Home Menu
The Home Menu is the heart of the Nintendo 3DS. From there one can start games, applications, and access various processes including the friends list. It is launched by NS, and is always running in the background in 3DS-mode except when other programID-high 00040030 applications like Internet Browser, Friend-List, etc are running. Home Menu is still running while System Settings is running, however the System Settings application does not allow directly returning to home-menu. The system will normally re-launch Home Menu when the Home Menu process crashes/terminates. When this re-launch occurs while Home Menu is active, Home Menu displays an error message which says to manually reboot the system.
System Versions
Nintendo devised a system, whereby updates would be delivered via two channels:
- Card Updates (CUP) - The Nintendo 3DS is updated with data from an update partition on retail gamecard title.
- Network Updates (NUP) - The Nintendo 3DS is updated by downloading data from Nintendo's CDN.
CUPs will only deliver updates to core features, such as the Home Menu, Nintendo 3DS Camera etc. CUPs will not deliver updates to Network features, such as System Transfer, Internet Browser, StreetPass Mii Plaza or eShop.
NUPs can deliver updates to core features as well as (updated) Network Features.
As a result of deciding to make a distinction between what content could be updated and how, Nintendo split the system version displayed by System Settings into two parts: CVer (Console Version) and NVer (Network Update Version). Represented as:
<CVer Major>.<CVer Minor>.<CVer Micro>-<NUP Version><NUP Region>
The Console Version represents the version of the collectively installed core features. And the NUP Version represents the version of the collectively installed network features.
So if a 3DS' System Firmware read 2.1.0-2U, it would indicate a console version of 2.1.0 and a NUP version of 2U.
NOTES:
- CUPs can only update core content, so NVer is never updated with CUPs.
- NUPs will not update NVer if network features are not updated. (Best seen with the USA vs JPN/EUR 6.0.0 NUP)
CUPs are implemented by adding a System Update CFA to retail NCSD gamecard images. Nintendo generally creates CUPs after NUPs are released.
When updating the system from 4.5.0-6 to 4.5.0-10, the following titles are updated(in the order of title download+install): Health and Safety Information, Nintendo 3DS Camera, eShop, System Transfer, Internet Browser, 0004009B00014102, 0004009B00014202, 0004009B00014302, NVer, and AGB_FIRM.
System Versions List
| System version | Home Menu title version | Release date | Changelog | System security flaws fixed* | Userland security flaws fixed* | 3DS-mode homebrew affected* | CUP Released | CDN Availability | CDN Post Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0-0 | 0 | February 26, 2011 | Shipped with 3DS on launch | Yes | Available | February 18, 2011 | |||
| 1.1.0-1 | 0 | February ?, 2011 | General bug fixes
Added 3D Video title to menu. ("For a Limited Time Only") |
Yes | Available | March 1, 2011 | |||
| 2.0.0-2 | 1029 | June 6/7, 2011 | eShop added, web browser available, System Transfer added. Full DSiWare data management available. Automatic downloading for system updates added. | No | Available | June 6, 2011 | |||
| 2.1.0-3 | 2049 | June 15, 2011 | Fixes the Ridge Racer freeze. | Yes | Available | June 15, 2011 | |||
| 2.1.0-4 | Not updated | July 25, 2011 | System stability improvements and other adjustments. | No | Available | July 25, 2011 | |||
| 2.2.0 | ? | November 6, 2011 | CUP Only Release. Improved the arrangement of Friend List. Update from some game cards such as Super Mario 3D Land. | Yes | Unavailable | ? | |||
| 3.0.0-5 | 4111 | December 7, 2011 | Added 3D video recording to the camera title, updated Mii Streetpass Plaza, System Transfer between 3DS systems available, improved eShop, home menu QR code scanning with QR codes containing URLs. Nintendo Zone is now always accessible, 3D video streaming support was added to NZone. This added support for running GBA VC titles via AGB_FIRM as well, support for GBA VC titles was also added to NATIVE_FIRM. | Yes | Available | December 7, 2011 | |||
| 3.0.0-6 | Not updated | December 21, 2011 | Only StreetPass Mii Plaza and the NVer title were updated. From Nintendo's release notes: "System stability improvements and other adjustments". | No | Available | December 21, 2011 | |||
| 4.0.0-7 | 5131 | April 24, 2012 | Add folders to Home Menu, game patching added, buy more expensive games than 1000 yen in JPN. System titles for CHN, TWN, and KOR became available. | Yes | Yes | Available | April 24, 2012 | ||
| 4.1.0-8 | Not updated | May 14, 2012 | From changelog: "improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments". Once updated to 4.1.0-8, the parental-controls PIN is no longer required for future system updates. | Yes | Yes | Available | May 14, 2012 | ||
