Nintendo begins banning pirates from 3DS online service

[Nightwish]

Does the retail game have to have online mode it just makes more sense?

And are all retail game headers compatible with .3DZ/.CIA converts?

More than what I said is not known or much speculated. Sorry.
But yes, any header can be used with a .3DZ, don't know much about CIA but I read they don't really use the header.

 

[Nemix77]

.CIA files do use the header from what I've read in order to go online but just knowing that you can use any retail game regardless if it has online features or not is pretty re-assuring for me.

From what I've gathered so far, the safest way to avoid Nintendo bans would be to use your own private header injected into .CIA and .3DZ files.

This is purely scientific assumption, Nintendo is sniffing out users using public headers to play online games with .3DZ files.

With .CIA files sniffing occurs in a different manner, if the game is installed onto the 3DS onto using CIA method with a public header and the user visits the eShop on the NAND in which the CIA game (with public header) is installed Nintendo will be able to sniff out the public header game regardless if the game has online features or has been played online using the public headers.


To wrap things up, .CIA installs with public headers are UNSAFE if the users has WiFi turned on and:

1. Plays a .CIA installed game with public header and online features.

2. Visits the eShop on the NAND in which the .CIA game (with public header is installed), safest would be not to visit the eShop at all with public header .CIA installed games.


Users with .3DZ public header files and WiFi turned on:

1. Should NOT play the game unless WiFi is turned of manually via System Settings.

2. Can visit eShop with .3DZ files.


Edit:

Of course if you have your own unused private header converted .3DZ and .CIA games then you're pretty much safe from Nintendo ban sniffs, given you do not use the same private header on more than one 3DS to play games online or visit the eShop (with .CIA installs) at the same moment in time.

 

[Aekx]

I was under the impression that it doesn't matter if the rom a .cia is created from had a public header or not because .cia's use the machine's header anyways

I am curious why it says "However, due to how cia's work, it may not be safe to use those as well"

 

[Nemix77]

I was under the impression that it doesn't matter if the rom a .cia is created from had a public header or not because .cia's use the machine's header anyways

I am curious why it says "However, due to how cia's work, it may not be safe to use those as well"

Until we get more information on how bans work and a FAQ for Nintendo bans on GBATemp, it would be highly advised to turn off your WiFi if you have public header .CIA games installed and NOT to play .3DZ online patched games unless you have your own unused private header .CIA and .3DZ converted games.

 

[moneychild]

Can someone explain how headers get into .cia games. From what I heard the conversion process from .3ds/.3dz to .cia removes the header. And also can you explain how to put headers into .cia games. Trying my best not to get ban.
Have my own private header that I have been using to go online since gateway introduced online capabilities.

 

[Monty Kensicle]

Can someone explain how headers get into .cia games. From what I heard the conversion process from .3ds/.3dz to .cia removes the header. And also can you explain how to put headers into .cia games. Trying my best not to get ban.
Have my own private header that I have been using to go online since gateway introduced online capabilities.

I am curious about this as well. I have my own headers but I do not know how to patch them into .CIA files.

 

[Nemix77]

http://www.maxconsole.com/maxcon_forums/threads/285574-3DS-To-CIA-Converter-v3-8

As far as .3DZ conversion goes I'll have to look up the information once I get my New 3DS XL, decide on a flash card (holding out on more information on the upcoming DSTwo+ card right now) and get some Micro SD cards.

 

[romanaOne]

.CIA files do use the header from what I've read in order to go online but just knowing that you can use any retail game regardless if it has online features or not is pretty re-assuring for me.

From what I've gathered so far, the safest way to avoid Nintendo bans would be to use your own private header injected into .CIA and .3DZ files.

This is purely scientific assumption, Nintendo is sniffing out users using public headers to play online games with .3DZ files.

With .CIA files sniffing occurs in a different manner, if the game is installed onto the 3DS onto using CIA method with a public header and the user visits the eShop on the NAND in which the CIA game (with public header) is installed Nintendo will be able to sniff out the public header game regardless if the game has online features or has been played online using the public headers.


