Hardware Formatting SD Card for CFW

[Francesca]

I've just got myself a 128 GB SD Card for the purposes of CFW / homebrew on my freshly bought Switch. I've heard that it must be formatted from ExFat (which I've checked is its current state) to Fat32.

I vaguely remember reading something that there's a very specific way / program for doing it. Is that the case, or will it be the same if I change it to Fat32 just using my PC? It doesn't seem to offer Fat32 as the 2nd option btw, only NTFS.

Could somebody extend me a hand?

 

[aykay55]

I've just got myself a 128 GB SD Card for the purposes of CFW / homebrew on my freshly bought Switch. I've heard that it must be formatted from ExFat (which I've checked is its current state) to Fat32.

I vaguely remember reading something that there's a very specific way / program for doing it. Is that the case, or will it be the same if I change it to Fat32 just using my PC? It doesn't seem to offer Fat32 as the 2nd option btw, only NTFS.

Could somebody extend me a hand?

I mean, I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure exFAT is the format for all SD cards larger than 32 gigabytes. I don’t think you can reformat it to that kind of filesystem but I could be wrong, and if so please completely disregard this comment.

 

[Lacius]

I've just got myself a 128 GB SD Card for the purposes of CFW / homebrew on my freshly bought Switch. I've heard that it must be formatted from ExFat (which I've checked is its current state) to Fat32.

I vaguely remember reading something that there's a very specific way / program for doing it. Is that the case, or will it be the same if I change it to Fat32 just using my PC? It doesn't seem to offer Fat32 as the 2nd option btw, only NTFS.

Could somebody extend me a hand?

It doesn't have to be formatted as FAT32, but it's recommended to avoid issues down the road. You can format any sized SD card as FAT32 using guiformat, and that's the recommended way. If you use another method of formatting it as FAT32, it will still probably work.

If you want to use exFAT, you must install exFAT support on the Switch. Your SD card is also more likely to become corrupted.

 

[Francesca]

It doesn't have to be formatted as FAT32, but it's recommended to avoid issues down the road. You can format any sized SD card as FAT32 using guiformat, and that's the recommended way. If you use another method of formatting it as FAT32, it will still probably work.

If you want to use exFAT, you must install exFAT support on the Switch. Your SD card is also more likely to become corrupted.

Gotcha, thanks. Would you suggest downloading it from here: https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/FAT32format-GUI.shtml ? The rating is low, but the webpage is secure, unlike the first result when you google 'guiformat'.

I've already heard horror stories about malicious software online that brick your console when you try to take the homebrew path. As far as I understand, it's mostly CFW apps / software that brick your console, and nor NSP / backups / game files?

 

[Lacius]

Gotcha, thanks. Would you suggest downloading it from here: https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/FAT32format-GUI.shtml ? The rating is low, but the webpage is secure, unlike the first result when you google 'guiformat'.

I've already heard horror stories about malicious software online that brick your console when you try to take the homebrew path. As far as I understand, it's mostly CFW apps / software that brick your console, and nor NSP / backups / game files?

Get it here: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

Edit: As for bricking your console, that's only likely to happen if you install a malicious NSP file. It's not hard to verify that an NSP file is good, and you should always make a NAND backup before doing anything else on your Switch, just in case.

 

[MachRc]

newly bought switch?

https://ismyswitchpatched.com/

have you checked, just in case?

and what custom firmware are you going to use?

 

[Francesca]

newly bought switch?

https://ismyswitchpatched.com/

have you checked, just in case?

and what custom firmware are you going to use?

Yeah, it's patched... But I've learnt that you can install CFW and homebrew on a patched Switch if it happens to be 4.1.0, which mine is.

I wonder if homebrew on patched 4.1.0 Switches is really working though. There's not much talk or awareness about it working online from what I've seen (most people don't know you can have firmware on a patched Switch) and a lot of people asking question about different problems, but not a single person who confirms it working. I guess the satisfied ones are silent?

 

[MachRc]

It will not i have alot of people hwo give me their switches becasue it "bricks" gets a dark screen becasue they try SX-os or other cfw on their patched units. I JUST fixed one over the weekend, by just running tegraRCM and /or going into sx-os and holding R until I can load horizon(stock) firmware

dont lose hope, nothing is set in stone, and I would think after the new release of mariko, there may be ways software, but I would not dismiss hardware hacks in the future

 

[Francesca]

Get it here: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

Edit: As for bricking your console, that's only likely to happen if you install a malicious NSP file. It's not hard to verify that an NSP file is good, and you should always make a NAND backup before doing anything else on your Switch, just in case.

@Lacius I've downloaded and run guiformat on my SD card. When I try to see what it's classified in normal Windows Format options, I still see ExFat (probably because it doesn't recognise it can be something else using outside tools?). But if I try to format it on guiformat a 2nd time, it gives me an error message. The first time was successful, I'm pretty sure. This does mean everything worked and I'm on ExFat32 now, doesn't it?

