Hacking SX Core/Lite Install Checklist/Guide (Before/After)

[Banthors]

Ok so i am making this thread to serve as a entry point for things to do while waiting for the SX Core to come in and make sure i have everything lined up for the install. I would also like to create a list of all the basic steps to do after you finish the install as there is no Sticky/Instructions for what to do after the install and i see the question asked constantly. I will add to it as more information becomes available and if any of the information is wrong or out of date please message me ASAP.

First and foremost we need to make sure we have everything gathered for the install. I will include links to order all parts if people could help me link the best spots to get these items.

Soldering Iron (Anything will do as long as it regulated)
Soldering Tip for SMD(Surface Mount Device Eg. Tiny Soldering) (Like I-tip or similar)
Flux(Syringe Paste/Liquid) User Preference
Solder (60/40 or 63/37 both with rosin core. Make sure it is a good quality. Dont cheap out on Solder) User Preference
New Thermal Compound (Artic MX-2/4 or Non Conductive Thermal Compound) User Preference
Tri Wing Screwdriver
Phillips Screwdriver
Pointy Tweezers or Pin (Removing Shielding)
Desolder Braid (Only necessary if anchor is too high by mistake)
Que tips (cleaning between capacitors dry)
Micro Swabs (cleaning between capacitors dry)
Old Toothbrush (Cleaning the CPU with alcohol)
Rubbing Alcohol (99% or Higher)
Jewelers Lenses( Optional but very helpful for making sure you have good solder joints to prevent pink lights, not turning on, black screens etc)

(Before Install if you have no experience with SMD Soldering it would be advised to talk to one of the people on GBATemp who do soldering. You may be tempted to try to save money by doing it yourself but this install is very tiny and you could potentially destroy your 300+ Console to save 50-100. If i get the OK i will create a master list of who does installs, Where they are from, and the cost of there service)

Reserved

1. The most important thing before soldering the parts is to make sure you do a through job of cleaning off all the thermal paste. It can interfere with the install and cause a huge mess. To clean the CPU properly first use the q tips and micro swabs to get all the dry gunk out. While cleaning make sure you are very gentle and do not use too much force cleaning the paste off. it does not take a lot of pressure to clean the old paste. after most of the paste is off you can use a dab of alcohol and a old toothbrush to scrub out the remaining paste ( you do not need a lot of alcohol to clean the chip just a drop will do) Clean well afterwords.

removing the gunk with micro swaps first then just using a toothbrush will bring it from

to

This is how your chip should look before you start soldering.
(Credt to @squee666 For the pictures and info)

2. Follow the instructions that came with your specific Chip very carefully. There have been many capacitors broke from trying to rush the process.

After Install

There is a small light on the modchip that will flash blue after the install. This flashing blue light will last for 20-30 seconds after which time it will change to red or green. Here is what each means.

Green - Install was sucessful
Red - Bad solder joints. Redo your soldering

If you see the Grumpy SD Card you have sucessfully installed the Chip.

After you get the grumpy SD Card you download the latest BETA version of SX OS and you can enter the bootloader.

Latest Beta - https://sx.xecuter.com/ (Click Downloads)

Format your sdcard to exfat if its not and insert it into the switch it will prompt you for an update. Download the drivers than format your sd car to fat32 to prevent corruptions.

The steps to follow after getting the latest SX OS is
1) first and foremost backup sysnand
2) create emunand
3) boot cfw, it will tell you it cannot find license.dat, and will create a license-request.dat on your sd, you then upload the request file to tx's website and you will get a license.dat
4) put license.dat on your sd and boot, the console will automatically boot into CFW, if done successfully by going to the album you will enter sx homebrew menu
5) get your homebrew apps to your sd
6) run lockpick.nro and incognito.nro to backup your partial prod.key and wipe your console serial to prevent bans
Lockpick (Download Latest Version) https://github.com/shchmue/Lockpick/releases
Incognito (Download Latest Version) https://github.com/blawar/incognito/releases

(Credit to @Helidwarf for this info) I will update the Instructions with all websites needed.

(This guide is not done i am going to be constantly adding more info as i get more info)

 

[Banthors]

(Reserved)

 

[hartleyshc]

A couple of corrections:
You want NON conductive thermal paste.
Micro swabs, not swaps.

Suggestion:
The official instructions simply state you should have a green light. That's it. During my install I checked my solder points many times because I kept getting a flashing blue light and not green.
Which if I had known it was perfectly normal for the unit to flash blue and then solid green led my install would have taken me much less time.


Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

 

[Banthors]

i forgot to type "none" when i told him that
and yes it can flash blue for a long time on initial install

Fixed the spelling errors and updated it to non conductive.

Also added a section to explain about the blue flashing light and the time it takes to change colors.

 

[Banthors]

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

Successful Installation. Thanks @squee666 for helping me thru that i learned a lot for future installs and to make sure i put the nand in every test lol.

 

[SamBlackChay]

Ok so i am making this thread to serve as a entry point for things to do while waiting for the SX Core to come in and make sure i have everything lined up for the install. I would also like to create a list of all the basic steps to do after you finish the install as there is no Sticky/Instructions for what to do after the install and i see the question asked constantly. I will add to it as more information becomes available and if any of the information is wrong or out of date please message me ASAP.

First and foremost we need to make sure we have everything gathered for the install. I will include links to order all parts if people could help me link the best spots to get these items.

Soldering Iron (Anything will do as long as it regulated)
Soldering Tip for SMD(Surface Mount Device Eg. Tiny Soldering) (Like I-tip or similar)
Flux(Syringe Paste/Liquid) User Preference
Solder (60/40 or 63/37 both with rosin core. Make sure it is a good quality. Dont cheap out on Solder) User Preference
New Thermal Compound (Artic MX-2/4 or Non Conductive Thermal Compound) User Preference
Tri Wing Screwdriver
Phillips Screwdriver
Pointy Tweezers or Pin (Removing Shielding)
Desolder Braid (Only necessary if anchor is too high by mistake)
Que tips (cleaning between capacitors dry)
Micro Swabs (cleaning between capacitors dry)
Old Toothbrush (Cleaning the CPU with alcohol)
Rubbing Alcohol (99% or Higher)
Jewelers Lenses( Optional but very helpful for making sure you have good solder joints to prevent pink lights, not turning on, black screens etc)

(Before Install if you have no experience with SMD Soldering it would be advised to talk to one of the people on GBATemp who do soldering. You may be tempted to try to save money by doing it yourself but this install is very tiny and you could potentially destroy your 300+ Console to save 50-100. If i get the OK i will create a master list of who does installs, Where they are from, and the cost of there service)

Reserved

1. The most important thing before soldering the parts is to make sure you do a through job of cleaning off all the thermal paste. It can interfere with the install and cause a huge mess. To clean the CPU properly first use the q tips and micro swabs to get all the dry gunk out. While cleaning make sure you are very gentle and do not use too much force cleaning the paste off. it does not take a lot of pressure to clean the old paste. after most of the paste is off you can use a dab of alcohol and a old toothbrush to scrub out the remaining paste ( you do not need a lot of alcohol to clean the chip just a drop will do) Clean well afterwords.

removing the gunk with micro swaps first then just using a toothbrush will bring it from

to

This is how your chip should look before you start soldering.
(Credt to @squee666 For the pictures and info)

2. Follow the instructions that came with your specific Chip very carefully. There have been many capacitors broke from trying to rush the process.

After Install

There is a small light on the modchip that will flash blue after the install. This flashing blue light will last for 20-30 seconds after which time it will change to red or green. Here is what each means.

Green - Install was sucessful
Red - Bad solder joints. Redo your soldering

If you see the Grumpy SD Card you have sucessfully installed the Chip.

After you get the grumpy SD Card you download the latest BETA version of SX OS and you can enter the bootloader.

Latest Beta - https://sx.xecuter.com/ (Click Downloads)

Format your sdcard to exfat if its not and insert it into the switch it will prompt you for an update. Download the drivers than format your sd car to fat32 to prevent corruptions.

The steps to follow after getting the latest SX OS is
1) first and foremost backup sysnand
2) create emunand
3) boot cfw, it will tell you it cannot find license.dat, and will create a license-request.dat on your sd, you then upload the request file to tx's website and you will get a license.dat
4) put license.dat on your sd and boot, the console will automatically boot into CFW, if done successfully by going to the album you will enter sx homebrew menu
5) get your homebrew apps to your sd
6) run lockpick.nro and incognito.nro to backup your partial prod.key and wipe your console serial to prevent bans
Lockpick (Download Latest Version) https://github.com/shchmue/Lockpick/releases
Incognito (Download Latest Version) https://github.com/blawar/incognito/releases

(Credit to @Helidwarf for this info) I will update the Instructions with all websites needed.

