Source
r/SwitchPirates•
Increzut

new to Switch-hacking - where should I start?

Question

perhaps someone here knows - I have two Switch units, one bought in march 2017 and one ACNH-edition Switch, and I would like to hack my 2017 Switch, but I am unsure where to start in order to do this properly and safely : / I hacked my 3DS forever ago, and that was pretty easy, but the steps I need to do to hack a Switch seem less clear to me.

what I want to achieve save editing, so extracting and injecting, but I would prefer to not get my hacked unit banned, if I can avoid it. I own two copies of the game I want to edit, and I don't want to do anything else but save edit really (i.e illegal games, ROMS, etc.).

I've got a jig off eBay, but what else is required?

I have a Macbook, but access to Windows if that is preferred and an non-jailbroken iPhone (but I don't think that is of any help). if someone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated : )

Posted Oct 17, 2020, 4:13 PM UTC

113
VirtualAdepts•

First

https://ismyswitchpatched.com/

If it is unpatched then

https://birbchirp.gitbook.io/switchguide/

4
IncrezutOP•

alright - it is not patched : ) I'll have a look at the second link now

1
Ironchar•

also some claim this is outdated but I used and quite liked this guide

1
junglemafia123•

This is what I used, over a year ago but still a great guide.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

0
Brainkandle•

This one is aces (birb)

0
Philipp_94Atmosphere User•

It's fairly easy to hack your switch with the provided guide.

You'll need some prerequisites;

  • a jig to enter RCM
  • a SD card with at least 32gb storage capacity (needed for a full nand backup)
  • a way to inject payloads (payload launcher, a pc, android phone)

Also, I'd advise you to use an emunand with incognito (+ optionally 90dns) to minimise the risk of a ban.

Read the guide at least 2 times and learn the terminology.

You'll most probably need a way to install games, depends on how you want to handle the problem, there are two main options:

  • download to pc and install via cable
  • direct download the game to your switch like freeshop

Boths can be done with the same homebrew tinfoil, but there are many other installers like awoo, goldleaf, to lead etc. Depends all on your preferences.

There are 3 good save game editors/cheat managers:

  • checkpoint
  • Edizon
  • JKSV

They all work alike,: backup a savestate and either edit on the switch or copy them to your pc and edit there.

Sadly, I can't say anything about how to work with apple devices.

1
IncrezutOP•

thank you very much for your detailed reply! that cleared up a lot of things for me.

I have the jig and I have a card with 64GB, only like 24GB available though. should I erase some games, or does it not matter how much available space there is?

it is formatted to exFAT, and I think I read that it should rather be in FAT32, so I'll have to fix that before I do anything else, I suppose.

since I have access to a Windows pc I'll just use that for this since I believe that is ~easier~, and this is probably a lame question - but how do I inject a payload with pc? (or any thing really)

1
Philipp_94Atmosphere User•

Well you need about 28gb for a full nand backup, best would be to get a second SD card. One for legit stuff and one for cfw/pirate stuff.

The exFat driver of Nintendo is known to corrupt SD cards, some homebrews don't even start if your card isn't formatted in fat32.

To inject a payload with a pc you'll need to put your switch into the RCM by inserting the jig in the right joy con trail, press vol+ and power. If you did it correctly, your switch display stays black. Now you'll need a program to send the payload to your switch. Connect your switch to your pc, install necessary drivers, start the program and you should see that your switch is connected in RCM. From there, select the payload you want to send and press push/inject/send payload.

this guide does cover the RCM, SD card formatting and payload sending much better.

2
IncrezutOP•

it took a while to get this going again - I had to get a new SD card to have more space and move things back and forth from my first card, but I’m baack : )

now, I have come to the point of birbchirps guide where it says «(Optional) Booting Atmosphere with Hekate» and I’m confused what they mean by that.

does it mean that if I do that I will inject the hekate payload, and then via the menu in hekate I will be able to boot atmosphere instead of loading atmospheres payload on its own outside of hekate?

is that preferred, or am I misunderstanding the text entirely and that’s not what it means at all😅

1
Philipp_94Atmosphere User•

Yeah its like you've guessed.

To boot into cfw you've two options:

Inject fusee_primary.bin

Inject hekate and then use payloads->fusee_primary.bin or whatever the guide states.

I would abandon hekate. The average user does only need hekate once to backup the nand. After that, there's not much use of it. Besides you've to hassle around with boot.ini and correct sigpatches. I advise you to boot by directly injecting fusee_primary.bin and ditch Hekate.

Btw doesn't matter how you've setup the emunand, fusee_primary.bin will always boot into it.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1