I guess if a lot of people online are complaining about a malicious NSP file, then it's a threat? I've had a few experience when people shared something unsafe and didn't leave any warnings. I'll make sure I'm extra careful here too, then.

 

[Lacius]

Yeah, it's patched... But I've learnt that you can install CFW and homebrew on a patched Switch if it happens to be 4.1.0, which mine is.

I wonder if homebrew on patched 4.1.0 Switches is really working though. There's not much talk or awareness about it working online from what I've seen (most people don't know you can have firmware on a patched Switch) and a lot of people asking question about different problems, but not a single person who confirms it working. I guess the satisfied ones are silent?

Do not connect your Switch to the internet. If you do, your web browser will get the supernag, and it will be unhackable forever. Follow these steps:

1. If you already have the Switch connected to Wi-Fi, go into airplane mode now. Unplug your router, exit airplane mode, and then add the PegaScape DNS settings.
2. Plug your router back in.
3. Try to launch PegaScape using the browser. Hopefully you don't get a supernag.

If you haven't connected it to the internet yet, do the following:

1. Connect to your Wi-Fi but put in the wrong password.
2. Save your settings.
3. Edit the settings.
4. Add the PegaScape DNS settings and fix the password.
5. Save your settings.

 

[Francesca]

It will not i have alot of people hwo give me their switches becasue it "bricks" gets a dark screen becasue they try SX-os or other cfw on their patched units. I JUST fixed one over the weekend, by just running tegraRCM and /or going into sx-os and holding R until I can load horizon(stock) firmware

dont lose hope, nothing is set in stone, and I would think after the new release of mariko, there may be ways software, but I would not dismiss hardware hacks in the future

Have you heard about Caffeine / this news: https://gbatemp.net/threads/caffeine-updated-to-support-fw-4-1-0-works-on-patched-switches.541826/

I wonder if it's new for you, or you've tried it and found it a failure.

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

Do not connect your Switch to the internet. If you do, your web browser will get the supernag, and it will be unhackable forever. Follow these steps:

1. If you already have the Switch connected to Wi-Fi, go into airplane mode now. Unplug your router, exit airplane mode, and then add the PegaScape DNS settings.
2. Plug your router back in.
3. Try to launch PegaScape using the browser. Hopefully you don't get a supernag.

If you haven't connected it to the internet yet, do the following:

1. Connect to your Wi-Fi but put in the wrong password.
2. Save your settings.
3. Edit the settings.
4. Add the PegaScape DNS settings and fix the password.
5. Save your settings.

Aye, I've seen you post this in another thread here and it's also stated in the Homebrew guide I'm about to follow to backup NAND (so basically just starting as of yet) until I have to do the EmuMMC stuff (that's more complicated, and not covered by the guide yet unfortunately). I haven't configured my internet connection at all, skipping that step when using the console for the first time (no games on it yet...) and I set Flight Mode just in case.

Will definitely do the password thing to avoid the supernag. Thanks a lot for all the help.

 

[Lacius]

@Lacius I've downloaded and run guiformat on my SD card. When I try to see what it's classified in normal Windows Format options, I still see ExFat (probably because it doesn't recognise it can be something else using outside tools?). But if I try to format it on guiformat a 2nd time, it gives me an error message. The first time was successful, I'm pretty sure. This does mean everything worked and I'm on ExFat32 now, doesn't it?

You can check the SD card's properties to see if it's on FAT32. If guiformat doesn't work, force-close Windows Explorer from the Task Manager and then try again.

I guess if a lot of people online are complaining about a malicious NSP file, then it's a threat? I've had a few experience when people shared something unsafe and didn't leave any warnings. I'll make sure I'm extra careful here too, then.

As long as you have a NAND backup in a safe place online, then you can always reinstall that if something goes horribly wrong. You should only install trusted NSP files.

 

[MachRc]

Have you heard about Caffeine / this news: https://gbatemp.net/threads/caffeine-updated-to-support-fw-4-1-0-works-on-patched-switches.541826/

I wonder if it's new for you, or you've tried it and found it a failure.

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

awesome that is wonderful new news, ofcourse scissorsEM was right when he told everyone to stay on the lowest FW on the patched consoles.

im excited for all the people that have patched switches, not so much about any one of them my friends and co workers who have anything below 7.0 FW

Im sure there are work arounds to playing games on the lower CFW and such and if not those workarounds will be made im sure

 

[Lacius]

awesome that is wonderful new news, ofcourse scissorsEM was right when he told everyone to stay on the lowest FW on the patched consoles.

im excited for all the people that have patched switches, not so much about any one of them my friends and co workers who have anything below 7.0 FW

Im sure there are work arounds to playing games on the lower CFW and such and if not those workarounds will be made im sure

A person can use an emuNAND/emuMMC to play newer games that require higher system versions, all while keeping the sysNAND on 4.1.0.