| 4.2.0-9 | 6146 | June 26, 2012 | Improved eShop safety for entering credit-card info, and behind the scenes improvements. Stored CC info will be deleted by this updated eShop, and can be re-entered again. | Yes | Available | June 26, 2012 | |||
| 4.3.0-10 | Not updated | July 24, 2012 | Updated eShop, bad word list and NZone hotspot list updated. | Yes | Available | July 24, 2012 | |||
| 4.4.0-10 | Not updated | September 19, 2012 | NZone hotspot list updated and TWL_FIRM updated for blocking flash cards. | Yes | Available | September 19, 2012 | |||
| 4.4.0-10C | Not updated | October 17, 2012 | China-only, the *only* updated title was System Settings. This title was updated to a version already available in TWN/KOR. | ? | Available | October 17, 2012 | |||
| 4.5.0-10 | Not updated | December 4, 2012 | Flash-card block via updated TWL_FIRM and whitelist. NZone hotspot list updated as well. | Yes | Available | December 4, 2012 | |||
| 5.0.0-11 | 7172 | March 25, 2013 | Many system titles including NATIVE_FIRM were updated, multiple vulnerabilities were fixed as well. | Yes | Yes | No | Available | March 25, 2013 | |
| 5.1.0-11 | Not updated | April 4, 2013 | NATIVE_FIRM and NS were updated. According to the official change-log: "Resolves an issue that may prevent access to the System Settings or other features." | No | No | Yes | Available | April 4, 2013 | |
| 6.0.0-12 (-11U) | 8198 | June 17, 2013 | Official change-log: "Users can now back up save data for downloadable versions of Nintendo 3DS software and most Virtual Console games". For EUR/JPN, the StreetPass Mii Plaza application and the Nintendo 3DS Camera application were updated. Other titles for all regions were updated as well. | Yes | No | Available | June 17, 2013 | ||
| 6.1.0-12 (-11U) | Not updated | June 27, 2013 | Official change-log: "Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience." | Yes | Available | June 27, 2013 | |||
| 6.1.0-12U | Not updated | July 11, 2013 | This USA-only update added the updated network features applications which were first released in JPN/EUR with the 6.0.0-12 NUP update. | No | Available | July 11, 2013 | |||
| 6.2.0-12 | Not updated | August 6, 2013 | This update added support for the StreetPass relay feature, updated TWL_FIRM, and updated the Nintendo Zone hotspots list. | Yes | Available | August 6, 2013 | |||
| 6.3.0-12 | Not updated | September 13, 2013 | See this. | No | No | No | Available | September 13, 2013 | |
| 6.4.0-12 | ? | November 11, 2013 | See this(Only for the KOR and TWN regions). | No | Available | November 11, 2013 | |||
| 7.0.0-13 | 9230 | December 9, 2013 | See this. | Yes | Yes | No | Available | December 9, 2013 | |
| 7.1.0-14 | Not updated | December 19, 2013 | See this. | No | Yes | Available | December 19, 2013 | ||
| 7.1.0-15 | Not updated | January 22, 2014 | See this. | No | No | No | Available | January 22, 2014 | |
| 7.1.0-16 | Not updated | February 26, 2014 | See this. | No | No | No | Available | February 26, 2014 | |
| 7.2.0-17 | Not updated | May 12, 2014 | See this. | No | Yes | Available | May 12, 2014 | ||
| 8.0.0-18 | Not updated | July 7, 2014 | See this. | No | No | Yes | Available | July 7, 2014 | |
| 8.1.0-18 | Not updated | July 24, 2014 | See this. | No | No | Yes | Available | July 24, 2014 | |
| 8.1.0-19 | Not updated | August 7, 2014 | See this. | No | No | No | Available | August 7, 2014 | |
| 8.1.0-0 New3DS | Not updated | September 26, 2014 | See this. | No | No | Available | September 26, 2014 | ||
| 8.1.0-19 | Not updated | October 2, 2014 | Japan-only "update", see here. The only change was that a new title(New_3DS-only system application) was added, CVer/NVer titles were not even updated. The initial version of this title is a stub. | No | No | No | Available | October 2, 2014 | |
| 9.0.0-20 | v11272 | October 6, 2014 | See this. | No | No | Available | October 6, 2014 | ||
| 9.1.0-20J | v14336(JPN-region title) | October 10, 2014 | Japan-only, see this. | No | No | No | Available | October 10, 2014 | |
| 9.2.0-20 | October 29, 2014 | See this. | No | No | No | Available | October 29, 2014 | ||
| 9.3.0-21 | December 8, 2014 | See this. | Yes | Yes | No | Available | December 8, 2014 | ||
| 9.4.0-21 | December 11, 2014 | See this. | No | No | No | Available | December 11, 2014 | ||
| 9.5.0-22 | February 2, 2015 | See this. | Yes | No | Available | February 2, 2015 | |||
| 9.5.0-23 | March 2, 2015 | See this. | No | Yes | No | Available | March 2, 2015 | ||
| 9.6.0-24 | March 23, 2015 | See this. | See here. | No | Available | March 23, 2015 | |||
| 9.7.0-25 | April 20, 2015 | See this. | Probably none? | No | No | Available | April 20, 2015 | ||
| 9.8.0-25 | June 1, 2015 | See this. | No | No | No | No | Available | June 1, 2015 | |
| 9.9.0-26 | July 13, 2015 | See this. | No | Available | July 13, 2015 |
"System/Userland security flaws fixed*": This includes known flaws, and any fixed flaws discovered via code bin-diff.
