[GUIDE] Nintendo Switch Homebrew - From Stock to emuMMC CFW

Nintendo Switch Homebrew - From Stock to emuMMC CFW


Danger (Disclaimer)

Running exploits, unsigned code (aka Homebrew Software) and shoving small metal objects into your Nintendo Switch can result in damaging the Switch beyond repair or having your online access to Nintendo's services terminated resulting the loss of software, hardware, functionality and/or both (which also includes unforeseen losses and/or damages). If you do get banned you'll lose all of the software you purchased and won't be able to play online and/or update any software you currently own. You also won't be able to download any software you previously purchased. homebrewgeneral.net has given you ample warning about this and by continuing to use this "guide" you are doing so "AT YOUR OWN RISK". If you screw something up it's on you.

Introduction

This guide will walk you through the process of entering into RCM mode to use the Hekate payload to create an emuMMC NAND installation which you will then use for homebrew purposes. emuMMC is an implementation of what is commonly referred to emuNAND in various console modification scenes. emuMMC is essentially a copy of the NAND that you relocate and access using a Micro SD Card. The NAND is stored internally on the eMMC chip on the Nintendo Switch's motherboard and used to store the Horizon OS, system settings, etc ...

In one usage scenario you could run the Official Nintendo Switch Firmware, on the latest version and without hacks to play your original games and go online and then have one or more emuMMC NANDs to use for homebrew purposes. You'd leave your homebrew emuMMC NAND(s) offline by not linking them to any Nintendo account and then optionally using a DNS service to block any communication between your homebrew NAND and Nintendo. The purpose of doing this would be to avoid being banned for using homebrew. While this is the goal it isn't guaranteed.

The main method of running native Switch homebrew is to use The Homebrew Menu which is a program that will load homebrew from your Micro SD card which you access running the normal Switch Menu (the Horizon OS). To do this you will first have to trigger RCM mode, send a payload, boot into Horizon (the Nintendo Switch OS), launch an installed game, demo or app while holding the R trigger to launch The Homebrew Menu and then load your homebrew using an interactive menu. Other usage cases could involved booting into L4T Ubuntu Linux, running the Android OS or loading up Lakka, which don't require you to boot into the Horizon OS.

Nintendo's latest hybrid portable video game console is built around the nVidia Tegra-X1 which has a serious flaw in it that allows a user to put the device into recovery mode (RCM) and then launch unsigned code thus allowing for homebrew software to be utilized. Using a physical RCM device, customized payload sent via a USB-C cable and data on your Micro SD card you can run a number of applications allowing you to enjoy emulators, Linux, make/play game and e-shop backups and save/restore save game data. While the exploit has been patched in later Nintendo Switch models (called iPatched models) if you have an earlier model capable of RCM this guide is for you.

RCM is a feature built into the Tegra X1 processor which powers the Switch video gaming console into Recovery Mode where you can send a payload and is triggered by shorting two wires on the right Joycon rail and powering on the Switch while holding the Volume + button.


Requirements

Hardware:


* Nintendo Switch with Firmware v8.1.0 (or below) Capable of Entering into RCM
* 64GB+ Micro SD Card
* Micro SD Card Reader
* Computer Running Windows or Linux (for creating the emuMMC partition)
* Device for Payload Injection (Android, iOS, Linux, Windows and/or MacOS) with a USB Port (USB3 for Linux)
* JIG Device
* USB Type C cable

Before you start you need to see if your Nintendo Switch is a revised model that can enter RCM, but cannot boot payloads (iPatched consoles). If you have a Nintendo Switch that has a serial number that falls into specific range (listed below) it is a revised model and you will probably not be able to use RCM to use CFW on it. Revised units can be identified by their serial number which is located on the bottom of your Switch (the white label) or in the System Settings at System -> Serial Information.



