Hacking SX Lite Question (general)

[WayOfTheRoad]

Hey, all. Super long post so sorry in advance.
I read a lot of FAQ and didn't exactly find an understanding to my questions so I figured I'd ask here:

I have a Switch Lite on 10.2.0 FW. All official, never nodded or opened.
I also have an SX Lite chip that I've been sitting on for a while and figure I'll get to installing it here soon.

My question is the confusion I have with the entire situation, especially SX and Atmosphere. I come from other scenes and have zero experience modding a Switch or using HB on one. I can read and figure out what software to use and avoid (Mariko) but the basic structure of modding the Switch still confuses me even after reading. Is this basic description/notion I have accurate:

The SX Lite chip only gets the Mariko chip into RCM mode to then use HB/CFW, therefore any CFW can be installed once the Grumpy SD Guy is achieved after modchip install?
Or do I absolutely need to install SXOS and only after swap (or dual boot) to Atmosphere? The SX Chip obviously has software on it pre-OS addition but is that merely it's proprietary RCM software or something more?

I understand that 11.1 FW isn't supported by SXOS right now but that's not really my issue as I'll just leave the Switch on 10.2 if I have to install SXOS first. My issue is more a basic understanding of install order AFTER installing the modchip (and backing up NAND, etc). Essentially, can I go right to Atmosphere or do I need SXOS?

Thanks for any clarification and I hope this makes sense. It's just that I fully understand what/how a PS4 exploit works. Same for Vita, PSP, PS3, PS2, Wii, etc. Switch just seems to have 1000 different choices for everything (awesome!) but a very particular way, order and necessity of installing them. Until I actually DO a thing I have a hard time learning it.
Being able to write code to personalize exploits on other consoles but not fully understand what's going on with a Switch both bothers me and gets me excited to learn something new. Thanks for any help.

 

[MarkBaker]

HI there,

Heres what to look out for:

1. Installing the chip is a pain in the butt. Its like 9 solder points. But once installed, thats the hardest part.
2. When you boot it the first time itll ask for a boot.dat file. You can get that from the xecuter site.
   1. If you are gonna stay on 10.2.0 get the 2.9.5 boot.dat, if you are going 11.0 then you need the 3.1.0 boot.dat.
   2. Put that on the root of your SD card (at this point it doesnt matter if you have FAT32 or exFAT). But if you are gonna stay on FW 10.2.0 then its easier to have the exFAT card and your switch already has the exFAT drivers before installing the mod chip, otherwise youll have to manually update the firmware using atmosphere and daybreak.
3. Power on your switch with the boot.dat in the root of your SD and get the license request file.
4. Turn off your switch and take the sd card out and u0pload the get-license file onto the xecuter site to get the license.
5. Then put the license back onto the root of your SD card.
6. I think at this point it updates the chip fw, thats done locally somehow no need for internet.
7. If you want, you can launch the SX OS at this point by simply powering on the switch. The SX OS menu is under the album, click the icon and do what you need with your homebrew.
   1. The homebrew (.nros) can either go into a folder on your SD called "switch" or into the root of your SD card.
8. Backups:
   1. If you want to backup your NAND which is super important, then while your switch is booting up hold down the +Vol button to go into the SX OS bootloader interface. Select the Options button and then NAND and backup.
   2. Backups are a little under 30gb and once completed can be stored off of the SD card.
   3. You can actually restore either a NAND or emuNAND with SXOS if needed.

The following points are about atmosphere:

1. If you want to launch atmosphere use this: https://github.com/RetroGamer74/RR_RetroReloaded/releases its got almost everything; but youll have to fish for the ini on a discord (its free to the public and not hard to find). Heres a youtube video: .
2. You can also at this point use Daybreak through atmosphere to update your fw and if needed exfat drivers.
   1. To do that put your desired FW into a folder on your root and then just launch the hetake payload from the file I shared and itll get you into Atmosphere then got to the album and launch Daybreak. You can google and find the FW.

