GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY!!! I have decided to make a..

How to have
SEPARATE ATMOSPHERE AND SXOS EMUNAND HIDDEN PARTITIONS ON THE SAME SD TUTORIAL!

​

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE GUIDE BEFORE PROCEEDING. I WILL DO MY BEST TO MAKE THIS COMPLETE AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR DATA LOSS DUE TO THE USE OF THIS GUIDE. I DO THIS FOR FUN AND AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL. i HAVE TESTED THIS METHOD AND HAVE SET UP A COUPLE SD CARDS.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

The intent of this guide is to make ONE SD CARD with TWO HIDDEN EMUNANDS. One on 11.0 for SXOS and one with current firmware for Atmosphere.

More than likely the currently installed games WILL NOT WORK IN ATMOSPHERE if they were installed with the SXOS installer.

Tinfoil/awoo installed games may work fine. This is SXOS 's fault as the installer patched stuff in a way that is not compatible with the other CFWs.

There is also a section on SHRINKING the SXOS partition if you intend to only use it for USB loading. To minimize the impact it has on your SD and keep your HDD functionality for all 3000+ compatible games.. If you do this the current SXOS EmuNAND will break including installed games and saves.. IF you made backups of the save data you can restore them later.

Bottom line is, you will probably be reinstalling games and you need a backup of everything.

This guide make a few assumptions.. I will assume you are a current SXOS user with a working 11.0 Hidden Partition EmuNAND with a FAT32 SD. No Atmosphere installation required. There many ways to accomplish most things in this guide. I am doing the bulk of the work on the PC to limit the amount of times we take the SD out of the fragile Switch SD slot.

If you do not understand the above then this tutorial may be out of your league. Please google beginner switch hacking and learn some basics.

EmuNAND is the same thing as EmuMMC. It's just an older term. I call it by the old school term. Old habits..

This guide starts with a SXOS installation in place. If you wanted to go the other direction, adding a SXOS partition to an Atmosphere EmuNAND SD you would have to adjust accordingly but the main concept still stands.


DO NOT USE EXFAT!!! EVER! NINTENDO'S FAULTY DRIVER WILL CAUSE DATA LOSS!! DONT BE LAZY! FORMAT TO FAT32 AND DO IT RIGHT TO AVOID FUTURE ISSUES! I KNOW YOU DON'T WANT TO. DO IT ANYWAY! ANY EXPERIENCED PERSON WILL TELL YOU THE SAME. WHY WOULD WE ALL GO THROUGH THE HASSLE IF IT WASN'T NECESSARY? DO IT!


THERE ARE OTHER MULTI BOOT METHODS. THIS ONE IS THE MOST STABLE. YOU COULD JUST MAKE A FILE BASED EMUNAND FOR ATMOSPHERE. FILE BASED EMUNANDS ARE KNOWN TO CORRUPT. Good way to lose all your saves.

You will need a few things

• Latest version of Hekate.
• Latest NxNandManager
• Latest EmuTool
• Atmosphere SD files
• Latest Sig Patches (the GBATemp thread)
• A Raw Backup Of your SXOS EmuNAND (if you don't have one we will make one.)
• A Backup of your current Atmosphere EmuNAND (if you don't have a current Atmosphere EmuNAND we will convert your SXOS EmuNAND)
• A partition manager capable of moving and making partitions installed on your PC, I will be using MiniTool Partition Wizard but any capable partition manage should work.
• A PC. Any should do, this guide is written with Windows in mind
• A WORKING FOLDER ON YOUR COMPUTER (NxNandMnager and EmuTool can be quite finicky about external drives and things. Just make a new folder. For the sake of this tutorial I will use a folder CALLED C:\NANDS)
• Keys.txt You can get these using Lockpick RCM or find them online.

BACK UP YOUR SAVES!!! I USE JKSV
BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE SD TO YOUR PC
This process will FORMAT YOUR SD!!!!!!

