Hacking Question Is it possible to edit the Switch bootROM?

[Deleted User]

We've all been told that the bootROM can't be patched after leaving the factory, and for all practical purposes we can say this is true. I found this post in the EoF and while clearly a joke, I was curious to know if it is possible if you have money. I did some research and found you can edit ICs using focused ion beams. But doing half an hour of research does not make me a professional. So if you have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend of specialised equipment, can you downgrade the Switch's bootROM?

 

[maxx488]

We've all been told that the bootROM can't be patched after leaving the factory. I found this post in the EoF and while clearly a joke, I was curious to know if it is possible if you have money. I did some research and found you can edit ICs using focused ion beams. But doing half an hour of research does not make me a professional. So if you have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend of specialised equipment, can you downgrade the Switch's bootROM?

Google the definition of ROM before making a post.

 

[Deleted User]

Google the definition of ROM before making a post.

Google the definition of focused ion beam before making a comment.

 

[maxx488]

Google the definition of focused ion beam before making a comment.

Google the definition of focused ion beam before making a comment.

Thats for EPROM or EEPROM chips dude, the switch doesnt have those kind of chips. So keep googling.

 

[Deleted User]

Thats for EPROM or EEPROM chips dude, the switch doesnt have those kind of chips. So keep googling.

EPROM and EEPROM are erased using ultraviolet light. Focused ion beams are completely different.

 

[Crusatyr]

Google the definition of focused ion beam before making a comment.

I googled "Focused ion beam" and can't figure out how it is used to reprogram read-only memory. Perhaps you had an idea and just wanted people to say "yeah, it could work" despite the fact that literally no one has access to the tools to do so?

 

[Deleted User]

I googled "Focused ion beam" and can't figure out how it is used to reprogram read-only memory. Perhaps you had an idea and just wanted people to say "yeah, it could work" despite the fact that literally no one has access to the tools to do so?

I was curious and hoped that an engineer would stumble across this thread and provide an educated response. Someone who knows what he or she is talking about could actually confirm that it will or wont work, explain why and suggest other methods. We have technology capable of moving individual atoms; if you have enough money, there really might be a way to overwrite read only memory. Given that we don't do this already, I knew it probably wouldn't be feasible. I don't want uninformed responses like it might work or the guy above.

https://www.fei.com/products/fib/optifib/

 

[TerraPhantm]

I mean sure, using equipment that costs millions of dollars it might be possible.

You'd be better off buying a bare Tegra chip (or getting one of the Jetson dev kits or something), install said CPU in the Switch, and figure out how to get it to boot Horizon while keeping your boot loader unlocked. And that's all far from trivial.

 

[Tilde88]

Do you even derp?

 

[ZachyCatGames]

>Is it possible to edit the bootrom
Possible? Yea. Practical? No, and the system would probably end up in an unusable state

edit: fixed error