| ▲ | Jailbreaking the Switch 2(pepsipu.com) |
| 248 points by ledoge 5 hours ago | 77 comments |
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| ▲ | hturan 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Incredible all around. If this is true decrypted `fs` r/w, I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing Switch 2 game dumps appear in a few hours. Given the world of recomps/decomps we now live in, that would mean console exclusives playable on arbitrary hardware (a worst-case scenario for Nintendo). We've already seen things like Tears of the Kingdom running at 60fps natively on an iPhone. Giving LLMs arms and eyes via KVM (or webcam) is a very strong paradigm for this sort of hardware work, as it allows things to be parallelised and run 24/7. Highly recommend people play with this more (to less nefarious ends!) when working on firmware/hardware for external devices. Worth noting too that this would have easily fetched >$50k via Nintendo's HackerOne (https://hackerone.com/nintendo). |
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| ▲ | gcoakes an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | I'm working on a IoT device at work and have been the "hands in the lab" for my agent this week. It's been a really weird experience. Making changes to the update/recovery process, so I have to validate several permutations of fault injection (i.e.: abrupt power loss during update step X while on starting version Y). I would love to give it unattended "hands". I just thought it was more time efficient to do it manually rather than spend days trying to figure out how to automate SD card pull/plug. X and Y are relatively small, and I expect this validation to be too costly to do at a regular cadence in CI. I can trivially use a MCCI USB-C switch for the power though. Tips would be appreciated if anyone here has thoughts. | | |
| ▲ | Crosseye_Jack 40 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | > I just thought it was more time efficient to do it manually rather than spend days trying to figure out how to automate SD card pull/plug Heres the thing. You only have to build the automation once. While it will only take you seconds at most to pull a card, you gotta sit around and be ready for the card to be pulled. For your problem I see 2 quick things that came to minq very quickly that could do SD card pulling for you. 1) shove a level shifter in between the SD card and device under test and have a micro enable/disable the level shifter when you want to pull/unpull. ( you can even get multiplexer IC that will do the same thing as the level shifter as acting as a switch for the SD card lines, but would allow you to connect the SD card to a 2nd device (the testing pc) to allow you to write/read data from the card when its "pulled" from the DUT. 2) 3D print a jig that will insert/remove the SD card and use a cheap RC servo to handle the movement - again using a mirco to control the servo. gives a more real world test of pulling the SD card. but only gives the the ability to pull/insert. Still required manual effort if you need to read/write to the SD card Once you have build the jig, you can reuse the jig on the next project, so while it will take some time to do/setup it could save you time later down the road. Edit: As for the code driving the ICs or Servo, I'm presuming you already know embedded programing, but even so, a simple Arduino sketch will be able to handle it for you, fuck ton of example code already exists for it, and can be easily controlled over USB. | | |
| ▲ | dceddia 16 minutes ago | parent [-] | | To add on to this for the SD card, you can buy an “SD card extender” that has an SD card on one end and a slot on the other, with a cable in between. Something like that might make it physically easier to get in between the signals by modifying the cable. Nice big wires on this one: https://a.co/d/0cPVVsLE |
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| ▲ | hturan an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Sounds interesting! So far most of my automation has been optical (tweaking display output to show correctly under a lens with odd optical characteristics, hard to simulate computationally), so pointing cameras at the device and letting the LLM iterate and tune display output has been useful. As with any automation, it all depends on scale. Setting up a harness to repeatedly mess with microSD cards seems way more prone to failure (and false positives) than just doing it yourself, but if you're testing thousands of devices, would probably be worthwhile. | |
| ▲ | tleb_ 37 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | There is hardware available for SD card automation; see the USB-SD-Mux by Linux Automation GmbH / Pengutronix. https://linux-automation.com/en/products/usb-sd-mux-fast.htm... | |
| ▲ | mosura an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | Automation wins, every single time. |
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| ▲ | jrmg 7 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | How about the other way around? With ARM Proton a thing now, how long until I can run Steam on my Switch 2? I’m sure it can’t run AAA titles - but those from a few years ago? And even modern Indie titles surely? | | |
