The Switch Flashcart Thread (Mig Switch etc.)

[Sentai01]

So then it's trash. And I just wasted money.

 

[ccfman2004]

So then it's trash. And I just wasted money.

Only if you expected to play dumps you downloaded from the internet. Even the Mig Switch website says to only use dumps you dumped yourself if you don't want to get banned.

 

[BigOnYa]

So then it's trash. And I just wasted money.

You should do some research on anything before you buy it.

 

[TheStonedModder]

I can't get a clear answer, read it or anything. I can't get it clear actually answer. Other than buy another switch

I gave you a VERY clear answer. What else do you need help with? Im happy to clarify

 

[Sentai01]

I gave you a VERY clear answer. What else do you need help with? Im happy to clarify

I don't know why we're playing games on the GBA temp website. You could use the disclaimer as much as you want that you're only supposed to play. You're legally owned

In other forms to tell people how to get to the free shops for like the vita etc

I intend to pirate games. If I play my game that I pirated offline. And then later on I want to go and play animal crossing Go visit my wife's Island who passed away. Am I going to get banned when I go back online?

If the answer is play all of the games that you pirate offline then okay. But if the answer is you will get banned as soon as you go back online and use the virtual console. Well then I wasted my money and it's trash.

 

[ccfman2004]

I don't know why we're playing games on the GBA temp website. You could use the disclaimer as much as you want that you're only supposed to play. You're legally owned

In other forms to tell people how to get to the free shops for like the vita etc

I intend to pirate games. If I play my game that I pirated offline. And then later on I want to go and play animal crossing Go visit my wife's Island who passed away. Am I going to get banned when I go back online?

If the answer is play all of the games that you pirate offline then okay. But if the answer is you will get banned as soon as you go back online and use the virtual console. Well then I wasted my money and it's trash.

Nintendo keeps a list of all pirated unique game IDs so if any of them are logged on the Switch Nintendo will know and you will eventually get banned.

Also this site has a policy against linking to piracy sites.

 

[TheStonedModder]

I don't know why we're playing games on the GBA temp website. You could use the disclaimer as much as you want that you're only supposed to play. You're legally owned

In other forms to tell people how to get to the free shops for like the vita etc

I intend to pirate games. If I play my game that I pirated offline. And then later on I want to go and play animal crossing Go visit my wife's Island who passed away. Am I going to get banned when I go back online?

If the answer is play all of the games that you pirate offline then okay. But if the answer is you will get banned as soon as you go back online and use the virtual console. Well then I wasted my money and it's trash.

No one is playing games. Nintendo logs damn near every single thing you do on your system. Wether you appear offline, or factory reset your device.

Its the unfortunate reality of things. So im not sure why you're getting so upset.

If you want to pirate games you do you, not a single person here is stopping you or telling you not to talk about it. But we are telling you doing so with the MIG will get you banned. No matter what...

Unless you do a semi pirate method(if you can call it that?) like I mentioned in my last post, and gather some of your friends together and dump your games with each other

As long as its under 4 people you *should* still be safe to play online. Ive been doing it since the MIG has been released. But you need to be 1000% sure that your friends are not sharing these files online terming your semi private dumps into public unsafe ones

 

[Sentai01]

No one is playing games. Nintendo logs damn near every single thing you do on your system. Wether you appear offline, or factory reset your device.

Its the unfortunate reality of things. So im not sure why you're getting so upset.

If you want to pirate games you do you, not a single person here is stopping you or telling you not to talk about it. But we are telling you doing so with the MIG will get you banned. No matter what...

Unless you do a semi pirate method(if you can call it that?) like I mentioned in my last post, and gather some of your friends together and dump your games with each other

As long as its under 4 people you *should* still be safe to play online. Ive been doing it since the MIG has been released. But you need to be 1000% sure that your friends are not sharing these files online terming your semi private dumps into public unsafe ones

Okay so I wasted my money. Got you.

They haven't mailed it yet so I asked them to cancel it. If they refuse to give me a refund then I could always report it to cash app as false.

Technically I could use my wife's switch but I'm not going to play on a switch light when I have an OLED

Post automatically merged: Mar 11, 2025

Okay so I wasted my money. Got you.

They haven't mailed it yet so I asked them to cancel it. If they refuse to give me a refund then I could always report it to cash app as false.
Oh that's a big move. Don't do that. It's not their fault. You didn't read about this ahead of time. You're right but still going to do it
Technically I could use my wife's switch but I'm not going to play on a switch light when I have an OLED

 

[EduAAA]

No one is playing games. Nintendo logs damn near every single thing you do on your system. Wether you appear offline, or factory reset your device.

Its the unfortunate reality of things. So im not sure why you're getting so upset.

