THIS GUIDE IS DEPRECATED
THIS IS BETTER https://github.com/natinusala/painless-linux

I've successfully booted ArchLinux using ShofEL2. Here is a quick guide on how to do it - I'll assume you're computer literate and know how to use a terminal / Linux commands / git.
Everything is taken from the README of the ShofEL2 repo so if you want to go even faster, go read that instead.

Thanks to NightHammer1000 and Y2K-x for the help !

There is a simplified and faster version of this tutorial available here, with precompiled binaries so you don't have to build everything : https://github.com/SoulCipher/shofel2_linux

The result

Without a SD card ("waiting for root device mmcblk0p2") : https://photos.app.goo.gl/7y6ut5ObuHMUIMZg2
Stock Arch Linux : https://photos.app.goo.gl/yALqe3zMZRe2dSQf1
Arch Linux with LXDE : https://photos.app.goo.gl/xaEgRqeSi8jvAwpz5
RetroArch running : https://photos.app.goo.gl/vBLPo5wiBto1qiUH3
Arch Linux with GNOME : https://gbatemp.net/attachments/img_0005-jpg.121608/
Arch Linux with KDE : https://gbatemp.net/attachments/img_20180427_121605-jpg.121666/

What works / what doesn't

• Desktop environment : Gnome, LXDE, KDE
• Wi-Fi : works
  • You will need to reboot your Switch and run the exploit again to make the Wi-Fi work (it never works on the first boot)
  • Then enter the Network Manager Application and add your network from there
  • If it doesn't work, you will need to edit the configuration on the host computer (see the additional notes at the end of this post)
  • With LXDE : Can cause a kernel panic if used at the same time as Bluetooth
• Bluetooth : works but Joy-Cons can't be paired
• Touch screen : works, although LXDE is not very touch-friendly
• Audio : doesn't work yet
• GPU acceleration : works (via mesa), with OpenGL (and maybe Vulkan too ?)
• Joy-Cons : not recognized
• Volume buttons : working with Gnome but not doing anything since there is no audio device
• Power button : doesn't do anything, no sleep mode, no graceful shutdown
• USB : doesn't work
• Dock : not tested yet, but I bet it doesn't do anything besides charging the battery
• Power management / battery level : working with Gnome

What you'll need

• A computer running Linux with a blue USB SuperSpeed port, or a Mac
  • A Linux VM can work in theory, but it depends on how the USB passthrough is implemented (apparently VMWare works, VirtualBox doesn't)
• A USB A-to-C cable (with data support, obviously)
  • be careful as cheap cables were reported to work randomly / not work at all
• Some time (you know, Linux is kinda large)

Prep work

First, you'll need to install the required toolchains. Open this link and download the tar.gz binaries for

• aarch64-linux-gnu
  
• arm-linux-gnueabi

Be careful to choose the right architecture for your PC (for me it was x86_64 so "gcc-linaro-7.2.1-2017.11-x86_64_arm-linux-gnueabi.tar.xz").

Once you have them, extract them somewhere nice and add the "bin" (not "lib" as I previously stated) folder of both toolchains to your PATH ("$ export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/toolchain1/lib:/path/to/toolchain2/lib"). The building process won't work otherwise.

Then, install those dependencies (how to install them and their name might depend on your distribution) :

• build-essential (sorry I didn't add it it was obvious to me)
• libssl-dev
  
• swig
• bison
• pkg-config
  
• flex
• zlib1g-dev
  
• python3
• python-dev
  
• python3-pip
• pyusb 1.0.0 : "$ sudo pip3 install pyusb==1.0.0"
• libusb-1.0-0-dev

Compiling

Clone each required repository :

$ git clone https://github.com/fail0verflow/shofel2.git
$ git clone --recursive --depth=1 https://github.com/fail0verflow/switch-coreboot.git coreboot
$ git clone https://github.com/fail0verflow/switch-u-boot.git u-boot
$ git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/fail0verflow/switch-linux.git linux
$ git clone https://github.com/boundarydevices/imx_usb_loader.git

You can grab a coffee or two because Linux has more than 5 million files to download.

Then, build everything :

$ cd shofel2/exploit
$ make

$ cd u-boot
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
$ make nintendo-switch_defconfig
$ make

$ cd coreboot
$ make nintendo_switch_defconfig
$ make iasl
$ make

If you have a tegra_mtc.bin file error, you'll have to extract it from a Pixel C stock image :
"$ ./build/util/cbfstool/cbfstool bootloader-dragon-google_smaug.7900.97.0.img extract -n fallback/tegra_mtc -f tegra_mtc.bin"

Or you can download it directly from here : https://0w0.st/tegra_mtc.bin (thanks to @CptPotato for uploading this)

You'll have to put it in the "coreboot/src/soc/nvidia/tegra210" directory.

