Hacking SWITCH NOOB PARADISE - Ask questions here

[binkinator]

Managed to get the new card up and running. Thank you for the help.

One other question though. I transferred all the data from the old card, which included about 20 games, but the games didn’t load. So I’ve got to download them again. Which is a bit inconvenient.

Is this standard procedure? That when migrating to a new card that you have to redownload the games?

Your games are most likely installed in your Nintendo folder under the emummc folder which should have gotten copied over as part of your FAT32 data copy. That’s probably good.

Here’s where the trouble might be…You will also need a copy of your old Emunand. You can do this using Hekate by ensuring you switch over to SDCard at the bottom of the backup page and then backup/restore your boot 0/1 and full backup. Here’s an article on the topic that covers three ways to do it. I prefer Hekate because it’s all done using just your Switch.

https://rentry.org/EmuNANDNewSDcard

Post automatically merged: Dec 6, 2022

I should clarify a few details.

VERY much appreciated!

This switch is quite old, and was formatted before I got it (specifically because it was an old device that could be hacked.) So I haven't made any changes regarding sysnand and emunand.

No worries…looks like your SDCard isn’t big enough to store a 29G emunand anyway. You might consider an emunand in the near future when you pick up a larger card.

I only hacked it yesterday using the guides here: https://switch.homebrew.guide

The SD card is a 32 gig that's been formatted multiple times to be Fat32. I actually encountered errors when I tried to change it to exfat, but those seem to be gone now since I re-reformatted again and reset it to be a Fat32 with the payloads from https://switch.homebrew.guide. I would say the SD card is maybe 3 years old and has worked fine for years. I've thrown out cards when they show signs of degrading.

Great. FAT32 is the way to go on the Switch,

The only game I have tried so far is ACNH. It's 6.23 gig nps. I had massive problems trying to get it over TO the device in the first place (as my posting history will show). I tried splitting it, but neither goldleaf or awoo could see the split files.

I tried to use an XCI and that was an even worse failure as nothing seems to recognize xci files. I tried to install tinfoil and that refused to even install at all. So the XCI angle was out.

I eventually got tinwoo and NSUploader to talk, as per your instructions for the drivers. It installed the NPS via USB. I installed it directly to the switch's hard drive. I haven't tried installing it on the card yet. But all it says is CORRUPTED DATA FOUND.

Try deleting the game and installing it on the SDCard this time.

So far sigpatching hasn't done anything. However, all I did was put that folder in my SD card root, so if there was another step, I haven't done it.

Unzip and place the contents of the file in the root of the drive. Should be just these two folders that you copy paste there.

Let’s check the SDCard just the same using h2testw.

 

[testing123]

Your games are most likely installed in your Nintendo folder under the emummc folder which should have gotten copied over as part of your FAT32 data copy. That’s probably good.

Here’s where the trouble might be…You will also need a copy of your old Emunand. You can do this using Hekate by ensuring you switch over to SDCard at the bottom of the backup page and then backup/restore your boot 0/1 and full backup. Here’s an article on the topic that covers three ways to do it. I prefer Hekate because it’s all done using just your Switch.

https://rentry.org/EmuNANDNewSDcard

Post automatically merged: Dec 6, 2022

VERY much appreciated!

No worries…looks like your SDCard isn’t big enough to store a 29G emunand anyway. You might consider an emunand in the near future when you pick up a larger card.

Great. FAT32 is the way to go on the Switch,


Try deleting the game and installing it on the SDCard this time.



Unzip and place the contents of the file in the root of the drive. Should be just these two folders that you copy paste there.

View attachment 341628


Let’s check the SDCard just the same using h2testw.

SD card tested in computer via usb adapter:

Warning: Only 41 of 30237 MByte tested.
Test finished without errors.
Reading speed: 8.37 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

Odd it didn't say "write and verify" though, just verify.


Installing game to SD card didn't change anything. Starting to suspect the NPS file itself may be faulty, possibly.


EDIT UPDATE:

I have added the sigpatcher files.

I tested the smallest game possible, Baba is You.

Using the same methods as above, it works when installed onto the switch directly.

This means there's something amiss with ACNH. Either the file is corrupt or the file's fine but it requires special setup to work on the switch. I should note that I have zero internet connection on the switch right now.

Testing a different ANCH XCI file now.



Further edit:

A base game ACNH XCI works.

Thanks so much for all your help!


The only question now...how to install the ACNH updates that have come out over the past 2 years.

I HAVE the updates in NPS format, but I don't want to risk wrecking things.

The other option would be to download them from Nintendo, which I hear is doable but requires a lot of dns/ip hacking.

