Hacking Atmosphere/SXOS same Switch

[CrazyRach82]

Hi,
my switch is currently on SXOS and working great. SD Card is formatted to fat32 and I am pretty happy with this setup. But I want to have a seperate sd card, formate to exfat and use atmosphere or a close alternative and switch between the 2 as required. Is this possible? I want to check before I go ahead because I dont want to mess anything up. Do I just follow the normal instructions for installing atmosphere like a fresh install on the new sd, and will I be able to switch between the 2 as and when I feel like it.

Thanks

 

[Taorn]

Yes, you can even use atmosphere on the same sd card as other cfw. It's advisable that you use FAT32 for your new sd card as well.

 

[CrazyRach82]

I’m only really using exfat for the purpose of retroarch. That will be the primary purpose really of using atmosphere and ex fat and ill be using sx os for all my games and anything else

 

[stick267]

RetroArch devs strongly suggest NOT using exFat. Not sure why you think you should use it for RetroArch. And like Taorn said, you can use both CFWs on the same SD card.

 

[spotanjo3]

Hi,
my switch is currently on SXOS and working great. SD Card is formatted to fat32 and I am pretty happy with this setup. But I want to have a seperate sd card, formate to exfat and use atmosphere or a close alternative and switch between the 2 as required. Is this possible? I want to check before I go ahead because I dont want to mess anything up. Do I just follow the normal instructions for installing atmosphere like a fresh install on the new sd, and will I be able to switch between the 2 as and when I feel like it.

Thanks

Yes, you can. I am using atmosphere and ReiNX CFWS on same SD Card for our Nintendo Switch. No problem at all.

 

[Dust2dust]

What would be the best payload to push if I want to use both Atmosphere and SXOS on the same SD card? I know that SXOS has a chainload feature for other payloads but would it be better to push a different payload with an injector like the NS-Atmosphere dongle? Ideally one that would allow me to chainload into SXOS, of course.

 

[Taorn]

What would be the best payload to push if I want to use both Atmosphere and SXOS on the same SD card? I know that SXOS has a chainload feature for other payloads but would it be better to push a different payload with an injector like the NS-Atmosphere dongle? Ideally one that would allow me to chainload into SXOS, of course.

argon-nx is ideal for that: https://github.com/Guillem96/argon-nx

 

[stick267]

What would be the best payload to push if I want to use both Atmosphere and SXOS on the same SD card? I know that SXOS has a chainload feature for other payloads but would it be better to push a different payload with an injector like the NS-Atmosphere dongle? Ideally one that would allow me to chainload into SXOS, of course.

I'd recommend Hekate. You can edit the hekate_ipl.ini file to include entries for Atmosphere and SX OS. That way when Hekate loads you can just click on whichever CFW you want to load.

{-- Custom Firmwares --}
[Atmosphere]
kip1=modules/required/loader.kip
kip1=modules/required/pm.kip
kip1=modules/required/sm.kip
kip1=modules/required/fs_mitm.kip
secmon=modules/required/exosphere.bin
kip1patch=nosigchk
atmosphere=1
logopath=atmosphere/bootlogo.bmp

[SX OS]
payload=sxloader.bin
{ }

Just make sure you have your SX OS boot.dat and payload file on the root of your SD (SX payload renamed to "sxloader.bin" in this example).

 

[Dust2dust]

argon-nx is ideal for that: https://github.com/Guillem96/argon-nx

Fantastic! Thanks for the suggestion, Taorn!

 

[CrazyRach82]

RetroArch devs strongly suggest NOT using exFat. Not sure why you think you should use it for RetroArch. And like Taorn said, you can use both CFWs on the same SD card.

yes sorry I appear to have gotten mixed up, I wont be using expat, but fat 32, my sxos is exfat

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

can you push the atmosphere payload using the sxos dongle? or do I need an different dongle

 

[Kafluke]

RetroArch devs strongly suggest NOT using exFat. Not sure why you think you should use it for RetroArch. And like Taorn said, you can use both CFWs on the same SD card.

