The Case of the 3DS Part 2: What Do I Need?
Now, you are probably wondering what tools you need and what little specifics you have to check so that you can have fun with your 3DS as well. Some of you may already know what to do and what’s out there, but some may not. I’m here to give you a nudge in the right direction!
This part of the series will be a guiding hand for the what’s and the how’s of the gadgets you need. (If you missed Part 1: Clicky clicky!)
The ‘Nitty Gritty’:
If you are wondering what gear you need to get started with having some home made fun, the first and obvious place is to start with a Nintendo 3DS console. But, any old console won’t do.
For these tricks, as I mentioned in Part 1, you are going to need a unit on a particular firmware. For now, the only supported firmware for the Gateway 3DS (and thus the juicy ARM11 experiments) is at a minimum: version 4.1, and at a maximum: version 4.5.
If you are lucky enough to own a unit on this firmware, then all you need now is a Gateway 3DS card set. I would personally recommend you go to the website (here) and purchase one from one of their listed resellers. This way you can rest easy knowing that you are not getting a clone and all of the issues that have come with owning one.
If you are not so lucky, you may be able to find a local game retailer who is likely to have old stock and try your luck, or you may be able to track down a slightly used, or even unused unit on an auction site such as eBay. Failing that, you may be able to approach your local game store and have someone test a few units to find out the firmware version for you (use your charms *wink*).
If you are below 4.1, grab yourself a game cartridge from a local store, or a friend that has an update in the range of 4.1 to 4.5. For a good reference, check here.
OK, that is easy (enough) – what else do I need? Well, you are also going to want to purchase or reuse a microSD card for both the Red and Blue Gateway 3DS cartridges. Amazon is always a good choice in that department (you don’t want dodgy fake flash devices!).
After that, you need only follow the directions packed in with the latest firmware for the cartridges, and you are ready to rock.
But I’m On New Firmware. Can I Play Too?
Well, for now you can’t. But there are glimmers of hope on the horizon for you, if you cannot afford a second console for Homebrew (or cannot justify it).
Gateway 3DS has made mention on their website that with the success of their latest firmware revision and the disappointment on the change of cryptography for certain files on firmware 7.2, that they are actively investigating getting their tools to run on this firmware. Now, we don’t really have any reason to doubt them, but we don’t like to support vapourware here, so don’t go assuming you are out of jail free, just yet.
But what about Smealum? Hasn’t he got an ace up his sleeve? Well, the word on the street (see: twitter) is that his current project SSpwn should work fine on 7.2 as long as useful user mode exploit is found and combined with it, to which he informs that he has several leads.
OK, What About My New Games?
Well, the Gateway 3DS supports what they call EmuNAND. To put it simply; this system works by dumping a copy of the consoles NAND using some tools they have built into their solution. This dump is then written to a partition on the SD card so that when the user chooses to launch from EmuNAND, the system soft resets (part of the ROP chain we discussed in Part 1) and reads from the SD card partition (EmuNAND) instead of the actual NAND.
This redirection allows us to update to firmwares higher then 4.1 – 4.5 and play our newer game cartridges and write them pack to the SD partition, instead of our actual console (special care needs to be taken to always make sure you are in the EmuNAND when performing ANY update operation. This is denoted by a GW in front of the version number in System Settings when you are booted into EmuNAND)
Currently this works up to firmware 7.1 and is not recommended for use with firmware 7.2. This is because firmware 7.2 made some changes to the System Settings and Nintendo Network ID applications, as well as the eShop. Yellow8 provided more information on the actual firmware changes, including their modifications to system modules, NATIVE_FIRM, some titles, etc. For more technical information on the 7.x NCCH cryptography change, please refer to the 3DBrew wiki.
What Other Tricks Can It Perform?
For all the lovers of foreign games, you can also use the Gateway 3DS cartridge to run your imported game cartridges (yay JRPGs!). The support for this is now built in to the Gateway 3DS tools. All you need to do is launch into Gateway mode, chuck in your favourite foreign game and play until your heart’s content.
We also now have the ability to make backups of our game cartridges as well, making sure that if anything were to happen to our precious cartridges (flood, plague of bees, laser-dinosaurs) we have a backup of our purchased content that we can use (consult your local laws, of course!). Because of how the Gateway makes copies of the cartridges, these can be used for online play. Something the illegal dumps available online cannot do (unless you go breaking more laws and inserting copyright code (title IDs) into them… and that is very, very bad).
Of course, as we mentioned there is also…. homebrew! Now you got your hands dirty a little by getting your console all set up and our Gateway cards all set up, we are ready to move on to making our very own tasty brews!
I Want To Be The Very Best! (At DIY)
By now you are probably chomping at the bit to get some of your own code compiled and running, or getting some cool hardware mods set up for your console and for tricking your games.
The final installment of this series will focus on how you can set up your own development environment so that you can compile some other peoples projects and run them on your console – and – so that you can also bash out some of your own code and see what you can make!
