Hacking Question Need some clarifications before hacking brand new Switch

[newkind]

Hi,

I've got some questions that I wasn't able to find straight answers to, hence me asking.
I got an brand new/never booted unpatched Switch. I plan to hack it on day one but :

1) Is it required to boot at least once into the OFW before creating backup of SysNAND?
2) Is it better for me not to setup OFW at all and just straight load Hekate and backup SysNAND?
3) Is it required to download any free item from the Nintendo eShop before backing up SysNAND?
4) Should I update my OFW using ChoiDujourNX before installing Atmosphere/Kosmos?
5) Can I install the newest Atmoshpere/Kosmos over old HorizonOS (ie. 4.1) backed up from SysNAND to EmuMMC and update the HorizonOS to 9.1 after that?

Thanks for the answers.

 

[BaamAlex]

1. You need a custom bootloader like hekate to create a backup
2. Send the hekate payload and create a nand backup
3. Whatever you mean with this question, but i would say no.
4. You can't "install" a cfw directly to the console like luma on the 3ds. You can't use homebrew apps in ofw. Only in cfw.
5. Yes you can. When you are on an older firmware, the newer cfw version will work on older firmwares.

 

[Lacius]

1. No.
2. It doesn't matter.
3. No.
4. You have to use Atmosphere to be able to use ChoiDujourNX. You should also make a clean NAND backup before using Atmosphere or ChoiDujourNX.
5. Yes.

 

[newkind]

Great! Now I know everything! Thank you for the replies.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

Hi,

I've got some questions that I wasn't able to find straight answers to, hence me asking.
I got an brand new/never booted unpatched Switch. I plan to hack it on day one but :

1) Is it required to boot at least once into the OFW before creating backup of SysNAND?
2) Is it better for me not to setup OFW at all and just straight load Hekate and backup SysNAND?
3) Is it required to download any free item from the Nintendo eShop before backing up SysNAND?
4) Should I update my OFW using ChoiDujourNX before installing Atmosphere/Kosmos?
5) Can I install the newest Atmoshpere/Kosmos over old HorizonOS (ie. 4.1) backed up from SysNAND to EmuMMC and update the HorizonOS to 9.1 after that?

Thanks for the answers.

1. No. Backing it up before turning it on actually has a few benefits (particularly if it’s really old)
2. See above
3. nah
4. You can’t use Choi on OFW, only CFW. But Choi is kinda janky anyway, I’d recommend using the normal system updater if possible (if you want to save fuses, enable autoRCM then run the update while running atmosphere).
5. Current atmosphere might be broken on older firmwares (Don’t remember if it was fixed yet). Use 0.9.4 first if you have issues, then switch to latest after updating.

 

[newkind]

1. No. Backing it up before turning it on actually has a few benefits (particularly if it’s really old)
2. See above
3. nah
4. You can’t use Choi on OFW, only CFW. But Choi is kinda janky anyway, I’d recommend using the normal system updater if possible (if you want to save fuses, enable autoRCM then run the update while running atmosphere).
5. Current atmosphere might be broken on older firmwares (Don’t remember if it was fixed yet). Use 0.9.4 first if you have issues, then switch to latest after updating.

Thanks for the reply. My main point is that I don't want to setup WIFI at all on the CFW to avoid risk o banning, that's why I wanted to use Choi. So enabling autoRCM and updating via CFW is enough to not blow fuses? That's the second reason why I wanted to use Choi.

 

[pLaYeR^^]

Thanks for the reply. My main point is that I don't want to setup WIFI at all on the CFW to avoid risk o banning, that's why I wanted to use Choi. So enabling autoRCM and updating via CFW is enough to not blow fuses? That's the second reason why I wanted to use Choi.

Yes. Updating with ChoiDujourNX will enable autoRCM by default.

 

[Naxster]

5. Current atmosphere might be broken on older firmwares (Don’t remember if it was fixed yet). Use 0.9.4 first if you have issues, then switch to latest after updating.

So Atmosphere 0.10.1 isn't that good or "stable"?? My Eyes and firmware is still at 3.0.1, do you think it might be broken on that firmware?
It's all new and I haven't installed anything in it.

