L4T Ubuntu Switch: Difference between revisions

L4T Ubuntu
L4T Ubuntu
	File:L4tubuntuswitch.png
General
Author	Switchroot team
Type	Operating systems
Version	5.0
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2022/12/25
Links
	Download
	Website
	Source

Revision as of 13:09, 31 March 2023

Experience the power of Linux on your Switch with L4T Ubuntu.

L4T Ubuntu is a Linux distribution built upon NVIDIA's Linux for Tegra project, featuring a distinct kernel that enables the utilization of features that are not yet available in mainline. This includes support for audio, docking, and Vulkan.

Please note that using high clocks in handheld mode can significantly reduce your battery's lifespan compared to stock clocks. Be cautious when doing so.

If you require assistance, please feel free to ask for help in their Discord Server. Additionally, please refer to their FAQ and Common Issues sections, as they may already provide answers to some of your queries.

Features

Switch 2017, Switch 2019, Switch Lite, Switch OLED support (Erista and Mariko)
Full USB-C support
Power Delivery, On-The-Go, DisplayPort/HDMI on any adapters/dock
Bluetooth and Wifi
BT controllers and audio SBC/AAC/AptX/Aptx HD support
WiFi with all channels except 2.4GHz 14 and 5GHz 144.
Full Joy-Con Support (Excluding NFC, and IR camera)
Nvidia Tegra GPU drivers - Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenGLES, EGL, CUDA
Audio - Headphones, Speakers, HDMI (up to 5.1) when docked, and Microphone (version 3.4.2+)
Touchscreen
Handheld (720p @ 60) and Docked Display
Docked up to 4k30 or 1440p60 on Switch 2017/2019, and up to 4k60 on Switch OLED with OLED dock or 4k60 capable adapter
CPU/GPU/RAM frequency scaling
Frequency depends on the Nvidia Applet Power Mode, automatic Console and Handheld Profiles
Automatic Overclocking through the Nvidia (Blue/Red Joy-Con) Indicator Applet (select an OC mode)
Full SD card speed
Hardware Video acceleration
Support in new SMPV Player app (smpv), ffmpeg-l4t, mpv-l4t, system ffmpeg and the chromium-browser
Watch videos without battery draining massively and convert videos really fast
Deep Sleep
IMU/Ambient Light sensor support
R2P (Reboot to any hekate boot entry configuration)
Support for Moonlight-QT
Stream games/desktop from your Nvidia (nvidia gamestream) or AMD (sunshine moonlight host) GPU to your Switch
HW video accelerated up to 4k
Updates distributed through APT package manager
Basically everything the hardware supports even if Switch OS doesn't support. Except NFC and IR.

Installation Guide

Prerequisites

Hekate6.0.1 or newer
A 16GB SD Card MINIMUM (Recommended: 128GB and up U3 or U3/A2 class)
A computer (for backing up and extracting the installation files)

Setting up your SD Card

Insert SD card to your PC
Download TegraRcmGUI for Windows and run "TegraRcmGUI_vX.X_installer.msi" to install TegraRCMGUI (follow on-screen instructions).
Launch "TegraRCMGUI" and Install The APX driver if needed. This can be located in "Setting" -> "Install Driver"
Download Hekate latest release and extract "heakte_ctcaer_X.X.bin"
Connect your switch to your PC/device via usb cable.
First, power off your Switch then insert the RCM Jig in the right joycon rail and press/hold VOLUME UP + POWER BUTTON for three seconds to enter into RCM
Find and select "heakte_ctcaer_X.X.bin" under "Select payload:" and hit "Inject payload". Then your Switch should now be in Hekate bootloader.

