Homebrew Question Upgrade, EShop, & Downgrade w/o Bans & Burnt Fuses

[Aduviel]

Long-time lurker, but I've only recently come back to the Switch scene.

I've only briefly looked over some of the updates to the scene; just wondering if the thread title is possible. I'll explain in more detail below (apologies if there are gaps in my understanding; been away for a bit)

Currently waiting on Thermosphere/Emunand from Atmosphere NX which might be awhile, so... would it be possible to use some combination of ChoiDuJour NX & hekate to upgrade my 3.0.0 switch to the latest, download some games from the EShop (stardew valley), and then downgrade back to 3.0?

After downgrading back to 3.0, I would just play the downloaded EShop games offline until Thermosphere is here.

I would like to know all of the above is possible while still:

1. Not getting banned during any part of the process
2. Not burning any Efuses
3. Having the exfat update installed even post-downgrade back to 3.0
4. Being able to play greater-than-3.0-version games that I've downloaded from EShop (or purchased cartridges) while back on 3.0.0
5. Retaining any 3.0.0-specific exploits (such as maybe eventually being able to boot RCM without a jig; even though SciresM said it was unlikely)

If there is a partial solution (only some of the requirements above can be met); would still be interested to hear what can be achieved thus far/what sacrifices I would have to make.

Thanks all!

P.S. (Mods; posted this accidentally in the "Software Projects" section; meant to post in the "Custom Firmware" section. If you can move the thread, I would be grateful)

 

[RHOPKINS13]

You're probably better off making a clean NAND backup, setting up ReiNX, and installing a NSP with Tinfoil. Then whenever Thermosphere arrives you can restore your NAND backup and go from there.

What you're asking for is pretty much impossible at least without some (albeit small) chance of a ban.

 

[Myron49485]

1. Stay offline at all times and you'll be okay. Use a dns to block nintnedo servers if you need internet connection.
2. Booting through Hekate won't burn fuses, while booting through the official bootloader will. ChoiDjNX will enable autorcm to ensure that the official bootloader is never used. Side effects of autorcm: You'll have to send a payload to boot every time; shutting down from horizon (switch os) puts you back into rcm, use Hekate to shut down. Leaving it in rcm can drain the battery completely.
3. No need to downgrade back to 3.0.0, you can do everything on the latest fw. If you want to use 3.0.0 for any reason, you can use Tinfoil to ignore the required fw version when installing nsps. Personally I don't do it as I Checkpoint won't backup saves.
4. Again, no need to use 3.0.0.
5. As long as you don't burn more that 3 fuses, you can always downgrade back to 3.0.0.

Edit: For 3-4, I forgot that there's PegaSwitch on 3.0.0, though the thread hasn't been updated...

What you can do now:
1. Remove nintendo account (optional if it has nothing). Remove all internet connections.
2. Make a full "clean" backup with Hekate.
3. Upgrade with ChoiDjNX.
4. Set up a cfw of your choice.
5. If you want to go online in the future, restore your clean backup. Remember to have "continuity" e.g. once you restore your clean backup and go online, don't restore it again. If you want to use cfw, make another clean backup for the next time you want to go online (or use emunand if it comes out).

 

[Condemned87]

I have the same "problem". I want to purchase my games in eshop but I dont want to upgrade to 6.0.0 and burn fuses. But no really safe option to go online without updating my OFW. Hm.

 

[miesssiee]

1. Stay offline at all times and you'll be okay. Use a dns to block nintnedo servers if you need internet connection.
2. Booting through Hekate won't burn fuses, while booting through the official bootloader will. ChoiDjNX will enable autorcm to ensure that the official bootloader is never used. Side effects of autorcm: You'll have to send a payload to boot every time; shutting down from horizon (switch os) puts you back into rcm, use Hekate to shut down. Leaving it in rcm can drain the battery completely.
3. No need to downgrade back to 3.0.0, you can do everything on the latest fw. If you want to use 3.0.0 for any reason, you can use Tinfoil to ignore the required fw version when installing nsps. Personally I don't do it as I Checkpoint won't backup saves.
4. Again, no need to use 3.0.0.
5. As long as you don't burn more that 3 fuses, you can always downgrade back to 3.0.0.

What you can do now:
1. Remove nintendo account (optional if it has nothing). Remove all internet connections.
2. Make a full "clean" backup with Hekate.
3. Upgrade with ChoiDjNX.
4. Set up a cfw of your choice.
5. If you want to go online in the future, restore your clean backup. Remember to have "continuity" e.g. once you restore your clean backup and go online, don't restore it again. If you want to use cfw, make another clean backup for the next time you want to go online (or use emunand if it comes out).

