Hacking Homebrew Triple Boot Switch Problem

Pap3r3 · Dec 4, 2022

I want to triple boot the switch with linux android and atmosphere
I already know how to do it but my doubts fall on the problem of partitions.
When I make the partition everything will be eliminated so I thought I'd make a backup (albeit 60gb because my sd weighs so much).
The problem lies in the fact that I don't know what will be eliminated and if I have to backup all the files on my sd.
I don't know if I should backup the Nintendo folder and other important files.
Please help me bearing in mind that I would very much hate to lose my games including savegames and homebrew apps.

binkinator · Dec 4, 2022

Pap3r3 said:
I want to triple boot the switch with linux android and atmosphere
I already know how to do it but my doubts fall on the problem of partitions.
When I make the partition everything will be eliminated so I thought I'd make a backup (albeit 60gb because my sd weighs so much).
The problem lies in the fact that I don't know what will be eliminated and if I have to backup all the files on my sd.
I don't know if I should backup the Nintendo folder and other important files.
Please help me bearing in mind that I would very much hate to lose my games including savegames and homebrew apps.

When you format the SDCard you will lose:

1) all files in your FAT partition. Back them up to your PC using Windows copy-paste
2) your hidden partition. Back it up with Hekate, Emutool or NXNandManager. I recommend Hekate. Make sure you backup SDCard emuMMC and NOT eMMC

Once you are done formatting your SDCard with Hekate you can restore your files using the exact same methodology.

Pap3r3 · Dec 4, 2022

binkinator said:
When you format the SDCard you will lose:

1) all files in your FAT partition. Back them up to your PC using Windows copy-paste
2) your hidden partition. Back it up with Hekate, Emutool or NXNandManager. I recommend Hekate. Make sure you backup SDCard emuMMC and NOT eMMC

Once you are done formatting your SDCard with Hekate you can restore your files using the exact same methodology.

Could you explain yourself better? I'm not very good at this stuff

binkinator · Dec 4, 2022

Pap3r3 said:
Could you explain yourself better? I'm not very good at this stuff

Happy to explain anything tricky in more detail. Which pieces don’t make sense?

Pap3r3 · Dec 5, 2022

binkinator said:
Happy to explain anything tricky in more detail. Which pieces don’t make sense?

I don't know what the hidden partition is and by FAT partition you mean everything that is on the sd? Including the Nintendo folder?

binkinator · Dec 5, 2022

Pap3r3 said:
I don't know what the hidden partition is and by FAT partition you mean everything that is on the sd? Including the Nintendo folder?

Appreciate the clarity. Here’s a quick guide that talks about the entire process and the weird wording we use to talk about things.

Easy things first. Yes, FAT is everything you can see w/ Windows, including the Nintendo folder. There are two File Allocation Table (FAT) based file systems available to format your SDCard:

1. ExFAT - this is a non-journaled single file table file system. It’s built to handle large drives and works great as long as you don’t stop the system in the middle of a write. Nintendo has a wonky driver they install for exfat. For the most part they work around it but most homebrew (especially retro arch) are written with the expectation of a stable filesystem and users are used to just shutting things off on a game console so file corruption occurs with exfat, often causing catastrophic results for us modders. Highly recommended you do NOT use exfat.

2. FAT32 - this is an older but more stable filesystem from Microsoft that is widely adopted by just about everyone. It has more redundancy built in but has a quirky file size limit (4G/file). The file size limit is well known and most systems, including Switch’s Horizon Operating System (HOS), are built to seamlessly handle the limitation. FAT32 is highly recommended on Switch due to the instability of exFAT.

There are two different ways to run CFW:
1. On Sysnand (this is the stock Nand memory inside your Switch)
2. On Emunand (this is a copy of your Nand that resides on your SDCard and is the recommended way to run.)

There are two ways to store an Emunand

a) as a directory on your FAT file system. I don’t like this one because your emunand is then susceptible to any file system corruption that might occur. That said, some people like being able to back up their Emunand using regular file system tools built into Windows.

b) as a hidden partition. I recommend this approach. Hekate can create a second partition that’s hidden from Windows thus eliminating potential corruption from regular use of the FAT file system. The down side is you need to use special tools to manipulate a hidden partition.

Hope this helps!

Pap3r3 · Dec 5, 2022

binkinator said:
Appreciate the clarity. Here’s a quick guide that talks about the entire process and the weird wording we use to talk about things.

Easy things first. Yes, FAT is everything you can see w/ Windows, including the Nintendo folder. There are two File Allocation Table (FAT) based file systems available to format your SDCard:

1. ExFAT - this is a non-journaled single file table file system. It’s built to handle large drives and works great as long as you don’t stop the system in the middle of a write. Nintendo has a wonky driver they install for exfat. For the most part they work around it but most homebrew (especially retro arch) are written with the expectation of a stable filesystem and users are used to just shutting things off on a game console so file corruption occurs with exfat, often causing catastrophic results for us modders. Highly recommended you do NOT use exfat.

2. FAT32 - this is an older but more stable filesystem from Microsoft that is widely adopted by just about everyone. It has more redundancy built in but has a quirky file size limit (4G/file). The file size limit is well known and most systems, including Switch’s Horizon Operating System (HOS), are built to seamlessly handle the limitation. FAT32 is highly recommended on Switch due to the instability of exFAT.

There are two different ways to run CFW:
1. On Sysnand (this is the stock Nand memory inside your Switch)
2. On Emunand (this is a copy of your Nand that resides on your SDCard and is the recommended way to run.)

There are two ways to store an Emunand
a) as a directory on your FAT file system. I don’t like this one because your emunand is then susceptible to any file system corruption that might occur. That said, some people like being able to back up their Emunand using regular file system tools built into Windows.
b) as a hidden partition. I recommend this approach. Hekate can create a second partition that’s hidden from Windows thus eliminating potential corruption from regular use of the FAT file system. The down side is you need to use special tools to manipulate a hidden partition.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for being so clear, I really appreciate it. Today I will back up everything I have on my sd after making the partitions I will paste everything back in replacing the files if already present and then I will insert the files for linux and android. I hope you can confirm me that this is the right procedure.

binkinator · Dec 5, 2022

Pap3r3 said:
Thanks for being so clear, I really appreciate it. Today I will back up everything I have on my sd after making the partitions I will paste everything back in replacing the files if already present and then I will insert the files for linux and android. I hope you can confirm me that this is the right procedure.

You will need to confirm whether or not you have a hidden partition on your end and make a separate backup of it using Hekate if needed.

Pap3r3 · Dec 5, 2022

binkinator said:
You will need to confirm whether or not you have a hidden partition on your end and make a separate backup of it using Hekate if needed.

I have the sysnand so there shouldn't be any hidden partitions. However, a year ago I made a backup to put android and everything went well without making a backup of a possible hidden partition so I think I don't have it

binkinator · Dec 5, 2022

Pap3r3 said:
I have the sysnand so there shouldn't be any hidden partitions. However, a year ago I made a backup to put android and everything went well without making a backup of a possible hidden partition so I think I don't have it

Yeah, we all have the Sysnand. It’s whether or not we have the preferred Emunand too.

You can tell by looking at Disk Manager administration tool on Windows (or whatever your favorite disk partitioning tool might be.)

You can also tell by the options in your /bootloader/hekate_ipl.ini file.

You’re more than welcome to make an educated guess, but if you’re wrong it’s irreversible once you start partitioning. These are the backups everyone will shame you for not making if you muck something up. So there’s that. :-)

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