SYSNAND-ONLY USERS: DO NOT BOOT GW MODE ON 11.3+ - YOU WILL LOSE B9S AND BE LEFT ON A STOCK FIRMWARE
I highly advise against the use of GW on SysNAND-Only Setups.
GW currently DOES NOT support firmwares 11.3//11.4 - B9S does not change that!
If you're on 11.3+ - Don't even try to use GW. Use Luma3DS or any other CFW that has confirmed support for 11.3+ firmwares.

Setting up GW with Luma3DS' chainloader

Requirements: SysNAND or EmuNAND on 11.2 or lower!
Tested and working on B9S 1.2 (Luma3DS 8.0)

1. Download the v2gw.zip attached to this post.
2. Extract the "arm9loaderhax.bin" from v2gw.zip to your /luma/payloads/ folder.
3. Rename that very "arm9loaderhax.bin" you just extracted to "v2gw.bin" or to whatever you want. However, step 12 will assume v2gw.bin was used, you can edit that reference to meet whatever you decided to name it.
4. Download GW's ‘arm9loaderhax.bin.zip‘ file.
   • On their main home page. Under the post titled: "GATEWAY 4.0B PRIVATE BETA #2"
   • Or on their openly public Private Beta Program page, on this page it'll be under the "» arm9loaderhax for users with existing a9lh installs" section.
5. Extract GW's "arm9loaderhax.bin" file from their zip file to your /luma/payloads/ folder.
6. Rename that very "arm9loaderhax.bin" you just extracted to "gateway.bin"
7. Make sure you have the latest GW's Launcher.dat on the root of your SD Card.
8. This dev-build of BootCTR9: https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-the-bootctr9-release-thread.435347/page-3#post-7370533
9. Extract the "boot.firm" file from the BootCTR9-firmv2.zip to your /luma/payloads/ folder.
10. Rename that very "boot.firm" you just extracted to "down_BootCTR9.firm" or to whatever you want that is allowed by Luma3DS' payload chainloader.
    - Other button options: https://github.com/AuroraWright/Luma3DS/wiki/Other-features-and-notes#payload-chainloading
11. Extract the "boot_config.ini" file from from the BootCTR9-firmv2.zip to the root of your SD Card.
12. Open the "boot_config.ini" file and overwrite everything with the following:
    

    [BOOTCTR9]
    key_delay = 1000
    
    [DEFAULT]
    path = /luma/payloads/v2gw.bin

13. You are now done. If you followed this tutorial, holding DPAD-DOWN at boot time, will load up Gateway Mode.
    - SysNAND-Only Users on 11.2 will be prompted to press 'L+R+SELECT' to boot SYSNAND. DO NOT PRESS THE BUTTON PROMPT ON 11.3+
    - GW EmuNAND users will automatically boot into their GW EmuNAND.

FAQ

Q: How do I boot into the GW Menu?
A: Hold L+Select, as soon as you see the Dragon Logo.

Q: Can I use my GW Blue Card?
A: Yes, but only while using Luma3DS. It will not work in GW Mode.

Q: Can I play online while in GW Mode?
A: Yes, sort-of. But you have to either:

• Use CTR-HTTPWN: https://github.com/yellows8/ctr-httpwn/releases
• or use this guide

Q: I'm getting a black screen!? HELP!?
A: Multiple reasons for that below:

• Modified SecureInfo_A - GW does not patch this. You'll need an untouched donor file of this.
• Using a RedNAND - GW only supports GW EmuNAND, it cannot boot RedNAND. Use the GW Menu or GodMode9 to make one.
• On SysNAND-Only Setups - Not having properly removed EmuNAND//RedNAND. Use GodMode to properly format your SD Card. But I advise you set one up.
• Trying to boot an 11.3//11.4 EmuNAND - GW does not support anything higher than 11.2
• If it's not listed, then who knows. Do you have a modified Home Menu or font? Those might not work at all in GW Mode.

Credits

• @Hayleia for making v2gw.bin~!
• @RednaxelaNnamtra for BootCTR9~!
• @nedron92 for discovering this method~!

Many thanks to the above lovely people~ <3 ♥
Original posts:
Link: https://gbatemp.net/threads/using-gateway-on-a9lh-v2.431222/page-4#post-6464898
Link: http://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-using-luma3ds-with-gateway-on-v2-a9lh.431691/page-4#post-6472283
Link: https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-booting-gw-with-b9s-and-some-help.471417/

Spoiler: Old Guide

I highly advise against the use of GW for SysNAND-Only setups.

