Hacking SWITCH NOOB PARADISE - Ask questions here

[HalfScoper]

Sorry, I may have misread your initial post. Based on your wording, I thought you were implying your sysMMC was tainted. If you never ran any sort of CFW or homebrew on it, then you don't have anything to worry about.

That's correct sir, I never touched my sysNAND again after making the backup first and then making an emuNAND since then, either with SX or hekate.

Now my initial question remains though haha, how would I in my particular situation proceed to boot into sysNAND now and also safely update my FW (current FW is 10.2.0)? Also, will my current emuMMC on 11.0.1 still be able to boot even though sysNAND FW is on 12.0.1 then?

 

[Draxzelex]

That's correct sir, I never touched my sysNAND again after making the backup first and then making an emuNAND since then, either with SX or hekate.

Now my initial question remains though haha, how would I in my particular situation proceed to boot into sysNAND now and also safely update my FW (current FW is 10.2.0)? Also, will my current emuMMC on 11.0.1 still be able to boot even though sysNAND FW is on 12.0.1 then?

Well if you mean safely in terms of a ban, you already answered that by stating you never ran CFW or homebrew on your sysMMC. But if you meant safely in terms of a potential brick, you could just update online since Nintendo's official update method couldn't possibly have brick code in it.

Regardless of how you update though, updating sysMMC to 12.0 and leaving emuMMC on 11.X presents a problem; 12.0 introduces an update for the cartridge slot. This irreversible update prevents cartridges from being used on firmware versions below 12.0 and is applied to the hardware itself so even if this update is installed from your 12.0 sysMMC, it will affect your 11.X emuMMC. Do not fret as there are some workarounds. One is to prevent the cartridge slot from being updated on your sysMMC by applying the nogc patch. How the nogc patch works is that it "breaks" your cartridge slot effectively preventing you from using cartridges but this will ensure your slot is not updated and it will work on your 11.X emuMMC. Another solution is to update your emuMMC to 12.0. Lastly, you can simply update your sysMMC to 12.0 and never use cartridges on your 11.X emuMMC. Whatever option you choose should be decided based only on what you personally want to do as there are no right or wrong answers.

 

[HalfScoper]

Well if you mean safely in terms of a ban, you already answered that by stating you never ran CFW or homebrew on your sysMMC. But if you meant safely in terms of a potential brick, you could just update online since Nintendo's official update method couldn't possibly have brick code in it.

Regardless of how you update though, updating sysMMC to 12.0 and leaving emuMMC on 11.X presents a problem; 12.0 introduces an update for the cartridge slot. This irreversible update prevents cartridges from being used on firmware versions below 12.0 and is applied to the hardware itself so even if this update is installed from your 12.0 sysMMC, it will affect your 11.X emuMMC. Do not fret as there are some workarounds. One is to prevent the cartridge slot from being updated on your sysMMC by applying the nogc patch. How the nogc patch works is that it "breaks" your cartridge slot effectively preventing you from using cartridges but this will ensure your slot is not updated and it will work on your 11.X emuMMC. Another solution is to update your emuMMC to 12.0. Lastly, you can simply update your sysMMC to 12.0 and never use cartridges on your 11.X emuMMC. Whatever option you choose should be decided based only on what you personally want to do as there are no right or wrong answers.

I wouldn't play cartridges anymore and I was aware of that, so that is not my main issue, I just have memories that 10.2.0 emuMMCs wouldn't work anymore if sysNAND FW was 11.0+.

But my actual question is still the "How do I boot sysNAND safely"? Would I put SX 3.1.0 beta boot.dat on a clean SD, run the clean up in SX boot menu and then proceed to boot sysNAND from it? Again, many thanks so far and for your patience.

 

[Draxzelex]

I wouldn't play cartridges anymore and I was aware of that, so that is not my main issue, I just have memories that 10.2.0 emuMMCs wouldn't work anymore if sysNAND FW was 11.0+.

But my actual question is still the "How do I boot sysNAND safely"? Would I put SX 3.1.0 beta boot.dat on a clean SD, run the clean up in SX boot menu and then proceed to boot sysNAND from it? Again, many thanks so far and for your patience.

Unfortunately this is where my lack of knowledge shows as I am not incredibly familiar with the SX modchip. All I do know is that the chip modifies some files in your console that can only be removed with the cleanup option. I don't know of the technical process to boot sysMMC cleanly from a chipped Switch after performing the cleanup step. I even have a sneaking suspicion that the OFW option from the SX menu is not as clean as it appears since there have been people banned after using it.

