Hacking Flashing grumpy boot.dat

Moonlight5454 · Jan 7, 2021

Greetings,

Yesterday I managed to install the SX Core Modchip. After turning it on the blue light went to green and I got the boot.dat screen. Then I grabbed my MicroSD which is a SanDisk Extreme Pro 256 GB and reformatted it to Fat32. I put the MicroSD card in the switch but it won't boot to the SX Menu.

Now what I noticed is that I get two different screens. Without the MicroSD card in the switch I get the regular boot.dat screen and with the MicroSD card inserted I get a boot.dat screen which has some of its pixels darker and the 'finger' is flashing.

Obviously it does recognize the MicroSD card as I get a different screen depending on whether the MicroSD card is inserted or not. I tried reformatting it multiple times and I always place the boot.dat file at the root. I even attempted to use it with the exFat format but to no avail.

Has anyone encountered this problem before? I appreciate any help. I will attach pictures of the screens. If nobody has encountered this problem before I will buy a different MicroSD card and test it out.

Thanks.

raging_chaos · Jan 7, 2021

How did you format the SD card? Windows can mess things up with its built in format tool, try the SD Formatter from sdcard.org:
https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/eula_windows/SDCardFormatterv5_WinEN.zip

Assuming SD card isn't the issue you might have to check the SD card connector. Barring that you'll have to check the solder points for cold joints. Also just because I never saw it included in any instructions, make sure the original Nand chip is attached to the SX chip.

Moonlight5454 · Jan 7, 2021

Thank you for replying.
I have tried several formatting programs already including GuiFormat and the one you directed me to. Yet the same problem occurs.

I will open the switch again and try to see if I can find anything.

What's weird is that the grumpy logo with the flashing finger is obviously programmed as some kind of error yet I can't find any reference to it. I tried searching for people who have stumbled upon this problem aswell but there seems to be nothing.

raging_chaos · Jan 7, 2021

By finger, do you mean the sweat mark on the right side of the face? Also are you using boot.dat 3.1.0 beta or 2.9.2?

Moonlight5454 · Jan 7, 2021

Yes, exactly. I always thought it was a middlefinger hehe.

I am using the latest beta boot.dat (3.1.0).

raging_chaos · Jan 7, 2021

Can't really think of anything other than just checking the solder joints and ribbon cables. Can try asking on their discord. https://discord.gg/7h2z9RFQy7

Also be aware that 11.0.1 firmware isn't supported for emunand but that really shouldn't stop you from booting into SX menu.

DPyro · Jan 7, 2021

Try a different SD card. Preferably Sandisk.

raging_chaos · Jan 8, 2021

After reading on discord I see you finally narrowed it down. So for anyone in the future a blinking icon = possible bad nand chip. Certainly had never seen that before. I guess the next question would be for anyone that comes across this, what options are available for a switch w/ core install and broken nand that hasn't been backed up?

This guide here discusses upgrading the nand chip to a bigger size but it requires a backup of boot 0/1.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/perform...-width-sd-card-defective-sd-card-slot.578774/

Moonlight5454 · Jan 8, 2021

Thanks for the help guys. Thank you raging_chaos.

Like raging_chaos said after trying different things including: trying a different MicroSD Card, doing a bit of resoldering, disconnecting and reattaching components of the modchip and disconnecting and reattaching components of the Switch itself, it still wasn't working while I did get the green light and the boot.dat screen.

Then I attempted to use the SX Updater with the USB cable to update the modchip. I got a message saying the update was succesful (probably indicating that the modchip itself was fine) however, I got a bluescreen of death on my switch. After turning the switch off by holding the power button for around 13 seconds the switch turned off. Upon restarting the switch I got the boot.dat logo again.

At last I made one final attempt to save the switch by disconnecting the modchip (minus the circuit board which was soldered) and I placed the NAND back on to it's original place. When I powered on the Switch I kept getting the Blue Screen Of Death. So I am giving up on this Switch.

In conclusion for anybody who stumbles upon this same problem assuming you get a green light with the flashing boot.dat logo while the MicroSD Card is inserted: there is big chance that components of the Switch itself are damaged.

I am posting all this information for educational purposes and as future reference as I could not find anything on the internet of this specific problem.

This thread can now be closed. I would like to thank everybody once more who helped me trying to solve this issue: the people on this forum and people on the TX Discord.

Hacking Flashing grumpy boot.dat

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