THIS GUIDE IS DEPRECATED
THIS IS BETTER https://github.com/natinusala/painless-linux

I've successfully booted ArchLinux using ShofEL2. Here is a quick guide on how to do it - I'll assume you're computer literate and know how to use a terminal / Linux commands / git.
Everything is taken from the README of the ShofEL2 repo so if you want to go even faster, go read that instead.

Thanks to NightHammer1000 and Y2K-x for the help !

There is a simplified and faster version of this tutorial available here, with precompiled binaries so you don't have to build everything : https://github.com/SoulCipher/shofel2_linux

The result

Without a SD card ("waiting for root device mmcblk0p2") : https://photos.app.goo.gl/7y6ut5ObuHMUIMZg2
Stock Arch Linux : https://photos.app.goo.gl/yALqe3zMZRe2dSQf1
Arch Linux with LXDE : https://photos.app.goo.gl/xaEgRqeSi8jvAwpz5
RetroArch running : https://photos.app.goo.gl/vBLPo5wiBto1qiUH3
Arch Linux with GNOME : https://gbatemp.net/attachments/img_0005-jpg.121608/
Arch Linux with KDE : https://gbatemp.net/attachments/img_20180427_121605-jpg.121666/

What works / what doesn't

• Desktop environment : Gnome, LXDE, KDE
• Wi-Fi : works
  • You will need to reboot your Switch and run the exploit again to make the Wi-Fi work (it never works on the first boot)
  • Then enter the Network Manager Application and add your network from there
  • If it doesn't work, you will need to edit the configuration on the host computer (see the additional notes at the end of this post)
  • With LXDE : Can cause a kernel panic if used at the same time as Bluetooth
• Bluetooth : works but Joy-Cons can't be paired
• Touch screen : works, although LXDE is not very touch-friendly
• Audio : doesn't work yet
• GPU acceleration : works (via mesa), with OpenGL (and maybe Vulkan too ?)
• Joy-Cons : not recognized
• Volume buttons : working with Gnome but not doing anything since there is no audio device
• Power button : doesn't do anything, no sleep mode, no graceful shutdown
• USB : doesn't work
• Dock : not tested yet, but I bet it doesn't do anything besides charging the battery
• Power management / battery level : working with Gnome

What you'll need

• A computer running Linux with a blue USB SuperSpeed port, or a Mac
  • A Linux VM can work in theory, but it depends on how the USB passthrough is implemented (apparently VMWare works, VirtualBox doesn't)
• A USB A-to-C cable (with data support, obviously)
  • be careful as cheap cables were reported to work randomly / not work at all
• Some time (you know, Linux is kinda large)

Prep work

First, you'll need to install the required toolchains. Open this link and download the tar.gz binaries for

• aarch64-linux-gnu
  
• arm-linux-gnueabi

Be careful to choose the right architecture for your PC (for me it was x86_64 so "gcc-linaro-7.2.1-2017.11-x86_64_arm-linux-gnueabi.tar.xz").

Once you have them, extract them somewhere nice and add the "bin" (not "lib" as I previously stated) folder of both toolchains to your PATH ("$ export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/toolchain1/lib:/path/to/toolchain2/lib"). The building process won't work otherwise.

Then, install those dependencies (how to install them and their name might depend on your distribution) :

• build-essential (sorry I didn't add it it was obvious to me)
• libssl-dev
  
• swig
• bison
• pkg-config
  
• flex
• zlib1g-dev
  
• python3
• python-dev
  
• python3-pip
• pyusb 1.0.0 : "$ sudo pip3 install pyusb==1.0.0"
• libusb-1.0-0-dev

Compiling

Clone each required repository :

$ git clone https://github.com/fail0verflow/shofel2.git
$ git clone --recursive --depth=1 https://github.com/fail0verflow/switch-coreboot.git coreboot
$ git clone https://github.com/fail0verflow/switch-u-boot.git u-boot
$ git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/fail0verflow/switch-linux.git linux
$ git clone https://github.com/boundarydevices/imx_usb_loader.git

You can grab a coffee or two because Linux has more than 5 million files to download.