I have a question about restoring NAND. What I've been doing is using SX OS on 5.1 offline (never been online since I started using SX OS). I made a clean NAND with Hekate before going offline and using SX OS. What I want to do when emunand comes out is remove all traces of SX OS. Do I first do a factory reset and then restore NAND? Or can I just restore NAND using Hekate and boot into OFW and that's that?

 

[Snomannen_kalle]

I have a question about restoring NAND. What I've been doing is using SX OS on 5.1 offline (never been online since I started using SX OS). I made a clean NAND with Hekate before going offline and using SX OS. What I want to do when emunand comes out is remove all traces of SX OS. Do I first do a factory reset and then restore NAND? Or can I just restore NAND using Hekate and boot into OFW and that's that?

I'm not entirely sure, but I think you only need to restore NAND -- doesn't rawNAND contain the entire contents on the chip? If that is so, and you restore it, there shouldn't be anything left from before the NAND restoration, and thus nothing for Nintendo to detect. But as I said, not sure about this, so someone else should confirm this

 

[Myron49485]

I have a question about restoring NAND. What I've been doing is using SX OS on 5.1 offline (never been online since I started using SX OS). I made a clean NAND with Hekate before going offline and using SX OS. What I want to do when emunand comes out is remove all traces of SX OS. Do I first do a factory reset and then restore NAND? Or can I just restore NAND using Hekate and boot into OFW and that's that?

If you have a full rawnand.bin backup, you can just restore your NAND using Hekate and boot normally. Remember to restore boot0/1 as well.

 

[Myron49485]

I have the same "problem". I want to purchase my games in eshop but I dont want to upgrade to 6.0.0 and burn fuses. But no really safe option to go online without updating my OFW. Hm.

If you did any modifications then going online is no option. You can buy your games from the nintendo website, then pirate them on your console.

However, if your console is clean, you can do this. It's basically updating your console officially, entering RCM before it finishes rebooting, and enabling autoRCM. We don't know if nintendo will ban for incorrect fuse count though.

 

[ratsz]

3. No need to downgrade back to 3.0.0, you can do everything on the latest fw. If you want to use 3.0.0 for any reason, you can use Tinfoil to ignore the required fw version when installing nsps. Personally I don't do it as I Checkpoint won't backup saves.

Any thread to learn more about this please? Thanks

 

[Myron49485]

Any thread to learn more about this please? Thanks

It's just from what I had experienced, I don't know if it's just me.

I installed some NSPs with Tinfoil on 4.1.0 and enabled "Ignore Required Firmware Version", and I couldn't backup the saves for certain NSPs.

 

[ratsz]

^^ Well good to know, thanks for the heads up. I'll need to test this and maybe multiply saves backup with others homebrews just in case.

 

[bundat]

3. No need to downgrade back to 3.0.0, you can do everything on the latest fw. If you want to use 3.0.0 for any reason, you can use Tinfoil to ignore the required fw version when installing nsps. Personally I don't do it as I Checkpoint won't backup saves.

I installed some NSPs with Tinfoil on 4.1.0 and enabled "Ignore Required Firmware Version", and I couldn't backup the saves for certain NSPs.

Wow, that sounds like a terrible tradeoff.
That sounds like it just makes "Ignore Required Firmware Version" seem like a terrible choice all around, unless there is some workaround to backup your saves.

 

[Aduviel]

If you did any modifications then going online is no option. You can buy your games from the nintendo website, then pirate them on your console.

Hey Myron,

Is there a tutorial on how to do this part? Would I need a throwaway Nintendo Account or I can "safely" use my original Nintendo Account. After purchasing, what homebrew do I use to download the legitimately purchased NSPs without getting banned?

 

[Myron49485]

Is there a tutorial on how to do this part? Would I need a throwaway Nintendo Account or I can "safely" use my original Nintendo Account.

Not that I know of. What I mean by that is if you really want to support the devs, you can buy games digitally from https://www.nintendo.com/games/. After doing to, search for the NSP file online and install it with Tinfoil.

After purchasing, what homebrew do I use to download the legitimately purchased NSPs without getting banned?

Going online with any homebrew could get you banned. Also, a homebrew that downloads legit titles would be no different from using the eShop (except for the chance of being banned). If your console is not clean, the only way of getting games without getting banned would be to download the nsp and install with Tinfoil.

Spoiler: If you want to buy games from the Nintendo Game Store...

- I tried purchasing from the Game Store with a fresh Nintendo Account and got this:

Error Code 9001-0026
To continue, please access Nintendo eShop on the Nintendo Switch console linked to this Nintendo Account.

It seems that in order to buy games through the Game Store, you'll need to have accessed the eShop with your Nintendo Account on your Switch. Only do this if your console is clean (restore a clean backup if needed).

- The "Buy Digital" button only appears when "Country/region of residence" is set to United States.