Summary :

1. Convert.3ds to.cia with just an exheader xorpad (old crappy method) - 3ds-to-cia-quick.sh.
2. CIA stands for CTR Importable Archive. This format allows the installation of titles to the 3DS. CIA files and titles on Nintendo's CDN contain identical data. As a consequence, valid CIA files can be generated from CDN content. This also means CIA files can contain anything that titles on Nintendo's CDN can contain.

Do not use save data from an old card after transferring. Do not alter or erase files in the Nintendo 3DS folder. Do not overwrite data by recopying to the same SD card. Complete these steps What you need. A wireless access point; A PC with Windows 7 or 8.1 installed.

Format 3DS SD card to FAT32 is necessary if you need to use it on 3DS console. The format tool we mentioned in this post also applies to SD cards for New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL, New Nintendo 2DS XL, Nintendo 3DS XL, and Nintendo 2DS.

About 3DS SD Card

3ds What Is 3DS SD Card? As the name implies, 3DS SD card is a kind of SD card that can be used on 3DS. Then what is 3DS? Released by Nintendo, 3DS is a handheld gaming device that enables you to play your favorite games anyplace at anytime. Its featured face-tracking 3D, fast processing speeds, amiibo support, and built-in entertainment options make it the best way to play.

What SD Cards Are Compatible?

Then what kind of SD card is compatible with Nintendo 3DS? Here we list some SD cards that have been proved to be compatible with Nintendo 3DS by Nintendo Support. You can purchase any of them to be used as 3DS SD card.

SanDisk Extreme:

• 16 GB [SDSDQXN-016G-G46A]
• 32 GB [SDSDQXN-032G-G46A]

SanDisk Extreme PLUS:

• 16 GB [SDSDQX-016G-U46A]
• 32 GB [SDSDQX-032G-U46A]

SanDisk Extreme Pro:

• 16 GB [SDSDQXP-016G-X46]
• 32 GB [SDSDQXP-032G-G46A]

Toshiba:

• 8 GB [SD-C008UHS1(BL5A)]

But does this mean only the SD cards listed above can be used as 3DS SD card? Absolutely not! Nintendo Support also explains the SD card requirements for users to select SD card by themselves.

• The Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, and Nintendo 2DS systems are compatible with SD cards up to 2 GB in size, and SDHC cards of 4 GB and larger up to 32 GB in size. All other SD card types are not considered compatible. MiniSD and MicroSD cards are compatible with the use of an SD card adapter.
• The New Nintendo 3DS family systems are compatible with MicroSD cards up to 2 GB in size, and MicroSDHC cards of 4 GB and larger up to 32 GB in size. All other SD Card types are not considered compatible.
• SDXC and MicroSDXC cards are not considered compatible.

What Exactly Is the 3DS SD Card Format?

Although Nintendo 3DS comes with a standard 2GB or 4GB SD card for storage, you may intend to upgrade your 3DS standard SD card to another SD card with larger storage capacity. Then it is important for you to know the exact file system requirement for the new SD card.

So far the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 2DS and the New Nintendo 3DS family systems all accept SD card formatted to FAT32 file system. That is to say, if you want to put in a 32GB SD card that has an NTFS or Ext2/3/4 file system to 3DS, you will have to reformat it to FAT32.

How Do You Know whether You Need to Format SD Card for 3DS?

As Nintendo console needs a FAT32 format for SD and SDHC cards, you must be very clear about what file system your memory card comes with and whether it needs to be formatted. To check whether your SD card has a FAT32 file system, you can connect it to computer, open File Explorer, and view its properties.

So the bottom line here is, 3DS SD card should be SD/SDHC card with a capacity equal or less than 32GB and should be formatted to the FAT32 file system. If your SD card has a different file system, reformat it to FAT32.

How to Reformat 3DS SD Card with FAT32 File System

In this part, we list 4 solutions here for you to format 3DS SD card to the FAT32 file system, with detailed instructions and corresponding pictures. But no matter which way you choose, you need to do the preparatory job first.

Preparatory work:

• Make sure you have a computer running Windows 10/8/7.
• Make sure the 3DS SD card you intend to format is successfully connected and recognized by the Windows PC.
• Make sure the SD card is ready to be formatted because formatting will lead to data loss. If you have some important files in it, make a backup in advance. And the guide Clone SD Card to PC for Transferring Data or Making a Backup may be helpful to you.

