Homebrew Question Does the Switch charge while in Hekate (not in CFW)

[BlastedGuy9905]

I want to do a full NAND backup, but I fear that my Switch will run out of battery while doing it. I also have the infamous battery desync issue, which only makes it worse. Is the Switch able to charge while dumping NAND/in Hekate?

NOTE: I'm going to use CTCaer's Hekate mod. Don't know if it makes a difference or not.

 

[Thetoto]

I'm not sure but :
With AutoRCM on : No.
Without AutoRCM : Yes, it charge on Hekate.

I read that somewhere

 

[Knucklesfan]

I'm not sure but :
With AutoRCM on : No.
Without AutoRCM : Yes, it charge on Hekate.

I read that somewhere

Don't say that too quickly, because I know Linux desyncs the battery, even without Auto RCM. But it does seem to charge normally in linux so maybe? most likely it will cause a desync, which'll fade in a while. Just let it die on its own a few times, problem solved.

 

[Lacius]

I'm not sure but :
With AutoRCM on : No.
Without AutoRCM : Yes, it charge on Hekate.

I read that somewhere

This is a controversial topic, since information has changed a lot over time, but the current understanding is the above post I quoted is correct.

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

I'm not sure but :
With AutoRCM on : No.
Without AutoRCM : Yes, it charge on Hekate.

I read that somewhere

So if I have AutoRCM, then my Switch won't charge in hekate?

 

[Kioku]

So if I have AutoRCM, then my Switch won't charge in hekate?

A full nand backup won't kill your battery. Also, I believe it does. You've got the payload booted, so it should. I didn't notice otherwise.

 

[pLaYeR^^]

So if I have AutoRCM, then my Switch won't charge in hekate?

Look here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/important-psa-autorcm-battery-warning.505192/

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

Look here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/important-psa-autorcm-battery-warning.505192/

Look, I don't care about RCM mode. This is about the payload hekate itself. Does it charge in hekate or not?

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

A full nand backup won't kill your battery. Also, I believe it does. You've got the payload booted, so it should. I didn't notice otherwise.

Because of the battery desync I can only charge my battery up to around 57%. Will it still not die during a FULL NAND backup?

 

[pLaYeR^^]

Look, I don't care about RCM mode. This is about the payload hekate itself. Does it charge in hekate or not?
Because of the battery desync I can only charge my battery up to around 57%. Will it still not die during a FULL NAND backup?

For the Switch to charge it needs to be booted into Horizon / CFW. As Hekate does not support sleep mode, it is advised to always charge the Switch to 100% in OFW before using any CFW, and keeping it at a acceptable level before turning it off.

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

Huh. Well, whatever. I hope it charges. If it doesn't, that's still fine, as this version of hekate is way faster at dumping NAND. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[FahQ]

Huh. Well, whatever. I hope it charges. If it doesn't, that's still fine, as this version of hekate is way faster at dumping NAND. Thanks for everyone's help!

My understanding is it does not. Fix your battery desync issue and charge it then you won't have to worry as the dump doesn't take long enough to deplete the full battery (Still having battery desync is lazy af. You need to fix that anyway...)
Or just remove autoRCM, dump NAND, then autoRCM again... Not hard and you aren't risking having to wait for switch to charge while it's off (it does charge if you turn it off WHILE it's on the charger. Don't plug it in after its off).

 

[Viri]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! So many conflicting answers!

 

[FahQ]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! So many conflicting answers!

That's because the people above me don't read all the pages like me. Tired of incorrect information...

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

My understanding is it does not. Fix your battery desync issue and charge it then you won't have to worry as the dump doesn't take long enough to deplete the full battery (Still having battery desync is lazy af. You need to fix that anyway...)
Or just remove autoRCM, dump NAND, then autoRCM again... Not hard and you aren't risking having to wait for switch to charge while it's off (it does charge if you turn it off WHILE it's on the charger. Don't plug it in after its off).

I don't have autoRCM. I've ordered a kit of scredrivers so I can open my Switch and reconnect the battery. That's the easiest method to fix battery desync, right? Or do I have to do something additional?

 

[FahQ]

I don't have autoRCM. I've ordered a kit of scredrivers so I can open my Switch and reconnect the battery. That's the easiest method to fix battery desync, right? Or do I have to do something additional?

Yeah I knew that. After reading everyone else's it seems my mind needed to write it all out though lol. With that said though, if you don't use autoRCM then it DOES charge while hekate is active so you should be good to do a backup (even with desync) while connected to a charger.
My understanding is disconnecting the battery is the only way to fix it atm. In the future we may see a software option (ideally a fix for the cause of the desync altogether).

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

Yeah I knew that. After reading everyone else's it seems my mind needed to write it all out though lol. With that said though, if you don't use autoRCM then it DOES charge while hekate is active so you should be good to do a backup (even with desync) while connected to a charger.
My understanding is disconnecting the battery is the only way to fix it atm. In the future we may see a software option (ideally a fix for the cause of the desync altogether).

Got through with it with a charger. It was fast, though, I bet it would've survived without one too.

 

[Draxzelex]

The actual charge rates for the Switch in various states

So, Switch charges and does not charges in RCM. xD

The results (battery was 89%):


The switch can charge normally the battery, if the BCT is intact!
In RCM AND in hekate menu.
*BCT is the boot configuration table that autoRCM corrupts.

Tests showed that it was charging with the same current, as in Horison OS.
The current it was drawing with 89% battery, was 800mA - 1000mA, using Switch wall adapter. On PC, it was the max the hub could give.


------------------------------------


The switch cannot charge normally with a corrupt BCT (AutoRCM).
In hekate, it shows similar behavior (read below).
Extra emphasis on the "normally".

With autoRCM, basically a corrupt BCT, the switch behaves differently.
There are 2 behaviors that I saw when connecting to the switch wall charger:

• Common - It was draining 140-250mA.
• Common (in hekate) - 200mA - 400mA
  
• Rare (normally if you connect charger after powering off from HOS) - Drain of alternating 250mA and 1000mA, with surges of 2.5A.

------------------------------------

Summary - facts:

1. Switch can charge completely normally in RCM or Hekate with a BCT intact
   • The percent % in Horizon OS, after a RCM charge, is not fake.
2. Switch does not charge normally with AutoRCM, a.k.a corrupt BCT.
   1. Either it charges very slowly or sometimes with a broken slow/fast/slow/fast charge pattern:
   2. Or this behavior is current taken from the USB controller or the BPMP (Nvidia's Boot and Power management processor)
   • In AutoRCM, the Charge IC probably can't update the battery calibration file and could make the percent fake.

I don't know for behavior .3 what really happens and what Switch does. This can be easily examined, by connecting a current multimeter between battery and switch and check the readings.

At this rate, I'm wondering if this should be made into a thread or not...

 

[vickdu31]

If you are planning to make a full NAND backup it should take less than 10min so if your battery is at least 50% you dont have to worry.
Also I always leave mine on either on SX or on stock OS and I reboot it quite rarely (sleep mode in dock) so I never worry about battery

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

Thank you all for the help. I already dumped my NAND, it was surprisingly fast.

 

[stüssy]

Does anyone know what happens the switch goes off due to low battery as dumping my NAND seems to take ages, it’s now 4 hours and still 56%, with battery at 43% I think it will not going to last.

AutoRCM off, never loaded any homebrew before, just got the SX Pro dongle and startet do dump at 100%

Switch 3.0.0