Hacking Your CFW experience

[Salamencizer]

My CFW Story begins from when I got my 3DS, in around July 2014. I was very happy getting it, knew no hacks and stuff. I had bought it for playing the Pokemon Main Games, and I wanted Pokemon Alpha Sapphire that time.

I kept crying about not having it in December 2014. I used to waste my time with Super Mario 3D Land, and still don't know 3DS hacking was possible.
January 2015. The month which changed my life. I asked for Alpha Sapphire on my B'Day (22 Jan) and got it onn 26th Jan 2015 (Republic Day in India). Used to play it day-night, and really loved it. My 3DS was still a virgin in this month.

Come February, Spider3DSTools were introduced to me by someone on Pokemon Showdown!. Really loved backing my save up, Cloning with QR codes, etc. I didn't really know what I had missed, I didn't know that staying on 9.2 was a good thing.

Then in March, Spider3DSTools was patched with update 9.5. I didn't update for some time obviously; But Seeing the number of PKHeXed Pokemon around Nintendo decided to block Internet Services of users by Introducing Update 1.4 for Alpha Sapphire ('Stability Update'). So the one who didn't have updated Pokemon X/Y/OR/AS, couldn't access the Internet, and to update X/Y/OR/AS, one had to update the system to access eShop. I also saw a new game coming (Rumble World) so I unwillingly update my 3DS, hence losing access to QRCloning and PKHeX.

One of my teachers Stole my 3DS for her Child in April, And I didn't get it back until June.

July and August sucked. No hacks, no cheats, just playing Pokemon and Examinations.

And then came the month when I took my first step into Homebrew. In September, I came to know of Tubehax from a guy who got banned from WiFi room for lying about the method of cloning he used. I messaged him, and he told me that something called homebrew can make PKHeX alive again. I got goddamn excited, because RAM2SAV + PKHeX was the best method of cloning I knew. I got the link to smealum's homebrew website from him. Installed tubehax, and then menuhax. Enjoyed the experience. I was at 10.1 that time.

In October I guess, Nintendo patched Tubehax, released 10.2 which patched Menuhax and Browserhax. Didn't update at all, was enjoying PKheXing and stuff.

In November, I fucked up trying to update *hax 2.1 to *hax2.5. Homebrew failed to start, so sadly I updated to 10.3 to enjoy latest services

Hahaha December 2015. Hype about memchunkhax2, Downgrading, Legit CIA installation, etc. Knew spider28hax became my primary entrypoint back into Homebrew, installed shufflehax, ironhax, etc. I didn't know why people were downgrading at that time.

In January 2016, Nintendo released 2 system updates in a row: 10.4 Patched Ironhax, and 10.5 disallowed any1 to use online services who were below 10.4. Decided to downgrade (My best step in 3DS Life). Even when I was scared about bricking, I went forward and downgraded it successfully. Happiest moment of my life. Installed rxTools and stuff.

In Febraury, I heard about a new arm9 kernel exploit called arm9loaderhax. People were required to have a hardmod to achieve this, and I didn't have one installed. Also, no Old 3DS CFW supported a9lh. So I kept being a menuhax peasant and not giving a shit about the new exploit.

Haha March. Hype bout the new exploit grew. Heard that it was goddamn fast. The first Old 3DS CFW for Arm9loaderhax was introduced: AuReiNand. The words in Plailect's OTP Guide changed too, from 'Hardmod Required' to 'Hardmod Recommended' My exams were in progress, so I decided to take all the risks that could brick my 3DS. If it bricked, I could concentrate on studies, and if it didn't, PROFIT! I followed Plailect's Guide, and Successfully installed a9lh on my 3DS. Poof! My 3DS was now the best 3DS in my City! AuReiNand was awesome, and the speed. Yeah. Loved it.

April. This month. I'm enjoying my arm9loaderhaxed 3DS with all those CIAs and stuff. I love Luma3DS.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: Menuhax peasants, I followed the Old Plailect guide and did not brick my console. I don't understand why you will, because the guide is now updated and brick chances are reduced drastically.

 

[Misiel]

well...

Got my 3dsxl at the end of 2013, it 4.4 firmware, when the gateway 3ds was released. didnt bought it because it was a houndred dollars, but i used the emunand feature to play the pokemon y that required 7.x firmware to work. a year passed at the end of 2014 ocurred all the drama with the leaked cfw and i started using palantine cfw.. then march 2015 i started using rxtools, with mset exploit, and its been like that since then.

