InsaneNutter
Resident Nutter
If you have a 3DS / 3DS XL / 2DS or the New 3DS XL on any firmware from 4.x to 9.2.0-20 you can follow this guide to hack your 3DS and able you to play homebrew and backup your games as Roms to allow you to play them all from a single flash card or even the internal SD card as CIA installs.
To follow this guide you will need the following:
- 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS on a firmware version between 4.x and 9.2
- Gateway Flashcard
- Micro SDHC card for use in the Gateway flashcard
- SDHC card inside your 3DS
Your shopping list:
1. Gateway 3DS Flash Card: YeahGeek - They appear to be the cheapest "reliable" place to purchase a Gateway from. You can find many places stocking the Gateway, however YeahGeek are half the price of some of the places in the UK / US, which is why i used them. My order was shipped out around 12 hours after ordering and it arrived here in the UK from China within 12 days. YeahGeek use Swiss Post so i was able to track my packages progress to the UK boarder, where it was delivered to me next day via Royal Mail. I thought that was really good considering it arrived in the middle of December, which is the busiest time of the year for the postal service.
2. Micro SD Card: You can use a Micro SD, SDHC or SDXC card in the Gateway, the larger the better if you wish to backup all your games and play them off the same Micro SD card. Some 3DS games can be up to 4gb, however the average appears to be between 1gb and 2gb. I think the Sandisk 64GB Ultra Micro SD (SDXC) Card represents best value at the moment, it's fast and costs about £25 here in the UK.
Amazon UK: Sandisk 64GB Ultra Micro SD (SDXC) Card
Amazon USA: Sandisk 64GB Ultra Micro SD (SDXC) Card
3. (Optional) SD Card: You already have an SDHC card inside your 3DS, however if you want to convert all your games to CIA's and launch them from the 3DS's home screen, like an Eshop game, then you are going to require a large SD card for the 3DS also. It is important this SD card is also fast as you are going to be running emunand from it, this is essentially a hacked 3DS system firmware which allows the Gateway flashcard and all the amazing homebrew to work. For this i think the Transcend 64GB Ultimate SDXC Ultra High Speed SD card represents best value at the moment. Read speeds are 95MB/s and write speeds are 65MB/s.
Amazon UK: Transcend 64GB Ultimate SDXC UHS Ultra High Speed
Amazon USA: Transcend 64GB Ultimate SDXC UHS Ultra High Speed
Preparing to hack the Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS:
Before hacking:
1. Make sure you have a valid wireless profile configured on your 3DS, but do not switch the wireless on yet. To configure a wireless connection go to System Settings > Internet Settings > Connection Settings > New Connection.
Do not update the 3DS though or leave Wi-Fi turned on, the 3DS will download the latest update and nag you about installing it all the time, only turn Wi-Fi on to perform the exploit, never just have it turned on, especially with the 3DS in sleep mode.
2. Format your Micro SD for the Gateway Flashcard as ExFAT, this is required so you can place files over 4GB in size on them. Windows 7, 8 and 10 natively supports this from the format menu, which you can access by right clicking on the SD card in My Computer / This PC:
3. Now simply copy a .3ds (rom) to the Micro SD card, this will be used for testing the Gateway is working later on. You can download some 3DS Demo roms here.
4. The SD Card inside your 3DS should be FAT32 formatted, the 3DS will not recognize ExFAT. If you have purchased a new SD Card to use inside the 3DS and wish to format this to FAT32 on Windows, have a look at my tutorial here: Format SD Card to FAT32 on Windows 7,8 or 10 [Includes Micro SDHC / SDXC Cards]
If you are using your existing 3DS's SD Card you do not need to format it, however regardless of if you are using a new or old SD Card you now need to copy the Launcher.dat from the Gateway Firmware package to your 3DS's SD card, this should be placed in the root of the SD Card, as show in the screenshot below.
The latest Gateway firmware can always be downloaded form the Gateway website: Gateway 3DS Downloads
Hacking the Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS:
The exploit we are going to use to enable the Gateway Flash card to work requires the 3DS's web browser loading a page to trigger the payload we have just coped to the 3DS's internal SD Card, if you have been following this tutorial from the start you should have everything in place to trigger the exploit now.
