This thread is outdated
A lot of information in this thread is heavilly out of date.
If you have time, and have Staff permission, feel free to edit this thread and remove this statement once necessary.

Some information that needs to be addressed:

• SX OS and Atmosphere now supports proper LayeredFS, instructions for using it has changed since this tutorial was made
• Supported Firmware information is out of date
• LFSKit needs to be updated to properly support non 5.x.x firmware
• Compatability chart needs to be re-made

-PRAGMA

WARNING

• DO NOT GO ONLINE WHEN DOING THIS (YOU WILL BE BANNED)

How to use LayeredFS for Backup Loading

Firmware Supported: ONLY 5.x.x
Use the PRAGMA LFS Kit below.

PRAGMA's LFS Kit

DOWNLOAD
SOURCE

• Go from NOTHING in your SD Card to playing a game backup in a few clicks!
• Decrypt .XCI -> romfs/exefs folder with main.nmpd auto edited aswell as folder's name auto renamed to donor titleid
• Download NOTHING except LFSKit!

ENJOY!

Picking a Donor Title and getting Donor TitleIDRunning Game Backups!

1. 
   
   1. A donor title is the application we will run to open the backup.
      Pick a game you don't care about (Download a Demo or a free game from eShop, for example Octopath Demo)
      saves are something no one knows much about, we don't fully know where or how they are stored.
      They might overwrite the donor titles save, so seriously pick a game you DONT care about, not a game you rarely play.
      
      
   2. I also recommend picking a donor title/game combo that has been tested and reported working just so you know if YOU did something wrong or not.
   3. Find the TitleID of the donor title you chose from http://nswdb.com or http://switchbrew.org/index.php?title=Title_list/Games
      Region must be the same, choose the TitleID for the base-game NOT for the update title, even if your updated.
2. 
   
   1. Once again, boot into Hekate-IPL (Step 1).
   2. Enter "Launch firmware" and select "RomFS".
   3. Your now in your system's home menu.
   4. Open the Donor Title you set the TitleID of on that folder and .npmd file earlier.
   5. The game will load up flawlessly.
      If you opened the Title lets say, Fortnite, and Fortnite booted, the titleid of the folder in sd:/atmosphere/titles/{fortnitetitleid} doesnt exist, or doesnt start with 0100.
      If it gives you an error screen, either you didnt edit the main.npmd properly, or its an incompatible title/donor combo.
   To see which games work and which dont using which donor titles, look below.
   If you notice that you used a combination of Game and Donor title that isnt in the list below, post in the thread and I will add it. (look under to see what I need to add to chart).
   

Troubleshooting

• Black Screen/Infinitely Loading
  Leave it for around 5 minutes then press the home button and go back into the game without closing it. Often this can do the job.
• Freeze when Loading
  Close the game and try again, its a common occurence, you may have to try up to 4-5 times before getting it to work, sometimes you may even have to reboot between retries.

 

[Sgt. Lulz]

Hey, just adding a few precisions there.
You don't need to use copyrighted stuff for layeredfs, you can patch your own kernel.
Here's the source code for it (the full one, credits to Scires and Reswitched for fusee-secondary): kernelpatcher.zip, you need VS2017.
Thanks again to someone for sharing the binary without my permission and not sharing the full code with it, especially on Simon's server.
The real binary: kernelpatches.exe (others may be virus'd, we never know).
Just put a 5.x kernel.bin in the directory, you can get it with hactool and your package2 (remove the leading 0s with a hex editor).

Thanks a plenty for the actual source package, this is exactly what I was waiting for. I'm not keen on running random binaries, with no building steps or source provided, and no behavioral/heuristic scanners available for the target platform.
To anyone else attempting to self-build (because this took me a frustratingly long time to realize): There's a few IPC changes to Libnx in this pull request, you'll need them before attempting to build Stratosphère: https://github.com/switchbrew/libnx/pull/112
As well as stubbing out all calls for Exosphère variables so it won't go fatal instantly.

