r/SwitchPirates Oct 07 '25

Announcement Welcome to r/SwitchPirates! FAQ, Guides, and Resources

135 Upvotes

Why Create This Post?

We often get flooded with many of the same questions. While we love to help new commers, it can be exhausting constantly replying to very similar posts. This post is intended to serve as a resource for the community. The idea is to have the information easily accessible and clear for new commers and people exploring a new app or refreshing their memory. Feel free to comment any additions you would like to add and I will create guides. I don't have much free time between running So-Cal Console Modding and my main career, but I will try to slowly trickle out more guides to help out the community.

Rules

No linking, requesting, or sharing pirated content
This includes firmware updates, roms, switch titles, etc.

Check pinned post & FAQ before asking questions
Most questions can be answered here. Please check before posting, otherwise the subreddit is filled with the same "HELP!" posts.

Posts must be related to piracy on the switch
Switch game emulation and other switch adjacent content is better suited at other subreddits.

No post selling, asking for selling advice, or offering services
This includes asking how much ____ typically sells for, how to list things on eBay, offering modchip installs, etc.

What Can You Do With a Modded Switch?

What can you do with a modded switch?

Is My Switch Moddable?

Check your serial and information about switch models

How to Mod Your Switch

The quick and easy way (using the HATS pack) - use this if you just want to get up and running quickly

Setting up the SD manually - use this if you want to learn how it all works

Updating Your Switch

The quick and easy way

Manually

Tutorials and Guides for Various Homebrew Applications

How to Migrate to a New SD Card on a Hacked Switch

How to Back Up, Restore, or Transfer Your Nintendo Switch Game Saves Using JKSV

5 Minute Android Tutorial

How to Download and Use Cheats

Hardware Tutorials

Complete Nintendo Switch OLED Modchip Installation Guide Part 1

Complete Nintendo Switch OLED Modchip Installation Guide Part 2

Complete Nintendo Switch V1/V2 Modchip Installation Guide

In Depth Kamikaze Method Tutorial and Info

Tinfoil Shops

Linking shops is prohibited at this time. You may discuss tinfoil shops in the stickied comment. If you need support for a specific shop, reach out for help on their discord, or website.

Sourcing Games and Pirated Content

Linking to sources is not allowed. You can usually find what you need with a simple google search of the title and file type. Ad blockers can help.

Nintendo Bans/ Console Bricking

There has never been a case of Nintendo bricking a switch console. Information on bans can be found here and here

Common Errors and Troubleshooting

I am currently working on a common errors and troubleshooting guide. I will update this post when it is complete.

Discord

If you require more immediate assistance, the the following Discord Servers will be more than happy to assist (note that they are unaffiliated with this sub)


r/SwitchPirates 20h ago

Discussion This timing is insane, I wanted to play GTA V on my switch using moonlight streaming, so I can play more comfortably, and then a GTA V port to switch just came out suddenly.

59 Upvotes

But I think it's still too early for it to be playable, if it hits 30 fps consistently, I'm deleting all my games just for it. But I'm still wondering how long it would take for it to be in a playable state?


r/SwitchPirates 1h ago

Discussion Wireless NES Classic Controller?

Upvotes

Hi

I am wanting to buy a wireless NES classic controller for my modded switch. Can I just buy any wirless one from Aliexpress or do I need any drivers or adaptors?

Do the official ones work with modded switch? If the Aliexpress ones cost around the same if I need extra hardware ( adpaters for eg ) Ill get the more expensive official NES controllers


r/SwitchPirates 1h ago

Question Tell me the best theme or launcher for a switch in the form of a PS3 theme

Upvotes

My dad has a ps3, and I really like it, I'd like to have one on the switch, but it's really going to be damn cool


r/SwitchPirates 5h ago

Question Does firmware matter in an unpatched Switch?

2 Upvotes

I sourced a local switch on 12.x. It is unpatched but seem to find conflicting information on firmware higher then 8.x.

Is 12.x still jailbreak able? Is there a firmware cutoff?


r/SwitchPirates 6h ago

Question Did I my switch just get bricked?

2 Upvotes

I had autorcm on and my ums wasn't working and I was stuck so I thought restarting my switch was a good idea but now its not turning back on


r/SwitchPirates 11h ago

Discussion For my Switch v1, about the port of GTA5

3 Upvotes

Hello, just to make it short, i am really interested for gta port and just wanted to know, what do i have to do to play it normally without any issues. Im new here and about overclocking in general. Thanks


r/SwitchPirates 4h ago

Question Firmware 22.5.0 bugging my modded switch

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1 Upvotes

DBI crashed my switch like this until I downloaded the newest version things like retroarch give me the software closed error and sys patch on Tesla menu which I thought would fix my issue also crashes it like DBI did I assumed it was a sig patch error but I’ve redone them a couple of times and still have the same error any ideas ? Also I forgot to mention when it goes into sleep mode for a while to seems to reboot to hekate


r/SwitchPirates 9h ago

Question Question about MGS4 from the recent release from ps3 jail.