Flashing a distribution for the first time

Partition the sd card in order to create an ext4 partition.
- hekate's partition manager can be used for that: Tools -> Partition SD Card.
- The process in hekate is destructive, so you need to backup your fat partition files (if they are more than 1GB total) or emuMMC. Move the sliders as you want them and then hit next. You will have plenty of chances/warns to backup your stuff if it's needed.
Make sure your Switch is connected via usb to your PC/Device and Select SD UMS
Extract your distro of choice 7z directly to SD
Safely unmount and flash via hekate's Flash Linux
Then go to Home and Nyx options and dump your joycon BT pairing
Return to hekate's Home menu and choose "More Configs"
Boot

Distributions layout

bootloader
|- ini
|  |- L4T-XXXXXXX.ini
|- sys
|  |- l4t
     |- bpmpfw_b01.bin
     |- mtc_tbl_b01.bin
     |- sc7entry.bin
     |- sc7exit.bin
     |- sc7exit_b01.bin
switchroot
|- install
|   |- l4t.00        (4092 MiB parts. Last part can be 4 MiB aligned)
|   |- l4t.01
|   |- ...
|   |- l4t.XX
|- ubuntu
     |- boot.scr
     |- bl31.bin
   |- bl33.bin
     |- uImage
     |- initramfs
     |- nx-plat.dtimg

Installation

Download the base image.
Backup your SD Card:

Backup normal files from FAT32 (this also backs up emuMMC if file based)
If emuMMC raw partition exists, go to hekate -> Tools -> Backup eMMC -> SD emuMMC RAW Partition and back it up (BOOT0/1 and Raw GPP)
If android exists, do a TWRP backup

Suggestion: Use hekate UMS (hekate -> Tools -> USB Tools) with a USB-C cable connecting your switch and PC to mount your SD card and transfer files instead of swapping your card from Switch to PC.
3. WARNING: This following will wipe everything on your SD card.
Partition your SD card in hekate -> Tools -> Partition SD Card leave at least 5GB for FAT32 for installation files downloaded in step 1 AND recreate any partition that may have backed up.

4. From your PC, extract the 7z to your SD FAT32 partition. Suggestion: Use hekate UMS (hekate -> Tools -> USB Tools) with a USB-C cable connecting your switch and PC to mount your SD card instead of swapping your card from Switch to PC.
5. In Hekate, go to Tools -> Partition SD Card -> Flash Linux.
6. Go to hekate -> Nyx Options -> Dump Joy-Con BT to dump Joycon pairing data, with both Joycon connected to console, after they were paired in hos first.

7. Now you can boot L4T Ubuntu.
Make sure any existing online updates are done via Software Updater or apt command. 8. After making sure everything is fine, you can now restore your backed up files

Copy your normal files to FAT32
For emuMMC use Hekate to restore your backup hekate -> Tools -> Restore eMMC
For Android, copy your TWRP backup to your FAT32 partition then follow the steps and 4 of our android BUT instead of installing "Lineage zip, followed by your GApps zip" at step 4.g restore your backup in TWRP

Updating existing installations (3.x.x/5.x.x)

If you come from a previous release and need to update.

In L4T Ubuntu Linux, go to the Software Updater app and click "Install Now"

Or open terminal and execute: sudo apt update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade.
After update is finished, reboot and done.

- If Nvidia BSP was forcefully changed, creating a .reinit file into boot directory will restore Kernel, Kernel Modules and Firmware on the next boot and make the installation working again.
- In case of an update from 3.x.x, uenv.txt will be backed up. If it was manually edited before, README_CONFIG.txt can be followed to restore the custom boot settings inside .ini this time.
If you haven't already, go to hekate -> Nyx Options -> Dump Joy-Con BT and dump Joycon pairing data, with both Joycon connected to console, after first pairing them in hos.

Extras

Pairing procons

Pair procons by opening the bluetooth menu in settings and pressing the + button in the bottom left corner. Then press the sync button on the controller and select its name in the pairing window.

L4T Megascript

Use the L4T-Megascript app, available in your apps list (installed by default in 3.4.0+) You can get or build various essential stuff, apps or emulators with a single click. All configured and optimized for Switch.

