Hacking Question Hackable Switch Cannot Inject Payload(behaving like a non-hackable switch)

[MeoChan]

Hello everyone! First, I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Please bear with my English since it’s not my native language and problems like this needs more delicate description that I lack.

A big shoutout to all the nice people on SX OS Discord Channel since they helped me a lot with this problem even it’s not solved.

• My Switch: I have a Monster Hunter XX Limited Edition Jap. Ver. Switch (Serials XAJ 10008 which is hackable) that I bought from a retail store (Not a used second-hand Switch) and I had the Power Management Chip replaced at a local shop due to a no-charging problem (They didn’t touch the charging port nor the CPU, so it still supposed to be hackable).

• My problem: I tried to hack (inject payload to) my Switch w/ SX Pro dongle and TegraRCMGUI via PC for the first time today. I tried on two PCs with one USB-C port and two USB-A port with three different cables (one Apple USB-C to C and two Nintendo USB-C to A). They all failed since my Switch is not responding to any of these methods. It behaves just like a non-hackable Switch.

I did everything with my SD card make sure it’s no problem. I formatted it to FAT32 and put the latest SX OS 2.9.3 Beta in it.

My typical routine while trying to solve this problem (With SX Pro dongle):

1. Insert the SX Pro dongle in OFW and charge it for 15s. Then turn off the Switch.
2. Insert the jig into right rail all the way down.
3. Press Power Button while keeping pressing the Vol+ Button to boot into SX Bootloader.
4. The dongle blink green one time then nothing happened. The screen is still black. (SX Discord guys told me a successful boot should be one green and one blue blink)
5. Release Vol+ Button and press Power Button one time to see if I’m in RCM mode. The Switch did not boot up normally (so I should be in RCM mode or the switch will just boot up into OFW).
6. Long press the Power Button for 10 Seconds to shut it down. Then press Power Button one time. The Switch boot into OFW normally. (This makes sure that my Switch WAS in RCM mode before)

Above is my first problem I encountered: The SX Pro dongle cannot inject SX Bootloader into my Switch.

I consult with nice guys on SX OS Discord and they give me a link to test if my Switch is actually hackable via TegraRCMGUI on PC. Here’s the link: https://team-xecuter.com/switchid/manualpatchcheck.html

My typical routine while trying to solve this problem (With TegraRCMGUI):

1. Insert the jig into right rail all the way down.
2. Plug the Switch in while holding Vol+ Button. Windows 10 make a sound notify there is a new device plugged in. Here’s the pic:
3. 
4. Open TegraRCMGUI and install the driver. Then restart my PC. Here comes the problem (it still shows up as unknown device):
5. 
6. Open Zadig and tried to install the driver. Here’s another problem:
7. 

Above is my second problem with my Switch: The Switch is acting more like a “Broken Device” than a non-hackable Switch. Even it’s not hackable like a non-hackable Switch. (Weird sentences I know)

The reason why I’m comparing “Broken” with “Non-hackable” is that in the link above says that

“The switch will accept the payload, but does not execute displaying 0x0000. This indicates your switch IS PATCHED and is currently not exploitable.”

I assume this means both hackable and non-hackable Switches could be boot into RCM mode and inject payloads. The only difference is that hackable Switches could accept the payload and runs that payload and non-hackable Switches couldn’t.

But my Switch couldn’t even be recognized as a “APX Device” nor can I install the driver for my PC to recognize it.

• After consulting with my local repair shop (I don’t live in that city anymore so I couldn’t go to the shop again). The repair buddy told me that it’s hardly his fault since he only replaced my Power Management Chip. And my Switch is acting exactly like a non-hackable Switch so he couldn’t tell what’s the problem without testing it since it even could be the CPU’s problem, but he suggests I could tell the next repair guy to start from the charging port since it could be the problem.

Sorry for writing my problems into a technical report.

