Hacking nintendo switch external hard drive support

[lordelan]

THIS. HDD support would defeat the whole system itself. Also, if we keeping it super real, the Switch library is so garbage that no one is thinking about storing games on a 2TB level. The emulations scene in reality is also limited to 2D games, so again, you don't really need to store anything on that level. When DC or GC run at full speed, this may become a priority.

I completely disagree with you here. The HDD would just be "another SD" filled with games. If the Switch is booted into hekate or the SX OS bootmenu, then docked and then booted into the CFW with applied USB redirection, all to USB installed NSPs would appear and could be selected.
To avoid any damage you would have to turn off the Switch completely until you remove it from the dock.
Then you can boot it in handheld mode just normally into a CFW (or even vanilla Horizon) without USB redirection to have all the games installed to the SD listed on your homescreen which you then can play on the go.
I'd use this to have "couch only" games which are also big, on my USB drive, like GO Vacation for example. Why wasting SD space for such games? I won't play that game alone in my bed.
And to your 2 TB point ... for people who like to have complete rom collections to use in RetroArch (like me ) this becomes a thing as soon as N64, Dreamcast, SEGA Saturn and maybe even Dolphin are working stable on the Switch. We even have a good PSX core now and PSX games are not as small as SNES games obviously.

 

[SonicMC]

For me it would be nice to have both an micro sd and a HDD.

There are games that I would more likely play at home on the TV (Smash Bros, Hyrule Warriors, Monopoly, Mario Odyssey). So put on the HDD

Others I would more likely play on the go (Yoku's Island, Master Blaster Zero, Puyo Puyo Tetris). So put the SD.

of course there are some that I would play at both home and on the go... Mostly Mario Kart. SD for those too.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

THIS. HDD support would defeat the whole system itself. Also, if we keeping it super real, the Switch library is so garbage that no one is thinking about storing games on a 2TB level. The emulations scene in reality is also limited to 2D games, so again, you don't really need to store anything on that level. When DC or GC run at full speed, this may become a priority.

What the fuck do you mean by "the Switch library is garbage" I have about 20 switch games. Yea for me HDD support is useless because I buy all of my games physically and unlike "other platforms" you dont have to install physical games & I also use my switch purely in handheld

Hmm you say the emulation scene is limited to 2D games *looks at Lakka with Nintendo 64, psp, PS1, and GameCube emulation* and also RetroNX recently added a Playstation 1 emulator

 

[Gootah]

What the fuck do you mean by "the Switch library is garbage" I have about 20 switch games. Yea for me HDD support is useless because I buy all of my games physically and unlike "other platforms" you dont have to install physical games & I also use my switch purely in handheld

Hmm you say the emulation scene is limited to 2D games *looks at Lakka with Nintendo 64, psp, PS1, and GameCube emulation* and also RetroNX recently added a Playstation 1 emulator

To my knowledge, those emulators need optimization. I'm really not going to play something that doesn't run well (60fps, SOLID 30fps will do. Also need AA), so they don't exist to me yet. If it runs better on my phone, I might as well play there. And when I say the Switch library is trash, I mean just that. DISCLAIMER, THAT IS AN OPINION THAT I'M ENTITLED TO. There are only a small handful of games that I would actually play from beginning to end persistently (Ys VIII, I am Setsuna, Lost Sphear) because I'm an RPG gamer. Also, I won't be playing any of these piss poor PC ports because I play them where they're meant to be played (hail the master race).

So in the end, this things just needs to get good. Waiting for Pokémon...

 

[ZachyCatGames]

To my knowledge, those emulators need optimization. I'm really not going to play something that doesn't run well (60fps, SOLID 30fps will do. Also need AA), so they don't exist to me yet. If it runs better on my phone, I might as well play there. And when I say the Switch library is trash, I mean just that. DISCLAIMER, THAT IS AN OPINION THAT I'M ENTITLED TO. There are only a small handful of games that I would actually play from beginning to end persistently (Ys VIII, I am Setsuna, Lost Sphear) because I'm an RPG gamer. Also, I won't be playing any of these piss poor PC ports because I play them where they're meant to be played (hail the master race).

