Hacking Question Complete Noob - 1st time Switch hack - sense check please

[BvonB]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker on these forums and have been doing lots of reading and think i'm ready to take the plunge - just wanted to verify with you all please.

Scenario is: untouched Switch on 3.0.0 - ordered RCM jig which should be arriving soon and i plan on using my Samsung S8 to inject payload via NXLoader and a double ended USB C cable i have.

My plan is to update to 3.0.2 whilst keeping fuses in tact so i can downgrade if i want (i believe 3.0.1/3.0.2 uses up one more fuse than 3.0.0). I also want to install the exfat update which i dont have.

Reason for 3.0.2 specifically is all i really want is to play Skyrim, Mario and Xenoblade at this stage and i don't want to worry about the gamecart update (i believe that happens at v4+ right?)

Can anyone please confirm the following steps are a sensible approach and i haven't missed or misunderstood anything:



1. Fully charge switch and then use jig to enter RCM (insert jig, power on switch whilst holding volume up)

2. Backup everything - follow Canna's excellent guide to do a full Nand and everything else backup (Here you can use NXLoader instead of PC Tegrasmash to inject Hekate via your Android phone if you prefer) - https://gbatemp.net/threads/backup-restore-your-nand-get-your-biskeys-tseckeys-keys-txt-guide.513386/

3. Keep said backup v safe - i bought a dedicated 64GB sd card for this and nothing else.

4. Proceed with update to 3.0.2 using ChoiDujourNX and Rajkosto's great guide - https://gbatemp.net/threads/choiduj...ller-homebrew-for-the-nintendo-switch.513416/

5. After updating to 3.0.2 install exfat update also using ChoiDuJourNX (maybe i can do this at the same time as the update in step 4?) - Part of Rajkosto's update tutorial in Step 4.

6. Enable AutoRCM during the above steps - i don't want to risk accidentally booting into OFW and burning that fuse. - Part of Rajkosto's update tutorial in Step 4.

7. Decide on CFW and using e.g. NXLoader on Android phone, Tegrasmash on PC etc... to inject and use
8. Profit

N.B. You can use the above to go all the way to latest firmware if you like but please note going from FW3 to anything FW4 and above will update your gamecart slot. If you then choose to downgrade back to lower than FW4 you will not be able to use the cart slot. Rajkosto's update tutorial linked above also covers this topic allowing you to preserve your gamecart slot version as you update.




Hopefully the above is ok, really appreciate your feedback.

One q on AutoRCM - i've been following this ongoing debate about battery drain and not knowing if it is shutdown or in RCM mode etc and don't think it affects me. I'm not planning on shutting the switch down, i'll keep it on standby and then plug power in as and when the battery needs it - as i do anyway. I'm assuming the issue is RCM mode - if i'm on standby in CFW (SX, RajNX, ReiNX) the battery drains normally?

My q is IF i forget, go away or whatever and the switch does completely run out of battery of course it will power off. When i then plug power into it - will it power up in RCM (due to AutoRCM being on) or will it power up in OFW? Logically i think it will power up in RCM but wanted to check. Otherwise in this scenario i would have to remember to insert jig and be holding volume up as i plug power in to not risk fuse burning.

Massive thanks to anyone verifying the above for me, really appreciated.

Sorry - one more Q - If i go with SXOS (for XCI ease of use) then i'm also assuming i can use NXLoader to send SXOS right? The SX Pro dongle is basically replacing my mobile phone in this step?

 

[thorasgar]

Sounds like a plan man!

Yes step 3 and 4 can be done at once.

“RCM Mode” is redundant. The RCM police will ban you.

Battery drains normally in sleep mode. If you do need to power it off best to reboot into Hakate and shut down there.

With auto RCM enabled it will always boot into RCM.

Although I have never used SXOX, NXLoader should handle it fine.

Would have been best to post this in the stickied NOOB thread instead of creating a new one.

 

[BvonB]

Big thanks Thorasgar

Great to know i'm not way off the mark.

Really sorry about posting in wrong place - literally the first time i've posted on any forum. Should i move this or just leave now my Qs answered?
Thanks!

 

[Kafluke]

I commend your research. Wish all new posters would do this more. I read through your steps and they all look solid. Good job!

 

[PsychOsmosis]

I would make sure you enable AutoRCM BEFORE you install the updates.
It isn't clear the way you wrote it if you plan to do it before or after, but by enabling it before you make sure to not burn your fuses!

 

[BvonB]

Thanks Kafluke! Just wanted to reassure and try not to waste anyone's time.

And yep great advice PsychOsmosis thanks - hopefully that is included/covered during the update steps under ChoiDujourNX, i haven't looked at the details there - i'll be sure to do that as early as you can in that to reduce risk.

 

[thorasgar]

ChoidujourNX enables autoRCM by default when updating. There really is no need to enable it prior, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything.

 

[BvonB]

Cheers thorasgar

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker on these forums and have been doing lots of reading and think i'm ready to take the plunge - just wanted to verify with you all please.

Scenario is: untouched Switch on 3.0.0 - ordered RCM jig which should be arriving soon and i plan on using my Samsung S8 to inject payload via NXLoader and a double ended USB C cable i have.

