(Use the one that matches your OS and comfort.)
While .cxi (CTR Executable Image) files are essentially decrypted .3ds files often used for emulation in Citra, they cannot be natively installed or played on a physical 3DS handheld. A solid converter bridges this gap through the following key capabilities: cxi to 3ds converter
# 4. Build NCSD header (0x200 bytes) ncsd = bytearray(0x200) ncsd[0x100:0x104] = b'NCSD' ncsd[0x104:0x108] = struct.pack('<I', 2) # 2 partitions # Partition 0 (ExeFS) offset0 = 0x2000 ncsd[0x120:0x128] = struct.pack('<QQ', offset0, exefs_size) # Partition 1 (RomFS) offset1 = align(offset0 + exefs_size, 0x200) ncsd[0x128:0x130] = struct.pack('<QQ', offset1, romfs_size) (Use the one that matches your OS and comfort
Input: CXI file (decrypted or with key) ↓ [1] Parse NCCH header → locate ExeFS offset, RomFS offset ↓ [2] Extract ExeFS binary (including code, banner, icon) ↓ [3] Extract RomFS binary (raw LZSS or uncompressed) ↓ [4] Build NCSD header: - Magic = "NCSD" - Media size = (ExeFS size + RomFS size + 0x2000) / 0x200 - Partition 0 = ExeFS (offset = 0x2000) - Partition 1 = RomFS (offset = 0x2000 + ExeFS size aligned) ↓ [5] Write output: - Padding (0x2000 bytes for header + NCSD) - ExeFS (aligned to 0x200) - RomFS (aligned to 0x200) ↓ Output: .3ds file 0x200) ncsd[0x128:0x130] = struct.pack('<
: Converting to .3ds is often a midway step for users who want to later convert the file into a .cia (CTR Importable Archive) for permanent installation on a console's SD card.