Homebrew Downgrading Firmware went wrong.. FW 20 > FW 19

[ohhq]

Hello everyone, before i start explaining my situation i wanna just clarify that im new to the nintendo switch modding scene i apologies for my lack of information.


earlier today i decided to downgrade my nintendo switch firmware from FW 20 to FW19, as expected the switch crashed due to missmatch of the fuses i believe so, the thing is it poweroff itself and now i can't open it. what can i do to fix it? thank you

(also don't flame me in the replies i shouldve have read documentation before )

 

[ohhq]

anyone can help....?

 

[YoureALoser]

Why are you even trying to downgrade? There are no real benefits, especially not for someone like you that knows absolutely nothing on this subject.

 

[ohhq]

ive wanted to use sysbot-base and ive tried on fw 21 and 20 and it wasent working for me

Post automatically merged: Mar 6, 2026

especially not for someone like you that knows absolutely nothing on this subject

Also holy take a look at urself dude all u do is bashing on people instead of helping them.

 

[wurstpistole]

(also don't flame me in the replies i shouldve have read documentation before )

Yes, you should have.

Also holy take a look at urself dude all u do is bashing on people instead of helping them.

Because they are right. You screwed with things you didn't understand and now expect us to fix it for you, and even have the audacity to push your thread after 90 minutes just because people aren't rushing to save you fast enough.

 

[ohhq]

i guess dude 🫩

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Your Hekate is probably for FW20, so start by getting an old FW19 Hekate to see if you can boot with that.

Preferably make a backup of your SD card.
If that works, upgrade to FW20 again and get the FW20 Hekate.

 

[AllOver]

Your Hekate is probably for FW20, so start by getting an old FW19 Hekate to see if you can boot with that.

Preferably make a backup of your SD card.
If that works, upgrade to FW20 again and get the FW20 Hekate.

There is no fw19 / fw20 hekate. The latest Hekate works on all supported fw.

Actual reason is the system saves are causing it to fatal. Nothing to do with fuses OP unless you're booting stock.

 

[AmeliaFox]

OP - did you try to downgrade Sysnand or Emunand? Do you have a Sysnand backup?

 

[ohhq]

i downgraded sysMMC so i guess sysnand and im not sure if i have a backup

 

[slam2001]

i downgraded sysMMC so i guess sysnand and im not sure if i have a backup

I love the way people on here as for help and then get bombarded with stupid questions like why did you do this...
the Op is looking for help, not to answer dumb question like why have you done this.
other questions like have you tried x,y,z are helpful

 

[AmeliaFox]

i downgraded sysMMC so i guess sysnand and im not sure if i have a backup

Look to see if you can find a backup first before you start messing about, Before you start breaking it even more - make a backup now of the broken sysnand using hekate, also dump your keys with lockpic_rcm (https://github.com/impeeza/Lockpick_RCMDecScots/releases) and then store those prod.keys and your broken dumped backup on a computer (not just the sd card).

That way you'll have all the keys for your switch and a borked (but fixable backup which we can make into an emunand for testing), once we fix the emunand you make, then we can fix the sysnand.

 

[ohhq]

i have the keys already saved on the sd card as i needed those for dbi and when i tried to emulate games on my pc. i just can't boot into hekate it shows no signs of life. its been charging for around 18hours ish

Post automatically merged: Mar 6, 2026

i personally don't care if i have to reset the whole switch, the only thing important i have on it is my animal crossing new horizon save file and i have a backup of it on my pc, at this moment. the switch just dosent boot up at all, like it shows no signs of life.

 

[AmeliaFox]

i have the keys already saved on the sd card as i needed those for dbi and when i tried to emulate games on my pc. i just can't boot into hekate it shows no signs of life. its been charging for around 18hours ish

Post automatically merged: Mar 6, 2026

i personally don't care if i have to reset the whole switch, the only thing important i have on it is my animal crossing new horizon save file and i have a backup of it on my pc, at this moment. the switch just dosent boot up at all, like it shows no signs of life.

If you don't do exactly as I tell you then I'm not going to help you. I've got a very busy life and don't have the time to keep repeating my posts.

 

[ohhq]

ya ur post told me to open hekate. im unable to do it. it dosent let me like what else can i do?

 

[AmeliaFox]

ya ur post told me to open hekate. im unable to do it. it dosent let me like what else can i do?

Hekate doesn't care about your firmware, it executes before firmware and isn't relient on it, it relies on files on your sd card, if it's not working then you don't have the files on the sd card or the sd card is corrupt, or there's a problem reading the sd card. Download it again and overrite the current sd card files.

 

[ohhq]

ive done that already, the switch is just not booting at all i can't boot into rcm or anything.

 

[draftguy123]

Boot into Recovery Mode.

Turn off the switch console.
(Hold down the POWER Button for twelve seconds to force it to shut down)

Press and keep holding the volume + and volume - buttons
and press and release the power button until the recovery menu displays.

From there update the system (21.2.0)

 

[ohhq]

Hi! for some reason the switch just dosent power on. i know the battery is charged i have been letting it charge for the past day ish~ it just dosent let me boot into recovery mode.

 

[draftguy123]

AutoRCM enabled in hekate?
If enabled the switch doesn´t properly turn off -> hold power button for at least 12 seconds.

Try to use the jig and rcm hardware / usb cable to boot into hekate and disable AutoRCM.
Or inject fusee.bin / ams with these settings:

Hacking  Post in thread 'Is there a way to enter Recovery mode (Maintenance mode) without pressing Vol+ and Vol- buttons?..'

May 29, 2020

Copy `/atmosphere/config_templates/system_settings.ini` to `/atmosphere/config/system_settings.ini`
Then open atmosphere/config/system_settings.ini and add this to it:

[boot]
force_maintenance = u8!0x1

• ZachyCatGames

•