| ▲ | hturan 2 minutes ago | parent [-] | | DroidDeck (https://github.com/The412Banner/DroidDeck, and things like GameNative) have been huge for Android. Compatibility is fantastic, and you can run most games >3 years old at respectable frame rates on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 handhelds. I'm sure if this leads to a full CFW environment people will port it over. |
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| ▲ | radlad 15 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I'm working on a custom app for a camera that has a terrible Android app, and I'm working on a similar harness: AI is building both the 3D model and the parts list (basically, a Raspberry Pi, a webcam, and a few servos). | |
| ▲ | mentos 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Short term the argument that 'piracy exists yet doesn't affect steam sales' holds true. Long term when someone makes emulating Switch 2 on your Steam Deck a 1-click install I'm not so sure. | | |
| ▲ | joenot443 an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | The Switch 1 sold about 150m units, the Steam Deck’s sold 6m. Internet nerds like us aren’t really Nintendo’s target market, I don’t think. Installing emulators or jailbreaking a system isn’t something most of their customer base would have the want or need to do, IMO. | | |
| ▲ | oneeyedpigeon 8 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | Even some of us internet nerds are Nintendo fans who wouldn't go anywhere near emulating. Apart from any of the moral concerns, it's just such a worse experience: I want to use a touch screen, a portable device, a proper gamepad, etc. Nintendo has built up quite a considerable amount of goodwill since the 1980s, and the reward for that is a pretty loyal customer base. | |
| ▲ | glimshe 27 minutes ago | parent | prev [-] | | So true. It's dangerous to form world views based on "What HN thinks". This is the best community on the Internet IMHO but were a very tiny slice of the population. "Real people" tend to not behave like us. |
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| ▲ | lachiflippi 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Very unlikely to happen via emulation, there's Switch 1 games that the Steam Deck struggles to run already. | |
| ▲ | hturan an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Totally, convenience always wins. I think this is more of a hardware sales issue for Nintendo though — if what I understand is true, I'd bet that we see Switch 2 games running on other systems before we see a CFW/decrypt-encrypt stack for running pirated games on the Switch 2 itself. | |
| ▲ | m4rtink an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | Would people still go to such lengths if Nintendo just released their games for the hardware people actually have, like the SteamDeck & PC ? Still seems rather self-enflicted pain for Intendo due to still pushing locked-down consoles in 2026. | | |
| ▲ | nope1000 an hour ago | parent [-] | | According to wikipedia, they sold over 23 million units of the switch 2 and over 155 million of the switch. Not that I agree with their aggressive practices but it clearly works. That's a lot more than the Steam Deck btw. |
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| ▲ | TuxSH 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | > Worth noting too that this would have easily fetched >$50k More like $30k, no ("system processes allowing piracy")? | | |
| ▲ | hturan an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | Ah, you're right! Depends on their generosity, but I'd imagine piracy and running exclusives on non-Nintendo hardware is more of a risk to their business than a bootROM exploit. | | |
| ▲ | TuxSH an hour ago | parent [-] | | The category they list in the $50k context are PSC exploits, or TSEC coprocessor exploit when executing the secure code that bootROM provides it. So, presumably, current and future key material compromission like on Switch 1 |
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| ▲ | voidUpdate an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | Who gets the bounty money in that case? By the looks of the article, Codex did all of the work actually finding a bug. Shouldn't the money go to OpenAI? | | |
| ▲ | TaLiTr 15 minutes ago | parent [-] | | The person running it obviously. How is that even a real question? Since when did an AI lab have the right to anything a paid user generated? |
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| ▲ | Retr0id a minute ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I haven't got the PoC to land successfully on my device yet, but it does seem to be legit. |
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| ▲ | __natty__ 18 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Layoffs "because of AI" (plus cheap money drying up and offshoring) versus individuals hacking devices and software, and making dummy copies of paid software that are "good enough" for most users. I wonder if that might be an early sign of a turning point in the IT economic cycle, where companies will need to invest more in security services and specialists with extra knowledge who know where and how to make the most of AI before their rivals do. |