 

[CLOUD9RED]

My story starts begin of autumn last year when I've sold my PS4 (I got tired of the mega grinding process of my favourite game then: Destiny, not much later I bought a 2DS with Pokemon X and enjoyed playing Pokemon again; not much sooner I started playing Pokemon Shuffle which I enjoyed actually more then Pokemon X. I decided not to upgrade because I thought someday it would come of handy, but then Nintendo released the devils and I couldn't play shuffle anymore until I updated, wanting to continue playing I've updated... One day later I discovered this website and the forums... Oh man, can you believe the regret of the silly mistake I've made.
Anyway I've decided to sell my 2DS on eBay with the game and got a good price for it. Then I decided to get the spécial yellow 2DS which had the right firmware, so I started trying all sort of things. Home-brew, downgrading, etc. all of this went good. As the noob that I was all of the terms people here were confusing me though, was hard to find a noobfriendly guide, eventually I found one which explained Rxtools from scratch and was really helpful and following that I was able to make my CFW ready with menuhax.
Now in april I decided to change to Aureinand (still using menuhax, sorry arm9loader uber race, you can't truly convince me) but I'm not really convinced why it would be better than Rxtools, at least for my purposes it isn't (I don't play online), but each his own but for the time being I keep up with my 1st and oldest buddies. To add why I don't want to use Arm9loader is simply because I don't want to screw up anything in my system in case my handheld stops working (due to any reason), so I can use my warranty with Nintendo...
Last, I just want to tell how nice and kind this community is here, thank you all

 

[Temarile]

Got a new 3ds secondhand, pretty good deal (180€ with charger, Pokemon omega ruby and loz Majoras mask). Played with pokemon and Zelda for two months in the summer holidays. I was content with playing just two games because I actually wanted to finish them. Didn't really look into hacking, kept my 3ds updated. School started. I didn't touch it for about 3 months. Then came November, autumn holiday. I started looking up hacking and stuff on this forum. I was convinced I needed to get a sky3ds because I was on 10.3 and gateway doesn't support that. Then came the exploit support for 10.3, downgraded to 9.2, set up Emunand with reinand and was happy to play.
In January I was looking into buying an old 3ds for my sister so we could play games together while travelling. Found a deal €50 for the o3ds with charger and case and multiple styli (unfortunately none of them fit my n3ds, I can't find any that did except the one that came with the system). Turned out it was on 1.0.0.0-0, so no browser. That was a bit of an issue. In the meanwhile 10.4 had come out so an update was not an option. I used a fire emblem cartridge I borrowed from my nephew to update it to 4.5. I had to buy a 3ds nds flashcard so I could set up the mset exploit and update it to 9.2. Easier said than done. I couldn't find a reliable shop and I held it off for a month or so. Then I discovered my brother-in-law had one so I borrowed his, set up rxtools, injected FBI, installed sys updater and updated it to 9.2. Decided to jump on the A9LH hype train with the unmodded o3ds and was successful. Now running AuReinand (Luma3DS) with A9LH on the o3ds.
But I still wanted a 3ds nds flashcard to play Dragon Quest with so I started looking again. I found a set of gateway cards for €30 secondhand and bought them.
I decided to change my set up on my n3ds too. I now have aureinand and menuhax. I am happily playing dragon quest on the blue gateway card on my 10.7 Emunand, while waiting for A9LH support by gateway.
That's about it.
Oh and then I started modding my wii too which turned out way easier than the 3ds.

 

[Lucar]

Here goes nothing (also going to add some other spicy stuff):

So, I actually knew for a long time about the Homebrew Scene on the Wii, and absolutely loved the idea. However, my family only had 1 Wii, and I was too much of a wimp at the time to progress into installing the HBL, even though I had an exploitable game and everything. I was too scared. Too afraid of the idea.

So, then rolls around the 3DS. I buy one after trying it out at a friends shortly after launch, and got a console. Enjoyed it and knew about stuff like Gateway and the 4.5 exploit, but never thought much of it (Mainly because OOOOOOOOO FLASHCART). Quite a while later, around 9.1-2 or so, I hear about Ninjhax, which is a way to run ordinary run of the mill homebrew on your 3DS, but again, didn't like the idea (Still too Scared) and also the cart was already stupid expensive at that time, so I just sighed and moved on. Skip forward and suddenly I start hearing about Ironhax and Tubehax, and immediately look them up. I was 1 day late for the Ironhax train, but I could hop on the Tubehax train, and after a shitload of inner contemplation, I decided I would wake up early the next day and install tubehax.

Boy was I fucking happy about that, it was so cool having custom themes, and all this other stuff. Then, suddenly, I killed the 8 GB card I had in there at one point (Lock switch broke) but got a 16 and all was good. Soon after came menuhax, and I installed that sucker immediately.

Shortly after that, I found GBATemp and joined and made a bunch of friends (@ihaveamac, @VinsCool, @daxtsu, and so many others) and also re-met old aquatances (@PF2M, @Robfozz even though he doesn't know it) and enjoyed the bustling 3DS Scene at the time.