2 Upvotes

So I've tried several different rom sources, all of which default the game to Japanese. The launcher is in english, and has English as a language option, but every dump I've found including one labeled as a EU copy all default to japanese once actually booting from the launcher to MGS4. Are there just no english versions out yet?


r/SwitchPirates 1d ago

News A good day to remind Rovio that it's lazy.

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119 Upvotes

Modders does what Rovio don't

Credits: ChanseyIsTheBest, Naga, ak and Flippy 

You can find more details here: https://github.com/robzilla10001/SwitchPorts


r/SwitchPirates 22h ago

Discussion What a journey....so far and hopefully more to see.

13 Upvotes

I recently got back into the switch after seeing some of the videos about Tico.

I bought another switch to keep my original V1 standard. It was sold as faulty as it had parental lock enabled but I was not overly worried as I saw that the Picofly chips are now so easy to install and that could be removed.

I manged to remove it anyway in OFW so I had a working v2 switch for £47 with joycons.

Next step, order some Picofly chips which were very reasonably priced on Aliexpress and fitting was straightforward. I surprised myself as it worked first time.

I also wanted a large SD card which are so expensive but took a chance on an Amazon return 1Tb Sandisk pro for £86.

It checked out in both capacity and speed so very happy here too.

I'm just transferring my games and setting up emulators now so thanks to all of the info available, the learning curve was levelled out pretty well!!


r/SwitchPirates 1d ago

Discussion GTA V - Switch V1 - Modified settings

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203 Upvotes

Lowered the resolution from default 1280x720 to 1024x768 to hopefully get more fps withput overclocking. This was the result. It helped with the overall performance, still some drops here and there.


r/SwitchPirates 1d ago

Discussion Pushed my Modded Switch v2 to run 2397/1305/2400 MHz — and gave Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice a visual upgrade 🔥

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17 Upvotes

Been experimenting with Horizon OC on my Mariko V2 and finally got everything running properly.

Current OC:

- CPU: 2397 MHz

- GPU: 1305 MHz

- RAM: 2400 MHz

- GPU Vmin: 785 mV

- GPU Vmax: 930 mV

- GPU Governor: OFF

- GPU DVFS: Disabled

- Uncapped Clocks: ON

The GPU was originally stuck at 537 MHz even under heavy load, despite being configured for higher clocks. After some troubleshooting, we found that disabling the GPU governor allowed the GPU to actually reach the configured frequency.

Now 1305 MHz is running stable with no clock dips so far.

The other thing I've been working on is Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

Instead of lowering the game's graphics settings to gain performance, we went the opposite direction. We edited the game's CVars to push the visuals further and improve the overall image quality.

So the goal isn't just "make the game run faster." We're trying to use the extra Mariko performance to make UE4 games look better while keeping them playable.

That's especially relevant for me because my Switch game library is basically full of Unreal Engine 4 games. 😂

I've been really interested in seeing how far we can push these games through a combination of Horizon OC + UE4 CVar tweaking, rather than accepting the default settings Nintendo/the developers shipped with.

2397 CPU / 1305 GPU / 2400 RAM + enhanced Hellblade visuals.

If anyone else has a modded switch and spends way too much time tweaking UE4 games on Switch, I'd love to compare settings and see what other games we can bring back to life. 👀


r/SwitchPirates 11h ago

Question Issues with Tico Emulator (PSP + 3DS)

1 Upvotes

I have a few games that just refuse to work on Tico

PSP- EDF 2 Portable, Tekken Dark Resurrection, as well as a few others. They all match the same type that Tico should be able to run.

3DS- I am only having trouble with ACNL.

Is it the default settings? I am at a loss.


r/SwitchPirates 1d ago

Question Any way to fix corrupted internal game names?

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5 Upvotes

I've seen this with a couple nsps I've downloaded, but some of them have these messed up names (not on home menu most of the time just internally). I think this may also be stopping cheats from working with them, and crashing JKSV (though i found a fork that works). I've tried installing from a different source, and that didnt work, so i was wondering if there was any way to manually fix this.

Screenshot from goldleaf showing issue

(firmware ver 22.5.0 atmosphere ver 1.11.2 running on emunand)


r/SwitchPirates 14h ago

Question Game updates for titles running on emunand?

1 Upvotes

Is there a way to update games? When I try to load a game in the emunand it says it's missing data.


r/SwitchPirates 16h ago

Question How to dump game update file from OFW to emuMMC?

