3ds To Cia Converter Godmode9

| 16-09-2021
[RAND-1-100] Comments

Because of the homebrewing scene the 3DS has had, you can install a variety of emulators. Currently, the New 3DS is capable of running much faster than the older models, making it a much more ideal platform for emulation, but despite this there are still some emulators that have issues regardless. For more information on how to homebrew your 3DS, visit 3ds.hacks.guide.

  • 1Multi-System
  • 2Consoles
  • 3Handhelds
  • 4Computers
  • 5Others

Multi-System[edit]

Converting a.3DS to.CIA. For organizational purposes, copy each.3ds file you wish to convert to the /cias/ folder on your SD card Note that if you wish to convert a.3ds file that is already on a flashcart, you should follow Dumping a Game Cartridge; Launch GodMode9 by holding (Start) during boot. GodMode9 을 이용해 확장자.3ds롬 을 확장자.cia 로 변환해볼건데요! 많은 분들이 아직도 Decrypt9 를 이용해 변환하더라구요. 앞으로는 이 강좌대로 하시면 되겠습니다:). Note that if you wish to convert a.3ds file that is already on a flashcart, you should follow Dumping a Game Cartridge; Launch GodMode9 by holding (Start) during boot; Navigate to 0: SDCARD- cias; Press (A) on your.3ds file to select it, then select “NCSD image options”, then select “Build CIA from file”.

RetroArch[edit]

There are preliminary 3DS ports of the following cores: stable 3DS ports

  • 2048
  • FinalBurn Alpha CPS1
  • FinalBurn Alpha CPS2
  • FinalBurn Alpha CPS3 (most games are too slow to run even on New 3DS, though JoJo runs almost full speed)
  • FinalBurn Alpha Neo Geo (A few games are unable to be loaded due to memory constraints)
  • FCEUmm
  • Mednafen NGP
  • Mednafen PCE Fast
  • Mednafen VB
  • Mednafen WonderSwan
  • mGBA (acceptable with Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, but some games are slow to use, even on New 3DS, at present)
  • NXEngine
  • PCSX-ReARMed (see below)
  • Snes9x 2002 (formerly PocketSNES) (less compatible than CATSFC, but can actually run many special chip games at full speed)
  • Snes9x 2005 (formerly CATSFC)
  • Snes9x 2005 Plus (formerly CATSFC Plus) (has more accurate audio, slower)
  • Snes9x 2010 (formerly Snes9x-Next) (too slow to use even on New 3DS at present)


Using current exploits, the New 3DS is capable of running most of these cores at or nearly at full speed on most games. The only cores the older 3DS can reliably run at full speed are 2048, Gambatte, QuickNES, NXEngine, and some older Sega games using PicoDrive.Opposed to normal use of RetroArch, these are all self-contained emulators, albeit sharing the same automatic configuration.Screenshot-taking is broken. Upon exiting RetroArch 3DS, press the Start button.

Unofficial Builds[edit]

There are unofficial ports which add new cores with emulators that do not have a retroarch by default

  • Atari800
  • GW
  • VirtualJaguar

Consoles[edit]

NES[edit]

  • 3DNESno longer in development

SNES[edit]

  • Snes9x for 3DS - runs a good majority of games well, even on old 3DS/2DS's. It's recommended to use a New 3DS if you want to run games that uses the SuperFX or SA-1 chip properly.
  • blargSNES - It works well, but lacks compatibility for games with certain chips (i.e. the SuperFX chip).

Nintendo 64[edit]

  • DaedalusX64 - N64 has always been known to be a hard system to emulate, which is why many were skeptical about how feasible it would be to have an emulator for the system on the 3DS. While still in its beta stage, it has shown a lot of improvements thanks to using a dynamic recompiler, with some games running at a playable state. It also supports using stereoscopic 3D (at the cost of slower performance), which isn't a feature a lot of emulators have.

Playstation[edit]

  • PCSX-ReARMed (RetroArch) - Thanks to the work of many developers, it is now possible to have full speed 60 FPS emulation for a majority of games and support for .CHD compression formats. Generally, 2D games will perform better than 3D, however you can get some better performance by tweaking the settings if necessary. The nightly builds have seen major improvements since the initial release and can even play some of the more demanding games at full speed (See here for some tips), so it's better to use that until the next stable release. NOTE: This emulator is mainly targeted for the New 3DS so don't expect the o3DS to run well if at all.

Atari 2600[edit]

Genesis/32X/Sega CD[edit]

  • PicoDrive for 3DS - 32X and Sega CD are playable on the original 3DS, but works better on New 3DS. Sega CD requires BIOS in order to play, they must be named:

'bios_CD_U.bin', 'bios_CD_J.bin', and 'bios_CD_E.bin' based on the respective regions. BIOS need to be in the /3ds/picodrive_3ds/bios folder.

