ROM Hack Question Could the files found in /Nintendo/save/ on the microSD card hold any relevance to Switch hacking?

[DerpyEagle]

I couldn't find anything about these on switchbrew, so I figure here's a good place to ask. I was looking around the files that the Switch leaves on the microSD card, and I noticed the /save/ directory had two files in it. These files have some plaintext in them: 8000000000000000 contains a build date, as well as some other information:

283x
283X
270X
DDTK
DTOKLinux version 4.4.34+ (dc4@dc4-XPS13-9333) (gcc version 4.9.3 (crosstool-NG crosstool-ng-1.22.0-88-g8460611) ) #930 Wed Nov 23 15:12:30 GMT 2016
KVer
RPTL

A little farther in the file is what looks to be compiler messages:

 -- System halted
Attempting division by 0!
stack-protector: Kernel stack is corrupted
Uncompressing Linux...
decompressor returned an error
 done, booting the kernel.
invalid distance too far back
invalid distance code
invalid literal/length code
incorrect header check
unknown compression method
invalid window size
invalid block type
invalid stored block lengths
too many length or distance symbols
invalid code lengths set
invalid bit length repeat
invalid literal/lengths set
invalid distances set
incorrect data check
Out of memory while allocating output buffer
Out of memory while allocating input buffer
Out of memory while allocating z_stream
Out of memory while allocating workspace
Not a gzip file
header error
read error
uncompression error

There's also another file, 8000000000000124, which contains a lot more plaintext regarding everything from graphics shaders, as well as some interesting strings regarding an imx219 camera module:

imx219_open
%s: state->standby. %d
--> imx219 camera driver open
<-- imx219 camera driver open
%s: No camera module found, check camera module is present and is the correct part!
../../../../../vcfw/drivers/device/camera/imx219.c

imx219_read_cal
imx219 read cal
imx219_read_cal OK
f rom pan cal          value: %d
f rom act cal macro    value: %d
f rom act cal infinity value: %d
imx219_read_cal f rom device not present
Failed to read calibration data from f rom, result: %d
imx219_read_reg

A lot of the stuff in this file seems to be video-related, as other strings also concern HDMI output, as well as HDR support. I honestly have no idea if any of this is of any use in current or future switch haxxing efforts, but I figured it'd be worth posting about. Is any of the information in these files useful to haxxing efforts?

If you're interested in looking yourself, these files can be found in the /Nintendo/save/ directory on an inserted microSD card.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Can you decrypt the save data? Seriously cause unless you can, then there hardly any use, until someone does, probably the same reason why Wii and 3ds save data exploits work.

 

[kylemsguy]

From what you've posted (I haven't checked mine), this doesn't seem to be save data at all. It looks more like some debug messages with a uname -a thrown in (from a dev XPS 13?), a crash dump for a failed Linux boot (kernal panic), which makes no sense because the Nintendo Switch doesn't run Linux, and some camera calibration messages. These probably have nothing to do with save files, and save files are stored in internal storage anyways. I have no idea why these messages even exist on this device.

 

[GerbilSoft]

-snip-

I just looked up "dc4@dc4-XPS13-9333", and that appears to be the username and hostname of the build agent for Raspberry Pi kernels. imx219 is also a common RPi camera module.

No idea why those would be present on the Switch.

 

[GorrillaRIBS]

The camera portion could be refererring to the IR module in the joycon or the brightness sensor on the tablet itself

 

[Alkéryn]

At least we know some nintendo samich devs are using xps 13, well they have good taste
thoug those files seems to be quite old ^^
or maybe you put it there without realizing ??
i can't check, i don't have a switch yet

 

[GerbilSoft]

The camera portion could be refererring to the IR module in the joycon or the brightness sensor on the tablet itself

At least we know some nintendo samich devs are using xps 13, well they have good taste
thoug those files seems to be quite old ^^
or maybe you put it there without realizing ??
i can't check, i don't have a switch yet

The plaintext excerpts appear to be from a Raspberry Pi build agent. For one, the JoyCon IR camera wouldn't be an 8 Mp RGB camera (IMX219). Two, the "XPS13" line appears in mainline Raspberry Pi firmware, so it doesn't represent anything at Nintendo.

-snip-

 

[DerpyEagle]

Like @kylemsguy says, the files existing in the first place is odd, considering the Switch doesn't move save data off the internal storage of the console. These probably aren't save files at all; Although a good way to check would be to see if these files are identical between different users and units. Here's the md5 sum for both of the files from my console. Can someone compare these to their own?

dbd7d39faaa439d96c0f2bc0a5e394d3  8000000000000000
f9f28d2b8feb2c3077cb35358a010d2c  8000000000000124

 

[kylemsguy]

Back on topic, I just looked through the files on my SD card and nothing came up. I'm running 2.2

 

[DerpyEagle]

Back on topic, I just looked through the files on my SD card and nothing came up. I'm running 2.2

As in the files weren't there, or they weren't the same? I just found the files on my SD card, so I'm not sure what exactly caused them to appear or if the process can be replicated.