0 Upvotes

I usually download the update from my cartridge games on my PC and install trough DBI, but this time around I couldn't find them (Eiyuden Chronicle JPN and Fire Emblem Three Hopes CHT). I downloaded the updates through the OFW, but I want to install them on CFW, does anyone know how to dump the update so I can install on Atmosphere?


r/SwitchPirates 18h ago

Question System won't take payload after battery died. USB-C issue?

0 Upvotes

Hello all.

I've got a V1 Switch that I jailbroke myself way back when, and used it for years, updating to the latest firmware, Atmosphere and Hekate when needed. Using the jig and the PC to push the payload.

My step son was using the Switch for a bit and let the battery die instead of keeping it charged and in sleep mode like I always did.

Once the system was charged, I tried pushing the payload and it no longer worked. I tried multiple cables (yes, data) and multiple PCs. Switch just does not react. It can and will boot up normally, but will not start any of the installed games, as it wasn't booted into Atmosphere or Hekate.

Long before this, I'd read someone here saying that the USB-C can get damaged by different cables using various amounts of electricity, causing the system to no longer take a payload, but it still charges and works on the dock. I am very ignorant in this area, so if that sounds like a plausibility, please let me know. If there's any documentation on that, please direct me towards it.

I've contacted a few local modders who are willing to do a hard mod on the system, but I'd really like to fix it myself if I could, but I'm not sure exactly what the problem is or how to go about fixing it.

Next up I plan to clean that port and attempt to push the payload again. Any other advice or things I should try before going to the modders? Thanks in advance.


r/SwitchPirates 19h ago

Question New to Switch modding. Looking for some help.

0 Upvotes

Hey guys,
Just finished modding my switch and I’m looking to play CTGP Deluxe.
The issue I’m facing is that my game is updated to 3.0.5, and ctgp is only compatible up to 3.0.3. My copy is physical if that makes any difference.

I have sourced a 3.0.3 nsi file. Can I downpatch my game? If so, how?


r/SwitchPirates 19h ago

Question Can I make my modded switch render at 1080p when docked?

0 Upvotes

I have this beautiful 4k OLED TV and i got a modded switch, when i dock my switch the game looks really bad kind of like im streaming it over WiFi but with really horrid WiFi, do I have my switch overlooked a little bit so i get 60FPS in most games and i want to render it in 1080p when docked, any apps or plugins (hombrew of course) that can enable me to do so ?


r/SwitchPirates 14h ago

Question noob here: when transferring legally ;) downloaded games from pc it says ‘missing patches’

0 Upvotes

I did a full JB, i had the correct switch, and i downloaded gold leaf, transferred the game, tried to install in gold leaf but says im missing patches. i’ve tried this with 5 legally acquired games ;)

anyone tell me what im doing wrong? google is no help

Emunand v1 switch

ps. my switch hasn’t been updated in at least 4 years, if that somehow helps


r/SwitchPirates 1d ago

Discussion How do you actually get a GOOD web browser on the default Switch OS?

4 Upvotes

Title. If you set up DNS MITM and Exosphere, you get an error when you try to use SwitchBru DNS or the GoldLeaf web browser with "This feature is not available". And those web browsers are very archaic (eg no video support).

There was something on the HB App Store called "NetSurf" but it was very slow, looked like a Windows XP browser and didn't work with Javascript. Does anyone know of a fast web browser that is compatible with most websites and can play videos today without me having to install Android or Linux kk thanks


r/SwitchPirates 11h ago

Discussion Is gta v safe for switch modded lite ???

0 Upvotes

hey guys who are playing gta v on switch is it safe to play? can i able to play it without overclocking ??


r/SwitchPirates 21h ago

Discussion Switch v1 unpatched and cant boot in hekate directly anymore

0 Upvotes

EDIT: I fixed.thanks for those who replied.I was using Nx loader and selecting hekate 6.5.3 manually as the payload but it seems that NX loader did not inject the proper files despite me selecting the proper files. I used rekado and it now works.

Hi there.

I have a weird issue. I have had my switch v1 modded for the last 5 years and never run into that problem.

I only use my switch in emu CFW. It is running latest firmware and atmosphere. today,for whatever reasons, I updated my OG sys fw to 22.5.0(it was on 19 i think) as well and since I cannot boot to hekate from a cold start. I know it burnt some fuses, but I have done this in the past without issues.

I get to RCM mode fine, inject latest hekate 6.5.3 but just a black screen.

If I inject the latest fusee I do boot to atmosphere. And I can then also reboot to hekate 6.5.3...

But I would love to understand and fix this issue. AI has led me to nowhere hence I am posting here....


r/SwitchPirates 18h ago

Question I'm from the uk and I'm looking for a "mig" style cartridge as I have a switch v2 and don't know much about hardware mods or soldering.

0 Upvotes

Does anyone know a website or person with a good reputation that I can get a flashcard from that isn't over £50-70?