PC Engine[edit]

Vectrex[edit]

  • Vex3DS - Based on vecx

Handhelds[edit]

Game Boy[edit]

  • GameYob: forked from a popular emulator used on the DS. Emulates the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. The original DS version is actually more polished than the 3DS port, so some of the more hardware pushing games won't work as well as the DS port.

Virtual Boy[edit]

  • r3Ddragon - It's kind of surprising that Nintendo never released a Virtual Console for the Virtual Boy on the 3DS, especially given how small the library of games were for the system and how both utilizes 3D effects and causes eyestrain. What makes this emulator stand out is the fact that it's able to display the graphics in 3D the way it was intended, something that is almost impossible to do on other platforms, unfortunately compatibility is still low and requires a New 3DS to run. Development has since halted.

Pokémon mini[edit]

Game Boy Advance[edit]

The 3DS does include native firmware for a GBA mode which was mainly used to run ambassador releases instead of having to develop an emulator for them. Because it's technically running a 'virtual' GBA, it can't provide features that are normally available on other emulators, such as savestates, screen filtering, or sleep mode, however it does have high compatibility with the exception of cartridges with special hardware. If you're using an old 3DS/2DS, this is the best option to play GBA games. There are two ways to take advantage of this firmware:

  • New Super Ultimate Injector - There are other programs that can do injections, but this one is nice as it can do other Virtual Console injections and some forwarders for emulators. The only problem is each ROM must be injected and installed individually, including the save files, which makes the number of titles that can be installed restricted to the max the 3DS title limit (300 titles, not including pre-installed system titles).
  • open_agb_firm(Name not finalized) - A custom FIRM payload that takes advantage of the built-in GBA firmware, it's still in early development but has an alpha build available. The major advantage of this compared to VC injection is it can load the ROM through the SD card instead of having to convert and install them, but needs to be launched on boot instead of being able to use the 3DS HOME Menu (there's ways to make a forwarder for in on the HOME menu, but requires additional setup to get it to work). One major issue is there's a chance that it may not detect the correct save format or will corrupt the existing save file so make sure to backup your saves beforehand (they are currently trying fix it by having a better database for save detection, if you're interested you can help).
    • To install, simply put the .firm file in the /luma/payloads/ folder and hold START to load up the chainloader to launch it. There's no way of exiting out once the program starts, so you will need to turn it off and redo the step to load it if you wanted to change games.

On the other hand, there are also some homebrew GBA emulators available for 3DS:

  • mGBA(Latest Nightly) - A port of the popular GBA emulator by the same developer, only a handful of GBA games suffer from slowdowns but are still playable. Also works great for GB(C) games and even supports the Gameboy Camera.
  • GBARunner2 - a GBA hypervisor made for the DS(i), can only be ran through TWiLight Menu++ and is included by default with the program (see below). Compatiblity can be a hit-or-miss, but it's still in active development with plans to include interesting features such as gyro control emulation and local wireless multiplayer in the future.
  • CitrAGB - (based on gpSP)

Nintendo DS[edit]

  • TWiLight Menu++ - Not technically an 'emulator', rather it's a frontend for a separate program, nds-bootstrap, which allows for an NDS ROM to be loaded from an SD card. The program is originally designed for the DSi, however it's able to work on the 3DS by utilizing the virtual DSi (aka the TWL_FIRM or 'DS Mode') that the 3DS has for backwards-compatibility. Compatibility isn't the same as using a flashcart, however it's still pretty high with only a few games having issues or triggering anti-piracy protections (newer versions now come with AP patches for most games and will patch them if needed at launch). It also comes pre-bundled with a variety of emulators used on the DS and a work-in-progress GBA hypervisor, GBARunner2, that works to some degree.
  • DeSmuME - an experimental port of DeSmuME that has since been abandoned, it wasn't very compatible.

DSiWare[edit]

Because the firmware that the 3DS uses for backwards-compatibility is actually the same as the DSi, it's possible to inject DSiWare as an installable .cia file. There's two ways to do this:

  • GodMode9 - Version 1.8.0 and above has a script that can convert .nds to .cia, 3ds.hacks.guide has more information on how to update to the latest version if needed.
  • DSiWare Conversion Script - This script can be used to convert .bin files from your DSi's SD card to .nds which can then be used to convert into .cia.

These scripts will ONLY work for DSiWare, NOT NDS GAMES.

TWiLight Menu++ has support for two DSiWare as of v15.1.1 with a special preview of nds-bootstrap, Pop Island and Pop Island: Paperfield. These can also run on the DS.

Atari Lynx[edit]

  • Handy 3DS - port of the Handy emulator to 3DS

Neo Geo Pocket[edit]

Computers[edit]

Intel CPUs[edit]

  • 3DOS - Based on 8086tiny. Can only emulate 8086 CPUs.

