Hacking Otpless a9lh Brick strikes again!!

[Altairseven]

well.. after knowing that an acquaintance had his new 3ds (galaxy edition) console bricked during optless install while using 2.5 SafeA9LHInstaller(you can read about it in this post), i became very distrustful of it, and keept doing the old crtransfer method.

however, after a couple of weeks and few updates fo the installer and the payloads, and beeing no other reports of any issue, i decided to give it another go, and it worked fine with another 2 consoles.

However.. tonight, while using the all the correct files, and even an sd that came in a console a flashed a few days ago (with optless as well without any issue), the console Bricked.. the same way it did to my acquaintance, after pressing select it did the reboot that does in 9.2 optless, but instead of saying that it all went successful, everything stayed black , with the powerled on, removing the sd an rebooting didnt change a thing.

so the console is bricked... thankfully i did make a nand backup, and i will attempt to perform a hardmod, with the help of a friend that has more experience with soldering.

this post is to report my situation, and hopefully so that we will find a better fix to whatever causes this bricks.

i for one, will no longer even think of using optless install ever again.

 

[Zidapi]

you can read about it in this post

No I can't. Learn2internet please. "http://safea9lhinstaller/"

 

[thaikhoa]

Idk whether it's just you or not. I did install a9lh using otpless for more than 20 3DSes without an issue since day 1.

 

[Posghetti]

Sorry to hear about that bud, I have never got a brick yet (and I hope I don't get any) on my opt-less installations (which is about a good 20 installs now)
Hope you can bring it back alive soon!

 

[Altairseven]

No I can't. Learn2internet please. "http://safea9lhinstaller/"

derp, I fixed the link.

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

Idk whether it's just you or not. I did install a9lh using otpless for more than 20 3DSes without an issue since day 1.

well, it all is weird to me, i'have allways been very cautious with every console, and i've install a9lh in dozens of 3dses by one, never without any issue, i keep the files i use very organized and up to date, and take any precaution that i can, going back to optless install was the most risky thing i did since i installed a9lh in my own n3ds, but that luckily went just fine, unlike this... so well.. whatevevs.. lets hope everything goes fine with the damn hardmod, il keep you all posted.

 

[OrGoN3]

I don't know why but OTPLess installs seem to have broke in 2.6.x?? I know I have helped a few users here that were attempting to OTPLess install and used 2.6.1, and it kept failing. I told them that the guide specifically uses 2.5.1, and has been updated numerous times since 2.6 and 2.6.1 were released. Clearly something that was changed in 2.6 or 2.6.1 broke OTPLess. I have no idea what it is. I have asked in Aurora's thread with no response.

Also, it is faulty logic to assume SD card is good because it worked the previous time. Just saying.

Edit: Also, your friend who had a brick with 2.5, was it 2.5 or 2.5.1? Did he run hw2test to check his SD card for corruption if it was 2.5? The first 2 confirmed bricks were due to SD corruption, which is one reason 2.5.1 was released.

Also, why did you use 2.6.1 and not 2.5.1? You would've seen the changelog on 2.5.1 that attempts to fix the corrupt SD causing a failed install, or a brick, and Plailect's guide still uses 2.5.1 (uses 2.6.1 only for updating A9LH to the latest)?

 

[JayArRosario]

I just bricked an N3DSXL too with this method. I performed a Hardmod and successfully flash the Nand backup I had. But unforunately, the N3DSXL just stayed at Bootroom even if I flashed it successfully. Is it because I have a bad Nand dump or I broke a pad? I noticed one of the clk pin is not connected to the other 4 clk pins.

 

[The Catboy]

It's still such a slim amount bricking and I feel it it had to have been something wrong with either your system or your SD card. One of the biggest causers of bricks with this method have been link directly to the SD card.
Also there's no reason to give up, if you did it 5 times now, than it seem unlikely that it was installer that caused the problem.
Also there was no reason to make a thread if you already made a post. You are just inciting a panic.

 

[Amapola62]

Ok I plan to A9lh a new3ds I bought on ebay...Do I use the OTP less method or is it too risky?

Edit: OTP less install successfull ^^ (Now onto system transfering)

 

[Zephir1991]

I've used the OPTless method yesterday on a friends New3DS - it worked like a charm. All you need to do if follow the guide 100% - And yes, you should format your SD if the tutorial says so.
And it's so easy.~

 

[Keizel]

@Altairseven My New too was bricked thanks Plailect and her guide for "OTPless" (Thanks Plailect): https://github.com/Plailect/Guide/issues/621

 

[MadMageKefka]

@Altairseven @Keizel Out of curiosity, what did you use for an SD card during the whole process? Size, brand, etc.

 

[RustInPeace]

I did the OTPless method on my SuMo N3DS, no problems at all. Worst parts were just waiting for the system transfer, took 9 damn hours, and then partial downgrade stuff. Everything afterwards was smooth sailing.

 

[MadMageKefka]

I did the OTPless method on my SuMo N3DS, no problems at all. Worst parts were just waiting for the system transfer, took 9 damn hours, and then partial downgrade stuff. Everything afterwards was smooth sailing.

You should have uninstalled all your games and such to speed up the transfer, then reinstalled after. You would have lost the save data.... but that's what JKSM is for. Just for future reference.

 

[RustInPeace]

You should have uninstalled all your games and such to speed up the transfer, then reinstalled after. You would have lost the save data.... but that's what JKSM is for. Just for future reference.

Yeah, I ended up deleting stuff anyways, so I should've took care of deleting before the transfer. Still, I installed everything successfully. Gave me a reason to sleep during the day.

 

[Keizel]

@Altairseven @Keizel Out of curiosity, what did you use for an SD card during the whole process? Size, brand, etc.

SD Samsung EVO Orange 16GB

 

[MadMageKefka]

SD Samsung EVO Orange 16GB

Well the size clearly wasn't the issue then. Do you know if the card was using MBR or GPT partitioning? Just curious. I had a friend who bricked in the same way, had all the files right and everything, but he used a 128 GB card and we're convinced that was what caused it. I know Plailect's guide also says to only use MBR cards. Just wondering if this could be the culprit in some of these cases.

 

[Altairseven]

Well the size clearly wasn't the issue then. Do you know if the card was using MBR or GPT partitioning? Just curious. I had a friend who bricked in the same way, had all the files right and everything, but he used a 128 GB card and we're convinced that was what caused it. I know Plailect's guide also says to only use MBR cards. Just wondering if this could be the culprit in some of these cases.

I used a stock 4gb micro sd from another brand new 3ds i softmoded a couple days before, it was only used once, it has mbr partition table, and absolutly no signs of corruption.

 

[MadMageKefka]

I used a stock 4gb micro sd from another brand new 3ds i softmoded a couple days before, it was only used once, it has mbr partition table, and absolutly no signs of corruption.

So much for that theory.

 

[Amapola62]

Wow when I did it Friday...it went without a hitch...I guess I got lucky...I reformated the Micro SD card prior to the install as a precaution though...