 

[HalfScoper]

Unfortunately this is where my lack of knowledge shows as I am not incredibly familiar with the SX modchip. All I do know is that the chip modifies some files in your console that can only be removed with the cleanup option. I don't know of the technical process to boot sysMMC cleanly from a chipped Switch after performing the cleanup step. I even have a sneaking suspicion that the OFW option from the SX menu is not as clean as it appears since there have been people banned after using it.

And what would be my alternative? I mean that's pretty rhetorical, it would be hekate then, but how exactly would I boot to sysNAND from hekate? Or would you say I am generally potentially f-ed because I had to chip my Switch?

 

[Draxzelex]

And what would be my alternative? I mean that's pretty rhetorical, it would be hekate then, but would you say I am generally potentially f-ed because I had to chip my Switch?

That is also hard for me to answer because most of my banning information comes from consoles hacked via Fusee Gelee. Banning statistics dropped after the release of emuMMC and by the time the SX Core/Lite came out, I was lucky to receive a ban report at all. Theoretically speaking, the cleanup option from the SX menu combined with the trusted Hekate Stock mode should be safe.

 

[tyten]

I'm currently on firmware 11.0.1 is there anyway to get SDXC support without updating my console? I know fat32 will work but it just seems like a pain

 

[HalfScoper]

That is also hard for me to answer because most of my banning information comes from consoles hacked via Fusee Gelee. Banning statistics dropped after the release of emuMMC and by the time the SX Core/Lite came out, I was lucky to receive a ban report at all. Theoretically speaking, the cleanup option from the SX menu combined with the trusted Hekate Stock mode should be safe.

Sorry that I reply so often but as I said before I rather am safe than sorry.

What you are saying is: clean SD, boot.dat, into SX boot menu. Clean up function, turn off system, clean up SD again. Put hekate on it by itself...

But after that I am actually lost, care to guide me? :/

 

[Draxzelex]

I'm currently on firmware 11.0.1 is there anyway to get SDXC support without updating my console? I know fat32 will work but it just seems like a pain

How is it a pain? USB installs are arguably better than installing stuff from the SD card and exFAT can corrupt your SD card so FAT32 is superior with that fact alone.

Sorry that I reply so often but as I said before I rather am safe than sorry.

What you are saying is: clean SD, boot.dat, into SX boot menu. Clean up function, turn off system, clean up SD again. Put hekate on it by itself...

But after that I am actually lost, care to guide me? :/

Cleaning the SD card is irrelevant. Scanning for files on the SD card is known to be pointless because not only can it lead to false positives but it is also potentially illegal. But can you not boot into Hekate without powering down the console after using the cleanup function from the SX menu?

 

[HalfScoper]

How is it a pain? USB installs are arguably better than installing stuff from the SD card and exFAT can corrupt your SD card so FAT32 is superior with that fact alone.

Cleaning the SD card is irrelevant. Scanning for files on the SD card is known to be pointless because not only can it lead to false positives but it is also potentially illegal. But can you not boot into Hekate without powering down the console after using the cleanup function from the SX menu?

Even though the chip takes a lot longer to boot (due to the clean up) I would be able. Now mentioning it a second question even arises:
As it seems the chip "dirties" the unit on boot anyway, so wouldn't the OFW from SX a better option?
And if I use hekate then, do I need a special configuration for booting sysNAND?

 

[Draxzelex]

Even though the chip takes a lot longer to boot (due to the clean up) I would be able. Now mentioning it a second question even arises:
As it seems the chip "dirties" the unit on boot anyway, so wouldn't the OFW from SX a better option?
And if I use hekate then, do I need a special configuration for booting sysNAND?

As I've stated previously, I have evidence to believe it is not as clean as TX may have made it. People getting banned for using it is sufficient proof for me to not recommend anyone to use the SX OFW option. As for Hekate, if you have a Stock launch profile already, then you're set. Otherwise, you will either have to manually make one yourself or download a pre-configured hekate_ipl.ini fil with that launch profile. You can obtain pre-configured hekate_ipl.ini files from SDSetup or DeepSea.

 

[HalfScoper]

As I've stated previously, I have evidence to believe it is not as clean as TX may have made it. People getting banned for using it is sufficient proof for me to not recommend anyone to use the SX OFW option. As for Hekate, if you have a Stock launch profile already, then you're set. Otherwise, you will either have to manually make one yourself or download a pre-configured hekate_ipl.ini fil with that launch profile. You can obtain pre-configured hekate_ipl.ini files from SDSetup or DeepSea.

Last question then and you got rid of me haha:

[Stock]
emummc_force_disable=1
fss0=atmosphere/fusee-secondary.bin
icon=bootloader/res/icon_switch.bmp
stock=1

Does this look good to you? And do I really need Atmopshère files or just the fusee-secondary payload?