 

[binkinator]

SD card tested in computer via usb adapter:

Warning: Only 41 of 30237 MByte tested.
Test finished without errors.
Reading speed: 8.37 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

Odd it didn't say "write and verify" though, just verify.


Installing game to SD card didn't change anything. Starting to suspect the NPS file itself may be faulty, possibly.


EDIT UPDATE:

I have added the sigpatcher files.

I tested the smallest game possible, Baba is You.

Using the same methods as above, it works when installed onto the switch directly.

This means there's something amiss with ACNH. Either the file is corrupt or the file's fine but it requires special setup to work on the switch. I should note that I have zero internet connection on the switch right now.

Testing a different ANCH XCI file now.



Further edit:

A base game ACNH XCI works.

Thanks so much for all your help!


The only question now...how to install the ACNH updates that have come out over the past 2 years.

I HAVE the updates in NPS format, but I don't want to risk wrecking things.

The other option would be to download them from Nintendo, which I hear is doable but requires a lot of dns/ip hacking.

Awesome! Nice deductive reasoning on the corrupt source.

You don’t want to go online with nsp or xci files having ever been installed on your Sysnand as they will be immediate red flags to Ninty and will get your system banned.
Even if you own the game cart and made the dump yourself.
This means you will have to play everything offline (including ACNH) and will have to get updates offline as well.
That said, an update is an update so if you have nsp updates on hand you only need the latest one to get your game up to date.

If you made a backup of your sysnand before hacking your switch you can revert it, get a larger SDCard, and create an Emunand for any and all hacky stuff.

 

[testing123]

Awesome! Nice deductive reasoning on the corrupt source.

You don’t want to go online with nsp or xci files having ever been installed on your Sysnand as they will be immediate red flags to Ninty and will get your system banned.
Even if you own the game cart and made the dump yourself.
This means you will have to play everything offline (including ACNH) and will have to get updates offline as well.
That said, an update is an update so if you have nsp updates on hand you only need the latest one to get your game up to date.

If you made a backup of your sysnand before hacking your switch you can revert it, get a larger SDCard, and create an Emunand for any and all hacky stuff.

Well, I have a source file of the updates in NPS format. So my question is whether or not installing that will corrupt the currently-working base game.

I unfortunately did not make a sysnand backup before starting. I guess I could make one now for safety, though.

 

[binkinator]

Well, I have a source file of the updates in NPS format. So my question is whether or not installing that will corrupt the currently-working base game.

As long as the nsp is good it will work just fine.

I unfortunately did not make a sysnand backup before starting. I guess I could make one now for safety, though.

Without a clean backup of the prior state you don’t have a clean state to roll back to. Your Sysnand has traces of things Ninty doesn’t approve of already in it. A backup now will not reverse that. It’s good to have a backup on hand anyway in case anything further happens but I’m afraid your Switch will be red flagged ifmitmever goes Online in its current state. The only possible thing that can be done is to wipe it with Haku33 and hope the cleanup process isn’t noticed but even a major cleanup is a potential red flag.

 

[engagex]

Hello, wanted to ask does calibration data get dumped from hekate? The thing is my analog stick slighty off center and i want to play on android sude of the switch but i dont know how to tell on Android side

 

[binkinator]

Hello, wanted to ask does calibration data get dumped from hekate? The thing is my analog stick slighty off center and i want to play on android sude of the switch but i dont know how to tell on Android side

I think you are talking about when you dump the joycon data in preparation to install android, correct?

If so, here is the contents of my dumps and as you can see it contains only the mac and host addresses of each joycon (and your switch of course as the host). I confess I don’t know much about what the ITK number is but it doesn’t appear to be calibration data so I am going to say no, calibration data is not included in the Hekate dumps for use in Android.

 

[engagex]

I think you are talking about when you dump the joycon data in preparation to install android, correct?

If so, here is the contents of my dumps and as you can see it contains only the mac and host addresses of each joycon (and your switch of course as the host). I confess I don’t know much about what the ITK number is but it doesn’t appear to be calibration data so I am going to say no, calibration data is not included in the Hekate dumps for use in Android.

View attachment 341675

Thanks you very much

 

[Ghostplane64]

I haven't touched my switch in a while and I'm trying to update it to the latest firmware.

One question I have is that if I'm using an EmuNAND, should I update that first and then the sysNAND?
Also, is it safe to update the sysNAND through Nintendo's servers if I have a clean NAND for both sys and Emu?

 

[Draxzelex]

I haven't touched my switch in a while and I'm trying to update it to the latest firmware.

One question I have is that if I'm using an EmuNAND, should I update that first and then the sysNAND?
Also, is it safe to update the sysNAND through Nintendo's servers if I have a clean NAND for both sys and Emu?