 

[Alkéryn]

As in the files weren't there, or they weren't the same? I just found the files on my SD card, so I'm not sure what exactly caused them to appear or if the process can be replicated.

Maybe your computer did this, are you running linux ?
maybe you did a command and redirected it to sd directory ?
Or maybe your sd was in a raspberry pi in a previous life ?

 

[Deleted User]

Maybe these logs were supposed to be deleted upon creation? It looks like a creation/or encryption of save file and possibly save file loading [Looking at that shader loading, possibly BotW to speed up performance]

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

Maybe your computer did this, are you running linux ?
maybe you did a command and redirected it to sd directory ?
Or maybe your sd was in a raspberry pi in a previous life ?

Raspberry Pi requires OS to be installed on SDCard so i don't think you can view these...
Right, it's RPi Camera Module related so probably Rasberian...
Well, my final verdict? RPi SDCard.

 

[DerpyEagle]

Maybe your computer did this, are you running linux ?
maybe you did a command and redirected it to sd directory ?
Or maybe your sd was in a raspberry pi in a previous life ?

I am running Linux, although I haven't run any commands that would write to the SD card. Although this particular SD card probably has seen a rPi, the Switch formatted it before use, and it hasn't been in a rPi after that. The files are also in a specific folder inside /Nintendo/, and, as far as I'm aware, don't match any files you'd find on a rPi. Given these files are specifically inside the Nintendo folder on the SD card, and this SD card has no other files on it that the Switch hasn't put there, I really doubt that's the case.

Although, just to be sure, I'll stick a new SD card into my switch and see if I can get the same files to show up.

 

[Deleted User]

I am running Linux, although I haven't run any commands that would write to the SD card. Although this particular SD card probably has seen a rPi, the Switch formatted it before use, and it hasn't been in a rPi after that. The files are also in a specific folder inside /Nintendo/, and, as far as I'm aware, don't match any files you'd find on a rPi. Given these files are specifically inside the Nintendo folder on the SD card, and this SD card has no other files on it that the Switch hasn't put there, I really doubt that's the case.

Although, just to be sure, I'll stick a new SD card into my switch and see if I can get the same files to show up.

If you use Rasberian on your Raspberry Pi, it will create similar files upon boot or when it crashes.

 

[DerpyEagle]

If you use Rasberian on your Raspberry Pi, it will create similar files upon boot or when it crashes.

The crash dumps an rPi makes generally have timestamps and usernames, as well as other helpful debugging information; Not bunches of debugging messages inbetween chunks of data. I also still haven't used this SD card with a pi since formatting it with my Switch, and I haven't modified any files from my computer, so all the files on the card are ones the Switch has placed there. Plus I don't think the rPi would store its crash dumps in /Nintendo/saves.

In order to test, I just got a new SD card, and secure erased it, to be sure. I placed it into my Switch, turned it on, and then turned my Switch off again. Sure enough, the Switch made the /Nintendo/saves folder on the SD card, with the same two files. Different checksums, though, so the files aren't exactly the same. I really, really doubt that these files came from anything other than the Switch.

 

[DerpyEagle]

-snip-

Sorry if I've offended you. I never mentioned anything about free games, although that's a topic to be left to some other thread. As for hax potential, I really have no idea. Sure, It'd be nice if these files led to some form of hax, but I'm mostly curious about why these files are here and what purpose they serve. I'm the kind of person who browses TCRF a lot, because understanding how games and game consoles work is really, really interesting to me. Whether or not they lead to hax is something I definitely don't have the skill or know-how to assess, which is why I made this thread; Hopefully, someone who knew more than me would be able to share their opinion. Chances are slim, I know, but, hax or not, the fact these files exist at all is pretty cool. At least, that's how I see it.

 

[Deleted User]

Did you check if those files had the same logs?
If yes then we know what Joycons use... Apparently RPi Camera.

 

[DerpyEagle]

Did you check if those files had the same logs?
If yes then we know what Joycons use... Apparently RPi Camera.

Nope. These files don't have any of the plaintext from the previous files; They're data, all the way through. These files are from a Switch that was literially turned on and back off again, though, so maybe doing something on the Switch, like downloading or playing games, adds the data seen previously?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Maybe not useful for hacking, but the fact that these files exist at all is very interesting, and some neat information may be gained from datamining them.
Can you post all the strings somewhere (pastebin or something) for people to look at? I want to see them.

 

[DerpyEagle]

Maybe not useful for hacking, but the fact that these files exist at all is very interesting, and some neat information may be gained from datamining them.
Can you post all the strings somewhere (pastebin or something) for people to look at? I want to see them.

I'd love to, but I'm concerned that these files may have some sort of personally identifiable information on them; Given that they're unique per-console (from what I've seen), it wouldn't be too much of a stretch. The files are too large to go over manually (there's a lot more in 8000000000000124), so I'm not sure how I'd make sure they don't contain any identifiable information.