This thread is outdated
A lot of information in this thread is heavilly out of date.
If you have time, and have Staff permission, feel free to edit this thread and remove this statement once necessary.

Some information that needs to be addressed:

• SX OS and Atmosphere now supports proper LayeredFS, instructions for using it has changed since this tutorial was made
• Supported Firmware information is out of date
• LFSKit needs to be updated to properly support non 5.x.x firmware
• Compatability chart needs to be re-made

-PRAGMA

WARNING

• DO NOT GO ONLINE WHEN DOING THIS (YOU WILL BE BANNED)

How to use LayeredFS for Backup Loading

Firmware Supported: ONLY 5.x.x
Use the PRAGMA LFS Kit below.

PRAGMA's LFS Kit

DOWNLOAD
SOURCE

• Go from NOTHING in your SD Card to playing a game backup in a few clicks!
• Decrypt .XCI -> romfs/exefs folder with main.nmpd auto edited aswell as folder's name auto renamed to donor titleid
• Download NOTHING except LFSKit!

ENJOY!

Picking a Donor Title and getting Donor TitleIDRunning Game Backups!

1. 
   
   1. A donor title is the application we will run to open the backup.
      Pick a game you don't care about (Download a Demo or a free game from eShop, for example Octopath Demo)
      saves are something no one knows much about, we don't fully know where or how they are stored.
      They might overwrite the donor titles save, so seriously pick a game you DONT care about, not a game you rarely play.
      
      
   2. I also recommend picking a donor title/game combo that has been tested and reported working just so you know if YOU did something wrong or not.
   3. Find the TitleID of the donor title you chose from http://nswdb.com or http://switchbrew.org/index.php?title=Title_list/Games
      Region must be the same, choose the TitleID for the base-game NOT for the update title, even if your updated.
2. 
   
   1. Once again, boot into Hekate-IPL (Step 1).
   2. Enter "Launch firmware" and select "RomFS".
   3. Your now in your system's home menu.
   4. Open the Donor Title you set the TitleID of on that folder and .npmd file earlier.
   5. The game will load up flawlessly.
      If you opened the Title lets say, Fortnite, and Fortnite booted, the titleid of the folder in sd:/atmosphere/titles/{fortnitetitleid} doesnt exist, or doesnt start with 0100.
      If it gives you an error screen, either you didnt edit the main.npmd properly, or its an incompatible title/donor combo.
   To see which games work and which dont using which donor titles, look below.
   If you notice that you used a combination of Game and Donor title that isnt in the list below, post in the thread and I will add it. (look under to see what I need to add to chart).
   

Troubleshooting

• Black Screen/Infinitely Loading
  Leave it for around 5 minutes then press the home button and go back into the game without closing it. Often this can do the job.
• Freeze when Loading
  Close the game and try again, its a common occurence, you may have to try up to 4-5 times before getting it to work, sometimes you may even have to reboot between retries.

 

[Zumoly]

So is there no actual way to get it to work?

I don't get you. It works fine for me.

 

[lolnintendoman]

I don't get you. It works fine for me.

I think you dont get the poin...
The Backup doesnt load for me with either PinballFX or the Happy Birthday demo

 

[Zumoly]

I think you dont get the poin...
The Backup doesnt load for me with either PinballFX or the Happy Birthday demo

Are we talking about WII?

 

[lolnintendoman]

Are we talking about WII?

Yeah right

 

[Zumoly]

Yeah right

Bro the game's a badass! I'm sure your config's to blame.
So did you try the latest tools? And on what fw are you?

 

[lolnintendoman]

Bro the game's a badass! I'm sure your config's to blame.
So did you try the latest tools? And on what fw are you?

What do you mean with latest tools? I extracted the xci with the comd/hactool method. Firmware should be latest one 5.1

 

[Zumoly]

What do you mean with latest tools? I extracted the xci with the comd/hactool method. Firmware should be latest one 5.1

SDfiles? Payload?

 

[lolnintendoman]

SDfiles? Payload?

I use the v5 SDfiles and the 3.0 ctcaer payload

 

[Zumoly]

Then I don't know what the issue could be.
Maybe your backup is corrupt or maybe the extraction did not go well.
Also are you using default configuration for the hekate.ini and the modules folder or are you still using the patched kernel?

 

[lolnintendoman]

Probably, will try to "dump" the xci again.
Its such a huge file thats the thing

 

[Zumoly]

Probably, will try to "dump" the xci again.
Its such a huge file thats the thing

You said it

 

[lolnintendoman]

You said it

Is there an actual more stable way for the cart2 extracting?

 

[Zumoly]

Is there an actual more stable way for the cart2 extracting?

xciExplorer?

 

[lolnintendoman]

xciExplorer?

So just use xci explorer to grab the biggest nca, and what would be the next steps?

 

[skflich]

So just use xci explorer to grab the biggest nca, and what would be the next steps?

Follow my mini tutorial I quoted a page or so back the run cmd and navigate to hactool folder run hactool.exe --romfs=romfs.bin -k (dir of KEYs) (Dir/INSERTNAME OF NCA HERE).nca

 

[PojarNazarovich]

Probably, will try to "dump" the xci again.
Its such a huge file thats the thing

I know it's stupid question but are you sure you uses proper title ID, cause i have same problem with isaac(LFS just loaded fallout and not isaac) and later i realize that i made an mistake when patch main.npdm file.
Also make sure that title ID patcher site work fine, cause I can download patched main.npdm only if i drag and drop file, if i select it from site it did nothing

 

[lolnintendoman]

I know it's stupid question but are you sure you uses proper title ID, cause i have same problem with isaac(LFS just loaded fallout and not isaac) and later i realize that i made an mistake when patch main.npdm file

No Im pretty sure I did the title ids right

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

 

[lolnintendoman]

Does the gamefolder need to have more than the romfs.bin file and the exefs folder in it before copying to the micro sd?

 

[skflich]

Does the gamefolder need to have more than the romfs.bin file and the exefs folder in it before copying to the micro sd?

Short answer no. But you need to make sure that you have edited the MAIN.NPDM file with the correct title ID

 

[Zumoly]

Does the gamefolder need to have more than the romfs.bin file and the exefs folder in it before copying to the micro sd?

No only those two.