Soon rolled around 32C3 and I was excited. I mean, who wasn't? Rumors about new exploits, and a bunch of crazy people spamming the temp. It was great. I tuned into the "panel" live and watched as I not only finally got a decent grasp on how the 3DS works, but there was also a new ARM11 kernel exploit released shortly after, A9LH, and new versions of Browserhax, Menuhax and a way to get the old version of Ironfall. Too bad I was on 9.9 and was staying there at the time (Didn't wanna risk anything).

So the first MCH2 SysUpdater comes out, and all the hype that comes with it makes me want to downgrade, but @ihaveamac warns against it, so I wait until his OK, then with his help, got down to 9.2 and set up RxTools.

A while after, A9LH is now something and OTP dumping is also something. Soon after, I dumped my OTP and A9LHed thanks again to @ihaveamac (seriously, he's cool, if you want help, he's the guy).

Also @VinsCool coaxed me into hacking my vWii so that's something.

In conclusion, I believe that now I'll be following the Homebrew scenes of the next consoles I buy a lot closer, and hopefully more cool things will arise.

 

[doggomando]

It all started after tubehax was released to the public, I inserted the kit into my micro sd and installed ironhax, was playing with emus and homebrew games until I updated, i stopped using hax and never touched my 3ds for 2 months (vacational reasons and updates) after i returned, I updated youtube and found out that it dosen't working anymore, I went to 10.3 and still kept using hax until my friend updated my 3ds to 10.5, I coudn't use ironhax so I had to use browserhax and menuhax, I found out about sysupdater and was like "sweet" but the problem was that it only worked on 10.3 and below or a hardmodded 3ds, a few weeks later, it was possible to downgrade on 10.5 without a hardmod. I downgraded to 9.2 and installed reinand 3.3 using mrmario2011's guide and created an emunand that i still use today as my base nand! A few weeks later I decided that i was tired of failed bootrates and slow booting, I decided to follow mrmario2011's guide on installing a9lh and compiled using clouda9lh, I sadly hardbricked my sysnand, nah i'm joking! Installed arn 5.0 and later luma3ds 5.2!
That's my story lol.
Terrible engrish because here in Montréal, we speak french.

 

[luxandark]

I just wanted to use PkHex on my OR save. Did some research, came here, saw I could do it if I had CFW.

Problem was, I was on 10.7U with no Cubic Ninja or any entrypoint. Luckily, I did have a PowerSaves I used for OR frequently so I did more research on entry points and which ones I could use, which lead me to find out about using OOT3Dhax in conjunction with PowerSaves to downgrade to 9.2 and thus, be able to have CFW.

So, I headed over to Target and picked up a copy and the cashier talked with me for a little about the game, though I only needed it for the hax, not actual playing.

Got home, followed Plailects guide with free abandon, unaware I could brick my 3DS if I fucked up.

8 hours later, I had A9LH ARN (now Luma3DS) because it seemed like the most popular CFW available, which it was. I promptly tested it out with a copy of Pokemon Yellow VC I got off that iso site and it got stuck in the infinite loading screen. Little did I know, it's a special case so you had to reinstall it by way of opening eShop and fixing it, but instead, I restored my sysnand 3 times before figuring it out.

This was just over 3 weeks ago and now I'm here, shitposting about stuff I'm barely knowledgeable about.

 

[Margen67]

Well for Christmas (2013/2014) my little brother got an O3DS (Mario and Luigi Dream Team/Year of Luigi) and he played some Pokemon on it.
At first I just messed around in his save (I didn't overwrite it or anything) and looked at the Pokedex, then got bored and stopped playing.
Eventually my little brother starts playing it less and less.
I wonder if it's hackable at all, so I do some research. I had already hacked the vWii of my family's Wii U, so I was, and still am into modding consoles.
Unfortunately it was on 6.x.x/7.x.x which wasn't exploitable at the time, so it was useless.
But DS flashcarts still worked, so I ordered an R4i Gold RTS for about 10-15$.
I'm not sure if I knew Gateway came with a flashcart, or if the flashcart whitelist was available at that time.
I got it so I can play DS games, and verify glitches that happen in an emulator on a console.
I look for glitches, skips etc. in games, so the RTS feature was priceless.

A few months/weeks pass, and I find out Gateway is going to release 9.2 support/downgrade.
I order my Gateway for about 60$, and it arrives a few days/weeks after 9.2 support is released. You get what you pay for, I guess.
Once my Gateway arrived I setup emuNAND, etc. with DevMenu/BBM (old) and SaveDataFiler and play some games after finding a source for them. (This was before CIAngel was released)
I have some fun installing games (OOT3D, MM3D, then eventually Pokemon YX, and ORAS)
I give myself a Mew, etc. I wanted to see what would happen, so I also gave myself a Poke Flute during the beginning of the game.
I used the Poke Flute to go into the air, then flew into some birds.
The game crashes.