To wrap things up, .CIA installs with public headers are UNSAFE if the users has WiFi turned on and:

1. Plays a .CIA installed game with public header and online features.

2. Visits the eShop on the NAND in which the .CIA game (with public header is installed), safest would be not to visit the eShop at all with public header .CIA installed games.


Users with .3DZ public header files and WiFi turned on:

1. Should NOT play the game unless WiFi is turned of manually via System Settings.

2. Can visit eShop with .3DZ files.


Edit:

Of course if you have your own unused private header converted .3DZ and .CIA games then you're pretty much safe from Nintendo ban sniffs, given you do not use the same private header on more than one 3DS to play games online or visit the eShop (with .CIA installs) at the same moment in time.

Whether you buy Gateway or Sky3ds or just real Nintendo carts, on thing should be obvious by this late date: the eShop is for chumps!

Contrast N's nastiness with Apple's civilized iTunes: you can do whatever you want with your grubby, lower-than-CD quality, lossy-compressed music files you downloaded. DRM is the final insult: not letting you do whatever you want with the junk you got ripped off on and can't resell anyway. Stop whinging and act: Boycott the eShop! Buy only cartridges and buy them all aftermarket, used!

 

[Kazuma77]

http://www.maxconsole.com/maxcon_forums/threads/285574-3DS-To-CIA-Converter-v3-8

As far as .3DZ conversion goes I'll have to look up the information once I get my New 3DS XL, decide on a flash card (holding out on more information on the upcoming DSTwo+ card right now) and get some Micro SD cards.

OK, I've had enough of this. Time for someone who actually owns and uses both carts, and actually does these things, to set the record straight. CIAs do not have headers. You can make CIAs from scene releases, and they will play online. If they used their invalid blank header, that would not be the case. There is no such thing as a CIA with a public header. If anyone got banned for them, it's not because the CIA had a public header. They probably made the mistake of going to the eShop using the card the CIAs are installed on. You should know better. There's a reason things disappear (especially themes) when you do that. Nintendo checks everything you've got installed when you visit the eShop. Going into it with CIAs installed is like waving a big flag in front of Nintendo that says "I'm using DevMenu to install content I didn't buy". Be smart, and use a clean second card with no CIAs installed to access the eShop. Follow this advice, and you probably won't get banned for playing CIAs online (based on what we currently know).

You know how to point people to the more complicated process of CIA conversion, but are completely unfamiliar with the relatively simple process of patching a header? OK, read and learn. All you need to do is look for a tool called "Gateway ROM Patcher". Just load two copies of that. Open the ROM you want to take the header from in one, and the ROM you want to patch in the other. Then just copy and paste the Cart ID from the top part of the first instance to the bottom part of the second instance. And if the Chip ID is blank, have it guess, it usually gets it right, or just look it up. Hit the "apply" button on the second instance and you're done. Rename the newly patched .3ds file to .3dz and copy it to the Micro SD card. It's extremely simple (especially compared to doing a CIA conversion).



Now, in response to the whole "Sky3DS users are screwed" noise, the template file is a plain text file. You can easily modify the Unique ID entries for the online games you're playing. My recommendation is to create a custom template file containing only the entries you want to play online (and therefore need to modify), and add your unique IDs to that one. When a new template comes out, just copy and paste the entries from the new file that you want to play online (they'll be near the bottom). Having a template file containing only the games you're adding custom IDs for makes it easier to change the IDs again in the unlikely event one of your private keys gets banned. It takes a little time to set up initially, of course, but not much more than patching ROMs individually (and certainly much less than converting everything you want to play online to CIA, never mind installing said CIAs). Just use your custom template file to write your online games, and the regular one to write the rest. It's not like the Sky3DS is a more vulnerable device necessarily, you just have to do your homework. Running a .3dz with a public ID on the Gateway will get you banned just as quickly.

