Hacking Tried the Gateway-3DS 4.1 A9LH firmware -> (semi?) bricked my O3DS XL :/

[gamesquest1]

i imagine your emunand was no good or something, afaik GW rely on you having a 9.x+ emunand already setup on your SD card, that said, now your back on 2.1, just go the normal a9lh setup and chainload GW, there is a guide in the tutorials section iirc that covers using the gateway a9lh .bin file with the public a9lh v2 setup

PS i wouldnt worry about the usual gatehate guys they shit on every thread pertaining to GW like they have invested all their stocks in luma

 

[Aroth]

Oh, you will also need the 4.0b launcher.dat file, as the provided a9lh payload from gateway will not properly load the 4.1b file. Just gets a blackscreen whenever I try it.

So apparently this was user error? I tried like 10 times to load with the 4.1b launcher and every time it would blackscreen after pressing "L+R+Select" to confirm loading Gateway Sysnand Mode. Tried it again a minute ago and it worked. Noticed the microsd card was missing and put it back and and reboot it, got the black screen again. Apparently the 4.1b launcher.dat takes offense to some file that was on the card, probably one of the bluecard files (I suspect the _DSMENU.DAT file was the culprit).

edit: Yep it was the _DSMENU.DAT file. No idea why this wasn't a problem with 4.0b, but is with 4.1b. Oh well.

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i imagine your emunand was no good or something, afaik GW rely on you having a 9.x+ emunand already setup on your SD card, that said, now your back on 2.1, just go the normal a9lh setup and chainload GW, there is a guide in the tutorials section iirc that covers using the gateway a9lh .bin file with the public a9lh v2 setup

PS i wouldnt worry about the usual gatehate guys they shit on every thread pertaining to GW like they have invested all their stocks in luma

Huh, I didn't even consider that him having a 4.x emunand might have been an issue. Good catch.

 

[BadPandaBear]

Hi All, I just tried flashing my 4.1 nand backup and that works flawlessy too, so now I have a 2.1 and a 4.1 sysnand I can flash.

I'm gonna read up on everything and see what I'll do. I did learn today to do more research prior to diving in RTFM

Thanks a bunch all !

(PS : i had a 10.x emunand prior to starting all this)

 

[Atro]

@Aroth : yeah , I have the Gateway Card inserted (when I don't insert it says to insert it so I tried it just to test)
@Thisisallow : I was contemplating just restoring my 4.6 NAND because i'm "scared" of this stuff now, but if I wanted to install the (clean) nand again, how would I do this ? I don't have an option like this in the Gateway Launcher(and this is the only thing that does launch)

Thanks again guys for the suggestions

You can totally restore your 4.x NAND with the Gateway Menu. If you have a clean NAND backup, by all means restore it using the RESTORE function in Gateway's menu.

But it seems this problem was already solved, happy hacking!

 

[Aroth]

You can totally restore your 4.x NAND with the Gateway Menu. If you have a clean NAND backup, by all means restore it using the RESTORE function in Gateway's menu.

But it seems this problem was already solved, happy hacking!

Um, there is no "restore" function in the 4.0 and 4.1 versions of the Gateway Menu. I don't remember there being one in the 3.x versions either, but its been a while so I COULD be wrong.

 

[Atro]

Um, there is no "restore" function in the 4.0 and 4.1 versions of the Gateway Menu. I don't remember there being one in the 3.x versions either, but its been a while so I COULD be wrong.

You press up while selecting the downgrade function.

 

[Aroth]

You press up while selecting the downgrade function.

Yes but the function is labeled as "downgrade", it does not say "restore". So when you tell people to use the RESTORE function, people who weren't aware that it was accessed through the DOWNGRADE option would not know what you meant.

 

[Atro]

Yes but the function is labeled as "downgrade", it does not say "restore". So when you tell people to use the RESTORE function, people who weren't aware that it was accessed through the DOWNGRADE option would not know what you meant.

Yeah, you're right. I only put RESTORE in all caps because it's what gateway's header looks like when you access the restore function. I didn't take into consideration the fact that some wouldn't know about it.

 

[Aroth]

Yeah, you're right. I only put RESTORE in all caps because it's what gateway's header looks like when you access the restore function. I didn't take into consideration the fact that some wouldn't know about it.

It's not a problem. Just wanted to point it out, mainly because I (as someone who IS experienced) initially thought you were saying there was a function labeled "Restore" in the Gateway Menu. If I can make that mistake, someone who is just starting out will too, so I thought it prudent to make sure people knew what to look for.

 

[BadPandaBear]

@Aroth

I'm following the guide you linked to, everyonething went fine.

Just one thing that's not really clear "When the guide asks for "emunand_original.bin", use decrypt9 to backup the emunand from your sd card and use that dump."