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| ▲ | geraldwhen 8 minutes ago | parent [-] | | They won’t. Execs have no idea how to deploy AI. At best they think it means they can give a junior dev $20/month and make them a principal. Existing companies will fold. Hyper AI companies will eat their lunch. |
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| ▲ | KeplerBoy 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Putting the obvious discussion about how much the AI matters in comparison to the user (experienced security expert from a few glances at the blog) aside; i think it's really neat how modern tooling (the KVMs, bluetooth light switch flicker, and usb controller support out of the box) enables this level of automation. |
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| ▲ | amelius 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | I suppose we can let AI write the entire blogpost :) | | |
| ▲ | KeplerBoy 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I don't know. I feel like the blog reads as very human written and enjoyable overall. Also what's 2 weeks of real work (in tandem with an agent) compared to a few hours for the blog? | |
| ▲ | howdareme an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | this was clearly human written |
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| ▲ | _imnothere 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| IMO, Nintendo deserves stronger backlash just like Sony. Game keycards keep the appearance of physical ownership without delivering what people expect from a cartridge. I sure looking forward for more people hopping on the AI hacking trend to bring them down. |
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| ▲ | cyberrock an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | They are tradeable and resellable which is a very important property for poorer gamers instead of rich collectors like us. Edit: Switch 2 is also biggest proponent of SD Express. Any supporter of SD cards coming back to phones and other devices should appreciate the stance taken here. Nintendo could've gone the Google/Apple route and just sold 512GB and 1TB models. Instead this effort, like Sony's Xperia phones, are completely unrecognized. | | |
| ▲ | KeplerBoy 6 minutes ago | parent [-] | | I wonder if the SD Express will be taken advantage of in the switch 2 homebrew scene which seems inevitable now. SD Express is PCIe express after all (also a possible attack vector in itself, see DaMAgeCard). With nvidia drivers for Ampere already on board maybe someone will get an RTX 3090 running on a switch 2. |
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| ▲ | chocochunks 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | GKCs aren't perfect, but both PS5 and Xbox Series consoles have had games where the disc is near useless too, either with only part of the game on the disc (e.g., Oblivion Remastered) or virtually none of the game on the disc (Indiana Jones). GKCs are at least upfront and clear on the packaging. I wish they had banned the practice of codes in a box. THOSE SUCK. And just yesterday I had to use my modded 3DS to rescue a physical 3DS cart that wasn't booting. Luckily I was able to but there's no guarantee a physical game will last forever either. | | |
| ▲ | asimovDev an hour ago | parent [-] | | yes at least with GKC I immediately know that game is not playable offline instead of needing to go to https://www.doesitplay.org and hope that someone already documented the game I am looking at, which is the case with PS5 |
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| ▲ | roli64 15 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Game key cards are cheaper to make because normal cartridges with the full game cost a fortune right now. And guess why? AI data centers buying up all the memory chips. On the physical games part, Nintendo still puts their own games on full cartridges, so I don't think they're the ones that deserve the backlash here. | |
| ▲ | rk06 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | options for switch1, ps5, xbox: Disc or code in box. options for switch 2: Full game on cartridge, switch 2 edition (including switch 1 support), Game Key Card (half physical), Code in the box. I don't see why should nintendo be blamed for providing more options. if anythng you should blame the publishers for chosing "Code in the box" (looking at you diablo) when GKC would do. or GKC when full cartridge would do. | |
| ▲ | croes 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | The Nintendo cartridges contain the full playable version of the game. Third party publishers often just put the key on it. So blame them for that |
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| ▲ | xacky 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| The Switch 2 jailbroken with the help of a Switch Flicker. Really funny. |
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| ▲ | tamimio an hour ago | parent [-] | | The flicker in question is switchbot, I have plenty of them I use for.. things. |
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| ▲ | vlaaad 11 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| This is great. I wanted to prototype some couch co-op games and be able to play them on my Switch 2. |
