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3DS-CLI v5.3 by cmdada

Released Oct 3, 2026 · Emulators
8,296 downloads on GitHub · Source code

Boots a real RISC-V Linux on the 3DS, with a terminal up top and a touch keyboard below

Emulators.zip

Install on your 3DS

QR code of the download link for 3ds_cli.zip

Method 1Scan the QR code
With 3dsDL (Scan QR Code). Then open the .zip in 3dsDL's Files and extract it where the release notes say.

Method 2Send it to your 3DS
Open 3dsDL › Receive on the same Wi-Fi, then press:
Send to 3dsDL
Then extract the .zip in 3dsDL's Files where the release notes say.

Other ways to install

Files

FileSizeSHA-256
3ds_cli.zip60.2 MB 1a245de8…4165 Download

Downloads come from the developer's GitHub release while it's there. If GitHub stops serving a file, or the file there changes, the same link serves our copy.

All versions (23)

Screenshots

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About 3DS-CLI

A stock RV32 Linux 6.6 kernel with glibc, running inside mini-rv32ima-mmu as ordinary homebrew. bash, vim, nano, htop, wget, dropbear and BusyBox are in the image, and wget, ssh and ntpd work over the console's Wi-Fi. Log in as root with a blank password.

Copy Image from the release to the root of the SD card. Leave it out and the app asks to download one over Wi-Fi. First boot is slower while it unpacks rootfs.ext2 to the card. After that, writes go straight to that file, so nothing needs saving.

The console's hardware shows up under /mnt/3ds. sd is the real SD card, read-write. nand and twl are read-only and only appear with Luma3DS extended homebrew permissions. hw is a folder of plain files for the battery, sensors, cameras, mic, speakers and notification LED. Grabbing a camera frame freezes the guest for up to a second.

The same Image boots the Wii U, Switch, Wii, GameCube, PSP, Vita and PS3 builds too.

- L or Y: zoom out
- R or X: zoom in
- ZL: auto-follow cursor on or off
- ZR: switch between 8x8 and 5x7 fonts
- Circle Pad: pan
- D-Pad: arrow keys
- Select: settings
- Start: back to the Homebrew Launcher

On the touch keyboard, CTL is Ctrl: tap it, then a letter.

Release notes

v5.3 · V5.3 - 3DS and PSP Hardware Fixes · Oct 3, 2026

Install

  1. Download 3ds_cli.zip below and extract it.
  2. Copy Image to the root of your SD card.
  3. Copy your console's file from the zip:

| Console | Copy this | To here |
|---|---|---|
| 3DS | 3ds/3ds-cli.3dsx | sdmc:/3ds/3ds-cli/ |
| Wii U | wiiu/3ds-cli.wuhb | sd:/wiiu/apps/ |
| Switch | switch/3ds-cli.nro | sdmc:/switch/ |
| Wii | wii/3ds-cli.dol | sd:/apps/3ds-cli/boot.dol |
| PSP | psp/EBOOT.PBP | ms0:/PSP/GAME/3ds-cli/ |
| PS Vita | vita/3ds-cli.vpk | install with VitaShell |
| GameCube | gamecube/3ds-cli.dol | anywhere Swiss can reach |
| PS3 | ps3/3ds-cli.pkg | install it from the XMB |

That's it. The other zips below are for the Homebrew App Store
to install from, not for copying by hand.

Full changelog

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