11.3&11.4 Break GW. GW currently DOES NOT support 11.3 or 11.4. You will either brick or lose A9LH. More than likely it seems you will just lose A9LH.

Again, if you attempt to boot GW Mode, on a SYSNAND-Only Setup while on 11.3 or 11.4, you will lose A9LH. It does not matter if you safely updated to this firmware via another CFW that safely protects FIRM.

If you want to use 11.3+, you will not be able to use GW. Don't even try. Only use Luma3DS or other CFW that support 11.3+

If you are a Gateway3DS user, and have recently finished Plailect's A9LH Guide, then you should be on v2 A9LH. Unfortunately, at the time this thread was made, GW's a9lh.bin file is incompatible with Luma3DS' payload chainloading feature while on v2 A9LH.

So one way around this was to either forego using Luma3DS' payload chainloading, and use a boot manager that does work in initializing GW's a9lh.bin correctly. Like BootCTR9. Either you let BootCTR9 handle all payloads, or you set it up to chainload into Luma3DS and from there let Luma3DS do all the work.

Either way, some people might not like BootCTR9 (Big fan of BootCTR9, seriously thing is amazing~!)

So if you don't want to use the BootCTR9 method, then @Hayleia made a very stripped down boot manager that only loads /luma/payloads/gateway.bin. You still need GW's a9lh.bin in addition to this stripped down bootmanager, but that's all you need, these two files! No need for messy configs if you just want to stick with Luma3DS' payload chainloader.

Now on to the damn tutorials already~!​

~Choose your path~
Gateway Logo (Recommend for Everyone - SysNAND Only & GW EmuNAND Users)
No Gateway Logo (Not Recommend, especially NOT for SysNAND Only Users - Only for those allergic to the dragon logo - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK)
!~Important Note (DO NOTE UPDATE SYSNAND while in GW MODE)(PLEASE READ)
!~Getting Black Screen After Dragon Logo and After Following This Guide~! (PLEASE READ)
!~I want to use GW as Default~!
!~♥ Credits ♥~!
​

Gateway Logo

1. Download the v2gw.zip attached to this post.
2. Extract the "arm9loaderhax.bin" from v2gw.zip to your /luma/payloads/ folder.
3. Rename that very "arm9loaderhax.bin" you just extracted to "down_v2gw.bin" or to whatever you want that is allowed by Luma3DS' payload chainloader.
Other button options: https://github.com/AuroraWright/Luma3DS/wiki/Other-features-and-notes#payload-chainloading
4. Download GW's ‘arm9loaderhax.bin.zip‘ file.
You have to get this directly from Gateway's site. Which is either:
A) On their main home page.
B) Or on their openly public Private Beta Program page, on this page it'll be under the "» arm9loaderhax for users with existing a9lh installs" section.
5. Extract GW's "arm9loaderhax.bin" file from their zip file to your /luma/payloads/ folder.
6. Rename that very "arm9loaderhax.bin" you just extracted to "gateway.bin"
7. Make sure you have the latest GW's Launcher.dat on the root of your SD Card.
8. You are now done. If you followed this tutorial, holding DPAD-DOWN at boot time, will load up Gateway Mode.
However, if you are a SysNAND Only User, and on 11.1 and using the 4.2 Launcher.dat, you will be prompted to press 'L+R+SELECT' to boot SYSNAND.
GW EmuNAND users will automatically boot into their GW EmuNAND.

Notes: To Boot into the GW Menu: Hold L+Select, as soon as you see the Dragon Logo.
To Force a Manual Gateway3DS RedCard Update: Hold R+Select as soon as you see the Dragon Logo.



No Gateway Logo (Not Recommend - Only for those allergic to the dragon logo - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK)

Notes: This version will de-init the screen by default, and as such you won't see the Gateway Logo. Don't worry it'll init once you land on the Home. Due to how this works, only GW EmuNAND users should consider using this. This is because SysNAND users will land on the SysNAND prompt nag.