PREPARATIONS

Now we will set up the programs

On your PC:

1. Make a folder for NXNandMananger. Folder can be anywhere except the working folder as long as you can find it.
2. Unzip the NXNandManager .ZIP file to this folder
3. Place the Keys.txt in the same directory as NXNandManager.
4. Open NXNandManager, click OPTIONS then CONFIGURE KEYSET then IMPORT FROM FILE and point it to the Keys.txt.
5. Unzip EmuTool and put the emutool.exe file anywhere except the Working folder as long as you can find it.

BACKUP CURRENT SXOS EMUNAND

If you have a raw backup already you may skip this step. Just put it in the working directory.

1. Using a SD Reader insert SD with your SXOS EmuNAND in to computer.
2. Run NxNandManager
3. Select File > Open Drive> Select your SD.
4. Select Full Dump
5. Select Output Directory and choose your WORKING DIRECTORY. Name your backup. For the guide I name it SXOSemunandFULL
6. Wait Until done
7. Press OK

If you have a current Atmosphere EmuNAND you can back it up using the same steps now. Name it ATMOemunandFULL

OPTIONAL: Shrink SXOS EmuNAND

If you shrink your EmuNAND make sure you backup all saves first! Back them saves up even if you don't shrink the EmuNAND

If you would like to shrink your SXOS EmuNAND now is the time. This will make all installed NSP stop working. You can reinstall but it won't hold much. The intent is to make SXOS's impact minimal. I make SuperXCI (XCI files that contain all updates and DLC for the game) I convert NSP files and make Super XCIs out of them as well. This way Everything for SXOS compatible games is on the HDD. Except a Small EmuNAND.

You can select whatever USER data size you want. I only intend to have SAVE data on this EmuNAND so 8GB is enough for me. I play all NSP off of my SD in Atmosphere. SXOS is just for XCI USB loading.


In NxNandManager

1. Select File>Open File and select your EmuNAND raw backup.
2. Select Options > Resize EmuNAND
3. Check Format User (this is optional, however this process will render the current USER data useless anyway so just format it to make it clean, Input file will not be altered)
4. Select New Size.. I went with 5504 MB for user partition (8 GB Total) to keep enough room for saves.. some games have fairly large save files, you can choose whatever you want,
5. Click Save As,, name the file whatever you want and choose the working directory. I call mine SXOSemuRESIZED
6. Click Save.

Convert Hidden SXOS EmuNAND to Atmosphere File Based EmuNAND.

This will convert your Hidden Partition SXOS EmuNAND to Atmosphere EmuNAND files in the event that you don't have a Atmosphere EmuNAND backup. You should be able to migrate your saves and games over. GAMES INSTALLED USING THE BUILT IN SXOS INSTALLER WILL NOT WORK IN ATMOSPHERE.

If you have a raw backup from an Atmosphere Nand you can use that instead and skip this step. This section duplicates and converts your SXOS backup if you don't have an Atmosphere EmuNAND.

1. Open EmuTool
2. Under source select SXOS Hidden Partition
3. Click "Select SD card" and select the SD with the SXOS Hidden Partition
4. Under Select target select Atmosphere File.
5. Under TARGET Click "Click to Select SD Card" Name the backup and save to the working directory. Ill Call it SX2ATMOemu
6. Click START

Create New SXOS EmuNAND Partition

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A SXOS EMUNAND IN A HIDDEN PARTITION ON THE TARGET SD YOU MAY SKIP THIS STEP
THIS SECTION WILL REFORMAT YOUR SD WITH THE NEW SHRUNKEN EMUNAND! YOU WILL LOSE ALL DATA!!! BACK UP THE SD FILES

In NxNandManager

1. Select File > Open file and select the (Shrunken or not) backup of the SXOS EmuNAND
2. Select Options > Emunand Creation Tool
3. Check NAND path is pointing to your SXOS EmuNAND backup (Shrunken or not)
4. Under "Select Emunand Type" Select SD partition
5. Under "Select Target Disk" Select your target SD.
6. Click "Create Emunand"

Resize FAT32 Partition and Make New Hidden Partition

THIS WILL MAKE ROOM FOR A SECOND HIDDEN PARTITION.


