Homebrew [Request] Amiibo NFC backup homebrew

[DanTheMan827]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, so, I managed to install these apps from the newer SDK:
NfpManager: Which only display info and let me fix corrupted/modify/delete amiibo data.
NfpUtil: It only lets me browser the SD card.
NoftWriter: Only lets you corrupt or clear amiibo data.
NfpSdmcTool: This one supposedly let's me backup and restore stuff, but it only works with devunits or Luma dev and it tells me the amiibo is not compatible.

So... anybody got a working solution to backup/restore amiibo data? Or maybe help me see what I did wrong.

If you have an Android phone with NFC you could always use TagMo

https://gbatemp.net/threads/making-amiibo-ntag215s.413050/

 

[medoli900]

If you have an Android phone with NFC you could always use TagMo

https://gbatemp.net/threads/making-amiibo-ntag215s.413050/

The point of this thread is to find a way to backup Amiibo directly on the 3DS, without the use of external hardware. Please read the OP before posting.

 

[NekoMichi]

Sorry to bump the thread, but I didn't want to start a new one on the same topic when there's already a perfectly good one here. I've done some testing into the four devkit apps and can conclude the following:

NoftWriter
Used to write .ntf files from the SD card to blank NFC tags. ntf files contain the character and series information (e.g. Smash Bros. series, Mario Amiibo) so this app can theoretically be used to convert blank NFC tags to fully functioning Amiibo. Not sure if it requires specific proprietary NFC tags or accepts standard NTAG215 (@DanTheMan827 - Were you able to get any NTAG215 to test?), and the SDK documentation does not specify either. I was able to load verified .ntf files but it will not write to retail Amiibo as the character ID sector on those is read-only.

NfpSdmcTool
Does not launch on retail hardware, however will launch on consoles with developer UNITINFO enabled. Appears to be able to read, edit, and write information (including AppData) from Amiibo as well as import data from an SD card. No indication of any feature to dump AppData to the SD card, though. Sadly it always displays "This tag is not supported" when any Amiibo is placed on the NFC sensor. This is likely due to the fact that enabling developer UNITINFO on Luma interferes with Amiibo functionality, so presumably the Amiibo is indeed supported, just that it's not working due to the developer UNITINFO. This is the best shot we have at the moment for using a N3DS for Amiibo save data backup, if someone could find a way to get the app to launch properly without developer UNITINFO enabled, we'll get some useful progress.

NfpUtility
Used to quickly read the basic owner data from Amiibo, can be used to set the user nickname or simulate corruption of the owner data. Cannot be used to alter AppData.

NfpManager
A multifunction tool to diagnose the separate NFC reader accessory, read, edit, and write data to and from Amiibo. It can initialise AppData on an Amiibo (which erases previous save data on it and replaces it with the dev app ID), however it cannot read or otherwise alter AppData written to an Amiibo from a retail game ID (such as Smash Bros.) and is only capable of editing AppData generated by itself. Sadly this means NfpManager is not useful for Amiibo Backup.

---

It seems that NfpSdmcTool right now is the closest we have to Amiibo AppData backup on a N3DS without additional hardware right now. Unfortunately its functionality is limited by the developer UNITINFO feature and it's detecting all Amiibo as "not supported". However on the positive side this is solid proof that the N3DS hardware is indeed capable of reading/writing save data to Amiibo outside of their actual games and can potentially be used for diagnostic purposes. It also means that it may be possible for someone to write a homebrew that's the Amiibo equivalent of SaveDataFiler for managing saves.

 

[medoli900]

Wow, great find.
Did you try on actual UNITINFO hardware, or Luma3DS UNITINFO?

Edit: Oh just reread, and it is Luma 3DS. Sorry.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

This is curious indeed if 3DS/WII u homebrew can do anything with NFC considering they both have it. So I will try interest in this. Got my first two amiibo and wouldn't mind some use of it considering the games I have can be used with it currently is pretty limited.

 

[NekoMichi]

Wow, great find.

It looks like HiddenRambler has come up with what you are looking for.

 

[medoli900]

He said that it's impossible to rewrite to Amiibo though.
I wonder if NfpSdmcTool could rewrite to Amiibo if it worked.

 

[NekoMichi]

He said that it's impossible to rewrite to Amiibo though.
I wonder if NfpSdmcTool could rewrite to Amiibo if it worked.

It's not able to rewrite the Amiibo's character ID, however I was able to get it to overwrite the save data. I first generated a dump from a Wolf Link with 20 hearts unlocked, then attempted to write the dump to a new Wolf Link that only had 3 hearts unlocked. The application displayed multiple lines of errors (presumably due to it not being able to overwrite the character ID sector), however it did write the save data and scanning the Amiibo in Breath of the Wild now summons a Wolf Link with 20 hearts.

 

[medoli900]

Ooooh. That is awesome.

 

[NekoMichi]

Ooooh. That is awesome.

I've read some developer documentation and did some more experimenting, and can estimate a few things about how Amiibo work.

