Tutorial Switch Unbricking Guide - ProdInfo Fix (PikaFix)

[dlh]

Give me a bit, or try one of the other methods

Whenever you can get to it is fine, Adran. I appreciate any help from the experienced folks here!

I went back to the beginning, even downloaded a new copy of Pikafix archive, and used Method 1 this time as well as everything I've learned from Simplemememanyskills guide as well as the guide in this post.

Every step worked fine, all results and messages were as expected, no errors. Used the patches.ini file mentioned in a previous post and copied the .ini contents from the Boot section of this guide.

And unfortunately still no boot. I see the Hekate ipl flash screen then black screen. No Nintendo flash screen, just a black screen. I even let it sit here while typing this up, about 5 minutes so far, and then tapped the power switch - it was on but still black - had to hold the power switch for 10 seconds then tapped it and it auto-rcm'd and loaded hekate from my dongle again.

Any ideas or direction would be much appreciated. All i know about the switch is it had an SXOS dongle on it when i bought it but no SD card, and the seller had used pictures of it booted into SXOS as part of the sale.
Thanks in advance!
Dave

 

[dlh]

Whenever you can get to it is fine, Adran. I appreciate any help from the experienced folks here!

I went back to the beginning, even downloaded a new copy of Pikafix archive, and used Method 1 this time as well as everything I've learned from Simplemememanyskills guide as well as the guide in this post.

Every step worked fine, all results and messages were as expected, no errors. Used the patches.ini file mentioned in a previous post and copied the .ini contents from the Boot section of this guide.

And unfortunately still no boot. I see the Hekate ipl flash screen then black screen. No Nintendo flash screen, just a black screen. I even let it sit here while typing this up, about 5 minutes so far, and then tapped the power switch - it was on but still black - had to hold the power switch for 10 seconds then tapped it and it auto-rcm'd and loaded hekate from my dongle again.

Any ideas or direction would be much appreciated. All i know about the switch is it had an SXOS dongle on it when i bought it but no SD card, and the seller had used pictures of it booted into SXOS as part of the sale.
Thanks in advance!
Dave

Some Progress: it occurred to me that now the NAND was writing without issues (which stopped the original guide and convinced me to buy a new EMMC card) so maybe Such Meme, Many Skill's guide (Switch Unbrick Guide, MMC Rebuild section) and indeed it executed without issues. This guide uses Sysrestore and Syswipe Tegra scripts and a NAND from EMMCHaccGen using my keys.

And now i can boot through Atmosphere to the Switch logo screen! But then it stalls there...

So what issues cause the boot to stall at the Switch logo, versus before when i only got to the Nintendo flash screen?

I'll keep researching and trying things but wanted to update with progress!
thanks in advance for any suggestions offered!
Dave

 

[dlh]

One more clue - every time it hangs on the Switch Logo screen, it takes longer to get it to power off and then it is out of AutoRCM - i have to use the jig and volume up to boot back to Hekate from my dongle. BUT Hekate reports it is still in AutoRCM!

Not sure if this means anything or will help solve the (hopefully final) step in the unbricking process but thought i should share.
FYI
Dave

 

[Adran_Marit]

Okay so if it's the actual nintendo switch boot shen that's normally a sign of a broken prodinfo.

Is this using the flashed prodinfo provided in the guide? Is this using the custom exosphere?

Also I need to update the exosphere to be parallel with the latest release so that might be it? what version of atmosphere are you using?

 

[dlh]

Okay so if it's the actual nintendo switch boot shen that's normally a sign of a broken prodinfo.

Is this using the flashed prodinfo provided in the guide? Is this using the custom exosphere?

Also I need to update the exosphere to be parallel with the latest release so that might be it? what version of atmosphere are you using?

Good morning
This is using the prodinfo (and everything else) from emmchaccgen. I tried booting with your modified exosphere and the ini files that go with it and get black screen, no logos at all. But with the other SD card (same configuration as my other hacked switch, Hekate 5.5.5 and Atmosphere 18.1) it boots to the Switch logo. AND with no SD card and autoRCM turned off it boots normally and freezes at the same point - the Switch logo screen.

Last night i did some googling and opened it up to apply mechanical pressure to the wifi chip, nothing changed.

If you could update your exosphere i would greatly appreciate it! Or suggest what versions of NAND, Hekate, and Atmosphere i should use to be compatible and i'll redo the process.
Thanks Adran!
Dave

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

Adran, a few more thoughts and questions as i think about it being down to just Prodinfo:

Would a donor prodinfo from w working switch help? I have access to other hacked switches running 11.0.1/Hekate 5.5.4/Atmosphere 18.1 and even one (an accidental upgrade) running 12.0;0/Hekate 5.5.5/Atmosphere 19.1. I could dump prodinfo from any of those using their keys and then restore using the bricked machine keys. Or run a whole NAND through EMCCHaccGen if needed.

