Hacking SWITCH NOOB PARADISE - Ask questions here

[Lacius]

I see. Option #1 is a no-go since it burns fuses.

What is your fuse count? Unless it's 3 or fewer, it might not be worth the effort to preserve your fuse count. System versions 4.0.0 and higher are unlikely to ever receive untethered coldboot exploits. Of course, this is a matter of personal preference.

Option 2-3 seems better, but still risky since i'm guessing the mismatch in FW to fuse count or autoRCM can be detected.

Fuse count mismatches and AutoRCM are unlikely to lead to a ban. Fuse counts and AutoRCM are presently undetectable in Horizon.

B) If there's a way to play new games online with low risk of banning, I'd certainly be willing to give it a try.

1. Do you have a clean NAND? If so, which one?
2. Do you have a clean NAND backup?
3. If you want to play online, it is recommended that you use a clean sysNAND on 8.1.0 for online play, and a dirty emuNAND on 8.1.0 for offline hackery. If you want to use the internet with homebrew on the dirty emuNAND, you can install 90DNS and/or Incognito.

 

[Masoud_5april]

Hi,
I've recently got a brand new switch with 4.0.1 firmware and it is unpatched so I want to use a CFW (like Atmosphere) on it. I created a sperate question and concluded to do this (based on this tutorial):

1. Setup SD (128GB) for emuMMC (create a 30GB unallocated partition) with FAT32 format and put Kosmos files inside it.
2. Setup PegaScape and launch Hekate.
3. Create Backup for Nand and Console's Unique Keys.
4. Setup emuMMC in Hekate.
5. Boot into CFW on emuMMC.
6. Update firmware using ChoiDuJourNX.
7. Launch again PegaScape and boot into emuMMC.
8. Launching homebrew.

I have some questions here.
1. Is it fine to follow the above steps?
2. I've seen articles that I need at least one eShop game or a game cartridge to use the homebrew or other feature to launch nsp games, etc. So on which step should, I download a game? So it seems that I need to download that game in the first step before doing anything. Can I do that on my current firmware 4.0.1? If so afterward do I still have the ability to use PegaScape with warm boot (I don't want my switch hit by `supernag`?

3. For updating the firmware in emuMMC with ChoiDuJourNX, do I need to enable AutoRCM as I currently access the warmboot?
Thanks.

 

[Yeabuddy]

What is your fuse count? Unless it's 3 or fewer, it might not be worth the effort to preserve your fuse count. System versions 4.0.0 and higher are unlikely to ever receive untethered coldboot exploits. Of course, this is a matter of personal preference.

My fuse count is 5 I believe. I want to preserve everything as close to the original as possible so I have more (possible) flexibility in the future like @namad mentioned.

 

[Lacius]

My fuse count is 5 I believe. I want to preserve everything as close to the original as possible so I have more (possible) flexibility in the future like @namad mentioned.

That's not a bad idea, and I would do the same thing with 5 fuses, but it's highly unlikely that 4.x will get anything better than the currently available warmboot browser exploit (Deja Vu). In other words, if you aren't interested in using Deja Vu, you will probably never see a reason to downgrade.

Hi,
I've recently got a brand new switch with 4.0.1 firmware and it is unpatched so I want to use a CFW (like Atmosphere) on it. I created a sperate question and concluded to do this (based on this tutorial):

1. Setup SD (128GB) for emuMMC (create a 30GB unallocated partition) with FAT32 format and put Kosmos files inside it.
2. Setup PegaScape and launch Hekate.
3. Create Backup for Nand and Console's Unique Keys.
4. Setup emuMMC in Hekate.
5. Boot into CFW on emuMMC.
6. Update firmware using ChoiDuJourNX.
7. Launch again PegaScape and boot into emuMMC.
8. Launching homebrew.

I have some questions here.
1. Is it fine to follow the above steps?
2. I've seen articles that I need at least one eShop game or a game cartridge to use the homebrew or other feature to launch nsp games, etc. So on which step should, I download a game? So it seems that I need to download that game in the first step before doing anything. Can I do that on my current firmware 4.0.1? If so afterward do I still have the ability to use PegaScape with warm boot (I don't want my switch hit by `supernag`?

3. For updating the firmware in emuMMC with ChoiDuJourNX, do I need to enable AutoRCM as I currently access the warmboot?
Thanks.

