3DS:Seedminer

Seedminer is a process used to find a 3DS family system's movable.sed (the system-unique encryption key) and is used in the majority of CFW installation methods on the latest firmware. At present, there are three main ways to derive movable.sed: the automated BFM (Bruteforce Movable) service, manual mining, and Mii mining.

If you're interested, a presentation on Seedminer's technical aspects can be found here.

Requirements

If BFM is inaccessible or you encounter issues using the site, join our Discord server and ask for help.

All systems that can access the HOME Menu and either add a friend or create Miis can use Seedminer, but which methods are available will depend on your system's ability to add friends and whether you can access BFM.
The potential outcomes are as follows:

If your console can add friends, you should use Bruteforce Movable to automatically mine your movable.sed.

• If BFM is inaccessible (the website is down), read this section for more information.
• If BFM says that you are locked out, join our Discord server for assistance.
• If BFM says that it could not process your request, read this section for more information.
• If BFM is up and you wish to try manual mining anyway, see here.

Before attempting these methods, try another wireless connection or get closer to your router, as BFM is significantly easier to use than the manual methods.

Manual mining methods require a reasonably powerful dedicated GPU on hand to be efficient. If you don't have a dedicated GPU (or are not good at using the command line), you should join our Discord server for assistance.

If you have an already-hacked 3DS physically on hand, see here to dump your LFCS and mine it yourself. If not, you will need to follow Mii Mining instead.

Manual mining methods require a reasonably powerful dedicated GPU on hand to be efficient. If you don't have a dedicated GPU (or are not good at using the command line), you should join our Discord server for assistance.

See here to do an altered version of the manual process.

How it works

Movable security characteristics

The movable.sed file is a system-unique encryption key for the 3DS. It is supposed to have 128 bits of random encryption, which would be impossible to bruteforce with modern hardware. However, due to various flaws with Nintendo reusing code, the number of values that have to be decrypted is ~2^40 instead of 2^128 (a decrease by a factor of roughly 100 septillion from the expected value).

This is due to half of movable.sed being created from the LFCS (Local Friend Code Seed), a file which any hacked system that has the target 3DS as a friend can dump, and another quarter being mathematically related to the LFCS. These factors make it possible to derive the encryption key with modern consumer-level hardware.

If the system cannot add friends, a Mii QR code can be bruteforced to derive the same information that would be exchanged in a friend exchange. However, the smaller amount of data available for this method means that this takes a significant amount of extra time.

Mining the movable

If you can obtain the LFCS, the enormous reduction in difficulty makes it easy to bruteforce the full movable.sed with almost any dedicated GPU - even older models such as an Nvidia GTX 760. Integrated graphics are still weak by these standards, however, and will likely take a few hours.

If you cannot obtain the full LFCS but can obtain a Mii QR code, it will take significantly longer (up to 2 hours, depending on GPU strength) since it must also bruteforce the full LFCS before it can bruteforce the random values. Attempting to use integrated graphics for this method may take upwards of a day.

Once created, the movable.sed created can be used to decrypt any system data on your SD card (such as digital game save data). Because a bruteforced movable.sed only contains the data necessary to decrypt system data (and not other data that is used to verify that it is valid), it is not recommended to inject a bruteforced movable into your NAND (though, it won't brick your system).

Automation and optimization

movable.sed is well within bruteforcing territory with modern dedicated graphics cards; with optimizations and volunteers, the process can be entirely automated with mining times of 5 minutes or less. Bruteforce Movable is a working implementation of this, and is one of the current methods used above.

How to mine for others on BFM

If you want to volunteer some of your GPU power for mining others' movables, go to the Seedminer website and read the "Mine for BruteforceMovable" header for instructions.

Limitations

Consoles with mismatched movables

There is a known issue, disproportinately affecting older consoles more than new ones, that makes the affected consoles' true movable.sed unable to be mined. Therefore, these consoles cannot use any Seedminer method.

The only confirmed source of this issue is in consoles that have been shipped to Nintendo for repairs previously. Consoles that were manufactured before February 2012 experience this at a far higher rate than other consoles, but the cause in those cases is unknown.

Any console that has received a system transfer from a console affected by this will also be temporarily made unminable, but will become minable again after a system format. If your console appears to be impossible to mine, either do a system format first or look into an alternate exploit path.

kartdlphax and ntrboot are the preferred alternate options, but if you cannot do either of these without significant extra effort, you should see if you have the resources needed for one of these paths.

BFM connectivity and uptime

Although BFM is generally very stable, it requires your computer to be able to connect to either https://seedminer.hacks.guide or https://bfm.nintendohomebrew.com. If BFM is down, your connection is too unstable/slow, or an internet block is disabling access to both of these websites, then join our Discord server for help.