$ cd imx_usb_loader
$ git reset --hard 0a322b01cacf03e3be727e3e4c3d46d69f2e343e
$ make

The big one :

$ cd linux
$ export ARCH=arm64
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
$ make nintendo-switch_defconfig
$ make

If you encounter issues about a missing rule "/lib/firmware/nvidia/tegra210/vic04_ucode.bin" for the target "firmware" you'll have to :

• install the firmware-misc-nonfree package
• if you can't install it, or if it still doesn't work, download the package manually from debian sid and extract the file "/lib/firmware/nvidia/tegra210/vic04_ucode.bin" (from the root of your PC, not on the cloned repo) from the DEB (and chmod it if needed)

If you encounter issues about a missing rule "/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4356-pcie.txt", download this file and put it in "/lib/firmware/brcm/" (from the root of your PC, not on the cloned repo)

Building the rootfs

This is the annoying part. Download the archive / image corresponding to the distribution you want to use :

• Stock Arch Linux (useless without UART, you can't even log in) : http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz
• Arch Linux with LXDE and touch screen support (credits to @Gigaa) :
  • Without hardware acceleration : https://0w0.st/rootfs.tar.bz2
  • With hardware acceleration : https://0w0.st/rootfs2.tar.bz2
  • With hardware acceleration, Chromium and sudo : https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VIH3GWtBrM4uuVQOQopASYZy4x3Jw1Uv
• Arch Linux with Gnome (credits to @00Cancer) : https://0w0.st/gnome__rootfs.tar.bz2
• (Recommended) Arch Linux with KDE and GPU power management service (credits to @Gigaa) : https://0w0.st/KDE_rootfs3.tar.bz2
• Ubuntu 18.04 (you'll have to build the image yourself) : https://github.com/cmsj/nintendo-switch-ubuntu-builder

If it's a tarball you just downloaded

While it's downloading, you'll have to take a microSD card and, using the software of your choice (I used GParted) :

• remove every existing partition to only have unallocated space on it (do I need to tell you that you're going to loose everything on the card ?)
• create a tiny FAT32 partition (I chose 200mb but it doesn't matter) - that'll be mmcbkl0p1, you can label it "garbage"
• create an ext4 partition on the remaining part of the card - that'll be mmcblk0p2, you can label it "rootfs"
• it's important that the FAT32 partition comes first and the ext4 one comes after - on the Switch, Linux will look for mmcblk0p2, the second partition, if you have scrolling boot logs and then back to RCM it means you did it wrong

Once the rootfs tarball is downloaded, you can simple extract it to the mounting point of the ext4 partition you just created :

$ tar xvf ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz -C /mounting/point/of/ext4/partition && sync
$ cp ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz /mounting/point/of/ext4/partition/root && sync

("/mounting/point/of/ext4/partition/root" is the "root" directory on the partition)

Don't forget to properly eject the SD Card !

If "tar xvf" doesn't work for you you can install "bsdtar" and use "bsdtar -xpf" instead

Then you can put the SD card in the console.

If it's a img / bin file you just downloaded

You can simply write it on your SD card using :

• If you're on Windows, Ether or Win32DiskImager
• If you're on Linux / Mac OS : "sudo dd if=yourimage.img of=/dev/sdX && sync" where /dev/sdX is the device of your SD card (unmounted)

You will probably want to open a partition manager to resize the ext4 partition once it's flashed, so that it fits your SD card.

Then you can put the SD card in the console.

Booting linux

Run the exploit :

$ cd shofel2/exploit
$ sudo ./shofel2.py cbfs.bin ../../coreboot/build/coreboot.rom

Your terminal should now be waiting for the Switch to enter RCM mode.

To do so : (I don't have pictures but that's the same method as fusée gelée, just look at some video tutorials)

• plug the Switch on your PC using the USB A-to-C cable - use a blue SuperSpeed port if you have one
• shut it down
• remove the right joy-con
• using a method of your choice, short the 10th pin of the right joy-con (the last pin on the right, away from the screen, closer to the back) with the ground : that can be pin 1, 2 or 7, that can also be a screw on the joy-con rack or the console's fan - I personnaly stick a RPi jumper wire in the fan and touch the 10th pin on the other side, works everytime (like this)
• keep the pins shorted and power the Switch while pressing the volume UP button

If it worked, the console will show a black screen and you'll see the exploit running on your terminal. If you see the Nintendo logo, it has failed. You can power off the console and try again.

Then, run those last commands :

$ cd shofel2/usb_loader
$ ../../u-boot/tools/mkimage -A arm64 -T script -C none -n "boot.scr" -d switch.scr switch.scr.img
$ sudo ../../imx_usb_loader/imx_usb -c .

Linux should then boot on your console - first the boot logs with the penguins, and then an ArchLinux login prompt. Voilà !
Again, if you have the boot logs and then a black screen, it means you did the SD card part wrong.