To start you want to load the 3DS's web browser:
To make things quicker and easier i personally find editing an existing bookmark is the easiest way to trigger the exploit, to do this press menu:
Then click the bookmarks icon:
Now edit one of the existing bookmarks by clicking the spanner icon next to it, it doesn't really matter which one:
I simply called the bookmark Gateway, the important thing here is to change the address to:
Code:
http://go.gateway-3ds.com
Now you need to turn Wi-Fi on using the switch on the side of your 3DS, otherwise you will get this notification below:
To trigger the exploit, with the 3DS's Wi-Fi turned on you simply want to press Menu > Bookmarks > then click on the Gateway bookmark we added, this will then trigger the exploit to load the Gateway flashcard:
All been well you should now see the Gateway menu, simply press "A" on the Boot Gateway Mode button:
You will be informed that your Gateway 3DS flashcard will now be updated, press "Start" to start the update and do not touch the 3DS until the update has finished:
When the update has finished press "A" to exit:
You now be returned to the Gateway Menu, this time select boot Gateway Mode again and you will be returned to the 3DS home screen:
However the difference now is that you will actually be able to use you Gateway 3DS flashcard:
To activate the flashcard press the "Select Button" and you should now see the Gateway menu has appeared:
Use the D-pad to select a rom, then press "A" to load it, your 3DS should present you with the games launcher like any other 3DS game:
Once you have confirmed the Gateway card is working we now need to make a backup of our 3DS's system nand, this is vital as it will be the only way to recover your 3DS if you are ever unfortunate enough to brick the 3DS.
To do this you want to power off the 3DS, then power it on again, load the web browser and go to the webpage you bookmarked to launch the exploit.
When back at the Gateway menu you need to select Backup System Nand:
Press "Start" to backup the System nand:
This will take a few minutes to complete, when the backup has finished press "A" to exit:
You now want to power the 3DS off and connect the 3DS's internal SD Card to your PC.
It is vital that you copy everything off the internal SD card as the next step in this tutorial will erase everything from the SD Card.
You should have backed up the following:
- DCIM - This contains any 3D photos / game screenshots you have taken.
- Nintendo 3DS - This contains any Eshop titles, demos, patches and saves for games you have downloaded.
- Nand.bin - This is your nand backup you just made, it is VITAL you keep this safe.
So backup the DCIM, Nintendo 3DS and most importantly the NAND.bin to your PC. I would recommend you burn this to a CD too or back it up on a cloud storage account:
Now you have backed up everything on the 3DS you are ready to setup Emunand, essentially Emunand is an emulated / virtual nand that will run off the 3DS's internal SD Card.
In the future when you run the web browser exploit the 3DS will re boot in to Emunand, this has a lot of restrictions removed compared to Sysnand. You can safely update Emunand to later 3DS firmware versions such as 9.4 and still keep your Sysnand on firmware 9.2 or lower.
This means you are able to play all the latest games and access the Nintendo Eshop to patch your games without actually updating the Sysnand, if you updated Sysnand that would patch the web browser exploit which allows your Gateway Flashcard to function.
So essentially you will have two nands:
Sysnand - you will never update or use this. It will simply load when the 3DS is powered on after been fully turned off. All you will do is load the web browser and visit the Gateway page to launch the vulnerability that will re boot the 3DS in to Emunand.
Emunand - you will use this all the time to play your games, access the Nintendo Eshop and load homebrew. You can also install CIA's in Emunand, if one of them happens to mess your Emunand up its not a big deal as you can happily re create Emunand or restore a backup. If a CIA install messed your Sysnand up you would have a bricked 3DS. I hope this explains why its important you use Emunand for everything and ignore Sysnand.
Setting up Emunand:
As usual launch the 3DS web browser exploit again, however this time once you have done so hold the left trigger, this will stop the 3DS booting in to a patched Sysnand and allow you to setup Emunand. Move along the menu and select "Format Emunand"
As i mentioned earlier this will format your SD Card and erase everything on it. So if you never backed up your Nand and other content from the SD Card now is the time to do so.
