Hacking Partial Brick - Need Help (No Video has audio)

[KinGTD]

Hi, i got a broken N3DS XL off a third person seller @ a local flea market. They stated that the 3DS has audio when turned on but no video (all black screens). If its unrecoverable, ill take my losses, just wanted to see if anyone on here has any advice.

Symptoms:
- Black screen ONLY when booting to 3DS OS, can still hear home music, all buttons and touchscreen work
- Recovery Mode works and all screens and all buttons and touchscreen work
- NTRBoot works and was installed by me , all buttons and touchscreen work
- Luma Config works with screen , all buttons and touchscreen work
- GodMode9 works with screen , all buttons and touchscreen work

What i have tried:
- Tried to recover using Recovery Mode but output is still Audio, no video
- Tried CTRTransfer (9.2 and 11.5) but output is still Audio, no video
- Tried SD Format on GodMode9 with Emunand but output is still Audio, No Video

Any advice?

 

[Kubas_inko]

How have you done CTRTransfer (via GM9 or Decrypt9)?

 

[XXXTORTELLINI]

How have you done CTRTransfer (via GM9 or Decrypt9)?

Says in OP

 

[Kubas_inko]

Nope

Says in OP

Nope. Not said anywhere(but only that he did CTRTransfer, but not which way)

 

[KinGTD]

Nope

Nope. Not said anywhere(but only that he did CTRTransfer, but not which way)

Not sure how many methods there are for CTRTransfer, but i followed the direction from the 3ds.Guide site below

https://3ds.guide/ctrtransfer

I tried both the old 9.2 method and the new 11.5 method. The last step i fell into was Section II, Step 19.

Another thing i can point out is that the previous owner had a theme installed on their home menu and i can hear it. Even after a CTRTransfer, the theme is still there. So im assuming that CTRTransfer doesnt do a clean install and replaces critical files?

 

[Kubas_inko]

Not sure how many methods there are for CTRTransfer, but i followed the direction from the 3ds.Guide site below

https://3ds.guide/ctrtransfer

I tried both the old 9.2 method and the new 11.5 method. The last step i fell into was Section II, Step 19.

Another thing i can point out is that the previous owner had a theme installed on their home menu and i can hear it. Even after a CTRTransfer, the theme is still there. So im assuming that CTRTransfer doesnt do a clean install and replaces critical files?

Try it with Decrypt9.
I had bricked 3ds, and I wasn't able to do CTRTransfer via GM9, but via Decrypt9 it worked. Maybe you can try it too (It shouldn't do any more harm your system)

 

[KinGTD]

ill try Decrpt9 now, where should i place the image files? root?

 

[Kubas_inko]

ill try Decrpt9 now, where should i place the image files? root?

create folder "files9" on root and put .bin and .sha files there.

 

[Majickhat55]

Has it occurred to you it might be a hardware issue? Perhaps the cables are loose, broken or disconnected causing the screen to not turn on. Even if it inits and doesn't show anything; assuming you've exhausted software options.

 

[Kubas_inko]

Has it occurred to you it might be a hardware issue? Perhaps the cables are loose, broken or disconnected causing the screen to not turn on. Even if it inits and doesn't show anything; assuming you've exhausted software options.

But Luma, payloads and recovery mod works normally with the screens.

 

[Majickhat55]

But Luma, payloads and recovery mod works normally with the screens.

True enough, though they are being run from the bootrom; it could still be a hardware issue refusing to let the screen init in HOME. If you've tried everything software related anyway.

 

[KinGTD]

after doing CTRTransfer using the Decrpt9 Method, still no video but audio works.

 

[PabloMK7]

If I remember correctly, there was another thread with the same issue.
Do the following:

Try renaming the Nintendo 3DS folder in your SD to something else, to see if it's a problem with it.

If it doesn't work:
Go to GodMode9 -> Sysnand ctrnand -> data -> (id0) -> sysdata -> (JPN)00020082 (USA)0002008F (EUR)00020098

You will see a 00000000 file there, press X to delete it. (This should reset the home menu data.)

If still doesn't work, go to 00010017 and delete the 00000000 file there. (This should reset the 3ds configuration data.)

 

[KinGTD]

Has it occurred to you it might be a hardware issue? Perhaps the cables are loose, broken or disconnected causing the screen to not turn on. Even if it inits and doesn't show anything; assuming you've exhausted software options.

Majickhat55, you hit the nail right on the head. After reading your comment, it got me thinking that it must be a hardware issue for it to react this way. I swapped out the board for my working system and it did the same thing. I disconnected the camera cable (Corner cable on top of Mobo) to troubleshoot and it turned on without any issues. So it looks like something is broken with the cable or it has some problem with the head tracking prior to boot. For now, i can live without the camera function.. this is good reference for people in the future. Thanks all for all the help.

 

[Majickhat55]

Majickhat55, you hit the nail right on the head. After reading your comment, it got me thinking that it must be a hardware issue for it to react this way. I swapped out the board for my working system and it did the same thing. I disconnected the camera cable (Corner cable on top of Mobo) to troubleshoot and it turned on without any issues. So it looks like something is broken with the cable or it has some problem with the head tracking prior to boot. For now, i can live without the camera function.. this is good reference for people in the future. Thanks all for all the help.

Glad you figured it out! And no problem.. Just goes to show people that even if things work right loaded from the bootrom that doesn't mean there isn't a hardware issue present.