  • If your serial starts with XAW1:
  • XAW10078XXX and below are unrevised
  • XAW10079XXX and above are potentially revised
  • XAW1012000X and above are revised

  • If your serial starts with XAW4:
  • XAW4001100X and below are unrevised
  • XAW4001200X and above are potentially revised
  • XAW4003000X and above are revised

  • If your serial starts with XAW7:
  • XAW7001780X and below are unrevised
  • XAW7001790X and above are potentially revised
  • XAW7003000X and above are revised

  • If your serial starts with XAJ1:
  • XAJ1002000X and below are unrevised
  • XAJ1002100X and above are potentially revised
  • XAJ1003000X and above are revised

  • If your serial starts with XAJ4:
  • XAJ4004600X and below are unrevised
  • XAJ4004700X and above are potentially revised
  • XAJ4006000X and above are revised

  • If your serial starts with XAJ7:
  • XAJ7004000X and below are unrevised
  • XAJ7004100X and above are potentially revised
  • XAJ7005000X and above are revised

  • If your serial starts with XAJ9:
  • These units are refurbished units provided by Nintendo. No information is known yet, but they are potentially revised.

It is recommended to use at least a 64GB Micro SD card as in the process of hacking your Switch as you are going to need to backup the onboard NAND flash (this is where the operating system is stored) and have enough free space to house at least one emuMMC NAND installation along with any sort of homebrew, Switch games and/or Linux based installations. 64GB is the minimum amount you can get away with, but in all reality if you want to take full advantage of what you can do with the Switch you're going to want to get a 128GB or larger card (256GB cards can get full really, really quick!).

To prepare the Micro SD card you're going to need to be using a computer for partition management, downloading, extracting and copying files. A computational device is also necessary for actually sending the payload to the Switch (which is required each time you fully power cycle the Switch and wish to use homebrew). You can alternatively use a RCM Dongle to inject the payload, which is quicker and more convenient. You can make your own RCM Dongle or purchase one (if you purchase one they usually come with a JIG device).

The JIG is a small device which will ground pin 10 of the Joycon rail connector to the ground point (GND) on the same connector which will throw the Tegra X1 processor (thus the entire Switch) into RCM mode. You can purchase a pre-made JIG by itself (they often come with RCM Dongles), print your own using a 3D printer, create a makeshift one out of a paperclip (or any piece of conductive material) or modify the Joycon internally with a permanent bridge.
You must enter into RCM mode (to be able to inject a payload) each time you fully power cycle the Switch and wish to use homebrew. AutoRCM does exist, but is advised not to use AutoRCM if you're planning on using Nintendo's Online Services as the feature itself actually bricks part of the NAND to force RCM mode and this can be detected by Nintendo, if they ever chose to look for it. If you do not care about being banned then using AutoRCM will prevent you from having to using a JIG each time you want to inject a payload.

The USB Type C cable is required to connect your computational device to your Nintendo Switch to send the payload that will boot the CFW from your Micro SD card. If you're using a normal computer you'll probably want to get a USB Type A to USB Type C cable or if you're using your Android or iOS device you'll want to get a Micro USB to USB Type C cable.

Software:

* TegraRcmSmashGUI (Windows) - ( here )
* Fusee Launcher (Linux) - ( here )
* Rekado (Android) - ( here )
* nxboot (iOS) - ( here )
* Fusee Launcher (MacOS) - ( here )
* Kosmos - ( here ) - (make sure to also grab the signature patches)
* gparted (Linux) or AOMEI Partition Assistant *Free Version* (Windows) - (here)
* emuMMC Drivers** (Compile Them Yourself)

Some software is required to be placed on the Micro SD card. The software package Kosmos I've linked to contains free and open source material that includes the Hekate Payload, Atmosphere CFW, Homebrew Menu (this is used to launch the homebrew) and some starter homebrew.

The Hekate payload is used create and manage emuMMC NAND installations, boot into CFW or boot into another OS. The Hekate payload is a multi-purpose tool that will also allow you to backup your onboard eMMC NAND, toggle AutoRCM and features other functionality.

You are also going to need software to send the payload to your Switch and I have included usage information for the most popular choices for Windows, Linux, Android, macOS and iOS. The software for each OS is required to send the payload each time you fully power cycle your Switch and want to launch into another OS or CFW again.

m4xw who is the main developer behind emuMMC and along with support from the Atmosphere CFW author SciresM and the Hekate payload author CTCaer have recently made emuMMC (which was a long sought after feature) a free and open source resource for anyone to use. emuMMC currently requires you are running the latest Atmosphere CFW with the most recent Hekate payload version and also requires you to be using the most recent emuMMC driver**.

