Hacking Gateway Questions

[Smash Br0]

Hello! I'm rather behind on the Gateway scene -- would someone please answer a few questions I have about it?

I bought a Gateway months ago, but only used it briefly. Work leaves little time for games. Anyhow, my Gateway card is currently on the last firmware that did not support multiROM; I had to put each game on its own microSD card. I know several firmware updates have been released since then, and it sounds like it's time to catch up.

I.) Getting Started with emuNAND

--- A.) How does emuNAND work? Is there an up-to-date guide I can read?
--- B.) Is emuNAND the same as Gateway Mode? If so...
------ 1.) Is emuNAND / Gateway Mode still activated by the DS Profile exploit?
------ 2.) Is emuNAND / Gateway Mode still deactivated when a DS Game / DS Flash Card is used?

From what I understand, emuNAND makes a copy of my 3DS's 4.5 OFW, then stores and emulates it on the SD(HC) Card, correct? The 4.5 OFW stays safely tucked away in the 3DS's System Memory while the emuNAND runs from the SD(HC) Card in its place. If anything bad happens to the emuNAND, a Backup emuNAND can be restored, or a new one can be made from the 4.5 OFW. All right so far?

--- C.) How do I update my Gateway? Do I need to update the Blue Card too?
--- D.) Once I've updated my Gateway to the latest firmware, how do I begin using emuNAND?
--- E.) I bought a 64GB microSD card now that multiROM is supported. It will work, right?
--- F.) Will I need a bigger SDHC Card? I'm currently using the default 4GB one.
------ 1.) Most data is stored on the microSD(HC), right? What goes on the SD(HC) Card, besides Save Data?

II.) emuNAND Complications

Once I've updated my Gateway's firmware, and I'm running the latest emuNAND...
--- A.) Can I still play legit Retail 3DS games on this 3DS? What about Digital Copies?
--- B.) Will Local Wireless / Local Multiplayer / Download Play work for Legit games? Non-legit games?
--- C.) Can I still play legit 3DS games online safely? What about non-legit games?
------ 1.) I heard that it's necessary to change the header data to play non-legit games online. How do I do that?
--------- a.) Is Save Data tied to a game's header? If I change the header, must I start over with a new Save?
--------- b.) I heard I can port the Header Data of my other 3DS games. Do only certain Headers work?
--------- c.) Are there any tools for managing / editing 3DS Save Data?
--- D.) Will my old Save Files become incompatible? Must I start them over from scratch?
------ 1.) If so, will I lose my Save Data this way every time I update the Gateway Firmware and/or emeNAND?
--- E.) Will System Transfer work? I'd like to send some legit Digital Copies from this 3DS to an all-legit one.
--- F.) Confirm or Deny: Anything purchased from the eShop while on emuNAND will be permanently lost if that emuNAND data is lost. Purchases are not tied to NNIDs, only systems.

Thanks a lot for any advice! I'm looking forward to making more time to play 3DS games.

 

[PhoenixWrightX]

It's not that complicated -.-

Install the latest gateway firmware, put roms on sd, dont update 3ds, and just play the game......

 

[Deleted User]

I don't use emunand but for :
C.) Just install launcher.dat onto 3DS SD card (not micro SD) and put "blue card" files on to micro SD for the blue card.
E.) sure
F.) micro SD is used for storing dumped 3ds roms, save files, extra data (only few games), dumped nand and launcher.dat . 4GB is ok as long as you removed dumped roms after each dump.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hello! I'm rather behind on the Gateway scene -- would someone please answer a few questions I have about it?

I bought a Gateway months ago, but only used it briefly. Work leaves little time for games. Anyhow, my Gateway card is currently on the last firmware that did not support multiROM; I had to put each game on its own microSD card. I know several firmware updates have been released since then, and it sounds like it's time to catch up.

I.) Getting Started with emuNAND

--- A.) How does emuNAND work? Is there an up-to-date guide I can read?
--- B.) Is emuNAND the same as Gateway Mode? If so...
------ 1.) Is emuNAND / Gateway Mode still activated by the DS Profile exploit?
------ 2.) Is emuNAND / Gateway Mode still deactivated when a DS Game / DS Flash Card is used?
Yes, kinda. If you have emuNAND installed it will be booted when you start Gateway Mode or Classic Mode, otherwise it defaults to the old behavior of using the built in firmware. It works the same way, only the firmware will be loaded from the SD card instead of the NAND when the exploit is ran.

From what I understand, emuNAND makes a copy of my 3DS's 4.5 OFW, then stores and emulates it on the SD(HC) Card, correct? The 4.5 OFW stays safely tucked away in the 3DS's System Memory while the emuNAND runs from the SD(HC) Card in its place. If anything bad happens to the emuNAND, a Backup emuNAND can be restored, or a new one can be made from the 4.5 OFW. All right so far?