Media

Running Linux On The Nintendo Switch! - (Linux Lounge)

Linux / Ubuntu Install On Switch Guide [2022] #switch - (Better Gaming)

Screenshots

https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/switchhomebrews/l4tubuntuswitch-05.pnga https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/switchhomebrews/l4tubuntuswitch-06.pnga https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/switchhomebrews/l4tubuntuswitch-07.pnga https://dlhb.gamebrew.org/switchhomebrews/l4tubuntuswitch-08.pnga

Changelog

Ubuntu Bionic 5.0.0

Kernel/Driver changes
- RAM
  - 409MB RAM was freed from carveouts and was given to CMA so everything can easily use it with mmap
- Joycon/Procon driver
  - Added support for Sio (Switch Lite gamepad)
  - Improved HD Rumble and fix it once and for all
  - Improved and reorder init sequence
  - Improved high speed uart stability
  - Fixed hangs when using hd rumble
  - Changed Procon D-Pad from HAT to actual D-Pad
  - Fixed HORI analog stick limits
- WiFi & Bluetooth
  - Fully unlocked almost all WiFi channels,1-13 for 2.4GHz and 34-165 for 5GHz. 14/144 disabled).
  - Many 5Ghz channels will only be used if there's an existing AP (radar detection), for regulation reasons.
  - Fixed Bluetooth SCO mode (HSP/HFP). It now properly transmits audio instead of static
  - Significantly improved signal on both WiFi 2.4GHz and Bluetooth since default is now USB2
  - (USB3 can be enabled back via ini config)
  - Battery Charger and Fuel Gauge
  - Added Battery % regulation. Sets a limit to battery max % and it's quite useful for when device is always docked.
  - Added support of charging disable via special GPIO
  - Improve init sequence
- Audio
  - Added Switch 2019/Lite/OLED speakers EQ
  - Added fine controls for DAC speaker/headphone volumes
  - Added minijack Mic support and Headset vs Headphones support
  - Added Headset button support (all buttons work as play/pause)
  - Refactored driver and improved init/deinit process
- R2P
  - Refactored driver and added T210B01 support
  - Check README_CONFIG.txt for more info on how it can be configured
- USB-C (DisplayPort/Power Delivery)
  - Massively refactor USB-C driver, again.
  - Support for PIN C (adapters that report 4 DisplayPort lanes only)
  - Removed the requirement for at least 2 USB-PD profile to enable PD charging
  - Added support for no DisplayPort (Switch Lite)
  - Improve and make init sequence way faster
- Display
  - Added OLED panel driver
  - Added HDCP 1.x and 2.2 support for DisplayPort
  - Fixed TSEC support
  - Backlight will always get disabled before disabling LCD/OLED panel
- DisplayPort CEC
  - Added support for CEC via DisplayPort
  - Docking will change source to Switch automatically if supported
  - CEC tv remote control
  - Support for OLED dock
- Non-PD USB charger detect
  - Added fine tuners for currents on USB charger detect
  - Improve detection
  - Set SDP when a gadget is enabled to 500mA only
- eMMC/SD driver
  - Improve auto calibration
  - Allow 1-bit mode
- XUSB
  - Fixed T210B01 support
  - Fixed USB3 device mode
  - Added proper support for USB2-only mode
- Various fixes to USB phy and vbus
- Improved kernel driver init sequence. Saves around 4-6s of boot time.
- Added better panic error handling, the relevant log can now be dumped automatically by hekate.
- Added controls for disabling touch panel tuning on boot (some broken flex cables or panels might need that)
- Fixed IMU IRQ mode. This greatly improves IMU Acc/Gyro responsiveness. Also added new IMU chips support.
- Fixed an issue where Power button irq could be stack
- Fixed a hang on boot because of Squash FS driver
- Added DM-CRYPT support
- Fixed max77812 CPU/GPU/RAM regulator and enable it for T210B01
- Added max77801 3.3V regulator for Switch OLED
- Added a new TSKIN driver and changed temperatures and fan curves to match HOS exactly
Ubuntu/Userspace changes
- Theme and Icons
  - Default theme and icons changed to more modern flat and dark one
  - If you changed them before, you can use Tweaks from app menu to change it (Pop-Dark theme and Pop icons)
- On-Screen Keyboard
  - Now rocks a new material you design look
  - Add special key for Gamepads to Show/Hide it
  - Enabled physical Keyboard detection
  - Auto transparency on idle, so user can see behind it.
  - Fixed an issue which would delay logout 2:30 minutes if osk is enabled
- Default settings
  - Double click is now easier to do on touch
  - Drag threshold increased to avoid miss-dragging instead of tapping
  - ALS disabled for backlight control so user can enable it in ini config for emulators and games
  - Changed Battery levels: Warns LOW at 15%, Warns Critical at 6%. Shutdowns at 4%
  - Suspend after 10min idle at battery. Never at AC.
  - Battery percentage always shown
  - Cursor size default increased
  - Default scaling changed
  - Default Dash shorcuts changed so user can pin preferences without first unpinning
- Bluetooth A2DP profiles
  - Automatic profile change
  - Added AAC, AptX and AptX HD profiles
  - Also fixed SCO HSP/HFP profiles
- Fixed 5.1 surround audio
- Dock-Handler
  - Fully optimized and fast
  - Saves boot time
  - Works properly on Greeter
  - CEC support
  - PD power profile support (Will switch to Console if PD charger)
  - Fixed crashes on boot
- Joycon Daemon
  - Added Sio (Switch Lite Gamepad) support
  - Now rumble works properly and also doesn't hang system
  - Removed Procon management from Joycond. Now the controller can be used by any software
  - IMU now accessible from every app
  - Various bug fixes
- System FFMpeg updated to use latest HW Video codecs
- Switch Multimedia
  - Updated to use the latest HW Video decoding/encoding
  - (ffmpeg-l4t, ffplay-l4t and mpv-l4t)
  - All video files now use SMPV Player by default for hw decoding
  - Chromium Browser
  - Full Vulkan HW acceleration support
  - Full HW Video decoding support for H264 and VP8 videos
  - Bluetooth is now disabled completely on sleep to save battery
  - Enabled automatically on resume.
  - Debloated and remade main image from scratch
- Joystick Mapping
  - Based on L4T Megascript one and included by default
  - Reworked all mappings to the following:
  - A, B, X, Y --> Enter, Backspace, Esc, Task Switch
  - Minus, Plus --> Rotate Screen, Show/Hide OSK
  - L3, R3 --> Caps Lock, Middle Click
  - Home --> Windows Key
  - D-pad --> Arrow keys
  - L/R Sticks --> Mouse, Scrolling
  - Capture --> Disables(/Enables) mappings and allows it to be used as gamepad
- Now All updates can be done via APT. 5.0.0 will be the last image provided.
- Every new update will be done through Software Updates or Apt command.
- Updated ALSA profile to support all SKUs
- Added HDCP support if requested by an App that supports the api
Initramfs changes
- WiFi MAC address is now derived from SoC id
- BT MAC address if no joycon dump is derived from SoC id
- Added error checking at boot
- Fixes "bricks" where linux partition is corrupted but can be fixed
- Creating .reinit file flag in switchroot/ubuntu will force a re-extraction of Kernel and Modules/Firmware
- That should always be used if user updates BSP to another one (for example r32.7.3)
- If initramfs fails booting it will try to dump kernel log in sd first (l4t_initramfs_kmesg.log) before showing the red screen.
Boot Stack changes
- L4T Loader - specialized bootloader
- Full support for T210B01 (Switch 2019, Lite and OLED)
- .ini file is now the main configuration file and uenv.txt is obsolete (a backup is done for existing copies)
- All configs are described in README_CONFIG.txt
- Careful with what you are booting on T210B01 since it can create hangs in black screen or error messages.
- Error message will be shown if that's the case, to avoid a black screen hang.