So in the end, this things just needs to get good. Waiting for Pokémon...

When it comes to Lakka I know that the Nintendo 64, and Playstation emulators run pretty well, Dolphin runs like ass at the moment, and I dont know about PSP one of the biggest issues is that the audio driver doesnt work properly yet so you have to use a bluetooth device for audio and Ive heard that the Playstation emulator in RetroNX runs pretty well although I have not tested it yet so I dont know for sure

Oh you meant that theres not many games that you care about, well thats fine I guess, for a moment I thought that you were one of those Switch haters that say the thing has no games at all . Have you played octopath traveler yet, its a great RPG

Personally I thought that most of the ports were fine, although DOOM and Wolfenstien 2 were a bit blurry in docked sometimes :/

 

[oji]

If you use .xci ROMs, which are mounted through SX OS, it should be not too hard to implement dynamic listing of available games from two or more sources so you'll see all yor games while Switch is docked and only partial list in a portable mode. An .nsp is another story as those titles are actually installed into a media (internal memory or mSD), just try to eject your card while Switch isn't turned off and you'll see what'll happen if hdd with your installed games is detached due to undocking.

 

[Gootah]

When it comes to Lakka I know that the Nintendo 64, and Playstation emulators run pretty well, Dolphin runs like ass at the moment, and I dont know about PSP one of the biggest issues is that the audio driver doesnt work properly yet so you have to use a bluetooth device for audio and Ive heard that the Playstation emulator in RetroNX runs pretty well although I have not tested it yet so I dont know for sure

Oh you meant that theres not many games that you care about, well thats fine I guess, for a moment I thought that you were one of those Switch haters that say the thing has no games at all . Have you played octopath traveler yet, its a great RPG

Personally I thought that most of the ports were fine, although DOOM and Wolfenstien 2 were a bit blurry in docked sometimes :/

I may be a Switch hater. It's just not as great as people make it out to be, at least not yet. Even if the library got better, the hardware is the limitation. They try to hard with titles like Doom and Wolfenstein, they need to stay in their performance lane like they did with 3DS. They're just doing the wrong thing.

I have Octopath. While the game was greatness at launch, after the hype, it's not worth finishing to me. I just got bored with it, the progression is weird, difficulties flies all over the place. It also gets really cheesy, it's like a battle of whether you or the AI can get the cheesiest combinations going. Then all the separate stories that never converged after so many hours just made me feel like my efforts were pointless. The characters just weren't cool enough for me to care about on an individual basis. After the hype I just moved on.

 

[morrison22]

THIS. HDD support would defeat the whole system itself. Also, if we keeping it super real, the Switch library is so garbage that no one is thinking about storing games on a 2TB level. The emulations scene in reality is also limited to 2D games, so again, you don't really need to store anything on that level. When DC or GC run at full speed, this may become a priority.

I disagree with your opinion. External HDD support would be quite useful for people that play in docked mode exclusively, such as myself. I prefer gaming with a Pro Controller because it’s more comfortable and I enjoy being absorbed into the game world on a big screen.

Having titles easily accessible in an efficient manner would be ideal in this situation too. I’m sure others would agree that primarily use their system in docked mode.

Also, the library of games being “so garbage” is a matter of opinion. To each their own I suppose.

Besides, it’s better to have external HDD support sooner than later so when “DC or GC run at full speed”, (which the emulation scene is excelling quite rapidly), there will be no waiting and you will have the option to instantly enjoy the benefits of using an external HDD to access your game collection (and maybe even video or other media types in the future.)

 

[Gootah]

I disagree with your opinion. External HDD support would be quite useful for people that play in docked mode exclusively, such as myself. I prefer gaming with a Pro Controller because it’s more comfortable and I enjoy being absorbed into the game world on a big screen. Having titles easily accessible in an efficient manner would be ideal in this situation too. I’m sure others would agree that primarily use their system in docked mode. Also, the library of games being “so garbage” is a matter of opinion. To each their own I suppose. Besides, it’s better to have external HDD support sooner than later so when “DC or GC run at full speed”, (which the emulation scene is excelling quite rapidly), there will be no waiting and you will have the option to instantly enjoy the benefits of using an external HDD to access your game collection (and maybe even video or other media types in the future.)

