Homebrew Is there any way to edit contents of a 3ds cartidge?

[ComicMaster148]

Ive heard that 3ds cartidges are "read-only" but after many years since the 3ds release is there still no way to edit the cartidges contents?

 

[lone_wolf323]

Ive heard that 3ds cartidges are "read-only" but after many years since the 3ds release is there still no way to edit the cartidges contents?

Not a chance. Gateway had done it. Yet they still will never say a thing about how they done it.

 

[qqq1]

Just put a piece of tape over the write protect hole. Oh that may have been cassette tapes.

 

[Shadow#1]

Ive heard that 3ds cartidges are "read-only" but after many years since the 3ds release is there still no way to edit the cartidges contents?

It's called a ROM aka READ ONLY MEMORY For a reason

 

[Ender3Guy]

It's called a ROM aka READ ONLY MEMORY For a reason

Well then, why can we write/replace save files with Checkpoint?
I'm probably wrong as I'm guessing there's a separate chip or partition for storage of .sav files, but if not, it could be possible to 'unlock' a cartridge and write to it. @lone_wolf323 can you provide proof or an article that states that Gateway wrote to Nintendo carts?

 

[Kwyjor]

I'm probably wrong as I'm guessing there's a separate chip or partition for storage of .sav files

Yes, that is exactly how it works and has always worked. Why would you expect otherwise?

Have you ever heard of someone being able to write to a GBA or NDS cartridge? Because you can write/replace save data on those too with homebrew utilities.

Why would you want to write data to a 3DS cartridge, anyway? There are already many hacks for 3DS games, and they all use much more straightforward means of accessing new game data.

 

[Shadow#1]

Well then, why can we write/replace save files with Checkpoint?
I'm probably wrong as I'm guessing there's a separate chip or partition for storage of .sav files, but if not, it could be possible to 'unlock' a cartridge and write to it. @lone_wolf323 can you provide proof or an article that states that Gateway wrote to Nintendo carts?

LOL that's the save RAM aka RANDOM ACCESS MEMERY

 

[KleinesSinchen]

I'm not absolutely sure: If I remember that correctly 3DS games are a special case and not stored on real ROM which can't be modified in any way (unlike DS and older). At least some of them do not contain a second EEPROM/Flash chip. I doubt that easy rewriting the complete chip is possible.

https://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/3DS_Glossary

Card2
A type of Cartridge which does not contain a backup EEPROM/battery to hold game saves. The game progress is stored directly in the same chipset holding the game data, located at the end of the game's data, and can use all of the chipset's remaining free space. When using a Card2 ROM dump with a 3DS flashcart, no external save file is created and the game progress is saved directly into the game image (filename.3ds or filename.3dz).

[…]
I'm probably wrong as I'm guessing there's a separate chip or partition for storage of .sav files, but if not, it could be possible to 'unlock' a cartridge and write to it. @lone_wolf323 can you provide proof or an article that states that Gateway wrote to Nintendo carts?

I second this. Is there a source for this? Would be interesting.

 

[infinete]

The data was written to the cartridge at some point in time, so in theory, could it not be wiped and rewritten?

 

[KleinesSinchen]

The data was written to the cartridge at some point in time, so in theory, could it not be wiped and rewritten?

A real ROM chip cannot be rewritten no matter what.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_ROM

You will not be able to overwrite legit Game Boy games or something like that. I think they even returned to Mask ROM for the Switch (where no save data exists on the game carts at all)

 

[Ryccardo]

Most 3/DS/i games are "card1", meaning they have a non-rewritable ROM (usually a PROM nowadays, hard pressed ROM until the last turn of the decade) plus (usually) an EEPROM save chip, so they're not editable not even in theory*

* you could replace the ROM with a rewritable chip (which you most likely can't buy, because since the GBA nintendo rom chips have "smarts" in them for accelerated sequential access, hardware encryption since the DS, ...) but at that point are you "editing the original game"?

Some others (Warioware DIY, Animal Crossing NL, Pokemon X/Y, etc) are "card2", those have everything on a single rewritable chip (though most of it is write protected), these can theoretically be reprogrammed but nobody has managed to do so (nor probably tried at all, although some the makers of some early save editor managed to completely erase one)

 

[WhaleB0Oi]

Yes, that is exactly how it works and has always worked. Why would you expect otherwise?

Have you ever heard of someone being able to write to a GBA or NDS cartridge? Because you can write/replace save data on those too with homebrew utilities.

Why would you want to write data to a 3DS cartridge, anyway? There are already many hacks for 3DS games, and they all use much more straightforward means of accessing new game data.

Im Trying to edit my Animal Crossing New Leaf cartridge to get more bells

 

[Kwyjor]

Im Trying to edit my Animal Crossing New Leaf cartridge to get more bells

Why are you bumping a two-year-old thread to ask an unrelated question?

I expect by far the easiest way to get more bells would be to use a cheat via Checkpoint. Otherwise, you can just export your save data with Checkpoint, edit it with the ACNL editor, and then import the edited data.