Hacking Half-Bricked Switch (Downgraded OS)

[Notshane]

Don't you have a nand backup? WIth hekate you can restore that.
If you don't have one you should make a backup now and build a complete new nand from scratch with the prodinfo and other information from your current borked nand. Since I never had to do this I don't know the exact steps but this should be doable.

In your case I would make a 5.1+ nand from scratch and install autorcm to prevent fuse burning on accident. Then boot a cfw (atmosphere/sxos/rajnx whatever) and call it a day.

For all those things you don't need homebrew loader. But you need a good understanding and you need a pc with hacdiscmount, the firmware files (e.g. from a game dump), files from your current nand (dumped with hekate) and your biskeys from your switch (obtainable via biskeydump) to build a nand.

I already backed up my NAND, as I've also mentioned many times earlier in this thread, as well as the "BOOT" files, which I did by using both of the backup options in Hekate.

I have the 2.1.0 NAND, backed up before I did any kind of homebrew, and on BriccMii, "FUSES: 2" meaning I'm still safe to use that backup. Are you saying, for sure, I can load my NAND directly from Hekate? And if so, how would I go about initiating this? Are "biskeys" the "BOOT" keys I got from the eMMC backup on Hekate?

 

[GothicIII]

I already backed up my NAND, as I've also mentioned many times earlier in this thread, as well as the "BOOT" files, which I did by using both of the backup options in Hekate.

I have the 2.1.0 NAND, backed up before I did any kind of homebrew, and on BriccMii, "FUSES: 2" meaning I'm still safe to use that backup. Are you saying, for sure, I can load my NAND directly from Hekate? And if so, how would I go about initiating this? Are "biskeys" the "BOOT" keys I got from the eMMC backup on Hekate?

"Loading" is the wrong term. You are writing the backup onto nand thus overwriting data. If you restore the 2.1.0 backup with the boot0/1 files your switch will revert to that state when you made that backup. Requirement for this is -of course- a valid backup. The GC-Slot is excluded - it is not affected by the restore process.

Yes, "biskeys" are console unique and for hacdiskmount you need biskeys 0 to 3 (crypt+tweak)

I don't know much about mismatching GC-Slot firmware but beside that the gamecards cannot be read there shouldn't be any negative side effects.
Also I don't fully get your initial post. What is "pfp"?

To summarize:
You upgraded to 5.1 and the gc slot didn't work. Then you restored your nand backup and this happened:
-Your GC slot still does not work (makes your switch reboot)
-Changing some software settings (makes your switch reboot)
-Homebrew does not work (unkwown error)
[posting the error messages or details would help]

If the restore of your 2.1.0 ofw backup does not work for you, there are most likely up to three options:
- the backup is faulty (very unlikely if the switch boots)
(-) if you restored the system partition only: File version mismatches (like database files etc.)
- your switch is faulty (hardware wise)

If your nand backup you restored is 32gb (not packed) in size then this would rule out option 2.
Check if a factory reset will solve your crashing problems (If you made a complete nand backup you can restore anyway).
If this worked, you know what to do else try to make a nand from scratch like I suggested before.
This would be the last resort because when a recreated nand fails it must be a hardware failure (could be the emmc chip which reads/writes faulty data because of defect sectors; Should be this the case there might be a workaround which I used already in 3ds era to circumvent that).

 

[Notshane]

"Loading" is the wrong term. You are writing the backup onto nand thus overwriting data. If you restore the 2.1.0 backup with the boot0/1 files your switch will revert to that state when you made that backup. Requirement for this is -of course- a valid backup. The GC-Slot is excluded - it is not affected by the restore process.

Yes, "biskeys" are console unique and for hacdiskmount you need biskeys 0 to 3 (crypt+tweak)

Do I need the biskeys to write the NAND? Because I didn't fetch those before I homebrewed it.

I don't know much about mismatching GC-Slot firmware but beside that the gamecards cannot be read there shouldn't be any negative side effects.
Also I don't fully get your initial post. What is "pfp"?

Great, so I will need an NSP of Ultimate after this...great. Really can't fix the GC Slot after all. Oh well.

I just use it as an abbreviation for "profile picture" since "acronym" doesn't really fit very well here since it's not "Pro File Picture" hmm.

To summarize:
You upgraded to 5.1 and the gc slot didn't work. Then you restored your nand backup and this happened:
-Your GC slot still does not work (makes your switch reboot)
-Changing some software settings (makes your switch reboot)
-Homebrew does not work (unknown error)
[posting the error messages or details would help]

That's about right.

