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  1. #1
    DF Super Moderator {{909}}'s Avatar
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    Default Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Finally took the plunge on one of these, had to order a US 4.5 3DS XL which are easy to find in China, and the seller also had stock of gateways too.

    Initially I was apprehensive as it sounds a bit half cooked and its very easy to accidentally update your console and therefore block the use of the GW 3DS.

    Anyway, having the device in hand and being able to see how shit works, it really isn't so daunting.

    The good.
    Plays almost all current 3DS games (Tomodachi Life beaing hte only notable one)
    Free games bitch!
    Plays foreign games.
    Plays eshop games (same as you would a rom)
    Homebrew (although little exists to date)
    Really not that expensive when put into perspective.


    The bad.
    Reliant on the 3DS having an ancient firmware
    Risk of updating bones you royally.
    Nintendo may find a way round it, and bone you royally.
    Saving your game requires certain steps to ensure it works.
    THE GUILT!

    I'm not going to go into great detail as there is plenty of sites that reviewed it months ago, but the operation once you get your head round it is simple.

    Basically, you run the blue DS card and you don't need that card again until you either want to update the gateway, or you have played an old DS game as DS mode resets it.
    From then on, you need to tap settings and go to open your DS profile, which activates the hack, the 3DS boots into haxx0r mode and then will boot games off the gateway 3ds card. This setting > profile needs to be done each time you power up the console. it often reboots back into the original mode without you noticing, usually if you are poking around in the 3DS settings.
    You have an emunand mode, which I haven't fully explored but basically you can copy your current NAND (something you should do anyway and back up to your PC) and when you boot into haxx0r mode you will be in the emulated nand running from your SD card. Now you can update this to the latest version of the 3DS menu system and then play games which need a higher firmware than the 4.5 on your 3DS.
    Personally I haven't done this as Zelda (and every other game i have tried) is working without doing it, and there's the risk of fucking it up and accidentally updating your system NAND to the latest one, which I know is slim but at the mo I have no reason to do it.

    Backing up your NAND means that should you make the mistake of updating, you can do some relatively simple soldering and reflash back to 4.5, using your PC so thats a nice safety net, but I believe this only applies to the 3DS XL.

    This is by no means a tutorial, so there are other set up steps but nothing out of the ability of the average DFer.

    There are a number of other cards out on the market now, both are cheaper and both are clones of the gateway, I chose to spend the extra and support the devs. Since Gateway released their V2 'Omega' firmware it seems they have stopped their software from being copied for the clone cards and as this is the case, the competition is lagging behind significantly since Omega bough homebrew, eshop and a ton of game compatibility.
    Last edited by {{909}}; 11th June 2014 at 10:13 AM.

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  2. #2
    DF Rookie presshardy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Thanks for the article. I've been looking into these myself and I think lack of multicart is holding me back. I know they have said multi-cart is on the way but I can see them releasing this via a new cart rather than an update

    Does it only support US models of 3DS? It was my understanding that all regions were supported

  3. #3
    DF Super Moderator {{909}}'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Yeah supports all versions of the 3DS, i just got a US one as I am in China and euro ones are pretty unavailable. Remember, you have to have a 3DS runnung FW 4.5 or less for the gateway to work, which are getting rarer by the day.Another point to consider is that no other card company has surfaced which isnt a clone, or heavily dependent on stealing Gateways code, and as of recently, there have been reports of 3DS being bricked by cards running stolen code.

  4. #4
    DF VIP Member Bensons's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Quote Originally Posted by {{909}} View Post
    Finally took the plunge on one of these, had to order a US 4.5 3DS XL which are easy to find in China, and the seller also had stock of gateways too.

    Initially I was apprehensive as it sounds a bit half cooked and its very easy to accidentally update your console and therefore block the use of the GW 3DS.

    Anyway, having the device in hand and being able to see how shit works, it really isn't so daunting.

    The good.
    Plays almost all current 3DS games (pokemon and 1 other title doesnt work at the moment, due to the way they save)
    Free games bitch!
    Plays foreign games.
    Really not that expensive when put into perspective.


    The bad.
    Risk of updating bones you royally.
    Nintendo may find a way round it, and bone you royally.
    Only 1 rom per SD card (although multicart is supposedly on the way)
    Still plenty of bugs in the software, although I haven't met any since I updated to beta2 yesterday.
    Saving your game requires certain steps to ensure it works.
    No homebrew.
    THE GUILT!

    I'm not going to go into great detail as there is plenty of sites that reviewed it months ago, but the operation once you get your head round it is simple.

    Basically, you run the blue DS card and you don't need that card again until you either want to update the gateway, or you have played an old DS game as DS mode resets it.
    From then on, you need to tap settings and go to open your DS profile, which activates the hack, the 3DS boots into haxx0r mode and then will boot games off the gateway 3ds card. This setting > profile needs to be done each time you power up the console. it often reboots back into the original mode without you noticing, usually if you are poking around in the 3DS settings.
    You have an emunand mode, which I havn't fully expored but basically you can copy your current NAND (something you should do anyway and back up to your PC) and when you boot into haxx0r mode you will be in the emulated nand running from your SD card. Now you can update this to the latest version of the 3DS menu system and then play games which need a higher firmware than the 4.5 on your 3DS.
    Personally I havent done this as Zelda is working without doing it, and theres the risk of fucking it up and accidentally updating your system NAND to the latest one, which I know is slim but at the mo I have no reason to do it.