1. If you don't plan on using online play, and you would rather use the warmboot browser exploit instead of the RCM expoit, these steps are good.
2. No, you can use the photo album to run homebrew. Don't worry about this. You can also use games you installed from NSP files for homebrew, if you need extra RAM or something later.
3. If you're updating your emuMMC, there's no reason to enable AutoRCM in ChoiDujourNX.

 

[namad]

What is your fuse count? Unless it's 3 or fewer, it might not be worth the effort to preserve your fuse count. System versions 4.0.0 and higher are unlikely to ever receive untethered coldboot exploits. Of course, this is a matter of personal preference.


Fuse count mismatches and AutoRCM are unlikely to lead to a ban. Fuse counts and AutoRCM are presently undetectable in Horizon.

1. Do you have a clean NAND? If so, which one?
2. Do you have a clean NAND backup?
3. If you want to play online, it is recommended that you use a clean sysNAND on 8.1.0 for online play, and a dirty emuNAND on 8.1.0 for offline hackery. If you want to use the internet with homebrew on the dirty emuNAND, you can install 90DNS and/or Incognito.

The problem here is that I'm having trouble comprehending what makes something clean, and also what makes something sysnand and what makes something emunand.

One of the things confusing me is the gui on the hekate launcher page which literally has these four options on my screen:
CFW (SYSNAND) CFW (EMUNAND) Stock (SYSNAND) Stock (EMUNAND)

I updated from 4.0.1 to 8.0.1 after launching CFW (SYSNAND) using ChoiDujourNX.
However when I choose different launches on this hekate launcher they're all on firmware 8.0.1 now, although when I choose CFW the system settings firmware display mentions I have atmosphere installed and when I launch Stock it doesn't mention atmosphere in the system settings (this last bit I comprehend).

What I don't fully understand though is the difference between the cfw/stock divide and the sysnand/emunand divide. On top of that I also don't fully comprehend how it's even possible to have stock and cfw on different firmwares. I also don't know if ... when you say emunand do you mean cfw? and when you say sysnand do you mean stock? Either way this one menu screen is baffling me entirely.

I'm pretty sure my backup is clean though because I followed the instructions very carefully and as soon as I booted from pegascape into hekate, I immediately made the backups it told me to make. Although I'm not sure if after what I've done... all four of these launcher options are now dirty or not, or if a backup is even required at this stage. Based on what you told me about controller updates, none of these four launcher options have ever been online, and the entire switch itself has never been online.

Sorry if this.... rambling makes no sense. It doesn't make sense to me either.

Maybe it doesn't make sense to me because all four of these launcher options are sysnand? Because in hekate when I got to the emuMMC manage page.... it says:

X DISABLED emuMMC is disabled and eMMC will be used for boot.


So maybe when you say emunand you mean emuMMC feature of hekate?

 

[Yeabuddy]

I see. Thanks for your help @Lacius

Also is there a recommended guide for setting up emuNAND?

 

[Lacius]

I see. Thanks for your help @Lacius

Also is there a recommended guide for setting up emuNAND?

There are a lot of guides out there. I don't have a recommended one, since I don't use emuNAND.

 

[aarti]

I see. Thanks for your help @Lacius

Also is there a recommended guide for setting up emuNAND?

https://nh-server.github.io/switch-guide/

 

[RealSpyKitty]

I restored my clean switch nand at version 4.1.0 (not 4.0.1 my mistake) I did set up two partitions on my sd card for emuNAND and whatever I boot sysNAND I get the massage at the boot: "Error Code: 2016-0247 Unable to access microSD card. Please turn off the console and reinsert the microSD card. You can turn the power off from Power Options in the Power Menu."
What to do to fix that problem? Do I need to set the two partitions again on my SD?

Is the sd card error prompt normal thing? Should I see the sd card or is that how it should be?

 

[Lacius]

The problem here is that I'm having trouble comprehending what makes something clean

If you've used homebrew with your NAND, it's probably dirty. If you've installed NSP files, it's very dirty. If you've never used homebrew with your NAND, it's clean.

and also what makes something sysnand and what makes something emunand.

The sysNAND is the combination of system files on the Switch's eMMC. The emuNAND is a combination of system files emulated on the SD card pretending to be on the eMMC. What you do to one does not affect the other, so it's possible to do use hacks with one and stay clean on the other.

One of the things confusing me is the gui on the hekate launcher page which literally has these four options on my screen:
CFW (SYSNAND) CFW (EMUNAND) Stock (SYSNAND) Stock (EMUNAND)

The stock option runs no hacks (no Atmosphere) and keeps the NAND clean (if it's already clean). The CFW option runs Atmosphere and is for homebrew and piracy, and it will make the NAND dirty if it isn't already. See above for the difference between "sysNAND" and "emuNAND."