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| ▲ | GolDDranks 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| If one follows this and jailbreaks their Switch 2, are they in danger of getting their account banned by Nintendo, and their games unaccessible? |
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| ▲ | ada-h00k an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | The chances of getting banned for this are extremely high. The Switch 2 has plenty of mechanisms to detect tampering. Even if you were completely offline during the process and then reset the Switch afterward, there are logs. People have already been banned for using the MIG Switch to play backups of Switch 1 games on the Switch 2. | | |
| ▲ | m4rtink an hour ago | parent [-] | | I wonder if this would be a reason to sue in the EU ? IIRC you can even replace the firmware without voiding the warranty, unless the manufacturer can prove the firmware cause the issue. Here I guess you could just RMA the device or even sue Nintendo for retaliating after you just used the device you bought ? | | |
| ▲ | m4rtink an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | Also, Louis Rossmann, please buy a Switch 2, apply the exploit & go online. Thanks in advance! :D | |
| ▲ | realusername an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | I also don't think remotely bricking/banning the console is legal in the EU. | | |
| ▲ | chii 29 minutes ago | parent [-] | | they dont need to brick the machine - they can simply ban your online account, which they can use EULA to make you agree to before getting that account. You lose your games if the game requires online verification (which implies an account). This way, you won't be able to play your games purchased, even if it's a physical copy - you can only play games that don't have verification like this (i dont own a switch, so i dont know if this is actually true). | | |
| ▲ | realusername 9 minutes ago | parent [-] | | The law has superiority over the EULA, they could probably get away with disabling online multiplayer with concerns of cheating but I don't see any legal basis on how they could take away purchased games. That would go against any consumer right laws. |
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| ▲ | joenot443 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I jailbroke my Switch 1 the day I bought it, was banned from Nintendo Online the next day. The only games I bought were physical. I was told this would happen, so it wasn’t an issue at all. I’ve told my friends if you plan on playing online on it, definitely don’t jailbreak. | |
| ▲ | discordance 25 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | No doubt we will soon enough get de-Nintendo’d alternatives that service jb’d devices | |
| ▲ | asimovDev an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | never go online and even if you reset the console afterwards , assume the console will get banned when connect to the internet as they know to look for markers of customer firmware. Switch 1 hacks bypass this by copying ofw from flash onto the microSD card and patching it there to my crude understanding, so that unsigned code never touches the firmware on the system memory. Something like this definitely will be needed again for the Switch 2 so I'd only do this if you don't care about being banned. EDIT: ofw = OFW = official firmware | |
| ▲ | GolDDranks 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | (I'm interested in Homebrew, and I'd love to port my self made game dev framework on Switch 2, but I'm afraid of losing everything) | |
| ▲ | haunter an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Not your account but the Switch. That’s how it works in Switch 1 | |
| ▲ | micromacrofoot 22 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Yes, this is true of all jailbreaks. | |
| ▲ | josu an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Yes, you will get banned. | |
| ▲ | StilesCrisis 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Definitely a risk. |
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| ▲ | OleksandrC an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Looking forward to the eventual full jailbreak. Maybe sooner rather than later with all of the advanced AIs of today. Nintendo recently banned my Switch 2 from accessing online services. This effectively turns it into a fancy brick, since you can't install any digital games or updates - only games on physical cartridges will work (without possibility of installing updates). This is despite both the console and all games being purchased legitimately. The only weird part is me being in Ukraine where there is no official Nintendo presence, and so I had to use US eShop (with PayPal and prepaid digital codes). Nintendo support is extremely unhelpful, they just say that "unauthorized transaction detected" or something like that, without offering any human review/appeal path. It's one thing to reject a transaction in the eShop, it's another thing to permanently ban console for that. What a shit company with shit business practices. 0/10, would not recommend, would not touch anything Nintendo-related ever again without a jailbreak. |
