Physical vs Digital? How about both! Thanks to gcdumptool's latest update you can now dump your Nintendo Switch Game Cards directly to NSP with ease, and it also works on FAT32 microSDs!

Before going into the specific details, let's take a step back and explain exactly what it does in case any of you are wondering. gcdumptool is a homebrew application made by @DarkMatterCore which, as the name implies, allows you to dump your physical Switch games to your microSD. The app takes extra care to make a 1:1 copy of your Game Cards and also includes a few functions to verify your dump after it's done, as it can check it against an online database (provided by NSWDB) or show you the file's CRC32 so you'll be able to compare it against a good known one. Up until now the application could only dump games to XCI, aka the Switch's native Game Card format, and users had to convert them manually and externally if they wanted installable NSPs instead. However, starting from version 1.0.8, this is no longer the case!

While this is already good by itself, the real treat is being able to dump cards directly into split NSPs: this will allow easy dumping on FAT32 microSDs as a lot of Switch games are well over 4 GiB in size (thus going over the filesystem's maximum file size)! It doesn't end there, however, as the app will automatically set the directory's archive bit once done to let title installers treat it as a single file, and that means you'll be able to install your game without doing any extra steps. If you want to join your NSP back to a single file anyways you'll be able to do this easily on your PC, as the format is exactly the same as the one used by splitNSP.

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There's much more to both gcdumptool and this update itself! You can read the full changelog down below, and you can also learn more about the app's feature set on its official GBAtemp thread.

• Added proper metadata reading from multigame carts.
• Added gamecard -> NSP dump option:
  • Compatible with file splitting (for FAT32 support). The same layout from splitNSP.py is used: a directory with numbered part files (00, 01, etc.). The archive bit is enabled right away in this directory to allow HOS to treat it as if it were a whole file. This way, it can be used with any application with NSP-handling capabilities.
  • Compatible with CRC32 checksum calculation. Disclaimer: NSP dumps can't be verified against the XML database.
  • Output NSPs contain a metadata XML file based on the information from the CNMT NCA for the application, which is decrypted using code from hactool. The necessary keyset is loaded from "sdmc:/switch/prod.keys", which can be generated using Lockpick.
  • If a multigame cart is used, you'll be able to choose which application to dump from the menu.
• Dump verification process tweaked for multigame carts: it'll now look for a possible checksum match using the Title IDs from all bundled applications.
• Improved error reporting in dumper.c when a write operation fails. Furthermore, if a write error is produced when trying to write data to an offset past the FAT32 file size limit (0xFFFFFFFF bytes), the application will suggest the user to enable the file splitting option.
• Tweaked part sizes for splitted dumps: XCI/raw partition/manual file dump part size now matches the one used by XCI-Cutter, while the NSP part size matches the one used by splitNSP.py.
• Minor fixes to the UI code.

Source
GBAtemp Official thread

 

[Jayro]

This is impressive. I'd still like an NSP>XCI converter though, one that doesn't require a computer. Mostly for those digital-only releases so I can play them in SX OS.

 

[FR0ZN]

This is impressive. I'd still like an NSP>XCI converter though, one that doesn't require a computer. Mostly for those digital-only releases so I can play them in SX OS.

But you can play NSPs with SX OS

 

[PalindromicBreadLoaf]

Pretty neat. Always nice to see new developments in the Homebrew scene.

 

[leon315]

okay, it's time to visit my friend to borrow his games

 

[Reecey]

Why is there a picture of Goldleaf running in the background in the img?

 

[arjunpatel]

im dumping doom right now it says eta 20h i mean damn lol

 

[Keylogger]

Cool i can mount Xci and convert it to nsp easily thanks

 

[RattletraPM]

Why is there a picture of Goldleaf running in the background in the img?

It's the picture of a Switch installing a game (Hyrule Warriors, both box and cart seen on the right) that's just been dumped using gcdumptool (FAT32, Split NSP).

I made a promotion icon out of the pic as a placeholder while writing the article, however @DarkMatterCore liked it so I decided to keep it. If you want to see the app in action, screenshots are already included in the article itself (which have been taken from the same Switch) and, in a way, the pic could also be seen as showing the NSP being installed afterwards just fine, so yeah. It's just that

 

[Reecey]

It's the picture of a Switch installing a game (Hyrule Warriors, both box and cart seen on the right) that's just been dumped using gcdumptool (FAT32, Split NSP).

I made a promotion icon out of the pic as a placeholder while writing the article, however @DarkMatterCore liked it so I decided to keep it. If you want to see the app in action, screenshots are already included in the article itself and, in a way, the pic could also be seen as showing the NSP being installed afterwards just fine, so yeah. It's just that

Why not instead just show the gcdumptool dumping in the background that makes more sense than showing Goldleaf but if @DarkMatterCore is ok with this than that’s fine with me but tbh it’s nearly as bad as the Mario & Zelda 8.0.1 overclock update news, if you clicked on further discussion it directs you to the system overclocking kip patch thread.

 

[Rune]

This is impressive. I'd still like an NSP>XCI converter though, one that doesn't require a computer. Mostly for those digital-only releases so I can play them in SX OS.

Use NSC Builder. I've made a few XCIs out of NSPs and all work fine.

 

[XorTroll]

Why is there a picture of Goldleaf running in the background in the img?

Lol good one, didn't notice

 

[wurstpistole]

Cool i can mount Xci and convert it to nsp easily thanks

4nxci wasn't easy enough?

 

[arjunpatel]

i got a error saying the switch couldnt start doom though it installed fine

 

[DarkMatterCore]

This is impressive. I'd still like an NSP>XCI converter though, one that doesn't require a computer. Mostly for those digital-only releases so I can play them in SX OS.

Have you tried n1dus?

Why is there a picture of Goldleaf running in the background in the img?

Tbh, I didn't even notice that. But I'm not mad about it.

The logo used in the header image is actually pretty neat, way better than the icon I'm currently using for the application.

im dumping doom right now it says eta 20h i mean damn lol

i got a error saying the switch couldnt start doom though it installed fine

I'd like to address both issues. I'll send you a PM.

 

[wartutor]

Have you tried n1dus?



Tbh, I didn't even notice that. But I'm not mad about it.

The logo used in the header image is actually pretty neat, way better than the icon I'm currently using for the application.





I'd like to address both issues. I'll send you a PM.

Yes seams no matter what i dump (currently tried 4 games) they all give wrong completion time of around 20h sure its a misplaced decimal or something stupid works great though so timer isnt a big deal.

 

[BossRoss93]

Been waiting for this. Thing is though: I'm not sure I understand something. Can I also install these NSPs on a fat32 card? I haven't done the exfat driver workaround and if I don't have to then that would be great.

 

[DarkMatterCore]

Been waiting for this. Thing is though: I'm not sure I understand something. Can I also install these NSPs on a fat32 card? I haven't done the exfat driver workaround and if I don't have to then that would be great.

You can. I installed my very own Super Mario Odyssey NSP dump just for testing, and it worked.

 

[BossRoss93]

You can. I installed my very own Super Mario Odyssey NSP dump just for testing, and it worked.

HELL yes. Thanks a lot, friend. The thing is though, I'm still on 2.1 for my hacking centric switch. So I gotta do some reading on how to run games on higher firmwares.

 

[Slim45]

On atmo 7.1 latest kosmos. But I get a fatal crash on opening gcdumptool.