Hacking Advice on hacking on hacking a launch edition Switch that was never opened.

[Clutz450]

I bought 2 brand new Switches on launch. One to actually play and the other to stay in it's box to keep on its lowest firmware. Well I'm ready to unbox and hack it and would like some advice. Almost all guides and videos have you update your sysnand to the latest firmware or assume you are on the latest. I just wanted to make sure that with a firmware as low as mine that there isn't anything special I need to do to ensure I keep it that way.

Like I said, this Switch has never been turned on and set up yet and I kinda think I want to keep it that way. So I was wondering if I make a nand backup and then launch my switch into emummc would it still let me do all the required initial setup stuff? Or should I do that first and then create the backup?

Assuming that it will be fine if i just back it up without doing the initial setup, I will then have an emunand that would be on a really low firmware. How would I go about updating my emummc firmware to the latest firmware? I have heard about ChoiDujour for updating your sysnand without burning efuses but I wasn't sure if that would be the same program to use to upgrade my emummc.

Also, I've been reading a lot of guides and watching a lot of videos and was wondering if there is one guide above all others that you guy here recommend? I really like this guide here (https://www.scenefolks.com/pages.php?page=4210) and am thinking this is the one I am going to follow unless anyone can give me a reason not to.

That's all I have for now. If there is any other helpful advice you'd like to give I am open to that as well. Thanks.

 

[stephrk398]

https://switch.homebrew.guide/

 

[Undwiz]

Send a payload (hekate) do a backup of NAND and boot 0/1 before you do any thing else

 

[Budsixz]

I guess it mostly depends on what you want with your switch
1.Do you want homebrew + online gaming ?if yes then you need emummc
2. Lowest firmware would mean that you would be one of the first time to get a warmboot (no payload) exploit
Other than that i dont know of any benefits of low firmware. Even newer games don't work with low fw and maybe some homebrew don't either

 

[snoofly]

If you're on 1.0.0, I'd recommend keeping your system firmware at that level and using nereba/pegascape to reboot to RCM and inject payload for the CFW of your choice (Atmosphere for free/SX if you've bought that) and using that CFW to create an 8.1.0 emunand (create the emunand then use Choi to update it).

It's the main benefit of being on 1.0.0 at present.

That way you don't need any PC leads or dongles to enable 8.1 emunand.

Create 2 emunands, one to keep clean for online stuff where you don't install anything dodgy, and the other for your homebrew and backups.

Choose a different color theme for each to easily identify one you're in. Never install anything that is not d/led from Nintendo eshop itself to your clean emunand.

Just backup your nand first (Hekate or SX OS) and NEVER update a 1.0.0 firmware (you could you Choi but I think the process above is the best to avoid needing AutoRCM and losing the nereba exploit which is 1.0.0 exclusive atm).

See https://gbatemp.net/threads/nereba-exploit-reboot-to-fusee-gelee-payload-from-stock-firmware.536409/

 

[Clutz450]

https://switch.homebrew.guide/

Is there a reason why you chose that guide out of all the others out there?

Send a payload (hekate) do a backup of NAND and boot 0/1 before you do any thing else

I know about that much. Just wondering if I should do the initial setup on my sysnand first or if I should keep it as is (as in never turned on) and create an emunand of that.

I guess it mostly depends on what you want with your switch
1.Do you want homebrew + online gaming ?if yes then you need emummc
2. Lowest firmware would mean that you would be one of the first time to get a warmboot (no payload) exploit
Other than that i dont know of any benefits of low firmware. Even newer games don't work with low fw and maybe some homebrew don't either

As I said, I have another Switch which I use for my legitimate gaming on. I wouldn't mind being able to play games online while on CFW but as far as I understand that is impossible and will result in a ban. So I'll just keep all my online gaming to my other Switch and this Switch I'll just tinker around with using things like RetroArch or the Android port and what not.

And the reason why I wanted my sysnand to stay on low firmware is because I heard that if there is ever going to be a coldboot exploit, it would be on a firmware 4.1 or lower.

If you're on 1.0.0, I'd recommend keeping your system firmware at that level and using nereba/pegascape to reboot to RCM and inject payload for the CFW of your choice (Atmosphere for free/SX if you've bought that) and using that CFW to create an 8.1.0 emunand (create the emunand then use Choi to update it).

It's the main benefit of being on 1.0.0 at present.

That way you don't need any PC leads or dongles to enable 8.1 emunand.

Create 2 emunands, one to keep clean for online stuff where you don't install anything dodgy, and the other for your homebrew and backups.

Choose a different color theme for each to easily identify one you're in. Never install anything that is not d/led from Nintendo eshop itself to your clean emunand.

Just backup your nand first (Hekate or SX OS) and NEVER update a 1.0.0 firmware (you could you Choi but I think the process above is the best to avoid needing AutoRCM and losing the nereba exploit which is 1.0.0 exclusive atm).

See https://gbatemp.net/threads/nereba-exploit-reboot-to-fusee-gelee-payload-from-stock-firmware.536409/

Thank you for your reply. You seem to be the one who understands the situation I am in and the best way to handle it. I still haven't turned on my Switch yet so I don't know if I am on 1.0 but I am hoping that I am. So unless someone says anything different, I think I will follow your advice. And for what it's worth, I bought the RCMLoader dongle from xkit which I thought was best since I could load all the payloads for all the CFWs on it. I haven't bought SXOS yet but I am open to it if it's worth it. Right now the only advantage I see is being able to load .XCI files which if i am being honest, i don't really know what the big deal is.

Thank you to everyone who has replied to me. I really appreciate everyone's help.

 

[snoofly]

RCM loader dongle is the best one imo so you did fine there.
But as i note, you don’t need a dongle if you take the warm boot approach with nereba.
Atmosphere and SX OS each have their own pros and cons but for just running stuff each is perfectly able.
It depends what is important to you in other areas, eg kips/overclocking,regular updates, free! etc for atmosphere.
For SX, the big plus as you mention is xci loading from usb, as atmos doesn’t have that.
Personally i love that feature as you can run xcis bundled with the latest updates and dlc without having to install anything, but each to their own.
If you’re only interested in a few specific titles that you plan to install to your sd card then either CFW is perfectly decent.

 

[bird333]

If possible I would do a backup before you do the setup. I.e. first boot straight into Hekate. You can make another backup after setup if you wish. I followed this guide to do backups. https://gbatemp.net/threads/backup-...-your-biskeys-tseckeys-keys-txt-guide.513386/