Tutorial  Updated

How to use LayeredFS for Backup Loading + What Games Work/Don't

This thread is outdated
A lot of information in this thread is heavilly out of date.
If you have time, and have Staff permission, feel free to edit this thread and remove this statement once necessary.

Some information that needs to be addressed:
  • SX OS and Atmosphere now supports proper LayeredFS, instructions for using it has changed since this tutorial was made
  • Supported Firmware information is out of date
  • LFSKit needs to be updated to properly support non 5.x.x firmware
  • Compatability chart needs to be re-made
-PRAGMA


WARNING
  • DO NOT GO ONLINE WHEN DOING THIS (YOU WILL BE BANNED)


How to use LayeredFS for Backup Loading

Firmware Supported: ONLY 5.x.x
Use the PRAGMA LFS Kit below.

PRAGMA's LFS Kit

DOWNLOAD
SOURCE

  • Go from NOTHING in your SD Card to playing a game backup in a few clicks!
  • Decrypt .XCI -> romfs/exefs folder with main.nmpd auto edited aswell as folder's name auto renamed to donor titleid
  • Download NOTHING except LFSKit!
ENJOY!

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Picking a Donor Title and getting Donor TitleIDRunning Game Backups!


    1. A donor title is the application we will run to open the backup.
      Pick a game you don't care about (Download a Demo or a free game from eShop, for example Octopath Demo)
      saves are something no one knows much about, we don't fully know where or how they are stored.
      They might overwrite the donor titles save, so seriously pick a game you DONT care about, not a game you rarely play.

    2. I also recommend picking a donor title/game combo that has been tested and reported working just so you know if YOU did something wrong or not.
    3. Find the TitleID of the donor title you chose from http://nswdb.com or http://switchbrew.org/index.php?title=Title_list/Games
      Region must be the same, choose the TitleID for the base-game NOT for the update title, even if your updated.

    1. Once again, boot into Hekate-IPL (Step 1).
    2. Enter "Launch firmware" and select "RomFS".
    3. Your now in your system's home menu.
    4. Open the Donor Title you set the TitleID of on that folder and .npmd file earlier.
    5. The game will load up flawlessly.
      If you opened the Title lets say, Fortnite, and Fortnite booted, the titleid of the folder in sd:/atmosphere/titles/{fortnitetitleid} doesnt exist, or doesnt start with 0100.
      If it gives you an error screen, either you didnt edit the main.npmd properly, or its an incompatible title/donor combo.
    To see which games work and which dont using which donor titles, look below.
    If you notice that you used a combination of Game and Donor title that isnt in the list below, post in the thread and I will add it. (look under to see what I need to add to chart).


Troubleshooting

  • Black Screen/Infinitely Loading
    Leave it for around 5 minutes then press the home button and go back into the game without closing it. Often this can do the job.
  • Freeze when Loading
    Close the game and try again, its a common occurence, you may have to try up to 4-5 times before getting it to work, sometimes you may even have to reboot between retries.
 
Last edited by PRAGMA,

thefunkygibbon

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Anyone? I've found a layeredfs.zip and have copied the contents of that, it seems to say that I should be using the switchblade payload rather than hekake-ipl ... the latter still says that cannot launch firmware when choosing romfs, and if i use switchblade it boots after a switchblade splash screen into the OS but the donor game boots normally (octothingy)
any ideas?
 

Dvdxploitr

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Hi guys
Just a heads up
Delete the savegame of donor title!
Sometimes it'll hang and not boot (it's actually trying to load savegame of donor title which is wrong!)
So for the first launch, be sure to delete the savegame from under system. 90% of my games are compatibles that way.


Really do wish that would get South Park working....once I get my SX Pro, South Park is going to be the first game I play!
 

gamemasteru03

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Well I have another problem now... Now when I go to launch a doner title the game just crashes and says that a error occurred. Then when I go to to launch a different game or the doner title again it crashes my switch and forces me to reboot. The game I'm trying to run is donkey kong tropical freeze and I have tried fortnite and fallout shelter as doner titles which were both reported to be working...
 

