Hacking How can I downgrade my N3DS to 9.2 sysNAND and 10.5 emuNAND and keep currently installed software?

[Ketchup901]

That's basically it.
I know how to downgrade firmwares, but how do I keep all my files.
I did it on a 3DS with no data on, so I don't know if it deletes anything. If so, how can I restore a backup or something?

 

[Noelemahc]

Downgrading by itself doesn't delete your saves or games. You do have to restore your SD card after creating the emuNAND since it formats your card to work, but that is a simple copy-paste backup anyone can do.

Back up the ENTIRE SD card before you begin, just in case, and remember to use SafeSysUpdater for the downgrade. After the downgrade, use EmuNAND9 to back up your SysNAND and store that away, since it has your current NNID in there and you'll need this if things get messed up.

After this you create the emuNAND, which will contain your NNID and will "see" your saves just like your old pre-downgrade firmware did.

Some guides recommend deleting stuff before downgrading, but that is a paranoid precaution - I downgraded two O3DSes (for me and my wife) without deleting anything at all.

That said, this IS a mysterious process, so the risk is still all on you if you downgrade.

 

[Ketchup901]

Downgrading by itself doesn't delete your saves or games. You do have to restore your SD card after creating the emuNAND since it formats your card to work, but that is a simple copy-paste backup anyone can do.

Back up the ENTIRE SD card before you begin, just in case, and remember to use SafeSysUpdater for the downgrade. After the downgrade, use EmuNAND9 to back up your SysNAND and store that away, since it has your current NNID in there and you'll need this if things get messed up.

After this you create the emuNAND, which will contain your NNID and will "see" your saves just like your old pre-downgrade firmware did.

Some guides recommend deleting stuff before downgrading, but that is a paranoid precaution - I downgraded two O3DSes (for me and my wife) without deleting anything at all.

That said, this IS a mysterious process, so the risk is still all on you if you downgrade.

Alright thanks, I'll get on it

 

[rdgrrbbt]

I've done this twice now with systems that had games and NNIDs already on them. Everything works well until you unlink the nands. After formatting the sysNAND, online services that require a login to a NNID stop working on the emuNAND. You're still able to update games and (I believe) play online, but some services such as the eshop and system transfer return an error. Some folks seem to recommend formatting both the sysNAND and the emuNAND if there's an NNID linked at the start of the process.

I've found that I was able to restore everything to working order by fully updating the emuNAND, making a backup, formatting the emuNAND, linking a NNID to the emuNAND, and then restoring the backup. This procedure was time consuming and convoluted, so perhaps there's a better way.

 

[Noelemahc]

I unlinked with keeping the original NNID on the emuNAND, and then updating that there. It's a saner and waaaay easier choice if your end goal isn't filling your emuNAND with pirated games.

Edit: to clarify:
After downgrading to 9.2, I created the emuNAND, unlinked the NANDs by tinyformatting the sysNAND, re-homebrewing it by setting up Menuhax with CtrBoot autoboot, then updating the emuNAND to the latest FW. Backups of everything along the way, naturally.

Now I have a NNID-less sysNAND which is used for upkeep and backup management, and an up-to-date emuNAND with my NNID for playing stuff I legally own AND a comfy way of circumventing regionlock because I'm an import addict.

 

[rdgrrbbt]

I unlinked with keeping the original NNID on the emuNAND, and then updating that there.

This is the same thing I did that resulted in the problems I described in my post above.

 

[Noelemahc]

This is the same thing I did that resulted in the problems I described in my post above.

What did you format with? And how did you back up? I worked blind combining steps from two guides on GBATemp and accounting for using Cubic Ninja instead of the browserhax way most guides suggest and I have two 3DSes that work with no ill effects other than not logging time spent playing DS games, which is insignoficant compared to the power of being able to back the NAND up easily.

I acknowledge that the roundabout way you described should solve everything, the question is whether it's an avoidable outcome.

 

[Shadowfied]

Downgrading doesn't remove anything, unless you brick

When you make your EmuNAND, it copies all your shit from SysNAND and there you go. That's essentially it. I have everything on my N3DSXL, even my first ever entry in the Activity Log from my 1.0 Old 3DS, and everything works perfectly
Feel free to PM me if you need assistance or have questions!

 

[rdgrrbbt]

What did you format with? And how did you back up?.

My exact procedure was as follows, all on an old 3DS XL (games and NNID were installed, I did not unlink the NNID before the procedure):

• Made a full SD card backup
• Downgraded from 10.3 to 9.2
  
• Used emunand9 to dump the sysNAND
• Used emunand9 to format the emuNAND partition on my SD card using the sysNAND as the source (not the backup, though this shouldn't matter)
• Did a system format using the system settings menu on the sysNAND to unlink the NANDs
• Restored the SD card backup
• Updated emuNAND using the system settings menu

At this point, everything worked insofar that I had all of my games and data on the emuNAND. Upon trying to open the eshop, however, I received an error (022-2634). This error would repeat whenever I would try to access anything requiring an NNID login, such as system transfer, NNID settings, and the aforementioned eshop. A quick goolgle search lead me to a thread on this site explaining that this happened after formatting the sysNAND while the NNID was attached to both the sys and emuNANDs. That's what lead me to try the convoluted solution I mentioned earlier, which fixed the issue.