 

[tyten]

How is it a pain? USB installs are arguably better than installing stuff from the SD card and exFAT can corrupt your SD card so FAT32 is superior with that fact alone.

Cleaning the SD card is irrelevant. Scanning for files on the SD card is known to be pointless because not only can it lead to false positives but it is also potentially illegal. But can you not boot into Hekate without powering down the console after using the cleanup function from the SX menu?

Hmm okay thanks for the answer, I was just worried about the 4GB limit thought I might have to split everything over 4GB

 

[Draxzelex]

Last question then and you got rid of me haha:

[Stock]
emummc_force_disable=1
fss0=atmosphere/fusee-secondary.bin
icon=bootloader/res/icon_switch.bmp
stock=1

Does this look good to you? And do I really need Atmopshère files or just the fusee-secondary payload?

Do not worry about asking me questions. I am more than happy to answer as many questions as you have.

Anyways, that is what the Stock launch profile is supposed to look like so that will work just fine. And while you may not need all files from Atmosphere to launch Stock, you do need more than just fusee_secondary.bin. You at the very least need the sept folder because it is required for booting any firmware higher than 7.X. But the rest of the files are so small in comparison that having them on the SD card doesn't take up that much space.

Hmm okay thanks for the answer, I was just worried about the 4GB limit thought I might have to split everything over 4GB

Splitting files is only relevant for mounting .XCI files which you can only do with SX OS and that hasn't received support in over 3 months now with no chances of future support. .NSP files can also be split but the superior method of installation is via USB. You can also install .NSP files larger than 4 GB on FAT32 with network installation although this one isn't as fast as USB install.

 

[HalfScoper]

Do not worry about asking me questions. I am more than happy to answer as many questions as you have.

Anyways, that is what the Stock launch profile is supposed to look like so that will work just fine. And while you may not need all files from Atmosphere to launch Stock, you do need more than just fusee_secondary.bin. You at the very least need the sept folder because it is required for booting any firmware higher than 7.X. But the rest of the files are so small in comparison that having them on the SD card doesn't take up that much space.
Splitting files is only relevant for mounting .XCI files which you can only do with SX OS and that hasn't received support in over 3 months now with no chances of future support. .NSP files can also be split but the superior method of installation is via USB. You can also install .NSP files larger than 4 GB on FAT32 with network installation although this one isn't as fast as USB install.

Was not worried about the space, still hyper-cautious to whereas they might scan files anyway haha.
Nevertheless I sincerly thank you for your help and hope all works out for me.
If I run into problems of any kind I will talk back to you, have a nice day!

 

[LeashaLeech]

Hi. Super noob here. I just hacked my switch for the first time, I have an older one that isn’t patched so I used rcm and was able to send the hekate payload using tegrarcmgui on my computer. I followed the NH Switch guide to do all of this and make all the suggested backups and set up emummc.

my main goal was just to be able to use retroarch to play roms on my switch. I have been able to do that so that’s awesome.

anyway, when I select launch from the hekate home screen I have the option to launch into cfwsysnand, cfwemunand or stock. I guess I just don’t fully understand exactly when I should use each of these. I see that it is suggested to keep emummc offline and I have no problem doing that, I’m assuming that this is what I would want to launch when I want to use retroarch. I’ve seen posts suggesting that launching into stock is what I would want to do if I needed to access any online functions of my regular switch games. The safety of doing so is a little unclear to me, it seems like the chances of being banned are maybe less than doing so in cfwsysnand but not zero? Almost all the games I own I bought as digital copies from the Nintendo store (I didn’t even know about hacking at the time) so would I need to make sure I am using the stock firmware to play them? And if I am using stock firmware when I need to be online and emummc with cfw offline when I use any homebrew, what is cfwsysnand for?

sorry for such a long question, I just want to try and understand it all as best I can.

