Hacking SWITCH NOOB PARADISE - Ask questions here

[binkinator]

So I've been running emuNAND for about 6 months now with no issues, and I haven't had to update my firmware for anything. Fast forward to a couple days ago and I dropped my Switch from a low place, for some reason sending it back to Hekate. I tried to simply boot back into emuNAND like usual and it got to the Nintendo Switch logo and booted me BACK into Hekate. I now can't get my Switch any farther than that for some reason. There were no scratches or anything from the fall, but it was weird that it sent me back to Hekate. Any suggestions? I already tried updating the sigpatches to no avail.

In Hekate, got to emmc and see if your emunand is still enabled.

We’re you running exfat partition? You might have corrupted your SDCard. Try dropping the same versions of Hekate and Atmosphere on your SDCard and let it overwrite everything and see if that gets you back to square one?

Last ditch would be to format your SDCard and start again. Here’s a guide if you don’t have one yet: https://rentry.org/SwitchHackingIsEasy

 

[8bitsenpai]

I tried everything except for the formatting part because I'm a bit anxious about that with multiple partitions. I will if I have to, but is there any other potential fix?

 

[binkinator]

I tried everything except for the formatting part because I'm a bit anxious about that with multiple partitions. I will if I have to, but is there any other potential fix?

You can try to backup your game saves with NXNandManager before you format. Give it a shot. It you can’t mount you emunand from your SDCard there’s very little we can do.

 

[ngoctung91]

Does frequently overclocking harm my OLED one? Never tried it, what is my safest choice to follow?

 

[Draxzelex]

So I added CFW to my switch (firmware 14.1.2). Now when I go to the eshop on sysnand, there’s a new console update (15.0). My switch is v1 btw. If I update the console to the newest firmware, can I still boot up to hakate and emunand normally or with the files I used on 14.1.2 on my SD card?

Unpatched consoles use a hardware exploit to load CFW & homebrew. In other words, it does not rely on the software you are running. To put it simply, your firmware is irrelevant when it comes to hacking. However, firmware 15 is still a bit unstable for CFW & homebrew so I'd recommend putting it off unless you absolutely need to use the eShop or be on that firmware.

 

[binkinator]

Does frequently overclocking harm my OLED one? Never tried it, what is my safest choice to follow?

Define “harm”. Everything is grey, not black and white. Does heat put stress on electronic components? Yes. Does overclocking add heat? Yes. That said, do you know the best way to ensure your components last a long time? Never turn it on. But that’s no fun, is it?

If you overclock you will increase stress on the system and battery vs normal usage. That’s a fact. Will it tear a hole through the middle of your OLED? Probably not.

There are many folks that enjoy overclocking their Switches in moderation and accept the wear and tear it puts on their machine. You will have to decide if and how much you overclock for your particular needs. Be safe.

Post automatically merged: Nov 22, 2022

Hello everyone.

For a while, I've had my Switch running CFW with pretty close to no issues. Here and there, some titles would start popping out corrupt error messages, but a reinstall would fix them. However, after a somewhat recent typical sigpatches update, a whole sprew of new issues have arisen, to the point where I really just think I never 100% installed it properly. Some of my friends with modded Switch consoles tell me they never run across any single error longer term, but I always did.

Sorry to hear about your issues. There are many that run their hacked Switches very smoothly. There’s definitely something amiss…let’s get you sorted.

So anyways, what I'd like to do is erase everything as factory settings and just start the CFW again to make sure I do it all right. I'm restarting streams soon, so I'll be playing games from scratch regardless and don't need any additional considerations for save files and such either.

This is a nice and easy plan!

(We can grab the game saves if you’d like. Not a huge deal. Just say the word.)

My list of things I want to use are below, along with my first attempt and what problems happened.


The Attempt

• I erased my entire SD card to a fresh FAT32 format using macOS and its Disk Utility.

MacOS is notorious for assigning an archive bit and screwing with people’s CFW. So notorious there is a Fix Archive Bit button in Hekate!

• I tried to run an "Initialize Console" to make sure things are 100% clean, and I kept having errors. I had to install another .nro to disconnect my user account from Nintendo ID's servers, but eventually the initialize console was successful.

Awesome! A fresh start is helpful!

• After that, on the fresh card, I installed the newest release of Atmosphere first,, followed by hekate and the newest sigpatches.

Perfect so far

The Problems

• Problem 1 from the get-go was that my Switch no longer boots back to sysnand when not jigged and primed for RCM. "Power Off" in the Switch interface just powers the console off, and without the jig, if you power up again, it will stay black until you load a payload. Before the issues, if I didn't jig the system, the Switch would just boot into the normal sysnand. However, it now always boots into RCM, and you have to re-inject a payload to start doing anything.