 

[guitarheroknight]

OK, I've had enough of this. Time for someone who actually owns and uses both carts, and actually does these things, to set the record straight. CIAs do not have headers. You can make CIAs from scene releases, and they will play online. If they used their invalid blank header, that would not be the case. There is no such thing as a CIA with a public header. If anyone got banned for them, it's not because the CIA had a public header. They probably made the mistake of going to the eShop using the card the CIAs are installed on. You should know better. There's a reason things disappear (especially themes) when you do that. Nintendo checks everything you've got installed when you visit the eShop. Going into it with CIAs installed is like waving a big flag in front of Nintendo that says "I'm using DevMenu to install content I didn't buy". Be smart, and use a clean second card with no CIAs installed to access the eShop. Follow this advice, and you probably won't get banned for playing CIAs online (based on what we currently know).

You know how to point people to the more complicated process of CIA conversion, but are completely unfamiliar with the relatively simple process of patching a header? OK, read and learn. All you need to do is look for a tool called "Gateway ROM Patcher". Just load two copies of that. Open the ROM you want to take the header from in one, and the ROM you want to patch in the other. Then just copy and paste the Cart ID from the top part of the first instance to the bottom part of the second instance. And if the Chip ID is blank, have it guess, it usually gets it right, or just look it up. Hit the "apply" button on the second instance and you're done. Rename the newly patched .3ds file to .3dz and copy it to the Micro SD card. It's extremely simple (especially compared to doing a CIA conversion).



Now, in response to the whole "Sky3DS users are screwed" noise, the template file is a plain text file. You can easily modify the Unique ID entries for the online games you're playing. My recommendation is to create a custom template file containing only the entries you want to play online (and therefore need to modify), and add your unique IDs to that one. When a new template comes out, just copy and paste the entries from the new file that you want to play online (they'll be near the bottom). Having a template file containing only the games you're adding custom IDs for makes it easier to change the IDs again in the unlikely event one of your private keys gets banned. It takes a little time to set up initially, of course, but not much more than patching ROMs individually (and certainly much less than converting everything you want to play online to CIA, never mind installing said CIAs). Just use your custom template file to write your online games, and the regular one to write the rest. It's not like the Sky3DS is a more vulnerable device necessarily, you just have to do your homework. Running a .3dz with a public ID on the Gateway will get you banned just as quickly.

Very good job on the post but I have a question. I registered a nnid on my console before the ban wave started. What should I do to stay safe? Thanks.

 

[moneychild]

There is no such thing as a CIA with a public header. If anyone got banned for them, it's not because the CIA had a public header. They probably made the mistake of going to the eShop using the card the CIAs are installed on. You should know better. There's a reason things disappear (especially themes) when you do that. Nintendo checks everything you've got installed when you visit the eShop. Going into it with CIAs installed is like waving a big flag in front of Nintendo that says "I'm using DevMenu to install content I didn't buy". Be smart, and use a clean second card with no CIAs installed to access the eShop. Follow this advice, and you probably won't get banned for playing CIAs online (based on what we currently know).

Make sense dude. Good thing I stopped using my 3ds so I could waiting for more news and confirmations to come in.

Can someone confirm this by getting ban using the eshop while .cia games are installed?

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Make sense dude. Good thing I stopped using my 3ds so I could waiting for more news and confirmations to come in.

Can someone confirm this by getting ban using the eshop while .cia games are installed?

Sure, be my guest. Please feel free to share the results with the rest of us

 

[Kazuma77]

Very good job on the post but I have a question. I registered a nnid on my console before the ban wave started. What should I do to stay safe? Thanks.

Well, it depends on what you're planning on doing. If you don't have any CIAs installed, and haven't played any pre-patched .3dz files online (without modifying the header first), you should be alright. If you do have CIAs installed, avoid going into the eShop for now.