** [Advanced Users Only / Optional / Not Required ] - The Atmosphere CFW is released with the required drivers for emuMMC to function included (specifically in fusee-secondary), but using the most recent increases compatibility. If m4xw's repo contains the most recently updated/latest drivers (compared to what's included in Atmosphere) you should use them instead, but this requires that you manually compile them yourself or find them pre-compiled. After compiling or obtaining the most recent drivers place them (the emummc.kip file) under the /atmosphere folder located in the root of your Micro SD Card (after copying over Kosmos, of course).


Setup the Micro SD Card - Partitioning

The Nintendo Switch supports the FAT32 or exFAT file systems, but it is highly recommend that you only use FAT32 as there are some capability problems between Nintendo's and the homebrew scenes implementation of the exFAT file system. Furthermore, some homebrew such as RetroArch do not officially support exFAT formatted Micro SD Cards. However, if you want to have a Micro SD card with support for larger files (such as movies that are over 4GB) you can use exFAT and simply scan and repair (chkdsk /f) the Micro SD card from a Windows based machine if you run into any problems to fix them). For the duration of this guide I will assume you've formatted your Micro SD Card using the FAT32 file system.

The emuMMC NAND installation will be used to house the NAND you wish to use for CFW, allowing you to use your sysNAND (the onboard Switch eMMC NAND) for Nintendo's Online Services. So the first you're going to need to do is to partition and format your Micro SD Card. You're going to want to make two partitions, one for your main FAT32 file system and one for your emuMMC NAND installation. You could optionally create a file system based emuMMC NAND Installation, but you would suffer a great speed decrease. This guide will focus on the faster method by using the partition based emuMMC NAND functionality.

Windows



Using Windows and the AOMEI Partition Assistant *Free Version* program you can easily create and format both your main FAT32 and emuMMC partitions. After installing the free version open it up and locate your Micro SD Card, right click on it and select "Delete All Partitions" and hit apply to perform the action.


After you've deleted all of the current partitions on your Micro SD Card you're going to want to make your main FAT32 partition. Right click on your Micro SD Card and select "Create Partition" and then under the "Partition Size" subtract 29.828 from the total size of your Micro SD Card (which is listed the "Basic MBR" field on your Micro SD Card). If for some reason your Micro SD Card is using GPT (instead of MBR, like in the picture), you'll want to convert it to MBR and then create the partitions (Hekate or the Switch can't read GPT). Remember to hit "Apply" to apply the changes. You're probably going to want to give the partition a name and to do this right click on it, select "Change Label" and give it a name (make sure "Apply" the changes afterwards).


Once you've created your main FAT32 partition it's important that you format the second 29GB partition as in my case Hekate refused to install to it until after I formatted it. Right click on the second partition and select "Create Partition", leave the values at their default proceed and make sure to hit "apply" before exiting the program. That's it! It's time to install the software!

Linux


Load up gparted (if you don't have it then get it). You'll want to delete any partitions you currently have on the card. The easiest way to do this is to first select your Micro SD Card from the drive drop down menu in the upper right hand corner and then Choose: Device -> Create Partition Table. After you have a blank Micro SD Card with no partitions you're going to want to make a Primary FAT32 partition with 32GB of free space at the end of it. You do this by right clicking in the main window and then clicking on New, followed by selecting the file system type (fat32), specifying the “Free Space Following (MiB)” which should be set to 29844. Once this is done right click on the second partition then click on New, followed by selecting the file system type (fat32) and leave the default file size as-is. You should now see the intented changes show up on the GUI as each partiiton should be as they are in the picture. If everything looks good then apply the changes (look for the little green checkmark) and you're all done! It's time to install the software!

Setup the Micro SD Card - Copying Software


Extract the contents of the Kosmos archive into the root of your Micro SD card and then make sure the "archive" bit is not set (see this and this plus refer to the picture above this paragraph (uncheck the "folder is ready for archiving" option on the root folder)) for any of the files and/or folders on the card once you have copied the contents over (except the "Nintendo" folder, which shouldn't exist yet) . Additionally, copy over the "atmosphere" folder contained in the Kosmos Signature Patches merging it into the current "atmosphere folder". Once this is done you're ready to inject Hekate for the first time and make your initial Clean NAND Backup.