My plan is to update to 3.0.2 whilst keeping fuses in tact so i can downgrade if i want (i believe 3.0.1/3.0.2 uses up one more fuse than 3.0.0). I also want to install the exfat update which i dont have.

Reason for 3.0.2 specifically is all i really want is to play Skyrim, Mario and Xenoblade at this stage and i don't want to worry about the gamecart update (i believe that happens at v4+ right?)

Can anyone please confirm the following steps are a sensible approach and i haven't missed or misunderstood anything:

1. Fully charge switch and then use jig to enter RCM (insert jig, power on switch whilst holding volume up)
2. Backup everything - follow Canna's excellent guide to do a full Nand and everything else backup (i'm assuming here i can use NXLoader instead of PC Tegrasmash to inject Hekate right?)
3. Keep said backup v safe - i bought a dedicated 64GB sd card for this and nothing else.
4. Proceed with update to 3.0.2 using ChoiDujourNX and Rajkosto's great guide
5. After updating to 3.0.2 install exfat update also using ChoiDuJourNX (maybe i can do this at the same time as the update in step 4?)
6. Enable AutoRCM during the above steps - i don't want to risk accidentally booting into OFW and burning that fuse
7. Decide on CFW and use NXLoader to inject and use
8. Profit


Hopefully the above is ok, really appreciate your feedback.

One q on AutoRCM - i've been following this ongoing debate about battery drain and not knowing if it is shutdown or in RCM mode etc and don't think it affects me. I'm not planning on shutting the switch down, i'll keep it on standby and then plug power in as and when the battery needs it - as i do anyway. I'm assuming the issue is RCM mode - if i'm on standby in CFW (SX, RajNX, ReiNX) the battery drains normally?

My q is IF i forget, go away or whatever and the switch does completely run out of battery of course it will power off. When i then plug power into it - will it power up in RCM (due to AutoRCM being on) or will it power up in OFW? Logically i think it will power up in RCM but wanted to check. Otherwise in this scenario i would have to remember to insert jig and be holding volume up as i plug power in to not risk fuse burning.

Massive thanks to anyone verifying the above for me, really appreciated.

Sorry - one more Q - If i go with SXOS (for XCI ease of use) then i'm also assuming i can use NXLoader to send SXOS right? The SX Pro dongle is basically replacing my mobile phone in this step?

You can't use a normal USB-C cable I think, it has to be an OTG cable. OTG cables are a bit different as they contain something that tells one end to act as a host. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I believe USB-C cables work like this too.

 

[BvonB]

Ah - good catch Jdbye! The one i got is this one from Amazon:

amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017XDUUY2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll definitely do some googling on this. Thankfully it was cheap so hoepfully not a complete waste of money. Thanks!

 

[Canna]

Lol thanks for the mention...

Yeah using your phone will do the same job of injecting payload.

And if your going to no fuse burn update you can use any sys version you wish 4.0/5.1 , as long as you use auto rcm and load hekate every time so you do not accidentally burn fuses.

Good luck any questions on backup ask in my thread

 

[RHOPKINS13]

As long as you've made a backup and you're not burning fuses, I don't see a reason not to go ahead and upgrade to 5.1. If your fuses aren't burnt you can always downgrade later.

Your battery dying will not stop it from booting into RCM, you should be pretty safe as far as that goes.

 

[BvonB]

Yeah thanks guys - i did think about just going all the way to latest FW but then i'm sure i read that the game card slot updates at FW4 (and maybe i didnt quite understand this point). So if i'm right then i think i'd need to look at the block on this too which just adds that little bit more complication to worry about for my skill set. I figure i'd have hours and hours of fun at 3.0.2 with Skyrim, Mario and Xenoblade - and can in the meantime keep a close eye on these forums before deciding if i want to go all the way up. Diablo III may change my mind though when it comes out.
Plus who know what will happen once Atmo comes out

 

[RHOPKINS13]

If you use ReiNand with a nogc file or Hekate with the nogc kip1patch you shouldn't have to worry about the game card slot updates.

 

[BvonB]

Got it, cool thanks. I'll do some digging on these forums to bring myself up to speed on the nogc kip1 patch for Hekate. If it's pretty straight forward i may do that too and just go all the way. Really is great how much is happening on this scene so early on.

 

[Ceuse]

Usb 3 doesnt have otg anymore/is build in. You only need to worry about otg when using usb2 (took me a while to figure that out aswell) defently check if you enabled otg on your phone & boot cfw at least once before updating to make sure you know how to do it after the update

 

[BvonB]

Awesome thanks Ceuse.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Ah - good catch Jdbye! The one i got is this one from Amazon:

amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017XDUUY2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll definitely do some googling on this. Thankfully it was cheap so hoepfully not a complete waste of money. Thanks!

You can still get some use out of it if you get one of those USB-PD powerbanks

 

[Kafluke]

Also if you have a Galaxy phone it should have come with a little cube like OTG adapter. They bundle it with the phone and label it something like "for phone to phone transfers"

 

[deSSy2724]

Can yomeone explain the "exfat update" part?