I started decrypt9 by pressing x when booting the 3DS. I have the option to go backup sysnand.
But how do I know that i'm backup up the emunand (11.x) from the sd card and not the actual sysnand (2.x) ?
On the screen below it says : SD Card : 13179MB / 14167MB & GW EmuNAND

when i have this backup of my emunand (11.x) i can proceed with

"

1. Open Hourglass9 from arm9loaderhax by holding Start on boot
2. Go to "SysNAND Backup/Restore..."
3. Select "SysNAND Restore"
4. Confirm and restore from emuNAND_original.bin
5. Your device should now be able to boot properly once more...

right ? ....


thanks for the tips


Edit : or should I use "Hourglass9" to make a Emunand Backup (11.x ) and restore that emunand to my sysnand ?

Or am I completely looking at this the wrong way ?

@BadPandaBear

If you manage to restore the original 2.1 backup and want to install the normal A9LH (instead of Gateway's) you should start at the top of this page and continue the guide from there: https://github.com/Plailect/Guide/wiki/Part-5-(arm9loaderhax) When the guide asks for "emunand_original.bin", use decrypt9 to backup the emunand from your sd card and use that dump.

Once that is done, you have two options for setting up the system to load gateway.

1.) https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-using-luma3ds-with-gateway-on-v2-a9lh.431691/#additional-note

This method will require you to hold a button during boot to load Gateway, and is the current (afaik) recommended method.

Or 2.) https://gbatemp.net/threads/using-gateway-on-a9lh-v2.431222/

This method requires you to use a bootmanager to load any payloads you want to have access to. As far as I know, you cannot use Luma3DS's payload chaining if you choose this methoid.

For reference, the arm9loaderhax.bin file that gateway provides, WILL NOT boot normally if you install A9LHv2 via the methods/links in Plailect's guide. (Just tested and I get a black screen if I put it at the root of my sd card.) You HAVE to use an A9LHv2 payload for a boot manager to boot it. The first method uses a stripped down boot manager that can be chained into by Luma3DS and simply loads a payload from "gateway.bin", located in the same folder. The second method uses a full boot manager to load any/all payloads.

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Oh, you will also need the 4.0b launcher.dat file, as the provided a9lh payload from gateway will not properly load the 4.1b file. Just gets a blackscreen whenever I try it.

 

[Aroth]

@Aroth

I'm following the guide you linked to, everyonething went fine.

Just one thing that's not really clear "When the guide asks for "emunand_original.bin", use decrypt9 to backup the emunand from your sd card and use that dump."

I started decrypt9 by pressing x when booting the 3DS. I have the option to go backup sysnand.
But how do I know that i'm backup up the emunand (11.x) from the sd card and not the actual sysnand (2.x) ?
On the screen below it says : SD Card : 13179MB / 14167MB & GW EmuNAND

when i have this backup of my emunand (11.x) i can proceed with

"

1. Open Hourglass9 from arm9loaderhax by holding Start on boot
2. Go to "SysNAND Backup/Restore..."
3. Select "SysNAND Restore"
4. Confirm and restore from emuNAND_original.bin
5. Your device should now be able to boot properly once more...

right ? ....


thanks for the tips


Edit : or should I use "Hourglass9" to make a Emunand Backup (11.x ) and restore that emunand to my sysnand ?

Or am I completely looking at this the wrong way ?

If you are using the latest Decrypt9WIP, you should have several options, including "SysNAND Options" and "EmuNAND Options". If you go into EmuNAND Options, you should have the ability to dump the emunand. If for some reason this is not working for you, Hourglass9 also has EmuNAND backup options.

Once you have the fule you can proceed with where you referenced in your post, simply make sure you restore the emunand you dumped just prior (name isn't important, as long as it is the same file you JUST dumped). Also make sure you ONLY attempt the restoration with the Hourglass9 tool. Any other tool will overwrite the A9LH installation.

 

[BadPandaBear]

Excellent, I'm gonna use Hourglass9 to backup the emunand and restore it to the sysnand. At first I didn't see the options you mention in decrypt9 , but now i do :/ (gotta go to bed )

thanks again !

If you are using the latest Decrypt9WIP, you should have several options, including "SysNAND Options" and "EmuNAND Options". If you go into EmuNAND Options, you should have the ability to dump the emunand. If for some reason this is not working for you, Hourglass9 also has EmuNAND backup options.

Once you have the fule you can proceed with where you referenced in your post, simply make sure you restore the emunand you dumped just prior (name isn't important, as long as it is the same file you JUST dumped). Also make sure you ONLY attempt the restoration with the Hourglass9 tool. Any other tool will overwrite the A9LH installation.

 

[BadPandaBear]

@Aroth : I got it working ! The A9LH with luma and an alternative payload of Gatway. It all works. Very happy

First had some issues with an installed cia that didn't work (black screen) but apparantly it's a notorious one (Rythm Heaven Megamix) I tried to install another CIA and that worked great.

Thanks for all the advice (you and everyone else)

 

[ExavieS]

i have this exact same problem except i dont have a nand backup :c , is there anything i can do ?