Hacking Luma+A9lh+Gateway Update Problem!

digipimp75

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Hi all, I had a perfectly working Luma+A9lh+Gateway setup, and I went to go update to 11.3 (while on Luma), and after the update, everything is broken. I saw the Luma and FBI icons on the system menu at first, and tried to launch them but received an error that the software could not be launched. I saw that Luma was on version 6.6 and figured that was the latest, but there was an hourly but I didn't update it. I tried to boot into Gateway mode by holding d-pad down at startup. Got the dragon logo but it booted to a black screen... powered down and tried again, now holding d-pad down does nothing. Also, holding start or select don't boot into hourglass or Luma setup. Any ideas??

I followed these guides initially to set it up:
https://3ds.guide/
https://www.reddit.com/r/3dshacks/wiki/gateway_a9lh

EDIT: I have a nand backup. Also, did the update somehow kill or uninstall A9LH?? I'm freaking out thinking that it completely blew out the CFW setup. Is that even possible?
 
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Majickhat55

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Try replacing the payloads/arm9loaderhax. If you copied ar9loaderhax.bin to CTRNAND (as per the guide), then it will load sans the SD card as well so try taking that out too. The only things the I know for a fact remove A9LH is updating in GateWay mode, and restoring a NAND backup using Decrypt9 without the "Keep A9LH" option. If you haven't done either of those things, it's more than likely just incompatible programs. However, if you can't load payloads you may have updated while in GateWay on accident. Luma v6.6 IS the latest stable version, and works fine on 11.3. You do not need hourlies unless the dev themselves say it's necessary which is not the case for Luma on 11.3. This is the third thread I've seen from someone "breaking" A9LH by updating and every single one were using Gateway, so that's obviously the problem.
 

digipimp75

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Ok. I swear I was in Luma mode earlier today, but my daughter may have rebooted in GW mode and I don't recall rebooting into normal (Luma) mode before updating. So if that IS the case, basically I'm f****d, right?

EDIT: Although, after the update, I rebooted and held d-pad down and was able to get the GW payload to run once, then it hit a black screen and I had to hard shutdown. If A9lh was gone, that would be impossible right?
 
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Majickhat55

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Well it's been known for a long time that GW kills A9LH regardless because it lacks firm protection. Gateway knows this, they just don't care. Every other CFW HAS firm protection for the most part (Luma/Corbenik are the most common used). So in short, it's not A9LH that protects itself from being overwritten, it's the firmware patches from the "CFW" that run from it.
 

digipimp75

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Well it's been known for a long time that GW kills A9LH regardless because it lacks firm protection. Gateway knows this, they just don't care. Every other CFW HAS firm protection for the most part (Luma/Corbenik are the most common used). So in short, it's not A9LH that protects itself from being overwritten, it's the firmware patches from the "CFW" that run from it.

Yeah I thought I was safe updating through Luma, and didn't realize that simply launching the GW payload would destroy A9LH. Lesson learned I guess. Dammit... now to decide if I want to hardmod or buy a n3dsxl and sell this o3dsxl
 
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Quantumcat

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Yeah I thought I was safe updating through Luma, and didn't realize that simply launching the GW payload would destroy A9LH. Lesson learned I guess. Dammit... now to decide if I want to hardmod or buy a n3dsxl and sell this o3dsxl
Don't feel bad, this was only discovered a week or so ago, and isn't widely published yet. Until now, we only thought that actually updating was bad, not simply being in the updated firmware in Gateway mode.
 
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kamesenin888

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Well its something that nintendo implemented in the latest firmware, probably people using roxas or any other without firm protection would happen in sysnand, thats why you use emunand and you are good no matter what happens
 

Majickhat55

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Well its something that nintendo implemented in the latest firmware, probably people using roxas or any other without firm protection would happen in sysnand, thats why you use emunand and you are good no matter what happens
I agree, CFW that doesn't have firm protection should definitely be run from an emunand, lest people "forget" and update anyway, or something like this happens and it screws up the install. I've never used Gatway, but I don't see how people can trust a company that basically tells you to install their A9LH, then removes it when you update. Especially when they could 100% have firm protection, they just don't care that much.
 
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digipimp75

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Yep, Gateway can suck it. But I accept responsibility for not fully researching before updating. I read a few threads related to the 11.3 update being safe for Luma/A9LH users, and just assumed it was ok, not taking into consideration that I'm still running stupid GW. I should have just migrated off of it sooner, but my daughter enjoys the easy to use GW cheats. UGH. Hardmod it is, I guess.
 
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Majickhat55

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Yep, Gateway can suck it. But I accept responsibility for not fully researching before updating. I read a few threads related to the 11.3 update being safe for Luma/A9LH users, and just assumed it was ok, not taking into consideration that I'm still running stupid GW. I should have just migrated off of it sooner, but my daughter enjoys the easy to use GW cheats. UGH. Hardmod it is, I guess.
Yeah no worries, shit happens right? I was just reading up on Gateway since I never used it (I got an R4 and open source CFW+NTR for cheats) and wasn't surprised to find out they were purposely bricking people using their firmware and other flashcards besides theirs. Then claiming those others stole their code when Gateway's entire A9LH is based on the first open sourced public release. I also checked the official site and it said in bold: DO not update in emunand, it will take a few weeks max for a fix for 11.3. I wonder why they need a month after the fact to do what other CFWs did almost overnight.....
 