Additional notes

Hardware graphics acceleration

The most recents image already contain this fix.

To add mesa drivers install this package using pacman :
https://0w0.st/mesa-full-tegra-r101876.bf5e0276b6-1-aarch64.pkg.tar.xz

You will need a working internet connection to do so.

Then, use this script to choose your power profile : https://0w0.st/power.sh

Full speed RAM

According to the blog post ("Linux on Switch boot chain" section), you need to extract a file from a Pixel C factory image in order to have the RAM working at full speed. I didn't do it so I won't cover it here.

Fixing calibration issues of the touch screen (thanks to @Wizardy)

To fix calibration issues of the touch screen, edit the file /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.confg (of the rootfs)

And change the InputClass section to :

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "evdev touchscreen catchall"
        MatchIsTouchscreen "on"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Driver "evdev"
        Option "InvertX" "no"
        Option "InvertY" "yes"
        Option "SwapAxes" "yes"
        Option "Calibration" "0 1279 0 719"
EndSection

Wi-Fi

To setup Wi-Fi, mount the rootfs partition on your host PC and edit the configuration for your network in the file "/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections" (if it doesn't exist, take Gigaspot).

To have a working Wi-Fi you must reboot your Switch and run the exploit again each time you power it off

Moving the rootfs to another partition

If you want to move the rootfs to another partition on your SD card, edit the "shofel2/usb_loader/switch.scr" file and replace "/dev/mmcblk0p2" by the partition you want to use.

 

[Kobigov]

for anyone having issue running sudo with Giggi's last img.

open Terminal
type: su then root for password
your command prompt will change to [root@alarm alarm]#
then type: nano /etc/sudoers
Once you have the sudoers file open, scroll down to the line:
root ALL = (ALL) ALL
Add the following line below the root line
alarm ALL = (ALL) ALL
hold Ctrl press o
then Ctrl + x
at prompt type exit

You now can run sudo

Anyone have luck with this? Everytime I try to run sudo it says root isn't the password. Is there a different one?

 

[natinusala]

I hope that Atmosphère will come with a chainloader so that we can make a one-time exploit and then have a proper dual-boot !

 

[Mittytoto]

idk the issue we can boot into fusee just fine but anything else .. is a pain in the ass

Yup, KTemkin created Fusee on a Mac I think. But all this Linux tool chain was done on Linux...

 

[Deleted User]

Yup, KTemkin created Fusee on a Mac I think. But all this Linux tool chain was done on Linux...

you got a point

 

[Mittytoto]

I hope that Atmosphère will come with a chainloader so that we can make a one-time exploit and then have a proper dual-boot !

Thank you for all the work, sir! Now a guide to load Atmosphere please

Btw, for the GCC cross compiler, we dont need Linaro dist (which is huge cost of disk space and EXPORT everytime). I have tried with apt-get install GCC packages and everything works well.

sudo apt install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi
sudo apt install gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu

 

[Deleted User]

Thank you for all the work, sir! Now a guide to load Atmosphere please

Btw, for the GCC cross compiler, we dont need Linaro dist (which is huge cost of disk space and EXPORT everytime). I have tried with apt-get install GCC packages and everything works well.

if you get linux working let me know how

 

[JackMacWindows]

Some things I found while messing around:
* GNOME works pretty well, but you need to rotate the screen to the left otherwise it is in a vertical orientation. I did this automatically by putting "{ sleep 5; DISPLAY=:0 xrandr -o left } & gnome-shell" into the .xinitrc file. It also looks much better than LXDE and properly supports touch.
* The battery is correctly detected with percentages under GNOME, but LXDE didn't show anything (?).
* Using LXDE, to connect to a Wi-Fi network I had to connect to the network, then use nmtui to set the password, and then connect again.
* Some GNOME apps (such as gnome-terminal) do not work, and they crash with a timeout when run from the terminal.
* My Switch tends to randomly crash even when I'm not using bluetooth, and it seems it's more common when the battery is more drained and when I'm doing multiple things at once. Maybe it's like what Apple tried to prevent with the performance drops? Underclocking the processor could potentially fix this if this is the issue.

Here is a picture of GNOME running:

 

[00Cancer]

Some things I found while messing around:
* GNOME works pretty well, but you need to rotate the screen to the left otherwise it is in a vertical orientation. I did this automatically by putting "{ sleep 5; DISPLAY=:0 xrandr -o left } & gnome-shell" into the .xinitrc file. It also looks much better than LXDE and properly supports touch.
* The battery is correctly detected with percentages under GNOME, but LXDE didn't show anything (?).
* Using LXDE, to connect to a Wi-Fi network I had to connect to the network, then use nmtui to set the password, and then connect again.
* Some GNOME apps (such as gnome-terminal) do not work, and they crash with a timeout when run from the terminal.
* My Switch tends to randomly crash even when I'm not using bluetooth, and it seems it's more common when the battery is more drained and when I'm doing multiple things at once. Maybe it's like what Apple tried to prevent with the performance drops? Underclocking the processor could potentially fix this if this is the issue.