If you want to pirate games you do you, not a single person here is stopping you or telling you not to talk about it. But we are telling you doing so with the MIG will get you banned. No matter what...

Unless you do a semi pirate method(if you can call it that?) like I mentioned in my last post, and gather some of your friends together and dump your games with each other

As long as its under 4 people you *should* still be safe to play online. Ive been doing it since the MIG has been released. But you need to be 1000% sure that your friends are not sharing these files online terming your semi private dumps into public unsafe ones

Or since piraracy doesn't mean 1 less bought game, you can buy 1, dump it and return it and get refunded. Or you can rob a videogame store, or enough smartphones from 11 years old kids to sell them and buy everything legally.

 

[TheStonedModder]

Or since piraracy doesn't mean 1 less bought game, you can buy 1, dump it and return it and get refunded. Or you can rob a videogame store, or enough smartphones from 11 years old kids to sell them and buy everything legally.

Read the last part of my paragraph again

That won’t work and is a scumbag thing to do

 

[ccfman2004]

Read the last part of my paragraph again

That won’t work and is a scumbag thing to do

I believe he was being sarcastic as the post he was commenting to, the poster clearly only wanted to pirate.

 

[Blythe93]

So then it's trash. And I just wasted money.

It's not a trash, even if you want to pirate games. It's just a not-so-hassle-free way to play up-to-date games on your unmodded Switch.

From what I've heard and gathered from this thread and few other places on the Internet, here's what I know:

• Playing your own fully dumped backups will almost certainly not get you banned. The chances of ban get higher if you dumped the game that you bought used. Maybe someone else dumped it? Instead of MIG Dumper they can use modded Switch to dump the games and release it somewhere on the Internet. The games that you have purchased new and sealed from a trusted source are safe to use with MIG Switch. Well, as long as Nintendo doesn't do anything about it.
• Like TheStonedModder said, semi-private full dumps should be fine as well. He's the perfect example of that method still working perfectly.
• Using mixed (i.e. game and initial data files from one game, other BIN files from another donor game) and incomplete (i.e. only game and initial data file) will get you banned as soon as you connect to the Nintendo servers. If you're staying offline, in airplane mode or blocking Nintendo servers via 90DNS, you're just delaying the inevitable.

Fortunately, even if your Switch eventually gets banned, things aren't that grim provided that you have a modded Switch as well. There are some limitations, however:

• You won't be able to use online services (i.e. eShop and NSO and whatever else there is that relies on connecting to the Nintendo servers).
• You won't be able to download updates (unless they were included on the game cart or you have a modded Switch to locally match the game version with the banned Switch) or DLC (unless they were included on the game cart) legally as you won't have access to the eShop.
• Some physical games won't work if they require an update to even start (not an issue if you have a modded Switch and the same game installed on it with the update you want to update your game to).

You will still be able to:

• Update firmware.
• Play games in a local multiplayer. Haven't tested it personally as I don't have a banned Switch, but it should work as it doesn't rely on access to the NIntendo servers.
• Use some apps like YouTube. (Unless they've changed something recently, but I remember seeing that you'd still get a pop-up that says that your console is restricted/banned but after clicking OK the app will continue working as usual. Not sure about other apps as I personally don't use them on Switch.

And there you have it.

One my acquaintances was using MIG Switch for a while on his unmodded Switch OLED and was only using full dumps that were publicly available and stayed offline during the time he played those games. After he decided to sell his MIG Switch, he performed the factory reset on his Switch and was still able to use online services afterwards. Apparently, he's still able to use online services, which is kinda odd. Telemetry is not cleared on factory reset and since he isn't blocking Nintendo servers, they probably have all the data they need to get his console banned. However, bans sometimes come after a while, but I'm not sure if they can be two months late? Maybe he was indeed lucky? Maybe he played a game that no one else did? I highly doubt. Is it safe to use at least some publicly available dumps? Maybe, if he got lucky and downloaded those dumps from a place that doesn't have too many people in it, kinda like TheStonedModder's group of friends.

In any case, if you decide to use MIG Switch for running publicly available dumps on one of your Switches, make sure to do the following:

• Make at least one account with NNID linked to it (I'd create a secondary account, one other than your main account) as some games require this to even start (like Ori and the Will of the Wisps).
• Keep your system offline. Remove all of your saved wireless connections. If you're using wired connection, disconnect the cable from the dock. If your Switch is already banned, there's nothing you need to do, I guess? If you're not using any online app like YouTube, you can still set up 90DNS in order to block unintentional firmware updates that may or may not break some of the games, requiring a newer update for them that work on a higher firmware.
• Only use full dumps from a trusted source, preferably one that not many users have access to or if you can form a group of friends that are willing to share their games with you. Additionally, I'd check the XCI files with NxFileViewer to see if they weren't modified. I'm not sure if you can do anything to check the BIN files, though.
• Make sure that your MIG Switch cart is always on the latest firmware. Can be found on their official website (they are now called MIG Flash, now that I think of it) or here on GBATemp.

