Hardware Switch NAND upgrade

[pascoej]

Hi all,

Couldn't find any posts about this before. You can upgrade your Switch's nand by putting a bigger chip on it and resizing the USER partition with gpart and then reformatting it using HacDiskMount. Pretty cool if you want more games or whatever. I tried it with a 64GB emmc for PoC. I saw a 128GB chip on alibaba for about 30 bucks, so could be even better.


Can't post any links but proof of it working is on my twitter @pascoej

 

[nero99]

That is awesome. You should try a 500GB if there's any like that for a decent price

 

[pascoej]

Largest I have seen is a 256GB emmc made by Samsung, KLMEG8UCTA-B041, but it seems hard to source unless you live in Shenzhen.

 

[Brandon Golway]

Awesome! Can you link to the one you used?

 

[fadx]

Hey looks like your twitter is @pascoej_ and not @pascoej like in your OP! Very cool stuff though, great work!

Can now see the additional space :)
thanks rajkosto for HacDiskMount for reformatting the user partition under the encryption! pic.twitter.com/QqlD8toJki

— Pascoe (@p4scoe) September 13, 2018

 

[xXDungeon_CrawlerXx]

I'm gonna try that

 

[Seelbreaker]

Hi all,

Couldn't find any posts about this before. You can upgrade your Switch's nand by putting a bigger chip on it and resizing the USER partition with gpart and then reformatting it using HacDiskMount. Pretty cool if you want more games or whatever. I tried it with a 64GB emmc for PoC. I saw a 128GB chip on alibaba for about 30 bucks, so could be even better.


Can't post any links but proof of it working is on my twitter @pascoej

I bet you need some reflow stuff for this, since you can't just clip the new emmc onto the same position right?

Neverless, nice that you got that running and share your experience!

 

[Canna]

Hey now i was going to do this, and even work on a solution for a dual boot nand, two chips on one special module....
But i was told that you cannot just simply replace the chip as the chip has a unique id and that needs to be patched into the system... or spoofed

Could you tell me more on how you patched or modded the code/software to run such a chip thanks...

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

Pulled from thread page
https://gbatemp.net/threads/rcm-payload-hekate-ctcaer-mod.502604/page-90#post-8220688

Excuse me sir.
When you mention you can simply replace the emmc Chip/Board/package..
Is there any identification the switch pulls from the chip to say this is not the real one Like a serial match etc..
Or is this in the Prod info..? and long as i copy the original emmc to the new one i should be fine ?
also can we access a bootloader to restore a image to emmc if the emmc board inserted is blank or new ?

They already collect these through error reporting.
http://switchbrew.org/index.php?title=Error_Report_services search for nand.
NANDCID (serial and other id) and NANDTotalSize/NANDFreeSpace are the most important.

So best way is to have the error services disabled.

On the other hand these can be spoofed and use a let's say 64GB eMMC. You then restore your backup. Memload it to PC and resize USER partition.

Im not sure i follow, im not as smart as you sir..

Why can i not replace the emmc with another same size ?
How do i spoof? or spoof a larger ? thank you

I didn't say you cannot. I also even said how to do it.

Spoofing of serial numbers needs patching of FS.kip

And this is to spoof emmc id ?

So simply using a new emmc chip/board of the same size and brand.
Cant be used without the fs.kip being patched ?
How would one patch the fs.kip

Thank you for your reply much appreciated

So the upgrade is for only those who do not care about being banned or for those who want to stay offline as nintendo can detect the emmc chip change

it can be used. Whatever one you get.
It's to avoid detection. Nintendo knows which eMMC id your console has.

 

[Lumince]

OMG can you do mine if the 128 gb one works? or the 256 gb one? @pascoej ! How is the performance and speed? This is amazing!

 

[pascoej]

Hi all,

Since I can't post any type of hyper links / images here, I wrote up how I did it and posted the article on my twitter "pascoej_"

Thanks for the correction fadx.

Very possible Nintendo could ban if they notice your NAND info has changed, but this has not happened to me yet. I don't recommend this mod unless you are just having fun as a large microsd card is much more practical and smd rework is not everybody's cup of tea. I just think it's super cool that this is possible with all the great tools the community has made.

Haven't found any easy tools to benchmark speed, but I imagine it's about the same.

 

[Ericthegreat]

I bet you need some reflow stuff for this, since you can't just clip the new emmc onto the same position right?

Neverless, nice that you got that running and share your experience!

Yes this seems only worth it if you have the tools.

 

[uyjulian]

Maybe someone will sell pre-soldered eMMCs you can clip on, like those at hardkernel

 

[Witalka_Shelby]

omg I want this upgrade
looking for eMMCs right now -.-

 

[Wierd_w]

@ OP

What I really want to see, is a switch nand module, loaded with a Push-Push style microSD card slot. eMMC is an offshoot of MMC, which is the progenitor of SD. Theoretically, an SD Spec card should be able to handle all the same commands an eMMC module would. (just be more "fragile" in terms of write life, due to cheaper flash components)

If you are hot-air station reworking NAND modules, could you perform such an experiment?

 

[lostdotfish]

This is very very cool!

I wonder how long it will be before the Chinese realise there will be a market for these. You can already pick up replacement 32G NAND boards for about $20 on eBay and Aliexpress.

 

[xXDungeon_CrawlerXx]

I'm looking for a 64GB one, a 128GB one and a 256GB one.
If someone know where to find this eMMC Chips for Switch, please tell me

 

[lostdotfish]

Maybe someone will sell pre-soldered eMMCs you can clip on, like those at hardkernel

I've often wondered if those would be pin compatible. They appear to use the same connector.

I guess if anyone has one you could test it by using the microSD reader they sell on a switch emmc module. If you get read/write then it's a good bet they'll work.

https://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G145622510341

 

[nero99]

I'm looking for a 64GB one, a 128GB one and a 256GB one.
If someone know where to find this eMMC Chips for Switch, please tell me

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...dmel0&id=572704664660&ns=1&abbucket=14#detail this is the link to a 128GB

 

[xeswitched]

You would still need a send in service. Due to needing to backup your current nand and restoring with out verification, then the reflow work. How many of you all would be interested, seriously, in this service? I could try and order a few of the 256 chips from Shenzhen and report back after my vendor responds...lmk through PM. I'll see if its worth my time as internal chip installation services are few and far.

 

[Canna]

I've often wondered if those would be pin compatible. They appear to use the same connector.

I guess if anyone has one you could test it by using the microSD reader they sell on a switch emmc module. If you get read/write then it's a good bet they'll work.

https://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G145622510341

I have already looked into these... the connector is the same as what matches the board so they wont work...
switch connector is female... That emmc module you just showed is female also