@tj18, woah. Lots to absorb. I'll come back and visit this after my dinner break. Going on a WaWa subs run.

 

NAND backups restore the system to the point it was at that time the backup was created, any titles that have been installed after you made the backup won't have their tickets, so they won't show in the home menu. Just add the tickets through FBI, but may need to do some searching for some.

 

ADDENDUM #3: The guide below can be entirely avoided after step 3.

• A collection of fake tickets can be found at that ISO site.
• You can also regenerate missing tickets with faketik.

***

@tj18, like what others said, your saves and game should be recoverable. You've lost your tickets, so the 3DS doesn't fully recognize them as yours.

The first thing we're going check for is if your 3DS acknowledges the existence of your games.

1. With the SD card inserted, turn on the 3DS and hold the (Start) button to boot up GodMode9.
   • See if your SD card is accessible or readable. Look for the drive [0:] SDCARD ( ).
2. Press (Start) to continue on to HOME Menu. Go to Systems Settings.
   • Pre-check: Verify that the bottom LCD screen says Sys 11.4.0-37U. This indicates you're using SysNAND.
     
   • If it's Emu or EmuNAND, you need to let us know so that slight adjustments can be made for this step-by-step guide.
3. Go to Data Management > Nintendo 3DS > Software and see if all your games are marked with X's.
   • If they're there, good news. Your games and their saves should be recoverable.
   • If you don't see them, you have our condolences. There's something called the movable.sed within the 3DS CTRNAND that controls encrypting your Nintendo 3DS folder. This could have been changed from either Format System Memory or System Transfer.
     • If the 3DS does not recognize the titles here, there's still an off chance you might be able to recover your saves if you're certain neither Format System Memory nor System Transfer was performed in-between the time that SysNAND backup was made and when the crash occurred. There are several *.db files other than ticket.db that controls listing titles in System Setting. Continue onwards with this guide before ruling out the saves as unrecoverable.
   • Missing Tickets

If you've made it this far, you got work cut out for you in recovering your setup. This next part is to reformat and check your SD card.

4. Copy everything off your SD card onto your computer. Make a second copy of your SD setup for insurance purposes.

• We're going to need two sets. One set is for fallback safety in case anything happens to the other set, and the second set will be used for save files extraction in later steps.

5. Reformat your SD card as FAT32 + 32 KB cluster size. If it's bigger than 32 GB, use guiformat.

6. With the card empty, do a Full Write + Verify Test using H2testw. Do not skip this step.

• This is needed to ensure your card isn't fake and that it is free of hardware defects.
• If an error result occurs at any moment during the test, you may stop the test.
• If the SD card was found to be physically faulty, it needs to be replaced. There's no way to fix it.
• If your card was identified as fake with a continuous error, your game and save data is likely corrupt and unrecoverable.

​

If you made it still this far, you're in the safe zone. However, we're far from being done. Because of the restored SysNAND, you'll need to update both the custom firmware and official 3DS firmware.

7. Use the archive found in this cheat guide to build a quick SD card setup.

• 3ds CFW: Restoring functionality on a new SD card [post #2]
• Watch this Rosalina HBL injection tutorial video if you never used this feature before.
  • [Video Tutorial] How to Inject Homebrew Into Official App - Stealth Homebrew w/ Rosalina Menu
• At this moment, do not use any files from your actual setup.
• ADDENDUM #1: Download the seeddb.bin found here and add it in sdmc:/gm9/support folder. This will later save you the headache of step 14.

8. The latest CFW setup includes Luma3DS v9.1, GodMode9 v1.7.1, and boot9strap v1.3.

• Updating B9S
• Section VI - CTRNAND Luma3DS

-or- (Condensed and combined guide of the above two)

• The totally-not-freeShop guide in updating your custom firmware.
• Luma3DS configuration settings

9. After updating the CFW on both your SD card and CTRNAND, update your 3DS firmware to Sys 11.8.0-41U in System Settings > System Update.

• There are no benefits staying on a lower version firmware. It is safe to play online with pirated games as long as you don't cheat.
• Some newer games require certain firmware versions, or they won't work. To avoid the headache of additional troubleshooting, please update.

​

You probably feel that little progress has been made in the actual recovery of your games and saves. All the previous steps were required to get your eggs in order for this to go smoothly.

