UPDATE!
So an update to the thread. Pokemon Sun/Moon and Animal Crossing New Leaf update, will not work on RXTools. They require the 11.0 NATIVE_FIRM to work, where RXTools only works the 9.5 NATIVE_FIRM. This means that mostly any new games from here on out will start having this requirement, shorting the list of new games that will work with RXTools. Please, for the sake of future gaming on your 3DS, update to a new CFW.http://gbatemp.net/threads/faq-what-cfw-is-best-for-me.428509
I know this has been said a millions times now, but with the recent 3DS upgrade yesterday, I kept reading the same question over and over again, "Does RXTools still work?" "Is it safe to update with RXTools?" "RXTools?" ect.
Now despite the fact that it is currently safe to upgrade with RXTools, that doesn't mean people should still being it. Currently the only reason it's been safe is because Nintendo has been extremely stupid with their updates. That doesn't mean Nintendo will continue to be stupid.
Regardless, there's actually no reason for the average user to continue to use RXTools. Can the average user actually explain all of the features or even justify having them? What about actually trying to do a NAND backup with RXTools? Seriously, don't try to do NAND backups/restores with RXTools. RXTools is actually really bad at making NAND back ups and tends to freeze up/crash when doing so.
So what about the other features? I am just going to say, that if you are still using RXTools, then you are mostly not using the other parts of RXTools. Why? Because Decrypt9 does them all better. If you are actually using the other features, stop that as well. Again, they are buggy mess compared to Decrypt9. Decrypt9 has all the same features of RXTools (minus RXMode,) but unlike RXTools is still in active development, where features have been tested out and stabilized before being released to the public. Any CFW+Decrypt9 will result in better results than clinging to the buggy mess that is RXTools.
Now to address the other concerns. First, changing CFWs will not effect your NANDs, save data, CIAs, ect. CFWs do not actually write to the system and are not locked to your system when they are used. The simple truth is, your NANDs are safe when changing CFWs. CFWs don't actually write to the NANDs, they are only a means of reading them and mostly disabling signatures for Homebrews and "game backups." This means that no matter what CFW you go with, it won't have any effect on your actual NANDs. So you can safely switch from RXTools to any other CFW and retain the same NAND information. In fact, you can even multi-boot your system and boot into different CFWs, all running on the same NAND(s) without negative side effects. You can use this guide to updating to Luma3DS (or really any other CFW) on menuHAX. Or even use this guide for switching to A9LH. Regardless of the path you go on, just stop using RXTools, it's safe to stop using it and use something better. This odd fear seems to be the biggest reason people continue to cling to CFWs like RXTools, despite knowing RXTools is dead.
"But changing a CFW is hard!"
No, it's not. It will only take you like 5 minutes.
"But why fix what isn't broke?"
Because RXTools is broken and dead. RXTools has always been extremely unstable. It was just the mostly commonly used CFW because it was cutting-edge. Now back when it was still being developed, this unstable nature wasn't was big deal, because it was safe to assume someone would be there to fix it. Now that RXTools has been dead for several months, any bugs found or future OFW updates will not be addressed. The previously addressed unstable nature is never going to be dealt with, this means that known problems for crashing/freezing will always happen. It also doesn't help that you are betting the future of your CFW on that Nintendo will continue to be stupid when dealing out their updates. This is a risky bet, when you have options for CFWs that will continue to get updates for both bugfixes and to counter OFW updates.
"But I like RXTools!"
Why? If you are only using RXMode, then you aren't even using RXTools. RXMode provides nothing special that other CFWs don't already do and better. And if you are actually using the RXTools, then I've already explained why you need to stop that too. I mean, you could like RXTools, but that doesn't make it good nor a living project. Any CFW+Decrypt9 will get far better results compared to clinging to RXTools. The only thing holding someone back from updating is themselves at this point.
Last edited by The Catboy,