The order of updating emuMMC versus sysMMC doesn't matter because both operate independently of one another. emuMMC acts as a second console that exists on your SD card. And as long you haven't run any CFW or homebrew, you can go online to update your firmware.

 

[Ghostplane64]

The order of updating emuMMC versus sysMMC doesn't matter because both operate independently of one another. emuMMC acts as a second console that exists on your SD card. And as long you haven't run any CFW or homebrew, you can go online to update your firmware.

So to update the EmuNAND firmware, I just need to extract all the files that are needed from the rentry guide?

 

[testing123]

As long as the nsp is good it will work just fine.

Without a clean backup of the prior state you don’t have a clean state to roll back to. Your Sysnand has traces of things Ninty doesn’t approve of already in it. A backup now will not reverse that. It’s good to have a backup on hand anyway in case anything further happens but I’m afraid your Switch will be red flagged ifmitmever goes Online in its current state. The only possible thing that can be done is to wipe it with Haku33 and hope the cleanup process isn’t noticed but even a major cleanup is a potential red flag.

Thanks for all your help! Update seemed to work.

1. Backup - well, I have access to another unhacked switch. So in theory I could just rely on that to be the "official" one connected to Nintendo and leave the hacked one perpetually offline, right? I believe there's also ways to transfer updates and such from one switch to another via friend connection, right?

2. One last PHYSICAL question:

I'm using the Aluminum Foil pin method on the controllers.

Will putting the Hacked switch in the dock and removing the controllers cause issues with the hack?

If so, should I leave the hacked aluminum joycon in the switch forever?

Can I use the OTHER switch's controllers with the hacked switch while it's in the dock somehow?

 

[SylverReZ]

I'm using the Aluminum Foil pin method on the controllers.

Will putting the Hacked switch in the dock and removing the controllers cause issues with the hack?

If so, should I leave the hacked aluminum joycon in the switch forever?

Never use aluminium foil to perform the RCM payload, as you can easily damage your Switch by doing that. Moulded plastic jigs are very cheap, you can pick them up from eBay, plus they are much more safer to use. Performing the RCM method always requires the USB-C charging port to send a payload over to do the hack, so no, don't leave it in the dock.

 

[testing123]

Never use aluminium foil to perform the RCM payload, as you can easily damage your Switch by doing that. Moulded plastic jigs are very cheap, you can pick them up from eBay, plus they are much more safer to use. Performing the RCM method always requires the USB-C charging port to send a payload over to do the hack, so no, don't leave it in the dock.

Thanks for the reply.

I'll get the jig, sure, but for now I need to use this method.

So in the meantime, is it safe to remove the joycons while it's currently aluminum hacked, or is that a bad idea to even touch the joycon?

I also do not need to RCM anymore now that I got ACNH working. In theory I will leave this game on forever from this point forward.

 

[SylverReZ]

So in the meantime, is it safe to remove the joycons while it's currently aluminum hacked, or is that a bad idea to even touch the joycon?

Not a good idea to leave aluminium foil in the slots where the JoyCons would go in.

 

[testing123]

Not a good idea to leave aluminium foil in the slots where the JoyCons would go in.

So I can remove the foil now that the hacking is done?

 

[SylverReZ]

So I can remove the foil now that the hacking is done?

Once you have sent the payload successfully, yes.

 

[testing123]

Once you have sent the payload successfully, yes.

Ok, thanks for the info.

As per your advice I will still get a jig for potential future hacks.

 

[SylverReZ]

Ok, thanks for the info.

As per your advice I will still get a jig for potential future hacks.

Glad that I helped.

 

[Prior22]

Your games are most likely installed in your Nintendo folder under the emummc folder which should have gotten copied over as part of your FAT32 data copy. That’s probably good.

Here’s where the trouble might be…You will also need a copy of your old Emunand. You can do this using Hekate by ensuring you switch over to SDCard at the bottom of the backup page and then backup/restore your boot 0/1 and full backup. Here’s an article on the topic that covers three ways to do it. I prefer Hekate because it’s all done using just your Switch.

https://rentry.org/EmuNANDNewSDcard

Post automatically merged: Dec 6, 2022

VERY much appreciated!

No worries…looks like your SDCard isn’t big enough to store a 29G emunand anyway. You might consider an emunand in the near future when you pick up a larger card.

Great. FAT32 is the way to go on the Switch,


Try deleting the game and installing it on the SDCard this time.



Unzip and place the contents of the file in the root of the drive. Should be just these two folders that you copy paste there.

View attachment 341628


Let’s check the SDCard just the same using h2testw.

Do you know of any alternatives to Checkpoint for transferring saves from one card to another?