Hacking Hows does bricking work, and how do you get that to happen?

[Ichigo1000]

Some people say its just rumors, but I see tons of threads here posting regarding their bricked 3DS. I have a few questions:

1. What do you do to get it bricked?
2. Is it only possible on Emunand (Gateway)?
3. Can the Sky3DS brick 3DSes? (I'm assuming not)
4. How do you unbrick it?
5. Is the unbricking process complicated? (Heard people paying for unbricking)
6. How do you prevent bricking?

 

[bannana2]

Im glad you asked. Most people will tell you its a bad thing, but everything comes with risks. So, follow the following: 1. smash your system with a brick 2. go ahead and update that sucker to a region not your own. 3. downgrade using gateway, but make sure its not your region. 4.this site is vicious and you just left yourself open to attack. 5. no 6. dont brick it in the first place.

 

[zoogie]

1. What do you do to get it bricked? Make a 1 GB file full of junk, rename it to NAND.bin, do a system restore with gateway.

2. Is it only possible on Emunand (Gateway)? It can be done with any hack. Even ninjhax if you're determined enough.

3. Can the Sky3DS brick 3DSes? (I'm assuming not) Well, you can run ninjhax. But under normal rom usage, I think you're safe.

4. How do you unbrick it? Must have a nand backup beforehand then soldering 4 wires to the nand at certain pinouts and hook them to an SD adapter. Flash the backup to the system.

5. Is the unbricking process complicated? For most users, yes, and thus it's a good idea to ship it off to a reputable mod expert.

6. How do you prevent bricking? Avoid any hacks that write to system nand, like upgrades, downgrades, mset downgrades, etc. General good advice is to wait if any new hack method becomes available and let others be the guinea pig for you. Other that that, follow directions carefully. Having a nand mod as a preventative measure is also a good idea.

 

[Typhin]

Some people say its just rumors, but I see tons of threads here posting regarding their bricked 3DS. I have a few questions:

1. What do you do to get it bricked?
2. Is it only possible on Emunand (Gateway)?
3. Can the Sky3DS brick 3DSes? (I'm assuming not)
4. How do you unbrick it?
5. Is the unbricking process complicated? (Heard people paying for unbricking)
6. How do you prevent bricking?

1) A brick happens when the system is rendered unable to boot. This usually is caused by having improper system files installed, or having the system files be otherwise damaged (by powering off mid-install, for example). Restoring a backup made from another system will cause it to brick as well.
2) If you are running emuNand, then anything you're installing is being installed to emuNand, and thus not your sysNand. Your system will not be bricked this way. If you mean "Can it only be bricked by improper use of a Gateway?", then the answer is that while you can brick yourself using a Gateway incorrectly, you can brick yourself in other ways (the most common being powering off mid-install/update).
3) Technically, you could use the Sky3DS to run Cubic Ninja, run Ninjhax, and use that to run CIA installers and mess up your system. But generally, no, since Sky3DS itself only runs clean versions of roms.
4) If you have made a backup of your NAND, then it can be restored to your system. The contents of the NAND memory are encrypted for each specific system, so without a backup made from YOUR 3DS, it cannot be restored. A backup from another system will not work, and a "fresh" backup cannot be made that will work on your system without having access to Nintendo's private signing keys (which will pretty much never happen).
5) If the system can boot but certain things are broken, you can restore a backup from the Gateway menu. But if you cannot reach the Gateway menu, then restoring that backup will require a hardmod, soldering wires and connecting an adapter. There are a few users of the forum who offer this service if you do not wish to do this yourself.
6) To prevent bricking, it's best to always be careful whenever installing anything to sysNand. Anything installed MUST have a legitimate signature and match your region, or it will not run. Always do research, always follow guides, and you should always make sure you have the AC adapter plugged in and plenty of battery charge. Even then, there's always a risk that something will go wrong, but in most cases the risks are minimal as long as you've taken all the necessary precautions.