 

[SecureBoot]

Okay so I wasted my money. Got you.

They haven't mailed it yet so I asked them to cancel it. If they refuse to give me a refund then I could always report it to cash app as false.

Technically I could use my wife's switch but I'm not going to play on a switch light when I have an OLED

Post automatically merged: Mar 11, 2025

Don't be a tool. If you bought a product designed for one thing, you can't get butthurt because it doesn't work in a way it's not designed for. It is not our problem that you didn't research what you were buying

 

[Sentai01]

Don't be a tool. If you bought a product designed for one thing, you can't get butthurt because it doesn't work in a way it's not designed for. It is not our problem that you didn't research what you were buying

You're taking what I'm saying the wrong way how would it be your fault

 

[retnuh730]

You’re better off hard modding if you want more freedom to play what you want. It costs less than a MiG+dumper to get someone to install for you anyways

 

[LoggerMan]

• You won't be able to download updates (unless they were included on the game cart or you have a modded Switch to locally match the game version with the banned Switch) or DLC (unless they were included on the game cart) legally as you won't have access to the eShop.
• Some physical games won't work if they require an update to even start (not an issue if you have a modded Switch and the same game installed on it with the update you want to update your game to).

Wait, I do have a modded switch. Maybe MIG Switch isn't such a bad idea then, I will be able to update any game on my OLED Mig Switch with my OG modded switch. Why didn't I realise this before. And with Switch 2 coming out soon, I won't even care if the OLED gets banned. Hopefully..

 

[Blythe93]

Wait, I do have a modded switch. Maybe MIG Switch isn't such a bad idea then, I will be able to update any game on my OLED Mig Switch with my OG modded switch. Why didn't I realise this before. And with Switch 2 coming out soon, I won't even care if the OLED gets banned. Hopefully..

As long as you understand the limitations, it's not really a bad device all things considered.

For games to work at the very least you need to have the base game and, if necessary, an update for the game to work on a higher firmware. If you have at least one modded Switch, it'll make updating games on your Switch with a MIG Switch a bit easier. if I remember correctly, the free trial and the full game have different IDs so, unfortunately, you can't download the trial, update it and use that update on e.g. unmodded Switch to match game versions locally with the Switch that has MIG Switch and the same game on it.

Still, if you don't plan on buying games nor paying for NSO, you aren't really losing much by getting your console banned. As far as I can tell, the only downside is not having access to the eShop for updates and maybe the games that you've purchased on your account. Just make sure to create a secondary account and link it to at least one profile on your Switch (there are some games that require linked NNID and, as far as I'm aware, you can't link a new account on your Switch if it's banned) as well as set up 90DNS in order to block Nintendo servers.

Additionally, I'd personally download YouTube (even banned, you can still use it unless something changed while I wasn't looking) and Island Transfer Tool for the Animal Crossing: New Horisons in case you'd like to transfer your island to another Switch. There might be some other tools that I'm unaware of (maybe for some Pokemon stuff?) so do grab that as well.

The best use case for MIG Switch for running publicly available dumps is if you have an alraedy banned Switch that you don't plan on getting hardmodded and to limit the number of games you have on it to 10-20. MIG Switch v2 luckily has a button on it so you can cycle between games by either going forwards (press the button) or backwards (hold the button), so you don't have to eject it the way you had to do with v1.

However, if you can find someone competent enough to hardmod your Switch, that would be much better way to run your backups. Or just buy an unpatched Switch if available.

 

[ccfman2004]

You can always use a stock Switch to transfer game updates to a banned Switch. That's what I've been doing. Thank Nintendo for allowing local game update transfers.

 

[Pluridoxato]

Given that I already have a Switch v2 and I'm very happy with it, I was wondering if, in case I get banned, it would be enough to modify the Switch with Picofly to be able to download updates from the store again, or if once banned, not even the hardware modification can access the store.


This opens up another topic: everyone says that the modchip is more convenient than the MIG, but with the MIG I simply have to insert it and I can play everything, while with the modchip, in addition to the hardware modification, there's also software to install and more.

 

[ccfman2004]

Given that I already have a Switch v2 and I'm very happy with it, I was wondering if, in case I get banned, it would be enough to modify the Switch with Picofly to be able to download updates from the store again, or if once banned, not even the hardware modification can access the store.

Once a Switch is banned, it can never connect to Nintendo's servers again. At least you can transfer game updates from an unbanned Switch to the banned one.