This thread is outdated
A lot of information in this thread is heavilly out of date.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• Supported Firmware information is out of date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

 

[Vorde]

That moment when the only game you want to pirate is Super Mario Oddessy and it's one of the only titles that won't boot using this method
Gotta love those No Demo games

 

[Ty_]

Has anyone done any proper testing with saves?

For example let's say I run Rayman Legends, then Bayonetta, then back to Rayman, all using the same donor, will the saves file be lost between game switching?

 

[apple_juice]

I made a small tool for macOS to deal with XCI stuff (hactool is still required, compile it by yourself)

@ShinyMK

 

[einfuchsdrache]

That moment when the only game you want to pirate is Super Mario Oddessy and it's one of the only titles that won't boot using this method
Gotta love those No Demo games

YoU cOuLd JuSt BuY tHe GaMe!!!!!!!!!!11!!!11111!!!1!!!

I'm joking, obviously. I can relate tho, same here with Xenoblade 2.

 

[hellogbatemp]

for EXEFS folder problems, who are not generate.

it often misses three "master_key". check your "keys.ini" and see the missing keys.
So just add in the "keys.ini" file, 3 lines:

master_key_01 =

master_key_02 =

master_key_03 =

retrieve the missing keys on Google and add them after the sign = (not forgetting to put a space after the sign "=")

 

[Vorde]

YoU cOuLd JuSt BuY tHe GaMe!!!!!!!!!!11!!!11111!!!1!!!

I'm joking, obviously. I can relate tho, same here with Xenoblade 2.

I would gladly buy the game but I tend to stay away from doing that until I play a game for a few hours. I have a big game collection and right now very little time and money, so I like to be selective with the titles I purchase

 

[Nightopian]

PRAGMA 1.1 doesn't work.
Both SDCARD and XCI preparation.
I used switch blade to boot into romFS and manually decrypt XCI and success.

 

[luzi51]

FW: 5.1.0
Game: Superbeat Xonic
Donor: Super Mario Odyssey
Boot: Yes
Save: yes

 

[DollyWhipDoll]

Yeah, how could you actually? I saw Minecraft working too, which atm is eshop only.

Even in other parts of the world? It could be like Bayonetta in Japan, where it has a physical release.

Ok, just Googled and found a number of sites mentioning Japan getting a physical Minecraft this month.

Here's something post from last month https://nintendoeverything.com/minecraft-for-switch-getting-physical-version-in-japan-next-month/

 

[Namelocked]

Someone tested South Park and bring it to work?

Wich donor?

 

[Nightopian]

Guys please help me. I'm desperate. I'm unable to make "RomFS" firmware launch, from the RCM… I followed the guide step by step but still nothing. It has been 3 hours I'm trying stuff, but still nothing. I'm on the latest firmware. I'm seeing all of you guys trying games, i'm getting really frustrated, please help T.T

I am in the same position.
After RomFS is selected I had white lines appear, now using Decrypt-XCI-v2.1.bat + http://carlus.altervista.org/nx/title_id_patcher.html it goes black.
Looks like the OP method is simply wrong and it really needs updating with new info to say what the issue is.

• For launching into romFS, please use switchblade.bin, for game preparation, just follow this till step 5. Don't use PRAGMA, I have the same problem

 

[icefox]

Payday 2Pokemon QuestFAST RMX5.1.0✓✓ARMSSuper Mario Odyssey (saves!), Namco Museum (saves!), Overcooked! (doesn't save)-5.1.0✓?✓Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Someone tested South Park and bring it to work?

Wich donor?

South Park doesn't work with anything so far, it seems

 

[Deleted member 451920]

Guys please help me. I'm desperate. I'm unable to make "RomFS" firmware launch, from the RCM… I followed the guide step by step but still nothing. It has been 3 hours I'm trying stuff, but still nothing. I'm on the latest firmware. I'm seeing all of you guys trying games, i'm getting really frustrated, please help T.T

ah, same problem : https://mega.nz/#!HwZEzYzb!dcqTpQ9IGj2bST6UleAeU27LZ2xTzvJ09hJHCVymQDI
copy this over, it worked for me, I found it from some guy on youtube

 

[einfuchsdrache]

Has anyone gotten Splatoon 2 to work with saves? Haven't found anything on that here yet.

 

[lolnintendoman]

South Park doesn't work with anything so far, it seems

Anyone got it working with other Titles?
Would love to play it

 

[Deleted member 451920]

Has anyone gotten Splatoon 2 to work with saves? Haven't found anything on that here yet.

I had it working and saving on octopath

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

Gonna try out mario kart 8 deluxe, I have a few games which haven't been displayed in the status on page 1. I have 3-5 give or take if I remove the loaded roms from them

 

[halcyonknight]

Splat 2 was working with saves for me too, over Pokemon Quest, though I didn't check to make sure it stuck after a reboot (mainly did it to check if I could inject my real Splatoon 2 save into it, which of course was a no go.)

 

[Stoned]

Ok Bayonetta 2 Works
Donor: OCTOPATH TRAVELER Prologue Demo
Save: Yes
Ver: 5.1.0

 

[Crownfox]

Hey, guys. I made an auto-populating Google Sheet and a Form to go with it, that will let you submit reports and view reports for games listed in a drop down:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fNd8ARJSzixpDQVXo-3fYFaggqxh2B-PzqMosZShxXU/edit?usp=sharing

Should cut down on thread spam(a lot), while making it really easy to report games and view reports.

Edit:
Oh, probably important. To submit new reports just follow the blue link on the main page.

 

[Deleted member 451920]

will there be any way to stay on cfw since it resets every time the console turns off