Homebrew How safe is process of doing A9LH on N3DS + questions.

[Zech]

I've read the thread about A9LH, and I'm almost convinced of doing it to my N3DS. I like the 100% boot rate and almost as fast boot rate of the original firm. I always keep my N3DS on because i don't want booting it again as it might fail, then will go to the hassle of holding the power button for 10 secs until it turns off. I'm also hesitant that it says that the process is dangerous. So i have questions.

1. Is it true that you will have to go back to a firmware which is 2.xx? If yes, how will that work with N3DS? The firm 2.xx is not made for N3DS and might be missing some components to run the system.

2. I have a 32gb with tons of games. How am i going to able to back it up without reinstalling them. Because I'm planning to transfer from reinand to aureinand. Do i just copy past the files after the format?

3. How does the update works in a9lh? I understand that the emunand emulates the sysnand, therefore when updating it never touches the sysnand.

4. Is it worth it? And what is the chance of bricking my n3ds?

 

[Critical_Impact]

I probably can't answer all the questions due to being a bit of a noob and anyone feel free to correct me,
1) In the process of installing A9LH you need to get something called the OTP which requires you to downgrade to 2.xx. OTPHelper provides a fix when installing the 2.xx firmware onto the N3DS that allows it to run correctly.
2) I believe you should be able to copy the games off and then copy them back on again. You can access the eshop so you'd be able to download them again as well.
3) I don't understand the technical side of it but you basically swap the emunand you create with the sysnand. Whatever protections that are in place for the emunand I assume are kept and allow you to update to higher firmwares without disabling anything.
4) It takes a really long time to do(or at least it did for me) but I feel like it is. Not sure on the chance of bricking but you have at least 1 confirmed success, maybe there is a poll somewhere that has bricking stats(if not, someone should start one)

 

[stl25]

@Zech, Reference @Plailect OTP Guide and familiarize yourself with it before proceeding. Also the guide will direct you to make sysNAND and emuNAND backups before downgrading to 2.1. Utilize these backups and backup the contents of your SD/mSD as detailed in the guide and yes you can get everything back without having to reinstall. AuReiNand is a mod of ReiNand so using one or the other will not affect your emuNAND content.

In response to question 3, updating in A9LH environment depends on how you utilize AuReiNand. If you want to boot into emuNAND on latest FW and keep sysNAND at 9.2, boot into emuNAND and update through system settings. A9LH is on sysNAND so updating emuNAND will not affect it. As for if you use updatedsysnand and a 9.0 emuNAND I would direct you to the AuReiNand thread as I do not fully understand that process. I do know AuReiNand has some firm blocking integrated which will block updating of firm0/firm1 but I don't know all the details.

4. Is it worth it? And what is the chance of bricking my n3ds?

Considering you never turn off your system it seems this may be worth your while. The chance of bricking exists but really depends on the user's ability to follow the guide and verify each steps completion before proceeding. The process will have you make sys and emu NAND backups before downgrading so if you do brick you could hardmod your system if not already and recover. There are a lot of happy A9LH users here and yes a few users who encountered issues and maybe even a few bricks, but I am confident in @Plailect's guide and tools from talented devs like @d0k3 that you can join the A9LH club. Good luck in whatever you choose.

 

[SSMatt123]

Probably answered already, but my take:

1. Is it true that you will have to go back to a firmware which is 2.xx? If yes, how will that work with N3DS? The firm 2.xx is not made for N3DS and might be missing some components to run the system.

Correct. Basically you have to downgrade to a hacked version of it iirc, but it works. The only problem is it doesn't boot in emunand (That may have changed now) so you have to basically assume it works when you downgrade sysnand. Just be sure to follow a trusted guide very carefully.

2. I have a 32gb with tons of games. How am i going to able to back it up without reinstalling them. Because I'm planning to transfer from reinand to aureinand. Do i just copy past the files after the format

If you follow the main guide it'll go through everything, including backing up/restoring your files. You won't lose anything.

3. How does the update works in a9lh? I understand that the emunand emulates the sysnand, therefore when updating it never touches the sysnand.

A9LH uses sysnand, but its set by default to boot to emunand so it basically functions like it did with menuhax, but quicker and no bugs. You can however switch them and use Sysnand, and many would recommend it. It patches the files A9LH uses so updating can't touch them (but always check the online scene before updating in case Nintendo have some trick up their sleeve) so you can update Sysnand.

4. Is it worth it? And what is the chance of bricking my n3ds?

I'd say yes. You won't miss the crashes etc when it's done, and it's a far more "professional" job if that's the way to put it. Bricking is possible, but unlikely if you follow the guide carefully. I think with recent developments though bricking is only a minor setback though as you can just try again on 10.6 once you've restored it as long as you have one of the latest entrypoints. Also future homebrew will probably use this very early boot point to make some very interesting homebrew in the future. You can already set up recovery for both nands.

 

[Doczu]

Absolutely worth it. If you follow the github guide from A to Z there is a minimal chance something will go wrong. Boot rate alone is good enough to do it, but the possible recovery without a hardmod if something goes wrong is the real deal.
And as always don't jump on the newest firmware without dropping by and checking here. You never know what they changed regarding security

 

[Jarmenti]

done 3 new 3ds's , as long as you follow the guide you'll be fine!