Hacking SWITCH NOOB PARADISE - Ask questions here

[Lacius]

I have 2 practical questions:

I have 1 Switch Lite which boots very fast (15 seconds) and another Switch lite that loads up the Atmosphère screen for like +- 40 seconds. I have checked the settings and also via Hekate, but I don't know how I can make the other switch boot fast as well.

How can you use Atmosphère alongside hekate v5.5.4? I have to replace the payload.bin file I use to boot either into hekate or Atmosphère. This via a boot.ini file.
Is it possible to configurate hekate in order to autoboot Atmosphère, but when I press vol - and the power button it boots into hekate. Just like Godmode9 on the 3ds.

Firmware: 11.0.1
Atmosphère: 0.18.0
Hekate: v5.5.4 & Nyx v1.0.1

Configure Hekate to autoboot Atmosphere, and you can hold minus to skip the autoboot and load the Hekate menu instead. You will also need to replace reboot_payload.bin in the Atmosphere folder with the Hekate bin instead.

I personally use Hekate to chainload fusee-primary, since that means I don't have to wait for Hekate updates when Atmosphere is updated to support newer system versions. So, I keep the latest fusee-primary.bin in the bootloader/payloads/ folder, I keep Hekate as my reboot_payload.bin in the atmosphere folder, I have the following entry in my hekate_ipl.ini, and I have it set to autoboot that entry:

{------- CFW-------}
[Atmosphere]
payload=bootloader/payloads/fusee-primary.bin

If I want to enter Hekate, I reboot the system while holding minus. If, while in Atmosphere, I want to reboot the system into Atmosphere, I just reboot the system. If I want to boot Atmosphere while already in Hekate, I choose the Atmosphere option. If the system is in RCM and I want to boot Hekate, I push the Hekate bin while holding minus. If I am in RCM and I want to boot Atmosphere, I push the Hekate bin or the fusee-primary bin.

 

[actualkoifish]

@Lacius Sorry to call you out, but would you be able to help with the issue I posted earlier (quoted below)?

I have updated hekate and atmosphere to the newest releases. I've just attempted to boot into emuMMC, and the system is stuck at the Switch logo screen. What should I do to fix this and make it bootable again? Is the problem perhaps that my emuMMC version is too old for the new atmosphere (I'm attempting to update it from 6.0.1)?

 

[Lacius]

@Lacius Sorry to call you out, but would you be able to help with the issue I posted earlier (quoted below)?

1. Download the latest version of Atmosphere and fusee-primary: https://github.com/Atmosphere-NX/Atmosphere/releases
2. Download these signature patches: https://github.com/ITotalJustice/patches/releases
3. Delete the Atmosphere folder from your SD card.
4. Put Atmosphere and the signature patches onto the root of your SD card. Overwrite anything it asks you to. If you are using fusee-primary or chainloading fusee-primary in Hekate, use the fusee patches. If you are using Hekate and you are not chainloading fusee-primary, use the hekate patches. If, for whatever reason, you are using Hekate without chainloading fusee-primary, you need to update Hekate too.
5. In emummc/emummc.ini, set emummc!enabled = 1
6. Put the Switch in RCM and boot into Atmosphere, preferably using fusee-primary
7. Check that everything runs properly.

You should also make sure the data partition of your SD card is formatted as FAT32, not exFAT. When everything is running, do the following:

1. Download 11.0.1 if your Switch is on a lower system version
2. Put 11.0.1 onto the root of your SD card
3. On your emuMMC, run Daybreak and update to 11.0.1. Make sure you select the exFAT option if your SD is formatted as exFAT (FAT32 is recommended).

 

[HS2005]

Configure Hekate to autoboot Atmosphere, and you can hold minus to skip the autoboot and load the Hekate menu instead. You will also need to replace reboot_payload.bin in the Atmosphere folder with the Hekate bin instead.

Yes, that is what I want to accomplish. So I placed the hekate_ctcaer_5.5.4.bin file into the \atmosphere folder and renamed it to reboot_payload.bin
No other steps for this part?

I personally use Hekate to chainload fusee-primary, since that means I don't have to wait for Hekate updates when Atmosphere is updated to support newer system versions. So, I keep the latest fusee-primary.bin in the bootloader/payloads/ folder, I keep Hekate as my reboot_payload.bin in the atmosphere folder, I have the following entry in my hekate_ipl.ini, and I have it set to autoboot that entry:


If I want to enter Hekate, I reboot the system while holding minus. If, while in Atmosphere, I want to reboot the system into Atmosphere, I just reboot the system. If I want to boot Atmosphere while already in Hekate, I choose the Atmosphere option. If the system is in RCM and I want to boot Hekate, I push the Hekate bin while holding minus. If I am in RCM and I want to boot Atmosphere, I push the Hekate bin or the fusee-primary bin.

