Hardware O3DS XL Hardmod Write Issue and BSOD

[Cosmic_Link]

Hi,

I am having issues with an O3DS XL. It is a friend's console which he has asked if I can have a look and see if it is fixable.

The story that I have been given is "I did something to it to delete a past user but can't remember anything about it. I have no sd card and no information about it", and then it has BSOD. The SD Card which was in the console when he gave it to me was corrupt. He has no NAND Backup, and as far as I am aware he has not performed any CFW Mod on it.

So I have installed a Hardmod to dump the NAND, with the idea of trying to fix the BSOD using this guide:

How to unbrick your 3DS without a sysNAND Backup with a hardmod and Boot9Hax - Hackinformer

I have successfully dumped the NAND a number of times and compared them. The dumps all match and when opened in a Hex Editior, look to be complete. I have used the B9S Hardmod exe to create a patched NAND image, no issue.

The problem starts when trying to write the NAND image back to the console. I repeatedly get an error of 1117 I/O error on win32diskimager. I have tried to write back to the NAND using etcher on Ubuntu and still not able to write to the NAND. The SD Lock switch is present and in the correct orientation on my adapter. I know that the card readers I have tried are compatible as I have used the same readers for reading and writing the NAND on my n3DS console. They were actually bought for this reason. I have made a couple of adapters with varying wire lengths, just incase this is an issue.

If anybody may be able to assist or recommend a solution for this, I would be very grateful, as I am at a loss now. I don't believe that the console is beyond repair, but if somebody knows otherwise, please let me know. XD

The Error code on the BSOD is as follows:

BOOTROM 8046
ERRCODE: 00F800FF
F8F8FFFF FFFFFFFF
00000000 00000000

The Console does not boot to system and never has done for the time that I have had it. According to the owner, it was fine until what happened above.

Thank you in advance for any help anybody is able to offer.

I can upload any pics later if required.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Now let's see.… https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Bootrom#Error_Codes gives the following:

00F800FF F8F8FFFF FFFFFFFF 00000000 00000000 Both the firm0 and firm1 partitions are corrupt (failed signature checks)

Of course this can have more than one reason.

• Spontaneous corruption / dying NAND. This could explain the read-only thing; at least SDs can go permanently RO when noticing their near death – no idea if a NAND chip can do the same.
• Experiments gone wrong. When messing with FIRM0 and FIRM1 this is what you get. I did this last year for testing purposes.

=============

I'm not familiar with 3DS hardmodding and would not recommend doing it. Really easy to damage things beyond repair. Seems you are pretty good at soldering given the fact that it worked right away! Did you test if your SD reader/writer will write to a normal SD? Yeah, really stupid question, but it should be tested.
Cable length shouldn't be an issue since it reads perfectly and consistently… No idea what is going on and I'm not able to help in the hardmod direction.

If anybody may be able to assist or recommend a solution for this, I would be very grateful, as I am at a loss now. I don't believe that the console is beyond repair, but if somebody knows otherwise, please let me know. XD

A solution for this is ntrboot – assuming the NAND is not damaged but only overwritten. Even the page from 2017 you linked to ends with:

I hope this helped you revive your bricked 3DS and I’m curious when the Magnet and DS Flashcard Method will be made public so that a hardmod will no longer be needed to unbrick a 3DS.

Ntrboot is easier, safer, more versatile and does not require knowledge of the current firmware version. In case SafeB9SInstaller cannot write to NAND as well, I would say: Hardware damage.
Please give ntrboot a try.


Good luck!

 

[Cosmic_Link]

Hi.

Thanks for your reply. It was very detailed and helpful.

Now let's see.… https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Bootrom#Error_Codes gives the following:


Of course this can have more than one reason.

• Spontaneous corruption / dying NAND. This could explain the read-only thing; at least SDs can go permanently RO when noticing their near death – no idea if a NAND chip can do the same.
• Experiments gone wrong. When messing with FIRM0 and FIRM1 this is what you get. I did this last year for testing purposes.

This is a bit concerning. Based on what the console's owner has told me, that it suddenly blue screened and the fact that I cannot write to it, I expect that the NAND may be on it's way out...

I'm not familiar with 3DS hardmodding and would not recommend doing it. Really easy to damage things beyond repair. Seems you are pretty good at soldering given the fact that it worked right away! Did you test if your SD reader/writer will write to a normal SD? Yeah, really stupid question, but it should be tested.
Cable length shouldn't be an issue since it reads perfectly and consistently… No idea what is going on and I'm not able to help in the hardmod direction.

It's not the first time I have done soldering work on consoles and other electronics, so was not an issue. Yes, the SD Reader/ Writers which I used are reader which I use frequently and have no issues with reading and writing to SD and Micro SD cards. Just incase the reader was the issue, which I had already considered, I bought a new compatible card reader from Amazon, which also gives me the same results as the other two I have.

A solution for this is ntrboot – assuming the NAND is not damaged but only overwritten. Even the page from 2017 you linked to ends with:

Ntrboot is easier, safer, more versatile and does not require knowledge of the current firmware version. In case SafeB9SInstaller cannot write to NAND as well, I would say: Hardware damage.
Please give ntrboot a try.


Good luck!

So, I did not try NTRBoot before because I am not able to get the console to turn on without it being plugged into the mains. I probably should have mentioned this previously... >.<

The console will not turn on via the battery alone, and will only come on when plugged into the mains. When plugged in, the console will come straight on without having to press the power button and instantly shows the BSOD. When plugged in, if I hold the power button to turn the console off, the console will flash off briefly and will instantly turn back on. When the console is on when plugged into the mains, the second I unplug the console, it switches straight off. The battery which is in the console is a third party replacement and not the original battery. Not sure what difference this could make. Have checked the battery with a multimetre and it appears to be fine. I don't have another O3DS XL or battery to test in a console though.

When I try to do the button combo, magnet and NTR Card (Acekard 2i) I cannot get it boot into safeB9Sinstaller. The screen will flash off as above and will go straight back to the BLue Screen.

I am at a loss with what further I could do with this now and am probably going to have to write it off unless somebody can think of anything that I haven't already tried... >.<

Thanks again for your help.