Then, build everything :

$ cd shofel2/exploit
$ make

$ cd u-boot
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
$ make nintendo-switch_defconfig
$ make

$ cd coreboot
$ make nintendo_switch_defconfig
$ make iasl
$ make

If you have a tegra_mtc.bin file error, you'll have to extract it from a Pixel C stock image :
"$ ./build/util/cbfstool/cbfstool bootloader-dragon-google_smaug.7900.97.0.img extract -n fallback/tegra_mtc -f tegra_mtc.bin"

Or you can download it directly from here : https://0w0.st/tegra_mtc.bin (thanks to @CptPotato for uploading this)

You'll have to put it in the "coreboot/src/soc/nvidia/tegra210" directory.

$ cd imx_usb_loader
$ git reset --hard 0a322b01cacf03e3be727e3e4c3d46d69f2e343e
$ make

The big one :

$ cd linux
$ export ARCH=arm64
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
$ make nintendo-switch_defconfig
$ make

If you encounter issues about a missing rule "/lib/firmware/nvidia/tegra210/vic04_ucode.bin" for the target "firmware" you'll have to :

• install the firmware-misc-nonfree package
• if you can't install it, or if it still doesn't work, download the package manually from debian sid and extract the file "/lib/firmware/nvidia/tegra210/vic04_ucode.bin" (from the root of your PC, not on the cloned repo) from the DEB (and chmod it if needed)

If you encounter issues about a missing rule "/lib/firmware/brcm/brcmfmac4356-pcie.txt", download this file and put it in "/lib/firmware/brcm/" (from the root of your PC, not on the cloned repo)

Building the rootfs

This is the annoying part. Download the archive / image corresponding to the distribution you want to use :

• Stock Arch Linux (useless without UART, you can't even log in) : http://os.archlinuxarm.org/os/ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz
• Arch Linux with LXDE and touch screen support (credits to @Gigaa) :
  • Without hardware acceleration : https://0w0.st/rootfs.tar.bz2
  • With hardware acceleration : https://0w0.st/rootfs2.tar.bz2
  • With hardware acceleration, Chromium and sudo : https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VIH3GWtBrM4uuVQOQopASYZy4x3Jw1Uv
• Arch Linux with Gnome (credits to @00Cancer) : https://0w0.st/gnome__rootfs.tar.bz2
• (Recommended) Arch Linux with KDE and GPU power management service (credits to @Gigaa) : https://0w0.st/KDE_rootfs3.tar.bz2
• Ubuntu 18.04 (you'll have to build the image yourself) : https://github.com/cmsj/nintendo-switch-ubuntu-builder

If it's a tarball you just downloaded

While it's downloading, you'll have to take a microSD card and, using the software of your choice (I used GParted) :

• remove every existing partition to only have unallocated space on it (do I need to tell you that you're going to loose everything on the card ?)
• create a tiny FAT32 partition (I chose 200mb but it doesn't matter) - that'll be mmcbkl0p1, you can label it "garbage"
• create an ext4 partition on the remaining part of the card - that'll be mmcblk0p2, you can label it "rootfs"
• it's important that the FAT32 partition comes first and the ext4 one comes after - on the Switch, Linux will look for mmcblk0p2, the second partition, if you have scrolling boot logs and then back to RCM it means you did it wrong

Once the rootfs tarball is downloaded, you can simple extract it to the mounting point of the ext4 partition you just created :

$ tar xvf ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz -C /mounting/point/of/ext4/partition && sync
$ cp ArchLinuxARM-aarch64-latest.tar.gz /mounting/point/of/ext4/partition/root && sync

("/mounting/point/of/ext4/partition/root" is the "root" directory on the partition)

Don't forget to properly eject the SD Card !

If "tar xvf" doesn't work for you you can install "bsdtar" and use "bsdtar -xpf" instead

Then you can put the SD card in the console.

If it's a img / bin file you just downloaded

You can simply write it on your SD card using :

• If you're on Windows, Ether or Win32DiskImager
• If you're on Linux / Mac OS : "sudo dd if=yourimage.img of=/dev/sdX && sync" where /dev/sdX is the device of your SD card (unmounted)

You will probably want to open a partition manager to resize the ext4 partition once it's flashed, so that it fits your SD card.

Then you can put the SD card in the console.

Booting linux

Run the exploit :

$ cd shofel2/exploit
$ sudo ./shofel2.py cbfs.bin ../../coreboot/build/coreboot.rom

Your terminal should now be waiting for the Switch to enter RCM mode.