"System/Userland security flaws fixed*" and "3DS-mode homebrew affected" only apply to the changes done with that specific system-update.
Auto-Boot Function
When the Home Menu is initially loaded by NS, it checks the gamecard ExeFS:/icon for the auto-boot flag. If the auto-boot flag is set, it will load the application on the cartridge and the home menu will not remain running in the background, or at least not in an operational state. Using software cues to return to the home menu, or sleep menu while in this state, causes a shutdown.
Notable features of demo titles:
- Auto-boot demos generally disable the functionality of the home button.
- The New Super Mario Bros 2 demo, retained the functionality of the home button, and had an timer which triggered the demo to quit after a period of inactivity.
Auto-boot cartridges, can bypass some of the functions of the Home Menu. Auto Booted software:
- Doesn't show usage history in the Activity Log
- Bypasses Parental controls
- Bypasses Forced Game Card Updates
- Bypasses Initial 3DS Setup
- The console does not have a friends list presence.
- Is still subject to region lock(see below).
Region lock is still active, so the home menu will refuse to launch demos with incorrect region lock will not load, displaying "An Error has Occurred". However, game card update partition checks are not done, which allows launching demos that have region free encoding, but have an alternate(or even invalid) region update partition.
The following auto-boot paths can be used by Home Menu, checked in the same order listed below(the above gamecard auto-boot is checked before this):
| Key-combo / requirements for this path | Description |
|---|---|
| R, L, and X | This launches System Settings for touchscreen calibration. |
| R, L, and Y | This launches System Settings for circlepad calibration. |
The following is only checked when the low u16 from config block 0x00110000 is value zero(normally this is non-zero). Thus, the below is only handled when a system setup is required.
| Key-combo / requirements for this path | Description |
|---|---|
| R, X, Y, A, and B, a 3DS gamecard must be inserted as well. | This launches the gamecard application. Note that pressing the HOME button in the gamecard application launched this way will only result in the system shutting down. |
| This is used when the above path isn't used. | This launches System Settings for the system setup. |
Region Lockout
One of the Home Menu's functions, is to regulate region lockout. The region lockout data for any given title is held in the ICN data. There are 6 regions of which have their own region lockout, Japan, USA, Europe(including Nintendo Australia), China, Taiwan and Korea. There is also a value which makes a title exempt from region lockout, and consequently accessible from any region of 3DS.
The region-field stored in the ICN-data is only checked when Home Menu itself launches a title, not when other titles use NS to have Home Menu launch titles. This isn't actually useful for gamecard region-free however, due to the gamecard system-updates, see below.
Also note that while some gamecard games are mostly region-free(main CXI is identical for all regions of the gamecard), those gamecards can't actually be launched with all 3DS regions due to the gamecard system-update, see below. Note that the main CXI being identical for all regions of a gamecard also means the savedata keyY is identical for all regions of that gamecard too(except for old system-version <v2.2 games, in some cases, due to different cardIDs).
Effects of Region Lockout
Every 3DS title regardless of location (NAND/SD Card/Game Card) is subject to region lockout scrutiny by the Home Menu. And the home menu treats 'out-of-region' titles by simply refusing to show them on the home menu. No messages are shown on the home menu to notify the user, the title is simply ignored. However out-of-region SD Card titles, will appear and quickly disappear, while all the SD Titles are being processed. In cases where access to the home menu GUI is not needed to launch the title (like in the case of kiosk demos), the home menu states an error has occurred, and launching of the title is stopped.
Game Card Updates
Either intentionally a region lock mechanism or not, the function which checks the game card update partition returns an error when it is detected the update is for a region other than the 3DS's region (Most likely triggered by the absence of the correct CVer title). And errors returned from checking the update partition, will result in the home menu displaying "This Game Card cannnot be used", when the user attempts to launch the title.
Home-menu originally used two domains with HTTPS for SpotPass. SpotPass stores this content in Home-menu's NAND shared extdata.