Ubuntu Bionic 3.4.0

Better performances in many scenarios (As always that should affect apps/games/emus/etc)
Significant better deep sleep. (Measured at 582 hours. 440% better).
Faster wake up from sleep.
Saved 240MB ram (fb and active file page pool, aka always used pool)
Memory remapping 800%-2000% speed up. Mostly used by emulators and VMs (and lot in android).
Some other memory optimizations, plus enabled huge ram pages
Faster kernel and OS boot.
Fixed tearing issues for NVDEC/NVENC. (video hw accel)
Lower latency for frame end calcs for builtin display
Fixed Hori pads for joycond
Fixed an issue where it would make railed jc to disconnect on rumble
Joycon/Procon rumble was improved and intensity tuned for better user experience
Kernel now uses the proper display panel init/deinit by checking panel id
Improved dock/undock script
Touch stays enabled now in dock mode. Users that use docks that do not cover the screen can use it as alternative input.
Added low ram protection. Now instead of hanging for minutes it will only stutter for seconds until oom occurs and recovers ram
Better seamless display on boot
uenv.txt changed, read uenv_readme.txt. It's simple to transfer over custom settings.
Reboot action can now be defined in new uenv.txt. Reboot back into Linux by changing `reboot_action=` from `bootloader` to `via-payload`.