If the restore of your 2.1.0 ofw backup does not work for you, there are most likely up to three options:
- the backup is faulty (very unlikely if the switch boots)
(-) if you restored the system partition only: File version mismatches (like database files etc.)
- your switch is faulty (hardware wise)

If your nand backup you restored is 32gb (not packed) in size then this would rule out option 2.
Check if a factory reset will solve your crashing problems (If you made a complete nand backup you can restore anyway).
If this worked, you know what to do else try to make a nand from scratch like I suggested before.
This would be the last resort because when a recreated nand fails it must be a hardware failure (could be the emmc chip which reads/writes faulty data or has defect sectors).

Oh, okay, so a Factory Reset first and then write the NAND if all else fails? Sounds simple enough. Thank you for some concrete, to-the-point answers.

 

[GothicIII]

Do I need the biskeys to write the NAND? Because I didn't fetch those before I homebrewed it.

No. The nand backup is already encrypted, your switch can read that. If you would recreate the nand from scatch you must have a valid partition layout+firmware files in it and they must be encrypted in a way so the switch can boot. Hacdiskmount decrypts/encrypts the nand of the switch on pc and the biskeys are -guess what- the required keys to do that task.

Great, so I will need an NSP of Ultimate after this...great. Really can't fix the GC Slot after all. Oh well.

Also wrong. If there is a firmware mismatch with the gc slot, upgrading to firmware 5.1+ would make the gc slot readable again.
First fix those crashing problems and then fix gc slot.

 

[Notshane]

No. The nand backup is already encrypted, your switch can read that. If you would recreate the nand from scatch you must have a valid partition layout+firmware files in it and they must be encrypted in a way so the switch can boot. Hacdiskmount decrypts/encrypts the nand of the switch on pc and the biskeys are -guess what- the required keys to do that task.

Well, I did not make biskeys when I was on 2.1.0 initially, so I do not have those.

Okay, the Switch calls it "Initialize Console" or in other words "Factory Reset" and so I just hit that up, everything rebooted. The pfps load again, Game Cards still crash, but the Homebrew Menu does still not load. I do remember having an older version of "hbmenu.nro" at the time I first used my Switch though, which lacked touchscreen support, so I'm thinking the reason it's not loading now may have to do with it being too recent for 2.1.0 firmware. Tried loading it on Atmosphere first, but to no avail. I actually forgot how I loaded the Homebrew Menu off Hekate, so that won't be of much help until I can figure it out, but I would imagine this is the only way I am getting into it since Atmosphere is unable to load it.

But, as of now, through Atmosphere:
- Only Game Cards or loading the Homebrew Menu off of it crash.

It's only slightly less corrupt than it was before.

 

[GothicIII]

Well, I did not make biskeys when I was on 2.1.0 initially, so I do not have those.

Okay, the Switch calls it "Initialize Console" or in other words "Factory Reset" and so I just hit that up, everything rebooted. The pfps load again, Game Cards still crash, but the Homebrew Menu does still not load. I do remember having an older version of "hbmenu.nro" at the time I first used my Switch though, which lacked touchscreen support, so I'm thinking the reason it's not loading now may have to do with it being too recent for 2.1.0 firmware. Tried loading it on Atmosphere first, but to no avail. I actually forgot how I loaded the Homebrew Menu off Hekate, so that won't be of much help until I can figure it out, but I would imagine this is the only way I am getting into it since Atmosphere is unable to load it.

But, as of now, through Atmosphere:
- Only Game Cards or loading the Homebrew Menu off of it crash.

It's only slightly less corrupt than it was before.

This is good news. Your switch hardware is fine. Three options:
- find a compatible hbm binary (hbmenu.nro) and use choidojournx to upgrade to fw 5.1+ to fix your gc slot.
- dump your biskeys and recreate a nand with hacdiskmount with firmware 5.1+ and restore this newly created nand with hekate.
- Shit on everything, connect to internet risk a ban, upgrade to fw6.2.0 that way and burn those fuses.

 

[Notshane]

This is good news. Your switch hardware is fine. Three options:
- find a compatible hbm binary (hbmenu.nro) and use choidojournx to upgrade to fw 5.1+ to fix your gc slot.
- dump your biskeys and recreate a nand with hacdiskmount with firmware 5.1+ and restore this newly created nand with hekate.
- Shit on everything, connect to internet risk a ban, upgrade to fw6.2.0 that way and burn those fuses.