Insert the Micro SD card into the slot on the back on your Nintendo Switch (it's under the kickstand).

Enter RCM Mode

To enter RCM mode insert your JIG device into the Nintendo Switch's right Joycon rail, hold the Volume + button and then press the Power button. If you are presented by the Nintendo logo you did not enter RCM mode and need to turn off the Switch and try again. To turn off your Switch either hold the Power Button down for around 10 seconds or manually power it off once the System Menu (Horizon OS) loads. Your goal is to reach a completely black powered of screen upon booting

Once you are in RCM mode connect your Nintendo Switch using the USB Type C cable to your computational device and send the Hekate payload using the software designed for your operating system (see below for specific instructions). If you do have a revised Nintendo Switch console you will be able to enter RCM (black screen), but when you send a payload nothing will happen. If you cannot send a payload then you have a connection issue between your computational device and your Switch as revised units will still be detected and accept the payload you send to it, but it simply will refuse to boot after that point.

Windows


TegraRcmSmashGUI is used under the Windows Operating System to launch Payloads for the Nintendo Switch in RCM mode. To use the software you will first need to enter into RCM mode on your Nintendo Switch then connect the Switch to your computer using a USB Type C cable. The first time you do this you will have to install driver software so your computer can communicate with the Nintendo Switch.

TegraRcmSmashGUI comes with the required apx_driver needed to communicate with the Nintendo Switch and should be installed using the \apx_driver\InstallDriver.exe file located in the TegraRcmSmashGUI archive. Once you have installed this driver your Nintendo Switch will show up as a device in your computers Device Manager.


Once you have installed the apx_driver for the Nintendo Switch, entered into RCM mode, connected the Switch to your computer running Windows and launched the TegraRcmGUI.exe file you will be presented with a simple onscreen interface on your computer. If the connection to your Switch is successful you will see a green screen on the small Switch icon in the bottom left corner of the TegraRcmSmashGUI program displaying "RCM Detected" if not make sure the Switch is in RCM mode, the USB Type C cable is securely connected and the Nintendo Switch is showing up under your Device Manager.

Once you're Switch is detected under the "Select Payload" field click on the small folder icon to browse and select the Payload file (in this case it is called "hekate_ctcaer_4.2.bin", but may change in the future). Once select press the "Inject Payload" button.

The Payload is now sent and your Nintendo Switch should boot into the CFW that is on your MicroSD card.

Linux

Fusee Launcher is used under the Linux Operating System to launch Payloads for the Nintendo Switch in RCM mode. To use the software you will first need to enter into RCM mode on your Nintendo Switch then connect the Switch to your computer using a USB Type C cable. Depending on the distribution of Linux you're using you may need to install various packages to get the script to function correctly. You must have python3 and pyusb installed for the script to function correctly.


Linux doesn't require any drivers to install, but it does require running the "fusee-launcher.py" (Reswitched's fusee-launcher) file using a shell. You will also need python3 with pyusb for python if you do not already have it pyusb which can be installed using "pip". Once you have python3, pyusb and the fusee-launcher simply extract the launcher to a folder, copy over any .bin payload(s) into that folder then execute the script with the name of the payload using an elevated command prompt (sudo).

If you do not have pip or pyusb installed here are some basic commands that will get you up and running (under Ubuntu at least).

# Required

sudo apt-get install python3

# Sometimes required

sudo apt-get install python3-setuptools

# Install PIP if you haven't already

sudo apt-get install python3-pip

# Install pyusb

sudo -H pip3 install pyusb


Drop to a shell and run the fusee-launcher.py command with the option being the payload.bin you're using.

Example - >


.\fusee-launcher.py hekate_ctcaer_5.0.0.bin


If it was successful you will see the following (see the image above) and the payload is now sent and your Nintendo Switch should boot into the CFW that is on your MicroSD card.

Android

Rekado is used under the Android Operating System to launch Payloads for the Nintendo Switch in RCM mode. Rekado is free, but must be manually installed as it is not available on the Google App Store.

Before you start you need to copy the Hekate payload to a location on your Android device using a file manager app (like ES File Explorer). First Launch the application then find a cable to connect your device to the Nintendo Switch. For proper work, this should be a cable that is designed for data transmission, not just for charging. It is advisable to use an A-to-C cable and an USB OTG adapter.