Solution 1. Format 3DS SD Card in MiniTool Partition Wizard

In our experience, disk partition manager is always the first choice when we come across various disk partition issues because such kind of tool is easier to use. MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition - an excellent choice for disk partition maintenance - is strongly recommended here. This free partition manager is able to address a lot of issues such as 'low disk space warning', 'file is too large for the destination file system', '3TB hard drives only uses 2TB', etc. To reformat 3DS SD card to FAT32 file system, MiniTool Partition Wizard offers powerful Format Partition feature. Click the button to get this free yet professional partition manager first and then install it on computer.

We will see how this SD card formatter works on 3DS SD card formatting.

Step 1. Run MiniTool Partition Wizard and enter the main interface. Then select the 3DS SD card partition from the disk map and choose Format Partition from the action panel.

Step 2. In the pop-up window, you can drop down the File System box and choose FAT32 as the destination file system. Then click OK to go back to the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Step 3. You can preview the SD partition will have a FAT32 file system. Now you need to click Apply button from the top left corner to save all changes.

Tip 1: Usually, only one partition is created on the SD card. If you have got more partitions on the SD card, you should use MiniTool Partition Wizard to delete all partitions first, and then create a FAT32 partition on the unallocated space.

Tip 2: Also some users report that SD card beyond 32GB is also accepted by Nintendo 3DS as long as the card is formatted to FAT32... If you want to have a try, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard to help you, because Windows built-in tools refuse to format memory card larger than 32 GB to FAT32 file system but MiniTool Partition Wizard enables.

3ds To Cia Converter Error Could Not Read Exheader File

We also recommend reading our guide: SD Card Formatter | How Do I Format SD Card Quickly.

Solution 2. Format 3DS SD card in Command Prompt

We have also recommended this Windows built-in tool so many times when we have the requirement to manage hard drive partitions. This SD card formatter requires your familiarity with your drives as no preview or warning message is presented before the execution. However, the commands involved here are easy, and you only need to run the followings to format SD card for 3DS.

Step 1. At Windows Start menu, run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2. Type the following commands and end each one with Enter key:

1. Diskpart
2. List disk
3. Select disk n (n is the disk number of the SD card)
4. List partition
5. Format fs=fat32 quick
6. Exit (exit diskpart)
7. Exit (exit Command Prompt)

Solution 3. Format 3DS SD card in Disk Management

How do you think of Windows Disk Management? Yes easy to access, and also easy to use even for average users. Indeed, Disk Management is another SD formatter that can be used to format 3DS SD card to FAT32 file system. Please do as the follows:

Step 1. Run 'diskmgmt.msc' to launch Windows Disk Management utility. Then you will see all your hard drives and removable disks attached to your computer are shown there. Please find the 3DS SD card partition by viewing the partition size and drive letter, then right-click it and choose Format from the context menu.

Step 2.In the pop-up window, choose FAT32 as the destination file system and click OK.

Step 3. You will see a warning message that reads 'Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. Back up any data you want to keep before formatting. Do you want to continue?' Please click OK to start the formatting if you have finished the preparatory work well. Disk Management will finish the formatting within a minute.

Solution 4. Format 3DS SD card in File Explorer

You must be familiar with File Explorer, the place to access your drives and files, we believe. How does it help to format 3DS SD card? Well, open File Explorer and find the SD card partition by viewing the drive letter and partition size. Then, follow the steps below to format SD card for 3DS.

Step 1. Right-click the SD card partition and choose Format from the context menu.

Step 2. In the pop-up window, drop down the file system list and choose FAT32 as the desired file system. Then click Start button.

Step 3. A warning message saying formatting will erase all data on this disk appears. Again if your SD card is ready for the formatting, click OK start and wait for the success.

We also recommend reading our guide: How Do I Fix 'Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format' Error.

How to Perform SD Card Recovery after Wrong Formatting

While the theme of this post is to reformat SD card for 3DS, sometimes you may forget to transfer/back up the important files from the SD card before formatting it to FAT32. In this case, we still have a nice suggestion for you to do SD card data recovery.

MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition, which is free to recover 1GB data, is recommended here. Although 1GB seems insufficient for your data recovery, you can use this freeware to scan your 3DS SD card and see whether it works before you pay a penny. With powerful Removable Disk Drive module, it should have no problem in scanning the SD card and finding the desired files for you. Get this SD recovery software now by hitting the download button and install it on your computer.

