Hacking ok, what is emuNAND?

[superspudz2000]

everybody keeps talking about emuNAND, but none of the posts say what exactly it is or why we should care about it.

so what is emuNAND supposed to be anyway?

 

[Minox]

emuNAND refers to the on-board NAND memory of the 3DS being emulated/redirected to the SD-card slot of the 3DS.

 

[redkeyboard]

Basically a dual boot solution, so you can have 4.5 firmware for exploits on the 3DS (and to launch the OS on the SD card) and the latest firmware on an SD card and switch between the two. Though there seems to be problems with the latest firmware I believe.

 

[superspudz2000]

my 3ds has the latest firmware. can i still install the dual boot?

also, can you run homebrew off the SD card?

 

[darkziosj]

my 3ds has the latest firmware. can i still install the dual boot?

also, can you run homebrew off the SD card?

you need 4.5 to install the emunand... and no there's no homebrew..

 

[stomp_442]

You could have installed it if you had 4.1 to 4.5.

 

[superspudz2000]

if i had a 4.5 and installed emuNAND could i then update it to latest firmware later?

also, do new 3DS XL's come with higher firmware, like the new Zelda 3DS XL?

and does it only work with gateway?

 

[IronClouds]

if i had a 4.5 and installed emuNAND could i then update it to latest firmware later?
-There are reported issues with official v7.0 firmware running on emuNAND, so updating the emuNAND to that version is not advised. Your system firmware should remain in 4.1-4.5 at all times in order to be able to do any of this. If your system's firmware is newer than that, then there's currently nothing that you can do with Gateway or any other 3DS flashcart.

also, do new 3DS XL's come with higher firmware, like the new Zelda 3DS XL?
-Yes.

and does it only work with gateway?
-I don't think I understand this question.

 

[Nurio]

I think he's asking if you need a Gateway to run emuNAND and if only the Gateway supports emuNAND (as opposed to its competitors like R4i Gold Deluxe)
The answer is, no... You technically don't need a Gateway card to run an emuNAND. You only need a DS mode flashcard that works on your 4.1-4.5 firmware -- all related software can be found on the Gateway website.

Gateway is the original developers of this technology, but R4i and 3DSLink both copied it and made it compatible with their cards.

 

[superspudz2000]

im still kind of confused about the whole thing, what is the function of emuNAND?
if its just to run a gateway card then wouldent i just leave a 3DS on 4.5 (if i had one)

 

[Ryft]

Let's say your 3DS has firmware 4.1-4.5 and you have a gateway but you still want to be able to access all the updated features of the most recent firmware. Emunand let's you do this by copying your firmware to the SD card and allowing you to update and use that for all your Gateway needs. This lets you use the eshop etc. You can also run retail game cards by using classic mode which works in conjunction with emunand. So you have:

3DS main firmware=4.1-4.5 for allowing gateway use
Redirected emunand=latest firmware for eshop, retail cart, and other updated features

Its basically a work around to allow you to use the most updated firmware without actually updating your 3DS but it is completely optional. It adds no extra rom compatibility.

Please note that the most recent firmware 7.0 is currently not working properly until gateway releases an update.

Here is a link to the new 3DS hacking wiki. It should help you out.

http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/3DS_hacking_faq

 

[Hitsuagaya]

Alright say you had a 3ds 4.4.0-10u and you purchased a r4i Gold 3DS Deluxe and you also purchased Pokémon X as well as Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance. Now for a noob like me after sifting through these links on this topic this really was like noob paradise for me so thank you very much. But albeit I have one little question, can I really play these two retail games by using EmuNand on my r4i or is that option no longer available.

Thanks for helping either way with this thread.

Reposted

 

[superspudz2000]

ok, thanks. but i dont think its possible to find a 3DS XL thats 4.5 anymore. and i would really only care about removing region lock anyway, otherwise i could just buy the games.

might be easier to get a Japanese 3DS and a copy of Game Center CX 3. theres some Japanese RPGS but i wouldent understand them anyway.

heres hoping for a USA release of Retro Game Challenge 3 so i wont have to go through any of that.

 

[kyogre123]

I think the easiest explanation would be:

emuNAND is a homebrew feature (therefore, only for 4.1-4.5) that allows you to copy the Operative System (firmware) of a 3DS to its removable SD card and boot it from there. The rule is that the 3DS will always boot under the regular (original) firmware, then you must enable the homebrew in order for emuNAND to work. emuNAND, as it's using a copy of the Operative System, allows you to be able to update the console upto the latest version, because the real firmware of the 3DS will remain in 4.5-4.1, so you can have the privileges of an updated 3DS without losing the gateway (exploit) that allows the use of flashcards and homebrew.

 

[pedreters2]

ok, thanks. but i dont think its possible to find a 3DS XL thats 4.5 anymore. and i would really only care about removing region lock anyway, otherwise i could just buy the games.

might be easier to get a Japanese 3DS and a copy of Game Center CX 3. theres some Japanese RPGS but i wouldent understand them anyway.

heres hoping for a USA release of Retro Game Challenge 3 so i wont have to go through any of that.

Got my 3ds XL last week in Toronto, 4.2 firmware, and it wasn't the last one at the store. So it is possible, just requires some time.