 

[caytung07]

I'm using PBT->pasta on 4.5 and only install cia games on sysNand 4.5. Is there any risk? up until now every thing is okay

 

[Kafke]

Some people say its just rumors, but I see tons of threads here posting regarding their bricked 3DS. I have a few questions:

1. What do you do to get it bricked?
2. Is it only possible on Emunand (Gateway)?
3. Can the Sky3DS brick 3DSes? (I'm assuming not)
4. How do you unbrick it?
5. Is the unbricking process complicated? (Heard people paying for unbricking)
6. How do you prevent bricking?

1. You brick any time you don't fully install proper FW files. You can brick simply by turning off your console in the middle of an official update. But you can also brick by installing bad FW files, installing random sysNand CIAs that are invalid/bad, etc.

2. You can brick your Emunand, but at that point you can just make a new one. No big. You can also brick your sysNand, which is a huge problem since you can't fix it without a hardware mod.

3. No. Sky3DS by itself cannot brick systems any more than a legitimate game cartridge can.

4. If you bricked emunand, you can simply make a new one. If you bricked sysnand, you need to do a hardware mod to re-flash a Nand backup. If you don't have a Nand backup, you are screwed. So I'd recommend making one ASAP.

5. Yes. It requires physically opening up the system and soldering wires to hook it up to your computer. It's a complicated process that's not easy for noobs. Unbricking emunand is as easy as setting up emunand in the first place.

6. You don't. You just avoid doing stuff that'd cause bricking to happen. Be careful about what you install to sysNand, don't shut down in the middle of installing FW updates/downgrades, etc.

"Bricking" is just a scary word for "You fucked up your system files." Without proper system files, the system naturally can't boot. Which means it's a 'brick'. Bricking can happen through legitimate means as well. Though in those cases, sending your system to Nintendo would 'fix' it (they'd probably give you a new system that's fully updated).

 

[Kafke]

I'm using PBT->pasta on 4.5 and only install cia games on sysNand 4.5. Is there any risk? up until now every thing is okay

If you are only installing games, you should be fine. games install to the SD and don't effect the system files. Though with PBT/Pasta, you are indeed installing to sysNand, so any system files installed COULD brick your system. So be careful with that.

 

[Ichigo1000]

1. You brick any time you don't fully install proper FW files. You can brick simply by turning off your console in the middle of an official update. But you can also brick by installing bad FW files, installing random sysNand CIAs that are invalid/bad, etc.

2. You can brick your Emunand, but at that point you can just make a new one. No big. You can also brick your sysNand, which is a huge problem since you can't fix it without a hardware mod.

3. No. Sky3DS by itself cannot brick systems any more than a legitimate game cartridge can.

4. If you bricked emunand, you can simply make a new one. If you bricked sysnand, you need to do a hardware mod to re-flash a Nand backup. If you don't have a Nand backup, you are screwed. So I'd recommend making one ASAP.

5. Yes. It requires physically opening up the system and soldering wires to hook it up to your computer. It's a complicated process that's not easy for noobs. Unbricking emunand is as easy as setting up emunand in the first place.

6. You don't. You just avoid doing stuff that'd cause bricking to happen. Be careful about what you install to sysNand, don't shut down in the middle of installing FW updates/downgrades, etc.

"Bricking" is just a scary word for "You fucked up your system files." Without proper system files, the system naturally can't boot. Which means it's a 'brick'. Bricking can happen through legitimate means as well. Though in those cases, sending your system to Nintendo would 'fix' it (they'd probably give you a new system that's fully updated).

Darn.. I'm very paranoid with the bricking that is happening, because I'm one of the people who is overprotective of my belongings. Sending my new system out to some stranger, let alone opening my system and fiddling with it.

Here is one thread made by someone who got their 3DS stolen..
http://gbatemp.net/threads/bricked-3ds-dont-let-this-guy-fix-it.387924/

Do Gateway themselves have some sort of support service for unbricking?

Does Nintendo themselves help with unbricking? Or is the warranty voided? I heard hardmod will void warranty, but how about if it is left untouched?

Seems like the Sky3DS is the safest choice at this point. I'm on 9.7 anyway, I'm just hoping to be a bit patient and wait for Gateway if they ever do update.

 

[Kafke]

Darn.. I'm very paranoid with the bricking that is happening, because I'm one of the people who is overprotective of my belongings. Sending my new system out to some stranger, let alone opening my system and fiddling with it.