Important note: DONT EVER USE CHOIDUJOUR with your Switch. It kills marikos and if you dont have a NAND backup you are in for a big pain.

The following is how to launch other CFW packs:

1. If you want to launch CFW other than SX OS then while your switch is booting up hold down the +Vol button to go into the SX OS bootloader interface. Select the Options button then select Payloads.
2. Youll have to have put the .bin file for the payload (aka CFW) you want to launch in the root of your SD. You launch the CFW like that. But note that each CFW has a bunch of ancillary files youll need on your SD. The link I gave you is nice becasue for RR and Atmosphere its comprehensive (except for the one ini).

 

[WayOfTheRoad]

HI there,

Heres what to look out for:

1. Installing the chip is a pain in the butt. Its like 9 solder points. But once installed, thats the hardest part.
2. When you boot it the first time itll ask for a boot.dat file. You can get that from the xecuter site.
   1. If you are gonna stay on 10.2.0 get the 2.9.5 boot.dat, if you are going 11.0 then you need the 3.1.0 boot.dat.
   2. Put that on the root of your SD card (at this point it doesnt matter if you have FAT32 or exFAT). But if you are gonna stay on FW 10.2.0 then its easier to have the exFAT card and your switch already has the exFAT drivers before installing the mod chip, otherwise youll have to manually update the firmware using atmosphere and daybreak.
3. Power on your switch with the boot.dat in the root of your SD and get the license request file.
4. Turn off your switch and take the sd card out and u0pload the get-license file onto the xecuter site to get the license.
5. Then put the license back onto the root of your SD card.
6. I think at this point it updates the chip fw, thats done locally somehow no need for internet.
7. If you want, you can launch the SX OS at this point by simply powering on the switch. The SX OS menu is under the album, click the icon and do what you need with your homebrew.
   1. The homebrew (.nros) can either go into a folder on your SD called "switch" or into the root of your SD card.
8. Backups:
   1. If you want to backup your NAND which is super important, then while your switch is booting up hold down the +Vol button to go into the SX OS bootloader interface. Select the Options button and then NAND and backup.
   2. Backups are a little under 30gb and once completed can be stored off of the SD card.
   3. You can actually restore either a NAND or emuNAND with SXOS if needed.

The following points are about atmosphere:

1. If you want to launch atmosphere use this: https://github.com/RetroGamer74/RR_RetroReloaded/releases its got almost everything; but youll have to fish for the ini on a discord (its free to the public and not hard to find). Heres a youtube video: .
2. You can also at this point use Daybreak through atmosphere to update your fw and if needed exfat drivers.
   1. To do that put your desired FW into a folder on your root and then just launch the hetake payload from the file I shared and itll get you into Atmosphere then got to the album and launch Daybreak. You can google and find the FW.

Important note: DONT EVER USE CHOIDUJOUR with your Switch. It kills marikos and if you dont have a NAND backup you are in for a big pain.

The following is how to launch other CFW packs:

1. If you want to launch CFW other than SX OS then while your switch is booting up hold down the +Vol button to go into the SX OS bootloader interface. Select the Options button then select Payloads.
2. Youll have to have put the .bin file for the payload (aka CFW) you want to launch in the root of your SD. You launch the CFW like that. But note that each CFW has a bunch of ancillary files youll need on your SD. The link I gave you is nice becasue for RR and Atmosphere its comprehensive (except for the one ini).

I really appreciate the reply! Thanks a ton!
When I think about it, Switch is the first console I've dealt with that has options for CFW. Most others tend to unify around one or the multiples are heavily based around one derivatively. I think that's what confuses me before actually doing this.

Thanks again.

 

[MarkBaker]

I really appreciate the reply! Thanks a ton!
When I think about it, Switch is the first console I've dealt with that has options for CFW. Most others tend to unify around one or the multiples are heavily based around one derivatively. I think that's what confuses me before actually doing this.

Thanks again.

Youre quite welcome. And yup, maybe Atmosphere is becoming that focus point for Switch some may say.