This is likely due to AutoRCM. It’s a small hack to the OS that causes it to always fail and go to RCM. AutoRCM prevents booting up by accident and possibly banning your Switch. You would get around it and boot into stock via an entry in Hekate. Some love AutoRCM, others hate it. The setting is in Hekate to turn AutoRCM on/off

• No matter what avenues I have tried (Tinfoil, AIO Updater, Switch's own UI, etc.), firmware updates don't cooperate at the moment. It just gives a generic error and asks me to turn off the system. It just is stuck on 10.0.2.

We have a plan for this…hang tight.

• Worst part is, none of the USB loaders work properly anymore. Being on Mac, I use NS-USBLoader.jar, which has always worked well with Awoo Installer. However now, after much annoyance, Awoo Installer errors often, but some titles install like normal. Goldleaf just flat out does not work, crashing the Switch to a black screen when trying to install any titles.

Goldleaf and Awoo are decent installers. I use both so the installer itself is not the issue. This is probably due to the Archive Bit being set by your Mac.

The Requirement

The following bullet points will make up what I'd like CFW to install correctly and with close to no issues loading it on Switch.

• Easy to update state. I'd like to get back to where the Switch handles CFW itself, not with constant hiccups.
• Reboot to Paylooad works as intended, but I'd like it that if you shut the console off and power back on normally, it boots into sysnand by itself, and not require new inject of hekate to get it rolling.
• Whatever setup is required, I'm happy to update sigpatches, but once that's done, titles should recognize USB uploads, install with minimal issues no matter the format (have a healthy mix of NSZ/NSP/XCI files).
• I'd also like to prevent the constant annoying pop-ups of "Update Software" appearing frequently when trying to launch anything. It would just keep annoying me about game and firmware updates, and I just want to install once and leave it until I personally feel like installing an update myself.


So where can I start? Is there a best guide to use for November 2022? And my Switch as a whole definitely needs the best way to erase EVERYTHING back to factory settings because it continues to cause issues into my CFW. I'd love some advice on starting with a full factory reset of my Switch, and then what option is best to get back up and rolling and not have to think about anything.


Thanks in advance! I'll have a look at whatever is the generally accepted best method to factory reset a CFW Switch and set it back up on CFW to eliminate all problems.

The good news is all of this is easily resolved.
I think the biggest impediment is macOS and the archive bit.

While starting out, avoid YouTube videos, update apps and sd card packs. Let’s get familiar with all the manual steps first so you can fix your own stuff in the future.

We want to start by making sure your SDCard is formatted as FAT32 and NOT exfat.

Once we’re at a good starting point please take a look here:

https://rentry.org/SwitchHackingIsEasy

Since you are on Erista you can skip to here (but reading through the starting bits will give you some necessary background.)

https://rentry.org/EristaEmuNAND

Go through everything slowly and methodically and pop back in with any questions.

 

[Plermpel]

Anyone managed to acces OMV with Tinfoil?

 

[Hayato213]

Anyone managed to acces OMV with Tinfoil?

https://www.jianshu.com/p/7f730a255bda

Can probably try something like this, even though the guide is for Synology.

 

[Plermpel]

https://www.jianshu.com/p/7f730a255bda

Can probably try something like this, even though the guide is for Synology.

Thanks FTP works, but only if I type IP directly, I use DHCP so it's gonna loose connection, when the IP changes, somehow dosen't work with the hostname, but that's fine for now.

Still would be happy if someone had an idea how to connect with just the hostname.

 

[Hayato213]

Thanks FTP works, but only if I type IP directly, I use DHCP so it's gonna loose connection, when the IP changes, somehow dosen't work with the hostname, but that's fine for now.

Still would be happy if someone had an idea how to connect with just the hostname.

Your hosting server IP should be static.

 

[Plermpel]

Your hosting server IP should be static.

I don't want it to be static, but that shouldn't be a problem with ftp

 

[Hayato213]

I don't want it to be static, but that shouldn't be a problem with ftp

Well that your problem then, the reason for the static ip so that the ip of the server never change, I have a static ip for my synology NAS, network printer etc, just more convenient.

 

[binkinator]

Thanks FTP works, but only if I type IP directly, I use DHCP so it's gonna loose connection, when the IP changes, somehow dosen't work with the hostname, but that's fine for now.

Still would be happy if someone had an idea how to connect with just the hostname.