Now we will RESIZE your FAT32 Partition to leave a 29.2GB Unallocated Partition at the end of the SD

1. Open MiniTool Partition Wizard
2. Find the TARGET SD
3. Right Click on the FAT32 partition
4. Select Resize
5. Reduce the size of the FAT32 Partition by 29.2GB using the slider. Make sure that the unllocated space AFTER the FAT32 partition is 29.2GB and DON'T MESS WITH THE UNALLOCATED SPACE BEFORE THE FAT32 PARTITION! THIS IS SXOS EMUNAND!!
6. Press OK
7. Right Click on the New Unallocated Partition after the FAT32 partition. (once again not the first one. That is your SXOS Partition.)
8. Click CREATE
9. In the "CREATE NEW PARTITION" window Select the following:
   1. Create As: PRIMARY
   2. Drive Letter: NONE
   3. File System: UNFORMATTED
   4. Cluster Size:; NONE
   5. Click OK
10. In the MAIN WINDOW press Apply

That should format the unallocated space so the tools can see it.

Make new Atmosphere Hidden Partition EmuNAND

In EmuTool

1. Under "Select source" select Atmosphere files (Or hekate back up files if that's what you have)
2. Select "Click to select SD Card" and point to the Converted SXOS to Atmosphere Backup files (SX2ATMOemu) or your Atmosphere Backup, You must point to the directory with the BOOT1 BOOT2 00,01 etc etc files, Probably emummc\(A Numeric Code)\eMMC\
3. Under "Select Target" Select Atmosphere Hidden partition
4. Select "Click to select SD card" and point to your Target SD card.
5. Press START.

Restore SD backup and install Atmosphere
If all went well you should be able to copy your SD files you backed up in the beginning of the guide. That should get SXOS back up and running. then you can install Atmosphere. There are a TON of guides. just get the newest SDfiles and toss them on the SD. You'll need sigpatches too if you want to play downloaded content.

1. Copy FILES YOU BACKED UP IN THE BEGINNING OF THE GUIDE back to the SD FAT32 Partition .
2. Copy all Atmosphere files to your SD
3. Copy Sigpatches to the SD

If you are converted your EmuNAND from SXOS to Atmosphere and you didn't shrink your EmuNAND you need to copy the files in the EMUTENDO folder contents from SXOS to the Atmosphere NINTENDO folder (emuMMC/XXXX/Nintendo, XXXX is a Alpha Numeric 4 digit ID) this should make everything compatible work.
(Remember games installed with the built in SXOS installer will probably need to be reinstalled.)

Make EmuNAND visible to Atmosphere.

1. Unzip Hekate files to the ROOT of your SD.
2. Insert SD in to the Switch
3. Boot Hekate using the hekate payload and your favorite payload launching method.
4. Select EmuMMC
5. Select Migrate EmuMMC
6. Select Fix Raw
7. Select OK

Now you should be able to boot in to SXOS and Atmosphere each with their own EmuNANDS!!! Just boot the payload for the CFW you want using your favorite injection method.

Now you can update the firmware for your Atmosphere EmuNAND using daybreak. There are MANY guides on the subject. Google it!

Make sure your games work. Then you can uninstall duplicate games from the SXOS. You can move games from SD to System NAND in the Switch Data management Menu while in EmuNAND. This will move them from the FAT32 partition to the Hidden EmuNAND to free up the FAT32 even more. Remember to leave room for save files.


EXTRAS!

Here I would like to make a few suggestions....

TESLA with the FastCFWSwtich overlay,

If you would like a convenient way to switch between the CFWs (and other things too) I recommend you install TESLA with the FastCFWswitch overlay. Once installed you can Hold down L and DPad Down then Click the right joy stick to bring up Tesla at any time. It allows you to run "overlays" that are basically just homebrew programs. Emuiibo is a great Amiibo emulator, there is a fast reboot, a UMS feature, FTP etc. in this case I recommend FastCFWswitch.

FastCFWswitch allows you to switch between different CFWs with a few clicks.

TESLA page on GBATemp
This is the page for Tesla. In this instance the trick is to install it for BOTH SXOS AND ATMOSPHERE.

