Hekate Switch

hekate
General
Author	CTCaer
Type	System Tools
Version	6.1.0_1.6.0
License	GPL-2.0
Last Updated	2024/02/23
Links
Download
Website
Source

Hekate is a powerful and user-friendly bootloader for the Nintendo Switch that allows users to customize and control their device's boot process.

One of the key benefits of Hekate is its graphical user interface (GUI), which makes it easy for even novice users to navigate and understand. The interface provides a variety of customization options, including the ability to change the device's boot logo and select the default boot configuration.

Another notable feature of Hekate is its support for emuMMC (Emulated NAND). It allows you to allocate a section of your SD card as internal storage (NAND) for your Switch while it's running custom firmware. This means you can keep your stock OS for online use in games you own; It also protects the system from potential bricks since all the software is run from the SD card and any modifications can be reversed or recovered from.

Features

• Fully Configurable and Graphical with Touchscreen and Joycon input support.
• Launcher Style, Background and Color Themes.
• HOS (Switch OS) Bootloader - For CFW Sys/Emu, OFW Sys and Stock Sys.
• Android & Linux Bootloader.
• Payload Launcher.
• eMMC/emuMMC Backup/Restore Tools.
• SD Card Partition Manager - Prepares and formats SD Card for any combo of HOS (Sys/emuMMC), Android and Linux.
• emuMMC Creation & Manager - Can also migrate and fix existing emuMMC.
• Switch Android & Linux flasher.
• USB Mass Storage (UMS) for SD/eMMC/emuMMC - Converts Switch into a SD Card Reader.
• USB Gamepad - Converts Switch with Joycon into a USB HID Gamepad.
• Hardware and Peripherals info (SoC, Fuses, RAM, Display, Touch, eMMC, SD, Battery, PSU, Charger).
• Many other tools like Archive Bit Fixer, Touch Calibration, SD/eMMC Benchmark, AutoRCM enabler and more.

Note: For maximum performance of UMS in Windows, you need to run nyx_usb_max_rate__run_only_once_per_windows_pc.reg, only once per PC you have. It only affects hekate's usb device. You can also view that file with text editor and see what it does. Linux/Mac OS users do not need that.

Installation

How to update:

• Drag n drop bootloader folder into sd card root and hit merge/replace.
• No need to delete that folder first, especially if you want your configs and payloads.
• You can choose to update your RCM injection device or PC with the new hekate_ctcaer_x.x.x.bin or not.
• In any case, bootloader/update.bin, will be checked and if newer it will get loaded.
• update.bin is hekate and it is already copied with the bootloader folder drag n drop update process.

Notice about Atmosphere 1.0.0 and up:

• The fss0=atmosphere/fusee-secondary.bin in hekate_ipl.ini must be changed to fss0=atmosphere/package3.
• And make sure that atmosphere/contents folder does not have old Atmosphere components.

Notice about resized emuMMC:

• Resized emuMMC does not have the slow bug anymore.
• You can create a new one or recreate it via Nyx and the issue will be gone.

User guide

Bootloader folders and files

Folder/File	Description
bootloader	Main folder.
|__ bootlogo.bmp	It is used if no logopath key is found. User provided. Can be skipped.
|__ hekate_ipl.ini	Main bootloader configuration and boot entries in Launch menu.
|__ nyx.ini	Nyx GUI configuration
|__ patches.ini	Add external patches. Can be skipped. A template can be found here
|__ update.bin	If newer, it is loaded at boot. Normally for modchips. Auto updated and created at first boot.
bootloader/ini/	For individual inis. More configs menu. Autoboot is supported.
bootloader/res/	Nyx user resources. Icons and more.
|__ background.bmp	Nyx - Custom background. User provided.
|__ icon_switch.bmp	Nyx - Default icon for CFWs.
|__ icon_payload.bmp	Nyx - Default icon for Payloads.
bootloader/sys/	hekate and Nyx system modules folder.
|__ emummc.kipm	emuMMC KIP1 module. !Important!
|__ libsys_lp0.bso	LP0 (sleep mode) module. Important!
|__ libsys_minerva.bso	Minerva Training Cell. Used for DRAM Frequency training. !Important!
|__ nyx.bin	Nyx - hekate's GUI. !Important!
|__ res.pak	Nyx resources package. !Important!
|__ thk.bin	Atmosphère Tsec Hovi Keygen. !Important!
bootloader/screenshots/	Folder where Nyx screenshots are saved
bootloader/payloads/	For the Payloads menu. All CFW bootloaders, tools, Linux payloads are supported. Autoboot only supported by including them into an ini.
bootloader/libtools/	Reserved

Bootloader configuration

The bootloader can be configured via 'bootloader/hekate_ipl.ini' (if it is present on the SD card). Each ini section represents a boot entry, except for the special section 'config' that controls the global configuration.