I was thinking to install the latest version of Atmosphere but update the EmuMMC to 9.0.1 and not to 9.1.0 since I've read that all the software doesn't work properly on the latest Firmware yet.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

So Atmosphere 0.10.1 isn't that good or "stable"?? My Eyes and firmware is still at 3.0.1, do you think it might be broken on that firmware?
It's all new and I haven't installed anything in it.

I was thinking to install the latest version of Atmosphere but update the EmuMMC to 9.0.1 and not to 9.1.0 since I've read that all the software doesn't work properly on the latest Firmware yet.

Just checked, the bug is fixed in master, but isn’t in a release yet. If you have a dev setup, you can try compiling it yourself and it should work just fine.

Everything I’ve tested works fine on 9.1.0 shrugs.

 

[Naxster]

Just checked, the bug is fixed in master, but isn’t in a release yet. If you have a dev setup, you can try compiling it yourself and it should work just fine.

Everything I’ve tested works fine on 9.1.0 shrugs.

I don't think I know how to complie it
Should I wait a bit longer until it is updated? And how would I know when it's updated and fixed?

Really? Does Tinfoil and EdiZon work?

 

[ZachyCatGames]

I don't think I know how to complie it
Should I wait a bit longer until it is updated? And how would I know when it's updated and fixed?

Really? Does Tinfoil and EdiZon work?

The fix will be in the next update, I’m guessing it won’t be too long. In a few hours I can upload a copy built from latest master which’ll have the fix shrugs.

The latest snapshot/test build of EdiZon on its github page should work fine. No idea about tinfoil, I’ve never touched it.

 

[Naxster]

The fix will be in the next update, I’m guessing it won’t be too long. In a few hours I can upload a copy built from latest master which’ll have the fix shrugs.

The latest snapshot/test build of EdiZon on its github page should work fine. No idea about tinfoil, I’ve never touched it.

It's okay, I can wait a few more weeks
I have had my unopened Nintendo Switch console for about 2 years now, a few more weeks won't matter

Nice! But how do you install games if you don't have Tinfoil?

 

[ZachyCatGames]

It's okay, I can wait a few more weeks
I have had my unopened Nintendo Switch console for about 2 years now, a few more weeks won't matter

Nice! But how do you install games if you don't have Tinfoil?

I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out this week or next week
Unopened :eyes: can I have a decrypted copy of its SYSTEM partition from before first power on plz

The eShop and my local Target

 

[Naxster]

I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out this week or next week
Unopened :eyes: can I have a decrypted copy of its SYSTEM partition from before first power on plz

The eShop and my local Target

Sweet! Then in that case, I will wait!
I booted it up once 2 years ago just to check the firmware version, and then turned it off... At that time Homebrew didn't work on firmware 3.0.1

Ahhh so you don't install NPS or XCI files.

 

[ZachyCatGames]

Sweet! Then in that case, I will wait!
I booted it up once 2 years ago just to check the firmware version, and then turned it off... At that time Homebrew didn't work on firmware 3.0.1

Ahhh so you don't install NPS or XCI files.

I can post a compiled build with the fix in a couple hours too
ok plz give decrypted SYSTEM partition from before first update then
(Mostly just joking if it wasn’t obvious, but I would appreciated it if you did heh)

Yup

 

[ZachyCatGames]

@theasker I built this from latest master, it has the fix and should work fine on older firmwares (I think it also has some other unrelated bug fixes), though I haven't tested it on any older firms personally

 

[Naxster]

@theasker I built this from latest master, it has the fix and should work fine on older firmwares (I think it also has some other unrelated bug fixes), though I haven't tested it on any older firms personally

Thanks mate!
I just downloaded it, i might try it when i have time

 

[newkind]

Just a small follow up on my original questions.

1) Is it required to boot at least once into the OFW before creating backup of SysNAND?

As it turns out there's somekind of bug in Atmosphere that would cause blank/white screen on certain screens of initial setup wizard ie. after skipping WIFI setup. What I had to do is to boot into the OFW, do the initial setup with setting users/date/time/wifi etc. and then create a new emuMMC with these things already set up. Once I was done - everything was working just fine.