ROM Hack RELEASE [Release/Tutorial] Switch theme injector : Easily make custom themes

[exelix11]

HELP!!!! I applied RPO theme using nx and now I can’t navigate the home screen. Only touch works properly but I can’t find or get to the photo icon so I can access hb. How do I remove this theme?

I installed a theme and now my switch crashes on boot or I had a custom theme, then I updated my console and now it crashes on boot.
Delete the /titles/0100000000001000 and/or /titles/0100000000000811 folders from the cfw folder on your sdcard, at this point your console will boot up normally, to clean up any leftovers launch the theme installer and select uninstall theme.

 

[laz305]

Thanks yeah I accidentally installed a theme for 6-7x on 8.1 lol

 

[Storm21]

It's not a 8xx ready theme... Uninstall with the NXThemesInstaller

 

[laz305]

It's not a 8xx ready theme... Uninstall with the NXThemesInstaller

I couldn’t get into Atmos to do that but I was able to delete the folder from my sd card

 

[Cortexfou]

Sorry if it's already asked but I tried to install some themes (some downloaded and some created my self) and I have the crash black screen (with the 12 seconds thing). Can you help me to fix that ?
I'm on 8.1.0 and SX OS 2.8

 

[exelix11]

Sorry if it's already asked but I tried to install some themes (some downloaded and some created my self) and I have the crash black screen (with the 12 seconds thing). Can you help me to fix that ?
I'm on 8.1.0 and SX OS 2.8

it's possibly the archive bit issue, delete the themes folder, launch the installer and let it create it, copy your themes without creating folders. Trasfering files with ftp should completely bypass the problem

 

[Cortexfou]

it's possibly the archive bit issue, delete the themes folder, launch the installer and let it create it, copy your themes without creating folders. Trasfering files with ftp should completely bypass the problem

Nope. Same issue
When I try to install one with the album hombrew launcher, I have the 12 seconds black screen and when I use the R button method, it crash and I'm back to switch menu (with no theme installed of course)

Do I need to follow an extra step for make it work with sx os ?
update : I tried to follow a tutorial with lockpick and stuff but doesn't work eather

Can you tell me what files the homebrew generate and where ? I'll check if everything is in place

 

[exelix11]

Nope. Same issue
When I try to install one with the album hombrew launcher, I have the 12 seconds black screen and when I use the R button method, it crash and I'm back to switch menu (with no theme installed of course)

Do I need to follow an extra step for make it work with sx os ?
update : I tried to follow a tutorial with lockpick and stuff but doesn't work eather

Can you tell me what files the homebrew generate and where ? I'll check if everything is in place

Possibly exfat corruption ? Do you use a mac ? cause the lockpick stuff or other setups aren't needed anymore.
I'd say try a different fat32 sd card to check if it has to do with the console or the current sd.

 

[Cortexfou]

Tomorrow, I'll try a another SD card. I'll say if it work when I did it. Thanks for the help
PS: I use Windows

UPDATE : It was ma SD card. I change it and now it work ! Many thanks !

 

[exelix11]

Tomorrow, I'll try a another SD card. I'll say if it work when I did it. Thanks for the help
PS: I use Windows

UPDATE : It was ma SD card. I change it and now it work ! Many thanks !

So yeah it's most likely sd corruption on your main sd card, formatting it to fat32 and copying back your files should fix it

 

[Cortexfou]

Yeah it work perfectly now. Thanks
One last question : is there a way to extract the layout from a theme ?

 

[exelix11]

Yeah it work perfectly now. Thanks
One last question : is there a way to extract the layout from a theme ?

You can open an nxtheme in the layout editor to extract the files.

 

[HinaNaru Cutie]

Note that we still don't know if custom themes can cause bans, you should not be connected to the internet or use a dns while in cfw (even if you don't use themes).

V4.1 Update : Atmosphere emunand support and custom material colors in layouts

What do you need:
- a 720p (read faq to know why) background image
- Switch themes injector (Alternative download)
- NXThemes Installer homebrew to install the themes on your switch (Alternative download, it's also available on the homebrew appstore)

How to make a theme:

1) Open the windows app
2) Go to the "nxtheme builder" tab
3) Select the home menu part you want to theme
4) Click on "..." and select your image
5) If you want, select a custom layout
6) Click on "Build nxtheme"
7) Profit !

There is also the Web injector, a web port of the theme injector, it still works but it's slightly outdated and only supports dds images, it's easier to use the windows app.

Installing your theme:
Download the NXthemes installer homebrew (the nro file) and copy it in the switch folder on your sd card.
Then make a folder called themes in the root of the sd card and copy your szs or nxtheme files in there.
Run from your favorite cfw the installer and use it to install your themes.

Sharing and downloading other people's themes:
Check out this thread and the r/NXThemes subreddit.

About custom layouts:
To make custom layouts you need a tool to edit bflyt files such as The layout editor or Wexos's Toolbox, then you can use Switch theme injector to export your edits as JSON files (windows app only). These JSON patches are totally legal and can be shared, read how to create them here,when sharing you can optionally include a preview jpg file with the same name of the json.
To use a JSON patch you downloaded from the internet open it from the layouts list.