There are four possible type of entries. "[ ]": Boot entry, "{ }": Caption, "#": Comment, "newline": .ini cosmetic newline.

You can find a template here.

hekate Global Configuration keys/values (when entry is [config])

Config option	Description
autoboot=0	0: Disable, #: Boot entry number to auto boot.
autoboot_list=0	0: Read autoboot boot entry from hekate_ipl.ini, 1: Read from ini folder (ini files are ASCII ordered).
bootwait=3	0: Disable (It also disables bootlogo. Having VOL- pressed since injection goes to menu.), #: Time to wait for VOL- to enter menu. Max: 20s.
noticker=0	0: Animated line is drawn during custom bootlogo, signifying time left to skip to menu. 1: Disable.
autohosoff=1	0: Disable, 1: If woke up from HOS via an RTC alarm, shows logo, then powers off completely, 2: No logo, immediately powers off.
autonogc=1	0: Disable, 1: Automatically applies nogc patch if unburnt fuses found and a >= 4.0.0 HOS is booted.
bootprotect=0	0: Disable, 1: Protect bootloader folder from being corrupted by disallowing reading or editing in HOS.
updater2p=0	0: Disable, 1: Force updates (if needed) the reboot2payload binary to be hekate.
backlight=100	Screen backlight level. 0-255.

Boot entry key/value combinations

Config option	Description
warmboot={FILE path}	Replaces the warmboot binary
secmon={FILE path}	Replaces the security monitor binary
kernel={FILE path}	Replaces the kernel binary
kip1={FILE path}	Replaces/Adds kernel initial process. Multiple can be set.
kip1={FOLDER path}/*	Loads every .kip/.kip1 inside a folder. Compatible with single kip1 keys.
fss0={FILE path}	Takes an Atmosphere package3 binary (formerly fusee-secondary.bin) and extracts all needed parts from it. kips, exosphere, warmboot and mesophere if enabled.
fss0experimental=1	Enables loading of experimental content from a FSS0 storage
exofatal={FILE path}	Replaces the exosphere fatal binary for Mariko
----------------------	----------------------------------------------------------
kip1patch=patchname	Enables a kip1 patch. Specify with multiple lines and/or in one line with , as separator. If actual patch is not found, a warning will show up
emupath={FOLDER path}	Forces emuMMC to use the selected one. (=emuMMC/RAW1, =emuMMC/SD00, etc). emuMMC must be created by hekate because it uses the raw_based/file_based files.
emummcforce=1	Forces the use of emuMMC. If emummc.ini is disabled or not found, then it causes an error.
emummc_force_disable=1	Disables emuMMC, if it's enabled.
stock=1	Disables unneeded kernel patching and CFW kips when running stock or semi-stock. If emuMMC is enabled, emummc_force_disable=1 is required. emuMMC is not supported on stock. If additional KIPs are needed other than OFW's, you can define them with kip1 key. No kip should be used that relies on Atmosphère patching, because it will hang. If NOGC is needed, use kip1patch=nogc.
fullsvcperm=1	Disables SVC verification (full services permission). Doesn't work with Mesosphere as kernel.
debugmode=1	Enables Debug mode. Obsolete when used with exosphere as secmon.
atmosphere=1	Enables Atmosphère patching. Not needed when fss0 is used.
----------------------	----------------------------------------------------------
payload={FILE path}	Payload launching. Tools, Android/Linux, CFW bootloaders, etc. Any key above when used with that, doesn't get into account.
----------------------	----------------------------------------------------------
l4t=1	L4T Linux/Android native launching.
boot_prefixes={FOLDER path}	L4T bootstack directory.
ram_oc=0	L4T RAM Overclocking. Check README_CONFIG.txt for more info.
uart_port=0	Enables logging on serial port for L4T uboot/kernel.
Additional keys	Each distro supports more keys. Check README_CONFIG.txt for more info.
----------------------	----------------------------------------------------------
id=IDNAME	Identifies boot entry for forced boot via id. Max 7 chars.
logopath={FILE path}	If it exists, it will load the specified bitmap. Otherwise bootloader/bootlogo.bmp will be used if exists
icon={FILE path}	Force Nyx to use the icon defined here. If this is not found, it will check for a bmp named as the boot entry ([Test 2] -> bootloader/res/Test 2.bmp). Otherwise defaults will be used.

Note1: When using the wildcard (/*) with kip1 you can still use the normal kip1 after that to load extra single kips.

Note2: When using FSS0 it parses exosphere, warmboot and all core kips. You can override the first 2 by using secmon/warmboot after defining fss0. You can define kip1 to load an extra kip or many via the wildcard (/*) usage.

