Hacking My Switch unit has been replaced with a refurbished ipatched one

[Worldblender]

Today, after having sent in my old Switch unit last week (shipped to a Nintendo-authorized repair center on July 19), I received a refurbished one. It has the serial number of XAW94100xxxxxx. To my disappointment, this unit is ipatched, but I don't know if the stock OS version is <= 4.1.0. It seems more likely that this unit has 8.1.0 installed instead, but I can't test as I have no Joy-Cons to use. I tried the fusee-test.bin, and the screen didn't light up, and Hekate 5.0.0 didn't work either. That's how I determined that my new unit is ipatched.
The problem I had with my old unit was not something I could fix myself (but at least I had some fun with L4T Ubuntu while I had it), so a repair center was my only choice if I wanted to try saving money.

I need to know what I should do next so that I can utilize downloaded ROM images (Switch games, whether cartridge or digital) and not let them get wasted. For now, I want to keep things simple by not messing around with OS versions (prefer latest whenever possible), and I don't plan on doing online play. If I have to sell this unit and get another one, I don't want to spend more than the cost of a new Switch unit at ~$300. Someone help me, please, before I give up and go back to playing open-source games.

 

[EmulateLife]

System settings > system will tell you the firmware it's on. If it is ipatched and it's on 8 you're totally screwed, if it's 7 or less you have a chance to maybe get the Deja Vu hack eventually, and if you're on 4.1 or less you can use Deja Vu.

 

[Worldblender]

System settings > system will tell you the firmware it's on. If it is ipatched and it's on 8 you're totally screwed, if it's 7 or less you have a chance to maybe get the Deja Vu hack eventually, and if you're on 4.1 or less you can use Deja Vu.

I can't do that right now, because I have no Joy-Cons to help me complete the setup (the unit is stuck on the insert Joy-Cons screen).

 

[EmulateLife]

Well without knowing that there's no way to know if your Switch is hackable or not.

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Actually I just remembered did you try using touch screen?

But if that's not possible, you know what you need to do. You can't do much without joycons anyway.

 

[Kafluke]

Why dont you have joycons? How do you plan on playing any games? Just buy some online.

 

[Worldblender]

Why dont you have joycons? How do you plan on playing any games? Just buy some online.

I bought my original unit in a broken state, without other accessories, so I have to start from the ground-up.

Well without knowing that there's no way to know if your Switch is hackable or not.

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Actually I just remembered did you try using touch screen?

But if that's not possible, you know what you need to do. You can't do much without joycons anyway.

I will have to make it to a local store to get Joy-Cons, and I will report back on my findings after getting a pair. All accessories I buy I can save them for another Switch unit if I have to get another one.

 

[LucasM3]

Wouldn't you have been better off getting a complete unit from the start?

 

[Worldblender]

Wouldn't you have been better off getting a complete unit from the start?

I would have if possible, but at the time I bought it in May, I was trying to get something that fit within a $100 gift card and ~$25 of PayPal balance (only one credit or debit card can be used per transaction), and cheaped out in the process. My lesson learned is that I must not cheap out on everything I buy.
Again, attached is a PDF of the original eBay listing for my old unit (I paid $120 total, only $3 more than the $117.99 my mom paid in total for the repair).

 

[EmulateLife]

So with the repair, you paid $237.99. You could have gotten a complete used unit for that or a little bit more.

 

[LucasM3]

So with the repair, you paid $237.99. You could have gotten a complete used unit for that or a little bit more.

Damn, that was insane.

 

[Worldblender]

So with the repair, you paid $237.99. You could have gotten a complete used unit for that or a little bit more.

Well, I was rushing to get a unit for myself at that time. I was trying to spend within limits, so I did what I could. Luckily, when I go back to school on August 26, I will have more book voucher money that I can get gift cards of up to $200 with, and then use them for whatever I want/need. I tend to get discouraged if I can't beat another person's bid quickly enough, and then become fearful of paying too much that my mom may not approve of.

 

[LucasM3]

Bidding is almost likely gambling and you NEED to win. Don't fall into that trap again.

 

[x65943]

Sell this switch for as much as you can, and get a hackable one when you get your book voucher money

 

[LucasM3]

Sell this switch for as much as you can, and get a hackable one when you get your book voucher money

That would be best to recover some money into his paypal then with the voucher he should have enough.

 

[Worldblender]

Okay, I was able to make it to a local GameStop to borrow Joy-Cons to complete the setup (I didn't buy them in the end). As I predicted, it came with the latest firmware version, 8.1.0. So there's definitely no hacking the unit I have for the time being... . I wonder what I will do now...

 

[stephrk398]

If I have to sell this unit and get another one, I don't want to spend more than the cost of a new Switch unit at ~$300

Check ebay listings from sellers who don't advertise it as a 'hackable switch' and politely ask them for the serial number via direct messages. I just got a brand new unopened one for $295 with that method.

 

[Worldblender]

Fun fact: the refurbished Switch unit has some parts from the old one, as all the scratches from it are present on the refurbished one, so good on the technicians who did the repair. It's also eco-friendly: reuse what's working when possible.
Now for my next plan: Sell the refurbished Switch unit I have, and try to get another working unpatched unit later on. Thanks to all who guided me on what I should do!

 

[LucasM3]

It was nice that gamestop let you use their joycons to test. The ones here won't usually let you do that.

 

[Clapmaster]

So with the repair, you paid $237.99. You could have gotten a complete used unit for that or a little bit more.

I just bought a hackable Grade A condition unit for $180. It's just the console and no joycons or dock but I already have that stuff. Super happy with the purchase. There was only one scratch on the back plate and I took that off and put one of those pink soft touch ones from amazon on and did the joycons too. Giving it to my wife for her birthday next week so we can both play Pokemon in November.

 

[Reecey]

Sorry to here your story but to be honest with you bud you would of been better buying a separate tablet of eBay than paying Nintendo what you did for a replacement. I know this doesn’t help but it was inevitable Nintendo sending a replacement ipatched tablet on the latest firmware.