In the "Payloads" category, click the "+" button to select preloaded payload from your device's storage. Or simply transfer your payload to the Rekado folder in the device's local storage. Connect your Switch in RCM to your phone using the USB cable and if prompted, grant Rekado access to the Switch. Next Select your hekate payload in the dialog that pops up to inject the payload.

iOS

nxboot is used under the iOS Operating System to launch Payloads for the Nintendo Switch in RCM mode. Your iOS device must be jailbroken. For more information about using your already jailbroken iOS device to send a payload to your Nintendo Switch refer to this guide.

MacOS

Fusee Launcher for MacOS is used under the MacOS Operating System to launch Payloads for the Nintendo Switch in RCM mode. For more information about using your MacOS device to send a payload to your Nintendo Switch refer to this guide.

Initial Steps

As soon as your successfully inject the Hekate payload you will be greeted by a grey boot screen and then Hekate's main interactive touch screen responsive GUI. Hekate v5.0.0 doesn't allow you to navigate using the Joycons, so you'll have to use the touch screen. The first thing you will want to do is to make a backup of your original onboard eMMC NAND (aka sysNAND) which will allow you to restore your Nintendo Switch to a clean slate if you ever screw anything up. First pick "Tools" from top menu and then pick "Backup & Restore" then "Backup emuMMC".
Under the "Tools" -> "Backup & Restore" -> "Backup eMMC" menu you're going to want to backup both the "eMMC BOOT0 & BOOT1" partitions (under "Full") and the main "eMMC RAW GPP" partition (also under "Full"). You do not want to skip this step (unless you don't value your Switch, so you might just throw it away right now). Once you've made both backups you're going to want to power off your Nintendo Switch, remove the Micro SD Card and copy the new folder on it called "backup" and all of it's contents into two separate storage locations that aren't connected to that same device.

If you simply copy it two times to your laptops main hard drive and the main hard drive fails you would have lost both backups. It's best to make two or more copies on separate devices. An example would be one copy on your computers hard drive and then another copy on an external USB hard drive. If you skip this step for any reason (including not having enough free space because you're not using the recommended size Micro SD Card and you brick then don't expect any sympathy from the modding community).


Once you've put your eMMC NAND backup in two safe locations it's time to proceed to make your initial eMMC NAND installation. You can delete the "backup" folder from the Micro SD Card if you're using a 64GB card or just need more space and after you decide to do that or not insert the Micro SD Card back into the Nintendo Switch, inject the Hekate payload and from the Main Menu select the large "emuMMC" icon (to the right) and then emuMMC Tools -> Create emuMMC -> SD Partition and then pick "Continue" (after it finds an applicable partition).





Depending on the speed of your Micro SD Card the process of creating your partition based emuMMC NAND installation might take anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes. Once it's done select "Change emuMMC" and pick "SD Raw 1".


Now under emuMMC Info & Selection you should see a green check mark along with some information pertaining to your current emuMMC NAND that's in use.


You will also want to take note of the Nintendo Folder linked to your emuMMC (look under "emuMMC Info & Selection" for the specific folder location). This specific folder will contain all of your official Nintendo Switch games, save data, screen shots and other configuration data. Your emuMMC NAND will not use the default /Nintendo folder in the root of your Micro SD Card any longer (sysNAND will still however continue to use it).

Running CFW


To boot into emuMMC with CFW support you'll simply pick "Launch" from the main Hekate menu and then pick "CFW". You only want to do this if you have an emuMMC active. You do not want to, under any circumstance, boot into CFW without emuMMC being active as then you'll boot your sysNAND into CFW, which will leave traces of running CFW that Nintendo can use to possibly ban your access to their Online Services. The last two options should also be avoided, as you'll be running your sysNAND in CFW or OFW mode via Hekate + Atmopshere, which could possibly be detected by Nintendo.


The first time you boot into emuMMC you're going to be asked to configure your console. You should, under no circumstances, link your Nintendo account to your emuMMC CFW NAND nor should you setup your Internet connection without using a service like PegaScape to block communication with Nintendo's servers. PegaScape DNS servers should be used instead of your default settings in your network configuration. See the PegaScape Website for more information (you just basically put their DNS IP addresses in the DNS settings under your Internet Connection settings).