--- C.) How do I update my Gateway? Do I need to update the Blue Card too?
Just place the new launcher.dat on the SD card. The installer is still the same, you don't need to update it.
--- D.) Once I've updated my Gateway to the latest firmware, how do I begin using emuNAND?
Select Format emuNAND from the GW menu, this will erase everythng on your big SD card so back it up first.
--- E.) I bought a 64GB microSD card now that multiROM is supported. It will work, right?
Works fine.
--- F.) Will I need a bigger SDHC Card? I'm currently using the default 4GB one.
4GB is enough. The emuNAND will take about 1GB if I recall correctly.
------ 1.) Most data is stored on the microSD(HC), right? What goes on the SD(HC) Card, besides Save Data?
Launcher.dat, the entire emuNAND, all your system data, extra data created by games and such, and eShop content. That's about it.

II.) emuNAND Complications

Once I've updated my Gateway's firmware, and I'm running the latest emuNAND...
--- A.) Can I still play legit Retail 3DS games on this 3DS? What about Digital Copies?
Yes and yes.
--- B.) Will Local Wireless / Local Multiplayer / Download Play work for Legit games? Non-legit games?
Yes to both. However, although the Gateway is region free, Download Play only works to a 3DS from the same region as the game. So you could use a PAL 3DS running a US copy of a game with Gateway to download play with a US 3DS, but not with another PAL 3DS unless you found a PAL copy of the game.
--- C.) Can I still play legit 3DS games online safely? What about non-legit games?
Yes but with non-legit games there is a possibility of an online ban. It hasn't happened to anyone yet, but it could in the future.
------ 1.) I heard that it's necessary to change the header data to play non-legit games online. How do I do that?
Use this guide: http://gbatemp.net/threads/how-to-use-scene-dumps-with-gw-2-2-online.365829/
--------- a.) Is Save Data tied to a game's header? If I change the header, must I start over with a new Save?
Yes.
--------- b.) I heard I can port the Header Data of my other 3DS games. Do only certain Headers work?
Use the guide mentioned above. Any header from a Gateway dump will work.
--------- c.) Are there any tools for managing / editing 3DS Save Data?
Not yet. Gateway hinted that they would have save editing in the next update. You can dump saves from your cartridges in the GW menu though.
--- D.) Will my old Save Files become incompatible? Must I start them over from scratch?
No, unless you edit the header to play online and change the rom extension to .3dz
------ 1.) If so, will I lose my Save Data this way every time I update the Gateway Firmware and/or emeNAND?
N/A
--- E.) Will System Transfer work? I'd like to send some legit Digital Copies from this 3DS to an all-legit one.
Yes. You'll just need to redownload the content on the target system after the transfer.
--- F.) Confirm or Deny: Anything purchased from the eShop while on emuNAND will be permanently lost if that emuNAND data is lost. Purchases are not tied to NNIDs, only systems.
Yes. This is why I haven't done a system transfer to my emuNAND yet. However you can keep a backup of the emuNAND, so you can restore it if disaster strikes.

Thanks a lot for any advice! I'm looking forward to making more time to play 3DS games.

This topic should be used as a FAQ, I think you've just asked every question anyone's ever asked about the Gateway

Next time, use the search function and look at the stickied topics in this section. Not many people will bother to answer a huge wall of questions when all the questions have been answered many times before. You're lucky I'm here

 

[Smash Br0]

Thank you for the detailed response, Jdbye!

 

[Smash Br0]

I got my Gateway 3DS up-to-date, and have been enjoying it a lot.

Thought of a few more questions:

A.) Is my Gateway Red Card tied to the XL I'm using it with, or can I use it on multiple 3DS systems?
--- 1.) If I can use it on multiple 3DS systems, do I need to move any files around?

B.) There are currently three different types of 3DS save files, right?
--- 1.) The small saves that can't be loaded to or dumped from legit game cards,
--- 2.) The medium saves that can be loaded to and dumped from legit game cards,
--- 3.) The special NAND saves that are stored inside ROMs, which can't be loaded to or dumped from legit game cards.

C.) Are there any workarounds for transferring these problematic save types between non-legit and legit copies?
D.) Will the small saves and special NAND saves be able to easily transfer between non-legit and legit copies in the future?
E.) Can all types of 3DS ROMs communicate via Local Wireless properly? With legit and non-legit copies?

I heard that special NAND saves ("CARD-2" IIRC) on legit Cards must be played on a legit 3DS -OR- emuNAND; they cannot be played on either type of 3DS interchangeably. For example, an Animal Crossing: New Leaf save that was started on a legit 3DS will show up as corrupt if you try to play it on emuNAND. This is because of different types of save encryption, right? I assume the safest way the play games like New Leaf and Pokemon X & Y is to use legit Cards on legit 3DS systems only, in case a future Gateway update changes or matches its encryption type. Do I have all that correct?

F.) If I dump a legit game card, I just need to change the extension to .3dz, right? The unique header is already included?
G.) Will a dumped header from ANY legit 3DS Game Card, injected into a scene ROM, allow that ROM to play online safely?
H.) What tools are used to trim ROMs? Which types of ROMs are OK to trim?