Detailed instructions are as follows:

Step 1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard and choose Data Recovery.

Step 2. Select the 3DS SD card partition in Removable Disk Drive module to have a full scan and wait patiently until the scanning process is finished.

Step 3. After a while, Data Recovery has finished scanning every sector of the SD card and lists the partitions it finds for you. (At most 10 partitions are listed each time if too many partitions were created in history. You can click Back button at lower right corner to load other partitions if there is a need.) Please unfold each folder and check the needed files manually. Finally, click Save to choose a safe location (should be a different route from the SD card partition to avoid overwriting) to store the files you have just selected.

Summary

Reading here, we believe you know what is 3DS SD card, what SD card is compatible with 3DS, what is 3DS SD card format, how to reformat SD card for 3DS, and how to carry out SD card data recovery if wrong formatting happens. If you have any questions or suggestions toward how to format SD card using MiniTool software, you can leave them in the comment section below or contact us via [email protected]. Thanks in advance!

As a game user, you might have encountered a situation that you are unable to start a game because your SD card cannot be detected or read by 3DS. Just like the following case:

'When I open my 3DS XL, it gives me a message says 'Could not detect SD Card. The software on the SD Card could not be displayed.' Is there any fix?'

6 Ways to Fix 3DS Could Not Detect SD Card

You can fix '3DS could not detect SD card' with six practical solutions:

Fix 1. Change 3DS SD Card Reader to Make it Detected

If your device doesn't read or detect the 3DS SD cards, you may need to replace the SD card reader. Follow the steps below to change the 3DS SD card reader. (This is an example of changing Nintendo 3DS 2015 SD card reader)

Step 1. Unscrew the two 3mm Phillips #0 head screws along the top edge of the device.

Step 2. Open the device.

• Pull the top corner tabs of the front faceplate outward and towards you.
• Pull the faceplate up and out of the slots at the bottom of the device.
• Set aside the back faceplate.

Step 3. Take out the battery.

Insert a plastic opening tool. Then, pry the battery up with the plastic opening tool.

Step 4. Pull the SD card reader from the edge with two holes gently to free the tab at the top of the SD card reader.

Step 5. Change the 3DS SD card reader.

Lift the SD card reader gently. Then, pry the SD card ribbon cable off the socket on the motherboard.

Finally, Lift the SD card reader out off of the lower casing. Try to connect your 3DS SD card to your device again to see if it works again.

If another SD card reader does not work, it might suggest that your 3DS should be repaired. If there is nothing with your SD card, you can fix your SD card with the following fixes below.

Fix 2. Update 3DS SD Card Driver to Fix the Not Detect Issue

When you connect your 3DS SD card to your computer, you may encounter the '3DS could not access SD card' error. To resolve this issue, update the SD card driver. Follow the details below to fix the error.

Step 1. Insert your memory SD card to a card reader and connect it to your PC.

Step 2. Open 'Computer' and choose 'System Properties'.

Step 3. In the taskbar on the left, click 'device manager' and next to 'Universal Serial Bus controller' click '+ (plus)'. Then you'll see a yellow exclamation mark.

Step 4. Right-click and choose 'update driver software'.

Step 5. Click 'Search automatically for driver software online'...

Wait until the process completes. Then, reconnect your SD card to your PC to see whether it can be recognized or not.

Fix 3. Run CHKDSK to Check and Fix SD Card Error

If your SD card goes wrong, you can run CHKDSK to check and fix your 3DS SD card. Then, the SD card may become detectable.

Step 1. Press Windows Key + X button to bring up the power users menu.

Step 2. In the power users menu, select the Command Prompt (Admin) option.

Step 3. Click Yes when you are presented with a UAC window requesting permission to launch the Command Prompt as Administrator.

Step 4. In the new Command Prompt window, type chkdsk E: /f /r /x. Here you should replace E with your Micro SD card letter.

Fix 4. Run CHKDSK Alternative to Check and Fix SD Card Error

If you don't have any technical know-how and want to minimize data risks, using third-party software could be a better choice. The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try an automatic command line alternative.

EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to solve your computer issues.

To fix file system error or disk error:

Step 1: DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for Free and install it.

Step 2: Open the software and select the 'File showing' option.

Step 3: Choose the drive and wait for repairing. After the operation completes, click the 'View' button to check the drive.