- Do you know where I could find a compatible one? Or, do you remember how Hekate loads it?
- Recreate a NAND on how it is now? But, wouldn't restoring the old one fix the Game Card Slot?
(Oh wait, I didn't read that first part all the way, So, you want me to get the Homebrew Menu working to use Choid to get to 5.1.0 through a dump of it online, but if it was already messed up on 5.1.0, that won't help me here.)
- Yeah, honestly, considering I don't care very much about coldbooting, I might as well hurry up and get to 6.2.0 before it's too late and 7.0.0 dicks me over.

 

[GothicIII]

- Do you know where I could find a compatible one? Or, do you remember how Hekate loads it?
- Recreate a NAND on how it is now? But, wouldn't restoring the old one fix the Game Card Slot?
- Yeah, honestly, considering I don't care very much about coldbooting, I might as well hurry up and get to 6.2.0 before it's too late and 7.0.0 dicks me over.

-No I don't since I'm sitting on 6.2.0 with sxos. Try all versions beginning from v1.0 from https://github.com/switchbrew/nx-hbmenu/releases
-Try it out. Since you have a working 2.1.0 backup you can't mess up. Should it crash again then your user files are corrupt. Make a factory reset to resolve this. I still don't know if you made a full nand dump (32gb) or just system dumps (~1gb). If you have a full dump you can restore all save data with hacdiskmount and biskeys.
-I would do this only if the other options are too complicated for you. Having a working non-banned switch has a higher resell value than a banned one. Another point would be that only connecting to wifi for upgrading the firmware is not a ban-warranty.

 

[Notshane]

-No I don't since I'm sitting on 6.2.0 with sxos. Try all versions beginning from v1.0 from https://github.com/switchbrew/nx-hbmenu/releases
-Try it out. Since you have a working 2.1.0 backup you can't mess up. Should it crash again then your user files are corrupt. Make a factory reset to resolve this. I still don't know if you made a full nand dump (32gb) or just system dumps (~1gb). If you have a full dump you can restore all save data with hacdiskmount and biskeys.
-I would do this only if the other options are too complicated for you. Having a working non-banned switch has a higher resell value than a banned one. Another point would be that only connecting to wifi for upgrading the firmware is not a ban-warranty.

- Okay, sounds good. Though, I'm still unsure on how Hekate loads the Homebrew Menu.
- Yeah, trial and error seems to be in my favor. But uh, no, I used FAT32 and combined them with the Joiner script. So, I guess that option is out for me, then? Or, do you mean if I segregated it initially, I can just restore the NAND through Hekate? Also, I still don't know how to load my backup NAND.
- If my GC Slot is just not going to work no matter what I do, I'm going to say screw it and update off of Nintendo's servers. If my GC Slot can work at 5.1.0, I don't need to really update it anymore since the primary game I want to homebrew anyway is Smash and I doubt Smash will have updates that make it obsolete on 5.1.0.

 

[GothicIII]

- Okay, sounds good. Though, I'm still unsure on how Hekate loads the Homebrew Menu.
- Yeah, trial and error seems to be in my favor. But uh, no, I used FAT32 and combined them with the Joiner script. So, I guess that option is out for me, then? Or, do you mean if I segregated it initially, I can just restore the NAND through Hekate? Also, I still don't know how to load my backup NAND.
- If my GC Slot is just not going to work no matter what I do, I'm going to say screw it and update off of Nintendo's servers. If my GC Slot can work at 5.1.0, I don't need to really update it anymore since the primary game I want to homebrew anyway is Smash and I doubt Smash will have updates that make it obsolete on 5.1.0.

Just to make things clear. You don't load a nand backup. You can only restore it and you do it with hekate.
The nand backup is a 1:1 copy from your switch nand as a file. This is a chip (emmc nand) within your switch which holds user data+firmware files and other system stuff. As a whole it has 32gb storage on it. The user partition has ~29gb (it stores your saves nsps etc , like your micro sd card) and the system partition is ~1gb in size which holds only the firmware files.

Imagine it is like a windows system drive partitioned and has e.g. a system partition, user partition and other partitions to store stuff on it.

You can either dump the full nand (32gb) which has everything stored on it or you can dump single partitions (boot0/1, user, system, prodinfo, etc.).
All dumped things from your switch are encrypted and can only be read by that switch. If you need to alter the files with a pc, you need to mount those partitions from the nand with hacdiskmount and the corresponding keys else you get only garbage data.

I don't know what that joiner script is or what does it do nor I do know what kind of backups you made. If you don't or can't provide concrete details it is up to you to find things out

EDIT: I got it with the joiner script. You formatted the sd card to fat32 and made a split dump (max. 4gb per file). You need to joiner script to join the files together. You can restore the 32gb file with hekate on a exfat formatted sd card.