Read on some, some of these points were addressed. I hear you, but using this thing in docked mode to me is a waste. If you want to enjoy emus on a big screen use a computer, plug your laptop into the TV or something (get into PC gaming or get an nVidia Shield product bro!). The only appeal for this thing is it's mobility due to the so so hardware and the amount of time they spend porting things to it that clearly shouldn't be on it (do not ruin the Doom or Wolfenstein experience by playing it on this...). Games are art, they'r meant to be experienced as intended, this is why art is still on display as opposed to everyone just sharing pictures of it. A lot if times, playing on Switch is like sharing pictures of art unless it's an exclusive title. They seem to fare better. Dreamcast ports are welcome though, that'd be dope.

Again, all opinions.

 

[morrison22]

”...There are only a small handful of games that I would actually play from beginning to end persistently (Ys VIII, I am Setsuna, Lost Sphear) because I'm an RPG gamer...”

I am 70% through Ys VIII with 53 hours invested into it. I am a thorough explorer when it comes to games like this. I love it! Just finished exploring the ghost ship. That was fun! Isn’t this game so good?! I hope more Ys games get ported to the switch. Day 1 buy for me.

 

[lordelan]

just try to eject your card while Switch isn't turned off and you'll see what'll happen if hdd with your installed games is detached due to undocking.

Yeah the only real downside to it. We would have to shut down the console everytime we swap between docked and handheld.
I could live with if for the benefits.

 

[Gootah]

I am 70% through Ys VIII with 53 hours invested into it. I am a thorough explorer when it comes to games like this. I love it! Just finished exploring the ghost ship. That was fun! Isn’t this game so good?! I hope more Ys games get ported to the switch. Day 1 buy for me.

Yeah. Ys hits that graphical and gameplay sweet spot that works out on the Switch, if it got an exclusive it would be a very impressive game.

 

[nWo]

I got a big SD card, and got for example, Doom, Wolfenstein, WWE (playable), Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade, man, so many and big games. So that guy that is saying that the library sucks, man, take your head out of your ass, and stop hatin`. Grow a pair and accept that there are some awesome games,and with emulation, sir, you don`t even know what you are talking about.

I`m waiting for HDD support.

 

[MasterJ360]

It took a long time even for the Wii U to get external HDD support, opensource CFW gave us that ability

 

[ZachyCatGames]

It took a long time even for the Wii U to get external HDD support, opensource CFW gave us that ability

Umm Wii U had native external HDD support from Nintendo:|

 

[AdamFX990]

I've been playing around with libnx. I've mostly been messing around with USB input devices at the moment. But it shouldn't be too long before we've got a way to install NSPs from a usb device or a network share without the need to copy them to the SD card first. I realise this isn't exactly what you asked, but its a start

 

[DeuX]

I've been playing around with libnx. I've mostly been messing around with USB input devices at the moment. But it shouldn't be too long before we've got a way to install NSPs from a usb device or a network share without the need to copy them to the SD card first. I realise this isn't exactly what you asked, but its a start

Funny enough, that’s exactly what I want lmao

 

[lordelan]

I've been playing around with libnx. I've mostly been messing around with USB input devices at the moment. But it shouldn't be too long before we've got a way to install NSPs from a usb device or a network share without the need to copy them to the SD card first. I realise this isn't exactly what you asked, but its a start

Being able to read from USB drives is not so far away from being able to write to them.

 

[AdamFX990]

Being able to read from USB drives is not so far away from being able to write to them.

Being able to write to them, yes. Being able to load games from them however is a very different problem.

I'm talking about what is possible with libnx which is strictly homebrew. We'd need USB loading implemented into a CFW (this'd probably be easiest with reinand atm due to its modular design). But that's a really really complicated task and not something I'd know how to implement. I can't even say for sure its possible. Though I'd wager it probably is given time. But I'm speculating now.

 

[Jayro]

Well now that "backup loaders are a thing", how close are we from USB 3.0 harddrive/flash drive/SSD loading in docked mode?