If you want to use CIAs, and still want to be able to access the eShop safely though, you might want to setup a second card. If you haven't unlinked, go ahead and do so (you may have to setup your NNID again depending on what version of SysNAND you have). Once you have, set up a second SD card. Format EmuNAND, update it, and unlink again. Delete any CIAs you may have installed on your SD card that has the NNID. Install all your CIAs to the second card, which will be using your second profile that has no NNID, and use your first SD card to access the eShop.

Well, that's how to stay safer anyway. If you want to be absolutely sure, just avoid going online at all I guess.

Make sense dude. Good thing I stopped using my 3ds so I could waiting for more news and confirmations to come in.

Can someone confirm this by getting ban using the eshop while .cia games are installed?

Congratulations on catching the one grammatical error in the entire post. You know what I meant. If someone got banned for CIAs, it wouldn't be because of a nonexistent header. It doesn't look like we have any confirmed cases of CIA bans at this point. Still, you might want to avoid waving any red flags (unless you're absolutely certain the bull in front of you is blind, and that there are no other bulls within visual range of the flag). Regardless of whether you'll get banned or not, the two card method is a better approach. If nothing else, it keeps you from having to re-install things over and over because the eShop keeps deleting them.

If there was a 2DS emulator for Windows, I would try it just to see. No worries about an emulator getting banned after all. Until someone makes a console ID spoofer, I don't think anyone's going to deliberately try to get banned, but if you want to, knock yourself out. Let us know how it goes.

 

[hellionz]

a question.....if i havent NNiD , cuz i never register myself....dat make any difference? we have reports of people without NNID banned?

greetings

 

[Tony8690]

a question.....if i havent NNiD , cuz i never register myself....dat make any difference? we have reports of people without NNID banned?

greetings

it might make a difference... it might not.

so far it seems to be the public headers that are causing people to get banned..... whether the NNID makes a difference, no one knows.

I personally do not think it makes a difference but I have no evidence to back that, it is just my opinion.

feel free to try it though?

T

 

[hellionz]

it might make a difference... it might not.

so far it seems to be the public headers that are causing people to get banned..... whether the NNID makes a difference, no one knows.

I personally do not think it makes a difference but I have no evidence to back that, it is just my opinion.

feel free to try it though?

T

hahaha i think it would make any difference because, if the ban is about your NNID , if u havent NNID , u cant be banned, but....i will wait a little more with my wifi shutdown

 

[Arecaidian Fox]

Whether you buy Gateway or Sky3ds or just real Nintendo carts, on thing should be obvious by this late date: the eShop is for chumps!

Contrast N's nastiness with Apple's civilized iTunes: you can do whatever you want with your grubby, lower-than-CD quality, lossy-compressed music files you downloaded. DRM is the final insult: not letting you do whatever you want with the junk you got ripped off on and can't resell anyway. Stop whinging and act: Boycott the eShop! Buy only cartridges and buy them all aftermarket, used!

But if everyone buys used, then no one will be purchasing the new releases to make them used. *is half-joking*

Okay, but in all seriousness, it also could be that Nintendo is able to detect the flashcart itself. The carts spoof an existing retail game, right? Do those spoofs all have unique IDs, or are they all clones, like with Sky's public template?

 

[D34DL1N3R]

Looks like none of this matters to me atm. Don't have an old 3DS but was going to buy a N3DS XL today, problem is they are sold out EVERYwhere locally & I'm in a metropolitan area of 700,000 people. Not like there are only a few places to check, lol. Probably for the best, going to buy a Wii U instead and in another 6 months all of this stuff will probably be figured out, flash cards will work 100% with the latest firmware, and the systems will be in stock.

 

[Tony8690]

Looks like none of this matters to me atm. Don't have an old 3DS but was going to buy a N3DS XL today, problem is they are sold out EVERYwhere locally & I'm in a metropolitan area of 700,000 people. Not like there are only a few places to check, lol. Probably for the best, going to buy a Wii U instead and in another 6 months all of this stuff will probably be figured out, flash cards will work 100% with the latest firmware, and the systems will be in stock.

Good Luck

 

[MYNAMEISGOBLIN]

Does anyone know how to spoof nnid or how to get unbanned?