 

[Notshane]

Just to make things clear. You don't load a nand backup. You can only restore it and you do it with hekate.
The nand backup is a 1:1 copy from your switch nand as a file. This is a chip (emmc nand) within your switch which holds user data+firmware files and other system stuff. As a whole it has 32gb storage on it. The user partition has ~29gb (it stores your saves nsps etc , like your micro sd card) and the system partition is ~1gb in size which holds only the firmware files.

Imagine it is like a windows system drive partitioned and has e.g. a system partition, user partition and other partitions to store stuff on it.

You can either dump the full nand (32gb) which has everything stored on it or you can dump single partitions (boot0/1, user, system, prodinfo, etc.).
All dumped things from your switch are encrypted and can only be read by that switch. If you need to alter the files with a pc, you need to mount those partitions from the nand with hacdiskmount and the corresponding keys else you get only garbage data.

I'd assume I'd have to alter them to fix the GC Slot...huh?

You formatted the sd card to fat32 and made a split dump (max. 4gb per file). You need to joiner script to join the files together. You can restore the 32gb file with hekate on a exfat formatted sd card.

Hmm, so I guess...I need another microSD then, huh? I think I might have a 32GB microSD somewhere that is still formatted to exFAT.

 

[GothicIII]

I'd assume I'd have to alter them to fix the GC Slot...huh?

No, you fix it by upgrading to 5.1+. Look. Your gc slot *most likely* does not work because you loaded up firmware 5.1 which automatically upgrades the gc-slot firmware like already mentioned on the first site. The firmware of the gc slot can't be altered by any means and is not downgradable and not compatible with fw below 4.0.

Hmm, so I guess...I need another microSD then, huh? I think I might have a 32GB microSD somewhere that is still formatted to exFAT.

It must be bigger than that. You can't put a 32gb file on a 32gb micro sd. It is too small to fit the file on it. You can just copy all data from your current msd to pc and format it to exfat. After restoring the nand backup you need to format it back to fat32 so the switch can read it again. When you upgrade the firmware with choidojournx to 5.1 you get the option to install exfat support but it is not recommanded because of corruption risks with homebrew.

If upgrading to firmware 5.1+ does not restore the functionality of your gc slot. Then there is no hope for it and you need to buy a replacement.

 

[Notshane]

No, you fix it by upgrading to 5.1+. Look. Your gc slot *most likely* does not work because you loaded up firmware 5.1 which automatically upgrades the gc-slot firmware like already mentioned on the first site. The firmware of the gc slot can't be altered by any means and is not downgradable and not compatible with fw below 4.0.

It must be bigger than that. You can't put a 32gb file on a 32gb micro sd. It is too small to fit the file on it. You can just copy all data from your current msd to pc and format it to exfat. After restoring the nand backup you need to format it back to fat32 so the switch can read it again. When you upgrade the firmware with choidojournx to 5.1 you get the option to install exfat support but it is not recommanded because of corruption risks with homebrew.

If upgrading to firmware 5.1+ does not restore the functionality of your gc slot. Then there is no hope for it and you need to buy a replacement.

Oh, I can just revert my FAT32 to exFAT again, huh? That's good.

I was at 2.1, went to 5.1 and from there, at 5.1, the GC Slot did not work. So, I do not have much faith this will fix it and, quite possibly, I may be selling it. Since I got the tablet brand new, however, I'm certainly not cutting the price too far below due to the fact the only fault is the GC Slot.

 

[Notshane]

Okay, it really was that simple. So, I simply loaded up the 2.0.0 version of the Homebrew Menu and it successfully loaded on Atmosphere. This time, I did 5.1.0 without exFAT support and the end result is that the Homebrew Menu is, once again, fully functional. However, I am confused as to why my Switch still has trouble reading Game Cards, considering this was brand new and I did nothing that could've caused an issue in it not reading them. Maybe, just maybe, it would be very important to inform people to put a Game Card into their Switch at least once before using Choi as that may have been what caused it to be permanently broken. I never once inserted a Game Card into it before updating the firmware, as I wanted to wait until I went to 5.1 to play Ultimate. Maybe, by not inserting it at all, I created a new kind of way to mess up the GC Slot.

In other words, though, my Switch is ruined for loading Game Cards. Might as well dump Ultimate and load it as an NSP, since that will be the only way I will be playing it now. Since, to your knowledge, there is no other way to fix the GC Slot. I am on 5.1.0, without exFAT support this time, and I may be done for here. On the plus side, I can now very easily change back to 2.1.0 on the fly since I know the issue now was that I needed to use an older version of the Homebrew Menu, but sadly, this Switch's days of playing Game Cards is no more.