Once you've configured your emuMMC NAND settings you can try out some homebrew, but this first requires that you install a game, demo or application onto your Main Menu. The easiest way to go about this is to insert an original game cartridge into your Switch and it'll create an entry for it on the Main Menu. Once you've installed something on the Main Menu you can launch The Homebrew Menu by holding the right shoulder trigger button on the Switch and launching the installed title. After doing this The Homebrew Menu will load and create a list with icons and information using all of the homebrew you have placed inside of the /switch folder on the Micro SD Card. You can now launch any of the homebrew you have installed.


That's basically all there is to it. When you want to run your sysNAND firmware to create or link a Nintendo Account, setup your Internet, download and/or purchase games, applications and demos you would turn you Nintendo Switch fully off and then boot it by simply pressing the Power button (like you normally would). Just make sure to always have the emuMMC NAND Partition you installed active when you boot into CFW and this should greatly reduce your ban risk. If you're booting into L4T Ubuntu Linux, The Android OS and/or Lakka you shouldn't have to worry about being banned as they bypass and never launch the Horizon OS. As you can see in the photo sysNAND is on OFW and running just fine online!

Keeping Your emuMMC NAND Installation Safe

If for whatever reason you would like to make a backup of your emuMMC partition on your Micro SD Card you don't need to use your Switch (as of right now you can't anyway) to do so. Simply execute the following dd command using your favorite Linux distribution (where /dev/sdX is the location of your mounted Micro SD Card emuMMC partition, which you can find by using the "sudo fdisk -l" command). You should always backup your emuMMC NAND before attempting to upgrade the console to a new version and when you're making any major changes to the console (like installing new games and/or updates). You should also periodically use a homebrew application like Checkpoint to make backups of your save games and data every other day or so. You're also going to want to backup the Nintendo Folder linked to your emuMMC (look under "emuMMC Info & Selection" for the specific folder location).

sudo dd if=/dev/sdX conv=sync,noerror bs=64K status=progress > /path/to/emummc_backup.bin

Example

sudo dd if=/dev/sde2 conv=sync,noerror bs=64K status=progress > /home/john/emummc_backup.bin

If and when you want to restore your emuMMC NAND partition backup you would simply use Linux and the "dd" terminal command again, but this time you would use the following syntax.

Execute the following command.

     sudo dd if=/path/to/emummc.bin bs=512M of=/dev/target_device status=progress

/path/to/emummc.bin is the full path and filename of the emummc.bin you backed up

/dev/target_device is the location that the second partition you created on your Micro SD Card is mounted under

An example, which applied to my case, is below.

     sudo dd if=emummc.bin bs=512M of=/dev/sde2 status=progress

Suggested Homebrew


One of the first things you're going to want to do once you CFW running is to use the Lockpick RCM payload to grab your console specific keys, which are used for various purposes including using game mods or interacting with various parts of the NAND (per say, for dumping certain files required to use custom themes). Once you have your keys you'll probably want to use NxThemes Installer to install a custom theme, which will make it pretty easy to identify that you're running your emuMMC CFW NAND. After that you're going to want a save game manager (like Checkpoint) so you can make regular backups of your save game data (you don't want to lose your progress in BOTW, do you?).


Payload_Launcher is also a very useful homebrew that you can run to reboot your Switch directly into a payload of your choice, which will prevent you from having to enter into RCM and injecting it after you reboot. You're also going to definitely check out the original games, game engine ports and emulator selection. Just note that specifically with the game engine ports, that most of them require you to use the original game data of the port, so you'll have to already own it or buy it. Lastly, if you wish to watch movies you should check out pplay or if you want to listen to music, view pictures or read ebooks go get NX-Shell. In the end there's a lot of really good homebrew so dig in and enjoy!

Final Remarks


While keeping your NAND "Clean" should reduce your ban risk please note that if you're going to run homebrew on your Nintendo Switch you should expect a ban at any given time and just be thankful that you haven't been banned if you're not banned yet. There is also an extra step you could take. While popular opinion might disagree with this precaution due to the fact Nintendo has never done it with any of their other consoles, but Nintendo could simply read from the Micro SD Card and detect the emuMMC partition or other files related to homebrew. It would be best to use your own dedicated Micro SD Card when using OFW and keep anything related to CFW off of it.