I also messed with the DS flashcart whitelist patch to see if I could run the blue Gateway card just for fun.
It worked.

Once rxTools added piracy I switched to that so I wouldn't need the GW card anymore.

Eventually I start actually playing the game, wonder trading, etc.
I beat the game, and level up all my O Powers, and try catching Pokemon I don't already have.
I eventually get bored and stop playing, but later I started playing OR.
I get into it like I did with Y, and wonder trade etc.

Once NTR CFW 3.0 adds support for O3DS I install it and try out the screenshot feature.

I later installed Sm4sh, and a few other games I don't remember.

Much, much later I consider installing A9LH. I decide not to because Luma/Cakes doesn't have region free and GBA/TWL patching unlike rxTools, but due to @ihaveamac convincing me, I tried out the guide despite the warnings.
I like bleeding edge/new stuff, and if I'm not using my console to it's full potential, then what's the point?
I've done risky things with consoles and computers before, and I've rarely ever broken anything.
Eventually I install A9LH on my O3DS, and ascend to the master race.


Then I decided to sell my O3DS at 9.2 with games, and a case (I was scared Ebay might take it down if it had CFW) for about 150$.
My parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I immediately thought New 3DS.
It was an obvious gift since I was getting tired of my hand humping the O3DSXL's volume slider, and better 3D and framerate in games and emulators was the cherry on top.
I also liked the look of the black N3DS more then the O3DS I used to have.
Amazon was out of stock of black N3DS, so me and my parents went driving to stores and other places to buy one.

I check the firmware version and it's at 9.9, so I do more research, and find out how to downgrade.

Once I find out how to bypass the browser update nag I install menuhax so I can have Sysupdater start on boot.
They were very unstable, so I had to try about 100 times.
Then, it finally started installing the CIAs.
I get excited, but still remain a little skeptic.
Then, it happened.
My worst fear.
...
"An error has occured.
Hold down the POWER button to turn off the power, then turn it on and try again."
I was devastated.
I wait a little while before turning it off.
I was actually considering being a filthy legit cia/frankenfirmware peasant.

I turn it back on, and I get a black screen.
I'm not surprised since it was a partial downgrade.
I knew I needed to at least try taking out the SD card to make it boot, but I needed a certain screwdriver.
This was a problem since only my older brother knew where it was, and I couldn't ask him since it was past midnight.
I decide to go to sleep since I was tired anyway.
Eventually I get up, and ask my older brother where the screwdrivers were.
Once we find the right one I go back to the guide on how to remove the backplate from the N3DS.
I take out the MicroSD, and reinsert it while it's on and the N3DS boots now.
I go to the browser and reinstall Menuhax, and once again the vicious cycle of downgrading begins.
After hours of playing OpenRCT2 multiplayer and doing other nonsense, it finally works.

For a little while I left it on my computer and it gathered dust.
Once I finally got back to my N3DS, I go back to Plailect's guide again.
I get to the SysNAND backup step, but it errors out because the MicroSD is too small. (It was the 4GB one that came with the N3DS)
I get a 32GB MicroSD from my mom, and use that one instead.
Now it works fine.
After I get A9LH installed on my N3DS I try to link my NNID.
But since it was still linked to my O3DS because I hadn't done a system transfer, and they only let you do so from a phone call, so I had to call Nintendo support.

It took about ~15 minutes since they were busy.
They play this music while you're on hold:


I thought that was kinda funny.
A generic female voice would sometimes interrupt it with tips like "Are you contacting this number to buy an Amiibo? If so, please check out our website for a list of official retailers" and "Did you know you can go to the Nintendo website to get your problems solved much quicker?"

I get on the phone with the support person, and he was really nice.
He says I may have to wait for about 2-4 business days for the confirmation email to come.
When I finally get the email I link my N3DS, and start reinstalling my theme and some games.
Pokemon Y, Pokemon OR, and Super Mario 3D Land.
I reimport my saves using SaveDataFiler, and they all work fine.
I also installed Tomodachi Life.
Eventually I re-add some of my friends to my 3DS.
My friends list was very cluttered.
I also figured out how to make Gateway work in A9LH using a 9.2 EmuNAND with firmware90.bin in Luma3DS. (Formerly AuReiNand)

Eventually I make a backup of my MicroSD, and restore it after formatting it to 64k so that it's faster.

Once AuReiNand was renamed to Luma3DS I updated to it.
I have also updated NTR CFW, FBI, Decrypt9WIP, and GodMode9.

I also tried out some GBA games with AGB_FIRM.

I used CIAngel to download a CIA of Scribblenauts Unlimited for the 3DS.



That's almost everything. Of course I will finally get rid of my 9.2 EmuNAND+firmware90.bin once Gateway releases A9LH support.
And once NTR CFW adds support for 11.0 I'll delete the firmware.bin, which would improve boot times.