people should use the hacks that they feel comfortable using. Never go blindly into installing new hacks, and always do your research. I didn't even install A9LH on my hack testing unit until the process was refined into what it is today because I wanted to make sure that the primary cause of bricks was user error before attempting it myself.

I was merely highlighting an option for autobooting into GW Mode, should OP decide to go down the A9LH rabbit hole. The community seems to be of a mindset that the only way to use GW+A9LH is the way that uses an updated SysNAND, which works well for those who play GBA/DSiWare more than using their GW. My way is geared more towards users who prefer to use GW Mode as their default CFW and only play GBA/DSiWare sparingly. In the end, both methods require the use of an EmuNAND, so having an Updated SysNAND doesn't really add that much to the needs of a GW User. The homebrew loading benefits of A9LH are present regardless of which NAND is your primary one.
 
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codezer0

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This is all a lot to take in, admittedly. It's one reason I'm waiting until Wednesday, when I have more time to go with a path (depending on what I commit to).

One thing I definitely got comfortable with, and appreciated doing, was using savedatafiler to be able to dump saves for save editors (Pokemon comes to mind). It was my understanding that SaveDataFiler stopped working if your sysNAND went beyond 4.*. Is that still the case?
 
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This is all a lot to take in, admittedly. It's one reason I'm waiting until Wednesday, when I have more time to go with a path (depending on what I commit to).

One thing I definitely got comfortable with, and appreciated doing, was using savedatafiler to be able to dump saves for save editors (Pokemon comes to mind). It was my understanding that SaveDataFiler stopped working if your sysNAND went beyond 4.*. Is that still the case?
Nope. I'm on sysNAND 10.7 and it works fine for me.
 

Nightwish

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-- In order to choose between Gateway and Luma, you copy the GW.3dsx from Gateway, then copy the Luma files, but renaming the Luma menuhax boot.3dsx as something else. Create boot.cfg entries for each of these. When you boot your machine you can choose either Gateway or Luma. Technically you're done at this point. Use the Luma to run DSiware/GBA CIA files (after installing them to both SysNAND and EmuNAND).
Fucking thank you, after reading many threads I never found out that you could just Luma without a9hl.

And doing that, I still spent a lot less fucking time than either installing a9hl or installing cias or converting the saves would have taken, let alone all three.
 
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yoshinatsu

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This is all a lot to take in, admittedly.
Simply follow Jiro2's tutorial above, it's excellent for your particular case.
And DO NOT forget to boot into rxTools DEV MODE (not its regular mode) when you attempt to update your system to 9.2, cause that's how I bricked my 3DS last month.
 
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