10. Using your computer, delete the current (blank) Nintendo 3DS folder on your SD card.

• This folder normally contains your HOME Menu installed games and save data if there was anything.

​

Here's where we come to a fork stop. Unless you already have backups of your entire collection in *.3ds or *.cia files, you may need to resort to reacquiring your games at that iso site. In the old days, the tickets for official eShop titles could be restored with the homebrew app TIKdevil, and games / DLC / updates were easily obtainable using freeShop / CIAngel / Villain3DS. Those days are long gone after the CDN server block...

Despite these setbacks and your missing tickets, it is possible to back up your previously installed games and then reinstall them! Be forewarned that reinstalling a game will overwrite its save. This is (partially) the reason why two copied sets of your SD card were made.

11. Copy the Nintendo 3DS folder from your backup set to the card. Copy only that folder and nothing else.

• Your SD card must have adequate free space for the next step. You may need to remove and group into batches the title subfolders.
  • Nintendo 3DS/<ID0>/<ID1>/title/00040000/00####00 < individual title folder.
• I recommend your free space should be slightly more than the total amount of used data. Doing this reduces backing up the games to roughly two sessions.

12. Back up all your games, DLCs, and updates as *.cia files with GodMode9. Once all games are processed, delete the old Nintendo 3DS folder off the card.

• GodMode9 Usage - Dumping a Title
• There's a way to yellow highlight select multiple titles by holding the (L)-shoulder button and pressing the D-pad.
• Use the Build CIA (legit) only for games that were legitimately bought from Nintendo eShop.

13. In the Rosalina injected Homebrew Launcher (see step 7), use FBI to reinstall all your games, DLCs, and updates.

• Your reinstalled games and titles must match the exact Title ID as your previously setup, or later steps in the save restoration won't work.
  
• You might be wondering, "Why can't GodMode9 restore my tickets if it can rebuild my games into CIAs?". GodMode9 has the ability to spoof missing tickets when recreating titles into CIAs. However, only an CIA installer like FBI working in the actual 3DS operating system environment has the ability to handle the finer details of ticket track recording.
• Read a better explanation sourced here.
• GodMode9 as a CIA installer?

14. Launch each of your games at least one time. Allow the 3DS to formally recognize the (encrypted) blank save files.

• Take note that 9.6.0+ and newer games require a seed for additional decryption. If a game crashes at launch, take a look in this seed database list:
  • [GitHub/ihaveamac] 3DS SeedDB list
• If a game requires a seed, use FBI > Titles > Example Game > Import Seed to fix this; Internet connection is required.
• For other methods of importing the seed, read these:
  • [Release] Villain3ds - Basically freeShop but runs on your PC [post #571]
  • Can One Backup an Imported Seed? [post #19]

• Most games have a "Do not turn off the power or remove the SD card" message. This will indication when you can exit back to HOME Menu and move onto launching the next game.
  
• You don't need to make dummy character profiles in any of the games.

15. In either Checkpoint or JKSM, verify that the save manager recognizes all reinstalled games.

• Why are we browsing in a save manager at this stage? Secure Value. More about this later.
  
• Games that are missing should be revisited. These might require making in-game character profiles.
  
• If you have any GBA Virtual Console titles, they're not part of the typical native 3DS titles because their saves are encrypted differently.
  • Restoring GBA VC saves are done through a different method. More about this later.

​

We're now in the home stretch. You must be dying to know whether or not all this effort and trouble you went through is even going to pan out. Your heart is racing, and you're having immense tunnel vision. Unless you only have a few games, the following steps will save you the trouble of manually swapping the encrypted save files of interest.

16. Install the Windows program Duplicate Cleaner Pro. Either buy the software or resort to other means in obtaining it. It has to be the Pro version and not the basic Free version.

• ADDENDUM #2: If you have two (2) copies of the Nintendo 3DS folder on the computer, it is possible to substitute Duplicate Cleaner Pro with Windows File Explorer for steps 16–18. Search on one set and delete all files with the extensions *.app, *.cmd, and *.tmd found in the Nintendo 3DS/<ID0>/<ID1>/title/00040000 directory. This will leave behind only the 00000001.sav files in their proper locations. Make two (2) set copies of the extracted *.sav. The spare set is in case you miss any titles in the later steps. In step 19, cut and paste only the .../00040000 to avoid adding updates (0004000e) and DLCs (0004008c).