Convert 3ds To Cia Godmode9 Failed

Macintosh[edit]

ZX Spectrum[edit]

Commodore 64[edit]

Amiga[edit]

Others[edit]

Godmode9 Install

Amiibo[edit]

  • Wumiibo - Emulates Amiibo functionality on the 3DS without needing an NFC reader or using tags. You can even use your own Amiibo data, after it's been decrypted, or a generic AmiiboID which are freely available and explains how to get them on the project page.

CHIP-8[edit]

Super Mario 64[edit]

  • SM64 3DS Port - Thanks to the decompilation project, you can now enjoy SM64 on the 3DS with *analog* support and native rendering (compared to the official DS port). Works pretty much at full speed on the New 3DS, the original model apparently has some slow downs but still playable. You can either build it yourself, or try finding pre-compiled build online (there are multiple versions, you can find some here but it's no longer up-to-date).

Virtual Console Injection[edit]

Some have tried injecting alternate ROMs in the available Virtual Console releases (MD, GG, NES, GBA Ambassador, GBC, Japanese emulated SFC compilations) with varying degrees of success. The emulators used for Virtual Console are not as accurate as other emulators so compatibility isn't perfect (the only exception is GBA since it runs it natively, not emulation), Sega systems in particular have high compatibility however.
There's an easy tool that will convert and inject any supported ROM file as its associated VC application called New Super Ultimate Injector. It's an all in one tool and can even remotely install the injection provided your 3DS is connected to the same network. It's currently in beta, but it's still really useful.

Install
Retrieved from 'https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php?title=Emulators_on_3DS&oldid=36715'

GodMode9 is a full access file browser for the Nintendo 3DS console, giving you access to your SD card, to the FAT partitions inside your SysNAND and EmuNAND and to basically anything else. Among other functionality, you can copy, delete, rename files and create folders.

Note that, on some versions of Luma3DS, the Luma3DS chainloader menu is only displayed if there is more than one payload detected. If there is only one payload detected, holding (Start) on boot will directly launch GodMode9.

This is powerful stuff, it provides you with the means to do basically any thinkable modification to any system data available on the 3DS console. However, precautions are taken so you don’t accidentally damage the data of your console.
The write permissions system protects you by providing warnings and forces you to enter an unlock sequence for enabling write permissions. It is not possible to overwrite or modify any important stuff without such unlock sequences and it is not possible to accidentally unlock something. As always, be smart, keep backups, just to be safe.

Creating a NAND Backup

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Press (Home) to bring up the action menu
  4. Select “More…”
  5. Select “Backup NAND”
  6. Press (A) to continue
  7. Hold (R) and press (B) at the same time to eject your SD card
  8. Insert your SD card into your computer
  9. Copy nand.bin from the /gm9out/ folder on your SD card to a safe location on your computer
    • If you previously used SafeCTRTransfer and have a NAND backup named <serialnumber>_nand.bin, replace it with this one (rename nand.bin to match <serialnumber>_nand.bin)
    • Make backups in multiple locations (such as online file storage)
    • This backup will save you from a brick if anything goes wrong in the future
  10. Delete nand.bin from the /gm9out/ folder on your SD card after copying it
  11. Reinsert your SD card into your device

Restoring a NAND Backup

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Navigate to [0:] SDCARD
  4. Press (A) on your NAND .bin to select it, then select “NAND image options…”, then select “Restore SysNAND (safe)”
  5. Press (A) to unlock SysNAND overwriting, then input the key combo given
    • This will not overwrite your boot9strap installation
  6. Input the key combo given to unlock SysNAND (lvl1) writing
    • This process will take some time
  7. Once it has completed, press (A) to continue

Injecting any .CIA app into Health & Safety

Prep Work

  • For organizational purposes, copy the .cia file you wish to inject to the /cias/ folder on your SD card
    • Note that it is not possible to inject files into Health & Safety that are larger than it (including games and other large applications)

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Navigate to [0:] SDCARD -> cias
  4. Press (A) on your .cia to select it, then select “CIA image options…”, then select “Mount image to drive”
  5. Press (A) on the .app file, then select “NCCH image options”, then select “Inject to H&S”
  6. Press (A) to unlock SysNAND (lvl1) writing, then input the key combo given
  7. Press (A) to continue

Restoring Health & Safety after injecting a .CIA app

This will only work if the Health & Safety injection was performed by GodMode9 (not Decrypt9 or Hourglass9).