Fix 5. Reformat 3DS SD Card to FAT32

Another way to fix the not detected SD card is by formatting the 3DS card. Since the card cannot be accessed, you cannot transfer the games to another drive. All you can do is reformat the SD card.

You can use a free SD card formatter - EaseUS Partition Master. You can format your HDD, SSD, USB, memory card, SD card, or delete a partition to make it available for reuse. It also has many other highlights:

• Resize or move a partition
• SSD 4K alignment and more

Steps to format an SD card:

Step 1: Open EaseUS Partition Master. Find your SD card and right-click the partition you want to format and choose 'Format'.

Step 2: Set a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: Click 'OK' on the pop-up window to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button on the toolbar, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your SD card.

Fix 6. Replace Old 3DS SD Card with a New One

Some users who are still suffering could not detect an SD card error in 3DS after reformatting the card, replacing the old card with a new one is recommended.

Step 1. Buy a new 3DS SD card.

Step 2. Connect the old SD card to your PC.

On the SD card, you will find the root folder called 'Nintendo 3DS'. Copy and paste this whole folder to your desktop.

Step 3. Copy the data to your new SD card.

Step 4. Insert the new SD card with all of your copied data back into the 3DS's card slot.

Turn on the power, and everything should be working like nothing ever happened.

Extra Tips to Fix Could Not Detect an SD Card (Error Code: 007-2073)

Step 1. Make sure the system is off, remove the SD Card, and check that the card is compatible.

Step 2. For a New Nintendo 3DS XL, you will need a size #0 cross-head (+) screwdriver to remove the battery cover. You must remove the battery cover to access the micro SD card.

Step 3. Check the SD Card and ensure it is unlocked.

Step 4. Micro SD cards do not have a lock switch and cannot be locked.

Step 5. Insert the SD Card and turn the system on.

• If the error message mentions that the SD card may be full, try deleting unused content.
• If the problem is occurring with a specific downloadable game or application, use the Nintendo 3DS Download Repair Tool to check the game or application for errors and repair if necessary.
• Even if no errors are found, you can choose to run the repair tool.

Step 6. Start the game or application again to see if the problem is still happening.

Conclusion

These six solutions can solve 3DS, not reading SD card issues easily and quickly. Follow these solutions to get access to your 3DS SD card. By the way, you can avoid 3DS could not detect an SD card in two ways:

• Never remove or insert SD cards while the system is on.
• Never remove a mini SD or micro SD card while the adapter is still in the system.

3DS Not Detecting SD Card FAQs

If you still have a problem, you can read these 3DS related questions to solve your problem.

What happens if you put a 3DS game in a DS?

The DS and 3DS use different processors for logic and graphics. Meaning the 3DS cartridges would have to be 're-coded' (recompiled) into DS code. Good question, but the simple answer is you cannot. The code stored in the cartridge is unreadable by a DS.

Why does my 3DS keep saying the SD card was removed?

it's possible your SD card is dying. Back it up and try a different card to see if the message still pops up. If so, it might be your 3DS and you'll need to get it repaired.

What type of SD card does 3DS use?

The Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, and Nintendo 2DS systems are compatible with SD cards up to 2 GB in size, and SDHC cards of 4 GB and larger up to 32 GB in size. All other SD Card types are not considered compatible. miniSD and microSD cards are compatible with the use of an SD card adapter.

How do I transfer my SD card to my 3DS?

For transferring data between SD cards or microSD cards:

Step 1. Remove the SD Card from the system.

Step 2. Insert the SD Card with the Nintendo 3DS data into the SD Card Slot or the SD Card reader/writer.

Step 3. Open Windows Explorer (for PC) or Finder (for Mac) and access the SD Card.

Step 4. Highlight the data and drag it to the desktop. If performed as part of a system transfer, drag all folders to the desktop as they appear. Do not click into folders and drag their contents - drag the entire folder.

3ds To Cia Converter Could Not Read Exheader Files

Step 5. Eject the first SD Card. Insert the second SD Card into the slot or reader/writer. Using Windows Explorer or Finder access the SD Card again.

Step 6. Drag the data from the desktop to the new SD Card.

3ds To Cia Converter V4.1 Could Not Read Exheader File

If you recently performed a system transfer and chose to delete the data on the target system's SD Card, choose to copy and replace it for duplicate folders or files.