I updated from 4.0.1 to 8.0.1 after launching CFW (SYSNAND) using ChoiDujourNX.

That means your sysNAND is dirty and should not be used with the internet (unless you have 90DNS and/or Incognito installed). Otherwise, you could get banned.

However when I choose different launches on this hekate launcher they're all on firmware 8.0.1 now, although when I choose CFW the system settings firmware display mentions I have atmosphere installed and when I launch Stock it doesn't mention atmosphere in the system settings (this last bit I comprehend).

If you haven't setup an emuNAND, then you cannot boot into emuNAND.

As I explained above, stock means Atmosphere/CFW is not run, so your NAND is kept clean (if it's already clean).

On top of that I also don't fully comprehend how it's even possible to have stock and cfw on different firmwares.

Using an emuNAND is like having an entire clone of your Switch system on your SD card. If you use emuNAND instead of sysNAND, then it's going to bypass the actual Switch system and use the copy on your SD card instead. That means you can do anything to one without affecting the other.

I also don't know if ... when you say emunand do you mean cfw? and when you say sysnand do you mean stock? Either way this one menu screen is baffling me entirely.

1. When I say emuNAND, I mean emuNAND. When I say sysNAND, I mean sysNAND.
2. You can use CFW (Atmosphere) with either sysNAND or emuNAND.
3. You can use stock (no Atmosphere) with either sysNAND or emuNAND.

I'm pretty sure my backup is clean though because I followed the instructions very carefully and as soon as I booted from pegascape into hekate, I immediately made the backups it told me to make. Although I'm not sure if after what I've done... all four of these launcher options are now dirty or not, or if a backup is even required at this stage. Based on what you told me about controller updates, none of these four launcher options have ever been online, and the entire switch itself has never been online.

If you have used CFW/Atmosphere on your sysNAND, it's dirty. I don't even know if you have an emuNAND. If you want to use online play, it is recommended that you do the following:

1. Create an emuNAND on your SD card if you haven't already. Follow one of the guides. It will require re-partitioning your SD card on your computer.
2. Restore the clean NAND backup to your sysNAND.
3. Update the sysNAND to 8.1.0 if it isn't already on 8.1.0.
4. Update the emuNAND to 8.1.0 if it isn't already on 8.1.0.
5. Use the sysNAND for online play, and use the offline emuNAND for hacks.

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

Is the sd card error prompt normal thing? Should I see the sd card or is that how it should be?

If you cannot see your SD card with your Switch after setting up your emuNAND using one of the tutorials out there (there's a link to one above my posts), then you did something wrong, and you will probably have to re-partition your SD card properly.

 

[RealSpyKitty]

I can see it in the emuNAND but not in sysNAND is that ok?

 

[Lacius]

I can see it in the emuNAND but not in sysNAND is that ok?

Is the SD storage formatted as FAT32 or exFAT? If it's exFAT, does the sysNAND have exFAT support?

 

[RealSpyKitty]

The SD card is formatted as FAT32

 

[namad]

If you've used homebrew with your NAND, it's probably dirty. If you've installed NSP files, it's very dirty. If you've never used homebrew with your NAND, it's clean.


The sysNAND is the combination of system files on the Switch's eMMC. The emuNAND is a combination of system files emulated on the SD card pretending to be on the eMMC. What you do to one does not affect the other, so it's possible to do use hacks with one and stay clean on the other.


The stock option runs no hacks (no Atmosphere) and keeps the NAND clean (if it's already clean). The CFW option runs Atmosphere and is for homebrew and piracy, and it will make the NAND dirty if it isn't already. See above for the difference between "sysNAND" and "emuNAND."


That means your sysNAND is dirty and should not be used with the internet (unless you have 90DNS and/or Incognito installed). Otherwise, you could get banned.


If you haven't setup an emuNAND, then you cannot boot into emuNAND.

As I explained above, stock means Atmosphere/CFW is not run, so your NAND is kept clean (if it's already clean).


Using an emuNAND is like having an entire clone of your Switch system on your SD card. If you use emuNAND instead of sysNAND, then it's going to bypass the actual Switch system and use the copy on your SD card instead. That means you can do anything to one without affecting the other.

