(Again) some questions to make a Switch online-proof

[-Mike-]

Hi there,

i know there have been a lot of threads around and i always read a lot before i act, however i just want to ask for help, because a lot of info i find is from 2020 or 2019 and no longer valid.

What do i want to do?
Play online with legit games, but also be able to use emuMMC COMPLETELY OFFLINE.

Introduction:
I have a Switch for 3 years now, which was NEVER online. I used SXOS emuNAND from day one! And sysNAND was untouched.
The last days i migrated the emuNAND to an emuMMC and updated this to 13.2 / AMS 1.2.5. So far so good!

Today i booted into sysNAND, did a factory reset (Even if it was never used) connected to WIFI and updated from Firmware 4.x to 13.2.
I made a Nintendo account and surprisingly i am not banned.

Problem:
I have to use a LAN adapter, because WIFI is bad and i just dont like WIFI gaming.
That means if i boot into emuMMC and play docked, its connected to LAN.
FOR ME the best solution would be to remove the LAN driver from the emuMMC, but i think this isnt possible.

So how can i be 100% sure, NO internet communication happens in emuMMC?

1. I already placed the default.ini in the hosts ordner of Atmosphere
2. Will a manual misconfiguration of the LAN adapter avoid ANY communication? (DNS like 0.0.0.0 ??? and a non-matching IP ???)
3. What about Incognito? I could only find it for 13.0 and i also read in some thread that i always modifies the sysnand (or bootloader?) even if its appied to emuMMC only.
Dont know if this is true, but of course i dont want to change a single Bit in the Bootloader or sysNAND.


If blocking internet over LAN for 100% is not possible, it have to deal with WIFI, however if the Switch is docked in to another dock with LAN in the future im fked.

Maybe i am to scared about getting banned, but i want to do whats possible especially as i dont want use Internet in emuMMC at all.


THANKS!

 

[LeyendaV]

At this point, your emunand should be on HOS +13 already, there's no reason to stay lower.

Also, you MUST apply Incognito. ALWAYS. After that, set the 90DNS (some people will tell you not to, don't hear them and do it anyways), and set this file as the hosts for Atmosphere.
That's all you need to do. You can optionally setup exosphere (personally, I do), but there's no need if you already made everything else, it's more like another layer.

Once all is done, you can freely connect your emunand to the internet and use it as needed (withing the possibilities left, obviously) without any problem.

About your sysnand, emu and sys are two completely, utterly separated environments with less than zero connection between them. What you do with one won't impact the other (as long as you do everything I just mentioned).

 

[-Mike-]

At this point, your emunand should be on HOS +13 already, there's no reason to stay lower.

Also, you MUST apply Incognito. ALWAYS. After that, set the 90DNS (some people will tell you not to, don't hear them and do it anyways), and set this file as the hosts for Atmosphere.
That's all you need to do. You can optionally setup exosphere (personally, I do), but there's no need if you already made everything else, it's more like another layer.

Once all is done, you can freely connect your emunand to the internet and use it as needed (withing the possibilities left, obviously) without any problem.

About your sysnand, emu and sys are two completely, utterly separated environments with less than zero connection between them. What you do with one won't impact the other (as long as you do everything I just mentioned).

Thanks for the fast reply!

However it does not exactly answer my questions.

1. I dont want to go online with emuMMC at all! But there is a always connected LAN adapter in dock mode for sysNAND.
Is there a way to block EVERYTING, not only 90DNS? (For example DNS 0.0.0.0 and wrong IP manually)

2. Whats HOS? If HOS means Horizon, whats the advantage? I have Atmosphere 13.2 and im happy with it so far.

3. This post says, that Incognito modifies sysNAND even if it is applied to emuMMC only:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/exosphere-vs-incognito-how-effective-is-it-now.587390/#post-9452851

What does this mean? Perhaps I am a little too cautious, but as i said i dont want to modify a single Bit in Bootloader or sysNAND. This is maybe someting which can be detected in the future.


Additional question 4.
Is it STILL safe to remain the AMS SD card inside the Switch while being online with sys?

 

[Chaosta]

Thanks for the fast reply!

However it does not exactly answer my questions.

1. I dont want to go online with emuMMC at all! But there is a always connected LAN adapter in dock mode for sysNAND.
Is there a way to block EVERYTING, not only 90DNS? (For example DNS 0.0.0.0 and wrong IP manually)

2. Whats HOS? If HOS means Horizon, whats the advantage? I have Atmosphere 13.2 and im happy with it so far.

3. This post says, that Incognito modifies sysNAND even if it is applied to emuMMC only:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/exosphere-vs-incognito-how-effective-is-it-now.587390/#post-9452851

What does this mean? Perhaps I am a little too cautious, but as i said i dont want to modify a single Bit in Bootloader or sysNAND. This is maybe someting which can be detected in the future.