We’ll cover how to wire up your own NAND reader and writer so that you can downgrade your console should the need ever arise and we will also cover a neat hardware and software project for doing some trickery in your streetpass enabled games.
Stay tuned for the techie conclusion in, “The Case of the 3DS Part 3: Weekend Warrior Workshop”…
Can’t wait for Part 3!
Me either :). I can’t wait to help arm people with some really cool tools.
So, now Gateway 3DS are deemed safe for use? I thought I read in a few articles back, about the dangers of the Gateway 3DS?
There was a bit of a scare around some anti-clone code built into a beta firmware release, that was designed to brick cloned devices (R4i 3DS Gold Deluxe for example) if they were using Gateway firmware. This backfired and (apparently) under very rare circumstances caused a very select few legitimate units to brick innocent 3DS consoles.
There was also a lot of fallout post the 2.2 preview about Gateway cards being sold as legitimate when they were not. This lead a lot of people to believe these minority reports were false, given how easily fake cards had been sold (now that we knew for sure).
It has matured quickly and is now quite a stable product. I have been using one since Day 1 shipping with absolutely no problems. They are considered safe for use.
thanks for the clarification. Needed it. And thanks for the two awesome articles! Keep up th good work, guys! I appreciate the time and effort you guys spend to explain these stuffs 😀 Kudos!
Thanks for the kind words.
I feel I need to clarify that it is, of course, my opinion. Many consider the device safe, many don’t because of how the company has handled itself. At the end of the day you should do some research and decide for yourself. 🙂
The guest bloggers’ opinion and my opinion might differ on some topics.
At a personal level I don’t like the idea of hardware hacks like the Gateway 3DS, but everyone’s entitled to their opinion, and this article is extremely informational so I saw no good reason to prevent josh_axey from writing about this.
For clarifications sake, I do agree. I don’t like hardware such as this morally, for two reasons. One is rampant piracy, the other is the device specific nature of it. But given that it can let us play imported games and now ARM11 homebrew I’m happy to have it in our tool belt until we no longer need it (very excited for Smealum’s SSpwn). These last few weeks are the most I’ve used my 3DS ever (besides a few Japanese titles and Pokemon).
But u even provide links 🙁
And when i said wololo i meant the site as a whole. Every blogger/hacker/member etc.
its informational indeed, about how to play pirated games on the 3ds! Only if it would be more like about the proccess the gateway team followed, i would accept that.
You might want to give Part 1 & 2 another read through, for clarification. I have only linked devices and software you will need to get it running for our finale in Part 3, where we work on our own code. Check out Part 1 for more info on the process that got the product to this stage. I can’t exclaim how much I do not support piracy. I even poke fun at it in the article.
You will have people convince you that Gateway is the safest bit of hardware you can buy to “hack” your 3DS, but any company that purposely bricks legitimate customers 3DS’s are in no way to be considered safe.
But people have to make their own choices, buy a Gateway to play Pirate games and hope the creators don’t release bricking firmware again, or wait until a decent dev releases a software version.
I should rephrase to: I personally consider it safe for use (I guess I am mad 🙂 ). And yes, bring on SSpwn, or another solution.
The bricking code didn’t affect legitimate users if they didn’t run the diagnostics. It wasn’t targeted at LEGITMATE users, but clone users. A lot of people spread lies and misinformation at the time.
Was it stupid to “brick” the consoles regardless of intention? Absolutely. Was it as nefarious as you like to make it? Absolutely not. And they also have made good on replacing LEGITIMATE users’ 3DS’.
I’m not a Gateway booster, even though it sounds like I’m defending them. I just loathe idiots that spread misinformation and outright lies to make themselves feel superior.
lol last time i checked, this site wasn’t the Gateway “male chicken” riding site, perhaps you should go to a forum dedicated website for that Gateway gratification.
This bricking code did indeed affect legitimate users, that’s why there was such an uproar about it, if it had just affected the clones, not as much would have been said.
I do find it ironic and contradictory when you say it “didn’t affect legitimate users”, then say “And they also have made good on replacing LEGITIMATE users’ 3DS’”, makes you look a lot like a donkey 🙂
Oh and if you are willing to lie for a company, then you are indeed a booster for that company, also i don’t need to “feel” superior, i already am <3
@Jackattack : no reasonable business would put such dangerous code in their own software for the sake of punishing their competition. This is a dangerous move, and nobody can guarantee this code didn’t have a bug that would impact their “legit” users.
The “idiots spreading minsinformation” (that includes me) probably have a better grasp at the actual risk of this code than you do. I’ll stick to my words: Gateway3DS has proven that it is not a safe device.
Wololo doesnt support piracy right? Pfffff
99,9% of the users who will purchase gateway are gonna play pirated 3ds roms. Wololo.net knows that piracy “sells” lol. I mean many people pirate games and how-to-pirate articles are popular. So wololo.net does support piracy in a sence. They give “food” to wonna be pirates. Dont pretend like its all about the homwbrews. Its like 1% about homebrews and 99% about piracy.
