Jailbreaking the Switch 2

Posted by ledoge 3 hours ago

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Comments

Comment by hturan 16 minutes ago

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).

Comment by forcedtolinux 7 minutes ago

> 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

I am out of the loop but interested, what do you mean by this?

Comment by mentos 9 minutes ago

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.

Comment by KeplerBoy 56 minutes ago

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.

Comment by amelius 17 minutes ago

I suppose we can let AI write the entire blogpost :)

Comment by KeplerBoy 9 minutes ago

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?

Comment by GolDDranks 7 minutes ago

If one follows this and jailbreaks their Switch 2, are they in danger of getting their account banned by Nintendo, and their games unaccessible?

Comment by GolDDranks 2 minutes ago

(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)

Comment by attels33 6 minutes ago

What SW is needed for the jailbreak to work? Is it worth trying to buy a used console now?

Comment by enricozb 7 minutes ago

> thanks to my friends in Dabney House ...

Cool to see this happened at Caltech :)

Comment by xacky 17 minutes ago

The Switch 2 jailbroken with the help of a Switch Flicker. Really funny.

Comment by _imnothere 17 minutes ago

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.

Comment by chocochunks 8 minutes ago

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.

Comment by croes 5 minutes ago

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

Comment by RicoElectrico 15 minutes ago

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)

Comment by Velocifyer 16 minutes ago

It's unfortunate that this requires a specific $25 game (SmileBASIC 4)

Comment by Gigachad 14 minutes ago

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.