In that case you need to point your Switch DNS to whatever device is doing your DHCP/DNS and naming your target device. If your DNS is set up to forward for external DNS queries this should work out just fine and your target server can move to its hearts content and your Switch will pick up the changes.

 

[machomuu]

Thinking about hacking my Switch, it's definitely old enough but I'm mostly doing it for the novelty of save transferring between emulators and the console itself so there wouldn't be any piracy since I've seen how that affects online.

My question is, since I was really into 3DS and Wii hacking but the Switch is like totally foreign to me and I haven't been able to find an answer, is there a way that I could transfer a save between my Switch (hacked, of course) and Yuzu/Ryujinx and still play online? The game in question would be legit.

 

[Draxzelex]

Thinking about hacking my Switch, it's definitely old enough but I'm mostly doing it for the novelty of save transferring between emulators and the console itself so there wouldn't be any piracy since I've seen how that affects online.

My question is, since I was really into 3DS and Wii hacking but the Switch is like totally foreign to me and I haven't been able to find an answer, is there a way that I could transfer a save between my Switch (hacked, of course) and Yuzu/Ryujinx and still play online? The game in question would be legit.

Unlke the Wii U and 3DS, Nintendo stepped up the telemetry on the Switch and is a lot more vigilant when it comes to hacking so any usage of CFW and homebrew can easily get you banned.

 

[machomuu]

Unlke the Wii U and 3DS, Nintendo stepped up the telemetry on the Switch and is a lot more vigilant when it comes to hacking so any usage of CFW and homebrew can easily get you banned.

Well that's really frustrating. But alright I guess it's not really a big deal, thanks for the help~

 

[marhalloweenvt]

Does frequently overclocking harm my OLED one? Never tried it, what is my safest choice to follow?

I have overclocked my Switch V1 since the day I created EmuNAND for the first time. And till now, I only need to apply new thermal paste yearly (it didn't take time, around 5 mins).
Overclocking switch is depended on your need (run Ubuntu, Android, play games,....), it's not recommended to turn it on all the time because it mostly affect your battery life (and we don't want to waste energy in useless thing - Save the Earth).
For me, the one and only reason to overclock the Switch is to use the 60 fps patch for my games. It helps me enjoy the game more with the smooth animation, graphic,...
For now, it has been nearly 4 years OCed (nearly daily use around 2-3 hours) and my Switch still works fine (battery life is around 98% - based on Hekate info).

 

[Chromagram]

Define “harm”. Everything is grey, not black and white. Does heat put stress on electronic components? Yes. Does overclocking add heat? Yes. That said, do you know the best way to ensure your components last a long time? Never turn it on. But that’s no fun, is it?

If you overclock you will increase stress on the system and battery vs normal usage. That’s a fact. Will it tear a hole through the middle of your OLED? Probably not.

There are many folks that enjoy overclocking their Switches in moderation and accept the wear and tear it puts on their machine. You will have to decide if and how much you overclock for your particular needs. Be safe.

Post automatically merged: Nov 22, 2022

Sorry to hear about your issues. There are many that run their hacked Switches very smoothly. There’s definitely something amiss…let’s get you sorted.

This is a nice and easy plan!

(We can grab the game saves if you’d like. Not a huge deal. Just say the word.)

MacOS is notorious for assigning an archive bit and screwing with people’s CFW. So notorious there is a Fix Archive Bit button in Hekate!

Awesome! A fresh start is helpful!

Perfect so far

This is likely due to AutoRCM. It’s a small hack to the OS that causes it to always fail and go to RCM. AutoRCM prevents booting up by accident and possibly banning your Switch. You would get around it and boot into stock via an entry in Hekate. Some love AutoRCM, others hate it. The setting is in Hekate to turn AutoRCM on/off

We have a plan for this…hang tight.

Goldleaf and Awoo are decent installers. I use both so the installer itself is not the issue. This is probably due to the Archive Bit being set by your Mac.


The good news is all of this is easily resolved.
I think the biggest impediment is macOS and the archive bit.

While starting out, avoid YouTube videos, update apps and sd card packs. Let’s get familiar with all the manual steps first so you can fix your own stuff in the future.

We want to start by making sure your SDCard is formatted as FAT32 and NOT exfat.

Once we’re at a good starting point please take a look here:

https://rentry.org/SwitchHackingIsEasy

Since you are on Erista you can skip to here (but reading through the starting bits will give you some necessary background.)

https://rentry.org/EristaEmuNAND

Go through everything slowly and methodically and pop back in with any questions.

