old-Guide

Table of Contents

A browser based exploit is not working
System boots directly SafeA9LHInstaller
SafeA9LHInstaller shows a glitched screen
After doing the DSiWare Downgrade, my hacked save is gone
Decrypt9 or Hourglass9 won't restore / can't find my NAND backup
Black screen on SysNAND boot
Black screen on SysNAND boot after installing arm9loaderhax
Blue screen on boot (bootrom error)

If you are unable to boot your 3DS, please look for the section relevant to you, and follow the instructions. Once a solution works for you, you can proceed on with the main guide.

(The section is fairly long, try using Ctrl+F to search for your issue.)

If you still cannot solve your issue and need to reach out for help, please paste the contents of all relevant .log files from the root of your SD card into a Gist, then come for help prepared with a detailed description of your problem and what you've tried.

A browser based exploit is not working

Browser based exploits (such as browserhax or 2xrsa) are often unstable and crash frequently, but they can sometimes be fixed by doing the following steps.

Open the browser, then open the browser settings
1. Scroll to the bottom and Initialize Savedata (it also may be called Clear All Save Data)
2. Try the exploit again

System boots directly SafeA9LHInstaller

You copied the wrong arm9loaderhax.bin file to your SD card (you were only supposed to copy the 3ds folder and SafeA9LHInstaller.dat file from the SafeA9LHInstaller zip).

Use the correct arm9loaderhax.bin
1. Copy arm9loaderhax.bin from the Luma3DS zip to the root of your SD card
2. Reboot holding select and continue

SafeA9LHInstaller shows a glitched screen

This happens occasionally, but the reason is unknown. The buttons will still work, but the screen will be glitched looking.

Follow instructions as normal
1. Press (Select) and arm9loaderhax will be installed
2. The console will reboot
  - If the console does not reboot, wait 10 seconds, then power off your 3DS by holding down the power button.

After doing the DSiWare Downgrade, my hacked save is gone

If you don't have the game at all, link the NNID you bought the game with to 3DS #2 and download it on 3DS #2

On 3DS #1, do DSiWare Downgrade - Section III - Installing the save
On 3DS #1, go to System Settings, "Data Management", "DSiWare", then copy your DSiWare game to your SD card
Either put 3DS #1's SD card in 3DS #2, or rename the Nintendo 3DS on 3DS #2's SD card and copy the Nintendo 3DS folder from 3DS #1's SD card to 3DS #2's SD card
On 3DS #2, go to System Settings, "Data Management", "DSiWare", then copy your DSiWare game to the system
Return your SD cards to normal, then continue with the DSiWare Downgrade

Decrypt9 or Hourglass9 won't restore / can't find my NAND backup

Make sure you do not have any folder named "Decrypt9" on the root of your SD card
Try redownloading and recopying the OTPHelper files
Try checking your SD card file system with something like fsck.vfat <sd partition path> (on *nix) or CHKDSK <sd drive letter> /F (on Windows)
Try backing up your SD card files, then formatting it and copying them back
Try a different SD card

Black screen on SysNAND boot

Try booting with your SD card out, and then reinserting it after booting.

Power off your 3DS by holding down the power button.
Take out the SD card.
Power on the 3DS.
When the home menu appears, reinsert your SD card.

If you have a hardmod and a NAND backup, flash the backup back to SysNAND.

Try booting into recovery mode and updating your system.
This probably will not work for an Old 3DS downgraded to 2.1.0
This will BRICK a New 3DS downgraded to 2.1.0

Power off your 3DS by holding down the power button.
Hold L+R+A+Up.
Power on the 3DS.
If you enter safe mode, update your 3DS only if you have an entrypoint for the latest FW version and it is possible to downgrade from it and attempt the downgrade again.