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

 

[Kazuma77]

how this method works? i don't have a emunand i can install without it?

They used the files listed here to do a partial update. I would not recommend doing a partial update to a SysNAND. You should just backup your card and create an EmuNAND with either the original GW software (hold L+select while it's booting to get the menu, then select the option to format EmuNAND, and it's normal for it to lock up after doing the format, btw, just hold power for 5 seconds and wait for it to shutdown) or GodMode9. You definitely want to use GM9 if your card is 256 GB or larger, because GW apparently does not handle formatting a card that large correctly (but GM9 should). Then just use the latest 3DNUS to grab 11.2 (type in 11.2.0-35U for the USA set, for example). Then place the CIAs into a folder on the card named "updates" and use SysUpdater to downgrade (you can boot to your EmuNAND via Luma by holding L, then just install SysUpdater and perform the downgrade). Then partially update if you want to (with the same apps).

 

[myki]

Hi,
My New2DS is sysnand 11.4 with B9S. What is the best way to launch gateway, please ?
For now I made an 11.4 Emunand unlinked but I suppose it's useless ?

Thanks in advance for your help !

 

[Kazuma77]

Hi,
My New2DS is sysnand 11.4 with B9S. What is the best way to launch gateway, please ?
For now I made an 11.4 Emunand unlinked but I suppose it's useless ?

Thanks in advance for your help !

You could try downgrading the 3 titles listed here (0004013820000002, 0004013020001C02, and 0004013000002D02 -- the ones it tells you not to install, but in this case, they're the ones you need to, since you're going the opposite direction) to the 11.2 versions. I don't think any of those 3 have anything to do with the display. So, in theory, it shouldn't break anything. It can't hurt to try it. I would backup the EmuNAND first, of course.

 

[myki]

Hi Kazuma77, thanx for your help I have downloaded all the cias of the 11.2.0-35E with 3DNUS, are the numbers of the 3 titles (0004013820000002, 0004013020001C02, and 0004013000002D02) the same for EUR and USA ?

Edit : I read somewhere that the EUR and USA titles numbers are the same (at least for those threes) so that's ok
Once my emunand partially downgraded, can I follow any tutorial to boot Gateway with B9S ? (the method with the v2gw.bin and the modified BootCTR9 version)

 

[Kazuma77]

Hi Kazuma77, thanx for your help I have downloaded all the cias of the 11.2.0-35E with 3DNUS, are the numbers of the 3 titles (0004013820000002, 0004013020001C02, and 0004013000002D02) the same for EUR and USA ?

Edit : I read somewhere that the EUR and USA titles numbers are the same (at least for those threes) so that's ok
Once my emunand partially downgraded, can I follow any tutorial to boot Gateway with B9S ? (the method with the v2gw.bin and the modified BootCTR9 version)

Or, you could just forget both guides, download InScripted, drag and drop the configuration over from the "B9S Configuratation" folder (you'll want to use the N3DS one, of course), and be done with only one download. I'd say anything that doesn't use v2gw.bin is a better method, though. That thing was created for A9LH, not B9S. It's just sheer luck that it happened to work with BootCTR9's backward's compatibility. The best solutions are the ones that use a GW payload converted by firmtool. My InScripted AIO loads it straight using BootCTR9. You just hold B and it boots (by default, hotkeys can be reconfigured). And it includes some useful scripts for GW users. Some to convert saves, and some to synchronize tickets between linked NANDs. You can find it on that iso site (CFW Discussion section) or the official GW forums site (A9LH & Custom Firmware Discussion section). Let me know if it works, btw. It should, but I can't test it myself.

 

[1alien1]

Hej Kazuma, me again. I have another question. It seems, that I encounter crashes quite often with my 3DS. Especially like about 3 out of 5 times when i want to acces my DS Card (not a 3DS game) i get the following Error: prefetch abort. I uploaded the picture. Also i encounter crashes from time to time in freeshop or when returning to home from the system settings. Any idea how to fix that? It also happens from time to time when normally booting the 3DS after the next day of playing. Quite often so. Most of the time I have to start the 3DS 2 times in order to get to the home menu.
Thank you!

EDIT: I also sometimes get the error: launched from an unsupported location [DEB as shown in the second Picture. This happens sometimes after quitting an Application/game.

 

[Kazuma77]

Hej Kazuma, me again. I have another question. It seems, that I encounter crashes quite often with my 3DS. Especially like about 3 out of 5 times when i want to acces my DS Card (not a 3DS game) i get the following Error: prefetch abort. I uploaded the picture. Also i encounter crashes from time to time in freeshop or when returning to home from the system settings. Any idea how to fix that? It also happens from time to time when normally booting the 3DS after the next day of playing. Quite often so. Most of the time I have to start the 3DS 2 times in order to get to the home menu.
Thank you!

EDIT: I also sometimes get the error: launched from an unsupported location [DEB as shown in the second Picture. This happens sometimes after quitting an Application/game.

The issues with the DS flash cart seems unusual. You may want to report it to the Luma team if this is happening with the latest build. Though you've got a 99% chance of being told it's not their problem. Such is the Luma dev team's attitude these days. You could try launching it in Rei-Six and see if it still does it for reference (that's on X now in InScripted R9). Freeshop is known to crash occasionally. CIAngel is not, though. But that has issues doing multiple queues from what I've heard.

There is no returning to the home menu from System Settings though. Exiting System Settings always triggers a reboot. So, those last two are both happening at boot. This happened at random with the old version of BootCTR9 (but it was still the best chainloader available, so, we all just lived with it). All recent releases of InScripted use a new version that has eliminated the bug that was causing it. Download InScripted R9, place the cleaning batch file on the card and run it to wipe the old version's files, and copy the new configuration over. The boot crashes should go away.