- The system notifications are downloaded from: https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/103046/10m/npdl.c.app.nintendowifi.net/p01/nsa/<regionID>/<filename>/<langcode>/<filename> Where langcode is the two-character language codes from config, and regionID is from the below table. <filename> is bashoX/sysmsgX where X is 0-3.
- https://pls.c.shop.nintendowifi.net/pl/upload This URL is used for uploading data from the home menu NAND shared extdata, it's unknown what this is used for. This data is uploaded every 24 hours.
- https://npul.c.app.nintendowifi.net/p01/recv/<regionID>/<filename> This is used for uploading unknown data from extdata. <filename> can be "phu", "tiu", "splu", or "sendmgn".
| Region | ID |
|---|---|
| JPN | gWr4JXxb2mKTG3lq |
| NA | uuI82221UKkqmtbp |
| EUR / Others | UrXSeurnxhPrq7AS |
The SpotPass content payload for notifications begin with a header, followed by an icon and the UTF-16 text, and various metadata.
VersionList
During Home Menu startup, it loads "/versionList.dat" from NAND extdata 0xf000000e. This is downloaded via SpotPass, the file-data downloaded via HTTPS here is raw(no SpotPass container):
This is a list of title-updates available on the eShop, for regular app titles and update-titles. This is what Home Menu checks for determining whether the currently selected app needs updated or not.
File structure:
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 0x10 | The first u32 is normally 0x1, the rest is normally all-zero. |
| 0x10 | <Filesize-0x10> | Title entries, 0x10-bytes each. |
Title entry structure:
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 0x8 | u64 TitleID |
| 0x8 | 0x4 | u32 titleversion |
| 0xC | 0x4 | Unknown u32, usually zero? |
Automatic System Update Download
Home Menu Error Messages
| Dialog Text | Description |
|---|---|
| "An error has occured. Please save your data ... then restart the system" | This dialog is displayed when a system applet(including Home Menu) crashes/terminates. This dialog is also displayed for system errors as well. |
Home Menu Themes
See here.
Home Menu NAND savedata
Launcher.dat
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 0x1 | Launcher.dat format version. |
| 0x1 | 0x1 | Padding? |
| 0x2 | 0x2 | Unknown, normally 0x1. |
| 0x4 | 0x4 | Unknown, normally 0x0. |
| 0x8 | 0xB40 | 360 u64s, list of titleIDs. For an unused entry, the u64 value is ~0(in that case, the corresponding entries at 0xD9A/0x106A for this titleID are not used either). This is used for the icons displayed on the main Home Menu screen. |
| 0xD9A | 0x2D0 | Array of 360 s16 fields, each one corresponds to the titleIDs at the array located at offset 0x8. This is used for icon position, 0x0 for the very first icon, 0x1 for the next one and so on. This is completely linear, no X/Y coordinates. |
| 0x106A | 0x168 | Array of 360 s8 fields, each one corresponds to the titleIDs at the array located at offset 0x8. This is used for icon position. When an s8 here is -1(which is the normal value), the icon is located with the first chunk of icons(outbuf+0), otherwise the base address is outbuf+0xB40+<s8val*0x1E0>(which is equivalent to 60 icons * s8val). |
SD ExtData
The SD ExtData File System for Home Menu is as follows:
root
├── icon
├── boss
└── user
├── SaveData.dat
├── Cache.dat
└── CacheD.dat
| File | Details | Size | FW Introduced | Plaintext |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| icon | Stubbed. Always image 00000002. | 0x4 Bytes | n/a | |
| SaveData.dat | Always image 00000003. | 0x2cb0 Bytes | 1.0.0-0 | Download |
| Cache.dat | Indexes and records details for the cached icon data. Always image 00000004. | 0x1688 Bytes | 1.0.0-0 | Download |
| CacheD.dat | Cached icon data for Home Menu. Always image 00000005. | 0x4cfe00 Bytes | 1.0.0-0 | Download |
Cache.dat & CacheD.dat
These two files work in tandem to allow the home menu to cache icon data for applications which are presented on the Home Menu. The size of both files suggests a maximum cache size of 360 icons. Cache.dat stores details about the cache icon data, and CacheD.dat stores the icon data. The icon cache stores icon data for *all* applications shown on the Home Menu, this includes DSi NAND Titles, and DS(i) cartridges. The format of cached DS(i) icon data is not understood, but they are the same size as 3DS icon data (0x36c0).
In Cache.dat the first 8 bytes are reserved, then follows each icon slots's entry in the format:
| OFFSET | SIZE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 8 | Title ID in Little Endian |
| 0x8 | 4 | Unknown |
| 0xc | 4 | Unknown |
All unused entries have the Title IDs filled with "0xff".
In CacheD.dat, the icon data is concatenated together, with the first icon at offset 0x0.
