Hacking SX Pro Coming Tomorrow

[Mr. Wizard]

Oh boy, technically AutoRCM is not what protects the fuses but without AutoRCM you will most likely burn the fuses. That is because the Switch's bootloader is the actual thing that burns fuses so to prevent this you would need to substitute one that doesn't (i.e. ReiNX, Hekate, SX OS V1.1+). However to substitute the bootloader, you need to boot into RCM first. AutoRCM pretty much guarantees you will only ever boot into RCM meaning the risk of burning fuses now depends if you use the right bootloader and the only that will burn fuses is SX OS V1.0. Without AutoRCM, you will need to boot into RCM through other means but that other method must be 100% effective because if it fails even once, your fuses will be burnt by the time you see the Nintendo logo.

sxos 1.2+, 1.1 doesn't have fuse check bypass capability. Although I really don't understand why anyone wouldn't just use the latest version.

 

[Stone-D]

Thanks for clearing that up, @Draxzelex!

 

[bundat]

Just to add, since OP has a 3.0 (cart v1) unit, there's also the irreversible cart update too that he should know (which SX OS does NOT protect against, since it cannot load custom sysmodules, specifically "nogc").

The gist is that, if you upgrade to 4.x or higher from a version below 4, even without burning fuses, it updates your gamecard controller firmware to v2. That makes your cartridge port unusable at lower firmware (<4.x), if you ever decide to downgrade.

Someone on reddit explained it as the cart reader having its own set of fuses, not sure if that is 100% accurate, but it's a good way of quickly explaining it.

You can prevent this "irreversible cart upgrade" by using the optional nogc module everytime on Hekate/ReiNX/RajNX, BUT you can't do anything on SX OS.

 

[xaliax]

Be carefull using Rajkosto method and SX OS. See post quoted bellow:

Just a quick message from me I used Rajkosto's upgrade system which is great however i then let curiosity get the better of me and played with SX OS this booted into a black screen so i thought nothing of it and assumed it was broken. I have now checked my fuses and it i have 6 burnt fuses (5.x.x) when i should only have 5 (4.x.x). It seems SX OS boots and burns fuses if the version is different just like a normal fuse check. I would like this clarified as currently only 2 users have reported so anybody else who has tried please check fuses and a quick post here may save some people going forward.

Important: This thread is only relevant if you are using Rajkosto's method to upgrade if you are just using an old firmware switch i have no idea if it would be affected but would assume not.

 

[Draxzelex]

Be carefull using Rajkosto method and SX OS. See post quoted bellow:

Just a quick message from me I used Rajkosto's upgrade system which is great however i then let curiosity get the better of me and played with SX OS this booted into a black screen so i thought nothing of it and assumed it was broken. I have now checked my fuses and it i have 6 burnt fuses (5.x.x) when i should only have 5 (4.x.x). It seems SX OS boots and burns fuses if the version is different just like a normal fuse check. I would like this clarified as currently only 2 users have reported so anybody else who has tried please check fuses and a quick post here may save some people going forward.

Important: This thread is only relevant if you are using Rajkosto's method to upgrade if you are just using an old firmware switch i have no idea if it would be affected but would assume not.

That post is horribly outdated (from June) and is no longer relevant in the latest versions of SX OS which rajkosto already pointed out in advance if you read through his guide:

BOOTING SX OS 1.0 WILL BURN YOUR FUSES EVEN IF YOU HAVE AUTORCM ON, NICE JOB "TX".
SX OS 1.1 WON'T BURN BUT ALSO WON'T WORK (fuse check not bypassed), USE HEKATE STILL.
SX OS 1.2 WILL WORK FOR 2nd BOOT AND AFTER, FIRST BOOT YOU MUST STILL FOLLOW GUIDE.
AFTER FIRST BOOT YOU CAN USE briccmiiv2 VOL+ OPTION (ONLY ONCE) TO REPAIR cust_data
(if it says UNBRICC'd send briccmiiv2 and BRICC again) if you want SX to work too, not just hekate.

 

[Canna]

What should I do with a 3.0 firmware unit?

I want to backup the NAND. Not sure which program is best. I was thinking of sticking to 3.0 firmware and just using NSP files to avoid firmware requirements. Also is there anyway to stay at 3.0 + FAT32 and split the NSP files?


For whatever reasons I don't want to upgrade with 5.1 I know I can do this without burning efuses. I would just rather stay at 3.0 if possible.