1. When I say emuNAND, I mean emuNAND. When I say sysNAND, I mean sysNAND.
2. You can use CFW (Atmosphere) with either sysNAND or emuNAND.
3. You can use stock (no Atmosphere) with either sysNAND or emuNAND.

If you have used CFW/Atmosphere on your sysNAND, it's dirty. I don't even know if you have an emuNAND. If you want to use online play, it is recommended that you do the following:

1. Create an emuNAND on your SD card if you haven't already. Follow one of the guides. It will require re-partitioning your SD card on your computer.
2. Restore the clean NAND backup to your sysNAND.
3. Update the sysNAND to 8.1.0 if it isn't already on 8.1.0.
4. Update the emuNAND to 8.1.0 if it isn't already on 8.1.0.
5. Use the sysNAND for online play, and use the offline emuNAND for hacks.

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


If you cannot see your SD card with your Switch after setting up your emuNAND using one of the tutorials out there (there's a link to one above my posts), then you did something wrong, and you will probably have to re-partition your SD card properly.

Oh this makes total sense! I don't have an emunand installed, the GUI is too simple to check that, so that's why tapping on emunand seems to do nothing at all (and launches my sysnand)! I guess I had thought if I didn't have emunand setup tapping on emunand should not work, but instead hekate will launch sysnand when you tap on emunand if no emunand exists.... which is a fine choice, but it definitely confused me! This clears things up for me a lot.

So I can try restoring my backup, doing this over again, only this time using emuMMC to setup a hekate emunand. Although since I don't care about hacks at all, I could also probably just restore my backup and do everything the same, only this time tap stock instead of atmosphere. Although wait. How do I update to 8.1.0 without getting dirty? Doesn't ChoiDujourNX require atmosphere to be running? Meaning if I use ChoiDujourNX I've instantly dirtied whatever nand I'm on? Does this mean people are ... using ChoiDujourNX on their dirty emunand and actually letting a nintendo server update run to update their sysnand?

 

[apocalipsis_ending]

Hello again.

I'm currently on version 8.1.0 (AMS 0.9.2) but cannot install Super Mario Maker 2. It tells me:

Error 0x234c02
Modules FS (2)
Description: Invalid NCA (might mean missing sigpatches or a too low firmware) (4518)

What can I do?
Thanks.

 

[Lacius]

Hello again.

I'm currently on version 8.1.0 (AMS 0.9.2) but cannot install Super Mario Maker 2. It tells me:

Error 0x234c02
Modules FS (2)
Description: Invalid NCA (might mean missing sigpatches or a too low firmware) (4518)

What can I do?
Thanks.

1. If you're using fusee-primary, use these signature patches if you haven't already done so.
2. If you're using Kosmos/Hekate, use these signature patches if you haven't already done so.

If the above doesn't work, make sure you're using the DZ version of Tinfoil here. If that doesn't work, it could be a bad NSP.

 

[namad]

Is there any clean way to backup a save file for a nintendo switch game? I've just realized that if I restore my nand backup I'll lose all my saved games. Which means maybe I'll save all this emunand and sysnand going online and avoiding bans stuff for pokemon sword/shield (the next major game I'm planning to buy).

If I used some sort of dirty method of backing up my savegame file, then after I restored my nand backup and used the dirty method to restore my saved games, I'd have defeated the whole point.

 

[Lacius]

Although since I don't care about hacks at all

If you don't care about using hacks, then I don't know why you're using an emuNAND, which has the explicit purpose of being used with hacks. If you don't care about hacks, you should just restore your clean NAND backup and install AutoRCM to preserve fuses.

If you don't care about hacks, I don't know why you care about preserving fuses either.

Although wait. How do I update to 8.1.0 without getting dirty? Doesn't ChoiDujourNX require atmosphere to be running? Meaning if I use ChoiDujourNX I've instantly dirtied whatever nand I'm on? Does this mean people are ... using ChoiDujourNX on their dirty emunand and actually letting a nintendo server update run to update their sysnand?

If your goal is to keep your sysNAND clean for online play, you cannot use ChoiDujourNX with it. You need to update your sysNAND in the system settings. If you want to preserve your fuse count, do the following:

1. Restore your clean NAND backup
2. Install AutoRCM
3. Boot into your CFW/Atmosphere using your sysNAND (your sysNAND will be relatively clean if you don't run any homebrew)
4. Update to 8.1.0 in the system settings (AutoRCM will be protected if you are running Atmosphere)
5. Reboot the system after the update
6. Use Hekate's stock sysNAND option whenever you want to coldboot your Switch

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

Is there any clean way to backup a save file for a nintendo switch game? I've just realized that if I restore my nand backup I'll lose all my saved games. Which means maybe I'll save all this emunand and sysnand going online and avoiding bans stuff for pokemon sword/shield (the next major game I'm planning to buy).

