Hacking [RCM Payload] Hekate - CTCaer mod

[Tanmays007]

Just used this on a 5.0.2 console with 64Gb exFAT and it worked great!

 

[CTCaer]

I didn't say to press the power button, I said press the volume button and let it finish, I made my dump and it got to 83% like before, and said it had a fatal error 1, so i pressed volume, then restarted it from where the error was and it completed fine

Also, its dumping 30 1GB files instead of 15 2GB files, whats up with that?

Oh sorry about that, I missread. That's the way to do it. But you need to have less space than 29gb available, to trigger the partial dumping.

You probably downloaded the 1gb parts version

 

[Hondyn]

Hekate - ipl
CTCaer mod v1.3 - Automatic RAW eMMC partial dumping


Changelog:
V1.3:

• [Firmware] Add upstream changes for 4.xx/5.xx firmware launching support
• [SD/MMC] More fixes for SDHC/SDXC sd cards.
• [Tools] Add dumping fuses/kfuses to sd card
• [Tools] Some small fixes on raw dumping edge cases
• [Info] Add Info printing for eMMC and SD card

V1.2:

• Write errors to SD card are now fatal (as per FatFs/Diskio guidelines). You can still choose what to do though:
  • Abort and try again right away from the last part (recommended)
  • Continue (and potentially have a corrupt dump)
• Fix SD card not mounting (by fixing the switch to low voltage 1.8v for these cards. Normally happening in Samsung sd cards)
  
• Add high speed support for high voltage SD Cards

Description:

The main difference with the official hekate - ipl is support for automatic partial dumping for your Switch's eMMC.
Additionally, there are some other quality of life small changes.

• It automatically starts partial dumping (even in exFAT formatted SD Cards), based on the available free space. Supports both FAT32 and exFAT.
• If you have enough space and an exFAT formatted partition, it will automatically choose to dump the raw eMMC as one big file.

Detailed release notes:
This release lets you dump the USER partition, or the whole RAW eMMC.

The automatic partial dump is only activated if you don't have enough space in your SD card to dump the whole eMMC.

The partial dumping is done in 15 2GB parts.
This way you can even use a 4GB sd card to dump the whole eMMC.

Normal dumping Procedure:
If you have enough space, it will automatically dump your eMMC as one big file.

Partial dumping Procedure:

1. Run hekate-ipl_ctcaer_1.2 payload
2. Select "Dump RAW eMMC"
3. When this is finished, press any key and Power off Switch from main menu
4. Move the files from SD card to your PC to free some space
   Don't move the partial.idx file!
5. Unplug and re-plug USB while pressing Vol+
6. Run hekate-ipl_partial_dumping again and press Dump RAW eMMC to continue
7. Join the files with your favorite cmd or app

Notice 1: Users that only have a 2GB or 4GB SD card, use the hekate-ipl_ctcaer_1.2_GBparts payload.
Notice 2: If you have an unfinished partial dumping and want to start anew, delete the partial.idx file first.

Warning: When dumping the eMMC, in parts, you should not power on the switch normally and boot to Switch OS before done. Otherwise your finished backup will probably corrupt, because Switch OS writes on your eMMC even if it seems you done nothing.


Download v1.3


There are also windows and linux scripts provided, that join these 15 2GB files into one.
In windows, you can then use rajkosto's biskeydump and HacDiskMount to manipulate your raw eMMC dump.


Thanks:
naehrwert for the original code: https://github.com/nwert/hekate
@rajkosto for his hekate - ipl commits and tools: https://github.com/rajkosto/hekate
And all other contributors in hekate repo.

Thank you

 

[Seelbreaker]

If i use a 200GB microSD Card - can i get a 1-file Full Backup instead of 15 2GB Files?

 

[CTCaer]

If i use a 200GB microSD Card - can i get a 1-file Full Backup instead of 15 2GB Files?

With an exFAT formatted partition, yes.

 

[Seelbreaker]

With an exFAT formatted partition, yes.

Nice - exFAT is no problem from my side as long as the Switch can handle it

 

[zzzzBeatz]

My main is a Samsung EVO+ U3 128GB and I'm pretty happy with this one.
Bought it 45euro and blows away my Sandisk Extreme Plus U3 64GB (50euro) on performance level (sequential/random)...

Btw U1/U3 is not to be confused with UHS-I/II. U1/3 is the minimum performance level of the UHS-I/II bus.
U1: 10MB/s and up
U3: 30MB/s and up

Lastly, my release works with every SDHC/SDXC cards on the physical layer (no failed to init/mount sd card messages).
So, buy an SD card based on value (performance per buck).

Just to make sure I understood your phrasing properly, when you said:

"U1/3 is the minimum performance level of the UHS-I/II bus."

This means UHS-I/II would be the better choice? If so, do these sdcards work with the latest release?

 

[Paulsar99]

Thanks. Made my backup with no errors.

 

[hudhair]

No, the problem is low level disk i/o error. This can happen for many reasons. I can not find the reason on my own though. I don't have any problematic sd card..
I can find the reason for you if you want. I can write a special debugging version and we can check the last step it failed.