I think i'm missing some steps here. I entered your lines into the hekate_ipl.ini file. This file is place in the \bootloader folder. So bootloader/hekate_ipl.ini < it does not have to be placed into the bootloader\ini folder?

This is what I have in my root folder:

boot.dat > From SX OS
boot.ini > [payload] file=fusee-primary.bin
exosphere.ini
fusee-primary.bin
hbmenu.nro

Do I need to change the fusee-primary.bin file or are there other steps I need to to via the Hekate menu itself. Thank you for your help.

 

[actualkoifish]

1. Download the latest version of Atmosphere and fusee-primary: https://github.com/Atmosphere-NX/Atmosphere/releases
2. Download these signature patches: https://github.com/ITotalJustice/patches/releases
3. Delete the Atmosphere folder from your SD card.
4. Put Atmosphere and the signature patches onto the root of your SD card. Overwrite anything it asks you to. If you are using fusee-primary or chainloading fusee-primary in Hekate, use the fusee patches. If you are using Hekate and you are not chainloading fusee-primary, use the hekate patches. If, for whatever reason, you are using Hekate without chainloading fusee-primary, you need to update Hekate too.
5. In emummc/emummc.ini, set emummc!enabled = 1
6. Put the Switch in RCM and boot into Atmosphere, preferably using fusee-primary
7. Check that everything runs properly.

You should also make sure the data partition of your SD card is formatted as FAT32, not exFAT. When everything is running, do the following:

1. Download 11.0.1 if your Switch is on a lower system version
2. Put 11.0.1 onto the root of your SD card
3. On your emuMMC, run Daybreak and update to 11.0.1. Make sure you select the exFAT option if your SD is formatted as exFAT (FAT32 is recommended).

Thanks for this response. Maybe this is implied, but before I begin this process, there's no problem with just turning the switch off at this point, correct? I have kept it on at the switch logo screen in fear of an issue occurring if I didn't do the correct thing. I have autorcm enabled if that makes any difference.

 

[Lacius]

Thanks for this response. Maybe this is implied, but before I begin this process, there's no problem with just turning the switch off at this point, correct? I have kept it on at the switch logo screen in fear of an issue occurring if I didn't do the correct thing. I have autorcm enabled if that makes any difference.

There's no problem with powering off the Switch at this point. Make sure you don't accidentally leave it in RCM for too long, or the battery will drain.

 

[actualkoifish]

There's no problem with powering off the Switch at this point. Make sure you don't accidentally leave it in RCM for too long, or the battery will drain.

Yeah, I've found that out the hard way on a couple of occasions Thanks so much for all your help!

 

[Lacius]

Yes, that is what I want to accomplish. So I placed the hekate_ctcaer_5.5.4.bin file into the \atmosphere folder and renamed it to reboot_payload.bin
No other steps for this part?

That's all you need to do for this part. Whenever you update Atmosphere in the future, make sure you don't overwrite reboot_payload.bin.

I think i'm missing some steps here. I entered your lines into the hekate_ipl.ini file. This file is place in the \bootloader folder. So bootloader/hekate_ipl.ini < it does not have to be placed into the bootloader\ini folder?

bootloader/hekate_ipl.ini is correct.

You also need to configure Hekate to autoboot Atmosphere. You can do that in Hekate itself. I would give you the lines to add to hekate_ipl.ini, but I don't know how many boot entries you have, and what I have might not match.

This is what I have in my root folder:

boot.dat > From SX OS
boot.ini > [payload] file=fusee-primary.bin
exosphere.ini
fusee-primary.bin
hbmenu.nro

You should have at least the following on the root of your SD card:

• /atmosphere/ folder
• /bootloader/ folder
• /sept/ folder
• /switch/ folder
• hbmenu.nro

Nothing else belongs on the root of the SD card. Make sure you're using the latest version of Atmosphere.

• hekate_ipl.ini should be in /bootloader/
• reboot_payload.bin (Hekate) should be in /atmosphere/
• fusee-primary.bin should be in /bootloader/payloads

 

[HS2005]

That's all you need to do for this part. Whenever you update Atmosphere in the future, make sure you don't overwrite reboot_payload.bin.

bootloader/hekate_ipl.ini is correct.

You also need to configure Hekate to autoboot Atmosphere. You can do that in Hekate itself. I would give you the lines to add to hekate_ipl.ini, but I don't know how many boot entries you have, and what I have might not match.