Now, this is just speculation, but it seems that if an NNID is attached to the sysNAND to begin with, you go through the whole emuNAND creation procedure, and you format the sysNAND, the 3DS or the online services believe that your NNID is no longer linked to the 3DS. So, when you try to log in or use one of the services I previously mentioned, you get an error.

I have no idea if there's a better way to prevent this from happening besides making sure that there is no NNID attached to the sysNAND to start with (impossible unless you format the system), or you format both sysNAND and emuNAND after you're finished with the setup. I also don't know if this is even a problem other folks are having, but I did run into it on two separate systems.

 

[Noelemahc]

Ah, my difference was that I used TinyFormat to format the sysNAND, its entire purpose is to only do the bits associated with clearing the NNID from the sysNAND, it doesn't ever touch the SD or online features and I suppose that's what happened to you, yeah. Sorry =(

 

[Minasodrom]

Ah, my difference was that I used TinyFormat to format the sysNAND, its entire purpose is to only do the bits associated with clearing the NNID from the sysNAND, it doesn't ever touch the SD or online features and I suppose that's what happened to you, yeah. Sorry =(

yeah, the official format option connects to the internet and unlinks the NNID with your device, so you would have to link it again. thats not possible when you are already logged in hence the formating of the emunand and then restoring the backup.

 

[rdgrrbbt]

Ah, my difference was that I used TinyFormat to format the sysNAND

Good to know that prevents the problem! I should have tried that with my n3DS last night instead of going through the same motions as before.

 

[Maximilious]

I've done this twice now with systems that had games and NNIDs already on them. Everything works well until you unlink the nands. After formatting the sysNAND, online services that require a login to a NNID stop working on the emuNAND.

Linking your NNID in the formatted sysNAND will fix these types of issues. NAND's remain unlinked and all is well.

 

[rdgrrbbt]

Linking your NNID in the formatted sysNAND will fix these types of issues. NAND's remain unlinked and all is well.

Can't link an NNID without being on the most recent system software version.

 

[Maximilious]

Can't link an NNID without being on the most recent system software version.

Seems Ninty put in more checks since this used to work without need of latest version. The new process to get rid of these symptoms is to:

1. Backup emuNAND with emuTool
2. Install TinyFormat to your emuNAND (sorry, I don't have a link to it at the moment since I'm on mobile)
3. Use TinyFormat to wipe your emuNAND (it won't touch your SD data)
4. Boot back into your emuNAND and do the initial setup (time, date, WiFi, etc).
5. Log into your NNID to link it
6. Relaunch emuNAND9 and restore your emuNAND backup to regain access to your SD data

Basically, your emuNAND, although using a different space on the SD must still have some ties to sysNAND in regard to online and eShop access. In the old days (like a year ago) we could just re-link our NNID to sysNAND and eShop, online, ect. would work without a charm. This new method (in theory) will remove those links via the full format of emuNAND within emuNAND and allow access once again.

 

[yoshimashi]

My exact procedure was as follows, all on an old 3DS XL (games and NNID were installed, I did not unlink the NNID before the procedure):

• Made a full SD card backup
• Downgraded from 10.3 to 9.2
  
• Used emunand9 to dump the sysNAND
• Used emunand9 to format the emuNAND partition on my SD card using the sysNAND as the source (not the backup, though this shouldn't matter)
• Did a system format using the system settings menu on the sysNAND to unlink the NANDs
• Restored the SD card backup
• Updated emuNAND using the system settings menu

At this point, everything worked insofar that I had all of my games and data on the emuNAND. Upon trying to open the eshop, however, I received an error (022-2634). This error would repeat whenever I would try to access anything requiring an NNID login, such as system transfer, NNID settings, and the aforementioned eshop. A quick goolgle search lead me to a thread on this site explaining that this happened after formatting the sysNAND while the NNID was attached to both the sys and emuNANDs. That's what lead me to try the convoluted solution I mentioned earlier, which fixed the issue.

Now, this is just speculation, but it seems that if an NNID is attached to the sysNAND to begin with, you go through the whole emuNAND creation procedure, and you format the sysNAND, the 3DS or the online services believe that your NNID is no longer linked to the 3DS. So, when you try to log in or use one of the services I previously mentioned, you get an error.

I have no idea if there's a better way to prevent this from happening besides making sure that there is no NNID attached to the sysNAND to start with (impossible unless you format the system), or you format both sysNAND and emuNAND after you're finished with the setup. I also don't know if this is even a problem other folks are having, but I did run into it on two separate systems.

can I just backup my SD card and format it and then start over following this guide (https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutoria...luding-emunand-coldboot-cia-installer.405589/) Would that work? Because I have emunand 10.6 and from what I've been reading I can't downgrade using sysupdater since the firmware is too high. So would it work if i were to follow that guide and just paste my save files after I'm done?