This is the approved revision of this page, as well as being the most recent.
This page is a guide to rebuilding the title.db file in your SD card.
title.db is the name for two files - one on the 3DS' SD card, and one on its CTRNAND - which contain a list of all installed 3DS titles for its respective part of the filesystem (e.g. your SD card's title.db only has entries for titles installed to your SD card). For more information, check out 3dbrew.
What you need
- The latest release of save3ds for your operating system
- A version of Python 3.8 or later
- A 3DS console with custom firmware
- seeddb.bin
- boot9.bin (same for all consoles) and movable.sed (specific to yours only) - dump with 3DS:Dump system files
Section I - Preparing the files
- Turn the 3DS off
- Insert your SD card into your computer
- Go to the Rebuild Title Database repo's page
- Click the Code button, then click Download ZIP
- Extract the contents of the downloaded
.zipinto a folder- This folder will be referred to as the "rebuild folder" from now on
- Copy
movable.sedandboot9.binto the rebuild folder- If you had just dumped them from your console, both are most likely in
sd:/gm9/out
- If you had just dumped them from your console, both are most likely in
- Copy
seeddb.bininto the rebuild folder - Copy the
save3ds_fusebinary from the save3ds.zipfile into the rebuild folder
Section II - Rebuilding the database
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If you are not on Windows, replace py -3 with python3 in all commands. |
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The commands in this section are case-sensitive. Enter them exactly as written, or there may be unintended consequences. |
- Navigate to the rebuild folder in file explorer
- Hold SHIFT and right-click anywhere in the folder's empty space, then click the option that opens a terminal, PowerShell, or Command Prompt
- In this new window, enter the following commands one at a time:
py -3 -V- If this does not print the Python version, it is either not installed correctly, or the wrong command was used. Please read the note above.
py -3 -mpip install --user -r requirements.txtpy -3 fix-titledb.py -b boot9.bin -m movable.sed -s X:- If you are on Windows, replace
X:with your SD card's drive letter. If you are not on Windows, replaceX:with your SD card's mount point.
- If you are on Windows, replace
py -3 rebuild-title-database.py -b boot9.bin -m movable.sed -S seeddb.bin -s X: -o out./save3ds_fuse.exe --db sdtitle out --import --boot9 boot9.bin --movable movable.sed --sd X:- If you are not on Windows, remove
.exefrom this command
- If you are not on Windows, remove
- If you didn't get any errors, your apps should reappear on the HOME Menu immediately
- If they only appear in System Settings -> Data Management, follow one of these sets of steps based on how they appear.
- Appear normally: Check the contents of
sd:/Nintendo 3DS/<id0>/<id1>/title/00040000; there should only be more folders inside that folder.- If there is a file inside this folder, your apps are at least partially corrupted - backup your SD card to your PC, reformat it, and then try to move the backed-up files back to the SD. If this fails or the apps do not reappear afterward, check your SD card for hardware damage.
- Appear with a grey block count indicator and an X through their icons: Run faketik.
- Appear with white/corrupted icons, 0 block count, and/or corrupted name: Whatever destroyed your
title.dbhas also permanently corrupted your apps. Backup your SD card to your PC,reformat it, and then check it for hardware damage.
- Appear normally: Check the contents of
- If they do not appear anywhere in the system, you may want to check your SD card for hardware damage, as the apps are likely gone.
- If they only appear in System Settings -> Data Management, follow one of these sets of steps based on how they appear.
Troubleshooting
boot9.binis missing from[M:] MEMORY VIRTUAL- Follow the steps to dump your system files for more in-depth instructions, including those for bootloaders other than boot9strap.
- The first command in Section II gave the error
ERROR: Could not open requirements file: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'requirements.txt'- Make sure you are in the rebuild folder and that you extracted the contents of
rebuild-title-database-master.zipinto it.- Once this is fixed, delete the
outfolder and try the command again.
- Once this is fixed, delete the
- Make sure you are in the rebuild folder and that you extracted the contents of
- The third or fourth command in Section II failed
- Make sure you have
boot9.binandmovable.sedin the rebuild folder. - Make sure your SD card is inserted and you can view and edit its contents.
- Make sure you have
- The fifth command in Section II failed