Apps Changes:

Full video HW decoding via new SMPV Player app (also supports youtube links)
Full video HW encoding via ffmpeg-l4t
Added L4T-Megascript app

You can get or build various essential stuff, apps or emulators with a single click. All configured and optimized for Switch.

Nvpmodel was updated to include Battery charging protection limits options

Useful when you are constantly docked and want to protect battery's life. Limit gets saved and applied on boot. Reminder that discharging can't happen when plugged in. Even when charging is off, usb power is used to supplement system. So you need to discharge first if you want the battery % to go inside the limit. That also disables charging in sleep in order for the feature to work. If you reboot/shutdown, it gets disabled and re-enabled at the next L4T boot. As always the source is public and all L4T based projects for Switch will benefit (L4T linux distros/Lakka/Android)

Ubuntu Bionic 3.3.0

Significant performance improvements
- CPU arch, RAM, GPU, general latency, etc optimizations.
- Affects gui, apps, games, emus, etc
Significant deep sleep power draw fixes
- Now almost all non-needed devices power off on deep sleep and ram is set to appropriate frequency.
- (Touch panel, LCD, Joycon charging and many more devices now power off in deep sleep as they should)
IO scheduler was changed to provide way faster storage IO
Released 15 MiB extra ram
Fixed voltage calculation for OC. It should provide more stable overclocking
Refactored thermal management
- Fan profiles are now the same with HOS
- Added failsafes, throttling and force power off when very high temps for the board are reached
Faster boot times
Fixed issues with Joycon charging and Hori power on resume
Fixed Power button issues
Touch improvements
Added Hori and Obirds rail support
OTG now allows deep sleep, even if linux resides in a USB SSD.
Various USB fixes
Allow fuel gauge to wake up system and power off gracefully on empty battery
Added support for many 3rd party docks
- These include Genki, Zenscreen, Nexdock and anything else that uses similar methods
- Basically, the support should reach 100% (docks that support DP via pin D)
Fixed issues with fast charging when docked on boot
Fixed other issues with charging on certain edge cases
Fixed DP/HDMI when plugging console while sleeping
Fixed DP/HDMI when already docked and waking up
Dock led indicator now has a breathing light when sleeping
Add exFAT partition support (boot driver still needs to be FAT32)
Enabled 1GB ZRAM swap

Status messages on booting
Seamless display booting (needs hekate higher than v5.5.4)
Disabled screen blanking on idle. Dimming/Screensaver is still there and can be disabled in Brightness & Lock.

This will help with games/emus where gamepad is used and it does not reset idle times like mouse/keyboard.

Fixed apt repo urls

NVPModel is revamped
- Allow changing power profiles via touch
- Added handheld power profile
- Added fan profiles
- Added automatic profiles based on handheld or docked
- Added USB 3.0 disable toggle for boosting WiFi 2.4G and Bluetooth signal
- OC profiles now do not require enabling overclock flag in sysfs

Credits

CTCaer (kernel/bootloader, distro maintainer, NVENC/NVDEC),
Gavin_Darkglider (distro maintainer),
Azkali (distro maintainer),
Ave (repo management and host),
DanielOgorchock(Switch controller drivers/joycond),
Bylaws,
Langerhans,
Natinusala,
stary2001 (reboot2payload),
NVIDIA (Tegra BSP),
theofficialgman and cobalt2727 (L4T-Megascript),
Everyone else in switchroot

External links

Official Website - https://gbatemp.net/threads/l4t-ubuntu-a-fully-featured-linux-on-your-switch.537301/
Gitlab - https://gitlab.com/switchroot/android
Switchroot - https://wiki.switchroot.org/en/Linux/Distributions