Tutorial [Guide] How to fix Switch games not booting after a FW/CFW update

[ShadowOne333]

@ShadowOne333 Lifesaver,was having issues after updating to 10.0.1 to play crysis, but then my SPTFBW and AC black flag stopped working, searched for months for a solution and it turned out your method of converting to deepsea and those sigpatches did the trick.

Much appreciated
One more query - Rebel galaxy outlaw releasing today (still waiting) - would these sigpatches work above 10.0.01 if need be?

Thanks in advance

As long as the game runs under that FW version, they should work as well.

 

[moxman1]

Thanks for the information!

 

[MarvBuster]

Aw man, i finally fixed my switch not playing any backups anymore! im posting it here, since this method is not part of this OP and some people might find it useful.
i installed atmosphere 0.14.4 on a previous installed atmosphere 0.14.3 and FW 10.2. Added sigpatches but thee atmosphere wouldnt start anymore (kernel panic on boot, when trying to load it via hekate, fatal error when trying to boot directly with fusee primary).

i could not get a fresh install of atmosphere to work. so i tried deepsea and it worked. but no games started and i could not reinstall them. i thought it might be the sigpatches, but just couldnt get my head around it.

today i've read about fixing the archive bit on files on the sd card. tl dr: files could get corrupted, when managing them with a mac, and i did a lot.
fixing that archive bit with hekate 5.3.3 (tools) did the trick. its working now.

best regards.marv

 

[ShadowOne333]

Aw man, i finally fixed my switch not playing any backups anymore! im posting it here, since this method is not part of this OP and some people might find it useful.
i installed atmosphere 0.14.4 on a previous installed atmosphere 0.14.3 and FW 10.2. Added sigpatches but thee atmosphere wouldnt start anymore (kernel panic on boot, when trying to load it via hekate, fatal error when trying to boot directly with fusee primary).

i could not get a fresh install of atmosphere to work. so i tried deepsea and it worked. but no games started and i could not reinstall them. i thought it might be the sigpatches, but just couldnt get my head around it.

today i've read about fixing the archive bit on files on the sd card. tl dr: files could get corrupted, when managing them with a mac, and i did a lot.
fixing that archive bit with hekate 5.3.3 (tools) did the trick. its working now.

best regards.marv

Thanks for writing your solution!
I'll add it to the OP right away

 

[hiroakihsu]

@ShadowOne333 I just found another direct link to the latest DBI releases you can add to your guide:
https://github.com/julesontheroad/NSC_BUILDER/tree/master/py/Documentation and Resources/DBI

 

[ShadowOne333]

@ShadowOne333 I just found another direct link to the latest DBI releases you can add to your guide:
https://github.com/julesontheroad/NSC_BUILDER/tree/master/py/Documentation and Resources/DBI

Thanks!
I'll update the corresponding section with this new link.

 

[Drewcifer]

I tried initializing console, and it did not work for me. Do not do it unless you absolutely have to. What worked for me was backing up my SD card onto my computer, deleting all the files, downloading DeepSea (or Atmosphere if that's what you're more comfortable with), and putting all that on the SD card. I transferred my game saves back to my SD card, and it worked immediately.

 

[Drewcifer]

Here's what worked for me to save everyone the headache of initializing your console (which did not work):
1) backup your SD card
2) delete all files from SD card
3) download fresh copy of your CFW and Sig patches (I used DeepSea)
4) extract files and send everything to your SD card
5) put your backed up game save data back onto your SD card
6) put SD card back into Switch after safely ejecting from computer
7) enjoy working games again

 

[hiroakihsu]

Thanks!
I'll update the corresponding section with this new link.