    Backing up your NAND means that should you make the mistake of updating, you can do some relatively simple soldering and reflash back to 4.5, using your PC so thats a nice safety net, but I believe this only applies to the 3DS XL.

    This is by no means a tutorial, so there are other set up steps but nothing out of the ability of the average DFer.

    There are 2 other cards out on the market now, both are cheaper and both are clones of the gateway, I chose to spend the extra and support the devs. There is another card which appears to show different functions so may not be a clone, although its not available yet and I cant remember the name of it off hand either.
    Alright dude!? Long time no type!!!
    Have you missed me!? Hehe

    I've got a bit of a cash flow problem at the moment- basicaly- the cash just isn't flowing... But yeah, anyway! I weasled some money together to get myself a 3DS XL and a Gateway card. I waited untill I was sure that the Gateway card was kosher and that there didn't seem to be anything else popping up and overtaking it. (tech wise)
    So, yeah, my 3DS funds have been dwindling, being wasted on ray guns and lollypops- for the simple reason that I can't find a 3DS that I'm sure has firmware early enough for me to be able to (100% deffo) fiddle with...
    Also- stuff like this:-
    "its very easy to accidentally update your console and therefore block the use of the GW 3DS"
    Scares me to pant-shit-ness.

    As for the Gateway card! Man... Ahhh, I'm not even going to start on that...
    First step- Getting a 3DS XL!!!

    Any help/advice/wisdom/ass-kicking in the right direction will be greatly recieved!
    Last edited by Bensons; 9th June 2014 at 11:05 PM.

  5. #5
    DF Super Moderator {{909}}'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Of course I missed you Bensons...(who...? )

    I cant really help you finding a 3DS as I am in China so I haven't looked into it in the UK. I could get you one here BUT its gonna be a pisser with the postage fees. There are a number of bundles (probably the mario kart one for example) which can still be found in some UK shops which will have the right firmware due to their age, but again I am not up on that enough to advise.

    On my set up I have wifi turned off, so its never going to ask me to update via the internet, and I haven't seen a game request an update when booting yet. On my 3DS I made folders on the dashboard which spell out ORIGINAL as an extra reminder. You can back up your 4.5 NAND when you get the gateway and if you did ever accidentally update, its quite simple to reflash using your old NAND and some soldering. The NAND is tied to the system so if you haven't made a back up and you fuck up, you cant just download someone elses.

  6. #6
    DF Probation joemanu's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Have one of these ordered

  7. #7
    DF VIP Member
    mattress's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Will one of these work in a new 3dsxl?

  8. #8
    DF VIP Member AD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Not at the moment, but with the new firmware they say yes.

  9. #9
    DF Super Moderator {{909}}'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Theres another flashcard called the SKY3DS, which supports the latest 3DS, but, they makers of the cart have set a limit on the thing so you can only have 10 games on the cart and once theyre on, you cant change them. So for about 70 quid (plus a microSD) you can have 10 games then buy another one to play more roms. Hopefully the thing will get cloned with the restrictions lifted.

    As for the Gateway, well the team have been promising and hinting of compatibility with newer 3DS for months, so I wouldn't hold your breath on that.

    There have been huge steps forward with whats being called a CFW, although as far as I can see they have just figured out how to install roms/homebrew to the system SD card rather than the GW card. This is great though, as anyone with a 4.5 3DS can do this with a cheap DS flash cart. GW users can now use the 3ds's SD card (upto 32gig) and the GW's SD card, which can be another 32gig, so shit tons of roms.

    Thanks to {{909}}

    Bensons (9th November 2014)  


  10. #10
    DF VIP Member Bensons's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Wow, that SKY3DS thing sounds a bit shitty! That being said though- if it doesn't get cloned fairly quickly- I imagine they'll make a killing!

    The CFW thing sounds pretty exciting! I'm going to try and find out more about it, (GBAtemp?) but, have you got any links to more info, {{909}}??

  11. #11
    DF Super Moderator {{909}}'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Gateway 3DS. the DF opinion.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bensons View Post
    Wow, that SKY3DS thing sounds a bit shitty! That being said though- if it doesn't get cloned fairly quickly- I imagine they'll make a killing!

    The CFW thing sounds pretty exciting! I'm going to try and find out more about it, (GBAtemp?) but, have you got any links to more info, {{909}}??
    GBA temp seems to be the first stop for info yeah, although maxconsole has some activity. Installing games to the dashboard or whatever its called on the 3DS is a fiddly and unreliable process, but its early days. I tried to do 3 roms last night and one worked. I gave up when I realised the games running from the dash didnt see my save files from games played on the gateway.

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