Hacking Question Pre-flight check for migrating from SX OS to Atmosphere - is it really this simple?

[such]

I'm getting around to making the move on my Switch Lite running SX OS, but I'm really nervous about screwing it up by missing something. However, SX OS is so picky with SD cards that I think I'm sick of its quirks enough to finally "risk" it. Never had any experience with Atmosphere, Switch softmods etc. I did some reading on this, but still felt unsure on some points.

So, this is more or less a pre-flight check for me that I'd also like to run through all you good people so that I - possibly - avoid doing or assuming asomething stupid.

SX OS 3.1.0, EmuNAND, hidden partition. Bought second hand as and at that - as far as I know not updated via ChoiDujourNX (no ChoiDujourNX found on SD card).
No SysNAND backup (yet, at least - for reason stated above).
Following this guide: https://rentry.co/mys8q
I have the files ready as per the guide, configs used for Mariko and EmuNAND, and I did rename hekate_ctcaer_x.x.x.bin to payload.bin (this is an odd disclaimer to put there - surely everyone following this particular guide HAS TO BE using "SX Core/Lite & SX Pro"... right?)


I looked at the flipside to get a wider picture: https://rentry.org/AtmosToSXOSEmuNAND

It looks to me that the SX OS -> Atmo migration is basically adapting directories / renaming the existing SX files so that Atmo can use them which is also the reason why - theoretically - I'd need to migrate back to SX OS in order to boot to SX OS - am I right on this, in broad terms?

And a paranoid bonus question, because I like to have a Plan D: if I clone my current SX OS SD card and migrate to Atmosphere on my second card will I be able to boot to both of them depending on which card I insert? Not interested in dual booting, just in a fallback plan.


Am I making sense? Is this really everything to it? I'm suspicious of everything this simple.

 

[wiiNinja]

To answer the bonus question: Yes, if you save the orig SD card, or an image of it on your hard drive somewhere, you can always go back to boot it, as if nothing has ever happened. If you didn't upgrade/downgrade the firmware, then your Switch remains the same, and your SD card remains the same, there's no reason why it wouldn't work, if it started out in a working condition.
That should give you the freedom to experiment with switching from SXOS to Atmosphere, without worrying about messing up. As long as you don't upgrade/downgrade your firmware, that whole process of installing Atmosphere is just a bunch of copying to your SD card, so the chance of bricking is next to nil. The worst that can happen is it won't work, then you'll know your copying or renaming is incorrect. Just ask questions and start again. Just go and try it - it is that simple.

 

[such]

Thanks! That does set my mind at ease. I'll poke around and see what happens

 

[Ibinixer84]

Having an absolute nightmare with this. I'm a complete luddite, paid a guy for the hardmod install who did all the software. Followed Rentry guide, didn't work. Had copied the card to my desktop before hand. Reinstalled it. Also not working. Charming image of a microsd sweating with "boot.dat?" written on it. I'm going to have another run at this in the cold light of day but honestly I reckon I'm effed. Gonna be googling to see if there's anyone in my country who will do the software for me.
The guide seems well written enough, but required more than absolutely no previous knowledge. Unclear whether Choixdujour was used, but repairing or replacing the nand file is my last gasp frankly.

 

[CanIHazWarez]

It looks to me that the SX OS -> Atmo migration is basically adapting directories / renaming the existing SX files so that Atmo can use them which is also the reason why - theoretically - I'd need to migrate back to SX OS in order to boot to SX OS - am I right on this, in broad terms?

Don't forget that if you update your emuNAND past 11.0.0 , you can't change it back to SX OS without downgrading the firmware first. Having a separate SD card, with a separate emuNAND (as you mentioned) that stays on 11.0.0 , will work fine. I just wanted to give you a heads up in case you were planning on switching back and forth between SX OS and Atmosphere, using the same emuNAND.

 

[itchigo]

I'm getting around to making the move on my Switch Lite running SX OS, but I'm really nervous about screwing it up by missing something. However, SX OS is so picky with SD cards that I think I'm sick of its quirks enough to finally "risk" it. Never had any experience with Atmosphere, Switch softmods etc. I did some reading on this, but still felt unsure on some points.

So, this is more or less a pre-flight check for me that I'd also like to run through all you good people so that I - possibly - avoid doing or assuming asomething stupid.

SX OS 3.1.0, EmuNAND, hidden partition. Bought second hand as and at that - as far as I know not updated via ChoiDujourNX (no ChoiDujourNX found on SD card).
No SysNAND backup (yet, at least - for reason stated above).
Following this guide: https://rentry.co/mys8q
I have the files ready as per the guide, configs used for Mariko and EmuNAND, and I did rename hekate_ctcaer_x.x.x.bin to payload.bin (this is an odd disclaimer to put there - surely everyone following this particular guide HAS TO BE using "SX Core/Lite & SX Pro"... right?)


I looked at the flipside to get a wider picture: https://rentry.org/AtmosToSXOSEmuNAND

It looks to me that the SX OS -> Atmo migration is basically adapting directories / renaming the existing SX files so that Atmo can use them which is also the reason why - theoretically - I'd need to migrate back to SX OS in order to boot to SX OS - am I right on this, in broad terms?

And a paranoid bonus question, because I like to have a Plan D: if I clone my current SX OS SD card and migrate to Atmosphere on my second card will I be able to boot to both of them depending on which card I insert? Not interested in dual booting, just in a fallback plan.


Am I making sense? Is this really everything to it? I'm suspicious of everything this simple.

Here this is what I did with my Switch lite when I switched it from SX OS to AMS. I back up the SX OS files on my SD to my PC and then format the SD. Downloaded the SX gear file that have Boot.dat and Boot.ini extract them onto the root of your SD.
Download latest Hekate and Atmosphere and extract them onto the root of your SD also.
Put Fusee.bin in the payloads folder inside the Bootloader.
Edit the boot.ini to "file=payload.bin" and rename the hekate_ctcaer_x.x.x.bin to payload.bin.

1) Put the SD in the switch and it will boot into Hekate.
2) Go to Tool and Partition SD.
3) Click okay and drag EmuMMC (Raw) to 29gib.
4) Start and wait for it to finish.
5) Go back to Home menu and click EmuMMc.
6) Select Create EmuMMc.
7) Select SD partition and select Part 1.
8) Then wait for it to Finish and it will take a while so just relax.

After it done go back to Home menu click on Payloads and select Fusee.bin to boot into EmuMMc Atmosphere.

If you want to use "Launch" in the Home menu you'll need to create hekate_ipl.ini.
You can use this link as a template for your config

 

[such]

Thanks all for replying - I've managed to get through it some time back (with some issues not related to Atmosphere that I had to resolve), so I'll just quote myself from another thread to put a bow on this (and if anyone's reading this in the future: hello, these things change, watch out):

Follow this guide: https://rentry.org/mys8q

But put the following in for the Atmoshpere CFW section in hekate_ipl.ini instead of what's in the guide:

fss0=atmosphere/package3
kip1patch=nosigchk
emummcforce=1
atmosphere=1
icon=bootloader/res/icon_payload.bmp

Worked for me.