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Press (Home) to bring up the action menu
  4. Select “More…”
  5. Select “Restore H&S”
  6. Press (A) to unlock SysNAND (lvl1) writing, then input the key combo given

Dumping a Game Cartridge

Prep Work

  • Insert the game cartridge you intend to dump into your device
    • 3DS game cartridges will be dumped to an installable .cia format
    • NDS game cartridges will be dumped to a non-installable .nds format compatible with flashcarts and emulators

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Navigate to [C:] GAMECART
  4. Follow the steps applicable to your game cartridge:
    • 3DS Game Cartridge: Press (A) on [TitleID].trim.3ds to select it, then select “NCSD image options…”, then select “Build CIA from file”
    • NDS Game Cartridge: Press (A) on [TitleID].trim.nds to select it, then select “Copy to 0:/gm9out”
  5. Your installable .cia or non-installable .nds formatted file will be outputted to the /gm9out/ folder on your SD card

Dumping a Title

Use the Titles menu in FBI to get the Title ID of the installed title you wish to dump

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Navigate to the drive applicable to the type of title you wish to dump:
    • User Installed Title: Navigate to [A:] SYSNAND SD
    • System Title: Navigate to [1:] SYSNAND CTRNAND
  4. Navigate to title
  5. Navigate to the folder corresponding to the first 8 digits of the Title ID
  6. Navigate to the folder corresponding to the last 8 digits of the Title ID
  7. Navigate to content
  8. Press (A) on the .tmd file to select it, then select “TMD file options…”, then select “Show title info”
  9. Ensure you have found the correct title
  10. Press (B) to exit the title info
  11. Press (A) on the .tmd file to select it, then select “TMD file options…”, then select “Build CIA (standard)”
  12. Your installable .cia formatted file will be outputted to the /gm9out/ folder on your SD card

Converting a .3DS to .CIA

Prep Work

  • For organizational purposes, copy each .3ds file you wish to convert to the /cias/ folder on your SD card
    • Note that if you wish to convert a .3ds file that is already on a flashcart, you should follow Dumping a Game Cartridge

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Navigate to [0:] SDCARD -> cias
  4. Press (A) on your .3ds file to select it, then select “NCSD image options…”, then select “Build CIA from file”
  5. Your installable .cia formatted file will be outputted to the /gm9out/ folder on your SD card

Backup GBA VC Saves

Instructions

  1. Power off your device
  2. Insert your SD card into your computer
  3. Create a folder in /files9/ for each GBA VC game that you want to backup the save for
  4. Reinsert your SD card into your device
  5. Power on your device
  6. Do the following process for each GBA VC game that you want to backup the save for:
    • Launch the GBA VC game
    • Exit the GBA VC game
    • Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
    • Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
    • Navigate to [S:] SYSNAND VIRTUAL
    • Press (Y) on gbavc.sav to copy it
    • Press (B) to return to the main menu
    • Navigate to [0:] SDCARD -> files9
    • Navigate to the folder you created for this GBA VC game
    • Press (Y) to paste gbavc.sav
    • Press (Start) to reboot your device

Restore GBA VC Saves

Instructions

  1. Ensure you have a folder containing a save in /files9/ for each GBA VC game that you want to restore the save for
  2. Do the following process for each GBA VC game that you want to restore the save for:
    • Launch the GBA VC game
    • Exit the GBA VC game
    • Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
    • Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
    • Navigate to [0:] SDCARD -> files9
    • Navigate to the folder you created for this GBA VC game
    • Press (Y) on gbavc.sav to copy it
    • Press (B) to return to the main menu
    • Navigate to [S:] SYSNAND VIRTUAL
    • Press (Y) to paste gbavc.sav
    • Press (A) to confirm
    • Press (Start) to reboot your device

Format an SD card

Note that this will erase the contents of your SD card!

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Press (Home) to bring up the action menu
  4. Select “More…”
  5. Select “SD format menu”
  6. Select any EmuNAND options you wish to use
    • Most users will want to select “No EmuNAND”
  7. Select “Auto”
  8. Press (A) to accept the label GM9SD
    • Optionally, you may input a custom name for the SD card
  9. When prompted, input the key combo given to confirm

Encrypting / Decrypting a .CIA file

Prep Work

  • For organizational purposes, copy each .cia file you wish to encrypt / decrypt to the /cias/ folder on your SD card

Instructions

  1. Boot your device while holding (Start) to launch the Luma3DS chainloader menu
  2. Launch GodMode9 by pressing (A)
  3. Navigate to [0:] SDCARD -> cias
  4. Press (A) on the .cia file to select it, then select “CIA image options…”
  5. Select the option to perform the desired function:
    • Encrypt to 0:/gm9out: Create an encrypted copy of the selected .cia file in the /gm9out/ folder on your SD card
    • Decrypt to 0:/gm9out: Create a decrypted copy of the selected .cia file in the /gm9out/ folder on your SD card
    • Encrypt inplace: Replace the selected .cia file with an encrypted version
    • Decrypt inplace: Replace the selected .cia file with a decrypted version
  6. Your encrypted / decrypted .cia will be outputted to the desired location