17. Select these settings to search for the multiple 00000001.sav files within the Nintendo 3DS folder from the backed up set made in step 4.

• Find Files With: Ignore Content
• Additional Options: Same File Name
• File Filter: ... Included: *.sav
• Scan Location... Search Paths: [Drag and drop the Nintendo 3DS folder for automatic address retrieval]

18. Mark all the 00000001.sav files and choose the File removal... option. In the Move / Copy Files, select Keep folder structure at destination. Export your save files with Copy Files.

• If done correctly, the *.sav files should be in their individual data subfolders.

Copy and export *.sav

19. Cut and paste the extracted title folder over to the Nintendo 3DS/<ID0>/<ID1>/title found on the SD card.

• As you probably guessed, we're overwriting the blank *.sav files with your actual ones.

20. When you boot into HOME Menu, DO NOT LAUNCH YOUR GAMES JUST YET!!!

21. Go straight to your save manager and back up all your game saves. After backing up all of them, restore them all.

• Remember that Secure Value that was mentioned back in step 15? There are games that have anti-cheat protection measures that prevents one from simply copying and pasting over their previous 00000001.sav file. Two well-known example titles that prevent simple save tampering are Super Smash Bros. 3DS and Animal Crossing - New Leaf (including Welcome Amiibo).
• This backup and restore method is to eliminate the guess work of which games require resetting their Secure Value.
• Also, this is your stepping stone in following good backup practice for your saves.
• About restoring GBA VC saves: As long as the encrypted 00000001.sav is paired to the exact version of that GBA title (both injected *.gba rom and Title ID), there shouldn't be any problems with the saves not being restored. GBA VC, so to speak, shouldn't have Secure Value to worry about.
  
• For information on how GBA VC saves are supposed to be backed up and restored, read this:
  • CFW to CFW system transfer [post #10]

22. Check out the games and see if the saves returned. Success?​

There is still one last matter to take care of. You don't want a future repeat of this, do you?

23. Make a image backup of your new and updated SysNAND.

• GodMode9 Usage - Creating a NAND backup

​

***

If any titles and saves were missed in the restoration process, continue to step 24 found here.

 

@TurdPooCharger what is the difference bewteen sysNAND and emuNAND backups? is emuNAND backing up old news today?

 

^ This! What @Hayato213 said.

In that post, we needed to know the NAND type @tj18 was using. If his setup was originally an EmuNAND but he boots into SysNAND, it's possible his 3DS might not recognize his titles in System Setting on top of the missing tickets because it's looking elsewhere in the Nintendo 3DS folder (ie, different ID0 and/or ID1 subfolders). This could have lead to misidentifying his games and saves as forever lost when they're not, which would be a really sucky thing to happen.

 

At Step 13 and I realize I may have used Godmode9 to rewrite the FBI token? I did use the (L button) multi-grab to dump. I might need brief instruction to repair FBI on my home screen, bot sure what else I may have did to cause this. Current error when selecting FBI:
An error occurred (ErrDisp)
Error type: card removed
Press and button to reboot.

 

I'm going back a few more steps to see what I did - All custom home screen icons are not showing the icon (wont launch). Also unable to gain access to Homebrew Launcher. Rosalina injection appears but unable to switch title to current app (Operation failed (no suitable process found.)) I think that's the trouble. I may restart with prepping the SD card.. hehe.

 

Yes, have these two files.. Ok instead of using Download Play, I overwrote 3DS Sound. Working now..odd. Much thanks! Resuming right along...

 

Title ID of 00040000001a0400 refers to Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS (USA). This game is known to require a seed for further decryption. Check your games that aren't working against this list of known 9.6.0+ titles:

• https://github.com/ihaveamac/3DS-rom-tools/wiki/SeedDB-list

The easiest way to fix this is to go to FBI > Titles > [Game] > Import Seed while connected online.

For more information about other methods of importing/decrypting with seed for those newer games, read these:

• [Release] Villain3ds - Basically freeShop but runs on your PC [post #571]
• Can One Backup an Imported Seed? [post #19]

***

And, I gotta make more corrections to the guide (for future readers).