The goal of this guide was to create an emuMMC NAND installation based on your "Clean NAND Backup", which is a backup of your Horizon OS before you ran any type of CFW on it. If you're previously used CFW on your sysNAND (the eMMC NAND built into your Switch) you should have been instructed to make a backup of your NAND before running the CFW. If you have read this guide before attempting to use it (which is what you should do before using any guide) and wish to use the guide to make an emuMMC NAND installation you will need to simply restore your Clean NAND before making your initial emuMMC NAND Installation.

If you're making an emuMMC based on your current sysNAND that already has a user account linked to it you should put your NAND into Airplane mode, remove any Wifi settings or disconnect the physical ethernet adapter and then delete your current account as soon as you boot into your emuMMC NAND installation. You could delete your account before making your emuMMC, but then you'd have to relink and and Nintendo sets limits on how many times you can do this, so it would be best to simply delete your current linked account after you boot into emuMMC. You'll have to create a new user account before deleting your old one. Once you've deleted your old account (therefor unlinking it) it would be safe to go online, but make sure you're using a DNS service like PegaScape to avoid general communication with Nintendo's servers.

Currently, there is a bug in creating emuMMC through Hekate that causes the main partition to become unreadable in Linux. Here is a link to the issue and how to resolve it.. Currently the fix is provided by a user, but hopefully, CTCaer will include it in his official release soon. If users already created emuMMC this way, they can boot into a Windows machine, download the file and put it in "bootloader/sys/nyx.bin" then remigrate the emuNAND. Thanks to kevin0125 (reddit) for this information!

Kosmos includes the hekate_ipl.ini file in \bootloader folder which contains 4 configurations (CFW sysnand, CFW emunand, Stock sysnand and stock emunand). For added safety, you can modify hekate_ipl.ini and remove CFW sysnand and (optionally) Stock emunand configurations so that users don't accidentally boot into CFW sysnand. To do this open up the hekate_ipl.ini file in any text editor and remove the following lines of text ... (Thanks to kevin0125 (reddit) for this suggestion!)

[CFW (SYSNAND)]
emummc_force_disable=1
fss0=atmosphere/fusee-secondary.bin
kip1patch=nosigchk
atmosphere=1
logopath=bootloader/bootlogo.bmp
icon=bootloader/res/icon_payload.bmp
{}

and

[Stock (EMUNAND)]
fss0=atmosphere/fusee-secondary.bin
stock=1
icon=bootloader/res/icon_switch.bmp
{}

Did you happen to follow the original emuMMC guide or already have a emuMMC partition configured? Simply go into the emuMMC menu and select Migrate emuMMC and follow the prompts. Hekate will automatically convert the required configuration file so you don't have to recreate the partition from scratch, but I ran into an issue with this feature. I had to manually edit the configuration file (emummc.ini under /emummc) to point it to my previously configured Nintendo data folder. Possibly this was a bug? If it doesn't automatically change it for you then you'll have to manually edit the configuration file (or just move your old folder into the new location).


It is advised though if you want to play it safe that you do create an emuMMC NAND installation; so maybe it would be best to wait until you obtain a 64GB or larger card? In the end it's up to you.


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7 Comments

  1. Is it safe to use the SYSNAND (Stock) option in hetake?
    I restored my clean NAND and i booted for the first time using that option but the KOSMOS splash screen appeared and i got paranoid about it, anyway i didnt do anything (not even connected to internet) and went to sleep mode for a couple hours, then i proceeded to restart the console normaly.
    I just want to be sure is safe before i do anything else

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    Replies
    1. it's safe if you have use it for emunand , and your sysnand stay clean

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  2. Hi I have a cfw on emuemmc, to use the ofw in stock online can I boot using hekate with autoRCM or should I remove autoRCM and boot into sys normally? Also when I'm in the sys ofw can I use another sd with original games purchased? Thanks

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    Replies
    1. use ofw without removing autorcm and boot sys normally,
      and yup you can use sd with original games .

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  3. The question is, is this detectable by nintendo?

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  4. Worth noting that the minimum partition size for emuMMC is no longer 29828 and is now 29844. Might want to update that in the guide for anyone using newer versions of Hekate. If you use 29828 you will get a "failed to find applicable partition" error.

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