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Alternative methods to update your modchip's firmware

Information

This page solely exists for people with already-modchipped Switch consoles. It's not necessary to follow if your modchip installation is working fine as is and could potentially introduce more issues if your modchip installation is experiencing errors or similar.

That said, I do recommend updating your modchip's firmware to the latest firmware version to get the best possible performance, reliability and hardware compatibility.

Updating your Picofly modchip firmware via Modchip Toolbox:

  1. Download modchip_toolbox.bin and update.bin from the links below:

  2. Place update.bin on the root of your SD card.

  3. Place modchip_toolbox.bin in sd:/bootloader/payloads.

  4. Boot into hekate and go to Payloads > modchip_toolbox.bin.

  5. Navigate to Picofly Options... underneath the Picofly section.

  6. Press Info underneath the Firmware section to see the information about the firmware version you're running. Press any key (the Volume or Power buttons) to return to the previous menu.

    • If it's running version 2.81, you're already up to date and do not need to update.
    • Note: Some Picofly modchips come pre-flashed with a fork of the spacecraft-nx firmware for hwfly modchips (the NO SD screen with the interactive rocket when you turn the Switch on without SD card inserted). You should not use this firmware as it is unstable and can cause things like Android/Linux to not boot at all (if relevant to your situation), slow boot times and it can potentially shorten the lifespan of your modchip. If you have this firmware version, the Info menu will report No valid picofly descriptor found. Signature: 0x00000000 (expected 0x9cabe959) which means that you should update your modchip's firmware.

  7. Select Update (update.bin) in the Firmware section, press A or power and wait for it to finish updating the modchip's firmware from update.bin located on the root of your SD card. (This shouldn't take more than 1-2 seconds.)

    • Note: Updating sdloader is not necessary for Picofly modchips as updating its firmware automatically updates sdloader as well.

  8. Power the console off by navigating to Back under the Return section and selecting Power off, then turn it back on.

    • Glitching and training may take a little longer the first time after flashing but should be fast again afterwards.

    • Optional: Verifying if the firmware update was successful can be done by booting into modchip_toolbox.bin (in hekate going to Payloads > modchip_toolbox.bin) and selecting Picofly Options... > Info again. It should now display the version number as 2.81.

Read this if you came here to restore your ability to boot OFW

To be able to boot OFW again, you must finish the in-progress firmware update by booting stock (or sysCFW) from hekate's Launch menu. Once you've successfully booted into stock/sysCFW, navigate to System Settings > System and check if it mentions the firmware version you updated to (e.g. 22.0.0) underneath the System Update button. (It's expected for it not to say the Atmosphere version and environment you're booted into next to the version string.)

If this is the case, you can now reboot or power off your Switch and OFW will be accessible again. Booting OFW is done by booting into hekate and going to Reboot > OFW from hekate's Home menu.

  • Note: If you lack the stock/sysCFW boot entries in hekate's Launch menu, please replace your hekate_ipl.ini with this one by overwriting the hekate_ipl.ini file currently in the bootloader folder on your SD card.

Updating your Hwfly/SX Series modchip firmware via Modchip Toolbox:

Note

This section assumes that you've previously flashed the SX series modchip with hwfly-nx. If you haven't done so yet, see the bottom of this page to physically flash your modchip by opening up the console. Only do this if you're comfortable with doing so.

  1. Download modchip_toolbox.bin and release_072.zip from the links below:

  2. Extract the downloaded release_072.zip file somewhere.

  3. Place modchip_toolbox.bin in sd:/bootloader/payloads.

  4. Place sdloader.enc from the .zip file on the root of your SD card.

  5. Hold Volume Up and boot into hekate, then go to Payloads > modchip_toolbox.bin. You can let go of volume up once you're in Modchip Toolbox.

    • Holding Volume Up while turning on the console "activates" the modchip. This allows Modchip Toolbox to interact with the modchip and therefore also allow you to update its firmware.

  6. Navigate to HWFLY Options... underneath the HWFLY section.

  7. Select Update underneath the SD Loader section once in Modchip Toolbox.

    • This will update the sdloader module that the modchip uses to "inject" (load) any payload named payload.bin from the root of your SD card.

  8. Power the console off by navigating to Back under the Return section and selecting Power off.

    • You can delete sdloader.enc from the root of your SD now.

  9. Place firmware.bin from the .zip file on the root of your SD card.

  10. Hold Volume Up and boot into hekate, then go to Payloads > modchip_toolbox.bin. You can let go of volume up once you're in Modchip Toolbox once again.

  11. Select Update underneath the Firmware section to update the modchip's firmware.

  12. Power the console off by pressing any key and selecting Power off, then turn it back on.

    • Glitching and training may take a little longer the first time after flashing but should be fast again afterwards.