Hacking Hardware Homebrew Modded V1 Switch Won't Turn On At All After Shutting Down from OFW; Is It Bricked For Good?

SidewalkPinecones · Jun 13, 2025

My Nintendo Switch abruptly just wouldn't show any sign of life after I turned it off while in OFW (the stock firmware). This is a timeline of what I was doing up to that event:

Removed everything from the SD card except the Nintendo folder (but backed it all up), and upgraded everything (as in Hekate and Atmosphere) to whatever the latest is
Installed NXVenom onto my SD card; It worked, but wanted to explore my other options, so...
I removed everything from the SD card except the Nintendo folder again
I Installed the HATS pack onto my SD card
I accidentally booted into OFW because HATS changed the Hekate layout
Upon entering OFW, I shut it down normally through the GUI
After this, it just doesn't turn back on.

Note: At some point between the HATS and NXVenom thing, I downgraded the firmware from version 20 to 19.
That all worked fine, the only thing that went wrong was literally just turning it off from OFW

What I've tried so far:

Doing the thing where you hold the power button for 20 seconds, release, then press the power on normally
Removing the game cartridge and doing what I said previously
Removing the SD card and doing everything I said previously
Deleting everything on the SD card INCLUDING the Nintendo folder (empty micro SD) then doing the power thing
Copying only the HATS pack to the SD card then doing the power thing
Leaving it on the dock for a week

There is no charging indicator or anything, and it's not recognized as being in RCM by TegraRCMGUI or Redako either. Literally no signs of life.
Again it's a V1 Switch, not modchipped.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I'm thinking of trying to replace the battery or something but I'm holding off on it in case somebody else knows something I don't.
Thanks

thesjaakspoiler · Jun 13, 2025

Try holding the power for 20 seconds and then turn it on again.
Look in a dark room whether your screen is glowing faintly black.
In that case, the Switch is in AutoRCM mode, waiting for a payload to be injected.
You will not see a charging icon but it will charge slowly, just like when you turn off the switch an charge it.

It could be that you have a faulty cable so try another one.
It could be that your USB port is defective, that can happen with older Switches.
Charging is done with multiple pins so some of them failing has no direct impact and you won't notice.
Payload injection needs all pins to work, if one of them fails, it will no longer work.
If the USB port itself is not broken, then it just needs to be reattached to the PCB or the connector needs to be resoldered.
That takes some skills and the right equipment but repair shops can usually repair it for a nice price.

SidewalkPinecones · Jun 13, 2025

thesjaakspoiler said:
Try holding the power for 20 seconds and then turn it on again.
Look in a dark room whether your screen is glowing faintly black.
In that case, the Switch is in AutoRCM mode, waiting for a payload to be injected.
You will not see a charging icon but it will charge slowly, just like when you turn off the switch an charge it.

It could be that you have a faulty cable so try another one.
It could be that your USB port is defective, that can happen with older Switches.
Charging is done with multiple pins so some of them failing has no direct impact and you won't notice.
Payload injection needs all pins to work, if one of them fails, it will no longer work.
If the USB port itself is not broken, then it just needs to be reattached to the PCB or the connector needs to be resoldered.
That takes some skills and the right equipment but repair shops can usually repair it for a nice price.

I appreciate the help; Yeah I've tried the 20 second thing numerously before, and the screen isn't glowing at all in a pitch black room. Also I think I specifically remember seeing AutoRCM off after the whole HATS thing. I've tried two different USB C cables, but a faulty USB C port is something I haven't looked into. I'll do an inspection on both the port & the PCB and provide an update.

slimeinacloak · Jun 13, 2025

Buy a usb power meter to see what the console is doing, ie is it negotiating past 5v or how much current its drawing. Might give you some insight into what happened.

Joey1098 · Aug 31, 2025

Any updates on this? I am having the same issue

AmoiPepe · 2026-06-26T19:43:55+0100

Same problem as mine. Got the softmod unpatch version. Solve it by using a different usb cable. Or replug the type c cable from the switch till rekado automatically boot up from my android phone. The headache of the softmod unpatch version is if the battery is drained to 0... you need to open the switch to access the battery itself to manually charge it. Cause the softmoded unpatch version doesn't charge if it's turned off... Don't know why that is.

Simply put... I just reconnect and disconnect the usb from the switch itself. Cause I notice sometimes that my pc/android doesn't connect when I plug it the first time. And replug it the 2nd or 3rd time then it connects. No idea why it is like that. But it works for me that way.

Hacking Hardware Homebrew Modded V1 Switch Won't Turn On At All After Shutting Down from OFW; Is It Bricked For Good?

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