Additional question 4.
Is it STILL safe to remain the AMS SD card inside the Switch while being online with sys?

1: yes incognito. That link you posted is incorrect, incognito blocks Nintendo servers, period. 90dns is a old School method before incognito was a thing. Some ppl still cling to it for some reason but it's inferior.

2: keep emunand updated so it can play all games, aswell as avoid gc fw issues.

3: that claim is false.

4:yes Nintendo cant read your sd card contents

 

[LeyendaV]

Thanks for the fast reply!

However it does not exactly answer my questions.

1. I dont want to go online with emuMMC at all! But there is a always connected LAN adapter in dock mode for sysNAND.
Is there a way to block EVERYTING, not only 90DNS? (For example DNS 0.0.0.0 and wrong IP manually)

2. Whats HOS? If HOS means Horizon, whats the advantage? I have Atmosphere 13.2 and im happy with it so far.

3. This post says, that Incognito modifies sysNAND even if it is applied to emuMMC only:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/exosphere-vs-incognito-how-effective-is-it-now.587390/#post-9452851

What does this mean? Perhaps I am a little too cautious, but as i said i dont want to modify a single Bit in Bootloader or sysNAND. This is maybe someting which can be detected in the future.


Additional question 4.
Is it STILL safe to remain the AMS SD card inside the Switch while being online with sys?

1. If you don't want to go, don't do it. But doing everything I listed, is safe.

2. HOS is Horizon, indeed. And has nothing to do with Atmosphere. Two completely separated things that you must update separately.

3. False as fuck.

4. Already gave you an answer. Emu and sys has 0 connection, wich obviously means you can keep the SD on while being on sys.

 

[JackTheFroster]

I can just say, i was using checkpoint and other cfw stuff on my sysnand, never been banned yet (doesnt mean its risk free). i use emummc too for all the cfw stuff, but i think as long as you never do anything really cfw related on your sysnand and keep your emummc offline, there wont be much to worry about.

 

[Deleted member 568892]

Shouldn't it be as simple as keep the wifi off on emuNAND? It would be better to delete the wifi connection from your emuNAND internet settings just to avoid any accidents.

 

[-Mike-]

All your answers are correct and helpful. Thank you!

But maybe i described it wrong:

-In docked mode there is always a LAN (no wifi) adapter and cable connected. So i can play online with a stable connection in sysNAND

-When i use emuNAND the LAN adapter and cable is still connected to the dock. (I dont want to unplug it every time i switch between SYS and EMU)
But in emuNAND i want to block ALL internet traffic (like a not connected WIFI), not only Nintendo servers. Every filter hack or DNS can fail sometimes, i wanted to be 101% safe. But probably no one else except me wants to do that.


HOWEVER, this is maybe not possible as i understand now.
Anyway, thank you very much for your help. I have no more questions.


Regarding point 4 (Atmosphere SD installed while in sysNAND):
I f***ing dont understand, why Nintendo isn't scanning for AMS/payload/homebrew/emunand files on the SD card while the Switch is online in sysNAND.
It would be so easy for them.

 

[JackTheFroster]

All your answers are correct and helpful. Thank you!

But maybe i described it wrong:

-In docked mode there is always a LAN (no wifi) adapter and cable connected. So i can play online with a stable connection in sysNAND

-When i use emuNAND the LAN adapter and cable is still connected to the dock. (I dont want to unplug it every time i switch between SYS and EMU)
But in emuNAND i want to block ALL internet traffic (like a not connected WIFI), not only Nintendo servers. Every filter hack or DNS can fail sometimes, i wanted to be 101% safe. But probably no one else except me wants to do that.


HOWEVER, this is maybe not possible as i understand now.
Anyway, thank you very much for your help. I have no more questions.


Regarding point 4 (Atmosphere SD installed while in sysNAND):
I f***ing dont understand, why Nintendo isn't scanning for AMS/payload/homebrew/emunand files on the SD card while the Switch is online in sysNAND.
It would be so easy for them.

I think the answer IS incognito, if you set it up properly on emummc even lan connection is blocked for the important nintendo checks or even everything. the problem is only that you should NOT do it on sysnand, because you have to restore a backup then.

and even scanning files is probably not really making much sense. it is legal to jailbreak anything since you own the product. the only problem is, that if you use anything homebrew related online, it probably violates some agreement and they have the right to ban your console. maybe it wont be even legal to scan any private data on your sd card... not sure

 

[pr0dukt]

There is no such thing as 'Online-Proof'. There are only contingencies and ban-prevention measures that can only decrease chances of a flag getting you banned, but people still seem to think we have Nintendo's security countermeasures down to a science and thus can circumvent them entirely from our end, and that's just not the case.. =\

 

[-Mike-]

Thanks again!