Here is a picture of GNOME running:
View attachment 121608

Huh funny, I am currently uploading my rootfs for gnome

 

[Mittytoto]

if you get linux working let me know how

You just need to follow the OP, its very detailed so read EVERY word there.
You can skip the build part which is the most time consuming by just clone SoulCipher repo.

https://github.com/SoulCipher/shofel2_linux

BUT you still need all dependencies and GCC cross compilers installed as top part of the OP, and the latest rootfs on the SD card.
Again please read the OP carefully then you wont miss it.

 

[Deleted User]

You just need to follow the OP, its very detailed so read EVERY word there.
You can skip the build part which is the most time consuming by just clone SoulCipher repo.

https://github.com/SoulCipher/shofel2_linux

BUT you still need all dependencies and GCC cross compilers installed as top part of the OP, and the latest rootfs on the SD card.
Again please read the OP carefully then you wont miss it.

dude i followed every step ... its the usb issue i have

alex@ubuntu:~/shofel2/exploit$ sudo ./shofel2.py cbfs.bin ../../coreboot/build/coreboot.rom
File descriptor: 9
b''
entry 400168ed
throwing more
Performing hax...
Size: 0x6c68

b'820000000000686c'
b'02000000000000000000000000000000600bae0100000000716c000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000f0f00000000000000'
URB address: 0x1ac3da0
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./shofel2.py", line 247, in <module>
    rcm.pwn()
  File "./shofel2.py", line 205, in pwn
    s.ep0_read_unbounded(overwrite_len)
  File "./shofel2.py", line 76, in ep0_read_unbounded
    fcntl.ioctl(s.fd, USBDEVFS_SUBMITURB, urb)
OSError: [Errno 90] Message too long

Any Idea ?

 

[Mittytoto]

dude i followed every step ... its the usb issue i have

Are you on native Ubuntu now? As I mentioned it never work for me on native OSX or VM.

 

[Deleted User]

Are you on native Ubuntu now? As I mentioned it never work for me on native OSX or VM.

how i should get native ubuntu on my mac

 

[00Cancer]

dude i followed every step ... its the usb issue i have

alex@ubuntu:~/shofel2/exploit$ sudo ./shofel2.py cbfs.bin ../../coreboot/build/coreboot.rom
File descriptor: 9
b''
entry 400168ed
throwing more
Performing hax...
Size: 0x6c68

b'820000000000686c'
b'02000000000000000000000000000000600bae0100000000716c000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000f0f00000000000000'
URB address: 0x1ac3da0
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./shofel2.py", line 247, in <module>
    rcm.pwn()
  File "./shofel2.py", line 205, in pwn
    s.ep0_read_unbounded(overwrite_len)
  File "./shofel2.py", line 76, in ep0_read_unbounded
    fcntl.ioctl(s.fd, USBDEVFS_SUBMITURB, urb)
OSError: [Errno 90] Message too long

Any Idea ?

how i should get native ubuntu on my mac

If you only have a mac, then good luck using bootcamp.

 

[Deleted User]

If you only have a mac, then good luck using bootcamp.

you know i think that bootcamp is a cancer

 

[00Cancer]

you know i think that bootcamp is a cancer

It most certainly is

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

It most certainly is

I wish my upload speed was faster. It is going to take an hour or so to upload my rootfs. Oh well

 

[Hadobedo]

I'm using SoulCipher's guide for booting Linux, I'm pretty sure I have my microSD set up properly but when I go to boot Linux I get this error. Is this a microSD error or another issue?

./boot_linux.sh: line 15: ./imx_usb: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error

 

[LeafyIsHere]

I made a Ubuntu Workstation full rootfs.
It is 4.9 GB thus I cannot test it on my 4 GB MicroSD...

Would anyone like to try it? (I can certainly upload it later)

 

[OkazakiTheOtaku]

you know i think that bootcamp is a cancer

It doesn't work on a VM on macOS - period. You need to run Linux on bare metal. Sorry

 

[00Cancer]

I made a Ubuntu Workstation full rootfs.
It is 4.9 GB thus I cannot test it on my 4 GB MicroSD...

Would anyone like to try it? (I can certainly upload it later)

Ubuntu, I'm pretty sure, causes the switch to crash

 

[Kobigov]

I made a Ubuntu Workstation full rootfs.
It is 4.9 GB thus I cannot test it on my 4 GB MicroSD...

Would anyone like to try it? (I can certainly upload it later)

Sure, I've got bigger cards I can try.