Anyway, what I really want to say is that, please don't give the "press power btn" to ignore errors as a suggestion..
This function ignores 256KB chunks for every error (you can only see the 1st one, there maybe are countless after that).
If there's data there, it means your end result dump file is actually corrupted.

What someone needs to do, is to force the partial dumping.
This way and by not letting the sd card write to those areas with some clever manipulation, you can get a 100% perfect backup.
I explain some of these ways in previous posts.

I never click ignore, i click try again, but it just says done right after, and its still a bad dump.

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

@CTCaer I went ahead and pushed the vol button when it said fatal error 1 and just let it continue to dump my nand and it worked, is it possible that the error is because of the slow speed of my sd?

@hudhair try to press the vol button when you get your error and just let it run again, worked for me, you probably have a 64GB sandisc sd?

Yeah, a 64gb sandisk, already tried that 4-5 times, still run into the error at some point.

 

[Hondyn]

Great work, it worked flawlessly for me!
One question tho, after doing the full back up, can I store the files on my pc to make some space
on the sdcard? thanks in advance

 

[fenomeno0chris]

Is there anywhere a tutorial, how I can use this properly?
I don’t want to mess things up.

Just for info:
My Switch is on 4.1.0 and I’m using a MacBook Pro. Inside my Switch is a Samsung EVO Plus Micro SDXC 128GB Class 10 U3 (master, 3D, 4K, HDR...XD)

 

[SH3RLOCK]

Windows shows 29.1gb / 31'268'536'320 Bytes

Was it successful?

 

[CTCaer]

Just to make sure I understood your phrasing properly, when you said:

"U1/3 is the minimum performance level of the UHS-I/II bus."

This means UHS-I/II would be the better choice? If so, do these sdcards work with the latest release?

UHS cards are faster than simple ones. Search for the I or II on the card. Now when a card supports UHS I or UHS II, it also comes with a U that has a number inside. 3 is the best. 1 is like a normal class 10 card.
If you want an sd card only for switch and also want to save some money, don't buy UHS-II.
Switch does not have UHS-II support, and a UHS-II card fallbacks to UHS-I in switch (that means UHS-II cards work, but not at full speed).

I never click ignore, i click try again, but it just says done right after, and its still a bad dump.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
Yeah, a 64gb sandisk, already tried that 4-5 times, still run into the error at some point.

Did you run the dump option again?
After pressing VOL, press again to go to the menu. Then you press dump RAW eMMC again, and it continues from the last part it tried to backup.
If you have enough space it will dump from the start though. That's why you need to fill the card until less than 29GB left. To trigger the partial dumping.
Other wise you can create a partial.idx file and write 00 with a hex editor to this file. Then the partial dumping will be forced.

Great work, it worked flawlessly for me!
One question tho, after doing the full back up, can I store the files on my pc to make some space
on the sdcard? thanks in advance

Ofcourse. Thats the point of the backup. HDD is a better backup medium than sdcard.

Windows shows 29.1gb / 31'268'536'320 Bytes

Was it successful?

Yes. That's the real size. Don't forget to also backup Boot0/Boot1 that are not included in the raw dump (they are in a different physical partition).

 

[Hondyn]

Ofcourse. Thats the point of the backup. HDD is a better backup medium than sdcard.

Thank you

 

[sthetix]

I am sorry, does this work on 3.0.2 firmware? or only on 4.x and 5.x

thx

 

[CTCaer]

I am sorry, does this work on 3.0.2 firmware? or only on 4.x and 5.x

thx

It fully works on 1,2,4,5.
It partially works on 3 but it does not have the required se patch. It's in the process of PR review. After it is merged I will release a new version.

 

[yesimnathan]

This worked great for me on firmware 4.0.1. Thanks for your hard work!

 

[Alklas]

hello

is there any CRC calculations to check that all files are OK, and that the final resulting big file is also ok ?

if not, it could really be a good improvement
( i have issues with write errors on my SD so i fear to end with a bad dump )

 

[Naminave]

UHS cards are faster than simple ones. Search for the I or II on the card. Now when a card supports UHS I or UHS II, it also comes with a U that has a number inside. 3 is the best. 1 is like a normal class 10 card.
If you want an sd card only for switch and also want to save some money, don't buy UHS-II.
Switch does not have UHS-II support, and a UHS-II card fallbacks to UHS-I in switch (that means UHS-II cards work, but not at full speed).



Did you run the dump option again?
After pressing VOL, press again to go to the menu. Then you press dump RAW eMMC again, and it continues from the last part it tried to backup.
If you have enough space it will dump from the start though. That's why you need to fill the card until less than 29GB left. To trigger the partial dumping.
Other wise you can create a partial.idx file and write 00 with a hex editor to this file. Then the partial dumping will be forced.



Ofcourse. Thats the point of the backup. HDD is a better backup medium than sdcard.


Yes. That's the real size. Don't forget to also backup Boot0/Boot1 that are not included in the raw dump (they are in a different physical partition).

How do I dump Boot0 and Boot1 with memloader?

 

[wicksand420]

Oh sorry about that, I missread. That's the way to do it. But you need to have less space than 29gb available, to trigger the partial dumping.

You probably downloaded the 1gb parts version

How do we mount the nand and decrypt it? I forgot what program we needed.