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| ▲ | Velocifyer 10 minutes ago | parent | next [-] | | This exploit requires an eShop only game. | |
| ▲ | nekusar 22 minutes ago | parent | prev [-] | | Ive only bought 1 thing recently from Nintendo within the last year: a Switch Pro controller. Why the controller? Cause Switch emulators. They work wonderfully. I dont have to pay a cent for games. I can download the games and their updates. And there's quite a few Switch emulators. Im not going to pay a company to automate my own abuse. |
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| ▲ | aarroyoc an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| PS2 can also be jailbroken with Yabasic, another BASIC interpreter, which was given for free in some consoles in Europe. But typing the exploit isn't very practical compared to other methods (and this exploit was found out later) |
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| ▲ | kyleforkbomb an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| really nice work, and an enjoyable read too this seems like the right level of human/agent collaboration to me. there's so much that codex can automate and giving it more tools is definitely super high leverage. |
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| ▲ | zImPatrick an hour ago | parent [-] | | Might be a bit offtopic, but I really like that it feels like a real human wrote this blog post. I'm reading way too many blog posts, along with GitHub PRs and Issues, that just seem AI generated.
This style of writing is just nice |
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| ▲ | attels33 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| What SW is needed for the jailbreak to work? Is it worth trying to buy a used console now? |
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| ▲ | wickedsickeune an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | This works on the latest firmware, until they patch it, you can buy even new consoles that are vulnerable. | |
| ▲ | monegator an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | written at the top: current 23.01 version (i did get the sw2 on first day because you never know but...) | | |
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| ▲ | enricozb 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > thanks to my friends in Dabney House ... Cool to see this happened at Caltech :) |
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| ▲ | maxlin an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Love the power button nubbin doing the hard work |
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| ▲ | RicoElectrico 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| And in the process obsoleting the work of many very dedicated fans who went to great lengths in order to record the Mario Kart World soundtrack (iykyk) |
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| ▲ | madiling an hour ago | parent [-] | | For those who don’t know: https://youtube.com/watch?v=aet8rWKs-A0 Basically, since it wasn’t possible to extract the files from Switch 2 games, fans who wanted to listen to the Mario Kart World soundtrack outside of the game would record the audio output from their console and exploit glitches in-game to prevent sound effects from playing and phase-cancel overlapped recordings of the same song with each recording being interrupted in different parts to isolate the music then crossfade the remaining segments into the complete track. |
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| ▲ | Velocifyer 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| It's unfortunate that this requires a specific $25 game (SmileBASIC 4) |
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| ▲ | haunter an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | Don't need to buy the game. Make a JP Nintendo account and download the demo (not available globally) https://store-jp.nintendo.com/item/software/D70010000010547 | | | |
| ▲ | xacky an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I remember having to buy GTA Liberty City Stories to jailbreak the PSP. Then there was the infamous Cubic Ninja jailbreak which caused the game to become worth hundreds of dollars. | |
| ▲ | unrented7977 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Almost every console jailbreak required the use of a specific game, going all the way back to the original Xbox. PS1 and 2 required a specific disc or swapping in a legit disc. Even the NES required a real game cart alongside your third party carts. It turns out that opening locks is a hell of a lot easier when you have a key. | |
| ▲ | Gigachad 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Console hacking has been like that for a very long time. But usually after the first exploits are found and hackers can start playing with things, many more follow. Though Nintendo has been stripping down the OS every new console so there’s less interesting stuff to exploit outside of games. | |
| ▲ | StilesCrisis an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | This gives visibility to a lot more unencrypted code, so just give it time. More bugs will be found quickly now that the code is inspectable. |
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