 

[luzi51]

game: Fate Extella The Umbrella Star
donor: Fortnite
boot: No (Black Screen)
save: No

game: Fate Extella The Umbrella Star
donor: Fallout Shelter
boot: No (Black Screen)
save: No

game: Fate Extella The Umbrella Star
donor: Super Mario Odyssey
boot: Yes
save: Yes
Note: At boot of the game, have visual glitch with switch load, just press Home and resume game (no rebbot, just resume)

P.S: Sorry for my bad english

 

[runetoonxx2]

whats oceanhorn demos title id
i cant find it 0-0

 

[Space Dog]

Hello i have one question, if i replace one game that game the original game can't be played again?

 

[Manarte]

i am using hekate_ctcaer_2.3.bin but it seems i dont have enough space to dump my nand to the sd card thnaks aniway thomasnet just need to wait for a better backup loader

 

[TotalJustice]

game: Disgaea 5
donor: octopath demo
boot: Yasssss
save: YASSSSS

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

whats oceanhorn demos title id
i cant find it 0-0

010090B005150000

http://switchbrew.org/index.php?title=Title_list/Games

 

[Ty_]

Tried a bunch of demos with Doom (Blaster Master, Disgaea 5, Heroes of the Monkey Tavern), nothing.

Rocket League had the most success but it crashed as it tried to load the game profile

 

[runetoonxx2]

im blackscreening on bayonetta with oceanhorn????

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

it says it works on front

 

[PRAGMA]

Yep, it's 1-Normal-Main. And you do need the keys, I just didn't specify the options because I put them in ~/.switch/prod.keys.

Added to tutorial. Now I dont need to tell people to "find" a patched kernal and its now still allowed as I didnt upload any copyrighted files

 

[hammy7774]

A.O.T 2 is working , donor game : Robonauts , saves are not working, when saving the game freezes.
Also got Mario + Rabbits working with Robonauts and Fallout Shelter, Doom is booting but at creating a save file it freezes ( so before the menu).

 

[serenewarfare]

Can confirm what an earlier poster said

Donor: Stardew Valley
Game: Kirby: Star Allies
Boots: Yes
Saves: Yes

 

[Namelocked]

Anyone tryed south Park yet ? And when yes wich donor i need?

 

[Ty_]

Tried Puyo Puyo Tetris with the following demos, all were stuck at the Switch loading screen:

Rayman Legends
Puyo Puyo tetris
blaster master
pokken dx

My workflow for testing these and changing donors has gotten rapid though

 

[Happis]

For Binding of Isaac, cant tell what donors you used, can you properly list them please?

For The Binding of Isaac doners: Fallout Shelter / Bayonetta 2 / Bayonetta 1 / Oxenfree / Snipperclips

 

[Zumoly]

Game: NBA 2K18
Boots: No
Donor: Super Mario Odyssey & Pokemon Quest.
Firmware: 5.1.0
Saves: N/A
Notes: Using both Super Mario Odyssey & Pokemon Quest as donors, NBA 2K18 opens up, the Nintendo switch loading icon is in the bottom right corner. It slows down then fades to black. Nothing but a black screen is shown afterward.

I think for this game there are more files to download (22 GB I think).

 

[PRAGMA]

I can now safely say the tutorial is now 100% definitive.
Every instruction is bang on, no having to find a kernal thats patched, no having to find keys, no having to figure out hactool, just step by step instructions from nothing on your SD card and no titles at all on your switch -> running a backup.

 

[Ty_]

I can now safely say the tutorial is now 100% definitive.
Every instruction is bang on, no having to find a kernal thats patched, no having to find keys, no having to figure out hactool, just step by step instructions from nothing on your SD card and no titles at all on your switch -> running a backup.

There was a couple of spots I got stuck, probably from my own incompetence though. I'll agree its a cracking guide

 

[Zumoly]

Better create a txt file with the donor game title ID and below it redirected games. Check it on the phone before launch. As far I know each reboot only allows one game to be layered.

 

[Khangaroo]

star allies loads on pokemon quest without saving and does not load on fallout shelter

 

[shabbypenguin]

Better create a txt file with the donor game title ID and below it redirected games. Check it on the phone before launch. As far I know each reboot only allows one game to be layered.

i posted a video allowing 2 different games to be layered, not sure how it worked out or why it does though...