Hacking O3DS randomly crashes and when it reboots the led is blinking but the screen stays black

[Gammazeth]

Hi, sorry if this thread is a little bit confusing/vague, it's because it's been like 8 months I hacked my O3DS and I haven't started it up since I ran into these problems.
So I hacked my O3DS using Luma and B9S and it worked like a charm, I never had issues with it until one day, I used ftp on my android phone to transfer the backup of a game (which was Mario&Luigi Superstar Saga + Bowser Minion) but when I transfered the Cia, an error popped saying, "there's an unsupported character in the file" (or something like so) "would you like to rename it" I clicked on yes and didn't get any prompt to rename, so I tried to boot on the 3DS but the blue led just flashed and turned back off, I heard that this is caused by the file boot.firm missing but it's not in my 3DS so when renaming, it probably deleted/replaced/renamed something it shouldn't, the only 2 ways I found to boot back on the 3DS is either to remove the SD card or to boot using GodMode9/3ds Recovery Mode. And I also experienced random crashes while playing games (ex: playing metroid samus returns, closing the 3DS for like 5 mins and when I open it up I see an error meaning it had crashed) and when it restarts, same issue again, the led blinks and nothing. What should I do? Delete everything except the Nintendo 3DS folder (which I suppose store games) and replace it with a fresh copy of Luma3DS/GodMode9? Since the issue is only coming from my SD card, is it safe to make a NAND backup now (like it's not going to be corrupted or something like that)? Oh yeah and I already deleted the Cia that caused the issue...
Thanks in advance for helping me out with this!

 

[wormdood]

I heard that this is caused by the file boot.firm missing but it's not in my 3DS so when renaming, it probably deleted/replaced/renamed something it shouldn't

... so put Luma back on the sd card
https://github.com/AuroraWright/Luma3DS/releases

 

[Gammazeth]

Oh sorry it wasn't what I was trying to say, I was trying to say that in my case, that's not the problem since it is on my SD card.

 

[Quantumcat]

Try a different SD card (with just freshly downloaded boot.firm) and see if it crashes still - maybe install one game (freshly downloaded) and try playing that too. If it doesn't crash you probably have some corrupted data in your Nintendo 3DS folder.

 

[Gammazeth]

I don't really want to buy another SD card 'cause I can't use another since all of mine are already used and I know for a fact that the one I use isn't a fake one. So should I just erase everything besides the Nintendo 3DS folder and try again and if it crashes, just erase the Nintendo 3DS folder?
Actually what's the thing making my 3DS crash?

 

[tosti]

I don't really want to buy another SD card 'cause I can't use another since all of mine are already used and I know for a fact that the one I use isn't a fake one. So should I just erase everything besides the Nintendo 3DS folder and try again and if it crashes, just erase the Nintendo 3DS folder?
Actually what's the thing making my 3DS crash?

Trying with another card is to check if your SD card works. If your SD card is broken, you can try tinkering on it all you want, but that might not fix the problem.

Therefore, to try and exclude the SD card as the source of the problem, try another card. If your problem persists regardless of the SD card you are running, chances are likely your problem is something installed on the card, not the card itself.

Basically, checking the SD card could save time for everyone volunteering to help you, limits the location for your error, helps focus the search for a solution, and gives peace of mind.

 

[Quantumcat]

I don't really want to buy another SD card 'cause I can't use another since all of mine are already used and I know for a fact that the one I use isn't a fake one. So should I just erase everything besides the Nintendo 3DS folder and try again and if it crashes, just erase the Nintendo 3DS folder?
Actually what's the thing making my 3DS crash?

Ok, remove everything off the SD card and follow TurdPooCharger's instructions for checking SD cards:

• Copy everything off the SD card to a computer.

• Quadruple reformat.

• Full Write + Verify the empty card in H2testw.

• If the card passes, delete the *.h2w test files.
  • A hardware failed card requires replacing (check my signature for options) and going back to step 1.

Then get a freshly downloaded boot.firm and see if it crashes, if it doesn't, get a freshly downloaded copy of a game that was causing issues and install that and see if playing it gives you issues.

If it doesn't, you can try finding the corrupt data and deleting it in your original Nintendo 3DS folder, or just delete the whole thing and install your games again.

 

[Gammazeth]

Trying with another card is to check if your SD card works. If your SD card is broken, you can try tinkering on it all you want, but that might not fix the problem.

Therefore, to try and exclude the SD card as the source of the problem, try another card. If your problem persists regardless of the SD card you are running, chances are likely your problem is something installed on the card, not the card itself.

Basically, checking the SD card could save time for everyone volunteering to help you, limits the location for your error, helps focus the search for a solution, and gives peace of mind.

I know that I'm not making your task easier by doing this but we all know the answer, it will work flawlessly if I format it and just put a fresh copy of Luma. And even after that, how could I "break" my SD card by transferring something? I could have corrupted it and reformatting would completely solve the issue but not broken it right? I will run H2testw and we'll see anyways but the problem is for sure coming from the content of the SD card imo.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Ok, remove everything off the SD card and follow TurdPooCharger's instructions for checking SD cards:

Then get a freshly downloaded boot.firm and see if it crashes, if it doesn't, get a freshly downloaded copy of a game that was causing issues and install that and see if playing it gives you issues.

If it doesn't, you can try finding the corrupt data and deleting it in your original Nintendo 3DS folder, or just delete the whole thing and install your games again.

Thanks I'll try to do that! How could I try to find the corrupt data in a folder tho?

 

[lone_wolf323]

I know that I'm not making your task easier by doing this but we all know the answer, it will work flawlessly if I format it and just put a fresh copy of Luma. And even after that, how could I "break" my SD card by transferring something? I could have corrupted it and reformatting would completely solve the issue but not broken it right? I will run H2testw and we'll see anyways but the problem is for sure coming from the content of the SD card imo.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


Thanks I'll try to do that! How could I try to find the corrupt data in a folder tho?

You do understand electronic devices can and will go bad. Whether it looks good now doesnt mean its got corruption on it and will eventually start damaging data once you are using the card again. No one can say 100%ly that a card is good just by looking at what you have done with it before. This process serves a vital base troubleshooting step to make sure nothing has started to go wrong or bad with the sd card.

 

[Quantumcat]

Thanks I'll try to do that! How could I try to find the corrupt data in a folder tho?

Look for files with garbled letters numbers and symbols in the title (not just letters and numbers) and that will be it. You'll want to delete the whole folder as more likely than not the game will not work with a missing file. If you care about your save data you can try backing up your saves before you start with JKSM