To do so : (I don't have pictures but that's the same method as fusée gelée, just look at some video tutorials)

• plug the Switch on your PC using the USB A-to-C cable - use a blue SuperSpeed port if you have one
• shut it down
• remove the right joy-con
• using a method of your choice, short the 10th pin of the right joy-con (the last pin on the right, away from the screen, closer to the back) with the ground : that can be pin 1, 2 or 7, that can also be a screw on the joy-con rack or the console's fan - I personnaly stick a RPi jumper wire in the fan and touch the 10th pin on the other side, works everytime (like this)
• keep the pins shorted and power the Switch while pressing the volume UP button

If it worked, the console will show a black screen and you'll see the exploit running on your terminal. If you see the Nintendo logo, it has failed. You can power off the console and try again.

Then, run those last commands :

$ cd shofel2/usb_loader
$ ../../u-boot/tools/mkimage -A arm64 -T script -C none -n "boot.scr" -d switch.scr switch.scr.img
$ sudo ../../imx_usb_loader/imx_usb -c .

Linux should then boot on your console - first the boot logs with the penguins, and then an ArchLinux login prompt. Voilà !
Again, if you have the boot logs and then a black screen, it means you did the SD card part wrong.

Additional notes

Hardware graphics acceleration

The most recents image already contain this fix.

To add mesa drivers install this package using pacman :
https://0w0.st/mesa-full-tegra-r101876.bf5e0276b6-1-aarch64.pkg.tar.xz

You will need a working internet connection to do so.

Then, use this script to choose your power profile : https://0w0.st/power.sh

Full speed RAM

According to the blog post ("Linux on Switch boot chain" section), you need to extract a file from a Pixel C factory image in order to have the RAM working at full speed. I didn't do it so I won't cover it here.

Fixing calibration issues of the touch screen (thanks to @Wizardy)

To fix calibration issues of the touch screen, edit the file /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.confg (of the rootfs)

And change the InputClass section to :

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "evdev touchscreen catchall"
        MatchIsTouchscreen "on"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Driver "evdev"
        Option "InvertX" "no"
        Option "InvertY" "yes"
        Option "SwapAxes" "yes"
        Option "Calibration" "0 1279 0 719"
EndSection

Wi-Fi

To setup Wi-Fi, mount the rootfs partition on your host PC and edit the configuration for your network in the file "/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections" (if it doesn't exist, take Gigaspot).

To have a working Wi-Fi you must reboot your Switch and run the exploit again each time you power it off

Moving the rootfs to another partition

If you want to move the rootfs to another partition on your SD card, edit the "shofel2/usb_loader/switch.scr" file and replace "/dev/mmcblk0p2" by the partition you want to use.

 

[Hydr8gon]

Shiny Quagsire made a Joy-Con driver for Linux, which can be found on GitHub here. I applied the patches to the fail0verflow kernel, but it doesn't seem to be working for me. Anyone else want to give it a go? It's kind of hard for me to test right now anyways, since my Switch is at such a low battery and it keeps dying.

 

[Hydr8gon]

Alright, I've got it "working". Turns out the defconfig wasn't configured properly, as Shiny Quagsire mentioned it might be on Twitter. The reason I use quotations is, at least in my experience, it doesn't work properly. The device shows up, and the log seems to show that the Joy-Cons are detected when I insert them, but I get a bunch of timeout spam and the left joystick keeps spamming input. Maybe someone else will have better luck? If you want to compile it yourself, I've got everything set up on my GitHub here. I've also attached my compiled kernel to this post. I do not take credit for this! All I did was compile it and fix a simple oversight in the defconfig. Massive credit to Shiny Quagsire!

 

[natinusala]

What did you fix in the defconfig to make it work ?

 

[Hydr8gon]

What did you fix in the defconfig to make it work ?

Check my GitHub (I linked it in the previous post). All it was missing was the line:

CONFIG_INPUT_JOYSTICK=y

 

[natinusala]

Isn't it already in one of the the patches ?

 

[Hydr8gon]

Isn't it already in one of the the patches ?

The line included in the patch was

CONFIG_JOYSTICK_JOYCON=y

which is specific to the Joy-Con driver, but the line I added is for the joystick drivers in general. Without it, any and all joystick drivers will be skipped during compilation.

