Hardware Random freezes, stuck on "Preparing to start HOME menu"

[jorsh]

Hello friends.

My first post here.

I bought a few "for parts" units for repair. One of them, allegedly, had only a broken screen and hinge and everything else worked.

I replaced all and every time I tried to access anything from the menu (setting, game, et-cetera) the system would freeze.

I then tried to "reset" the home menu, (holding: L+R+B+Down(keypad)) hoping that this would fix it. It didn't and now it's stuck on a "Preparing to start HOME menu screen" with a progress bar that just never fills up.


Is the unit bricked?

I tried resetting every cable and connector and everything looked fine

 

[Merpephony]

I can't help, but I can say that I am the exact same situation. 3ds bought broken, wouldn't load apps, now stuck on "Preparing to start the HOME Menu..."

 

[Merpephony]

I realize that it is probably a little late, but I found the solution to this problem.
You need a ds flashcart (I recommend r4 gold, which can be bought for as little as 10$)
and a second 3ds running boot9strap

basically you use the first 3ds to prep the flashcart, then use the flash cart to install godmode9, and then use godmode9 to manually update.

First you use the second 3ds to flash ntrboot to the flashcart with this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/flashing-ntrboot-(3ds-multi-system)

second, you follow this guide with the first 3ds
3ds.hacks.guide/installing-boot9strap-(ntrboot)

then this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/ctrtransfer

then you finish with this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/finalizing-setup

this should be able to fix any 3ds that is incapable of running recovery mode

 

[cHiLLz747]

I realize that it is probably a little late, but I found the solution to this problem.
You need a ds flashcart (I recommend r4 gold, which can be bought for as little as 10$)
and a second 3ds running boot9strap

basically you use the first 3ds to prep the flashcart, then use the flash cart to install godmode9, and then use godmode9 to manually update.

First you use the second 3ds to flash ntrboot to the flashcart with this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/flashing-ntrboot-(3ds-multi-system)

second, you follow this guide with the first 3ds
3ds.hacks.guide/installing-boot9strap-(ntrboot)

then this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/ctrtransfer

then you finish with this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/finalizing-setup

this should be able to fix any 3ds that is incapable of running recovery mode

Post automatically merged: Feb 12, 2024

Is there any video tutorials on this ? I have this problem now but I’m not a savvy person when it comes to reading all the instructions that you offered.
Thanks in advance.

Post automatically merged: Feb 12, 2024

Hello friends.

My first post here.

I bought a few "for parts" units for repair. One of them, allegedly, had only a broken screen and hinge and everything else worked.

I replaced all and every time I tried to access anything from the menu (setting, game, et-cetera) the system would freeze.

I then tried to "reset" the home menu, (holding: L+R+B+Down(keypad)) hoping that this would fix it. It didn't and now it's stuck on a "Preparing to start HOME menu screen" with a progress bar that just never fills up.


Is the unit bricked?

I tried resetting every cable and connector and everything looked fine

Have you found a solution for this problem?

 

[cHiLLz747]

Hello friends.

My first post here.

I bought a few "for parts" units for repair. One of them, allegedly, had only a broken screen and hinge and everything else worked.

I replaced all and every time I tried to access anything from the menu (setting, game, et-cetera) the system would freeze.

I then tried to "reset" the home menu, (holding: L+R+B+Down(keypad)) hoping that this would fix it. It didn't and now it's stuck on a "Preparing to start HOME menu screen" with a progress bar that just never fills up.


Is the unit bricked?

I tried resetting every cable and connector and everything looked fine

Have you found a solution?

Post automatically merged: Feb 22, 2024

I realize that it is probably a little late, but I found the solution to this problem.
You need a ds flashcart (I recommend r4 gold, which can be bought for as little as 10$)
and a second 3ds running boot9strap

basically you use the first 3ds to prep the flashcart, then use the flash cart to install godmode9, and then use godmode9 to manually update.

First you use the second 3ds to flash ntrboot to the flashcart with this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/flashing-ntrboot-(3ds-multi-system)

second, you follow this guide with the first 3ds
3ds.hacks.guide/installing-boot9strap-(ntrboot)

then this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/ctrtransfer

then you finish with this guide
3ds.hacks.guide/finalizing-setup

this should be able to fix any 3ds that is incapable of running recovery mode

It didn’t work.

 

[Kwyjor]

It didn’t work.

If you want help, you're going to have to be a lot more detailed than that.

What did you do? What happened when you tried it? Be as detailed as possible.

 

[cHiLLz747]

Hello friends.

My first post here.

I bought a few "for parts" units for repair. One of them, allegedly, had only a broken screen and hinge and everything else worked.

I replaced all and every time I tried to access anything from the menu (setting, game, et-cetera) the system would freeze.

I then tried to "reset" the home menu, (holding: L+R+B+Down(keypad)) hoping that this would fix it. It didn't and now it's stuck on a "Preparing to start HOME menu screen" with a progress bar that just never fills up.


Is the unit bricked?

I tried resetting every cable and connector and everything looked fine

Just figured it out ! I watched a YouTube video from tech James called “ old 3ds black screen of death (simple fix) 2018” just save my 3ds xl.

 

[Kwyjor]

I guess that it's nice that it happened to work for you, but no one is ever going to recommend that someone watch a six-year-old Youtube video to fix a 3DS problem.

 

[DarKRat0s]

hi

hope someone could help me, i have the same issue im stuck at "preparing to start the home menu" i already did the ctrtransfer with godmode9 and decrypt9, also i did the lazarus trick and even i try the gamecoin brick trick, but again, same issue
my old 3ds xl is USA region, i dont have any backup
i try renaming the data folder and deleting the data folder, but again, same screen