Hardware Mig Switch on Switch 2

[Inaki]

Guys, please stop being dumb about voltages, express card vs microSD etc.

Switch cartridges are UPDATEABLE. (The Lotus 3 chip inside them).

https://switchbrew.org/wiki/Lotus3

I believe that Nintendo have identified the spoofed Lotus3 checks and thus have "blocked" them on SW2, in order to weed the "mig-flash" out and render it useless, they no longer accept the cartridges with the old Lotus3 code.

I believe they are forcing an update to our SW1 Game Lotus 3 chips upon insert into the SW2....

When you insert a SW1 - do you at all notice how it updates and how fast it is?

Just saying.

Updating the card READER, not the card itself. AFAIK Switch 1 carts are read only.

 

[Ettino]

Can someone attempt to solder a switch1 cartridge reader on the switch2.

I have a feeling older switch1 cartridges will work and switch2 cartridges will be undetectable due to a new security key like the ixtreme/mtkflash days of the xbox360.

The new switch2 has the cartridge reader soldered to the actual mainboard.

Why don't you? Stuff like this doesn't run on your feeling.

 

[SylverReZ]

I've seen so much misinformation - THE MIG SWITCH DOES NOT BRICK YOUR CONSOLE. We have proof in this thread that it doesn't. Yet some people still say that.

I agree, this thread has overblown way out of proportion because nobody has ever seen proof that it bricks the console than to constantly make assumptions. Somebody had already confirmed it that it does NOT brick your console, but instead brings up an error if you try to launch any game from the MIG Switch (link).

Misinformation like that other guy once posted before he got banned is one of the reasons why it puts the scene in a bad light. If you're going to backup your claims, always provide definitive proof.

 

[Prof0nWear]

Also a theory...

MIG can show the game on screen, clearly it is reading the cart...

However, the MIG now contains a button... the GND and CD (Card Detect) are split...

No other cartridge is like this, perhaps this is being used to detect it?

 

[SecureBoot]

Also a theory...

MIG can show the game on screen, clearly it is reading the cart...

However, the MIG now contains a button... the GND and CD (Card Detect) are split...

No other cartridge is like this, perhaps this is being used to detect it?

The original MIGs didn't have this button

 

[Viri]

I agree, this thread has overblown way out of proportion because nobody has ever seen proof that it bricks the console than to constantly make assumptions. Somebody had already confirmed it that it does NOT brick your console, but instead brings up an error if you try to launch any game from the MIG Switch (link).

The bricking rumor was weird. I don't see Nintendo ever doing such a thing, because there are tons of false positives that could brick tons of Switch 2s, with users that don't even know what a flash cart even is.

 

[Prof0nWear]

The original MIGs didn't have this button

And who exactly has tested it with an OG one?

 

[Inaki]

And who exactly has tested it with an OG one?

He is using an original/v1 MiG Switch there, not a v2, no game cycle button.

 

[Prof0nWear]

He is using an original/v1 MiG Switch there, not a v2, no game cycle button.

Ok so it’s purely a timing/challange response difference - the cart is being read, how else on earth would it appear on sw2, just can’t boot for whatever reason, defo expect it to work with a firmware update

 

[Gorexx]

Has anyone tried installing a Switch 1 cartridge game on the Switch 2 first, then copying a backup of the exact cartridge to the MIG and launching it on the Switch 2?

All Switch 1 games must first install an update on the Switch 2 to even run on it. So, I'd be interested to know if it might work that way.

 

[Inaki]

Ok so it’s purely a timing/challange response difference - the cart is being read, how else on earth would it appear on sw2, just can’t boot for whatever reason, defo expect it to work with a firmware update

Yes, we have already speculated it is detecting it or just failing afterwards. Evidently it works initially since the image, name and so on are initially read properly. Now, if it is an on purpose detection, one potential difference between Switch 1 and Switch 2 is the cart reader being able to work at higher speeds... and carts are said to be able to go faster than what the Switch 1 cart reader does...

Post automatically merged: Jun 8, 2025

Has anyone tried installing a Switch 1 cartridge game on the Switch 2 first, then copying a backup of the exact cartridge to the MIG and launching it on the Switch 2?

All Switch 1 games must first install an update on the Switch 2 to even run on it. So, I'd be interested to know if it might work that way.

Another thing that may be a factor but I guess it was already tested is having a microSD express ( on the Switch 2 itself, not talking about using it in the MiG Switch here ) inserted, for the game updates or digital games we are supposed to use microSD express in the Switch 2, am I wrong ?

 

[Prof0nWear]

Yes, we have already speculated it is detecting it or just failing afterwards. Evidently it works initially since the image, name and so on are initially read properly. Now, if it is an on purpose detection, one potential difference between Switch 1 and Switch 2 is the cart reader being able to work at higher speeds... and carts are said to be able to go faster than what the Switch 1 cart reader does...

