Hacking my Nintendo 3DS [I can now play any game I want for free]

[j03]

Update: This seems to play multiple systems (GameBoy/Advanced/DS/3DS)

This weekend my cousin told me he bought a 3DS off craigslist that was "hacked", and all he had was the SD card inside the system. No need to buy any emulator carts or anything like that. The guy that sold him the system did this all for him before selling it. So I looked into this and found it to be relatively easy to do...

What I used:

(you need an account to see links)

This site will give you step-by-step instructions on how to do this all. It's basically a bunch of files being downloaded and placed into folders. If you follow the instructions carefully, it's painlessly easy.

An SD-to-USB, something like this (though any adapter that lets you put files from your computer to the card will work)



If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them!

[Nyu]

Thanks! Sounds really cool!

It doesn't do anything to the physical and digital games I already have right?
Because just in case, i'd rather finish the games before doing it

[j03]

Thanks! Sounds really cool!

It doesn't do anything to the physical and digital games I already have right?
Because just in case, i'd rather finish the games before doing it

Physical games will work like normally I believe. Just checked my Sun game and the save is still there, works fine.

But I had Super Smash Bros on my SD card and it's no longer an option to play on my home screen so I think you have to do something to preserve those digital games. Just in case, I have a backup of my SD card on my computer so I can always revert back.

[Daviid]

I installed arm9loaderhax a while ago too after trying a few other cfw.
Doesn't matter how many times I do it I'm always on the edge until everything is done, I'm scared of breaking my console.
I always backup the NAND 3 or 4 times and store it in different drives.

[Dom~]

How long does this normally take to complete?

[j03]

This took me about 2 hours total which includes file downloading time.

[Nyu]

Physical games will work like normally I believe. Just checked my Sun game and the save is still there, works fine.

But I had Super Smash Bros on my SD card and it's no longer an option to play on my home screen so I think you have to do something to preserve those digital games. Just in case, I have a backup of my SD card on my computer so I can always revert back.

Oh, cool!
Then, if I use another SD card (not the one who has my games on it) I could do it without risking them right?
Maybe I'll try :B

[j03]

Oh, cool!
Then, if I use another SD card (not the one who has my games on it) I could do it without risking them right?
Maybe I'll try :B

Yep I would recommend doing that just to be safe. It's also recommended to follow the instructions and backup the files you are asked to at all times (it happens once or twice TBH).

Last night I was on my 3DS in bed for a while just going through this "freeShop" downloading old gameboy games and playing them all... so much fun.

[looklook123123]

@(you need an account to see links) can you recommend a 64gb SD card that works on a 3ds? I'm considering buying a second 3ds for this (maybe a 2ds) since my 3ds a button doesn't work great anyways.

[j03]

@(you need an account to see links) can you recommend a 64gb SD card that works on a 3ds? I'm considering buying a second 3ds for this (maybe a 2ds) since my 3ds a button doesn't work great anyways.

Your guess is just as good as mine. I am currently looking through eBay (USA/Canada) for a good cheap 64gb SD card so I can get some of the good games. I think checking reddit/gbatemp/3ds hacking forums for this question will be the best way to proceed.