1. Download the latest fastCFWswitch NX-ovlloader and Tesla-Menu
2. Unzip all to the root of the SD
3. You must manually copy all the \atmosphere\contents files from NX-ovloader zip file to SXOS\titles\ to make it work in SXOS too, (I will make a pack if the developer gives me the green light.)

That's it. in SXOS or Atmosphere you can press the hotkey combo.. (hold down L and DPad Down and Click the right joy stick) to bring up the TESLA menu, then select fastCFWswitch and the CFW you want and off you go.

I suggest using different themes on your EmuNANDs so that you can tell them apart at a glance. There are SXOS and Atmosphere versions of my skeletal themes,

Skeletal Switch Theme
Skeletal TV theme
Skeletal HDD for SXOS Theme <-- Made this today

I will add more stuff and tweak this out as I have time. Please feel free to ask questions. It will help me fine tune this tutorial.

CHEERS!

Thanks to Maupiti for all the help.

 

[binkinator]

Good idea. I forget what their website address was now though lol

I already have one payload.bin of theirs, but I think that was just to inject the license code or something. And of course I have the latest boot.dat file.

Update: found it
SX Loader 1.0 (payload.bin) is what I already had (from TegraRcmGUI)

Launching from latest Hekate, just goes back to Hekate

Interesting for sure. I just downloaded 1.0 payload.bin from the archive site again and then ftp'd the one from my switch. Dates are different obviously, however, the sizes and checksums are identical.

You absolutely have the right file!

 

[simbin]

You absolutely have the right file!

Is the sxos payload trying to launch boot.dat on my SD root, which is now Hekate?

 

[binkinator]

Is the sxos payload trying to launch boot.dat on my SD root, which is now Hekate?

ha! yes indeed. that's exactly what it does...it boots boot.dat.

 

[simbin]

ha! yes indeed. that's exactly what it does...it boots boot.dat.

How would it be possible to boot sxos from Hekate? Going the other way (chainloading) Hekate from sxos, of course makes Atmosphere not happy.

 

[binkinator]

How would it be possible to boot sxos from Hekate? Going the other way (chainloading) Hekate from sxos, of course makes Hekate not happy.

I do it with fastCFWswitch as an overlay inside Tesla Menu. That’s why my hekate_ipl.ini has the bootIDs.

 

[simbin]

I do it with fastCFWswitch as an overlay inside Tesla Menu. That’s why my hekate_ipl.ini has the bootIDs.

So is that basically swapping boot.dat files around or something?

 

[binkinator]

So is that basically swapping boot.dat files around or something?

I leave the boot.dat alone. I’m on a V1 Erista so basically just boot into Hekate for everything and let Hekate direct to the desired option on the fly. My fastCFWSwitch can boot into the Hekate UMS modes and it can also abort the autoboot and stop dead in Hekate and wait for you to chose an option.