It seems the link I gave you is no longer being updated with latest version of DBI...The new link is as follows:

https://github.com/rashevskyv/dbi/releases

 

[ShadowOne333]

Here's what worked for me to save everyone the headache of initializing your console (which did not work):
1) backup your SD card
2) delete all files from SD card
3) download fresh copy of your CFW and Sig patches (I used DeepSea)
4) extract files and send everything to your SD card
5) put your backed up game save data back onto your SD card
6) put SD card back into Switch after safely ejecting from computer
7) enjoy working games again

Oh neat. I'll probably add these as a 2nd "Last Resort" solution, just vefore the Initialize console one, as it does seem quite troublesome to backup and restore everything.

I'll add it during the day.

It seems the link I gave you is no longer being updated with latest version of DBI...The new link is as follows:

https://github.com/rashevskyv/dbi/releases

Thanks for the update! I'll add it too

 

[jesus96]

Currently im having a problem with the game kirby star allies in the last update 4.0,without the update the game boots but with it the error message appears,i have everything update so I don't know what to do,is there any fix?

 

[burhansalih]

Currently im having a problem with the game kirby star allies in the last update 4.0,without the update the game boots but with it the error message appears,i have everything update so I don't know what to do,is there any fix?

Whats the error? are you using any custom sys modules?

 

[Jakopp]

Thanks for this guide. I had a few games (smash bros, MH rise) not starting after I updated FW and CFW and could resolve it with the steps listed here. Games run with no issues after deleting the game tickets.

 

[Anshar_]

I'm having a problem with Pokémon Sword: before updating to 12.0 it worked flawlessly but, after updating, the game had a "Corrupted data" error forcing me to delete it. After re-installing it with the same files it worked perfectly until I installed the dlc, after that the game would get stuck at the loading screen and boot me out with a error message. I've tried all the methods in this guide (except the "Last Resort" ones, since I can still play it on yuzu and don't think this is such a huge deal that I have to clean my sd card) but it gives me the same result as before: works fine withut dlc, instantly crashes with.
Any idea of what could be the reason of this problem?

 

[ShadowOne333]

I'm having a problem with Pokémon Sword: before updating to 12.0 it worked flawlessly but, after updating, the game had a "Corrupted data" error forcing me to delete it. After re-installing it with the same files it worked perfectly until I installed the dlc, after that the game would get stuck at the loading screen and boot me out with a error message. I've tried all the methods in this guide (except the "Last Resort" ones, since I can still play it on yuzu and don't think this is such a huge deal that I have to clean my sd card) but it gives me the same result as before: works fine withut dlc, instantly crashes with.
Any idea of what could be the reason of this problem?

Try deleting the base game and reinstalling it, while the DLC is installed first. Otherwise, try deleting the tickets.

 

[Anshar_]

Try deleting the base game and reinstalling it, while the DLC is installed first. Otherwise, try deleting the tickets.

I tried both using awoo and goldleaf and it always gives me an error message.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I tried both using awoo and goldleaf and it always gives me an error message.

Have you tried using another source for your DLC?

 

[Anshar_]

Have you tried using another source for your DLC?

I did, and both the old one and new one work flawlessy on yuzu but not on switch

 

[ShadowOne333]

I did, and both the old one and new one work flawlessy on yuzu but not on switch

Have you updated the signature patches properly? Try doing a clean Atmosphere+Hekate+Sigpatches installation.
Remove or backup both the /atmosphere/ and /bootloader/ folders, and download the newest Atmos, Hekate and sigpatches fresh, installing first Atmosphere, then Hekate and then the sigpatches.

Also, try checking with both fusee-primary and fusee-secondary, see if they boot with one or the other.

 

[Anshar_]

Have you updated the signature patches properly? Try doing a clean Atmosphere+Hekate+Sigpatches installation.
Remove or backup both the /atmosphere/ and /bootloader/ folders, and download the newest Atmos, Hekate and sigpatches fresh, installing first Atmosphere, then Hekate and then the sigpatches.

Also, try checking with both fusee-primary and fusee-secondary, see if they boot with one or the other.

I can happily confirm that by doing a clean installation and using fusee-secondary it works, I haven't checked with fusee-primary yet but thank you so much!