Hacking [Question] What exactly happens when I install a cia

[quantumboy]

Preamble: I am trying to consider the risks of installing cias with pasta on sysnand.

So When i install a cia I know that most (if not all) of the data is stored on the sd card. What I am trying to figure pout is when I use bluemanager or fbi to install cia, what is actually being applied to nand and what is going to sd card.

for instance if I take legit cia's and install them with blue or fbi under pasta (which would remove the sig checks) what is actually being written to the nand vs sd card.

Also what are the risks between legit vs homebrew'd cias? If the sd card is formated would that undo any damage from installing a potentially dangerous cia?

 

[Duo8]

TMD, Ticket and content is extracted from CIA. Ticket is written to ticket.db in NAND, content and TMD is encrypted then written to SD. An entry is created in title.db on SD card.

 

[tatripp]

I'm no expert but I'll do my best. Cia files are kind of like .exe files for windows. I think they are also comparable to wad files for wii virtual console games (if you have done wii hacking). They contain the information you need to install the program/game. All of the information is stored on the cia file. After saving it to your 3ds, you can delete the cia off of your 3ds because it is installed software just as if you bought it from the eshop.
I'm not really sure what is written to the Nand vs. SD card.
I don't think there is any risk with legit cias or homebrew cias as long as they don't mess with the system files. If you can trust your homebrewed cia source, then you should be good.

 

[quantumboy]

Thank you both for the heads up

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

Part 2: If I have a nand backup before installing any cias, could I recover the nand to fix any potential problems? If so, would I have to do this with a sd card soldered adapter, or can I do it with gw menu assuming I can get to it?

 

[tatripp]

From what I was looking up when I was creating my nand backup, I believe you should keep you nand backup on a seperate SD card or another location. Bottom line, I think once you make your NAND backup, you are safe as long as it is in a safe place. I don't really know what you need to do to use your nand backup if you brick you console. I think it requires soldering. Sorry that someone with more knowledge isn't answering better than me.

 

[zoogie]

What you need to be careful of is installing system titles and files (native firm, home menu, title.db, etc.) to sysnand. And especially updates, which are simply a bunch of system titles at once.

You also kinda need to watch out for dsiware games as they can quickly eat up the limited amount of memory you have for them (about ~160 MBs)