Homebrew Successful cfw installation then brick?

[NekoZam]

I followed plailect's guide and successfully made it to the end of installing a9lh on an old 3DS XL. Everything seemed to be working fine, however, when I went to open the 3DS (I think to awaken from sleep but it may have been fully turned off), I cannot get it to turn on at all.

I tried pressing the power button and holding the power button, both with and without the SD card inserted, and I can't get any response from the 3DS. The only thing that happens at all is the orange charge light comes on for about 5 seconds upon pressing the power button, but only if the system is plugged in to the charger.

Any help? I really hope it didn't somehow brick, and even if it did I don't understand how since it seemed to be working perfectly after installing the cfw, then just stopped working without anything changing.

Thanks.

 

[Darkshadow1997]

Is It A New 3DS Or Old 3DS? Because Sleep In New 3DS Will Brick Your 3DS. Also Make Sure All Files Are On SD Because Once You Install A9LH Then You Can Not Boot Without SD Unless You Use A Mini-CFW.

 

[NekoZam]

It's an old 3DS XL. And everything is on the SD. I didn't do anything, I just put it to sleep or turned it off (I think put it to sleep) and am not in the situation I'm in.

 

[H1B1Esquire]

I'd think that putting it to sleep killed it; just like real-life at the veterinarian. I think you can horribly mess your system up if you close it while installing most things.

 

[Darkshadow1997]

Just Want To Clarify One Thing When You Turn Your 3DS On, Does The Blue Light Disappear Quickly? Also Check If You Can Access A9LH Menu. The One Where You Hold Select Before Booting To See If You Can Still Access That?

 

[NekoZam]

I'd think that putting it to sleep killed it; just like real-life at the veterinarian. I think you can horribly mess your system up if you close it while installing most things.

I wasn't installing anything when I put it to sleep. I was done with the guide and everything was set up, it was on the home menu with nothing open, and I put it into sleep mode.

Just Want To Clarify One Thing When You Turn Your 3DS On, Does The Blue Light Disappear Quickly? Also Check If You Can Access A9LH Menu. The One Where You Hold Select Before Booting To See If You Can Still Access That?

No blue light at all. And I cannot access a9lh menu. I had luma and hourglass9 and neither start nor select do anything when held while trying to power on.

Really seems like I bricked. I just don't understand what happened. I guess I win for falling in that 1% to brick in a idiot-proof era of hacking.

 

[H1B1Esquire]

↑Dont know if I should 'like' this because of the /S or have a solemn moment because it happened.
Are you sure you just did the install, then put it to sleep? Nothing else, like trying to move emunand?

 

[NekoZam]

↑Dont know if I should 'like' this because of the /S or have a solemn moment because it happened.
Are you sure you just did the install, then put it to sleep? Nothing else, like trying to move emunand?

I just did the hack today, following plailect's guide exactly word for word, so I don't think I had anything to do with emunand?

All my steps were:
-Downgrade to 9.2
-Decrypt9
-2.1.0 ctrtransfer
-install a9lh, hourglass9, luma, etc

I then removed some of the files that were not indicated as things I had to keep on the SD and rebooted several times, going into hourglass9 and luma by holding start and select during boot to make sure everything was still working.

Put the 3DS I think into sleep mode and here we are now. I also tried putting all the files i removed back onto the SD card even though it worked without them, and that didn't help.

It really does seem like putting the system into sleep mode did it in, since thinking back I think that was the first time I put it to sleep after installing cfw. Would have been nice if the guide mentioned that sleep mode can apparently brick?

 

[smichal]

It sounds to me more like a hardware issue if the system is not responding at all.
The timing is a bit funny for it to happen, but you can't rule that out.

I guess you'd probably have already tried that, but take the battery off for a few seconds and try again.

Might also be the hinge got screwed up and the system thinks it's still sleeping, in which case the orange light does turn on when you plug in the charger.

 

[KunoichiZ]

I just did the hack today, following plailect's guide exactly word for word, so I don't think I had anything to do with emunand?

All my steps were:
-Downgrade to 9.2
-Decrypt9
-2.1.0 ctrtransfer
-install a9lh, hourglass9, luma, etc

I then removed some of the files that were not indicated as things I had to keep on the SD and rebooted several times, going into hourglass9 and luma by holding start and select during boot to make sure everything was still working.

Put the 3DS I think into sleep mode and here we are now. I also tried putting all the files i removed back onto the SD card even though it worked without them, and that didn't help.

It really does seem like putting the system into sleep mode did it in, since thinking back I think that was the first time I put it to sleep after installing cfw. Would have been nice if the guide mentioned that sleep mode can apparently brick?

But putting the system in sleep mode should only affect New 3DS users, not Old. The New 3DS was never meant to run 2.1.0, but the Old 3DS was.

 

[H1B1Esquire]

Jiggle it; just a little bit. Seriously, wiggle the top screen from side-to-side, gently, while trying to get 180º. After that, take the battery out, hold the power button with the charger in, let go, put the battery back in, power on.

If not that, try the L+R+UP+A reset. A srcond chance is better than nothing.

 

[NekoZam]

Messing with the hinge didn't seem to help. I didn't already try to take the battery out, but it's late and I'll need to look around the house for a small enough screwdriver, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies. Even if it ends up being wishful thinking, the help is still much appreciated. It's just frustrating since like I said, everything seemed fine then all of a sudden it's not without me changing anything.

 

[javicrazy]

Time ago i managed to brick my old 3DS while trying to update to 9.2, and while it was bricked the blue light turned on whenever i tried to turn on the console, so i think its some hardware problem what happened to your 3DS

 

[H1B1Esquire]

@NekoZam

You should play the lotto; you just might win with your luck. Or you'll get a winning ticket for 42 million dollars, then get offered a 'free' steak dinner.

Seriously, I'd also take a quick look at the troubleshooting section of the plailect codex. It gets updated frequently.
---------
If it is a brick, maybe @'gnmmarechal might be able to assist you, granted you've got some money to ship+insure your 3ds and a few files.

 

[owek1]

Messing with the hinge didn't seem to help. I didn't already try to take the battery out, but it's late and I'll need to look around the house for a small enough screwdriver, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies. Even if it ends up being wishful thinking, the help is still much appreciated. It's just frustrating since like I said, everything seemed fine then all of a sudden it's not without me changing anything.

have you tried reinserting the SD card?

 

[NekoZam]

So I took the battery out and tried all combinations of pressing/holding the power button with/without the battery and with/without the SD card. Still get absolutely no response of the blue light at all. Still only the orange charge light coming on for a few seconds.

Does that sound like it's more likely a brick or hilariously unfortunate coincidental hardware issues? And if it is hardware issues, what would my next steps be?

@NekoZam
Seriously, I'd also take a quick look at the troubleshooting section of the plailect codex. It gets updated frequently.

I don't think anything there can really help since I can't get the 3DS to boot at all.

 

[zac122]

If it's actually hardware you might be able to send it to Nintendo. I don't know since you seemingly successfully installed a9lh(even if it doesn't turn on they may be able to tell), but it's worth a shot.

 

[KevinC]

If it's actually hardware you might be able to send it to Nintendo. I don't know since you seemingly successfully installed a9lh(even if it doesn't turn on they may be able to tell), but it's worth a shot.

What happens if they discover that he has homebrewd his console when he sends it into nintendo?

 

[dudemo]

What happens if they discover that he has homebrewd his console when he sends it into nintendo?

Or if they just send him a refurbished one on 11.2?

 

[KevinC]

Or if they just send him a refurbished one on 11.2?

Well either wait for a exploit or hard mod sadly if that happens