Backup your nand before you even mess with the switch or sx pro sxos
make a virgin nand backup *Untouched by cfw or hacks or homebrew*
if not still backup anyway
https://gbatemp.net/threads/backup-...-your-biskeys-tseckeys-keys-txt-guide.513386/

Also you can use choirdujourNX to update to the same 3.0 but with the exfat option..
and still boot normally , but Backup first.

if you want to stay on 3.0 then sure, but ya may aswell update to latest, unless you care about this coldboot stuff that isnt going anywere atm

 

[Ericthegreat]

What should I do with a 3.0 firmware unit?

I want to backup the NAND. Not sure which program is best. I was thinking of sticking to 3.0 firmware and just using NSP files to avoid firmware requirements. Also is there anyway to stay at 3.0 + FAT32 and split the NSP files?


For whatever reasons I don't want to upgrade with 5.1 I know I can do this without burning efuses. I would just rather stay at 3.0 if possible.

Why stay on 3.0? Just use the no burn guide (or chodujounerdx or whatever it's called if you don't mind the 5 sec added to boot and wake, that might've been fixed tho) the no burn guide really is not hard tho, and doesn't really take long other then the downloads/backup.

 

[machinoman]

Why stay on 3.0? Just use the no burn guide (or chodujounerdx or whatever it's called if you don't mind the 5 sec added to boot and wake, that might've been fixed tho) the no burn guide really is not hard tho, and doesn't really take long other then the downloads/backup.

i agree. i've gone through the whole process and my only regret is buying a jig. foil + autorcm took minutes. unfortunately i bought into the foil method is dangerous rumor spread by jig salesman.

 

[Ericthegreat]

i agree. i've gone through the whole process and my only regret is buying a jig. foil + autorcm took minutes. unfortunately i bought into the foil method is dangerous rumor spread by jig salesman.

I used a paperclip, I also have a unessesary jig, tho do you know is it supposed to be really tight? I'm scared to push it in since I don't even need it.

The real problem with foil is kids who are gonna put a big peice that touchs pin 4.

 

[machinoman]

I used a paperclip, I also have a unessesary jig, tho do you know is it supposed to be really tight? I'm scared to push it in since I don't even need it.

The real problem with foil is kids who are gonna put a big peice that touchs pin 4.

True, but I didn't realize until I found that out how far away the "danger pin" is from 9 and 10. For some reason I had the erroneous notion that connecting 9 and 10 to the pins right next to them was dangerous. To connect them to 4, well that would be at once tragic and impressively clumsy.

 

[Plex7]

Is there a thread available that explains the basic precautions and steps to do (Nand back up, system firmware installer, etc.) for newbies? Or is everything pretty much explained in this thread? I lurk and lurk coming across all these threads of releases, homebrew and such and it seems overwhelming. What to do, what not to? So far I have these on my to do list:

I have an original 3.0 switch.

-Back up NAND
-Update to 5.1.0 via choidujourNX (question on this below)

Can I perform the above two on the SX OS CFW? If so, will the nand back up be 3.0? Or do I have to hack the switch manually prior to using the SX Pro to perform the NAND back up?

Anything else?

My SX Pro should come in end of the week.

Can I boot to the latest SX OS CFW and play 4.0+ required games if the original firmware is 3.0?

 

[Stone-D]

I have an original 3.0 switch.

-Back up NAND
-Update to 5.1.0 via choidujourNX (question on this below)

Can I perform the above two on the SX OS CFW? If so, will the nand back up be 3.0? Or do I have to hack the switch manually prior to using the SX Pro to perform the NAND back up?

Backing up your NAND is done through Hekate, not CFW. You can do this before your SX Pro arrives, using a DIY jig to enter RCM.
AFAIK ChoiDuJourNX doesn't work in SX OS, you have to use one of the other CFWs (ReiNX, RajNX, etc) packs as it, I think, needs Atmosphere.
Also, again AFAIK, SX Pro will NOT protect your fuses from being burnt if you plan to go to 5.1.0 with the intent to downgrade back to 3 at some point later.

Can I boot to the latest SX OS CFW and play 4.0+ required games if the original firmware is 3.0?

No. Essentially, each major release of the OFW comes with a new set of encryption keys. 3.0.1 came with a new one (MasterKey2), as did 4.0.0 (MasterKey3) and 5.0.0 (MasterKey4). Even if the game would run when decrypted, it won't run without that key.

 

[Ericthegreat]

True, but I didn't realize until I found that out how far away the "danger pin" is from 9 and 10. For some reason I had the erroneous notion that connecting 9 and 10 to the pins right next to them was dangerous. To connect them to 4, well that would be at once tragic and impressively clumsy.

Well, you can just touch 1 and the rail (what I used) 4 is much closer to 1 and some kids will just stuff the rail full of foil, not understanding that they can short something....

