ROM Hack Question Transferring saves between clean & hacked Switches - both 8.0.1

[kimbra]

Hello! After being a lurker for over a decade, I created an account here in order to ask this question and get more involved with the Switch hacking scene.

I currently have a clean Switch (my first ever Switch) running the latest 8.0.1 firmware. I do intend to keep the console itself completely clean in order to avoid any possible Nintendo console ban. 100% of my games have been played on this console, and thus all of the saves are apparently on its internal memory only - no exceptions (thanks, Nintendo ).

I was not aware of this limitation until today, and I had recently purchased a second Switch tablet with the intent to hack however I pleased. I never intend to use this second console online or for much regular gameplay. This console is also on the latest 8.0.1 firmware, and I'm currently using Atmosphere for all my hacking. One of the biggest interests I had in this endeavor was the ability to edit save files for all my games, and this is where I run into uncertainty.

After doing a little digging, it appears that, although you can't transfer save data from internal storage (e.g. via microSD), you can transfer save data from one console to another as long as they're both 8.0.0 or higher. That's good since both mine are! But in order to transfer the data between the two consoles, they have to be signed into the same Nintendo account. Here is my planned course of action for whenever I want to edit a save file that's currently on my clean Switch:

1. Have both consoles signed into my Nintendo account and on 8.0.1 firmware
2. Run the save data transfer feature to move a game save from my clean console to my secondary one
3. Utilize Checkpoint or some other save data manager to extract the save data to microSD
4. Do whatever I want to the save data
5. Get the save data back onto the console using Checkpoint (or whatever else) from microSD
6. Run the save data transfer feature to move the edited save data from my secondary console back to my clean one
7. Lastly, play whatever game's save I edited with the new edited game data

My concerns are whether or not it's safe for my clean console to be signed into my Nintendo account once the account is also signed into my secondary Switch, and then whether or not I'll be able to even freely transfer saves like this in the first place. I don't see any indication that transferring this way is limited at all (only so many times, or unable to return save data to a console it's already been on, etc.), so I'm thinking that's okay. But then there's also the concern of the Nintendo account being associated with the secondary hacked Switch. So my question ultimately is: are both of those things okay as far as anyone knows? Are there any alternatives someone has come up with that are potentially safer/easier? Thanks!

I apologize for the post's length - I just wanna make sure I'm thorough! And please feel free to delete this and direct me to another thread if there's already an answer to these questions.

 

[sterlsterl]

BUMP
I was literally about to post this as well

TL;DR Transferring Save File from hacked Switch to clean switch, is it safe?

 

[Hayato213]

You won't be able to transfer the save, as you need CFW to export and import save.

 

[kimbra]

You won't be able to transfer the save, as you need CFW to export and import save.

Is that regarding my secondary console which I plan to use Checkpoint with? My OP is essentially transfer save data from clean to secondary Switch, use Checkpoint to extract, edit, then inject, and then transfer edited save data from secondary Switch back to clean.

Something I hadn't yet considered is that an internet connection is required to transfer the save files, and running Checkpoint may ban my secondary Switch giving it no way to transfer save files anymore...

 

[Hayato213]

Is that regarding my secondary console which I plan to use Checkpoint with? My OP is essentially transfer save data from clean to secondary Switch, use Checkpoint to extract, edit, then inject, and then transfer edited save data from secondary Switch back to clean.

Something I hadn't yet considered is that an internet connection is required to transfer the save files, and running Checkpoint may ban my secondary Switch giving it no way to transfer save files anymore...

You won't be able to play online, you would just get ban, you need to run CFW to import/export save, if you use CFW on the clean switch and go online you will get banned.

 

[kimbra]

You won't be able to play online, you would just get ban, you need to run CFW to import/export save, if you use CFW on the clean switch and go online you will get banned.

I am only running Checkpoint on my secondary Switch in this scenario. The clean Switch is only receiving edited save data via the "Transfer Your Save Data" from the System Settings. It's a feature added with the 8.0.0 firmware update.

 

[Hayato213]

I am only running Checkpoint on my secondary Switch in this scenario. The clean Switch is only receiving edited save data via the "Transfer Your Save Data" from the System Settings. It's a feature added with the 8.0.0 firmware update.

You wouldn't be able to use it, as the CFW switch one would get your NNID ban, will result both switches ban if you did that.

 

[kimbra]

You wouldn't be able to use it, as the CFW switch one would get your NNID ban, will result both switches ban if you did that.

OH, gotcha. You're basically saying that since they're both tied to the same Nintendo account, if one Switch console were to get banned, then any other consoles tied to the Nintendo account would also get banned? I thought that console bans were exclusive to the system itself and didn't affect the associated Nintendo account?

Regardless, it also sounds like running Checkpoint would make it impossible to run the Transfer Your Save Data feature since it needs to run a connection check which would fail if banned, right?

