Hacking How easy is it to hardmod a 3DS

[Matt Osborne]

see, I tried softmodding my 3DS earlier through the oot3dhaux method because I wanted to downgrade it from 10.7 to 9.2. i followed one of the guides on here and for some reason, it didnt work, ended up with an message "en error occurred please press the power button" like as if I bricked my 3DS but was able to recover from it through the recovery mode but that meant falling into that trap of updating it to 11.0 which I had no choice but to do so to fix it and now I'm back to square one again with no way of downgrading it through soft-modding so looks like I'll have to install a hardmod instead and I want to know how easy it is and what exactly I need to do because I've never had any experience before with using a soldering iron and don't really have the money to have it done for me. i want to try and do it myself

 

[Temptress Cerise]

see, I tried softmodding my 3DS earlier through the oot3dhaux method because I wanted to downgrade it from 10.7 to 9.2. i followed one of the guides on here and for some reason, it didnt work, ended up with an message "en error occurred please press the power button" like as if I bricked my 3DS but was able to recover from it through the recovery mode but that meant falling into that trap of updating it to 11.0 which I had no choice but to do so to fix it and now I'm back to square one again with no way of downgrading it through soft-modding so looks like I'll have to install a hardmod instead and I want to know how easy it is and what exactly I need to do because I've never had any experience before with using a soldering iron and don't really have the money to have it done for me. i want to try and do it myself

If you've never had any experience soldering, then I really wouldn't recommend you try it.

But anyways, here's the guide:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-noob-friendly-nand-dumping-2ds-3ds-3ds-xl-n3ds-n3ds-xl.414498/

I take no responsibility if you mess up.

 

[Thee_BaBs]

I have around 5 years of soldering experience and still had to resolder everything a couple times because of stupid mistakes.

 

[astronautlevel]

Depends 100% on what console you have. If you have an o3ds non-xl, don't even try it on your own, even with soldering experience.

o3ds-xl is by far the easiest to do, you could probably do it with a few months of experience.

The other two are moderately more challenging but still easier than the o3ds non-xl.

 

[Wuigi]

O3DS non-XL is really a pain, not only does the clk pin have issues being soldered to even the thinnest wire, a desolder of the gamecart slot is necessary for the second clk pin, which I had to use one time.
You need a steady hand and a fine tip of the solder iron, otherwise you will accidently desolder or even damage something and that's not fun.
Besides soldering you have to be aware of those new zifs used in the new 3DS where you just have to pull the cable out and never even scratch a flex cable very lightly when you use any tools.

 

[bitjacker]

soldering is not so hard with the right tools. fluxing everything that is to have solder is the key to doing it right. use flux in a paste form. Do not use a cheap soldering iron. get a nice little butane one. 2mm chisel tip. solid core wire is the easiest to connect. if you do it right there is no risk. hot and quick. a cheap gun dumps too much heat into the circuitboard because it has to be held on for a longer time to melt solder. weller butane. all that said, I have not had the courage to do this mod on my old xl. i have had no need to.

 

[shipwreck5]

I did mine with pretty much zero experience except from watching my dad solder a few times (and Ben heck;p) although I have an old3dsxl which is the easiest as stated above. I was 15 back then.

 

[andre104623]

I did mine with pretty much zero experience except from watching my dad solder a few times (and Ben heck;p) although I have an old3dsxl which is the easiest as stated above. I was 15 back then.

Omg what are you like 17-18 now?! Man that was a long time ago

But really its hard at any rate with no experience

 

[OldGlass]

When I downgraded my N3DS from 9.5 to 9.2, I was greeted with the same error screen and soft bricked my 3DS.
Fortunately for me, before I began the downgrading process, I made a copy of all the files on my SD card just in case and that saved me.
If you have a copy of all the files on your SD card before the brick, try replacing it with the files after the brick.
It worked for me.

 

[pkmz]

I had no issues. Did a few of them, but i did surface mont soldering and have about 12 years experience. Any how I thought it was a breeze.

 

[JearBear10994]

this sounds more like an incomplete downgrade. Try booting without the sd card.

 

[Quantumcat]

this sounds more like an incomplete downgrade. Try booting without the sd card.

Too late now, shame he didn't ask before updating to 11.0.

 

[Temarile]

OP already updated to 11.0 and now the only downgrade option is to use a hard mod.
@OP, you probably could've asked for help before you locked yourself out and it probably could have been fixed. But seeing as you're on 11.0 now anyway.. Doing a hardmod yourself is not recommended, especially when you have zero experience with soldering. Messing up even the tiniest ribbon will greet you with the boot rom error, making your 3ds a nice looking paper weight. Depending on your model, as mentioned before, it's even harder.. Really, just save up for a hard mod, it's not that expensive and you'll be doing yourself a favor as buying a new 3ds is way more expensive.

 

[Quantumcat]

OP already updated to 11.0 and now the only downgrade option is to use a hard mod.
@OP, you probably could've asked for help before you locked yourself out and it probably could have been fixed. But seeing as you're on 11.0 now anyway.. Doing a hardmod yourself is not recommended, especially when you have zero experience with soldering. Messing up even the tiniest ribbon will greet you with the boot rom error, making your 3ds a nice looking paper weight. Depending on your model, as mentioned before, it's even harder.. Really, just save up for a hard mod, it's not that expensive and you'll be doing yourself a favor as buying a new 3ds is way more expensive.

Not to mention the tools could cost the same or more than paying someone so you wouldn't even save money, just give yourself a big risk.

 

[invaderyoyo]

If you've got an xl, old or new, it's actually pretty easy and you can just make it temporary. I did it on my N3DSXL without much experience and it turned out fine.

You can solder the wires directly to the sd adapter without having to buy plugs. Also, you won't have to make any holes. The most annoying part is disconnecting all the ribbon cables.

I used a fairly cheap soldering iron from radio shack with two heat settings. Make sure you use flux. I used solid flux that melts.

I recommend you do it yourself if you have an xl. The tools will cost you about the same as the hard mod and you can reuse them and you'll learn a new skill. Be sure to practice a bit beforehand, though, so you get an idea of how solder behaves.

 

[Tiibz]

Do you have a soldering iron and everything needed (like flux, solder, a compatible SD reader)?
If not, it will be cheaper to have it done by someone who knows what he's doing and you won't be scared to mess up your console

 

[Urbanshadow]

I tried to make my 2ds. The soldering in the motherboard is as easy as it can get. What it gets me is the SD adapter part. Being a farsighted, even with my glasses I can't see what am I doing that close. Also, my hand is not a steady one.

 

[gamesquest1]

I think most people will know if they are any good at these. Kinds of things, I guess the easiest "indicator" of sorts is "can you thread a needle easily?" If it takes you more than 5 mins it's not a good sign, if your still trying after an hour and you still can't then I would say that's a fairly good indication that you don't really have the hand/eye Coordination required, and as many have said the initial costs are pretty much the same/more than just having it done

Plus once you have your hardmod unless you have a NAND backup you will need a copy off cubic ninja or freaky forms to downgrade back to 9.2 which adds even more to the cost outset, if it's something you really want to learn go for it, but it's not the.cheapest solution

 

[shipwreck5]

Omg what are you like 17-18 now?! Man that was a long time ago

But really its hard at any rate with no experience

lol but i purposely put my age just to show its not that hard. It wasn't perfect tho. i stripped a screw on the inside of the 3ds so i had to cut the inner casing a bit but thats fine. Atleast the outside still looks the same.