I.) Not that I'd want to, but is it possible to remove all traces of Gateway from a 3DS I've used it on?
I'm guessing that all it takes is removing the Gateway Red Card and any files on the SD(HC) Card that shouldn't be there normally, and clearing the DS Profile Exploit by booting a DS game.

Once again, thanks a lot for any advice. Hopefully this thread will be kind of a catch-all topic that others can learn from too.

 

[piratesephiroth]

I got my Gateway 3DS up-to-date, and have been enjoying it a lot.

Thought of a few more questions:

A.) Is my Gateway Red Card tied to the XL I'm using it with, or can I use it on multiple 3DS systems?
--- 1.) If I can use it on multiple 3DS systems, do I need to move any files around?

B.) There are currently three different types of 3DS save files, right?
--- 1.) The small saves that can't be loaded to or dumped from legit game cards,
--- 2.) The medium saves that can be loaded to and dumped from legit game cards,
--- 3.) The special NAND saves that are stored inside ROMs, which can't be loaded to or dumped from legit game cards.

C.) Are there any workarounds for transferring these problematic save types between non-legit and legit copies?
D.) Will the small saves and special NAND saves be able to easily transfer between non-legit and legit copies in the future?
E.) Can all types of 3DS ROMs communicate via Local Wireless properly? With legit and non-legit copies?

I heard that special NAND saves ("CARD-2" IIRC) on legit Cards must be played on a legit 3DS -OR- emuNAND; they cannot be played on either type of 3DS interchangeably. For example, an Animal Crossing: New Leaf save that was started on a legit 3DS will show up as corrupt if you try to play it on emuNAND. This is because of different types of save encryption, right? I assume the safest way the play games like New Leaf and Pokemon X & Y is to use legit Cards on legit 3DS systems only, in case a future Gateway update changes or matches its encryption type. Do I have all that correct?

F.) If I dump a legit game card, I just need to change the extension to .3dz, right? The unique header is already included?
G.) Will a dumped header from ANY legit 3DS Game Card, injected into a scene ROM, allow that ROM to play online safely?
H.) What tools are used to trim ROMs? Which types of ROMs are OK to trim?

I.) Not that I'd want to, but is it possible to remove all traces of Gateway from a 3DS I've used it on?
I'm guessing that all it takes is removing the Gateway Red Card and any files on the SD(HC) Card that shouldn't be there normally, and clearing the DS Profile Exploit by booting a DS game.

Once again, thanks a lot for any advice. Hopefully this thread will be kind of a catch-all topic that others can learn from too.

A1 - Nope, not tied to anything. All you need is 4.x firmware on the console and Launcher.dat on the big SD.

B1/2- About small saves, I know Gateway can't use them, but I dunno what happens if you start that game on Gateway already.

B3 - Card2 saves can't be extracted using Gateway's save dumper. You need to dump the whole ROM and extract them from the file.

C- Save files are tied to the unique cartridge IDs. The only save files that can be shared are the ones created using scene dumps since they have no cartridge ID.

D- Yeah, they promised to look at this for the next update.

E- Yeah I guess so.

F- Yeah

G- It will work. Until now, safely.

H- Use 3DSExplorer to trim ROMs. All ROMs can be safely trimmed, just don't use the 'super-trim' on Card2 games (you should not use it anyway, it only frees a bit more of space).

I- Yeah, The only traces it leaves in the console is the corrupted DS profile.

Regarding proper save encryption, I have no idea. Maybe when they fix it they also make a conversion tool so the old gateway saves can be corrected?

 

[Smash Br0]

Two more:

1.) Are Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Pokemon X & Y the only CARD-2 games, of which physical copies use encryption different than the kind emuNAND uses?

2.) My System NAND is on 4.3U. If I used a game card to update it to 4.5U, would my emuNAND get messed up, since I made it when my sysNAND was 4.3U?

 

[Deleted-19228]

No reason to update to 4.5 from 4.3, there is zero added benefit.

 

[andremario81]

Help! I accidentally updated my 4.5 3ds to 8.1 can I downgrade?

 

[4gionz]

Help! I accidentally updated my 4.5 3ds to 8.1 can I downgrade?

Well you've been here a while and should no that you can not unless you have a nand backup,

Now you already have a gateway since you had emunand 8.1 (how did you end up updating?) so I'm pretty sure you have a nand backup, do the hardware nand mod and flash your nand back to your 3ds

 

[andremario81]

Well you've been here a while and should no that you can not unless you have a nand backup,

Now you already have a gateway since you had emunand 8.1 (how did you end up updating?) so I'm pretty sure you have a nand backup, do the hardware nand mod and flash your nand back to your 3ds

Yes I do have a nand backup. How do I do the hardware nand mod?

 

[4gionz]

Yes I do have a nand backup. How do I do the hardware nand mod?

Watch part 1 then part 2, if you can't do it yourself have a professional do it. Then it's as easy as plugging it in you computer and you can update and downgrade however you please