Warning: Careful when you define fss0 core kips when using fss0 or the folder (when using /*) includes them. This is in case the kips are incompatible between them. If compatible, you can override fss0 kips with no issues (useful for testing with intermediate kip changes). In such cases, the kip1 line must be under fss0 line.

Boot entry key/value combinations for Exosphère

Config option	Description
nouserexceptions=1	Disables usermode exception handlers when paired with Exosphère.
userpmu=1	Enables user access to PMU when paired with Exosphère.
cal0blank=1	Overrides Exosphère config blank_prodinfo_{sys/emu}mmc. If that key doesn't exist, exosphere.ini will be used.
cal0writesys=1	Overrides Exosphère config allow_writing_to_cal_sysmmc. If that key doesn't exist, exosphere.ini will be used.
usb3force=1	Overrides system settings mitm config usb30_force_enabled. If that key doesn't exist, system_settings.ini will be used.

Note: cal0blank, cal0writesys, usb3force, as stated override the exosphere.ini or system_settings.ini. 0: Disable, 1: Enable, Key Missing: Use original value.

Note2: blank_prodinfo_{sys/emu}mmc, allow_writing_to_cal_sysmmc and usb30_force_enabled in exosphere.ini and system_settings.ini respectively, are the only atmosphere config keys that can affect hekate booting configuration externally, if the equivalent keys in hekate config are missing.

Payload storage

hekate has a boot storage in the binary that helps it configure it outside of BPMP enviroment:

Offset / Name	Description
'0x94' boot_cfg	bit0: Force AutoBoot, bit1: Show launch log, bit2: Boot from ID, bit3: Boot to emuMMC.
'0x95' autoboot	If Force AutoBoot, 0: Force go to menu, else boot that entry.
'0x96' autoboot_list	If Force AutoBoot and autoboot then it boots from ini folder.
'0x97' extra_cfg	When menu is forced: bit5: Run UMS.
'0x98' xt_str[128]	Depends on the set cfg bits.
'0x98' ums[1]	When Run UMS is set, it will launch the selected UMS. 0: SD, 1: eMMC BOOT0, 2: eMMC BOOT1, 3: eMMC GPP, 4: emuMMC BOOT0, 5: emuMMC BOOT1, 6: emuMMC GPP,
'0x98' id[8]	When Boot from ID is set, it will search all inis automatically and find the boot entry with that id and boot it. Must be NULL terminated.
'0xA0' emummc_path[120]	When Boot to emuMMC is set, it will override the current emuMMC (boot entry or emummc.ini). Must be NULL terminated.

Nyx Configuration keys/values (nyx.ini)

Config option	Description
themebg=2d2d2d	Sets Nyx background color in HEX. EXPERIMENTAL.
themecolor=167	Sets Nyx color of text highlights.
entries5col=0	1: Sets Launch entry columns from 4 to 5 per line. For a total of 10 entries.
timeoff=100	Sets time offset in HEX. Must be in HOS epoch format
homescreen=0	Sets home screen. 0: Home menu, 1: All configs (merges Launch and More configs), 2: Launch, 3: More Configs.
verification=1	0: Disable Backup/Restore verification, 1: Sparse (block based, fast and mostly reliable), 2: Full (sha256 based, slow and 100% reliable).
------------------	------- The following options can only be edited in nyx.ini -------
umsemmcrw=0	1: eMMC/emuMMC UMS will be mounted as writable by default.
jcdisable=0	1: Disables Joycon driver completely.
jcforceright=0	1: Forces right joycon to be used as main mouse control.
bpmpclock=1	0: Auto, 1: Fastest, 2: Faster, 3: Fast. Use 2 or 3 if Nyx hangs or some functions like UMS/Backup Verification fail.

FAQ

Q. Which Linux/Android distributions are supported in Partition Manager?

• For L4T Linux you can use the official Ubuntu Bionic 3.4.0 and newer or any other distro betas.
• For android you can get Android 10.

Q. I don't care about emuMMC/Linux/Android. Can the Part manager be used for something else?

• Yes. You can still reformat your SD card to a single FAT32 partition.
• You can even use it when you have exFAT and you want to format to FAT32.
• It is also suggested to format your sd card via hekate. That's because it prepares it for performance. something that many partitioning tools neglect.

Screenshots

Compatibility

Supports booting ALL current CFWs, Android/Linux booting and payload tools. No more SD card removals.

Supports: Erista (T210) and Mariko (T210B01) units.

Latest HOS supported: 17.0.1.

