Hacking NS-Atmosphere Payload Injector (overview)

[Dust2dust]

There was an old payload I flashed to it at one point, it would always boot whatever payload.bin was on the root of the sd card (I had to boot directly into atmosphere as hekate would mess with my extra ram oc at the time).

It was from a cancelled project called dragonboot or something (it was supposed to be a rcm loader and jig that looked like a gamecart and would sit in the cartridge slot when not in use). The payload could be flashed to any rcm loader though so I used it on this one and I never needed to reflash it again, not sure if someone still has the files, or something similar, but that was the best because I could just put the new payload.bin on the switch sd card whenever an update was needed, instead of needing to reflash each time.

The original battery was 150mah, which are really cheap to get hold of, you just need to get one that is physically no bigger than the size i mentioned earlier.

You are referring to this. I've been using it for years, and never had to re-flash another payload to my dongle ever since.

 

[PKM190]

IIRC correctly it was a 3.7v lithium battery. I don't have the injector anymore as I don't have an unpatched switch anymore. But the battery also started to bulge after a few years of steady use.

I replaced it with a similar one, but it should work even without the battery attached, assuming you plug an external battery into the rear micro-usb port (or a charge cable, maybe not a data cable). Obviously that's not ideal, but it should work in a pinch.

Looking at my purchase history, I bought a 3.7v 402030 200mah lithium battery some time ago so I suspect that is the correct size as I don't see what else I would have bought a battery for at the time, other than to use in this dongle (I could be wrong though, but this info might be useful).

So I'm watching this video at 4:20 :



And it seems like the battery is soldered on? Can't see it too well, but I assume I can't just unplug it and plug in a new one without soldering equipment?

Unfortunately, I don't think the original RCM Loader One dongle is sold anymore. The clones that came out after are pre-flashed with an older version of Hekate, which can not be updated. If booting to Hekate, it doesn't matter too much, as Hekate will load the newer version (residing on the SD card) if it finds an old version have been used as an RCM payload. It could be problematic if you want to launch Atmosphere directly, bypassing Hekate.

I've been looking and that seems to be the case. Any other alternatives that may be out there? Generally I would prefer to just boot straight into Atmosphere and bypass any thing that may cause issues. I really just use it to back up saves or edit save files and the simplicity pretty much always works.

 

[Dust2dust]

I've been looking and that seems to be the case. Any other alternatives that may be out there? Generally I would prefer to just boot straight into Atmosphere and bypass any thing that may cause issues. I really just use it to back up saves or edit save files and the simplicity pretty much always works.

You probably don't have many options as far as payload injector dongles are concerned. It used to be a big market when the Switch had just been hacked several years ago, as the vast majority of Switch consoles back then were compatible, but not so anymore. I checked the video you posted and it seems really trivial to replace the battery. You just need a soldering iron. I replaced the battery recently on my OG RCM Loader One. And I suck at soldering. If I could do it, you can too. Maybe you know somebody who could do it for you? You just need to provide him with the replacement battery. Don't throw away your NS-Atmosphere, it's perfectly fine.

 

[PKM190]

You probably don't have many options as far as payload injector dongles are concerned. It used to be a big market when the Switch had just been hacked several years ago, as the vast majority of Switch consoles back then were compatible, but not so anymore. I checked the video you posted and it seems really trivial to replace the battery. You just need a soldering iron. I replaced the battery recently on my OG RCM Loader One. And I suck at soldering. If I could do it, you can too. Maybe you know somebody who could do it for you? You just need to provide him with the replacement battery. Don't throw away your NS-Atmosphere, it's perfectly fine.

Yeah will need to look into it. Don't have a soldering iron, maybe the hardware stores rent them out. Otherwise it looked quite easy once you get the battery.

I assume this battery would work, lower capacity at 250 mAh but should get the job done I assume?. There are some 550 mAh (I believe this is the capacity of the one that comes with it), though they are larger in physical size. I believe the size for this is 20x30mm, the 550 mAh I see are 20x36mm or more.

I assume you pull off the white plastic bit covering the wires, so you get the + and - wires.

 

[Rasa39]

@PKM190 That will work, the original battery is only 150 mAh anyway, but so long as it's a 402030 then it should fit. The cables are soldered directly onto the board, so you would need to strip those connectors from the ones you linked.

In fact a higher capacity battery might bloat quicker, or it's just the seller lying about the capacity, like all of those ps5 controller batteries that are the same size, half the weight, but magically twice the capacity lol

 

[nmagod]

I have a hardware question about it: why use a micro cord instead of a female usb-c to usb cord? that would reduce the necessary board components nicely.