With Luma3DS' configuration menu, you can create a PIN lock using ABXY and the four D-Pad directions which must be entered before the system can boot into payloads (such as GodMode9) or into HOME Menu. If you have a splash screen active, the splash will always display after the PIN is entered correctly.
This PIN can easily be bypassed by anyone who knows what they're doing, so it is generally only useful as a childproofing measure.
PIN Setup
- Hold SELECT while powering on your device to enter the Luma3DS configuration menu
- Press A on the
PIN lockto choose a number of buttons to use for your PIN (4, 6, or 8) - Press START to exit the Luma3DS Configuration screen
- You will be prompted to enter the PIN using ABXY and the DPad
- The PIN will be set as soon as you enter all the buttons (there will be no confirmation)
- If you make a mistake, press SELECT to clear your inputs
PIN Screen Customization
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These two types of customization are incompatible. If both are present, the PIN Splash will always override the PIN Message. |
PIN Message
If you place a text file with the name pinmessage.txt in SD://luma that is at most 800 characters long, the message inside that file will be displayed on the bottom screen of the PIN screen. Due to how Windows handles line breaks, Luma3DS may display a ♪ character at the end of each line if the message was written on Windows.
PIN Splash
By placing a splash image file named splashpin.bin in SD://luma that has the same dimensions as a splashbottom.bin (320x240), that image will be displayed on the bottom screen of the PIN screen. See here for instructions on creating a splash image file.
Limitations
PIN Bypass
A PIN set via Luma3DS can be pretty easily bypassed through multiple methods:
- The PIN itself is stored as a file on the SD card (
SD://luma/pin.bin), so if it is deleted, Luma3DS acts as if it never existed and allows you to boot normally.- This does not disable the setting in the configuration menu; if you boot into Luma configuration again but don't disable the PIN option, it will prompt you for a new PIN as normal.
- Switching out the
boot.firmfile can disable the PIN:- If upgrading or downgrading Luma3DS,
config.ini/config.binmay be reset, which includes disabling the PIN boot.firmon SD card normally supersedesboot.firmon CTRNAND, which includes any PIN configuration that might be on CTRNAND
- If upgrading or downgrading Luma3DS,
- If using fastboot3DS instead of boot9strap, the fastboot3DS chainloader acting earlier in the boot process than Luma means that you can boot into GodMode9 and delete
pin.binbefore the PIN menu can appear
PIN Bruteforce
The Luma3DS PIN screen allows you unlimited tries with no delay to guess the PIN, meaning that even if none of the PIN Bypass methods are available to you, you can still force your way into the system. This is mostly impractical - the maximum number of PINs are 4096 for 4 digits, 262,144 for 6 digits, and 16,777,216 for 8 digits - but the possibility still remains, and against a 4-digit PIN it's even relatively feasible.