Press start to begin setting Emunand up:
This can take a while, when it has done press "A":
Now boot the 3DS in to Gateway mode from the Gateway menu:
Don't do anything else and go to System settings, you should see now your system software version begins with GW3D. If you see this then you are in Emunand.
There is currently a bug which will take you back to Sysnand when you exit the system settings in Emunand, so be very careful about what you do next.
[Note: 18/04/15]: It's not currently possible to update your emunand online as is described in the next part of this tutorial, Gateway does not support the latest 9.6 firmware.
For a method of updating emunand offline to 9.5.0-23 (The last firmware version Gateway currently supports) please follow this tutorial:Gateway Emunand Offline Update for Nintendo 3DS / 3DS XL and 2DS
I have placed the part of this tutorial you can not currently follow in the spoiler tag below, once you have updated offline you can resume following this tutorial, the end result is still the same and your emunand will be as up to date as it can be at the moment.
Ensuing you see GW3D as the firmware version click other settings:
Move along to section number 4 and click on System Update:
Say yes to connect to the internet and update the system:
Agree and accept the update:
When the update has finished the 3DS will re start and you will be back in Sysnand, load the web browser and open the Gateway webpage to re boot the 3DS in to Emunand:
The 3DS will prepare a few things:
When it has go in to System Settings and ensure you are now on firmware 9.4, this should be shown as GW 9.4.0 as you are on Emunand.
Just remember when you exit system settings you will be back on the Sysnand and will need to use the web browser exploit to boot back in to Emunand:
Move along to section number 4 and click on System Update:
Say yes to connect to the internet and update the system:
Agree and accept the update:
When the update has finished the 3DS will re start and you will be back in Sysnand, load the web browser and open the Gateway webpage to re boot the 3DS in to Emunand:
The 3DS will prepare a few things:
When it has go in to System Settings and ensure you are now on firmware 9.4, this should be shown as GW 9.4.0 as you are on Emunand.
Just remember when you exit system settings you will be back on the Sysnand and will need to use the web browser exploit to boot back in to Emunand:
Congratulations you have setup your 3DS! below i still just give you some tips and advice to ensure you do not mess anything up.
Tip 1: Make it easy to distinguish between Sysnand and Emunand:
To do this i would simply create 3 folders on the home screen, of your Sysnand. Create a folder called Sysnand, another called Y and another called S, you can then arrange them like below so it will be pretty obvious when you are in System nand as you can easily see this on screen:
Obviously arrange any items on your Emunand differently then you can easily distinguish between the two
Tip 2: Never use Sysnand:
You really do not need to be using Sysnand, do everything in Emunand, then if you break something its not the end of the world, you can install CIA safely in Emunand using BigBlueBox:
Tip 3: Remember this hack is still pretty new, has bugs and isn't idiot proof
Now im not calling anyone an idiot here, however as ive tried to stress above you cant be totally careless using your 3DS, it is possible to loose the ability to run this hack by updaing Sysnand so you need to be careful, i certainly would not let a younger brother / sister or even anyone else use the 3DS who does not totally understand what this hack has done to the 3DS and how it works.
When i talk about bugs I mean if you are in Emunand and go in to System settings you will end up back in Sysnand after you exist System Settings, which is why earlier in the guide i wanted you to make it pretty obvious which nand you are in by arranging your home screens so you can instantly tell the difference between the two.
Finally when a new official System Update is released by Nintendo you can update your Emunand, but only after Gateway have updated the firmware for the Gateway 3DS card, which they usually do pretty quickly. This is why im saying you need to be careful and have some understanding of what you can / cant do, which is why i wouldnt recommend letting anyone else use your 3DS.
Tip 4: Launch the Gateway Exploit offline
If you are going somewhere which might not have internet access at all, or unreliable internet you can use the Go Gateway! Android App to launch the exploit, even in the middle of no where with no mobile internet access. All you need is the Android app running on an Android device.
Tip 5: Play a retail game cartridge in your higher firmware Emunand
When launching the exploit to use your Gateway card via the web browser hold the left button down and then instead of launching Gateway Mode launch Classic Mode. This will let you boot into Emunand to play physical cartridges, however your Gateway cart does not work in this mode. Don't forget to install any game updates from the E-Shop, as trying to from the game itself may kick you back to Sysnand.
