ROM Hack Is there a safe and sure way to Region Unlock a 3DS yet?

Shinigami Kiba

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Back when the 3DS and later 3DS XL came out it was more expensive for me to obtain European games than American ones due to my American friend sending me games from the US and local importers charging insane amounts for PAL games, so of course I bought American systems.

Now that we can use paypal to buy from ebay in Macedonia it's much cheaper for me to buy European games and to top it all off I just learned that we got Senran Kagura Burst as a retail release over here which really bummed me out as my 3DS is a US version.

I tried doing some research on my own before posting but I'm not a computer savvy person and reading too much technical info confuses and frustrates me so I have a hard time following these things, plus I don't know if the info I'm reading is up to date or not, searching the internet and forums is hell nowadays.

I found some weird site that claims to unlock your 3DS region but heck if I know if that's legit or not.
 

Zabhahs

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My advice would be to create an emunand and use free multipatcher. Although you did say you werent very tech savvy, its fairly easy to follow if you do as the instructions say.
 

Shinigami Kiba

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And THE only way to get homebrew access is to own that Cubic Ninja game? I don't have that and it costs as much as a used PAL 3DS
 

cearp

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sure way? yes, no guesswork, it's an exact process.
safe way? if you do it to emunand you have nothing to worry about. if you do it to sysnand then yes, you need to not make a mistake.

the information has been public for more than a year.
 

regnad

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What's your firmware version? Have you been regularly updating your 3DS? I you have not, you may have other options.
 

Shinigami Kiba

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It says my firmware is 8.1.0-13U and I do have OoT no smash tho
I'd rather do whatever hack is the safest and opens up opportunities for me to play the latest games if possible.

also guys I just noticed i posted this in ROM Hacking, if this isn't the correct forum please move the topic where it needs to be.

EDIT: so apparently I have the option to either go with the browser hack or the OoT hack which seems more complex.
What happens when I get a brand new game and it wants to update? I'm waiting for Stella Glow US and Senran Kagura 2 US to arrive in the mail from play asia now.
 
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Hking0036

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It says my firmware is 8.1.0-13U and I do have OoT no smash tho
I'd rather do whatever hack is the safest and opens up opportunities for me to play the latest games if possible.

also guys I just noticed i posted this in ROM Hacking, if this isn't the correct forum please move the topic where it needs to be.

EDIT: so apparently I have the option to either go with the browser hack or the OoT hack which seems more complex.
What happens when I get a brand new game and it wants to update? I'm waiting for Stella Glow US and Senran Kagura 2 US to arrive in the mail from play asia now.
You can use the browserhax to set up homebrew, use SysUpdater to go to 9.2, then set up CFW. Once you have CFW set up you can have an emunand (or updated sysnand if you decide to go with a9lh) that can be updated to the latest version and used as if it was OFW.

Here's a guide, you can follow it from start to finish, it even has a section for updating from <9.2.
https://github.com/Plailect/Guide/wiki/Part-1-(Homebrew)

For game updates, you have to download .cia updates from the internet, you can't download out-of-region updates from the eshop.
 
Last edited by Hking0036,

Robert McCoy

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since you have 8.1 you can set up browserhax then on that you can install the hax to ocarina of time in the homebrew menu.
 

Shinigami Kiba

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Can I also play pirated games? I do collect original games but if this lets me keep all my games on one SD card i'd be very very sweet
 

Pikm

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Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time works too.
And Smash Bros or its demo if you're on new 3ds
Demo no longer works.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Can I also play pirated games? I do collect original games but if this lets me keep all my games on one SD card i'd be very very sweet
To pirate games you'd need to downgrade your 3ds to 9.2 and set up an emunand, because on stock firmware sig checks aren't patched, which means you can't install most pirated games.
 
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Shinigami Kiba

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I did a lot of reading on all this today, it seems very tedious and risky to me though nothing I haven't done before with the wii, it's pretty similar tho i did that back in like 2008 or whenever and 2009, I didn't care about computers then but now I care even less lol, had ever so slightly more patience with computers back then :)

What am I reading in this topic tho?
https://gbatemp.net/threads/smea-has-a-new-hax-entrypoint.420813/
I don't understand what im looking for, is that way described there a simpler and easier way?
 

regnad

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I did a lot of reading on all this today, it seems very tedious and risky to me though nothing I haven't done before with the wii, it's pretty similar tho i did that back in like 2008 or whenever and 2009, I didn't care about computers then but now I care even less lol, had ever so slightly more patience with computers back then :)

What am I reading in this topic tho?
https://gbatemp.net/threads/smea-has-a-new-hax-entrypoint.420813/
I don't understand what im looking for, is that way described there a simpler and easier way?

It is tedious, but the risky part is downgrading, which isn't an issue for you.

I've done this multiple times, and it's no big deal.

The Plailect guide has its main target as A9LH, which is great, but is risky and very very tedious, so if that's your complaint, I would try this guide:

http://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial...luding-emunand-coldboot-cia-installer.405589/

In addition, the Plailect guide will walk you through setting up Cakes in parts 1-3, which doesn't have on board region free. The guide I linked to is just for EmuNAND set up, and will walk you through getting ReiNAND, which does have on board region free.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

since you have 8.1 you can set up browserhax then on that you can install the hax to ocarina of time in the homebrew menu.

With 8.1 wouldn't it just be simpler to set up Themehax? With OoTHax you sacrifice your saves, and you can never play the game again unless you want to give up the hax.
 

shinji257

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Oh you don't need FreeMultiPatcher anymore if you are using either ReiNand or AuReiNand. Both have region free patches built-in. I do not know the status on CakesFW. Pretty sure it is going to get in that one too if it isn't already in the dev branch.
 

emuashui

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I did a lot of reading on all this today, it seems very tedious and risky to me though nothing I haven't done before with the wii, it's pretty similar tho i did that back in like 2008 or whenever and 2009, I didn't care about computers then but now I care even less lol, had ever so slightly more patience with computers back then :)

What am I reading in this topic tho?
https://gbatemp.net/threads/smea-has-a-new-hax-entrypoint.420813/
I don't understand what im looking for, is that way described there a simpler and easier way?


1. Choose the exploit suitable to your firmware version, from the table: google 3dbrew.org wiki Homebrew_Exploits .

2. Apart from a9dh, this is practical:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutoria...luding-emunand-coldboot-cia-installer.405589/

(If to follow this guide in future, consider Plailect's PlaiSysUpdater >= v04 )

(Check for latest highest firmware version before upgrading your emunand in future, as new firmware may disable exploits :

en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/231/~/system-menu-update-history )

3. To run game region free, one way is to install a CFW in your newly created emunand, eg. ReiNand v3.6b,
then use chosen exploit method to enter emunand CFW,
then install and run one of various region free methods:

Shadowtrance's BootNTR 3.3
Region Four
Hans
Free Multi Patcher

Not all cards can run region free, my Japan new 3ds could not load US cards Shifting world (freezed), papermario (error), but other 8 cards region free no problem.
 

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