SaveData.dat
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x13b8 | 0x8 | Theme entry structure for the regular theme. |
| 0x13c0 | 0x8*10(0x50) | Array of theme entry structures for theme shuffling. |
| 0x141b | 0x1 | 0 = one regular theme, 1 = multiple themes for theme shuffle. |
When the theme cache is enabled via the above fields, Home Menu loads the cache at startup(if the used theme structure is valid).
Theme entry structure:
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 0x4 | Theme index: for DLC this is the content-index, for built-in themes this is an index for an array selecting the built-in theme. |
| 0x4 | 0x1 | Normally zero. This is the low 8-bits in the DLC titleID that this theme was originally loaded from. |
| 0x5 | 0x1 | Theme type, the valid range is 0..5. 0 = none, 1 = built-in theme from Home Menu RomFS, 2 = theme data loaded from SD cache / content archive. 3 = ?, 4 = ?, 5 = ? |
| 0x6 | 0x1 | Normally zero? |
| 0x7 | 0x1 | Normally zero? |
When the theme-type is value1 the themeindex must be <9. When the theme-type is value2 the themeindex has to be non-zero, and the u8 at offset 0x4 must not be >=10.
The theme-loader code (besides the AM <is-current-themeindex-DLC-installed> code) handles all theme-types >=2 the same way. However, it seems all DLC AM code involving checking the currently-used theme DLC only gets executed when the theme-type is value2. The code in the theme-loader for that also checks that a certain Home Menu state flag is non-zero, before running the AM DLC code(it's unknown where this flag value comes from).
Home Menu Theme SD ExtData
The filesystem for this extdata is as follows:
root
├── icon
├── boss
└── user
├── ThemeManage.bin
├── BodyCache.bin
├── BgmCache.bin
└── nsalist
| File | Details | Size | Extdata image ID | FW Introduced | Plaintext |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ThemeManage.bin | Theme management info. The filesize must match 0x800, otherwise the Home Menu code returns an error. | 0x800 | 00000003 | 9.0.0-20 | |
| BodyCache.bin | Contains cached data from the last loaded theme RomFS body_LZ.bin file. The filesize must match 0x150000, otherwise the Home Menu code returns an error. | 0x150000 | 00000004 | 9.0.0-20 | |
| BgmCache.bin | Contains cached data from the last loaded theme RomFS bgm.bcstm file. The filesize must match 0x337000, otherwise the Home Menu code returns an error. | 0x337000 | 00000005 | 9.0.0-20 | |
| nsalist | Contains the list of DLC themes(IDs+prices), downloaded via SpotPass. | 00000007 | 9.0.0-20 |
BodyCache.bin and BgmCache.bin contain cached theme data for the currently used DLC theme. ThemeManage.bin is loaded by Home Menu during startup. The cached theme data is loaded at startup when a DLC theme is selected. This also contains theme-shop SpotPass data.
BodyCache.bin and BgmCache.bin are all-zero when no theme is selected.
Starting with 9.3.0-X Home Menu can use more files in this extdata, for theme shuffling. "theme:/ThemeManage_%02d.bin" "theme:/BgmCache_%02d.bin" "theme:/BodyCache_%02d.bin" "theme:/BodyCache_rd.bin"
ThemeManage.bin
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 0x4 | Unknown, normally value 0x1? |
| 0x4 | 0x4 | Unknown, normally zero? |
| 0x8 | 0x4 | Actual size of the cached body_LZ.bin data. |
| 0xC | 0x4 | Actual size of the cached bgm.bcstm data. |
| 0x10 | 0x4 | Unknown |
| 0x14 | 0x4 | Unknown |
| 0x18 | 0x4 | When a DLC theme is selected, this is the content-index of the DLC theme. |
| 0x1C | 0x4 | Unknown, usually value 0x200 when the data in theme-cache is actually used? |
The total filesize is 0x800-bytes, normally the data starting at offset 0x1C is all-zero.
When no theme is actually used, the only non-zero fields are the following: the u32 stored at offset 0x0 in ThemeManage.bin is value 0x1, with offset 0x10 u32 set to value 0x1.
Home Menu badge SD ExtData
The filesystem for this extdata(when it actually exists) is as follows:
root
├── icon
├── boss
└── user
├── BadgeData.dat
└── BadgeMngFile.dat
| File | Details | Size | Extdata image ID | FW Introduced | Plaintext |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BadgeData.dat | ? | ? | 9.0.0-20 | ||
| BadgeMngFile.dat | See below. | 0xD4A8 | 9.0.0-20 |
BadgeMngFile.dat
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 0x4 | u32, must be zero? |
| 0x8 | 0x4 | u32 total stored badges |
| 0xC | 0x4 | u32 total number of badge icons used in Home Menu |
| 0x3F4 | ? | Start of s16 array, each entry here is an index for other arrays stored in memory. |
The filesize must match 0xD4A8, otherwise the Home Menu code returns an error.
