Switch EmuNAND Setup - Use CFW and Stock OS without Ban Risk

This guide will show you how to setup EmuNAND on your hacked Nintendo Switch. This means using a portion of your SD card as the internal storage (NAND) for your Switch while its running custom firmware. This will be undetectable from the Switch’s stock firmware and will essentially keep your stock and custom firmware environments physically separated.

If your goal is to play your legit games online with the clean SysNAND and enjoy custom firmware with the EmuNAND, this guide will help you set that up.

Before you begin, it is strongly advised to disconnect your Switch from any Wi-Fi networks and delete all Wi-Fi networks saved on your console via the [System Settings] -> [Internet] -> [Internet Settings] menu. This is to protect you from bans in case your Switch connects to the internet without your
discretion. Do not setup any internet connections while using an unclean SysNAND or EmuNAND without setting up Incognito first.

It should be noted that there is no known fool-proof way to prevent bans entirely other than not using hacks at all. Going online greatly increases your chances of being banned and the methods detailed here have shown to lower that risk. There have been no known cases of users being banned for using EmuNAND alone, however these methods are prone to human error. Users should take care to keep their SysNAND Stock OS environment as clean as possible, and also to never connect to the Internet with EmuNAND unless Incognito is activated.

Required Downloads:

Requirements

Unpatched Nintendo Switch

Not all Nintendo Switch consoles can be hacked; your Switch must be an earlier model (determined by the serial number) that is vulnerable to the fusee-gelee exploit
Visit ismyswitchpatched.com and enter your Switch’s serial number (found on the white strip next to the USB port) to check if your Switch is hackable
The serial number can also be found from the Nintendo Switch Home menu in [System Settings] -> [Settings] -> [Serial Information]

RCM Jig

A RCM Jig is required to enter your Switch into RCM mode (Recovery Mode)
They are relatively cheap and easy to acquire online

USB-C to USB-A Cable

A USB-C to USB-A cable is required to connect your Nintendo Switch to your PC
USB-C to USB-C cable can also be used if your computer features a USB-C port

MicroSD Card (128GB or Larger Recommended)

An SD card (and reader) is required to install and launch homebrew on your Nintendo Switch
Your SD card must be formatted as FAT32 if your Switch does not have the ExFAT driver installed
If you are unsure, use FAT32 to avoid errors.
The ExFAT driver can be installed manually without updating firmware after successfully hacking the console
128GB or more is recommended for storing games
64GB or larger is required to store a full copy your Switch NAND so it is highly recommended as a minimum

Enter RCM and Create EmuNAND Partition

You will now enter Recovery Mode (RCM) and create the EmuMMC partition with TegraExplorer

Insert your SD card into your PC
Backup all of the files on your SD card to a safe place
Install TegraRcmGUI and the APX driver when prompted
If you are not prompted to install the APX driver, go to the [Settings] tab and click [Install Driver]
Connect your Switch to your PC via USB and ensure it is powered off
Enter RCM on your Nintendo Switch
1. Insert your RCM Jig into the Right Joycon slot, sliding it all the way down
2. Hold down the [Vol+] button and press the [Power] button, the Switch will now enter Recovery Mode (RCM) but the screen will stay off
The icon in TegraRcmGUI should now read [RCM O.K.]
Select TegraExplorer.bin as the payload and click [Inject payload], your Nintendo Switch will boot into TegraExplorer
From the TegraExplorer main menu, select [SD format]
Select [Format for EMUMMC (FAT32 / RAW)]
Wait 10 seconds and press [A] to begin
Once complete, return to the main menu and select [Exit] -> [Reboot to RCM]
Remove your SD card and insert it into your PC
Cancel any errors or prompts to format the disk drive, do not format
Your partition will now appear as a working SD card drive in Windows

If you intend on using an exFAT SD, you should reformat this partition to exFAT.

