Hacking Shofel2 might've bricked my switch

[jk252_2]

So I tried to boot linux to my switch for the first time. I've never used linux and I'm by no means an expert when it comes to modding and hacking consoles. I use tegrarcmgui, so I used the Shofel2 tool there. I didn't really know what I was doing, but since everything seemed to be automatic I just ran the tool(yes I know, probably shouldnt have done it, but i thought it can't be that bad.) So it downloaded the kernel, pushed it onto my switch and... nothing. Thought to myself "ok this seems bad, ill just boot it into hekate and carry on with my day". But I couldn't, since now no matter what I do, tegrarcmgui will not recognize the rcm device. I reinstalled the drivers, tried my best to reboot, even waited for the battery to run out and nothing fixed it. There is a chance it's still turned on doing whatever it's doing and i just haven't waited logn enough, but in the meantime I wanted to ask. Am I missing something? Is this a known issue? Is it bricked for good? Is there anything I can do?

 

[binkinator]

So I tried to boot linux to my switch for the first time. I've never used linux and I'm by no means an expert when it comes to modding and hacking consoles. I use tegrarcmgui, so I used the Shofel2 tool there. I didn't really know what I was doing, but since everything seemed to be automatic I just ran the tool(yes I know, probably shouldnt have done it, but i thought it can't be that bad.) So it downloaded the kernel, pushed it onto my switch and... nothing. Thought to myself "ok this seems bad, ill just boot it into hekate and carry on with my day". But I couldn't, since now no matter what I do, tegrarcmgui will not recognize the rcm device. I reinstalled the drivers, tried my best to reboot, even waited for the battery to run out and nothing fixed it. There is a chance it's still turned on doing whatever it's doing and i just haven't waited logn enough, but in the meantime I wanted to ask. Am I missing something? Is this a known issue? Is it bricked for good? Is there anything I can do?

You have backups of your Sysnand from before any of this started, right?

 

[jk252_2]

You have backups of your Sysnand from before any of this started, right?

Yes I think so. What should I do with them?

 

[binkinator]

Yes I think so. What should I do with them?

Good deal. If you have those we can rebuild your eMMC to what it looked like beforehand and then use something a little more mainstream to get Linux on your switch.

https://switchroot.org/

Out of curiosity, what guide/link we’re you following?

e: if your emmc won‘t boot anything you can pop it out and restore if from backups using one of these:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803361643934.html

e2: here’s some software you can use to write the backup image to your emmc:

https://github.com/ignasurba/mmcblkNX

e3: before we go too far down that path though, have you held down the power button For 15 seconds and then turned it back on?

 

[jk252_2]

Well it's a bit embarrasing, but since again it all looked automatic, I didn't actually feel the need to use any guide. Everything on fail0verflows site was pretty unclear (at least to me (pls don't judge)), so I just clicked the buttong on tegrarcm and hoped for the best

Post automatically merged: Oct 30, 2022

I'm really really grateful for your help, but it just randomly worked. I walked away for like 15 mins and i can now boot to hekate. Thank you for what looked to be a very helpful conversation though!

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Well it's a bit embarrasing, but since again it all looked automatic, I didn't actually feel the need to use any guide. Everything on fail0verflows site was pretty unclear (at least to me (pls don't judge)), so I just clicked the buttong on tegrarcm and hoped for the best

Post automatically merged: Oct 30, 2022

I'm really really grateful for your help, but it just randomly worked. I walked away for like 15 mins and i can now boot to hekate. Thank you for what looked to be a very helpful conversation though!

ShofEL2 was a very early proof of concept test, it wasn't meant for people to use. Depending on what you're after, Lakka might be what you want.

 

[binkinator]

Well it's a bit embarrasing, but since again it all looked automatic, I didn't actually feel the need to use any guide. Everything on fail0verflows site was pretty unclear (at least to me (pls don't judge)), so I just clicked the buttong on tegrarcm and hoped for the best

Post automatically merged: Oct 30, 2022

I'm really really grateful for your help, but it just randomly worked. I walked away for like 15 mins and i can now boot to hekate. Thank you for what looked to be a very helpful conversation though!

whew! You got lucky man.

…as @The Real Jdbye states above, there is a lot of old information from the early days of Switch…

Be careful out there.