Would restoring the donor prodinfo from your PikaFix archive help?

Would restoring the donor prodinfo from your archive and then running the same version you used of Hekate and Atmosphere (and your custom exosphere) help?

Once we get this thing to boot, is there a way to do a restoration or an update that would let it return to normal or will it always need CFW and special care?

I know you are the expert, just trying to help and to hone my own skills by learning through this process.
thanks Adran!
Dave

 

[Adran_Marit]

Good morning
This is using the prodinfo (and everything else) from emmchaccgen. I tried booting with your modified exosphere and the ini files that go with it and get black screen, no logos at all. But with the other SD card (same configuration as my other hacked switch, Hekate 5.5.5 and Atmosphere 18.1) it boots to the Switch logo. AND with no SD card and autoRCM turned off it boots normally and freezes at the same point - the Switch logo screen.

Last night i did some googling and opened it up to apply mechanical pressure to the wifi chip, nothing changed.

If you could update your exosphere i would greatly appreciate it! Or suggest what versions of NAND, Hekate, and Atmosphere i should use to be compatible and i'll redo the process.
Thanks Adran!
Dave

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

Adran, a few more thoughts and questions as i think about it being down to just Prodinfo:

Would a donor prodinfo from w working switch help? I have access to other hacked switches running 11.0.1/Hekate 5.5.4/Atmosphere 18.1 and even one (an accidental upgrade) running 12.0;0/Hekate 5.5.5/Atmosphere 19.1. I could dump prodinfo from any of those using their keys and then restore using the bricked machine keys. Or run a whole NAND through EMCCHaccGen if needed.

Would restoring the donor prodinfo from your PikaFix archive help?

Would restoring the donor prodinfo from your archive and then running the same version you used of Hekate and Atmosphere (and your custom exosphere) help?

Once we get this thing to boot, is there a way to do a restoration or an update that would let it return to normal or will it always need CFW and special care?

I know you are the expert, just trying to help and to hone my own skills by learning through this process.
thanks Adran!
Dave

Okay so there is a tool called prodinfo gen online, rename the prodinfo from the pikafix archive to donor_prodinfo.bin and place it in your sd card /switch folder, inject prodinfo gen, choose from donor, flash the new prodinfo and try the latest atmopshere release

 

[dlh]

Okay so there is a tool called prodinfo gen online, rename the prodinfo from the pikafix archive to donor_prodinfo.bin and place it in your sd card /switch folder, inject prodinfo gen, choose from donor, flash the new prodinfo and try the latest atmopshere release

SUCCESS!
Did as you suggest above, followed the instructions on CaramelDunes github, and it BOOTS!
Plugged in a game card, it read fine and ACNH started normally for a new island.

Knowing it was prodinfo and not being sure if the other issues were outside prodinfo, i then restored prodinfo from the original backup i made right after receiving the switch, and it froze on the Switch logo. Restored the generated from donor file and it boots fine again.

I see the serial reports as all XAW1 and all zeroes - so I'm pretty sure i can't link an account or access any online services or updates. I see on that same github reference to generating a machine specific exosphere file that will spoof the serial - would that let me go online or link a Nintendo account?

THANK YOU so much for all your help, as well as all the contributors whose tools have made this possible!
Dave

 

[Adran_Marit]

SUCCESS!
Did as you suggest above, followed the instructions on CaramelDunes github, and it BOOTS!
Plugged in a game card, it read fine and ACNH started normally for a new island.

Knowing it was prodinfo and not being sure if the other issues were outside prodinfo, i then restored prodinfo from the original backup i made right after receiving the switch, and it froze on the Switch logo. Restored the generated from donor file and it boots fine again.

I see the serial reports as all XAW1 and all zeroes - so I'm pretty sure i can't link an account or access any online services or updates. I see on that same github reference to generating a machine specific exosphere file that will spoof the serial - would that let me go online or link a Nintendo account?

THANK YOU so much for all your help, as well as all the contributors whose tools have made this possible!
Dave

Not AFAIK, the machine-specific exosphere stuff, corresponds to a certain prod info. T
he donated prodinfo used was already incognitoed, so all updated need to be manually done
since we don't have nintendo signing stuff, we cannot generate a new certificate file which is what would allow online stuff

 

[Charli]

Hey there! I bricked my switch somewhere around a year ago and finally decided to try and fix it. But I don't know what prodinfo is and if my problem is a broken prodinfo (partition?) or sth else

I had been using Atmosphère on firmware 6.1.0. One day I connected my Switch to the Internet by accident and it downloaded an OS update. I was too lazy to delete the downloaded update and one day I clicked install by mistake.. :\

Since then I can't boot the CFW anymore. Hekate only shows "Failed to launch Firmware." when I try
What is actually broken and will the steps in the first post help me to resolve my problem?