1. Download the v2gw-de-init.zip attached to this post.
2. Extract the "v2gw.bin" from v2gw-de-init.zip to your /luma/payloads/ folder.
3. Rename that very "v2gw2.bin" you just extracted to "down_v2gw.bin" or to whatever you want that is allowed by Luma3DS' payload chainloader.
Other button options: https://github.com/AuroraWright/Luma3DS/wiki/Other-features-and-notes#payload-chainloading
4. Download GW's ‘arm9loaderhax.bin.zip‘ file.
You have to get this directly from Gateway's site. Which is either:
A) On their main home page.
B) Or on their openly public Private Beta Program page, on this page it'll be under the "» arm9loaderhax for users with existing a9lh installs" section.
5. Extract GW's "arm9loaderhax.bin" file from their zip file to your /luma/payloads/ folder.
6. Rename that very "arm9loaderhax.bin" you just extracted to "gateway.bin"
7. Make sure you have the latest GW's Launcher.dat on the root of your SD Card.
8. You are now done. If you followed this tutorial, holding DPAD-DOWN at boot time, will load up Gateway Mode without the Gateway Logo.

Tested on N3DS and O3DS by me, 2DS by @Hayleia.
Should work on either screen-init or non-screen-init v2 A9LH.



Important Note: Never update your SysNAND in Gateway Mode. It does not matter what Launcher.dat version you use, if you go ahead and update while in SysNAND Mode, you will either brick or lose A9LH+CFW and be on the latest stock firmware. This is because GW Mode does not offer FIRM protection in A9LH. Updating your GW EmuNAND is fine and safe, and is what Gateway actually recommends you do and use even when using A9LH.



!~Getting Black Screen After Dragon Logo and After Following This Guide~! (PLEASE READ)
Sounds like someone hasn't properly removed their EmuNAND//RedNAND with EmuNAND9. The Black Screen problem is common to people who skipped doing it properly and used a third-party tool like EaseUS or any other partition manager.

Since EmuNAND//RedNAND wasn't removed properly, traces were leftover and GW by default sees it, and tries to boot into this non-existent EmuNAND//RedNAND and fails. So how do we fix it? We use EmuNAND9 to preperly remove traces of it.

Part 5, Section V of the old A9LH guide covers this. However, I will list all relevant steps here.
Link: https://github.com/Plailect/Guide_R...ax)#section-v---removing-rednand-from-your-sd

The new guide also sort of mentions if in this new page, and does show you how to setup EmuNAND9:
Link: https://plailect.github.io/Guide/move-emunand

Files we'll need:
Latest release of EmuNAND9: https://github.com/d0k3/EmuNAND9/releases/latest

1. Copy EmuNAND9.bin from the EmuNAND9.zip to the /luma/payloads/ folder on your SD card and rename EmuNAND9.bin to y_EmuNAND9.bin
2. Backup every file on your SD card to a folder on your computer, all files will be deleted in the following steps
3. Reinsert your SD card into your 3DS
4. Hold (Y) at boot time to open EmuNAND9
5. Go to "SD Format Options...", then select the "Format SD (no EmuNAND)" option, and wait for it to finish
6. Press (B) to return to the menu, then press Select to safely eject your SD Card
7. Put your SD card back into your computer, and copy all the files you backed up previously, back into your SD Card
8. Reinsert your SD card into your 3DS, then press (Start) to reboot



Additional Note: You will still have to look into BootCTR9 if for some reason you want GW to be the default, as opposed to Luma3DS. This tutorial is meant more for the people who want Luma3DS as their main//default, and want to use Luma3DS' payload chainloader to boot into GW Mode.
Go to the following link for the tutorial on setting up GW as your main with BootCTR9.
Link: https://gbatemp.net/threads/using-gateway-on-a9lh-v2.431222/


All credits to @Hayleia for making both of these~! Thank you~ <3 ♥
Original posts:
Link: https://gbatemp.net/threads/using-gateway-on-a9lh-v2.431222/page-4#post-6464898
Link: http://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-using-luma3ds-with-gateway-on-v2-a9lh.431691/page-4#post-6472283

 

[Temptress Cerise]

Hi, I have not updated my GW red cart in a long long time, i had a 4.5fw Old 3ds, yesterday I did the Arm9loaderhax successsfully, today i followed this guide (option 1) to boot into GW mode. But i dont know how to enter GW menu... i would like to update the red cart, I dont want to boot GW by default, just want to enter the GW menu. How can i do this?? Thanks

Hold R while seeing the Dragon Logo to update the red-card, to see the menu, hold L when you see the Dragon logo, and it'll show the menu.

 

[DbGt]

Thank you and sorry for bothering!

That information is not in the first post, I think it would be helpful to add it.

Thanks again

 

[Temptress Cerise]

Thank you and sorry for bothering!

That information is not in the first post, I think it would be helpful to add it.