Spoiler: /config/fastCFWSwitch/config.ini

[CFWS]
type=section
name=CFW

[ATMOSPHERE]
name=atmosphere
path=/bootloader/update.bin
bootId=atmo

[SXOS]
name=sxos
path=/bootloader/update.bin
bootId=sxos

[LAKKA]
name=lakka
path=/bootloader/update.bin
bootId=lakk

[ANDROID]
name=android
path=/bootloader/update.bin
bootId=andr

[L4T]
name=ubuntu
path=/bootloader/update.bin
bootId=ubun

[SYSNAND]
name=sysnand
path=/bootloader/update.bin
bootId=sysn

[TOOLS]
type=section
name=TOOLS

[HEKATE]
name=hekate
path=/bootloader/update.bin
bootId=dead

[LOCKPICKRCM]
name=lockpick
path=/bootloader/payloads/Lockpick_RCM.bin

[CPR]
name=CPR
path=/bootloader/payloads/CommonProblemResolver.bin

[UMS]
type=section
name=UMS

[SD_CARD]
name=SD
path=/bootloader/update.bin
ums = sd

[EMMC_BOOT_0]
name=EMMC BOOT 0
path=/bootloader/update.bin
ums = emmc_boot0

[EMMC_BOOT_1]
name=EMMC BOOT 1
path=/bootloader/update.bin
ums = emmc_boot1

[EMMC_GPT]
name=EMMC GPT
path=/bootloader/update.bin
ums = emmc_gpt

[EMU_BOOT_0]
name=EMU BOOT 0
path=/bootloader/update.bin
ums = emu_boot0

[EMU_BOOT_1]
name=EMU BOOT 1
path=/bootloader/update.bin
ums = emu_boot1

[EMU_GPT]
name=EMU GPT
path=/bootloader/update.bin
ums = emu_gpt

Spoiler: /bootloader/hekate_ipl.ini

[config]
autoboot=1
autoboot_list=0
bootwait=1
backlight=55
autohosoff=0
autonogc=1
updater2p=1
bootprotect=0

[Atmosphere CFW]
payload=bootloader/payloads/fusee.bin
emummcforce=1
kip1=atmosphere/kip_patches/*
logopath=/graphics/splash/atmosphere.bmp
icon=/graphics/icons/current/atmosphere.bmp
id=atmo

[Stock SysNAND]
fss0=atmosphere/package3
stock=1
emummc_force_disable=1
icon=/graphics/icons/current/stock.bmp
id=sysn

[SX OS]
payload=bootloader/payloads/sxos.bin
logopath=/graphics/splash/sxos.bmp
icon=/graphics/icons/current/icon_sxos.bmp
id=sxos

Here are the other boot options I have under More Configs in Hekate. Hekate dutifully boots any option and I can boot from Atmosphere to SXOS and from SXOS to Atmosphere (or any other option for that matter) without any issues. I wish L4T and Android could boot fastCFWSwitch instead of just default back to Hekate but that’s really minor issue.

 

[simbin]

I leave the boot.dat alone. I’m on a V1 Erista so basically just boot into Hekate for everything and let Hekate direct to the desired option on the fly.

What I'm failing to grasp is how sxos payload can launch its corresponding boot.dat, when it was replaced with Hekate payload (boot.dat)

Are you injecting Hekate another way? I'm just using a boot.dat on SD root with my SX Pro dongle and AutoRCM. I'm probably missing something completely obvious here, but keep getting stuck.

Edit: Technically my boot.dat points to whatever payload is set in boot.ini

 

[binkinator]

What I'm failing to grasp is how sxos payload can launch its corresponding boot.dat, when it was replaced with Hekate payload (boot.dat)

Are you injecting Hekate another way? I'm just using a boot.dat on SD root with my SX Pro dongle and AutoRCM. I'm probably missing something completely obvious here, but keep getting stuck.

That’s the delta. I‘m not using an SX Pro dongle.

I can inject Hekate directly from my RCMLoader (I’m actually using a Trinket M0 soldered into the back of my Switch but it’s the same difference.)

 

[simbin]

That’s the delta. I‘m not using an SX Pro dongle.

I can inject Hekate directly from my RCMLoader (I’m actually using a Trinket M0 soldered into the back of my Switch but it’s the same difference.)

Thanks, think I got it now. I can just inject Hekate payload from Tegra or ideally a replacement dongle like RCMLoader.. leaving sxos boot.dat the same on my SD card.

 

[mikefor20]

Thanks, think I got it now. I can just inject Hekate payload from Tegra or ideally a replacement dongle like RCMLoader.. leaving sxos boot.dat the same on my SD card.

You can use hekate, fastcfwswitch or argonnx.
With your pro dongle just boot ArgonNX converted to a boot.dat. then use fastcfwswitch to swap between the two.

 

[mikefor20]

What I'm failing to grasp is how sxos payload can launch its corresponding boot.dat, when it was replaced with Hekate payload (boot.dat)

Are you injecting Hekate another way? I'm just using a boot.dat on SD root with my SX Pro dongle and AutoRCM. I'm probably missing something completely obvious here, but keep getting stuck.