Boot into hekate

Copy your backed up files back to your Switch SD card
If you wish to create the EmuNAND from a NAND backup, copy your /backup/ folder to the root of your SD card.
Copy the bootloader folder from the hekate .zip to the root of your SD card
Extract the Atmosphere .zip file
Go to the /atmosphere/ folder from the extracted .zip
Copy fusee-secondary.bin to the /bootloader/payloads/ folder on your SD card
Go to the /bootloader/ folder on your SD card

Open hekate_ipl.ini in Notepad and add the following lines to the file then save

[Stock (SYSNAND)]
fss0=bootloader/payloads/fusee-secondary.bin
stock=1
emummc_force_disable=1
icon=bootloader/res/icon_switch.bmp

Create a folder called payloads on your PC
Copy hekate_ctcaer.bin to the /payloads/ folder on your PC
Insert your SD card into your Switch
Launch TegraRcmGUI and connect your Switch to your PC via USB
Select the hekate_ctcaer.bin file from the /payloads/ folder on your PC and click [Inject payload], your Nintendo Switch should now boot into Hekate

Congratulations on successfully entering RCM and booting into hekate. If you’re new to Switch hacking, consider enabling Auto-RCM to avoid needing the RCM jig in the future.

Setting Up EmuNAND

This method is for creating the EmuNAND from your current SysNAND (Switch Internal Storage). Follow these steps if you wish to create the EmuNAND from a previously made NAND backup.

From the hekate main menu, select [emuMMC]
Select [Create emuMMC]
Select [SD Partition]
Select [Continue] if an applicable partition is found
Once complete, select [Close]
Select [Change emuMMC]
Select the [SD RAW1] partition
Your EmuNAND is now [Enabled!]

Boot into EmuNAND CFW

Simply push your custom firmware payload such as Atmosphere’s fusee-primary.bin with TegraRcmGUI to boot into EmuNAND running CFW.

Use the [Migrate emuMMC] function in the [emuMMC] menu to repair the config file if your emuNAND does not boot after injecting payload (black screen with backlight). This can occur if you copied the config file from a previous emuMMC setup.

Follow this guide on installing Atmosphere CFW and Tinfoil / HBG Shop if this is your first time hacking the Nintendo Switch.

The Switch will always boot into the EmuNAND CFW as long the emunand.ini file is present in the /emuMMC/ folder on your SD card.

Your EmuNAND will use the /emuMMC/ folder as the location for your CFW’s Nintendo folder. This means content normally stored in the /Nintendo/ folder such as installed game backups and Album images will be accessed from /emuMMC/RAW1/Nintendo/ folder while running the EmuNAND.

The Stock SysNAND will use the /Nintendo/ folder on the root of your SD card as normal, this keeps them separated.

If this is your first time hacking your Nintendo Switch and wish to finally set up your custom firmware, follow this guide on installing Atmosphere + Tinfoil / HBG Shop so you can install games directly to your Switch without a PC.

It strongly advised to activate Incognito on your Switch immediately after setting up your EmuNAND successfully, before connecting to the internet. Incognito will block connections to Nintendo’s servers and hide your console’s identification information. This will allow you to connect safely to the internet without fear of a ban.

Boot into Stock SysNAND OFW

To boot into the Switch’s stock official firmware, you must use the hekate payload with TegraRcmGUI.

Select [Launch] -> [Stock (SYSNAND)] from the main menu to boot into your console’s stock firmware without any hacks.

If you are converting your SysNAND CFW to EmuNAND CFW and wish to clean your SysNAND to run completely stock, follow this guide on cleaning your NAND of custom firmware files and restoring it to stock Horizon (Switch) OS. If your Switch’s internal storage (NAND) is completely clean, you an “safely” go online, browse the eShop and update your firmware normally*. Your EmuNAND will be unaffected by the changes, you can update your EmuNAND’s firmware with the ChoidujourNX homebrew if you ever wish to do so.

Updating your Switch’s stock firmware will remove Auto-RCM and your anti-downgrade fuses will be burned once your console resets then boots without hekate. To update firmware via Nintendo servers and prevent fuses burning, insert your RCM jig before beginning the update and hold [Vol+] as soon as your Switch completes the update and prepares to Restart. Your Switch will enter RCM and you will be able to re-enable Auto-RCM with hekate.

Congratulations on setting up EmuNAND on your Nintendo Switch, you will now be able to use the Stock SysNAND and CFW EmuNAND concurrently. In short, you’ll now be able to play online on the Stock SysNAND with far less risk of being banned while still having access to the custom firmware benefits with EmuNAND such as game backups and homebrew. You may wish to change one of your EmuNAND / SysNAND themes in [System Settings] to help you distinguish the two and prevent confusion.