If I used some sort of dirty method of backing up my savegame file, then after I restored my nand backup and used the dirty method to restore my saved games, I'd have defeated the whole point.

There are clean ways to restore save games using HacDiskMount, but I recommend just using Checkpoint offline to backup and restore your save games. Using Checkpoint alone is unlikely to dirty the sysNAND.

 

[namad]

If you don't care about using hacks, then I don't know why you're using an emuNAND, which has the explicit purpose of being used with hacks. If you don't care about hacks, you should just restore your clean NAND backup and install AutoRCM to preserve fuses.

If you don't care about hacks, I don't know why you care about preserving fuses either.


If your goal is to keep your sysNAND clean for online play, you cannot use ChoiDujourNX with it. You need to update your sysNAND in the system settings. If you want to preserve your fuse count, do the following:

1. Restore your clean NAND backup
2. Install AutoRCM
3. Boot into your CFW/Atmosphere using your sysNAND (your sysNAND will be relatively clean if you don't run any homebrew)
4. Update to 8.1.0 in the system settings (AutoRCM will be protected if you are running Atmosphere)
5. Reboot the system after the update
6. Use Hekate's stock sysNAND option whenever you want to coldboot your Switch

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


There are clean ways to restore save games using HacDiskMount, but I recommend just using Checkpoint offline to backup and restore your save games. Using Checkpoint alone is unlikely to dirty the sysNAND.

The reason for me a) not caring about hacks and b) caring about hacks... is that while today I don't care about hacks, I plan to care about them in the future. The switch seems like a really great SNES emulator (among other things). Basically, I like the idea of hacks in theory, I just don't have any I care about running right now today.

Although for example. It seems like "technically" Checkpoint itself is a "hack". One that I very much like the sound of so far. Even if I don't do all these other steps to setup an emuMMC. I think I might just go grab and run checkpoint right now! Basically, checkpoint is an example of all the amazing hacks I've dreamed of, but haven't actually learned about or ran yet. Checkpoint might actually be the first hack not relating to preserving fuses that I end up running. Maybe I'm misusing the word hack here?

Anyways thanks for all your help. I think I now understand all the pieces I need (slash have bookmarked them) to redo this with an emuMMC setup if I want to. Or even to try using atmosphere to protect autorcm during an online nintendo server update. (Although that sounds dangerous to me, you're right, there just isn't any safer choice.)

 

[Lacius]

The reason for me a) not caring about hacks and b) caring about hacks... is that while today I don't care about hacks, I plan to care about them in the future. The switch seems like a really great SNES emulator (among other things). Basically, I like the idea of hacks in theory, I just don't have any I care about running right now today.

If that's the case, you shouldn't worry about setting up an emuNAND until you're ready to use hacks.

Although for example. It seems like "technically" checkpoint itself is a "hack". One that I very much like the sound of so far. Even if I don't do all these other steps to setup an emuMMC. I think I might just go grab and run checkpoint right now! Basically, checkpoint is an example of all the amazing hacks I've dreamed of, but haven't actually learned about or ran yet. Checkpoint might actually be the first hack not relating to perserving fuses that I end up running. Maybe I'm misusing the word hack here?

Checkpoint is a homebrew application and is considered a "hack." It's used to backup and restore decrypted versions of your save files. It is recommended to use Checkpoint to periodically backup all important save files and store them somewhere safe (preferably online in a location like Google Drive).

Using Checkpoint offline is unlikely to cause a ban, but because it's homebrew that requires the use of CFW like Atmosphere, a lot of people avoid using it on a clean sysNAND. The risk is yours to take if you use it on a clean NAND that you connect to the internet.

Or even to try using atmosphere to protect autorcm during an online nintendo server update. (Although that sounds dangerous to me, you're right, there just isn't any safer choice.)

Another way to update your clean sysNAND to 8.1.0 while preserving your fuses is to use a reliable jig after the update process to reboot into RCM and reinstall AutoRCM (AutoRCM gets removed if you update the system without Atmosphere). However, this method is not recommended, since you will immediately burn your fuses if you accidentally fail to boot into RCM immediately after the update.