My 3DS is stuck on the “opening home menu” message screen

[Prismatic123]

Hi everyone

I recently got a used Nintendo 3DS, but it’s stuck in an endless “Opening Home Menu…” loop when powered on.

I’ve tried entering recovery mode (L + R + D-Pad Up + A + Power), but it only shows a black screen. I also tried resetting the Home Menu (L + R + B + Down) and I do get the message prompt to delete Home Menu management information, but whether I select cancel or delete, it returns to the same looping message.

I removed and reinserted the Wi-Fi chip on the motherboard (since I saw this fix freezing issues in some cases), but that didn’t help. I also tried rebooting without the SD card, but that didn’t help. The SD card that came with the system is completely empty, and trying to open GodMode9 by holding Start does nothing, so I assume the system is unmodded.

I’m not very tech-savvy, but I’d really appreciate any advice on how to fix this issue.

 

[Kwyjor]

The SD card that came with the system is completely empty, and trying to open GodMode9 by holding Start does nothing, so I assume the system is unmodded.

The way to check is https://3ds.guide/checking-for-cfw .

If removing the SD card didn't do anything, and neither did recovery mode, and boot9strap isn't installed, then you'll probably have to get an ntrboot flashcart before you can do anything more.

Also, I think something went wrong with your image upload.