Zumoly

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Well I have another problem now... Now when I go to launch a doner title the game just crashes and says that a error occurred. Then when I go to to launch a different game or the doner title again it crashes my switch and forces me to reboot. The game I'm trying to run is donkey kong tropical freeze and I have tried fortnite and fallout shelter as doner titles which were both reported to be working...

Delete saves before trying a new game on a donor.
 

megscenic349

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[QUOTE = "gamemasteru03, post: 8062813, member: 401023"] Bueno, ahora tengo otro problema ... Ahora cuando voy a lanzar un título de doner, el juego simplemente falla y dice que ocurrió un error. Luego, cuando voy a lanzar un juego diferente o el título doner nuevamente, cuelga mi interruptor y me obliga a reiniciar. El juego que estoy tratando de ejecutar es el congelamiento tropical de donkey kong y he intentado refugio fortnite y fallout como títulos doner que, según se informó, estaban funcionando ... [/ QUOTE]
that happens to me if I close the game, when I go back in I get an error and I have to reload cfw so that it works again
 

TotalJustice

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[QUOTE = "gamemasteru03, post: 8062813, member: 401023"] Bueno, ahora tengo otro problema ... Ahora cuando voy a lanzar un título de doner, el juego simplemente falla y dice que ocurrió un error. Luego, cuando voy a lanzar un juego diferente o el título doner nuevamente, cuelga mi interruptor y me obliga a reiniciar. El juego que estoy tratando de ejecutar es el congelamiento tropical de donkey kong y he intentado refugio fortnite y fallout como títulos doner que, según se informó, estaban funcionando ... [/ QUOTE]
that happens to me if I close the game, when I go back in I get an error and I have to reload cfw so that it works again

Yeah that’s just how Layeredfs works atm.
 
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jimmyj

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Well I have another problem now... Now when I go to launch a doner title the game just crashes and says that a error occurred. Then when I go to to launch a different game or the doner title again it crashes my switch and forces me to reboot. The game I'm trying to run is donkey kong tropical freeze and I have tried fortnite and fallout shelter as doner titles which were both reported to be working...
are you sure you did the main exefs thing right?
 

CecilioX3

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Try SwitchBlade payload with those files:
Switchblade boots fine, however the game im trying to run over Fortnite (Bayonetta) gives me an error on the first attempt to open it, then my switch crashes when trying to open it a second time. Was hoping the outcome would be different if I got romfs to boot on hekate.
 

Bunie

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So, i tested out "Doom". on Hulu it gets to 99% loaded from the start, and on that Kitten game it gets just past that to the "Saving profile" screen.
Tried "Skyrim" on Fortnite and Fallout Shelter. It got to menu on Fortnite, and didnt get anywhere on Fallout.
 
Last edited by Bunie, , Reason: Updates

stingray1059

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Well I have another problem now... Now when I go to launch a doner title the game just crashes and says that a error occurred. Then when I go to to launch a different game or the doner title again it crashes my switch and forces me to reboot. The game I'm trying to run is donkey kong tropical freeze and I have tried fortnite and fallout shelter as doner titles which were both reported to be working...

same issue with mine.. donkey kong has this issue.. other games are ok.
if you exit game in donkey kong and choose another game.. the switch will crash and you are forced to restart.
 

scionae

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I tried Yooka Laylee BBB dump, it works, just extract the NSP as PFS0.

I also managed to play another eShop game with its update (Stardew Valley). You can actually play updated games, just extract the games with the updates with hactool, and it will automatically create a romfs folder with the updated game (original files + new files merged).

I didn't dump the updates myself, I've found some laying around.

PS : tried both games with Fortnite, they save

EDIT : spoke to fast, only Yooka Laylee saves it seems. Didn't play much of Stardew Valley to be sure
How did you decrypt the .nsp?
 

Dvdxploitr

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Game: Battle Chasers Nightwar
Donor: Fortnite
Works: No
Saves: No (first auto-save freezes game)
Firmware: 5.1.0

Game: Battle Chasers Nightwar
Dono: Pinball FX3
Works: YES
Saves: YES
Firmware: 5.1.0
 

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