One thing i forgot:
Is this the right version of Icongito (It says 13.0.0 only) to apply it to a 13.2.0 emuMMC?
https://github.com/mistervampi/Incognito_RCM




/edit:
I probably found a fkn easy solution to my inital question myself (blocking everyting), but no warranty!

the hosts/default.txt hast to contain only one single line!
127.0.0.1 *.*

Every Domain contains a dot and with this line everything with a dot in it is blocked!!!
90DNS tester proofed that all domains are blocked with this single line!
(Counterproof: With an empty default.txt the domains showed as not blocked)

Additionally i made the .txt file write-proof.
As long as the file is not deleted, i should be safe forever even if a Firmware update adds new domains!

 

[JackTheFroster]

Thanks again!

One thing i forgot:
Is this the right version of Icongito (It says 13.0.0 only) to apply it to a 13.2.0 emuMMC?
https://github.com/mistervampi/Incognito_RCM




/edit:
I probably found a fkn easy solution to my inital question myself (blocking everyting), but no warranty!

the hosts/default.txt hast to contain only one single line!
127.0.0.1 *.*

Every Domain contains a dot and with this line everything with a dot in it is blocked!!!
90DNS tester proofed that all domains are blocked with this single line!
(Counterproof: With an empty default.txt the domains showed as not blocked)

Additionally i made the .txt file write-proof.
As long as the file is not deleted, i should be safe forever even if a Firmware update adds new domains!

i think its always safer to use something like this host txt instead of messing with any partition like incognito does. i couldnt see anything yet that incognito is easy to install on emummc or even compatible with 13.2.0. so dont risk anything here.

maybe the hosts txt file is a solution which works forever (and would be good if it is). but if you could have connection for a short time, i think the risk is still low to be banned. i mean, i used nintendo services even while on cfw and not so legit stuff happening there, but i still have access to eshop and everything else. hope it works well!

 

[-Mike-]

Yeah i think i have to read more about incognito.
I am someone who wants to understand something before i do it and not just went through a YT tutorial mindless.

In the meanwhile i will use my *.* hosts file and i also misconfigured the LAN adapter in emuMMC (IP 123.123.123.123, Subnetmask 255.255.255.254 Gateway 121.121.121.121 DNS 10.9.8.7) so there (hopefully) wont be a connection to my router possible.

 

[RHOPKINS13]

I'm assuming that you're using a modchip or some other REALLY simple method to switch between SysNAND and EmuMMC? Because the vast majority of people need to use a jig and some sort of payload injector, etc. in order to switch. Compared to all of that, unplugging a LAN cable seems easy enough to do. If you've done incognito, you should be fine. I've been using my emummc online for a very long time with no problems. Lots of people use Tinfoil online for downloading games, and haven't gotten banned on sysnand.

 

[-Mike-]

I got a switch V1 with Jig + Injector.

Full Story:
Unplugging the cable is not "too much work", however my kids are old enough to use the Jig and Injector and i want to make emuMMC IDIOT-PROOF for them.
But FOR SURE they will not remember plugging and unplugging the LAN cable.

 

[RHOPKINS13]

Well, between incognito and your hosts file everything should be taken care of. Another option would be to go on your router and block your Switch's MAC address. Then go on your SysNAND and change the MAC address.

 

[-Mike-]

As i use an external LAN adapter on the dock, the MAC of the adapter ist the same.
But i im confident that my solution will work.

 

[Chaosta]

its really not that complex. incognito or a exosphere file is all you need. thats it. and use fastcfwswtich to change between sysnand/emunand. or just between emunand and stock ofw.

 

[-Mike-]

Okay, i tested exosphere.ini for emuMMC (only) and it did what it should.

But for me it is no solution, because the controllers are no longer synced in SYS and EMU.
Everytime i switch i have to re-sync all controllers...

after removing exosphere the controller are synced parallel in both again.

 

[BrandonSWITCH]

Okay, i tested exosphere.ini for emuMMC (only) and it did what it should.

But for me it is no solution, because the controllers are no longer synced in SYS and EMU.
Everytime i switch i have to re-sync all controllers...

after removing exosphere the controller are synced parallel in both again.

Pair your controllers in your SysMMC and then copy the controller pairing data to the EmuMMC, here is a guide on how to do it: https://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-pairing-the-joy-con-on-emunand-and-sysnand.562519/