Hacking Is there any tool to perform a system transfer on an older firmware offline?

[osm70]

I wasn't talking about save data. I was talking about game backups. Basically, there are two ways in which backups can be handled: Either it's installed or it's not.

For the 3DS, the .CIA files have to be installed meaning there is a limit to how many games can be installed and it's very inconvenient to move them. On the other hand, there are the .3DS files and .3DSX files which basically act like a ROM file. A disc image to be mounted, which pretends to be a game cart.

For the Switch, the NSP files are used for installation while the XCI files are for disc image mounting.

I don't consider installed games to be viable long term for any console. If a console breaks it has to be reinstalled, if you run out of space you have to uninstall, etc. [1] Once emulators come out it's even more annoying. For example: While emulators like Citra can run games that were installed, you have to go through the processing of dumping them from the 3DS, whereas if you kept them as .3DS files it would just work.



What I want to do is play my game backups without installing them as CIA on my N3DS. I don't really have a problem with the idea of converting saves (even if it would be time consuming) nor do I have an issue with converting backup file types, but I do want the latest firmware version to play online again or at least to be able to buy and play the latest games offline.[2]

It's nice to know that Luma3DS can run a Gateway emuNAND, but if it can't do anything more than run .CIA files it's an inferior product. It is possible for CFW to access the Gateway SD card, so the fact that no one seems interested in adding .3DS file support is rather strange to me.

For moving the emuNAND to the 3DS that's a nice idea for cloning the emuNAND onto a new 3DS at the very least.



Well, since my games are legit backups, and since Nintendo has new ways of detecting piracy, I'd rather not even give the appearance of being a pirate. Nintendo would be able to see that I don't own the eShop version of my games very easily, whereas my carts each have their own legit and unique header so no problem running them as backups.

I wouldn't be surprised if everyone who switched to .CIA to go online gets hit with a bulk ban, since Nintendo is fond of doing it that way. To the best of my knowledge no one has been banned yet, but Nintendo clearly is planning something and will probably time it around a new release. This will likely result in the community finally accepting the need for emuNAND for homebrew and proper backups in it's CFW.

[1] - Not entirely true on the 3DS

[2] - So, your end goal is to use a different 3DS than the one you use Gateway on, have it on the latest firmware and be able to play games backups without installing them? If so, then the answer is simple. You cannot do that. Gateway will simply not work on 11.9.

 

[Maq47]

If you guys really want to see people stop using Gateway, and the equivalent carts on other consoles, all you have to do is make ROMS work on the CFW.

The reason why almost nobody wants to do this is because any software capable of this having its code readily available has an astronomical risk of a DMCA takedown, and the coder sued to hell and back. To reiterate, none of the people with the know-how (even SciresM with the Switch) will add 3DS(X)/XCI loading because it enables piracy, and legally allows Nintendo to sue and take the software down at any time. It isn't worth the risk.
TX and Gateway can get away with it because they have taken precautions and are located where Nintendo has no jurisdiction. They also make a physical product, which will still be in circulation even if they get caught and have to stop selling their product, but if a coder's code gets taken down, AND the coder's equipment gets seized, AND the coder gets sued at around the same time (and this has happened before), the only way the program will survive is if someone else with the same know-how has downloaded the source code of the last commit and recreates the project. This has to happen every time the project befalls the same fate as the original coder. In other words, software solutions that involve piracy almost never last very long, but hardware solutions tend to last quite a while. In your case, though, Gateway is all but completely irrelevant, and it is very inconvenient to find modern day workarounds to allow it to still be viable.

tl;dr Enabling piracy is a crime, and nobody will do it, and Gateway is vastly outdated and irrelevant, so jump on the .CIA bandwagon if you want to play games anytime soon, or you'll be left out completely.