 

[Hayato213]

OH, gotcha. You're basically saying that since they're both tied to the same Nintendo account, if one Switch console were to get banned, then any other consoles tied to the Nintendo account would also get banned? I thought that console bans were exclusive to the system itself and didn't affect the associated Nintendo account?

Regardless, it also sounds like running Checkpoint would make it impossible to run the Transfer Your Save Data feature since it needs to run a connection check which would fail if banned, right?

general ban is console ban, to transfer save data using nintendo method you need the NNID on both console, but you have one on CFW and one none, but since you associated two consoles to one ID, they might ban both if they figure out one of your is on CFW, it is your choice you can either edit your save play offline or play online.

 

[kimbra]

general ban is console ban, to transfer save data using nintendo method you need the NNID on both console, but you have one on CFW and one none, but since you associated two consoles to one ID, they might ban both if they figure out one of your is on CFW, it is your choice you can either edit your save play offline or play online.

I understand. I'm thinking then what I'd really need to do is something similar to: Safest way to transfer save files from a clean switch to a hacked switch, post 10 by WhoIAM (too new to post a direct link to the thread)
But also find a way to write any edited save data files back into the NAND backup...

 

[Hayato213]

I understand. I'm thinking then what I'd really need to do is something similar to: Safest way to transfer save files from a clean switch to a hacked switch, post 10 by WhoIAM (too new to post a direct link to the thread)
But also find a way to write any edited save data files back into the NAND backup...

You won't be able to import save and play online at the same time on the same clean switch. I already stated that.

 

[kimbra]

You won't be able to import save and play online at the same time on the same clean switch. I already stated that.

What if I write the save data file back into the rawnand.bin file and revert to that NAND file using the Hekate payload? Then I wouldn't even need to use CFW, right?

Also, if possible, this would basically negate the need to purchase a second Switch which I've already done

 

[Hayato213]

What if I write the save data file back into the rawnand.bin file and revert to that NAND file using the Hekate payload? Then I wouldn't even need to use CFW, right?

Also, if possible, this would basically negate the need to purchase a second Switch which I've already done

Except you can't inject into a nand, you can only export.

 

[kimbra]

Except you can't inject into a nand, you can only export.

Oh no, really? Looks like I’ll have to come up with something else then...
Nintendo really thought all this through.

 

[Elliander]

My assumption is that as soon as the not-clean Switch goes online it will send logs to Nintendo servers, and if anything shows up as note worthy to them (error logs that don't match what was previously sent to Nintendo, evidence of homebrew, etc) that console will be banned, but the account may or may not be banned (probably not) and the clean Switch would be safe.

If the objective is to transfer from a clean Switch to a secondary Switch, wouldn't it be easier to do this: (assuming your clean Switch is hackable)

1.) Make a NAND dump of the clean Switch
2.) Go into airplane mode, and delete WiFi hotspot information
3.) Install emuNAND onto the clean Switch
4.) Export your saves using checkpoint
5.) Restore from NAND dump.

The end result would be that the clean Switch remains clean, but you got all your saves off it, AND the clean Switch still has a copy of those saves, and you don't risk taking your unclean Switch online. Considering that people can play online in sysNAND, on a Switch that also uses SXOS emuNAND on microSD, without being banned there would seem to be no problem doing this. Well, it should at least be safer than exposing to Nintendo that your account activity includes CFW.

Personally, I am much more interested in finding a way to transfer a save from a hacked Switch to a clean Switch. It's a shame that someone hasn't written a CFW to be run within an emuNAND that would access the sysNAND to inject/export save files without having to leave any trace of CFW on the sysNAND. This should be possible, since an old version of SXOS installed the emuNAND to the sysNAND. If such a thing existed, it would also make it easy to transfer DLC and Updates from the sysNAND and Nintendo folder to the emuNAND and Emutendo folder.

 

[kimbra]

Except you can't inject into a nand, you can only export.

Gotcha

https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutoria...via-fusee-gelee-payloads.541081/#post-8679352

 

[DevilzCY]

Wait so assuming that I have my nintendo account linked to the banned switch, can I use the feature of save transfer to a newly bought cleaned switch with the same nintendo account? Does this new features on 8.0 require internet connection?

 

[lucas millington]

so if i use the transfer tool on a hacked switch and transfer the save data it could get the clean switch banned?

 

[IPLbug]

i have done this in a simpler way tho im using sx os ive deleted games off main menu so i only have save file kept and booted into normal system nand and backed up the save file to my nintendo account then on my none patched switch ive deleted my save file and dowloaded the recently updated save file from my account i did this with dragon quest 11 to get max seed items with no problems what so ever and no ban to eithere console

 

[shafiq0895]

i have done this in a simpler way tho im using sx os ive deleted games off main menu so i only have save file kept and booted into normal system nand and backed up the save file to my nintendo account then on my none patched switch ive deleted my save file and dowloaded the recently updated save file from my account i did this with dragon quest 11 to get max seed items with no problems what so ever and no ban to eithere console

Hi, thanks for the info :- )...wanted to try out this method...had a query, when you said 'backed up', did you mean cloud save?