You should have at least the following on the root of your SD card:

• /atmosphere/ folder
• /bootloader/ folder
• /sept/ folder
• /switch/ folder
• hbmenu.nro

Nothing else belongs on the root of the SD card. Make sure you're using the latest version of Atmosphere.

• hekate_ipl.ini should be in /bootloader/
• reboot_payload.bin (Hekate) should be in /atmosphere/
• fusee-primary.bin should be in /bootloader/payloads

Thanks. I partically got there. I needed to enable autoboot = on within the Hekate menu.
There are some files I cannot delete from the root folder. I can't remove boot.dat or else I can't boot and I get the red Boot.dat? screen. If I remove the boot.ini and the payload.bin (hekate) then the switch won't boot at all. Get's stuck at a black screen. NOTE: I used the SG Gear to get from SX OS to Atmosphere. >
But the other switch has that as well.

Below is the structure I have.

I can set the bootlogo duration from the hekate menu to No boot, 1 second etc. but this is to show the Hekate IPL screen. The boot sequence is as follows:

1) HEKATE - IPL (1 second)
2) atmosphère (+- 25 seconds) < on the other Switch lite this is not displayed and narrowed down to +- 5 seconds.
3) Black screen & White Atmosphère logo
4) Black screen & White Nintendo switch logo

I'm still mising something on how the other Switch manages this. I had a look at https://birbchirp.gitbook.io/switch...phere/optional-booting-atmosphere-with-hekate but I don't know if it's up-to-date and needs to be applied. I have no sysMMC and no emuMMC. Just the regular SD card. I have NAND backups, but that's another story.

NOTE: I'm just running the lastest Atmosphère with the latest hekate. No other systems / payloads.

 

[Lacius]

Thanks. I partically got there. I needed to enable autoboot = on within the Hekate menu.
There are some files I cannot delete from the root folder. I can't remove boot.dat or else I can't boot and I get the red Boot.dat? screen. If I remove the boot.ini and the payload.bin (hekate) then the switch won't boot at all. Get's stuck at a black screen. NOTE: I used the SG Gear to get from SX OS to Atmosphere. >
But the other switch has that as well.

Below is the structure I have.

I can set the bootlogo duration from the hekate menu to No boot, 1 second etc. but this is to show the Hekate IPL screen. The boot sequence is as follows:

1) HEKATE - IPL (1 second)
2) atmosphère (+- 25 seconds) < on the other Switch lite this is not displayed and narrowed down to +- 5 seconds.
3) Black screen & White Atmosphère logo
4) Black screen & White Nintendo switch logo

I'm still mising something on how the other Switch manages this. I had a look at https://birbchirp.gitbook.io/switch...phere/optional-booting-atmosphere-with-hekate but I don't know if it's up-to-date and needs to be applied. I have no sysMMC and no emuMMC. Just the regular SD card. I have NAND backups, but that's another story.

NOTE: I'm just running the lastest Atmosphère with the latest hekate. No other systems / payloads.

My setup doesn't include anything related to SX OS, so if you are using a TX device, your setup will be different than mine. I don't know enough about TX hardware to help out.

 

[Draxzelex]

If I edit hekate_ipl.ini and remove the sysMMC and Stock entries I can prevent Hekate from ever booting sysMMC right?

If you are that paranoid, sure. If you want to go that far, remove any payloads that you might accidentally chainload except for fusee_secondary; it cannot be chainloaded from the SD card.

Hello,

I have a broken screen (apparently, backlight) switch on hand that I bought for cheap, it was a good deal since I never planned to use handheld mode.
To back up the nand, I can apparently use memloader and nxnandmanager, manual partitioning to create the emunand partition and fusee-primary to boot into atmosphere, so it doesn’t seem like much of an issue in itself.
But what should/could I use to create an emunand? If it’s really a backlight issue I could haphazardly navigate through the text version of hekate but is there a better solution (like an homebrew? I found something called emmummcconfig but it seems to need the emmumc setup already, or maybe another payload that I missed?)

Thanks for any answers!

Basically you would have to partition the SD card yourself instead of with Hekate which isn't the end of the world but most guides let Hekate do the work. I found this guide that explains how to setup multiple emuMMC but if just follow the instructions for one partition, it should work. I don't know how bad the screen is but you can also try using SX OS to install emuMMC then migrate it from Hekate.

 

[HS2005]

My setup doesn't include anything related to SX OS, so if you are using a TX device, your setup will be different than mine. I don't know enough about TX hardware to help out.