Home Menu theme layout SD ExtData
The filesystem for this extdata(when it actually exists) is as follows:
root
├── icon
├── boss
└── user
└── MngFile.dat
| File | Details | Size | Extdata image ID | FW Introduced | Plaintext |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MngFile.dat | See below. | 0x004D1280 | 00000003 | 9.6.0-24 |
MngFile.dat
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 0x4 | u32, must be zero. |
| 0x4 | 0x4 | u32, total number of stored layouts. |
| 0x8 | 0x4 | ? |
| 0xC | ? | Start of the layout entries. |
Layout entries structure:
| Offset | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x0 | 0x2558 | Exact copy of the entire Home Menu System_SaveData Launcher.dat, this is the actual layout data. |
| 0x2558 | ? | Layout preview screenshot gfx data, displayed by the Home Menu layout settings menu. |
The filesize must match 0x004D1280, otherwise the Home Menu code returns an error. The saved Home Menu layouts are stored here.
When saving a layout, the total layout field is increased, then a new layout entry is created with the contents of the current Home Menu System_SaveData(NAND savedata) Launcher.dat + a screenshot of the main Home Menu screen is written. When loading a layout, Launcher.dat in savedata is written with the current Launcher.dat data already stored in memory(unknown if any data gets changed for it here), then data from the layout entry is copied into the Home Menu System_SaveData Launcher.dat.
Home Menu *only* accesses this file with the Home Menu layout-settings menu / when entering that menu.
Home Menu startup
The following is what Home Menu does at startup(converted from cmd-logs), from 9.4.0-21, in the same order Home Menu does it.
Originally Home Menu mounted sdmc in main(), starting(?) with 6.0.0-11 Home Menu only has sdmc mounted while handling SD_Savedata_Backups.
| Archive | Filename | Read size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| srv_init(), then srv_GetServiceHandle is used to initialize the service handles for the following services: ns:s, ptm:sysm, and cfg:s. | |||
| CfgS:SecureInfoGetByte101 and CfgS:GetLocalFriendCodeSeed are used, the output data from these are not used. If either of these return an error, Home Menu uses ThrowFatalError. | |||
| Cfg:GetSystemModel is then used to initialize a Home Menu state field. | |||
| Home Menu then loads the system language via CfgS:GetConfigInfoBlk2, and uses Cfg:SecureInfoGetRegion, to initialize Home Menu region/language state. Home Menu then uses Cfg:SecureInfoGetRegion again, then loads the CountryInfo via CfgS:GetConfigInfoBlk2. | |||
| Home Menu initializes fs:USER here. Home Menu then mounts the Home Menu CXI RomFS. Then Home Menu uses FSUSER:GetPriority. | |||
| Home Menu starts APT initialization / using APT service commands here. Eventually Home Menu then launches various system-modules. | |||
| Here Home Menu attempts to open NAND shared-extdata 0xe0000000, which will normally fail since it doesn't exist. | |||
| Here Home Menu uses AM command 0x00130040, with input u8 = value 0x0. Home Menu continues using APT commands after this. | |||
| hid:SPVR service initialization is done here. | |||
| PTMSYSM:GetShellStatus is used here. | |||
| FSUSER:GetCardType is used here. AM commands are then used to get the inserted gamecard programID, when successful the gamecard ExeFS:/icon is then read to check the auto-boot flag(see the auto-boot section on this page). The system-setup-required flag is then read here if needed, as mentioned under the auto-boot section of this page. | |||
| Home Menu then uses cfg commands to load system language, region, and CountryInfo. | |||
| Home Menu CXI RomFS | "/message/<Region>_<Language>/menu_msbt_LZ.bin" | Presumably loaded from the filesize. | |
| Home Menu CXI RomFS | "/message/<Region>_<Language>/RI_mstl_LZ.bin" | Presumably loaded from the filesize. | |
| Home Menu CXI RomFS | "/message_hud/<Region>_<Language>/hud_msbt_LZ.bin" | Presumably loaded from the filesize. | |
| Home Menu CXI RomFS | "/message_hud/<Region>_<Language>/RI_mstl_LZ.bin" | Presumably loaded from the filesize. | |
| APT:GetSharedFont is used here. | |||
| Home Menu CXI RomFS | "/font/Hud_JP.bcfnt" | ||
| Here Home Menu loads the cfg state for blkID 0x50005. | |||
| Here Home Menu loads the GPU shaders from RomFS. | |||
| Here Home Menu does DSP initialization then starts using DSP commands etc + loads sound data from RomFS. | |||
| Here Home Menu does GSP initialization. | |||
| APT:GetCaptureInfo is used here. | |||
| Home Menu CXI RomFS | |||