FAQ:

Can a custom theme brick my switch ?
No, custom themes are applied through layered fs, no change is made to your nand

I installed a theme and now my switch crashes on boot or I had a custom theme, then I updated my console and now it crashes on boot.
Delete the /titles/0100000000001000 and/or /titles/0100000000000811 folders from the cfw folder on your sdcard, at this point your console will boot up normally, to clean up any leftovers launch the theme installer and select uninstall theme.

Why are nxtheme files better than SZS ?
They're legal, this means they can be freely shared and also they are firmware-independent so they can be installed on any firmware. It is also a more flexible format that can be extended in the future to support more features, such as theme packs.

Why only 720p images, i want to use a 1080p or 4K one !?
two reasons: first, the internal resolution of the home menu is 720p, no matter if docked or not, this means your image will automatically be scaled down to 720p. Second, bigger images seems more likely to crash the console during boot

The news applet crashes
You're using the old bflyt patch (read spoiler at the start of the thread), use this tool to fix your themes

Do themes work on firmwares older than 5.1.0 ?
For older firmwares this tool should work but we didn't test. If you want to try you need to use a common.szs from the firmware you want to mod and follow this guide. If your theme works let us know !
Note that if you encounter issues with older firmwares we may not be able to help.
Edit:
Version 4.0.1 works but has some issues (tested by hax4dayz).

Does Switch theme injector app run on linux ?
Yes and no, the UI doesn't work, you can make themes by using the command line interface (more on github)
You will also have to provide images as DDS file because the included converter requires DirectX so it works only on Windows.

To keep in touch with us, know about updates and more information join qcean's discord server: https://discord.gg/p27kEST
Also follow this thread if you want to get notified about updates.

Does anyone know a way for me to use the switch theme application without needing net framework 4.6.1?? Because, when i try to use the application it keeps asking me for it -and the problem is that my laptop cannot run that net framework at all it rejects it. -Help, would be much appreciated.

 

[exelix11]

Does anyone know a way for me to use the switch theme application without needing net framework 4.6.1?? Because, when i try to use the application it keeps asking me for it -and the problem is that my laptop cannot run that net framework at all it rejects it. -Help, would be much appreciated.

There's the web version but you have to convert the images to dds manually first (which will receive an update soon to make this easier), alternatively there's a bot on the qcean discord that creates themes from images you upload.

 

[HinaNaru Cutie]

There's the web version but you have to convert the images to dds manually first (which will receive an upload soon to make this easier), alternatively there's a bot on the qcean discord that creates themes from images you upload.

Ooh, okay cool but um quick question; when I download nro themes, how come when I try to see all of my games the 'show more' button doesn't appear at all on the themes? I legit tried to install the theme one by one, even multi select it, but nothing works. Just keeps giving me half of my game list and not all of it

 

[exelix11]

Ooh, okay cool but um quick question; when I download nro themes, how come when I try to see all of my games the 'show more' button doesn't appear at all on the themes? I legit tried to install the theme one by one, even multi select it, but nothing works. Just keeps giving me half of my game list and not all of it

Some themes may not show all the games in the main menu, but the all games button only appears when you have at least 12 installed, this is a limitation of the system. The only way around is to install some demos (you can just get the icons and then cancel the download) to fill the spots.

 

[HinaNaru Cutie]

Some themes may not show all the games in the main menu, but the all games button only appears when you have at least 12 installed, this is a limitation of the system. The only way around is to install some demos (you can just get the icons and then cancel the download) to fill the spots.

Oooh shit that makes sense lol xD I kept thinking about that option to be honest with you but I thought it wasn't that -rather it was just a bug. But thank you so much for clearing that up q u q .

 

[exelix11]

The new update is out, it brings more customization options and minor fixes, download and full changelog on github.
There's a new update for the Web Injector too, now it supports JPG images and custom layouts from your pc, should make life much easier for non-windows users

 

[HinaNaru Cutie]

The new update is out, it brings more customization options and minor fixes, download and full changelog on github.
There's a new update for the Web Injector too, now it supports JPG images and custom layouts from your pc, should make life much easier for non-windows users

Oh my gosh you are a life savor ;-; the program you made? -Isn't supported on my laptop, for me to make my own themes ;^;!! For some odd reason when I download it and try to open it up -it would give me a net framework error, and I tried downloading the update buuut it doesn't wanna work on my laptop ;7;. So ,thank you for posting this up, and will be updating the nyx theme application.

 

[exelix11]

Oh my gosh you are a life savor ;-; the program you made? -Isn't supported on my laptop, for me to make my own themes ;^;!! For some odd reason when I download it and try to open it up -it would give me a net framework error, and I tried downloading the update buuut it doesn't wanna work on my laptop ;7;. So ,thank you for posting this up, and will be updating the nyx theme application.

Not sure why you get the net framework error, could be an old os version or wrong cpu architecture ig. Also you could be downloading the wrong version, the injector requires 4.6 iirc and some old framework version are still available. Anyway glad the web version works for you