If we were in this for piracy, we would have talked about the Gateway 3DS a long time ago, don’t you think?
Or do you think it’s a coincidence we are talking “positively” about it just now?
So why are u talking about gateway 3ds now? Again the article IS informative about the gateway but please dont pretend that users u will follow the “guide” are gonna use it for non-pirate reasons. YOU EVEN PROVIDE LINKS. Come on…
We are talking about it now because it supports homebrew.
I’ve been driving this site for 6 years now, all the efforts I’ve personally put in software have been on an open source homebrew game and an open source homebrew loader that cannot be used for piracy. I think this history gives me and the bloggers here the benefit of the doubt when you might think we are all of a sudden condoning piracy.
The fact that we don’t agree with 99% of the users of the Gateway3DS doesn’t mean we can’t speak to the remaining 1% users. It’s always what this site has been about, and that hasn’t changed.
Ok. I see your point. 🙂
Loved your answer.
Links to the products website, yes. Please tell me what way you are conveniently and cleanly executing your own ARM11 programs if you have one. Currently and unfortunately this hardware solution that was initially aimed at pirates is the only public and convenient way for most amateurs and end users.
Anyone with a brain knows that Gateway is a piracy enabling piece of sh*t, though i do not see this article as “supporting” piracy, what it is doing is talking abut the 3DS and unfortunately the crappy Gateway is part of that.
Forgot to mention, i cannot get used to this theme 🙁
I would have agreed some time ago. Its one and only use was piracy for a long time. A lot of people purchased it as a glimmer off hope for things to come. Eventually we could use it to launch imported region titles, now for native ARM11 unsigned code. The days of it being a piracy only device have passed. The tables recently turned, and I hope you check out some of the neat stuff I have mentioned, and will be covering later :). I’m OK with supporting the product (I was not before), because it has grown into something else now. Something better. When we have no need for a physical cartridge I will be even happier. As wololo said, there is a reason we’ve not covered it until now 🙂
Ok i see your point of view. But im sorry. I cant accept the fact that ppl u will purchase gateway are not gonna pirate 3ds games. Its just the way i see it.
You are entitled to your opinion. I am here to show that the 1% of the user base does exist, and I want show people who own the device already, or have no issue with purchasing the hardware while a software solution is worked on, that there are more fun things to do then pirate peoples hard work. I am an android dev and freelance games artist in my spare time. I know how much it hurts to see your work disrespected.
Does it really matter? Like it or not, Piracy and Homebrew go together. I also find it disingenuous to act like homebrew is victimless if you view piracy as having victims.
Also, Piracy rarely affects anything. It only killed ONE system, and that was the Famicom Disk System. Period. END OF STORY. If anyone even dares to mention the Dreamcast, they might as well declare themselves uneducated morons. The PS2 killed the Dreamcast, sales data explicitly backs this up. The PSP also THRIVED. THRIVED! AFTER piracy took hold. There was indeed a sales slump, but it did rebound and many can argue that the PSP was saved by piracy and homebrew because it kept hardware sales steady when there were software droughts.
If piracy really, truly acted like mass destruction and danger, the DS would have been destroyed. It had incredibly high piracy rates across the world and even higher in Japan itself. Yet software sales only grew stronger. Also, how did the PS3 do during that “unbreakable” period? And how did it do after it was broken? I’m not saying piracy encouraged sales, absolutely not in that case, but it sure wasn’t the reason why the PS3 was failing half of its life…
Piracy has victims, absolutely. But it’s more of a boogeyman than anything else. Deal with it. I’m not justifying all piracy. (since legitimate fair use is considered piracy by warped minds. I have a right to rip my own media and use it as I see fit for personal use.) but I’m sick of people hiding behind stupidity in the name of piracy for all industry woes. Thank god Sony didn’t blame piracy for their problems. (Well, they did on the PSP and how did that go for them? Not good until they moved on from that excuse) They would have died because they didn’t address the real problems at hand.
Hardware sales may have thrived, but it nearly killed all 3rd party support for the next generation to come. Where are they now? Indeed, on mobile development cause they go after where the money is.
I’m using gateway on my 3DS at 4.5 and I’ve updated everything on the NAND. I’m really looking forward to get homebrews for it. 😀
You silly kids and your arguments 😉
Wish there could be free CFW version.. It’s very fun if you could make 8-bit games with 3D effects.. Like remaking all of the rockman/mario/kirby games with 3D effects…
You don’t need emunand to play newer games. Emunand is used for newer firmware items and online related stuff. I don’t use emunand at all and I’m able to play what I want.
You need it to play new legitimate cartridges and use some online features. But yes, it is mainly for using updated system apps (such as the store) unless you are running illegitimate games.
Great post