 

[John2022]

ok thanks all problems solved

Do you find the cause of your problem with Castilla? Was it a FW problem?

 

[Kazuma77]

Do you find the cause of your problem with Castilla? Was it a FW problem?

I think what fixed his issue was setting up Luma's region emulation for the game. You can read about how to do so here.

 

[John2022]

I think what fixed his issue was setting up Luma's region emulation for the game. You can read about how to do so here.

Even do that, without success

 

[myki]

@Kazuma77 sorry for the delay, I finally partially downgraded my Emunand and used InScripted : I dragged and dropped all the content of B9S Configuration/N3DS to my SD Card. When I boot holding the B button, the dragon appears, and it boots fine (Ver. 11.4.0-37E) (neither Sys nor Emu but Ver ). But when I try to push the select button to see the games, nothing happens.
Do you have an idea, please ?

 

[Kazuma77]

@Kazuma77 sorry for the delay, I finally partially downgraded my Emunand and used InScripted : I dragged and dropped all the content of B9S Configuration/N3DS to my SD Card. When I boot holding the B button, the dragon appears, and it boots fine (Ver. 11.4.0-37E) (neither Sys nor Emu but Ver ). But when I try to push the select button to see the games, nothing happens.
Do you have an idea, please ?

Well, that GW mode actually does boot is a good sign. The same problem happens when you try to follow the "almost complete" partial update trick for 11.5 or higher. So, it's one of the titles that got updated in 11.5. I'm thinking it's most likely the Home Menu. You could try replacing that with the one from regular 11.4 and see if that works. The worst thing that can happen is you brick the EmuNAND and have to restore it.

 

[myki]

@Kazuma77 I have downgraded the 000400102002D000 title at first and it didn't work so I have downgraded the 0004003000009802 too and it works fine now
So maybe just downgrading the 0004003000009802 title is enough, I don't know.
Thanks again for your help ! And inScripted should be more famous than it seems to be !

 

[Kazuma77]

@Kazuma77 I have downgraded the 000400102002D000 title at first and it didn't work so I have downgraded the 0004003000009802 too and it works fine now
So maybe just downgrading the 0004003000009802 title is enough, I don't know.
Thanks again for your help ! And inScripted should be more famous than it seems to be !

Yeah, it would probably benefit from a YouTube video or something Anyway, glad to hear you got it to work. There were many who thought it wasn't possible due to the differences. And I'd say you're probably right, with that being the home menu.

 

[John2022]

Even do that, without success

OK. It works for me now.
I just had to update my FW to 11.6.0-39E. I was in 11.0.0-33E.

 

[capod3icapi]

I use B9S on my New3DS and the SysNAND is on Firmware 11.6 + the EmuNAND on 11.2, but I don't know if I can use this tutorial to run Gateway. Can anyone help me, because of the note "If you're on 11.3+ - Don't even try to use GW"?

 

[Temptress Cerise]

I use B9S on my New3DS and the SysNAND is on Firmware 11.6 + the EmuNAND on 11.2, but I don't know if I can use this tutorial to run Gateway. Can anyone help me, because of the note "If you're on 11.3+ - Don't even try to use GW"?

Assuming you use the latest Launcher.dat. You will always be told when you are booting SysNAND, it will even want a combination of buttons to be pressed to do so. If you ignore this nag/warning/prompt while booting GW, then say goodbye to your B9S.

By default GW will always attempt to boot EmuNAND if it sees one. If it doesn’t, you’ll get the SysNAND prompt, at which point you should force turn off the console without inputting the button combination asked, and figure out what’s up with your setup.

 

[Kazuma77]

I use B9S on my New3DS and the SysNAND is on Firmware 11.6 + the EmuNAND on 11.2, but I don't know if I can use this tutorial to run Gateway. Can anyone help me, because of the note "If you're on 11.3+ - Don't even try to use GW"?

That should probably read more like "don't ever boot a SysNAND higher than 11.3, and if you update EmuNAND beyond 11.2, you will need to downgrade it before you can use it with GW again" or similar. The tutorial will work for you. But if you'd rather do this the easy way, just grab InScripted (iso site, CFW Discussion section). Just copy the contents of the folder that matches your hardware in the "B9S Configurations" folder to your card and it's ready to go. Drag, drop, done. Gateway will be on B by default. You can change it to anything you want though using the included scripts to change your hotkeys. You can also change the default payload since it's using BootCTR9 by default. Though I do include the option to switch the chainloader too, if you like. If you would prefer a menu to hotkeys, for example, you can switch to CBM9. You can switch the chainloader to Luma if you insist, though. It's your system, not mine. I present all choices. Even the inferior ones.

 

[BullyWiiPlaza]

So if you're on firmware 11.6 with Luma3DS you should downgrade to 11.2 to get access to Gateway again using this guide?

 

[Kazuma77]

So if you're on firmware 11.6 with Luma3DS you should downgrade to 11.2 to get access to Gateway again using this guide?

You only need an EmuNAND on 11.2. You can keep your SysNAND on 11.6. Technically you CAN boot GW from an 11.2 SysNAND, but it's going to ask for that button combo every time (fortunately, since it probably prevents a lot of accidents). If you give GW the EmuNAND it wants you to use anyway, it just boots without any hassles. As for using this guide, read the post above your own. You can make multiple downloads and follow a long list of steps, or just drag and drop. Your call.