Here is one thread made by someone who got their 3DS stolen..
http://gbatemp.net/threads/bricked-3ds-dont-let-this-guy-fix-it.387924/

Do Gateway themselves have some sort of support service for unbricking?

Does Nintendo themselves help with unbricking? Or is the warranty voided? I heard hardmod will void warranty, but how about if it is left untouched?

Seems like the Sky3DS is the safest choice at this point. I'm on 9.7 anyway, I'm just hoping to be a bit patient and wait for Gateway if they ever do update.

I don't think gateway has any support. They do provide software tools for backing up and restoring your NAND. And they do encourage you to back up your NAND when setting up your gateway. I don't think they provide any hardware service of restoring your NAND though.

Nintendo will help with unbricking, provided you bricked while doing an official system update (with an unmodded system ). I'm not sure whether they'll do it for free if you aren't covered by warranty. Sending a hard-modded console anywhere is a bit silly. Since if you have a hard-mod, you should be able to restore your NAND by yourself and probably had the sense to backup your NAND. But yea, I'd guess if you sent it to Nintendo they'd laugh at you.

Sky3DS has the possibility of you getting banned, if you don't use private headers for your roms. Arguably the safest choice would be to have a 9.2 console, get cubic Ninja, and use PastaCFW, but avoid installing any system CIAs. Or alternatively using Gateway or some other card/system that allows you to use Emunand and just play with emunand (which is completely safe).

Emunand requires no actual console system mods (though you can install an MSET exploit to make it easier to boot. This is completely safe). And once you can boot into emunand, you are 100% safe. Which is why gateway is a popular choice: leave system firmware on 4.5, then use gateway emunand as your "actual" system. Any messing up of emunand can be fixed by simply setting it up again.

Either way, as I said, bricking sounds a lot scarier than it actually is. Provided you don't install any weird CIAs, or mess with System CIAs, you are pretty much 100% safe. And again, bricking can happen EVEN WITH OFFICIAL NINTENDO UPDATES. It's not some magic weird thing that randomly happens with hacks. it's a perfectly normal predictable event that happens when you mess up a system install.

hell, you can even 'brick' your desktop computer. Install a bad bios and see how much fun you have getting it back into a working state.

Edit: For the record, Sky3DS can't "brick" your system because it doesn't actually install anything. It just makes a 1-to-1 copy of a cartridge rom. If you don't use private headers, this means it's the exact same 'cartridge' that every other pirate that downloaded that game is using. Which means you'll get banned. AFAIK, this is the same for gateway headers as well. CIAs are safe in this regard.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I don't think gateway has any support. They do provide software tools for backing up and restoring your NAND. And they do encourage you to back up your NAND when setting up your gateway. I don't think they provide any hardware service of restoring your NAND though.

Nintendo will help with unbricking, provided you bricked while doing an official system update (with an unmodded system ). I'm not sure whether they'll do it for free if you aren't covered by warranty. Sending a hard-modded console anywhere is a bit silly. Since if you have a hard-mod, you should be able to restore your NAND by yourself and probably had the sense to backup your NAND. But yea, I'd guess if you sent it to Nintendo they'd laugh at you.

Sky3DS has the possibility of you getting banned, if you don't use private headers for your roms. Arguably the safest choice would be to have a 9.2 console, get cubic Ninja, and use PastaCFW, but avoid installing any system CIAs. Or alternatively using Gateway or some other card/system that allows you to use Emunand and just play with emunand (which is completely safe).

Emunand requires no actual console system mods (though you can install an MSET exploit to make it easier to boot. This is completely safe). And once you can boot into emunand, you are 100% safe. Which is why gateway is a popular choice: leave system firmware on 4.5, then use gateway emunand as your "actual" system. Any messing up of emunand can be fixed by simply setting it up again.

Either way, as I said, bricking sounds a lot scarier than it actually is. Provided you don't install any weird CIAs, or mess with System CIAs, you are pretty much 100% safe. And again, bricking can happen EVEN WITH OFFICIAL NINTENDO UPDATES. It's not some magic weird thing that randomly happens with hacks. it's a perfectly normal predictable event that happens when you mess up a system install.

hell, you can even 'brick' your desktop computer. Install a bad bios and see how much fun you have getting it back into a working state.