Again, make a strong note of this, people. To anyone who wants to homebrew their Switch and update it without using Nintendo's servers, you better have made sure you inserted at least one game into the Switch first, since I am theorizing that played a role in how my slot got messed up. Again, I never once inserted any game into my Switch before Choi updating it.

Though, if Hekate says "prevent GC update" then is there a way I can update the Game Card slot through homebrew software? I am on 5.1.0 right now, this time without exFAT support, but maybe the reason it is not loading games is because it is not updated at all, so maybe there is a way I can do that.

 

[Adran_Marit]

Okay, it really was that simple. So, I simply loaded up the 2.0.0 version of the Homebrew Menu and it successfully loaded on Atmosphere. This time, I did 5.1.0 without exFAT support and the end result is that the Homebrew Menu is, once again, fully functional. However, I am confused as to why my Switch still has trouble reading Game Cards, considering this was brand new and I did nothing that could've caused an issue in it not reading them. Maybe, just maybe, it would be very important to inform people to put a Game Card into their Switch at least once before using Choi as that may have been what caused it to be permanently broken. I never once inserted a Game Card into it before updating the firmware, as I wanted to wait until I went to 5.1 to play Ultimate. Maybe, by not inserting it at all, I created a new kind of way to mess up the GC Slot.

In other words, though, my Switch is ruined for loading Game Cards. Might as well dump Ultimate and load it as an NSP, since that will be the only way I will be playing it now. Since, to your knowledge, there is no other way to fix the GC Slot. I am on 5.1.0, without exFAT support this time, and I may be done for here. On the plus side, I can now very easily change back to 2.1.0 on the fly since I know the issue now was that I needed to use an older version of the Homebrew Menu, but sadly, this Switch's days of playing Game Cards is no more.

Again, make a strong note of this, people. To anyone who wants to homebrew their Switch and update it without using Nintendo's servers, you better have made sure you inserted at least one game into the Switch first, since I am theorizing that played a role in how my slot got messed up. Again, I never once inserted any game into my Switch before Choi updating it.

Though, if Hekate says "prevent GC update" then is there a way I can update the Game Card slot through homebrew software? I am on 5.1.0 right now, this time without exFAT support, but maybe the reason it is not loading games is because it is not updated at all, so maybe there is a way I can do that.

disable the prevent gc update patch and it will update but that means you can't downgrade it

 

[TheZoc]

Something I think nobody asked (sorry, fast forwarded the last page):

- Did you try booking without hekate (maybe using fusee_primary) on atmosphere, while on 5.1?
The reason your gamecart slot didn't work was probably due to the patches to prevent it from updating (by disabling the gamecart slot)... But somehow it got updated (That's why I'm asking if you ever attempted to boot without hekate or in some other way).

 

[Notshane]

disable the prevent gc update patch and it will update but that means you can't downgrade it

Since I'm doing it to play Ultimate, I don't really care if I can't downgrade the GC Slot, honestly. If you know I can do this, please tell me now. I would appreciate it a lot.

Something I think nobody asked (sorry, fast forwarded the last page):

- Did you try booking without hekate on atmosphere, while on 5.1?
The reason your gamecart slot didn't work was probably due to the patches to prevent it from updating (by disabling the gamecart slot)... But somehow it got updated.

I believe my slot isn't updated, but I haven't tried the current 5.1 I loaded with Hekate, so maybe I can see again if it will work. Though, I sure wish I knew how to update it at all.

 

[Adran_Marit]

Since I'm doing it to play Ultimate, I don't really care if I can't downgrade the GC Slot, honestly. If you know I can do this, please tell me now. I would appreciate it a lot.



I believe my slot isn't updated, but I haven't tried the current 5.1 I loaded with Hekate, so maybe I can see again if it will work. Though, I sure wish I knew how to update it at all.

No way to downgrade the card slot as far as I can tell

 

[TheZoc]

Since I'm doing it to play Ultimate, I don't really care if I can't downgrade the GC Slot, honestly. If you know I can do this, please tell me now. I would appreciate it a lot.



I believe my slot isn't updated, but I haven't tried the current 5.1 I loaded with Hekate, so maybe I can see again if it will work. Though, I sure wish I knew how to update it at all.

Would updating your slot be good enough for you? It wouldn't work with 4.0 or lower firmware (iirc). If it is, it should be possible to do that update.

 

[Adran_Marit]

Would updating your slot be good enough for you? It wouldn't work with 4.0 or lower firmware (iirc). If it is, it should be possible to do that update.

correct on the not working 4.0 or lower