 

[Hydr8gon]

Here's a visual representation of what's happening to me. I got the joystick fully mapped, but it keeps spamming left and down inputs. I'm unable to map anything else because of the spam.

 

[natinusala]

How about the buttons ?

 

[Hydr8gon]

How about the buttons ?

I was able to get the buttons on the left Joy-Con mapped by manually editing the Dolphin .ini file, but I wasn't getting anything from the right Joy-Con.

 

[natinusala]

I'm not able to make this work ; in dmesg I have "joycon init" but nothing more. How should it be used ? Should it boot with or without joy-cons attached ? Does it matter ?

 

[Hydr8gon]

I'm not able to make this work ; in dmesg I have "joycon init" but nothing more. How should it be used ? Should it boot with or without joy-cons attached ? Does it matter ?

I booted with them attached, but it shouldn't matter. I detached and reattached multiple times while Linux was running and input was still coming through. What program(s) are you testing with? I only tried with Dolphin. Keep in mind I wasn't able to get it to a usable state. I might look into fixing some of the issues if I have some time later, but I have no experience programming drivers so I really have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[natinusala]

I'm on Lakka right now so it's a bit of a shot in the dark. I feel like I should see something in dmesg, the driver is full of printk...

Could you do a little bit of diagnosis for me ? Does jstest work for at least the left joycon ? Do you have a /dev/input/js0 corresponding to the joycons ? Is it using udev ?

 

[Hydr8gon]

I'm on Lakka right now so it's a bit of a shot in the dark. I feel like I should see something in dmesg, the driver is full of printk...

Could you do a little bit of diagnosis for me ? Does jstest work for at least the left joycon ? Do you have a /dev/input/js0 corresponding to the joycons ? Is it using udev ?

It could be your OS then. You should see tons of log spam, either waiting for handshake with the Joy-Con or timeout messages if they're connected. I don't have jstest installed, but I can tell you that the Joy-Cons are tied to /dev/input/js0. Again, even when it "works", it doesn't work well. Here's me trying to walk around in Paper Mario:

I have the face buttons set to the D-pad, which seems to work apart from an occasional dropped input, but as you can see the joystick is completely unusable. Quagsire's videos show it working well enough to be usable, so I'm not sure what's going on here. I'll see if I can make any improvements, but again, no promises.

 

[natinusala]

Okay, thank you ! I must be missing something then. I'll try to message Shiny to ask him what's required to run the driver.

Just to be sure : you applied the patches to F0F"s kernel and it worked out of the box, right ? You only added two lines to the configuration file ?

 

[Hydr8gon]

Okay, thank you ! I must be missing something then. I'll try to message Shiny to ask him what's required to run the driver.

Just to be sure : you applied the patches to F0F"s kernel and it worked out of the box, right ? You only added two lines to the configuration file ?

I applied both patches and then added the missing defconfig line, yes. So I assume you're building yourself then? Make sure you use both the newly compiled Image.gz AND tegra210-nintendo-switch.dtb, as they both have changes to them.

 

[natinusala]

Well yeah I build everything myself, you can try here if you want to : https://github.com/lakka-switch/Lakka-LibreELEC/tree/Lakka-V2.1-dev/projects/Switch (be careful it takes 6-8h to build the first time). The build script creates an image you can directly burn with the kernel, boot.scr and device tree ready to boot with Painless Linux, so in theory the dtb should be updated too.

 

[Deleted User]

Well yeah I build everything myself, you can try here if you want to : https://github.com/lakka-switch/Lakka-LibreELEC/tree/Lakka-V2.1-dev/projects/Switch (be careful it takes 6-8h to build the first time). The build script creates an image you can directly burn with the kernel, boot.scr and device tree ready to boot with Painless Linux, so in theory the dtb should be updated too.

you may need to ask shiny on twitter whats wrong with the drivers

 

[natinusala]

There's nothing wrong with them, there's something wrong with me.

 

[Deleted User]

There's nothing wrong with them, there's something wrong with me.

why

 

[Hydr8gon]

I got the left Joy-Con fully working! Unfortunately due to my limited knowledge on the subject, I probably won't be able to get the right one working. But for now, this is at least enough to mess around in some emulators. The quick fix is available here on my GitHub. I've attached the new kernel to this post. This one also has the log spam disabled.