Edit: For the record, Sky3DS can't "brick" your system because it doesn't actually install anything. It just makes a 1-to-1 copy of a cartridge rom. If you don't use private headers, this means it's the exact same 'cartridge' that every other pirate that downloaded that game is using. Which means you'll get banned. AFAIK, this is the same for gateway headers as well. CIAs are safe in this regard.

The difference is GW doesn't come bundled with public headers. I am sure Nintendo has a copy of the sky3ds template they are checking against users that are online. With GW the only way you will get a public header is if you purposely apply one. But then you know the risk you are taking, it's not so obvious with sky.

 

[Kafke]

The difference is GW doesn't come bundled with public headers. I am sure Nintendo has a copy of the sky3ds template they are checking against users that are online. With GW the only way you will get a public header is if you purposely apply one. But then you know the risk you are taking, it's not so obvious with sky.

Ah, thank you for clarification. I don't actually own a Gateway or Sky card, so I wasn't sure what the exact differences were. So to clarify, downloaded public roms don't come with any sort of header? Or hows that work exactly? And what's the Sky template do exactly? is it just a collection of headers that are applied?

 

[Ichigo1000]

I don't think gateway has any support. They do provide software tools for backing up and restoring your NAND. And they do encourage you to back up your NAND when setting up your gateway. I don't think they provide any hardware service of restoring your NAND though.

Nintendo will help with unbricking, provided you bricked while doing an official system update (with an unmodded system ). I'm not sure whether they'll do it for free if you aren't covered by warranty. Sending a hard-modded console anywhere is a bit silly. Since if you have a hard-mod, you should be able to restore your NAND by yourself and probably had the sense to backup your NAND. But yea, I'd guess if you sent it to Nintendo they'd laugh at you.

Sky3DS has the possibility of you getting banned, if you don't use private headers for your roms. Arguably the safest choice would be to have a 9.2 console, get cubic Ninja, and use PastaCFW, but avoid installing any system CIAs. Or alternatively using Gateway or some other card/system that allows you to use Emunand and just play with emunand (which is completely safe).

Emunand requires no actual console system mods (though you can install an MSET exploit to make it easier to boot. This is completely safe). And once you can boot into emunand, you are 100% safe. Which is why gateway is a popular choice: leave system firmware on 4.5, then use gateway emunand as your "actual" system. Any messing up of emunand can be fixed by simply setting it up again.

Either way, as I said, bricking sounds a lot scarier than it actually is. Provided you don't install any weird CIAs, or mess with System CIAs, you are pretty much 100% safe. And again, bricking can happen EVEN WITH OFFICIAL NINTENDO UPDATES. It's not some magic weird thing that randomly happens with hacks. it's a perfectly normal predictable event that happens when you mess up a system install.

hell, you can even 'brick' your desktop computer. Install a bad bios and see how much fun you have getting it back into a working state.

Edit: For the record, Sky3DS can't "brick" your system because it doesn't actually install anything. It just makes a 1-to-1 copy of a cartridge rom. If you don't use private headers, this means it's the exact same 'cartridge' that every other pirate that downloaded that game is using. Which means you'll get banned. AFAIK, this is the same for gateway headers as well. CIAs are safe in this regard.

Yup, my system is under warranty. So they will unbrick my console as long as I haven't hard modded it right?

Also, yes I do understand sky3ds would require private headers to play online. Now the only thing that worries me is if SKY3DS will ever be blocked. I heard that if it does get blocked, sky3ds is impossible to update.. Is that true?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Ah, thank you for clarification. I don't actually own a Gateway or Sky card, so I wasn't sure what the exact differences were. So to clarify, downloaded public roms don't come with any sort of header? Or hows that work exactly? And what's the Sky template do exactly? is it just a collection of headers that are applied?

To my knowledge all scene releases have the header removed. Some P2P/rom site releases have the header, but they still need to be renamed to .3dz to actually use the header and be able to go online with them. GW blocks all online access from games unless the extension is changed to .3dz, and .3dz without a valid header will give an error. It's unlikely anyone's going to go and change all their games to .3dz just to see if there's a header included they can use and if they do they probably know enough about headers that they are aware of the risks.