Dumping NAND

If you need help, ask the NDS(i)Brew Scene or the DS⁽ⁱ⁾ Mode Hacking! Discord servers.

In this step, we’ll be making a NAND backup. This is a 1:1 copy of your DSi internal storage, which we can use later on to setup hiyaCFW and NO$GBA.

We highly recommend that you do this. A NAND backup can be used as a restore point in the future, in case your DSi stops working.

Instructions

  1. Download the latest release of dumpTool
  2. Place dumpTool.nds anywhere on your SD card
  3. Launch the Homebrew Launcher through your exploit
    • If you have already installed Unlaunch, use Unlaunch’s homebrew launcher instead by holding (A) + (B) on your system boot and selecting it in the menu
  4. Follow the on-screen prompts
    • This usually takes around seven minutes
  5. Hit the (START) button on your Nintendo DSi to exit when it is completed
  6. Power off your console and insert your SD card back into your computer
  7. Store this backup somewhere safe, where you won’t lose it
    • If possible, make multiple backups across different storage devices

The SHA1 hash of the nand.bin will not match the hash stored in nand.bin.sha1. This is because dumpTool adds additional data known as a NO$GBA footer to the nand.bin file after the SHA1 hash is calculated. You can use the hiyaCFW Helper to create a copy without the footer.

Continue to Installing Unlaunch (Optional)