(This guide is not done i am going to be constantly adding more info as i get more info)

6) run lockpick.nro and incognito.nro to backup your partial prod.key and wipe your console serial to prevent bans
Lockpick (Download Latest Version)
Incognito (Download Latest Version)

This post says Lockpick & Incognito doesn't work?
So are they both updated to work with SX CORE & LITE?
All switch Versions & Gen?

 

[Banthors]

6) run lockpick.nro and incognito.nro to backup your partial prod.key and wipe your console serial to prevent bans
Lockpick (Download Latest Version)
Incognito (Download Latest Version)

This post says Lockpick & Incognito doesn't work?
So are they both updated to work with SX CORE & LITE?
All switch Versions & Gen?

I ran both on my Patch V1 switch im not sure for Mariko and Lites. Based on what i read the only thing that wont work is master keys from lockpick but it will still give you your biskey. Incognito just wipes the serial to prevent emunand ban. They should all work.

Edit The only thing that wont work on mariko is Lockpick RCM. Normal Lockpick works. i will edit if i find anything to the contrary.

Last Edit: 100% the NRO is safe for mariko. You can check this fourm https://gbatemp.net/threads/sx-core-mariko-list-of-non-compatible-tools.567803/

 

[SamBlackChay]

I ran both on my Patch V1 switch im not sure for Mariko and Lites. Based on what i read the only thing that wont work is master keys from lockpick but it will still give you your biskey. Incognito just wipes the serial to prevent emunand ban. They should all work.

Edit The only thing that wont work on mariko is Lockpick RCM. Normal Lockpick works. i will edit if i find anything to the contrary.

Last Edit: 100% the NRO is safe for mariko. You can check this fourm https://gbatemp.net/threads/sx-core-mariko-list-of-non-compatible-tools.567803/

Under "DO NOT USE (POTENTIAL BRICK, need to reflash):"
Point 3
3. Lockpick RCM (not sure about the normal non RCM version).

I thought lockpick wouldn't work
As long as lockpick & Incognito NRO tested to work on all switch & lites that clears any woes =)

 

[Banthors]

Under "DO NOT USE (POTENTIAL BRICK, need to reflash):"
Point 3
3. Lockpick RCM (not sure about the normal non RCM version).

I thought lockpick wouldn't work
As long as lockpick & Incognito NRO tested to work on all switch & lites that clears any woes =)

Yeah as long as you only download the nro from the sites i linked you will be fine. The nro is different from the rcm version.

 

[robot_bikram]

Is it safe to update after install SX LITE on Nintendo Switch Lite through WIFI??

Coz I've done update through WIFI...actually i brought brand new Nintendo Switch Lite n SX LITE then install SX LITE.
Everything was perfect i put boot.dat on root of my new Memory card then i insert in memory card slot and turn on then SX boot logo shows up after that there is 3 option.
I clicked on CFW option then screen goes black n eject memory card instantly then Nintendo start up , I finished up initial setup like date time ,internet etc. because that was the 1st time I was going turn on my Nintendo..
again inserted memory card without turn off but there was a message pups up "A system update is required to use the microSDXC memory card" then I updated Nintendo after that screen goes black.
I tried to turn off Nintendo it was then press power button again. There was SX Option shows up i clicked on in every option screen goes black so have I done great mistake??

 

[Draxzelex]

Is it safe to update after install SX LITE on Nintendo Switch Lite through WIFI??

Coz I've done update through WIFI...actually i brought brand new Nintendo Switch Lite n SX LITE then install SX LITE.
Everything was perfect i put boot.dat on root of my new Memory card then i insert in memory card slot and turn on then SX boot logo shows up after that there is 3 option.
I clicked on CFW option then screen goes black n eject memory card instantly then Nintendo start up , I finished up initial setup like date time ,internet etc. because that was the 1st time I was going turn on my Nintendo..
again inserted memory card without turn off but there was a message pups up "A system update is required to use the microSDXC memory card" then I updated Nintendo after that screen goes black.
I tried to turn off Nintendo it was then press power button again. There was SX Option shows up i clicked on in every option screen goes black so have I done great mistake??

You updated the firmware to one that SX OS does not support so this explains the black screen when you try to launch it. Your only option is to setup Atmosphere.

 

[just420ott]

can anyone point me in the right direction to install a hwfly lite chip into a v2 switch?

 

[Cajacava]

can anyone point me in the right direction to install a hwfly lite chip into a v2 switch?

Interested too in the answers

 

[Draxzelex]

can anyone point me in the right direction to install a hwfly lite chip into a v2 switch?

Try following this.