Thanks again

Yeah, I'll add it, also be adding how to fix black-screen after seeing dragon logo. Since I also have to answer that one a lot, though not here yet.

 

[Bonovox40]

So I've read over both guides, and I mostly get it, but it doesnt really say what happens to my GW emunand and CIA files, games saves etc.
Here's my setup if that helps: N3ds on sysnand 9.2, using GW cart for emunand on 10.x fw. I have NO bootloaders, NO cfw installed unless u count the MSET hack, to boot emunand from the DS profile.

I have nothing installed to my sysnand. All games are played on emunand side from red GW card, or installed CIA files.
I'd really like a way to button-trigger boot into emunand, and be able to load/run VC GBA/SNES stuff that doesn't work w plain ol GW.
Should I just follow plailects guide but skip the downgrade part because I'm already at 9.x sysnand? Thanks for clarifying!

 

[Hayleia]

From Plailect's guide:

If everything goes according to plan, you will lose no data and end up with everything that you started with (games, NNID, saves, etc will be preserved).

Though at the end of the guide, after you successfully installed a9lh, you might want to keep your emuNAND instead of sending it to your sysNAND. It's more convenient for use with a Gateway (because Gateway doesn't want to autoboot to sysNAND) but not compulsory, your choice.

 

[cloudfe]

Hi guys, I've just finished installing A9LH, and I have to decide if I'll keep using my Gateway flashcard or not.

Reasons for ditching it:
1) don't need the extra space provided by the mini sd card (I'll never fill my 32gb sd card);
2) it annoys me to have to boot a different "system" (the Gateway mode) in order to launch my games.

Reasons for keeping it:
1) I still need a flashcard if I want to play DS games (and I do want to play them) (so maybe I could just ditch the red card...);
2) I do sometimes use cheats (never online, only to avoid unreasonable grinding in some jrpgs...).

I would like to ask if my reasoning is correct, or if I'm evaluating my options based on incorrect information.
Thank you, and thanks Cerise for the guide

 

[Temptress Cerise]

Hi guys, I've just finished installing A9LH, and I have to decide if I'll keep using my Gateway flashcard or not.

Reasons for ditching it:
1) don't need the extra space provided by the mini sd card (I'll never fill my 32gb sd card);
2) it annoys me to have to boot a different "system" (the Gateway mode) in order to launch my games.

Reasons for keeping it:
1) I still need a flashcard if I want to play DS games (and I do want to play them) (so maybe I could just ditch the red card...);
2) I do sometimes use cheats (never online, only to avoid unreasonable grinding in some jrpgs...).

I would like to ask if my reasoning is correct, or if I'm evaluating my options based on incorrect information.
Thank you, and thanks Cerise for the guide

Well the Blue Card only works in Luma, so that really doesn't affect your choice, as booting into GW Mode will actually make it not work.

As for cheating, that's the main reason I own one. Up to you really. But yeah most of your reasoning seems spot on. You could look into NTR Cheat Plugin, but I personally think it's crap.

 

[cloudfe]

Well the Blue Card only works in Luma, so that really doesn't affect your choice, as booting into GW Mode will actually make it not work.

I'm afraid I didn't understand this part.

As for cheating, that's the main reason I own one. Up to you really. But yeah most of your reasoning seems spot on. You could look into NTR Cheat Plugin, but I personally think it's crap.

Yeah, I haven't read great things about the NTR plugin. But do you think one day we will be able to launch Gateway games from the CFW?

 

[Temptress Cerise]

I'm afraid I didn't understand this part.

You'll need a DS Flashcart to play DS Games. Such as the Blue Card. If you bought a Gateway3DS, you should have gotten 2, one which we normally call the Red Card for 3DS games, and then Blue Card for DS Games. The Blue Card does not work in GW Mode, actually no DS Flashcart works in GW Mode, so there is no point in booting into GW Mode to use any DS Flashcart, as they won't work.

Yeah, I haven't read great things about the NTR plugin. But do you think one day we will be able to launch Gateway games from the CFW?

No, don't think so. Ever. Your only option would be to wait for someone to make a replacement for Gateway's Cheat Editor and for NTR Cheat Plugin, and one that is open-source so we can have a community behind it.

 

[cloudfe]

You'll need a DS Flashcart to play DS Games. Such as the Blue Card. If you bought a Gateway3DS, you should have gotten 2, one which we normally call the Red Card for 3DS games, and then Blue Card for DS Games. The Blue Card does not work in GW Mode, actually no DS Flashcart works in GW Mode, so there is no point in booting into GW Mode to use any DS Flashcart, as they won't work.

