Hacking [Proposed] Emunand and eshop Maintenance Guide

thorasgar

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With all the new users getting set up with Gateway I am proposing to write a guide on proper procedures for maintaining a working and well functioning emunand. I am soliciting opinions and best practices from the more experienced users here. Your contributions to this project will be greatly appreciated by the community.

Much of the information exists but it is spread out and not in one cohesive place that new users can find and easily follow. For the moment I want to keep it based on a standard Gateway install and setup and not confuse it with CFW, but that could added.

Some issues I would like to see it address.

1. How to properly backup and restore emunand. Including the importance of having a clean copy in case it gets corrupted. I am sure some users think all they have to do is copy the 3ds folder and sav files and all is good.

2. Some technical details about emunand on the SD CARD. It is a hidden partition. How big is it? What exactly is on the partition and what exactly is kept in the 3ds folder. We know the partition stats out small and cia files and such are installed I to it. Does it grow dynamically or are just "pointer" in emunand and the actual cia files are in the 3ds folder?

3. Can include advantages disadvantages of linking or unlinking sysnand and emunand.
3.b. A major advantage I see of unlinking is if a update does get downloaded to sysnand a quick format is all that is necessary to remove the nag and be up and running again safely. Downgrading can solve the update issue as well by creating dummy wireless profiles however it is not an option for people with retail cart saves they want to maintain. Of course there is also the whole entering data management from sysnand issue as well.

4. I have read eshop will delete cia files and/or eshop titles when you connect if they were not legitimately purchased. Is this true? A proposed solution was to create a second clean emunand on another card for downloading updates and transferring them to your working emunand. I am not clear on the best way to handle this.

5. Any other issues I have left out?

Please try and keep responses on topic here so we can get this guide reviewed and published sooner than Soon™ Or By the End of the Week™

Once I have some responses and good discussion I will take some time to format is nicely and put the pieces together for a proposed sticky we can refer people to.
 

Piepokemon

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Ah, yes, I too have been very curious on the topic as I have installed many .cias and have not yet touched the eshop in fear of losing installed games and possibly (but unlikely) having my nnid revoked.
I have read a lot about gateway although I have only became a user since the Ultra update.

1. https://gbatemp.net/threads/emunand-tool-release-and-support-thread.359239/

2. No clue, but I would put my money on it installs to the 3ds folder and pointers are made in the emunand due to dev menu most likely not being made with emunand in mind.

3. I do know that if sysnand and emunand are still linked the slightest change to the sysnand will rewrap and move all your installed .cias from folders on emunand.

4. I believe that accessing the eshop will merely delete illegitimate dlc and themes. I am not 100% sure yet though.

5. Probably, but right off the top of my head no clue.

I really do hope this guide takes off.
 

thorasgar

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Ah, yes, I too have been very curious on the topic as I have installed many .cias and have not yet touched the eshop in fear of losing installed games and possibly (but unlikely) having my nnid revoked.
I have read a lot about gateway although I have only became a user since the Ultra update.

1. https://gbatemp.net/threads/emunand-tool-release-and-support-thread.359239/

2. No clue, but I would put my money on it installs to the 3ds folder and pointers are made in the emunand due to dev menu most likely not being made with emunand in mind.

3. I do know that if sysnand and emunand are still linked the slightest change to the sysnand will rewrap and move all your installed .cias from folders on emunand.

4. I believe that accessing the eshop will merely delete illegitimate dlc and themes. I am not 100% sure yet though.

5. Probably, but right off the top of my head no clue.

I really do hope this guide takes off.
The emunand tool guide is good and a link should be included. I think it is a little to concise for noobs and could be fleshed out a bit and updated for 9.x users. I will start on that tonight and contact the OP for his guidance.

I only have one game cia installed and it has not been wiped yet so I think you are correct on the themes and DLC.

Thanks for your support.
 

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