Recover old, bricked, 3ds

[daviyan]

I have and old 3ds, bricked after my failed attempt at cloning my friend's 3ds after I got banned for playing the leaked ROM of Pokemon Sun/Moon (I was young and stupid lol). The console still charges and turns on, but stays on a black screen indefinitely and won't boot. I also can't enter recovery mode. Is there any way to fix it? I have an R4 and a spare NDSi, but I think it may be useless if I can't turn this 3ds on... Is my only hope a hardmod? Unfortunately, I've also lost the original SD card for the 3DS. But would finding it make any difference?

Thanks a lot to everyone reading.

 

[xsdfr]

try ntrboot

 

[KleinesSinchen]

More information needed.

after my failed attempt at cloning my friend's 3ds

Please elaborate. Did you force flashing a backup from a different console (with different encryption keys) on you device? If so, that is one of the most efficient ways of trashing the complete operating system and B9S.
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Do you have a NAND image from before the damage? A forced restore from GodMode9 (started by ntrboot) should solve the issues.
Without proper backup some unique stuff like hardware calibration is lost. CTRTransfer Type D9 or Lazarus3DS script can be used in for repair attempts.

Please do not attempt hardmod. That can o less than ntrboot and carries a lot of risks. You won't be able to fix things from hardmod without a known good backup.

 

[HawaiianInTown]

There is a hardmod for nand r/w but that's only if you have a viable nand.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Wait a moment. That does not sound like a forced restore of a complete NAND image. That would result in 8046 BOOTROM ERROR.

Do you still have access to B9S (or ARM9Loaderhax if old version). Any result when holding (Start) or (Select) on power on?

 

[daviyan]

I tried ntrboot using the NDS and the R4. However, I cant make the 3ds boot into SafeB9SInstaller. I don't know if my brick is so serious it won't work, if my magnet is too weak or I'm putting it in the wrong spot (since I can't turn it on, I can't test it), or maybe if I made some mistake in the process (I did follow 3ds guide).

Post automatically merged: Dec 22, 2023

Unfortunately, I can't remember what exactly I did, but probably followed some guide and misread some crucial info in the process. But yeah, maybe I did trash it all. I don't think it even had B9S, since it happened around 2016.

I will look for any backup of the 3ds files inside the old SD card, but my hopes to finding it are sparse. Furthermore, I do have (some) experience with soldering now, but I don't want to risk finish the console destruction. I know, it is hard to give specific advice without specific information through.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

I do have (some) experience with soldering now, but I don't want to risk finish the console destruction

Soldering won't do any good unless you have a known good backup (and ntrboot will help in this case).
The contents of the NAND chip is completely irrelevant for ntrboot.

Problem with ntrboot is that it can fail for many reasons and the result looks always the same:

• Bad SD
  • filesystem is not FAT32
  • filesystem is damaged
  • card is corrupted
  • card is fake
  • card is defective
• Bad SD reader in the console
• Magnet
  • placed wrong
  • too weak (but don't use some insanely strong thing!)
  • →→ Old series consoles will not turn on when pressing (Power) only while magnet is positioned correctly
• Wrong file
  • No boot.firm
  • boot.firm not a valid boot file
• Gamecart reader
  • reader bad
  • contact issue with the R4 (they aren't as precise as the original games)
• Holding buttons wrong
  • wrong combination
  • holding too short period of time
  • one or more button(s) does not work
  • →→ I got the best results releasing (Power) first
  • →→ Old series consoles are more stubborn in my experience

It takes some practice to get it right. I'd use a working console of the same model for this reason. You can rule out a lot of the list above when succeeding on another unit.
Boot file should be renamed GodMode9. This gives the most possibilities (including booting into SafeB9SInstaller or trying to install FIRM with GodMode9 itself).

 

[daviyan]

Soldering won't do any good unless you have a known good backup (and ntrboot will help in this case).
The contents of the NAND chip is completely irrelevant for ntrboot.

Problem with ntrboot is that it can fail for many reasons and the result looks always the same:

• Bad SD
  • filesystem is not FAT32
  • filesystem is damaged
  • card is corrupted
  • card is fake
  • card is defective
• Bad SD reader in the console
• Magnet
  • placed wrong
  • too weak (but don't use some insanely strong thing!)
  • →→ Old series consoles will not turn on when pressing (Power) only while magnet is positioned correctly
• Wrong file
  • No boot.firm
  • boot.firm not a valid boot file
• Gamecart reader
  • reader bad
  • contact issue with the R4 (they aren't as precise as the original games)
• Holding buttons wrong
  • wrong combination
  • holding too short period of time
  • one or more button(s) does not work
  • →→ I got the best results releasing (Power) first
  • →→ Old series consoles are more stubborn in my experience

It takes some practice to get it right. I'd use a working console of the same model for this reason. You can rule out a lot of the list above when succeeding on another unit.
Boot file should be renamed GodMode9. This gives the most possibilities (including booting into SafeB9SInstaller or trying to install FIRM with GodMode9 itself).

Thanks a lot! After a lot of tuning, I managed to recover the 3ds. Your tips were essential. Thanks everyone that helped!

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Thanks a lot! After a lot of tuning, I managed to recover the 3ds. Your tips were essential. Thanks everyone that helped!

Can you please tell us what exactly did you do?

That is good news! Have fun!