Hacking Hackers suggest the Switch OS is similar to the 3DS OS

[TheCyberQuake]

You may still be able to put a Micro SD in a flashcart, but I'm just going wait for a system hack.

Do pictures exist yet of what a cart looks like opened up? I kinda want to see and don't feel like taking apart my carts and hoping to not break them.

 

[KingVamp]

Do pictures exist yet of what a cart looks like opened up? I kinda want to see and don't feel like taking apart my carts and hoping to not break them.

Might be, but not that I know of.

 

[Zhongtiao1]

Do pictures exist yet of what a cart looks like opened up? I kinda want to see and don't feel like taking apart my carts and hoping to not break them.

Most likely it's just a slight variant of an SD card. They are too similar

 

[Bedel]

This is funny to me. The OS is more similar to 3DS than it's to the WiiU one, even if it should be the next generation of it. 3DS OS was the most updated one in console history, but it officialy is xD.
Also, for the people thinking about backwards compatibility: You don't only need the same OS (also it's not the same, maybe it's just the kernel, updated and re-written) but also the same (or a similar) hadware. Most console games are optimized to the system itself, including OS and hadware. All in Switch is diferent. You only have one screen, the touch screen is other type, diferent RAM, diferent processor, diferent everything. You'll mostly need to emulate the games if you wanna play them, or recompile them with some changes.

 

[Deleted User]

Wow this is cool. Either they patched it up to hell or its riddled with bugs. Let's see

 

[Hardy_Heron]

I find it interesting that you are already exploring the structure of the OS that uses Nintendo Switch.
As for what can and can not do and possible security breaches, it reminds me of a World War Z dialogue, when they point out that sometimes "the apparent greater strength of something (in this case an OS) hides its greater weakness.

 

[osaka35]

I do wonder how long until romcarts are released. Probably after enough games have been released that people would actually want to buy it. I'm more interested in homebrew personally. A nice save edit and the like.

 

[daxtsu]

I wouldn't be surprised, the API that Nintendo exposed to programmers was pretty consistent from the N64 up to (but not including) the Wii U. They probably took what they had on the 3DS and evolved it a bit further to improve performance and make it even nicer to program for than their prior consoles. If nothing else, they've certainly improved things for the user, considering how responsive the Switch UI is.

 

[GerbilSoft]

1st they thought it was running android now they think it's a 3ds. make up your fucking mind!

Those of us who actually know things never thought it was running Android. Some of us (myself included) thought it was running FreeBSD initially due to the FreeBSD kernel license included with the system, but it turns out that that's only referring to the network stack.

Since the Switch OS seems to be an improved 3ds os, does that give it a good chance of backward capability?

Not likely. The hardware is different enough that it would confuse the hell out of any 3DS game that you attempted to run. It might be possible for Nintendo to write some sort of backwards compatibility layer e.g. Wine, but since the Switch doesn't have a 3DS cartridge slot, that leaves you with two options: A, a USB cartridge slot (unlikely), or B, eShop (more likely, but unknown).

 

[raystriker]

Those of us who actually know things never thought it was running Android. Some of us (myself included) thought it was running FreeBSD initially due to the FreeBSD kernel license included with the system, but it turns out that that's only referring to the network stack.


Not likely. The hardware is different enough that it would confuse the hell out of any 3DS game that you attempted to run. It might be possible for Nintendo to write some sort of backwards compatibility layer e.g. Wine, but since the Switch doesn't have a 3DS cartridge slot, that leaves you with two options: A, a USB cartridge slot (unlikely), or B, eShop (more likely, but unknown).

I was mostly talking among the lines of Hax. I'm pretty sure Nintendo will not release 3ds VC for switch. Maybe a day comes when devs have full user and kernel access in the switch, booting 3ds games in some way could be made possible

 

[chartube12]

You'll mostly need to emulate the games if you wanna play them, or recompile them with some changes.

Or a 3rd option, a combo of both. The "virtual Xbox 360" microsoft built emulates only a part of the xb360. Said mainly to be the xb360's cpu and it's framework. The xbox one compatible titles have parts of their code rewrote to use parts of the xbox one hardware. Said to be mainly the xbox one's gpu. Basically they are semi-ports.

 

[Bug_Checker_]

Well it seems like every day new bits of information about the Switch are published, this time about the Switch OS. While one hacker guessed the Switch is running FreeBSD, two other hackers known from the 3DS scene seem to agree with each other that the Switch OS is similar to the 3DS and does not actually run FreeBSD. Since they can't be embedded here, I will just quote the relevant tweets:






So yea, there you have it. Keep in mind that for politically correct reasons, you have to treat these information bits as guesswork, not facts.

You have to enclose the tweet url with brackets around the word tweet and /tweet to show a tweet.

Failed to fetch tweet https://www.twitter.com/marcan42/status/837481011508195329
Failed to fetch tweet https://www.twitter.com/ylws8/status/838752296372682753
Failed to fetch tweet https://www.twitter.com/ylws8/status/838777665498853376

So ye, doesn't look like it runs FreeBSD :D

— plutoo (@qlutoo) March 5, 2017

 

[the_randomizer]

Wew, if they were right, this is gun' be good.

"Our Nintendo 3DS system is being hacked left and right. Let's use a similar kernel, because that's a great idea!"

You know what they say about insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We shall see.


But don't expect people show any more interest than with the Wii U did, it took over four years to get anything worthwhile.

 

[WiiUBricker]

You have to enclose the tweet url with brackets around the word tweet and /tweet to show a tweet.

https://www.twitter.com/marcan42/status/837481011508195329
https://www.twitter.com/ylws8/status/838752296372682753
https://www.twitter.com/ylws8/status/838777665498853376
https://www.twitter.com/qlutoo/status/838253518159032320

Oh man, how could I miss this? Why is there no bb code button for this @gbatemp?

 

[tHciNc]

The bounty program now includes the switch aswell
https://hackerone.com/nintendo

 

[Xanthe]

Did Nintendo learn nothing from the 3DS hacking scene? I feel as if the people who work for Nintendo have little common sense...

 

[electimon]

• Privilege escalation from userland
• Kernel takeover
• ARM® TrustZone® takeover

Heh
From: https://hackerone.com/nintendo

 

[TheCyberQuake]

Did Nintendo learn nothing from the 3DS hacking scene? I feel as if the people who work for Nintendo have little common sense...

Honestly it's probably smarter for them to base it off of an OS they've already greatly patched up instead of starting from scratch and having the potential to have a bunch of new security holes.

 

[WiiUBricker]

The bounty program now includes the switch aswell
https://hackerone.com/nintendo

Yea, I already covered that 2 days ago.

 

[CosmoCortney]

Is there any kind of wiki documenting all this stuff? (like Wiibrew)