No problem. I did some additional reading and I figured it out. You pointed me into the right direction.
The only difference was that the other switch has a emuMMC, but in the end it did not matter. It was the loading sequence of hekate_ipl that needed to be edited.
On the switch with the emuMMC I used the information below:

[config]
autoboot=2
autoboot_list=0
bootwait=1
backlight=220
autohosoff=0
autonogc=1
updater2p=1
bootprotect=0

{------- Launch -------}
[Atmosphere]
payload=bootloader/payloads/fusee-primary.bin
icon=bootloader/res/icon_atmosphere.bmp

[CFW - emuMMC]
fss0=atmosphere/fusee-secondary.bin
kip1patch=nosigchk
emummcforce=1
atmosphere=1
icon=bootloader/res/icon_payload.bmp

For switch number #1 as it does not have a emuMMC I altered the information and used this:

[config]
autoboot=1
autoboot_list=0
bootwait=1
backlight=220
autohosoff=0
autonogc=1
updater2p=0
bootprotect=0

{------- Launch -------}
[Atmosphere]
fss0=atmosphere/fusee-secondary.bin
kip1patch=nosigchk
emummcforce=0
atmosphere=1
icon=bootloader/res/icon_payload.bmp

I made a huge difference. The regular boot from the first boot screen till the newsscreen was 1 minute and 3 seconds. Whilst the edited hekate_ipl ensured it was booting at roughly 25 seconds.

 

[Asayake]

Oh, thank you!
Looks like the emunand creator does something much more straightforward than I expected, I had found another tool (SwitchSDSetup) that could flash an emummc.img to the partition but nothing on how to create it so I assumed it’d be a much more complex procedure, if it’s just a concatenation of the normal NAND then it should be easy, thank you for the link.

 

[SkyDX]

If you are that paranoid, sure. If you want to go that far, remove any payloads that you might accidentally chainload except for fusee_secondary; it cannot be chainloaded from the SD card.

Alright did that now! It's not so much about paranoia but rather me being clumsy with my hands

 

[sayofy]

Hi everyone I’m rather late to softmod scene but i just got 2017 switch on 9.2.0 firmware and i checked the serial no. and its not patched.. okaay so my questions are :
1. Should i update the firmware before softmod?
2. What is the recommended modding guide?some say the sd card should be fat32 others say exfat so im very confused.
Thanx

 

[Asia81]

Hello, is it possible to have Atmosphere, Android and Linux on the same SD card, all as (if possible) hidden partitions?
If so, is there any good guide on how to set-up multiple partitions?

 

[KaizokuTopkek]

bought a new sd card and used it as a clone of the previous one.
most of the things works fine but when i tried to launch pokemon shield and celeste (both were installed using tinfoil) i get the error 'could not start the software. please try again from home menu.' entered tinfoil in order to check if i can reinstall the game and i get the same error. uninstalled and installed tinfoil and i still get the same error. switched to my previous sd card and i still get the same error.
using firmware 11.0.1 and atmos 0.17.0

 

[Hayato213]

bought a new sd card and used it as a clone of the previous one.
most of the things works fine but when i tried to launch pokemon shield and celeste (both were installed using tinfoil) i get the error 'could not start the software. please try again from home menu.' entered tinfoil in order to check if i can reinstall the game and i get the same error. uninstalled and installed tinfoil and i still get the same error. switched to my previous sd card and i still get the same error.
using firmware 11.0.1 and atmos 0.17.0

Tinfoil doesn't work if you are loading via Hekate-> Fusee Secondary, you need Fusee Primary if you want to use Tinfoil along with the correct Signature patches.

 

[Draxzelex]

Hi everyone I’m rather late to softmod scene but i just got 2017 switch on 9.2.0 firmware and i checked the serial no. and its not patched.. okaay so my questions are :
1. Should i update the firmware before softmod?
2. What is the recommended modding guide?some say the sd card should be fat32 others say exfat so im very confused.
Thanx

1. Its not entirely a softmod as you do you have to use a jig or something conductive to put the console into RCM but there is no point in updating the firmware beforehand
2. No matter what guide you follow, you should use FAT32. The reasons are simple; exFAT can corrupt your SD card and the 4 GB limit can be bypassed any number of ways on FAT32 so there is absolutely no reason to use exFAT. If anyone tells you to use exFAT, do not listen to them even if they say they have never had issues because many users have experienced corruption. As for a guide, I recommend following this one

 

[Hayato213]

Hello, is it possible to have Atmosphere, Android and Linux on the same SD card, all as (if possible) hidden partitions?
If so, is there any good guide on how to set-up multiple partitions?

It is possible setup Android 10, Lakka (Linux), and have CFW on one SD card but I'm not sure if you can have them all as hidden, youtube user HCGN has some examples you can check out.