Amiibo have multiple sectors where data is stored:

Character Data - Read Only
Holds information regarding which character the Amiibo represents, the series they come from, and which variant. For example, your Amiibo from the earlier example would belong to the Smash series and have Mario's character ID. Character IDs are consistent (e.g. Smash Mario and Retro Mario would have the same character ID, but with different series and variant ID numbers). This data is written to the Amiibo when it is manufactured and cannot be changed.

Owner Data - Rewritable
Contains the assigned owner's nickname and Mii. This is rewritable.

Application Data - Rewritable
This is where save data is stored, like character stats in Smash or hearts unlocked in Twilight Princess Wolf Link. This is rewritable.

(there may be other sectors but they aren't really relevant in this context)

Thenaya by HiddenRambler will dump the entire contents of an Amiibo into a single .bin file, this contains all sectors such as character data and save data. If you write the dump to a blank NTAG215, it effectively clones the Amiibo and gives it the same character ID and stats. When written, the character data sector in the NTAG gets locked and becomes no longer rewritable, as this is a required step in order for it to function as an Amiibo.

When you try to write the dump to an existing Amiibo, it will attempt to write over all sectors, throw errors for when it cannot overwrite the character data, but also successfully overwrite parts that it does have access to, such as save data.

In your previous example, I imagine you could backup your Smash data from your Mario Amiibo, erase it, then re-use it for Paper Jam. Then you can backup your Paper Jam save and then overwrite it with your Smash data. I haven't personally tried this, so there's no guarantee it will work like that though.

 

[DanTheMan827]

Sorry to bump the thread, but I didn't want to start a new one on the same topic when there's already a perfectly good one here. I've done some testing into the four devkit apps and can conclude the following:

NoftWriter
Used to write .ntf files from the SD card to blank NFC tags. ntf files contain the character and series information (e.g. Smash Bros. series, Mario Amiibo) so this app can theoretically be used to convert blank NFC tags to fully functioning Amiibo. Not sure if it requires specific proprietary NFC tags or accepts standard NTAG215 (@DanTheMan827 - Were you able to get any NTAG215 to test?), and the SDK documentation does not specify either. I was able to load verified .ntf files but it will not write to retail Amiibo as the character ID sector on those is read-only.

NfpSdmcTool
Does not launch on retail hardware, however will launch on consoles with developer UNITINFO enabled. Appears to be able to read, edit, and write information (including AppData) from Amiibo as well as import data from an SD card. No indication of any feature to dump AppData to the SD card, though. Sadly it always displays "This tag is not supported" when any Amiibo is placed on the NFC sensor. This is likely due to the fact that enabling developer UNITINFO on Luma interferes with Amiibo functionality, so presumably the Amiibo is indeed supported, just that it's not working due to the developer UNITINFO. This is the best shot we have at the moment for using a N3DS for Amiibo save data backup, if someone could find a way to get the app to launch properly without developer UNITINFO enabled, we'll get some useful progress.

NfpUtility
Used to quickly read the basic owner data from Amiibo, can be used to set the user nickname or simulate corruption of the owner data. Cannot be used to alter AppData.

NfpManager
A multifunction tool to diagnose the separate NFC reader accessory, read, edit, and write data to and from Amiibo. It can initialise AppData on an Amiibo (which erases previous save data on it and replaces it with the dev app ID), however it cannot read or otherwise alter AppData written to an Amiibo from a retail game ID (such as Smash Bros.) and is only capable of editing AppData generated by itself. Sadly this means NfpManager is not useful for Amiibo Backup.

---

It seems that NfpSdmcTool right now is the closest we have to Amiibo AppData backup on a N3DS without additional hardware right now. Unfortunately its functionality is limited by the developer UNITINFO feature and it's detecting all Amiibo as "not supported". However on the positive side this is solid proof that the N3DS hardware is indeed capable of reading/writing save data to Amiibo outside of their actual games and can potentially be used for diagnostic purposes. It also means that it may be possible for someone to write a homebrew that's the Amiibo equivalent of SaveDataFiler for managing saves.

I did test NoftWriter, but that wrote tags that only worked when UNITINFO was set to development mode...

 

[modernuser]

Can I Have that Illustrator template you used to make the cards?

 

[SirNapkin1334]

Curious, would be it possible to make an NTR plugin or something like that to emulate scanning an Amiibo?
Like you press game plugin, it gives you a list of Amiibo data you've obtained through some means, you select one and the game acts like you just scanned it as an Amiibo?

Presuming not or it would have been done by now, but I'm curious.

Yes, at the very least I would want something like this, if not something that can write full Amiibo's.

 

[wicksand420]

The app is called Thenaya, The maker is HiddenRambler, Its on this site, and it makes backups of amiibos right on your 3ds

 

[SirNapkin1334]

Backups of the Amiibo, or the save data?

 

[wicksand420]

the amiibo

 

[SirNapkin1334]

Awesome! Can it save the data to SD card or write from the SD Card?

 

[wicksand420]

both, buy some NTAG215 cards, works perfectly

 

[SirNapkin1334]

Would it work on o3DS with external NFC R/W?

 

[wicksand420]

yes
read this
https://gbatemp.net/threads/beta-thenaya-tagmo-for-3ds.475870/

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

thats what i have, ive made amiibos easily with this