This thread is outdated
A lot of information in this thread is heavilly out of date.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• Supported Firmware information is out of date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.

 

[leerpsp]

I Have the Arms Global Testpunch wonder if the full arms game will work with that.
I would test the arms testpunch demo tonight but don't know how i go about doing all this just yet and lost my jig.

 

[Dribblejam]

When Im in HxD the number im replacing doesnt seem right. Starts with 7 and has a bunch of numbers. Is it because the xci was trimmed? Ive tried two different main.npdm files

 

[leerpsp]

When Im in HxD the number im replacing doesnt seem right. Starts with 7 and has a bunch of numbers. Is it because the xci was trimmed? Ive tried two different main.npdm files

did you un-trim it to see if that fixed it?

 

[Zris96]

Does this works on any firmware?

 

[leerpsp]

Does this works on any firmware?

5.1.0

 

[Zris96]

So is it recommended to update from 4.1.0 for this?

 

[The3rdknuckles]

Will I get banned if I use this on 5.1.0? I don't intend to use any backups online, but I do intend to play my carts online after coldboot of course. I have my real account on this one.

 

[leerpsp]

So is it recommended to update from 4.1.0 for this?

do you care if you have to use a jig to get into RCM mode? if not then update. As far as i know most if not all homebrew works seems a few backup's do if you use this. But you will always need to use a phone or pc to boot the cfw every time though on 5.1.0. But if you order the switch SX os pro it has a usb tool that can boot into cfw with out using the pc or phone.

 

[Traiver]

Digitally Mario Tennis Aces works with a donor from Skyrim. Saving works, too.

 

[leerpsp]

Will I get banned if I use this on 5.1.0? I don't intend to use any backups online, but I do intend to play my carts online after coldboot of course. I have my real account on this one.

as long as your not online with your backups or using this at all you should be good but no one knows if they have a way of knowing you use this or not so its really come in go at this point.

 

[SonicRegret]

Check this out.
Not actually banned, and I couldn't find more info on it. Rebooted to stock FW and played Splatoon 2 just fine. It was pretty weird.

 

[Bluegamebits]

Arms works with Overcooked as base but doesn't save and The binding of Isaac with saves works with Minecraft as base.

 

[Pacote]

Hmm I see on one was able to redirect no game to actually run BBB Odyssey =/

 

[Working_Goose]

Mario + Rabbits
Kingdom Battle

Working with Donor Fallout Shelter on 5.1.0 (EDIT: and with saves! It Crashes when i play this the Third time but after a reboot it works again [with saves!])

 

[Swan1360]

any working donors for skyrim ???

 

[CitizenSnips]

any working donors for skyrim ???

According to the chart, no

 

[Swan1360]

skyrim with mario kart donor stuck at Nintendo loading screen 5.1.0

 

[Jayro]

Any advantages to using LayeredFS vs raw XCI dumps for backup loading? Disadvantages?

 

[ProNiteBite]

Game: NBA 2K18
Boots: No
Donor: Super Mario Odyssey & Pokemon Quest.
Firmware: 5.1.0
Saves: N/A
Notes: Using both Super Mario Odyssey & Pokemon Quest as donors, NBA 2K18 opens up, the Nintendo switch loading icon is in the bottom right corner. It slows down then fades to black. Nothing but a black screen is shown afterward.

 

[SonicRegret]

Any advantages to using LayeredFS vs raw XCI dumps for backup loading? Disadvantages?

From my viewpoint, its quite a lot of work for a chance to play some games earlier before xci loading becomes a thing, you need to decrypt and extract the xci and get an nca then extract that into the romfs and exefs files needed and hope that it works with whatever game you're sacrificing. Since xci's are raw dumps i feel they would be easier to deal with because extraction of these games takes a long time and may not even work. Only benefit that i see is decreased file size and mods.