Why is it "strongly suggested"? I use RetroArch and exfat everyday with 0 issues.

I truly believe the fat32 vs. exfat debate relies heavily on a genuine trusted brand SD card. I only buy good SD cards from trusted sources. I believe that people experiencing corruption issues with exfat are using cheap knockoffs SD cards. Just my opinion tho.

 

[stick267]

Why is it "strongly suggested"? I use RetroArch and exfat everyday with 0 issues.

I truly believe the fat32 vs. exfat debate relies heavily on a genuine trusted brand SD card. I only buy good SD cards from trusted sources. I believe that people experiencing corruption issues with exfat are using cheap knockoffs SD cards. Just my opinion tho.

Pretty much all homebrew devs advise against using exFat. SD card quality doesn't matter, it's Nintendo's faulty exFat driver implementation that causes issues. I don't have any direct quotes, but it's just the general consensus. I'm sure if you ask SciresM or m4xw they'd tell you to use Fat32 10 times out of 10.

@CrazyRach82 with the SX Pro dongle you can chainload Hekate or any other payloads that you want. I'm not sure how the SX Gear works.

 

[Kafluke]

Pretty much all homebrew devs advise against using exFat. SD card quality doesn't matter, it's Nintendo's faulty exFat driver implementation that causes issues. I don't have any direct quotes, but it's just the general consensus. I'm sure if you ask SciresM or m4xw they'd tell you to use Fat32 10 times out of 10.

@CrazyRach82 with the SX Pro dongle you can chainload Hekate or any other payloads that you want. I'm not sure how the SX Gear works.

Okay whatever. I can only report my own experience. And once again... 0% problems with exfat. And I run lots of homebrew. Testing everything daily.

 

[masagrator]

@CrazyRach82 you can, but you need to convert payload to something compatible with SX dongle.
You can use this Python script
https://gist.github.com/CTCaer/13c02c05daec9e674ba00ce5ac35f5be
Payload needs to be renamed to

hekate_ctcaer_3.2.bin

Before launching scrypt.
It will create boot.dat

Chainload SX is not working correctly, so I'm against using it.

 

[Rune]

Okay whatever. I can only report my own experience. And once again... 0% problems with exfat. And I run lots of homebrew. Testing everything daily.

That's like telling people they won't ever win the lottery just because you've never won it yourself after many tries.

Anyone that doubts this just needs to google "exFAT corruption" and realise this issue isn't limited to just the Nintendo Switch. There's a real reason why the corruption happens. Its not just random.

 

[masagrator]

exFat s known for not having any measures preventing corruption.

• The standard exFAT implementation is not journaled and only uses a single file allocation table and free space map. FAT file systems instead used alternating tables, as this allowed recovery of the file system if the media was ejected during a write (which occurs frequently in practice with removable media). The optional TexFAT component adds support for additional backup tables and maps, but may not be supported.

 

[CrazyRach82]

Is there any tutorial anywhere for chainloading atmosphere from sxos. I need something step by step, as I have no idea what Im doing. I presume I need atmosphere on the sd card and hekate, I cant find anything that shows me what files I need, and where to put them.

 

[masagrator]

Is there any tutorial anywhere for chainloading atmosphere from sxos. I need something step by step, as I have no idea what Im doing. I presume I need atmosphere on the sd card and hekate, I cant find anything that shows me what files I need, and where to put them.

SX OS Chainload is screwed up.

 

[Deleted User]

Watch this thread
https://gbatemp.net/threads/kosmos-a-hekate-cfw-package.506280/page-61

 

[spkatsi]

Currently:
SXOS on a banned Switch
500GB SanDisk formatted on FAT32
Using SXOS to play backups of games I own

Will add in the future:
Roms (N64 and Mame), possibly via RetroArch

I feel more comfortable using open source software but i really like the way SXOS mounts XCI files.
So in short the question is, should I install Atmosphere as well in my Switch?

What do I gain with Atmosphere that i don't have already in SXOS?
How much I loose (in SD card Storage) by installing Atmosphere in addition?