Checking If The Console Was Patched #
A while ago, I became keen to experiment on my V1 Switch which I got in around 2018, and since it was just sitting in my closet gathering dust, I decided to play around with the software and see if I could get homebrew working. First of all, I made sure to check my Switch’s serial number to see if it was patched or not – luckily it wasn’t.
Recovery Mode (RCM) #
Next up was getting into recovery mode. Unlike androids, you can’t enter recovery mode simply with the press of a few buttons during boot – and I can see why, from the point of view of the giant console companies why would they want people messing around with stuff they shouldn’t? Well, in this case it was simply a matter of shorting a pin in the right Joycon from memory. I used the aluminum foil method was this, since I didn’t want to wait for a RCM jig to get delivered.
CFW Time #
After a bunch of trial and error, I finally got it to work, and got Hekate and Atmosphere up and running using a 128GB SanDisk Ultra micro–SD I got for this project a few days prior. Anyway, playing around with all the cool new features was really fun – especially themes.
Shell Modding #
Fast forwarding to a while later, I decided to try modding the console physically as well, with a transparent blue shell for the console and joy-cons, as well as purple buttons for the joy-cons from AliExpress. For me personally it was a nightmare moving the Joycon mainboards between the shells – and rightfully so, since I guess Nintendo didn’t design them with people doing silly mods like this in mind.
Whoops! #
If you noticed from the pictures that the batteries are missing from the controllers – you’d be right. I ended up breaking off the left battery connector when trying to take the battery out, so I just didn’t bother with the right’s battery. It should be able to be fixed relatively easily with a soldering iron and whatnot, but I haven’t got one on me now which is why I’ve held off from fixing it.
Gallery #
Here’s a bunch of pictures of the CFW, along with the blue shell:
Thanks for reading!
Harija