 

[machinoman]

Well, you can just touch 1 and the rail (what I used) 4 is much closer to 1 and some kids will just stuff the rail full of foil, not understanding that they can short something....

i suppose some kids might jam a whole paperclip in there too, but i would hope most would read a tutorial.

 

[Ericthegreat]

i suppose some kids might jam a whole paperclip in there too, but i would hope most would read a tutorial.

Naw they like to jam/stab the copper pins off with the paper clip.

 

[Mr. Wizard]

Naw they like to jam/stab the copper pins off with the paper clip.

Sounds to me like that would teach them a valuable lesson.

 

[Ericthegreat]

Sounds to me like that would teach them a valuable lesson.

Actually that's true, since it's a pretty cheap replacement, and time.

 

[bundat]

Is there a thread available that explains the basic precautions
I have an original 3.0 switch.
...
-Update to 5.1.0 via choidujourNX (question on this below)

I personally didn't bother with any hard methods, I just did the easy/risky way to update:
update in OFW, insert a 100% RELIABLE jig and hold Vol+ right before it restarts, to reboot straight into RCM.
Because the fuses only get burnt by the default bootloader upon normal restart (which RCM interrupts).

basic precautions

- First always do a NAND backup before everything. I did this before my jig arrived using a piece of wire for RCM.
- Be careful of pin 4, this is 5V which is used to charge the joycons, and could possibly fry something if you accidentally short it.

What I personally did was:

• back up stock NAND first [using DIY jig]
• "risky" unburned fuse update [using SX pro jig]
  • i.e. do update via OFW,
  • then insert jig and hold vol+ right before it restarts
• then inject hekate after rebooting into RCM post-update, and back up NAND again [so that I have a clean 5.1.0 backup]
• remove jig, then boot into stock using hekate [in case Horizon detects if pin 10 is shorted, then it isn't]
• delete wifi settings [as they will be enabled due to doing an OFW update earlier]
• insert jig, reboot into RCM
• then enable autoRCM in hekate [to protect my fuses]

I made a 5.1.0 backup so that I have a NAND backup I can restore to if I ever want to go online again (e.g. even just to upgrade to a future new firmware). Because I read somewhere that it MIGHT be suspicious to Nintendo that the same console "request the SAME firmware update twice", and I thought it would also be weird if it "suddenly went down in firmware version", which is what will happen if you restore the first NAND backup. What I plan to do for FUTURE firmware updates is:

• backup saves in Checkpoint
• disable autoRCM in hekate
• while still in hekate, restore 5.1.0 NAND backup
• boot into stock using hekate
• setup wifi, OFW update, then stick in jig before restart and hold vol+ ["risky" update]
• inject hekate, backup NAND in newest [FUTURE] firmware version
• same steps as above i.e.
  • boot into stock using hekate
  • delete wifi settings
  • insert jig, reboot into RCM
  • then enable autoRCM in hekate
• then finally restore my saves

Anyway, since you have a 3.0 switch, also be aware that SX OS can't protect your cartridge port "fuses" (this requires the custom "nogc" kip, which can only be loaded by CFW like Hekate/ReiNX/RajNX, and SX OS can't) as I stated in my earlier post. I personally never had to worry about this (since I had 4.1.0 stock, which is cart v2 just like 5.1.0), but if cart v3 ever comes out, I'd probably switch to something with nogc (like RajNX/ReiNX), and hope they have XCI loading by then (otherwise I'd have to get a lot of games again as NSPs).

 

[Plex7]

Backing up your NAND is done through Hekate, not CFW. You can do this before your SX Pro arrives, using a DIY jig to enter RCM.
AFAIK ChoiDuJourNX doesn't work in SX OS, you have to use one of the other CFWs (ReiNX, RajNX, etc) packs as it, I think, needs Atmosphere.
Also, again AFAIK, SX Pro will NOT protect your fuses from being burnt if you plan to go to 5.1.0 with the intent to downgrade back to 3 at some point later.


No. Essentially, each major release of the OFW comes with a new set of encryption keys. 3.0.1 came with a new one (MasterKey2), as did 4.0.0 (MasterKey3) and 5.0.0 (MasterKey4). Even if the game would run when decrypted, it won't run without that key.

Thanks for the solid answer! I will look into Hekate. What CFW do you recommend and is user friendly to install? I guess I will do that, handle the NAND back up, and update using Choi.

Is there even a point to downgrade to 3.0? Tempted just to update using nintendo. Although I heard this burns fuses, yet I've come across a comment stating the switch has hundreds of fuses...so why stress over that?

 

[Gold_Experience]

I remember when my came in. I made the mistake of not updating it lol. You'll love the sx pro. I don't charge it much but I only used it once and left my switch on for days. Until I have to do the payload again when it crashes on homebrew.