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3DS Hacks Guide
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<p>The file <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">boot.firm</code> is what is launched by boot9strap itself after it finishes loading off of NAND. In this case, we are using Luma3DS by <ahref="https://github.com/LumaTeam/">LumaTeam</a> to patch the console, allowing it to run homebrew software.</p>
<li><strong>Checkpoint</strong><em>(backs up and restores save files for 3DS and DS games)</em></li>
<li><strong>Universal-Updater</strong><em>(a homebrew app store for downloading homebrew from the 3DS over Wi-Fi)</em></li>
<li><strong>GodMode9</strong><em>(multipurpose tool which can do NAND and cartridge functions)</em></li>
<li><strong>Homebrew Launcher Loader</strong><em>(launches the Homebrew Launcher)</em></li>
</ul>
<pclass="notice--warning">It is not recommended to skip downloading any of these applications, as many of them will be used later on this page. At the end of this page, your SD card will be cleaned up by removing unnecessary installation files.</p>
<pclass="notice--warning">If your <strong>New 3DS</strong> was on version 2.1.0 before following this guide, you should <ahref="godmode9-usage#restoring-a-nand-backup">restore your NAND backup</a> before continuing. This likely doesn’t apply to you unless you were following this guide in 2017.</p>
<pclass="notice--info">If your previous CFW setup was EmuNAND-based and you wish to move the contents of your EmuNAND/RedNAND to SysNAND, follow <ahref="move-emunand">Move EmuNAND</a> before following this page. If you don’t know what an EmuNAND is, this doesn’t apply to you.</p>
<h3id="what-you-need">What You Need</h3>
<ul>
<li>The latest release of <ahref="https://github.com/astronautlevel2/Anemone3DS/releases/latest">Anemone3DS</a> (the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.cia</code> file)</li>
<li>The v3.7.4 release of <ahref="https://github.com/BernardoGiordano/Checkpoint/releases/tag/v3.7.4">Checkpoint</a> (the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.cia</code> file)</li>
<li>The latest release of <ahref="https://github.com/mariohackandglitch/homebrew_launcher_dummy/releases/latest">Homebrew Launcher Wrapper</a> (the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.cia</code> file)</li>
<li>The latest release of <ahref="https://github.com/Universal-Team/Universal-Updater/releases/latest">Universal-Updater</a> (the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.cia</code> file)</li>
<li>The latest release of <ahref="https://github.com/Steveice10/FBI/releases/latest">FBI</a> (<strong>both</strong> the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.cia</code> and <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.3dsx</code> files)</li>
<li>The latest release of <ahref="https://github.com/d0k3/GodMode9/releases/latest">GodMode9</a> (the GodMode9 <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.zip</code> file)</li>
</ul>
<h3id="instructions">Instructions</h3>
<h4id="section-i---prep-work">Section I - Prep Work</h4>
<p>In this section, you will copy the files necessary to follow the rest of the instructions on this page.</p>
<li>Create a folder named <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">cias</code> on the root of your SD card if it does not already exist</li>
<li>Copy all of the CIA files (<codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Anemone3DS.cia</code>, <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Checkpoint.cia</code>, <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">FBI.cia</code>, <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Homebrew_Launcher.cia</code>, and <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Universal-Updater.cia</code>) to the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">/cias/</code> folder on your SD card</li>
<li>Create a folder named <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">3ds</code> on the root of your SD card if it does not already exist
<li>This folder stores homebrew applications and data; it is different from the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Nintendo 3DS</code> folder that the console automatically generates</li>
<li>Copy <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">FBI.3dsx</code> to the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">/3ds/</code> folder on your SD card</li>
<li>Create a folder named <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">payloads</code> in the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">luma</code> folder on your SD card if it does not already exist</li>
<li>Copy <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">GodMode9.firm</code> from the GodMode9 <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.zip</code> to the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">/luma/payloads/</code> folder on your SD card</li>
<li>Copy the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">gm9</code> folder from the GodMode9 <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">.zip</code> to the root of your SD card</li>
<p>The screenshots below indicate the minimum SD card layout that is required to follow this page. You may have extra files or folders on your SD card, depending on your previous setup or the method that you followed.</p>
<h4id="section-ii---cfw-check">Section II - CFW Check</h4>
<p>As an additional safety measure, we will perform an additional check for custom firmware. If custom firmware is not installed by this point for any reason, the next section may render your console unable to be hacked without external hardware.</p>