| Here Home Menu uses PTMSYSM:GetShellStatus, PTMSYSM:IsLegacyPowerOff, and PTMSYSM:ClearLegacyPowerOff. Home Menu then uses PTMSYSM:GetShellStatus 3 times in a row. Starting from here, Home Menu uses PTMSYSM:GetShellStatus frequently(presumably from a separate thread). | |||
| Home Menu opens the archive for the Home Menu System_SaveData here. Then Home Menu attempts to open "/Launcher.dat" for reading, when successful Home Menu just closes the file. | |||
| Home Menu System_SaveData | "/Launcher.dat" | 0x2490 | Prior to doing the read, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize. |
| System CFA, titleID for USA: 0004009B00013302 | "/country.bin" | ||
| NS CFA | "/ctr_backup_black_list" | Home Menu first reads 0x10-bytes from offset 0x0, then after that it reads the rest of the file. | |
| Home Menu CXI RomFS | Home Menu reads various RomFS files here. | ||
| Home Menu launches the camera system-module here. | |||
| Home Menu CXI RomFS | Home Menu reads various RomFS files here. | ||
| NGWord bad word list CFA | "/version.dat" | 0x4 | Home Menu mounts the ngword archive here, then reads version.dat. Home Menu then loads the cfg data for blkID 0x000A0000. |
| Home Menu launches various system-modules here(from a separate thread?). | |||
| Home Menu opens the following NAND shared extdata archives here: 0xf0000001, 0xf0000002, 0xf0000009, 0xf000000b, 0xf000000c, 0xf000000d, and 0xf000000b again. | |||
| NAND extdata 0xf000000b | "/ubll.lst" | 0x2ee0 | Prior to doing the read, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize. |
| Home Menu opens NAND shared extdata archive 0xf000000b again. | |||
| NAND extdata 0xf000000b | "/CFL_DB.dat" | 0xe4c0 | Home Menu only does one read with size 0xe4c0 for this, even though the value it loads from FSFile:GetSize is larger than that. |
| NAND extdata 0xf000000b | "/CFL_OldDB.dat" | Home Menu just closes this file immediately after opening it, when opening it was successful at least. | |
| Home Menu loads the cfg data for blkID 0x000C0000 here. | |||
| Home Menu opens NAND shared extdata archive 0xf000000b again. | |||
| NAND extdata 0xf000000b | "/gamecoin.dat" | 0x14 | Home Menu first tries to use FS:CreateFile with this, which will fail when the file already exists. This file is then opened with openflags=RW. After reading this file, Home Menu then uses PTM:GetTotalStepCount, then uses FSFile:GetSize. Then the service handle for "ndm:u" is initialized with srv_GetServiceHandle(done from a separate thread perhaps?). Then Home Menu writes to the already opened gamecoin.dat file. |
| FSUSER:CardSlotIsInserted and FSUSER:GetCardType is used here. AM commands are then used to get the inserted gamecard programID, when successful the gamecard ExeFS:/icon is then read. | |||
| "boss:P" service handle initialization with srv_GetServiceHandle is done here. Then srv_Subscribe is used with various noticationIDs. Home Menu then uses FS:IsSdmcDetected and FS:IsSdmcWritable. Home Menu then loads the cfg data for blkID 0x000D0000. Home Menu uses boss:P command 0x4010082, then uses srv_GetServiceHandle for initializing service handles with the following services: "news:s" and "cecd:s". | |||
| srv_GetServiceHandle is used to initialize the service handle for service "frd:a", then various service commands are used for that. | |||
| NAND extdata 0xf000000c | Home Menu first attempts to use FS:CreateFile with "/bashotorya.dat", which normally fails since that file already exists. Home Menu then repeats this with "/bashotorya2.dat". | ||
| Here, Home Menu opens the following SD extdata archives: Home Menu badge SD extdata, Home Menu SD extdata, and the theme-cache SD extdata. | |||
| Home Menu SD extdata | "/SaveData.dat" | 0x2da0 | Prior to doing the read, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize. |
| Home Menu SD extdata | "/Cache.dat" | 0x1688 | Prior to doing the read, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize. |
| Home Menu SD extdata | "/CacheD.dat" | 0x36c0 | This is used to read the cached icon data for the currently inserted gamecard, if any. Prior to doing the read, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize. After opening the file and before FSFile:GetSize is used, Home Menu uses AM commands 0x10070102(for theme DLC) and 0x30084(gamecard "title-listing"). |
| Home Menu uses the following AM commands for theme DLC here: 0x10050084 and 0x10020104. | |||
