Booting a hacked 3DS into OFW?

[Gep_Etto]

I decided that I'm getting an R4 style flashcart as a gift for a friend of mine who owns a stock 3DS. He's afraid of tampering with his system, so he refused my offer to install Luma3DS on his console, but he's fine with a flashcart.

I'm going to buy this flashcart for him online somewhere and set it up with YSmenu and a handful of games, but I don't want to give him a gift that doesn't work, so I'd like to test for myself that whatever cartridge I end up buying will work on a stock 3DS.

Since I don't have a stock 3DS, I'd like to know if it's possible to boot my hacked 3DS into the original firmware, like we can on the Switch using hekate, or if there's some way to temporarily disable whatever parts of Luma3DS affect loading NDS cartridges, as I remember reading somewhere that some flashcarts that don't work on a stock 3DS do work under Luma. If neither of these things is possible, then is there a simple way to un-hack and later re-hack the console? That way I could test the flashcart on a "clean" system and be sure that everything's flowers and peaches before I give it to him.

Thanks in advance for reading this far, for any help and suggestions, and generally for still being active on a 3DS forum in mid-2022. You're awesome.

 

[AmandaRose]

1. Run Godmod9 and follow the path CTRNAND -> title -> 00040138 -> 20000002 -> content -> ???????? app -> NCCH image option -> Mount image to drive -> exefs ->. firm -> Copy (0: / gm9 / out)

2. Rename the '.firm' file on the SD card for example to native.firm and copy it to the SD folder: / luma / payload /

3.Now, if you turn on the 3ds and hold down START until the menu pops then select native.firm, the official firmware will be then be loaded

 

[Kwyjor]

You can use the "safety test" described in https://3ds.hacks.guide/uninstall-cfw to temporarily boot into OFW.

It is a bad idea to do this regularly, for reasons I'm not entirely clear on. (I have some vague idea that if the console tries to download an update during this "safety test" that it can overwrite CFW, but I'm not completely sure how that works – and there probably will not be any more updates anyway.)

 

[Gep_Etto]

Thank you both very much! Look at how fast the replies were, this really is a great community.

1. Run Godmod9 and follow the path CTRNAND -> title -> 00040138 -> 20000002 -> content -> ???????? app -> NCCH image option -> Mount image to drive -> exefs ->. firm -> Copy (0: / gm9 / out)

2. Rename the '.firm' file on the SD card for example to native.firm and copy it to the SD folder: / luma / payload /

3.Now, if you turn on the 3ds and hold down START until the menu pops then select native.firm, the official firmware will be then be loaded

I don't have a "2000002" folder inside my "CTRNAND/title/00040138/" folder. I do, however, have a "00000002" and a "00000202" folders, both of which have the subfolders all the way to "content/ ????????.app/" (00000069.app and 0000000b.app, respectively) with a file called ".firm" inside.

Booting the 00000202 folder's .firm led me to an error screen in japanese (my 3DS is not from Japan and the language is not set to japanese) and I had to force-shutdown the 3DS to get out of it.

Booting the 00000002 folder's firm led me to my HOME menu, from where I successfully loaded the flashcart and launched a game that seemed to be working fine after playing a few minutes. But since I went into a different folder than you said, I don't want to assume that this means the cartridge will work on a stock 3DS. Does it mean that? What's the difference between all these numbered folders anyway? What's their purpose?

You can use the "safety test" described in https://3ds.hacks.guide/uninstall-cfw to temporarily boot into OFW.

It is a bad idea to do this regularly, for reason I'm not entirely clear on. (I have some vague idea that if the console tries to download an update during this "safety test" that it can overwrite CFW, but I'm not completely sure how that works – and there probably will not be any more updates anyway.)

Well, I passed both tests, being able to go into the DS connection settings page and the eShop, but neither test approached the issue of whether the cartridge works or not. Still, it's good to know that my 3DS's emulated DS is working fine.

 

[AmandaRose]

Thank you both very much! Look at how fast the replies were, this really is a great community.


I don't have a "2000002" folder inside my "CTRNAND/title/00040138/" folder. I do, however, have a "00000002" and a "00000202" folders, both of which have the subfolders all the way to "content/ ????????.app/" (00000069.app and 0000000b.app, respectively) with a file called ".firm" inside.

Booting the 00000202 folder's .firm led me to an error screen in japanese (my 3DS is not from Japan and the language is not set to japanese) and I had to force-shutdown the 3DS to get out of it.

Booting the 00000002 folder's firm led me to my HOME menu, from where I successfully loaded the flashcart and launched a game that seemed to be working fine after playing a few minutes. But since I went into a different folder than you said, I don't want to assume that this means the cartridge will work on a stock 3DS. Does it mean that? What's the difference between all these numbered folders anyway? What's their purpose?


Well, I passed both tests, being able to go into the DS connection settings page and the eShop, but neither test approached the issue of whether the cartridge works or not. Still, it's good to know that my 3DS's emulated DS is working fine.

Yes sorry that should have been 00000002 folder. Sorry for the confusion

 

[Gep_Etto]

Oh, so that means it'll work, then? That's great! Thanks again for helping out. I'd probably never have figured this out on my own.

 

[AmandaRose]

Oh, so that means it'll work, then? That's great! Thanks again for helping out. I'd probably never have figured this out on my own.

Yep it will work just fine.

 

[Gep_Etto]

!solved

 

[Kwyjor]

Well, I passed both tests, being able to go into the DS connection settings page and the eShop, but neither test approached the issue of whether the cartridge works or not.

I don't know what you mean. There's nothing in particular there about the eShop. Did you not read far enough? I said to use the "safety test", i.e. section III, which boots your system into OFW.

 

[Gep_Etto]

I don't know what you mean. There's nothing in particular there about the eShop. Did you not read far enough? I said to use the "safety test", i.e. section III, which boots your system into OFW.

Oh, I see now. There were two tests in Section II - DS Mode Tests: "DS Connection Settings Test" and"DS Download Play Test". I immediately assumed that these were the ones you meant and did not read further. It just goes to show that what my Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Brown used to say was actually true: When you ASSUME, you make an ASS of U and ME. Funny that a kindergarten teacher would use such language in front of impressionable little children, but I guess that's just what happens when I completely fabricate a story.

Anyway, I followed the instructions for the Section III test and managed to load a .nds file from my flashcart while booted in "stock mode". It worked perfectly. So between this test and booting @AmandaRose 's .firm file, I've twice gotten confirmation that my flashcart will work on a stock 3DS, and I can use the same methods again to test the flashcart I will buy for my friend. Thank you very much, you gave me exactly what I wanted and I couldn't be happier.

 

[DinohScene]

OP requested lock.