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wonder why they need a month after the fact to do what other CFWs did almost overnight.....
Well, Luma had it fixed a long time ago, AW didn't suddenly fix it over night. And RxTools of course hasn't fixed it at all. Corbenik fixed it but they were a branch of AuReinand/Luma at some point so they probably just needed to merge some of the changes that Luma did. Gateway's might be a lot more complex (but, they have multiple devs being paid to do this full time, so it's not a very good excuse for them...)
 
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Majickhat55

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Well, Luma had it fixed a long time ago, AW didn't suddenly fix it over night. And RxTools of course hasn't fixed it at all. Corbenik fixed it but they were a branch of AuReinand/Luma at some point so they probably just needed to merge some of the changes that Luma did. Gateway's might be a lot more complex (but, they have multiple devs being paid to do this full time, so it's not a very good excuse for them...)
Yeah that's what I meant by more or less overnight in comparison when most of the devs here have a small team if not doing it completely solo. I just feel like Gateway as a company should be doing good for their customers vs saying "BTW for now, you're screwed. We'll get to it when we get to it".
 
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Majickhat55

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This is not true. I launched the Gateway payload just yesterday, it only gets stuck on a blackscreen, because GW is not compatible with 11.3 for now (just like rxTools f.e.). I just launched Luma3DS and everything worked and I still have A9LH. When you think about it, it doesn't make any sense - why should the GW payload "destroy" a9lh? smh

See, this is why I don't think your DS is actually bricked unless you updated in GW mode. Some people say they just can't load the payload because it needs to be updated but their Luma and stuff works fine. More reports on both sides here. https://gbatemp.net/threads/gw-11-3-kills-a9hl.460122/page-2#post-7076660
 

GizmoTheGreen

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I found my n3ds's stopped booting randomly after upgrading to 11.3, in my case I had some old firm.bins left on the SD for NTR from way back, which stops homemenu from loading, if you have those delete them.
 

CreAtor135

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Basically the way it works is that in the new firmware, it detects if you're using any older native_firm, and then prevents your console from accessing the HOME menu. I assume since Gateway uses an older native_firm, it will prevent your home menu from booting at all, and y'know, maybe it's a one chance thing, lest you have an emuNAND.

Either way, it's quite the effective way to brick users intentionally without affecting normal users. Not sure how Luma bypasses it, but it's working, and other CFWs are following suit I suppose.

Gateway normally handles its update issues in a short time span, last time was about a week or so, but the reason this is gonna take so long (their date is 2 weeks, I say 7 months) is because they're supposedly working on a new feature that's gonna "revolutionize the (N)3DS scene". Either way, don't beat yourself up about it, we all make mistakes.
 

digipimp75

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See, this is why I don't think your DS is actually bricked unless you updated in GW mode. Some people say they just can't load the payload because it needs to be updated but their Luma and stuff works fine. More reports on both sides here. https://gbatemp.net/threads/gw-11-3-kills-a9hl.460122/page-2#post-7076660

Yeah it's really weird, man. It all happened so fast, and I've been trying to recall exactly what went down from start to finish. I'm 95% sure that the system was completely off when I fired it up... no standby (the remaining 5% reserved for self-doubt :)). If it was in standby, then I definitely would've shut down and restarted normally to ensure that Luma was running. After the system update and subsequent reboot, I let it boot normally and got to the home screen. Then here's where my memory is a bit hazy... I can't remember if I tried to open anything to test at this point, or if I rebooted again and tried to get into GW mode first. Once the GW payload failed and I got the black screen, I figured no big deal and just shut down and restarted again. On this boot, I held start... nothing, straight to home screen. Hmm, tried again and held select... straight to home screen. Then I panicked and tried to launch FBI, Blargsnes, Luma, or any other homebrew I had on there. All attempts resulted in the error that the software could not open and would need to be redownloaded from the eshop. It's also worth noting that I don't have an emuNAND setup. I used to, back when I was running 4.4 fw with Gateway. After following the amazing Plailect guide though, I opted to just run everything off of sysNAND.

In any event, thanks to you and everybody else for the input. I already have the 3ds dismantled and ready for the hardmod work, but just need to wait for a couple of materials to arrive. After reading up on that, it doesn't seem too bad. I'll have a more experienced friend do it though, since I haven't held a soldering iron in about 2 years :)

EDIT: Quick question for anybody who has done a hardmod. I'm reading that only certain types of sd card readers work. Can anybody confirm/deny that?
 
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digipimp75

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All good now. I did the hardmod and rolled back the fw. Followed the guide again to install A9lh and Luma, and everything is working perfectly. Thanks all!
 

Skealter

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I am having the same exact same issue. I left my console for some months and when i booted up, went to update lumia. Everything @digimpip75 describe happened exactly the same to me. I dont think i will get the tools to be able to get a hardmod. Is there any other solutions, maybe now, that allows me to either play on the gateway or install luma correctly?
 

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