Post automatically merged: Jun 8, 2025

Another thing that may be a factor but I guess it was already tested is having a microSD express ( on the Switch 2 itself, not talking about using it in the MiG Switch here ) inserted, for the game updates or digital games we are supposed to use microSD express in the Switch 2, am I wrong ?

Down to mig now.

But I don't like piracy eitherway.

 

[DSlite2]

Has anyone tried installing a Switch 1 cartridge game on the Switch 2 first, then copying a backup of the exact cartridge to the MIG and launching it on the Switch 2?

All Switch 1 games must first install an update on the Switch 2 to even run on it. So, I'd be interested to know if it might work that way.

That is a good question.

Something else I have been wondering is if Nintendo is testing to see if they are able to write to the cartridge. And if they can, it blocks the game from loading.

What if making the microsd card read only after the games are added would work?

 

[SecureBoot]

That is a good question.

Something else I have been wondering is if Nintendo is testing to see if they are able to write to the cartridge. And if they can, it blocks the game from loading.

What if making the microsd card read only after the games are added would work?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure switch cartridges are firmly read only. Any updates that happen when putting a switch 1 games in a switch 2 are installed to the nand. Case in point, I put my MIG in my switch 2 and it started installing files on my nand that I can see in data management despite never putting the original cartridge in

 

[DSlite2]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure switch cartridges are firmly read only. Any updates that happen when putting a switch 1 games in a switch 2 are installed to the nand. Case in point, I put my MIG in my switch 2 and it started installing files on my nand that I can see in data management despite never putting the original cartridge in

I was referring to the MiG Switch cartridge.

Maybe Nintendo has identified that they can write to a MiG Switch cartridge.

I’m wondering if Nintendo is testing to see if the cartridge inserted is read only like it should be.

and if they are able to write to the cartridge, then they block it from loading the game.

 

[Prof0nWear]

I was referring to the MiG Switch cartridge.

Maybe Nintendo has identified that they can write to a MiG Switch cartridge.

I’m wondering if Nintendo is testing to see if the cartridge inserted is read only like it should be.

and if they are able to write to the cartridge, then they block it from loading the game.

I'd doubt they could as the writing is handled by the FPGA - not the switch.

What would be good, is if someone could reverse engineer the mig switch file...

 

[l7777]

Why does everyone assume they have ideas that the Mig Switch folks don't? I'm sure they'd like to make it work on the Switch 2 and are hard at work testing things. The demand would be through the roof if they get it.

 

[Inaki]

Why does everyone assume they have ideas that the Mig Switch folks don't? I'm sure they'd like to make it work on the Switch 2 and are hard at work testing things. The demand would be through the roof if they get it.

No one is assuming that, the speculations we are talking about are all potential scenarios where, of course, MiG Team would know. We are just talking about potential things MiG Team would already be working on or could work on, albeit IF the current hardware can support the potential/speculated fixes via fw update ( or, otherwise, via a hardware revision ).

 

[Moromoromoro]

That is a good question.

Something else I have been wondering is if Nintendo is testing to see if they are able to write to the cartridge. And if they can, it blocks the game from loading.

What if making the microsd card read only after the games are added would work?

I only logged in to reply to this comment. It is a wild assumption but it does not seem too weird in my opinion

Because switch 2 use emulation for switch1 and they could not physically alter cartridges to tackle this issue because they are read-only it is quite possible the emulator sends a command that the original cartridge would send false while the mig would return true. large SD adapter did come with the SD write lock so maybe locking the SD into read only would make it possible to read? unless its not the SD but rather the ARM they using inside to simulate lotus3 is triggering error. I give this idea 1% chance of working. It appears that all 8 data lines on the GC are in/out so maybe commands into cartridge can be sent?

Also would it be possible to hook up spectrum analyser into GC slot into data lines to simulate a copy of a real game read vs dump and see where the difference is?

 

[Kubas_inko]

I only logged in to reply to this comment. It is a wild assumption but it does not seem too weird in my opinion

Because switch 2 use emulation for switch1 and they could not physically alter cartridges to tackle this issue because they are read-only it is quite possible the emulator sends a command that the original cartridge would send false while the mig would return true. large SD adapter did come with the SD write lock so maybe locking the SD into read only would make it possible to read? unless its not the SD but rather the ARM they using inside to simulate lotus3 is triggering error. I give this idea 1% chance of working. It appears that all 8 data lines on the GC are in/out so maybe commands into cartridge can be sent?

Also would it be possible to hook up spectrum analyser into GC slot into data lines to simulate a copy of a real game read vs dump and see where the difference is?

But the Mig Switch (or any flash card for that matter) is not just an SD card in place of a cartridge. There are FPGAs/ASICs that do all the heavy work to make the Switch think a valid gamecard is in there. I doubt that they implemented any sort of writing commands into the flash card if it was not needed for Switch 1 cartridges. More work to achieve nothing.