Changelog

• hekate v6.1.0 changes
  • Fixed an issue where emuMMC sector offset parsing was failing if SD card was bigger than 1TB.
  • L4T and ARC changes:
  • Allow boot partition to be exFAT
  • This will need an update of the bootstack of various L4T releases. Mostly important for Lakka and for users that do not want to format.
  • Significant changes were done to Arachne for RAM OC to increase performance and stability
  • Several timings were improved and corrected for both T210/LPDDR4 and T210B01/LPDDR4X
  • Stability was improved for higher frequencies for T210/LPDDR4
  • It also significantly affects high density ram modules like in 8GB configurations
  • Additionally, they can be improved extra with the ram_oc_opt ac mode also.
  • Fixed an issue where sometimes timing reduction was not allowed on 1600 MHz
  • A new ram_oc_opt= parameter was added to support advanced ram oc configuration for both T210 and T210B01.
  • Mostly for users with T210/LPDDR4 because of low frequencies and others that like to optimize (T210B01/LPDDR4X).
  • Read more in wiki.
  • ram_oc_vdd2 max voltage limit was raised to 1237mV for T210. T210B01 remains at Jedec max of 1175mV.
  • Fixed an issue for DDR200 on T210 when RAM frequency was oc one
• Nyx v1.6.0 changes
  • Support was added for Android 13+ dynamic partition scheme and also raised system partition size to 3GB for legacy (Android 10-11)
  • Fixed an issue where emuMMC sector offset parsing was failing if SD card is bigger than 1TB
  • Fixed an issue with some sd cards showing incomplete info (e.g. ADATA)
  • Improved fuses info (corrected major/minor and added parsed iddq info)
  • 3rd-gen RAM modules model name from Hynix and Micron are now shown properly
  • Hw info will now show per chip ram info instead of single chip and 2 channels.
  • Joycon auto calibration on init was relaxed to fix an issue with drifting with HAL effect based joystick mods.
  • Additionally, that fix was also incorporated in the Switch to PC gamepad USB mode.
  • Added built-in 6axis calibration dumping for all the rest Switch SKUs and stick type for Lite for use in L4T
  • Added info for sd card max supported bus speed and consolidate all UHS classes into one field.
  • Added info about some LCD panel clones and new official revisions
  • Fan is now controlled in a finer way
• BDK Changes
  • DRAM: Hynix 3rd gen ram was renamed to the proper model name.
  • DRAM: Added extra info about Micron 3rd gen ram.
  • DRAM: Added per chip MRR info
  • HWINIT: reordered sdmmc1 power disable
  • INPUT: Samsung touch panel was renamed to just TSP. BH2109 is manufacture date.
  • SE: Added se_aes_cmac_128, se_aes_crypt_hash and se_aes_iv_updated_clear functions
  • ACTMON: changed to average sampling
  • MINERVA: Change pll input divider for 2200-2266 mhz and some other fixes
  • UTILS: sprintf will now reject NULL terminated characters for %c
  • UTILS: allow strtol to parse unsigned integers if base is 16 and number is positive

Credits

hekate (c) 2018, naehrwert, st4rk.
hekate (c) 2018-2022, CTCaer.

Nyx GUI (c) 2019-2022, CTCaer.

Thanks to: derrek, nedwill, plutoo, shuffle2, smea, thexyz, yellows8.
Greetings to: fincs, hexkyz, SciresM, Shiny Quagsire, WinterMute.

Open source and free packages used:

• FatFs R0.13a, Copyright (c) 2017, ChaN.
• bcl-1.2.0, Copyright (c) 2003-2006, Marcus Geelnard.
• Atmosphère (Exosphere types/panic, prc id kernel patches), Copyright (c) 2018-2019, Atmosphère-NX.
• elfload, Copyright (c) 2014 Owen Shepherd, Copyright (c) 2018 M4xw.
• Littlev Graphics Library, Copyright (c) 2016 Gabor Kiss-Vamosi.

                         ___
                      .-'   `'.
                     /         \
                     |         ;
                     |         |           ___.--,
            _.._     |0) = (0) |    _.---'`__.-( (_.
     __.--'`_.. '.__.\    '--. \_.-' ,.--'`     `""`
    ( ,.--'`   ',__ /./;   ;, '.__.'`    __
    _`) )  .---.__.' / |   |\   \__..--""  """--.,_
   `---' .'.''-._.-'`_./  /\ '.  \ _.--''````'''--._`-.__.'
         | |  .' _.-' |  |  \  \  '.               `----`
          \ \/ .'     \  \   '. '-._)
           \/ /        \  \    `=.__`'-.
           / /\         `) )    / / `"".`\
     , _.-'.'\ \        / /    ( (     / /
      `--'`   ) )    .-'.'      '.'.  | (
             (/`    ( (`          ) )  '-;   [switchbrew] 

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/CTCaer/hekate
• GBAtemp - https://gbatemp.net/threads/hekate-6-0-0-and-nix-1-5-0-released.623498/