 

[Draxzelex]

Hi. Super noob here. I just hacked my switch for the first time, I have an older one that isn’t patched so I used rcm and was able to send the hekate payload using tegrarcmgui on my computer. I followed the NH Switch guide to do all of this and make all the suggested backups and set up emummc.

my main goal was just to be able to use retroarch to play roms on my switch. I have been able to do that so that’s awesome.

anyway, when I select launch from the hekate home screen I have the option to launch into cfwsysnand, cfwemunand or stock. I guess I just don’t fully understand exactly when I should use each of these. I see that it is suggested to keep emummc offline and I have no problem doing that, I’m assuming that this is what I would want to launch when I want to use retroarch. I’ve seen posts suggesting that launching into stock is what I would want to do if I needed to access any online functions of my regular switch games. The safety of doing so is a little unclear to me, it seems like the chances of being banned are maybe less than doing so in cfwsysnand but not zero? Almost all the games I own I bought as digital copies from the Nintendo store (I didn’t even know about hacking at the time) so would I need to make sure I am using the stock firmware to play them? And if I am using stock firmware when I need to be online and emummc with cfw offline when I use any homebrew, what is cfwsysnand for?

sorry for such a long question, I just want to try and understand it all as best I can.

emuMMC is like owning a second Switch except they share the same hardware. This translates into emuMMC operating as a brick shield if you use it exclusively for CFW/homebrew or as a way to be on higher firmware versions without actually updating the firmware of your console. Its purpose is NOT to be used offline; that is simply what everyone does. In fact, emuMMC is designed for going online because there is an exploit that works on 4.1 and below. In order to ensure you have access to the exploit, you cannot update the console's firmware but you cannot go online without updating the firmware. This is where emuMMC proves useful because the firmware of the emuMMC does not affect the firmware of the sysMMC. That being said, if you do not want to get banned, you can only ever go online with sysMMC or emuMMC and not both.

Stock is obviously for going online as safely as possible but it also serves as a way to preserve fuses without exposing yourself to the risks of going online with CFW.

CFW sysMMC is what it says on the box; CFW for your sysMMC. Some people are not interested in emuMMC which is a fair opinion. emuMMC is around 29 GB so it takes a large portion of your SD card. Plus there are people who do not care if they get banned so they just run CFW on the console itself. Not to mention, launching CFW on sysMMC is the only way to update without burning fuses. It is also the only way to dump save data on your console as only homebrew apps can dump save data and you need CFW to launch homebrew. So as you can see, there are uses for launching CFW on sysMMC.

 

[C7XL]

I'm not sure what's the problem but I'm going to ask here either way.

I recently updated my Switch to 12.0.1 (I shouldn't have but oh well) and also everything CFW wise - Atmosphere 0.19.1 & hekate 5.5.5. I did a clean install, formatted my SD card and created emuMMC again. Everything seems to be working well but I noticed, Reboot function from the Switch sometimes won't work? It does reboot the system but every now and then it just stays at blank/black screen after either the Atmosphere logo or Switch logo. I have to turn it off completely and re-send the payload for me to be able to boot. It is very odd.

It only happens when I reboot it using the Switch power menu. If I use Reboot to Payload from hbmenu or from NXThemes Installer it works fine. Not sure what the problem is, I re-did all my installation 3 times already just to make sure and downloaded directly from Atmosphere's and hekate's Github but it still occurs. I even disabled the themes and plugins. I'm actually lost.

 

[Draxzelex]

I'm not sure what's the problem but I'm going to ask here either way.

I recently updated my Switch to 12.0.1 (I shouldn't have but oh well) and also everything CFW wise - Atmosphere 0.19.1 & hekate 5.5.5. I did a clean install, formatted my SD card and created emuMMC again. Everything seems to be working well but I noticed, Reboot function from the Switch sometimes won't work? It does reboot the system but every now and then it just stays at blank/black screen after either the Atmosphere logo or Switch logo. I have to turn it off completely and re-send the payload for me to be able to boot. It is very odd.

It only happens when I reboot it using the Switch power menu. If I use Reboot to Payload from hbmenu or from NXThemes Installer it works fine. Not sure what the problem is, I re-did all my installation 3 times already just to make sure and downloaded directly from Atmosphere's and hekate's Github but it still occurs. I even disabled the themes and plugins. I'm actually lost.

My initial thought is that maybe is something wrong with the reboot_to_payload.bin file. Depending if you want to use fusee or Hekate, I would download the latest version of either, rename it to reboot_to_payload.bin, then use that file to replace the one currently in the /atmosphere folder

 

[C7XL]

My initial thought is that maybe is something wrong with the reboot_to_payload.bin file. Depending if you want to use fusee or Hekate, I would download the latest version of either, rename it to reboot_to_payload.bin, then use that file to replace the one currently in the /atmosphere folder

Yea, that what I thought so too that's why I re-did my setup 3 almost 4 times and made sure I rename all the files correctly. I want to use Hekate that's why I rename it to reboot_payload.bin everytime. It's just very odd that this happens.

EDIT: So I decided to downgrade back to HOS 10.2.0 since I found out NRO forwarders doesn't work on Atmosphère 0.19.1 and the USB changes from HOS 11.0.0, might as well stay on HOS 10.2.0 for a while until I really need to update.