• The reason is that this type of problem is hardly a problem to someone who just play the Switch and doesn’t even consider homebrew or CFW since the charging part is working. I’m a bit worried if I go to a repair shop will they treat my problem as a real one or will they even understand what I’m talking about if I told them that my Switch ”Cannot inject payload or be recognized by my PC”.

• So I just want to know what is likely to be the problem so I could tell the repair guys where they can start looking.

My final questions are:

1. Why is my Switch behaving like this?
2. Could it be a Magical Self-patched version Switch (Maybe because it’s a limited-edition LOL)?
3. Could it be the charging ports problem?
4. If both Q3 and Q4 are not the problem, what it could be?

Thank you so much for your time to read my post! Please leave any thoughts below it might just help!

 

[iriez]

Damn man you put a lot of time into that post.

There is an issue with your USB port on your switch. Both patched and non patched switches can receive a payload. The only difference is that a patched switch will deliver a 0x0000 status after you deliver the payload. It does not matter whether it is patched or not it will still receive and display a status code.

It could be a chip or it could be the data lines.... But there is something wrong with the hardware itself.

I suspect it might be related to a chip more so than the port but you can get a port socket for a couple bucks on eBay. it's just the cost of the service to replace it that is expensive if you can't do it yourself.

If it was me I would heat gun it first to see if it was maybe just a micro crack in the solder on the data lines. But there is something going on on the hardware because what you're describing is any device that is broken or malfunctioning.

the only thing that is surprising to me is that your switch still charges. That's why I think it has to do with the data lines or a chip.

Unfortunately I I'm not more knowledgeable on the subject and I can't help you any further but I wish you the best.

 

[MeoChan]

Damn man you put a lot of time into that post.

There is an issue with your USB port on your switch. Both patched and non patched switches can receive a payload. The only difference is that a patched switch will deliver a 0x0000 status after you deliver the payload. It does not matter whether it is patched or not it will still receive and display a status code.

It could be a chip or it could be the data lines.... But there is something wrong with the hardware itself.

I suspect it might be related to a chip more so than the port but you can get a port socket for a couple bucks on eBay. it's just the cost of the service to replace it that is expensive if you can't do it yourself.

If it was me I would heat gun it first to see if it was maybe just a micro crack in the solder on the data lines. But there is something going on on the hardware because what you're describing is any device that is broken or malfunctioning.

the only thing that is surprising to me is that your switch still charges. That's why I think it has to do with the data lines or a chip.

Unfortunately I I'm not more knowledgeable on the subject and I can't help you any further but I wish you the best.

Thank you so much man! This is really helpful! Part of the reason why I wrote this long post is that some people said that charging but not receiving payload is a very tricky problem and I could use a multimeter to test. But my repairing skills are limited to plug in pins and connectors... I have to go to a shop that might don’t even know why this is happening... but your reply give me an idea to told them the data lines might be damaged so this is a really good start! Thank you again for your time! Merry Christmas and happy new year!

 

[MeoChan]

Here’s a little update for anyone who’s interested.
I went to the repair shop today and they said that the charging port is visibly damaged with a few bent pins.
Will get the result on Monday.
Wish me good luck!

 

[Oracleofire]

I'm sorry that I have no advice for you but I just want to say that post is really beautiful. I hope this gets sorted out. Good luck with the repair!

 

[MeoChan]

I'm sorry that I have no advice for you but I just want to say that post is really beautiful. I hope this gets sorted out. Good luck with the repair!

Thank you for your support! Hope a port replacement could do the trick!

 

[Matius]

Thank you for your support! Hope a port replacement could do the trick!

NVM

 

[Jayro]

My hackable launch Switch flat-out REFUSES to boot Atmosphere no matter what tutorial I follow, but boots up SX OS just fine.

 

[MeoChan]

My hackable launch Switch flat-out REFUSES to boot Atmosphere no matter what tutorial I follow, but boots up SX OS just fine.

Man that’s some next level sh*t.
I’m sorry I don’t have any ideas for your problem.
If it was for me, SX OS is totally fine since I’m just a newbie to switch hacking. But I assume more experienced people would prefer Atmosphere.