I still have complete backups from before I updated from 4.1.0 to 6.1.0 and on the micro-sd there also seems to be an automatic prodinfo backup from Atmosphere.

Thanks for helping dummies like me that bricked their Switch x)

 

[Adran_Marit]

Hey there! I bricked my switch somewhere around a year ago and finally decided to try and fix it. But I don't know what prodinfo is and if my problem is a broken prodinfo (partition?) or sth else

I had been using Atmosphère on firmware 6.1.0. One day I connected my Switch to the Internet by accident and it downloaded an OS update. I was too lazy to delete the downloaded update and one day I clicked install by mistake.. :\

Since then I can't boot the CFW anymore. Hekate only shows "Failed to launch Firmware." when I try
What is actually broken and will the steps in the first post help me to resolve my problem?

I still have complete backups from before I updated from 4.1.0 to 6.1.0 and on the micro-sd there also seems to be an automatic prodinfo backup from Atmosphere.

Thanks for helping dummies like me that bricked their Switch x)

An update shouldn't have bricked the switch.

Have you formatted your sd card as fat32 and tried the latest release of atmosphere and hekate?

 

[Charli]

An update shouldn't have bricked the switch.

Have you formatted your sd card as fat32 and tried the latest release of atmosphere and hekate?

oh boy, yeah, all I needed was an updated Atmosphere... Now it works again! I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier... ‍*facepalm*

thank you!

 

[ewabc886]

Hello guys
I benefited from this post and methods from different sources
Here is the mixed and working result for prodinfo_gen.bin used:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/uniqueness-of-nand-pairing-with-hardware.593586/

It works in the end thanks to the contribution of prodinfo_gen.

 

[Adran_Marit]

Hello guys
I benefited from this post and methods from different sources
Here is the mixed and working result for prodinfo_gen.bin used:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/uniqueness-of-nand-pairing-with-hardware.593586/

It works in the end thanks to the contribution of prodinfo_gen.

glad you got it working, prodinfo_gen seems to be the easiest hassle free way to do so

 

[ewabc886]

glad you got it working, prodinfo_gen seems to be the easiest hassle free way to do so

Yes, prodinfo_gen is an effective way to avoid some possible bugs when using other spoofing
This can bring Switches with dead NAND back to live

 

[Adran_Marit]

Yes, prodinfo_gen is an effective way to avoid some possible bugs when using other spoofing
This can bring Switches with dead NAND back to live

Pikabrick and and smash brick were pain

 

[ewabc886]

Pikabrick and and smash brick were pain

I have updated my guide
I see this post's prodinfo_gen.bin method is still under construction
Please feel free to copy from my post if it's useful

 

[ewabc886]

From the rebuild of NAND I start thinking about the patched Switches
For example, solder a modchip on a patched Switch, then obtain its information like BOOT0 BOOT1 NAND
In theory, can we modify them so that we can boot without modchip installed?
After that 1 modchip can modify any number of patched switch
so the high modchip price no longer affect us
well, in theory

 

[linuxares]

@Adran_Marit


This has a number of benefits, including:

• This greatly simplifies key derivation logic by making it consistent on all firmwares.
  • Fusee no longer accesses/uses keyblobs at all, so units which have accidentally destroyed/lost keyblobs can boot without them.

From Atmosphere 0.20.0

Hmmmmmmm

 

[Adran_Marit]

@Adran_Marit


This has a number of benefits, including:

• This greatly simplifies key derivation logic by making it consistent on all firmwares.
  • Fusee no longer accesses/uses keyblobs at all, so units which have accidentally destroyed/lost keyblobs can boot without them.

From Atmosphere 0.20.0

Hmmmmmmm

That's good for keyblobs, not mismatched prodinfo

also 1.0.0 is close

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

From the rebuild of NAND I start thinking about the patched Switches
For example, solder a modchip on a patched Switch, then obtain its information like BOOT0 BOOT1 NAND
In theory, can we modify them so that we can boot without modchip installed?
After that 1 modchip can modify any number of patched switch
so the high modchip price no longer affect us
well, in theory

sadly it doesn't work like that, the chip uses voltage glitching between the emmc and soc and basically forces the payload to be accepted. SciresM and others have said the switch is a very secure system and the only reason we have what we do have is because of nvidia messing up.

long story short, the chip will still be needed because of how the system works

 

[zorusgb]

I'm trying to fix my unpatched switch after it just wouldn't wake up one day (never modded before). It looks like dead emmc. So I got a blank emmc and followed all 3 methods and read all the discussions. Everything seem to go well until the very last step (method 3), system wipe through tegra explorer where I get: User failed to mount!
The switch goes to black screen splash screen when I try to launch Atmosphere and have to hold the power down to turn it off.
I noticed that the pikafix pack doesn't contain USER image and the guides mention nothing about that partition. Is this on purpose or am I missing something? The new emmc has a user partition, but that only because I used gptrestore when it was blank.