You're right, I completely forgot the Blue Card works outside of Gateway mode

No, don't think so. Ever. Your only option would be to wait for someone to make a replacement for Gateway's Cheat Editor and for NTR Cheat Plugin, and one that is open-source so we can have a community behind it.

Are you talking just about the cheats, or also about launching Gateway games from the CFW? It is actually that farfetched as idea?

 

[Temptress Cerise]

Are you talking just about the cheats, or also about launching Gateway games from the CFW? It is actually that farfetched as idea?

Just talking about cheats. As for 3DS rom games, who knows, I doubt any dev wants to put the work in, even if it was to be something like a 3DS rom loader. Since CIA is already a good enough solution, and doesn't need private headers. I am pretty sure most devs don't even want to spend the time doing any RE work on figuring out the Gateway3DS or 3DS roms. It's not far-fetched, just time consuming for little no gain when we already have CIA on CFW.

 

[cloudfe]

I am pretty sure most devs don't even want to spend the time doing any RE work on figuring out the Gateway3DS or 3DS roms. It's not far-fetched, just time consuming for little no gain when we already have CIA on CFW.

I was actually thinking the Gateway developers would be interested in making this option available, since it would better integrate their product with the CFW, thus making the flashcard more appealing (they are a lot less interesting right now...). But maybe I'm wrong about it.
Anyway, thank you for the help

 

[fmhugo]

Thanks. Work

 

[ken28]

any how to on how to use it with bootanim9?

 

[qwertoman]

I have a few questions, as I am just about to start the whole a9hl process but im still confused about a few things:
How does this work if the 3ds doesnt have emunand anymore?
My setup will be an o3ds with a9hl + luma3ds, with sysnand only (because if I follow the guide, emunand merges with sysnand)
So if I use this guide I will be able to use my gateway red card, despite only having sysnand? Thanks for the clarification!!

 

[retrofan_k]

I have a few questions, as I am just about to start the whole a9hl process but im still confused about a few things:
How does this work if the 3ds doesnt have emunand anymore?
My setup will be an o3ds with a9hl + luma3ds, with sysnand only (because if I follow the guide, emunand merges with sysnand)
So if I use this guide I will be able to use my gateway red card, despite only having sysnand? Thanks for the clarification!!

Yes ,if you follow the a9lh guide without keeping emunand then this guide works no problem. During the a9lh process you clone the updated emunand (currently 11.0) to sysnand.

There is practically no need to use emunand imo, once you have luma sys nand.

 

[Temptress Cerise]

any how to on how to use it with bootanim9?

Sorry for the late reply. And I would refer to the Bootanim9 documentation on how to set that up properly with Luma3DS. It does however work with BootAnim9.

 

[Zenas01]

Are the cheats working fine for everyone? I keep getting a "Cheats could not be loaded." error, I have the gameid.txt within the cheats folder in the GWred.

EDIT: NVM, seems like GW does not want to read that other SD card for some reason.

 

[CH1CK3NMAN]

I am a bit confused. How can I make it so that it boots into Luma with Gateway Red Card functionality? Like without having to hold down and L if that's possible. If not, how can I boot into Gateway from my home menu if I missed the chance to press down during boot? Does the go.gateway-3ds.com work? Also, what does updating your red card do? (Pressing R in dragon logo)

 

[Temptress Cerise]

I am a bit confused. How can I make it so that it boots into Luma with Gateway Red Card functionality? Like without having to hold down and L if that's possible. If not, how can I boot into Gateway from my home menu if I missed the chance to press down during boot? Does the go.gateway-3ds.com work? Also, what does updating your red card do? (Pressing R in dragon logo)

Luma does not provide you with Gateway functionally... that is why we must "dual-boot" between both CFW... and I doubt we will ever have Gateway functionality on Luma... because I doubt they'd want to spend time RE Gateway's stuff in regards to that since there are free alternatives to what it does... such as NTR CFW's cheat plugin for cheats and CIA for games... and holding down L is reserved on Luma for booting your EmuNAND, while on Gateway's CFW it's reserve to go right into the menu... your only option if you want to boot while holding is to use another bootmanager like BootCTR9 and set it up, but using L is not advised, especially if a CFW has it reserved for something already....

As for if that link works, I don't know, and honestly just using something like Quick Reboot would probably be faster. As for updating your Red Card, it just updates it... Not sure why, but it should force you update it if your Red Card needs it...