Edit: Technically my boot.dat points to whatever payload is set in boot.ini

Did you see the custom boot.dat files? There's one to boot hekate or ArgonNX

 

[binkinator]

Did you see the custom boot.dat files? There's one to boot hekate or ArgonNX

How do you get it to boot SXOS from an SX Pro dongle if the boot.dat is custom Hekate or ArgonNX?

 

[simbin]

Did you see the custom boot.dat files? There's one to boot hekate or ArgonNX

Thanks, didn't know about ArgonNX.

How do you get it to boot SXOS from an SX Pro dongle if the boot.dat is custom Hekate or ArgonNX?

I found this on the ArgonNX github lol
That last snarky remark.. so typical

Compatibility​

This payload will chainload any CFW or payload.


Some users reported issuses when chainloading SX OS. But with Atmosphere out there... who wants SXOS?

 

[mikefor20]

Thanks, didn't know about ArgonNX.


I found this on the ArgonNX github lol
That last snarky remark.. so typical

ArgonNX works great to launch SX and Atmo. Just make sure the ini has the correct paths.

I don't personally use ArgonNX anymore. Everything is set to boot atmosphere. IF I want to boot SX I use fastcfwswitch to quickly switch over to sx. I boot hekate,lakka,linux and switchroot through fastcfwswitch as well,among other things. I have fake news as well if i turn off autoRCM. My sx dongle boots atmosphere. I also have a dragon injector. It points to reboot_payload. That way its always up to date and it boots atmo.

 

[simbin]

Got it working thanks

 

[Urakidany]

So I tried to make this good for a noob. I tried to cover the most common permutation but in reality this can be tweaked for lots of reasons. Going from SXOS to Atmo and making new EmuNANDS, Converting Atmosphere EmuNAND to SXOS EmuNAND. Shrinking Atmospheres EmuNAND. etc etc. If you need help with something like that let me know. I will always try if I have time.

Thanks for the awesome guide. Because of my bad English and lack of knowledge, I have some problem with the atmosphere hidden partition, Should I put it in the not formatted 29,2 giga partition on the SD card? I have problem with EmuTool in that process

 

[OldGnashburg]

How would I set this up for Atmosphere, Linux, SXOS, & and Android? Manually creating all the partitions was nightmare before Hekate added the ability to create them with it's partition manager. If it's easier, having a partition based atmosphere EmuNAND and a file based SXOS EmuNAND are both perfectly okay.

 

[binkinator]

How would I set this up for Atmosphere, Linux, SXOS, & and Android? Manually creating all the partitions was nightmare before Hekate added the ability to create them with it's partition manager. If it's easier, having a partition based atmosphere EmuNAND and a file based SXOS EmuNAND are both perfectly okay.

disclaimer: Files based emunand is susceptible to file system corruption. Partition based emunands, while on the same sd card, are isolated from the file system.

I did this and the issue I ran into was that SXOS requires that its emunand partition be the first partiton on the sdcard. This is fine if you have Atmos and SXOS dual boot because you only need three partitions (Atmos and SXOS emunand partitions on the ends and fat32 in the middle). This all works using MBR. You can even add L4T without any issues…however, when you add Android, it requires another 1/2 dozen partitions, which requires you to use GPT and GPT uses some of the initial sd card range that SXOS uses for its Emunand so the Header corrupts the partition and SXOS won’t boot anymore. I ”solved” this by running SXOS using a shrunken files based Emunand. I only use SXOS to run mounted XCIs so the need to write to disk (and therefore the risk of corruption) is greatly reduced. Since I don’t install anything, if I lose it all, I don’t have to recover anything anyway so it’s all good…in my mind.

I’m open to suggestions if anyone has worked out a way around this…nit saying it can‘s be done…just wasn’t done by me.

 

[OldGnashburg]

So file based for SX OS is the way to go? That's what I thought, too much at play on a single SD Card, I remember before Hekate introduced the Partition Manager I had to use this Linux script that barely worked in order to get Linux, Android, EmuNAND, and Lakka all working at once. I would hate to have to do anything like that again, so just using a file partition saves me the headache, and cost vs risk isn't too bad. Thanks.