Booting an AutoRCM Switch when SD Card reader is damaged?

[tpax]

Hello friends,

following situation:

My Switch has AutoRCM turned on. Recently, I dropped my Switch on the ground, and since then, the SD card reader on the Switch seems to be broken (launching with the SX Pro dongle, the screen shows "boot.dat?". The SD card is not the problem, since tested with multiple). I replaced the SD card reader with a replacement part, but the problem still persists. Maybe it's some kind of a damage on the Switch board itself.

So, my question is:

Is there any way to boot my Switch, which has AutoRCM turned on, without the SD card? To let it boot, for example, into OFW? Or am I lost here and can throw the Switch away, since it's hopelessly bricked?

 

[Hayato213]

You can inject hekate to turn off autoRCM to run OFW, but homebrew/cfw stuffs will requires the SD card slot.

 

[tpax]

You can inject hekate to turn off autoRCM to run OFW, but homebrew/cfw stuffs will requires the SD card slot.

Thanks so far for the reply.
If I inject hekate, TegraRcmGUI says, that the payload was successfully injected, my the screen of my Switch stays black.
Doesn't hekate need any kind of files on the SD card either?

 

[de9ed]

Thanks so far for the reply.
If I inject hekate, TegraRcmGUI says, that the payload was successfully injected, my the screen of my Switch stays black.
Doesn't hekate need any kind of files on the SD card either?

Hekate can boot vanilla, it just does not have a graphic interface. you can still turn auto rcm off.

 

[AndyGJorgensen]

May need to use an older version such as hekate 4.10 before NYX existed to boot without sd card

 

[tpax]

May need to use an older version such as hekate 4.10 before NYX existed to boot without sd card

Tryed with 4.10, the screen still stays black. I start to believe that my Switch may have got more damage than just the broken SD card reader.

 

[de9ed]

Tryed with 4.10, the screen still stays black. I start to believe that my Switch may have got more damage than just the broken SD card reader.

if you could see boot.dat. that means your LCD is working properly. Hekate can boot under a lot of damaged conditions. If you are in Canada, I can help you take a look at it for free.

I'm guessing the APU or one of the max IC got loose when you dropped it. that is one of the reasons why Hekate boots black