| Home Menu Theme SD extdata | "/BodyCache.bin" | 0x150000 | Before opening the file, Home Menu firsts opens this archive under a new archive-handle again, then closes it. Prior to doing the read, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize. |
| Home Menu Theme SD extdata | "/ThemeManage.bin" | 0x8 | Prior to doing the read, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize(the result is filesize 0x800). |
| Home Menu Theme SD extdata | "/BgmCache.bin" | The data is read from here as needed. After opening the file, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize. | |
| boss:P commands 0x00040000 and 0x04040080 are used here. Home Menu opens NAND shared-extdata 0xf000000e, then closes it when the archive was opened successfully. Then Home Menu uses boss:P command 0x04500102 with the theme extdata, with string "thmtop". | |||
| boss:P command 0x04040080 is used, with the input programID set to the gamecard one. Then boss:P commands 0x000E0000 and 0x00160082 are used. | |||
| AM:GetTitleIDList is used with mediatype=SD and maxTIDs = 0x1c00. | |||
| boss:P command 0x00160082 is used. | |||
| PTM:GetStepHistory is used. | |||
| srv_GetServiceHandle is used to initialize the service handle for "ac:u", then ACU:SetClientVersion is used. srv_Subscribe is used, then ACU command 0x002F0004 is used. | |||
| AM:GetTitleIDList is used with mediatype=NAND and maxTIDs = 0x1c00. | |||
| NAND extdata 0xf000000b | "/gamecoin.dat" | 0x14 | Home Menu first tries to use FS:CreateFile with this, which will fail when the file already exists. This file is then opened with openflags=RW. After reading this file, Home Menu then uses PTM:GetTotalStepCount, then uses FSFile:GetSize. Then Home Menu writes to the already opened gamecoin.dat file.
At the same time as doing the above, Home Menu also uses(probably from a different thread) AM:GetTitleIDList3 with mediatype=NAND and maxTIDs=0x2000. Then Home Menu uses AM:ListTitles with the NAND promotional-video titleID. Then Home Menu attempts to open the ExeFS:/icon in the NAND promotional-video title. |
| Home Menu System_SaveData | "/Launcher.dat" | Prior to doing the write, Home Menu uses FSFile:GetSize. Home Menu writes 0x2490-bytes to the file here. From a separate thread(?) at the same time, Home Menu also uses AM:ReloadDBS and AM command 0x00130040 with input=0x1. | |
| Home Menu loads the u8 value from cfg blkID 0x000E0000 here. | |||
| AM:ReloadDBS, AM command 0x10070102(for theme DLC), AM command 0x00130040, and AM command 0x10050084(for theme DLC) are used here.
At the same time(from a different thread?), the "act:u" service handle is initialized with srv_GetServiceHandle. Then ACTU commands 0x00010084 and 0x000600C2 are used. | |||
| The "nim:u" service handle is initialized with srv_GetServiceHandle. Then NIMU commands 0x000F0042, 0x00170042, 0x00150000, and 0x00050000 are used. | |||
| AM command 0x10020104(theme DLC) is used here. Then Home Menu CXI RomFS data is read. | |||
| Home Menu CXI RomFS data is read. FS:GetSpecialContentIndex for the gamecard is used, then MICU initialization is done here(separate thread maybe?). | |||
| ACU:GetWifiStatus is used, the NAND shared-extdata 0xf000000b archive is then opened here. | |||
| NAND extdata 0xf000000b | "/idb.dat" | 0x2008 | This first opens the file for writing, then uses FSFile:GetSize(output filesize is 0x6d4000). Then it writes to the file using size 0, then closes the file. Then PTM:GetStepHistory is used. Then Home Menu opens "/idbt.dat", then reads 0x2008-bytes. |
| Home Menu starts using "news:s" commands here. While Home Menu is doing this, it also uses(from another thread?) APT:PrepareToStartNewestHomeMenu, NIMU:GetState, and NDMU:OverrideDefaultDaemons with input value 0xF.
Later with that news-command code still running, Home Menu also uses the following commands: ACU:GetWifiStatus, NDMU:QueryExclusiveMode, and CECDS command 0x000E0000. Then cfg blkID 0x000D0000 is loaded. | |||
| NAND extdata 0xf000000b | "/idbt.dat" | Home Menu writes 0x2008-bytes to this file. | |
| NAND extdata 0xf000000e | "/versionList.dat" | Loaded from the filesize. | |
| boss:P command 0x00200082 is used with string "mmVerDl". | |||
| ... | |||
| Home Menu System_SaveData | "/Launcher.dat" | When Home Menu is terminating(?), Home Menu writes 0x2490-bytes to the file here. After doing this, Home Menu opens, writes, and closes the file again. |
Returning to Home Menu from a crashed application
When returning to Home Menu from an application that didn't properly shutdown(like with an exception), PTM module writes data to the PTM system savedata. Then the system terminates Home Menu, and starts Home Menu again.