<pclass="notice--danger">If you do NOT boot into the Luma3DS configuration menu, custom firmware was not installed on your console. Join <ahref="https://discord.gg/MWxPgEp">Nintendo Homebrew on Discord</a> and ask, in English, for help.</p>
<li>The updater may display a message saying “Your system is up to date” instead of updating. This is normal if you are already up to date; continue to the next section</li>
<li>If this gives you an error, set both your DNS settings and Proxy settings to “Auto”</li>
<p>In this section, you will temporarily replace Download Play with Homebrew Launcher (which we need to launch FBI). Download Play will automatically go back to normal once you reboot your console.</p>
<li>Launch the Download Play application (<imgsrc="https://3ds.hacks.guide/images/download-play-icon.png"alt=""height="24px"width="24px"/>)</li>
<li>Wait until you see the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Nintendo 3DS</code> and <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">Nintendo DS</code> buttons</li>
<li>Press (Left Shoulder) + (D-Pad Down) + (Select) at the same time to open the Rosalina menu</li>
<li>Select “Miscellaneous options”</li>
<li>Select “Switch the hb. title to the current app.”</li>
<li>Press (B) to continue</li>
<li>Press (B) to return to the Rosalina main menu</li>
<li>If your console is stuck on the loading splash screen, you are missing <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">boot.3dsx</code> from the root of your SD card</li>
<p>In this section, you will sync your 3DS internal clock with the actual time and dump the sound firmware (which is necesssary for some homebrew software to use sound properly).</p>
<ol>
<li>Press (Left Shoulder) + (D-Pad Down) + (Select) at the same time to open the Rosalina menu</li>
<li>Select “Miscellaneous options”</li>
<li>Select “Dump DSP firmware”</li>
<li>Press (B) to continue</li>
<li>Select “Nullify user time offset”</li>
<li>Press (B) to continue</li>
<li>Press (B) to return to the Rosalina main menu</li>
<p>In this section, you will use a script to copy some of Luma3DS’s files to internal memory so that they can be accessed, even without an SD card inserted.</p>
<li>If you do not boot into GodMode9, ensure that <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">GodMode9.firm</code> is in <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">/luma/payloads/</code> and that <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">payloads</code> is correctly spelled</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>If you are prompted to create an essential files backup, press (A) to do so, then press (A) to continue once it has completed</li>
<li>If you are prompted to fix the RTC date&time, press (A) to do so, then set the date and time, then press (A) to continue</li>
<li>Press (Home) to bring up the action menu</li>
<li>Select “Scripts…”</li>
<li>Select “GM9Megascript”</li>
<li>Select “Scripts from Plailect’s Guide”</li>
<li>Select “Setup Luma3DS to CTRNAND”</li>
<li>When prompted, press (A) to proceed</li>
<li>Press (A) to unlock SysNAND (lvl1) writing, then input the key combo given</li>
<li>Copy <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><date>_<serialnumber>_sysnand_##.bin</code>, <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><date>_<serialnumber>_sysnand_##.bin.sha</code>, and <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">essential.exefs</code> from the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">/gm9/out/</code> folder on your SD card to a safe location on your computer
<ul>
<li>Copy these backups to multiple locations (such as online file storage, an external hard drive, etc.)</li>
<li>These backups will save you from a brick and/or help you recover files from the NAND image if anything goes wrong in the future</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Delete <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><date>_<serialnumber>_sysnand_##.bin</code> and <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><date>_<serialnumber>_sysnand_##.bin.sha</code> from the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">/gm9/out/</code> folder on your SD card after copying it
<ul>
<li>The other backup files are negligible in size and may be kept on your SD card for ease of access</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>If you have it, copy the <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">/luma/backups/</code> folder on your SD card to a safe location on your computer</li>
<h3id="information-and-notes">Information and Notes</h3>
<divclass="notice--info">
<p>Here are some key combos that you should know:</p>
<ul>
<li>Holding (Select) on boot will launch the Luma3DS configuration menu.</li>
<li>Holding (Start) on boot will launch GodMode9, or if you have multiple payloads in <codeclass="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">/luma/payloads/</code>, the Luma3DS chainloader.</li>
<li>By default, pressing (Left Shoulder) + (Down D-Pad) + (Select) while in 3DS mode will open the Rosalina menu, where you can check system information, take screenshots, enable cheats, and more. This can be changed from the Rosalina menu.</li>
<li>Holding (Start) + (Select) + (X) on boot will make the notification LED show a color for debug purposes. See the <ahref="https://github.com/SciresM/boot9strap/releases/tag/1.4">changelog</a> for a list.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<pclass="notice--info">See <ahref="https://3ds.eiphax.tech/tips.html">here</a> for some suggestions on things to do with custom firmware.</p>
<pclass="notice--info">For information on using GodMode9’s various features, check out the <ahref="godmode9-usage">GodMode9 Usage</a> and <ahref="dumping-titles-and-game-cartridges">Dumping Titles and Game Cartridges</a> pages.</p>