First off, thank you very very much for the super detailed reply. I did go over the process again from scratch and have a few things to report.
1. I think my sysNAND is pretty buggered. I went into initialize console and found out my Nintendo account was tied to a user (probably from way back when I used to use this before applying CFW). It refused to connect to remove the user. I did some research and found that I have to detach using Linkalho, which I did and then promptly deleted my user account. With that done, I could finally update the system firmware using Daybreak/AIO.

2. Great, so now it boots up, SD card was cleaned and reformatted as FAT32, and just to make sure, I used a software called BlueHarvest, which scans through storage media and removes any of the .DS_Store and other needless duplication ._ hidden files. I confirmed the app works properly, as the duplicate files were all showing up on FBI on my 3DS, and in order to do a batch install of my CIAs, I ran the SD through the app and came back, and it removed all the needless duplicates.

3. Afterwards I followed the guide again from the start. The AutoRCM totally makes sense too! The guide I used in the past didn't tell me to turn it on, so I was essentially manually launching myself back into RCM each shutdown. Honestly, autoRCM is what I wanted in the past, so now that I know what it does, I'm definitely leaving it on. Oddly, the firmware keeps hopping back to 10.2.0 Atmosphere for some reason without any action. May be something again with the sysNAND? I dunno.

4. However, my final issue is persisting: actually installing games. After ensuring I had the newest sigpatches installed, I tried Awoo, TinAwoo, and Goldleaf with NS-USBLoader.jar on my Mac. Awoo and TinAwoo will get as far as listing the games I upload through NS-USBLoader, but crash to a black screen as soon as you start the actual install. No error messages, just goes to black and then reboots Atmosphere. Goldleaf also crashes, but it doesn't even get to the list of uploads, just crashes as soon as you select USB Install. When Goldleaf causes the crash, it does give an Atmosphere error screen with the following error info:

Error Code: 2168-0002 (0x4a8)
Program: 010000000000100D
Firmware: 15.0.1 (Atmosphere 1.4.0-master-36a33617a)


I feel like something is a deep-rooted issue on my Switch, like I need to add a missing step to cleanse all the way down to the sysNAND so that the emuNAND I keep cloning off of it for all these reinstalls isn't absorbing and carrying over the root problem. Sadly, I just don't know where to start with that, I tried booting into sysNAND and initializing there, but it didn't seem to solve the problem, as the system firmware later just reverted itself to 10.2.0 even after I got it to 15.0.1 on several occasions. That haunted NNID User keeps randomly returning as well at times.

Is there some step I'm missing right at the beginning? Something to just absolutely purge the Switch of anything that is retained in memory and reviving the NNID user and the 10.2.0 firmware? I'm not really knowledgeable about this stuff, but the fact that it's even doing that at all makes me really suspicious that it is the cause of the issue.

Again though, thanks again for that super detailed reply. Once this root issue is resolved I have a good feeling it'll return to working properly.

 

[ngoctung91]

I have overclocked my Switch V1 since the day I created EmuNAND for the first time. And till now, I only need to apply new thermal paste yearly (it didn't take time, around 5 mins).
Overclocking switch is depended on your need (run Ubuntu, Android, play games,....), it's not recommended to turn it on all the time because it mostly affect your battery life (and we don't want to waste energy in useless thing - Save the Earth).
For me, the one and only reason to overclock the Switch is to use the 60 fps patch for my games. It helps me enjoy the game more with the smooth animation, graphic,...
For now, it has been nearly 4 years OCed (nearly daily use around 2-3 hours) and my Switch still works fine (battery life is around 98% - based on Hekate info).

Thank you and @binkinator (please pardon me as your post is quite long so I decided not to quote). Yeah, my only reason for overclocking is playing some games at 60fps. So I guess it's not a big problem

 

[raphzthename]

I'm trying to connect my Switch to my PC via USB to transfer screenshots/videos from my microSD card. For some reason, the PC does not recognize my Switch at all. I have installed the APX drivers, but nothing happens when I connect the cable. I have used this cable with another Switch, which connects just fine.

As a workaround, I have tried to use DBI FTP server to transfer over my network, but when running the server on my Switch and opening my browser to the address, I get this error:

<<< Host: 192.168.0.21:5000
>>> 502 Command not implemented.
Send failed: Broken pipe
Error getting peer address: Socket is not connected
Closing connection
Error shutting down connection: Connection reset by peer
<<< Connection: keep-alive
<<< Cache-Control: max-age=0
<<< Upgrade-Insecure-Requests: 1
<<< User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/107.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
<<< Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.9
<<< Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
<<< Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.9,ru;q-0.8
<<<
Accepted connection from 192.168.0.5:59236
>>> 220 Service ready for new user.
<<< GET / HTTP/1.1
>>> 502 Command not implemented.