SX OS in 2023⌗

I’ve used SX recently and I see the appeal of mounting XCI files as if they were game cartridges and all of it’s other features, so I’m going to tell you how to load SX in the modern day.

Why?⌗

SX has features atmosphere will never have, the main one being XCI mounting.

Outside of that though, there is absolutely NO reason to do this and you should only do this if you are experienced with switch CFW.

Disclaimer:⌗

I am not responsible for anything that happens as a result of you following this guide, so if shit happens, don’t blame me, blame yourself, your console, or literally anything that is not me.

Before you start:⌗

Boot into stock on your SysNAND and remove ALL network connections, you can add them back later but for now it is important you do this to minimise ban risk as much as you can.

Why not use flight mode?⌗

Because later in the guide I plan on telling you to use 90DNS to block nintendo servers for a minimal ban risk.

If you never plan on connecting SX OS to any networks, it’s fine to use flight mode.

Additionally, it may prevent HOS from supernagging you, but this is COMPLETELY untested so don’t count on it.

With that done, we can move on to

Downgrading the SysNAND to 11.0.0:⌗

Hold up, why?⌗

Because later in this guide we will be setting up an EmuNAND using SX OS, and SX OS requires firmware version 11.0.0 to work.

Why not run it on the SysNAND?⌗

Because assuming you’re running a firmware ABOVE 11.0.0, the efuses in the switch will prevent it from booting into stock HOS.

Additionally, using a properly set up EmuNAND has a near infinitely lower risk of getting your console banned AND the risk of bricking your console.

Ok but how?⌗

In this guide I’m going to be initially booting into the superior CFW Atmosphere to downgrade the firmware using daybreak-nx.

I will also assume you have already downloaded firmware 11.0.0 and put it on your switch’s micro SD card, if you have not done this, please download it from here, put it onto your microsd card, then continue with this guide.

If you do not have Atmosphere already, you can just use Sthetix’s HATS pack, just remember to NOT extract specifically the boot.dat and the boot.ini unless you are using a modchipped console, in which case keep them for now.

Alright, both Atmosphere and the firmware update are on my micro SD card, what now?⌗

First up, boot your console into RCM and inject Hekate, if you have a modchipped console and are using Sthetix’s HATS pack it will boot into Hekate automatically.

Then, tap the ‘Launch’ button and launch SysNAND CFW, if you do not have an option to launch sysnand cfw, you will need to add one to your hekate_ipl.ini. The HATS pack will 100% have this.

After you’re booted into your SysNAND using CFW, boot into the homebrew menu by opening any game while holding R/SR/ZR and open daybreak-nx.

Finally, use daybreak-nx to “update” your firmware to 11.0.0, the downgrade shouldn’t take too long, once it’s complete power off the switch.

After this point, we can finally move on to

Booting SX Loader⌗

From here you’re going to need a copy of the SX Loader payload and the SX OS 3.1.0 boot.dat.

Copy the boot.dat and optionally the SX_Loader.bin files onto the root of your switch’s micro sd card.

Now boot your console into RCM and inject the SX Loader payload through your injector of choice, modchipped switches will boot into SX Loader automatically.

Right after injecting the SX Loader payload, hold volume up and DO NOT LET GO UNTIL YOU SEE AN OPTIONS MENU!

If you know anything about SX OS, you know that it has a licensing system, and from this point on there are multiple ways to approach this.

Try to ‘boot custom fw’, the SX Loader will generate a license_request.dat file, then turn off the switch.

If you already have a license to SX OS:⌗

Place your license.dat file on the root of your micro sd card and skip the rest of this section.

If you do not have a license to SX OS:⌗

That’s alright, we can get one for free now thanks to the work of some talented modders.

Do note however that all of these need python3 and pycryptodome to be installed, use google for that.

In this GBATemp post the OP describes how they managed to create something to change the keys used in licensing by SX OS, there are multiple files attached to the post.

The GFX_sxos.7z archive contains files to change the encryption keys of SX OS and sign a license-request.dat using it’s new keys. It takes a license-request.dat and boot.dat file (place them in the same directory as the script) and outputs a boot.dat with new keys and a license.dat. This archive also allows you to change the assets used by SX OS, meaning you can make it look like anything you want.

The generator_license_sx_license_hack.7z contains a script to change the encryption keys of SX OS and needs the same files as the GFX_sxos.7z archive, I prefer this one as the other changes the appearence of the SX loader.

You can get a license_request.dat file by attempting to ‘boot custom fw’ without a license.

Finally, the SX_License_Hack_Spoof.7z file contains a script to spoof a license, you just put your boot.dat into the same folder as the script, rename it to boot_ori.dat and run the script and it will output a boot.dat and a license.dat.

Place the newly generated files onto the root of your micro sd card and put it into the switch.

Congrats, we’re done with license bs, now it’s time for

Creating your brand new SX OS EmuNAND⌗

Now it’s time to make an EmuNAND for your SX OS files, boot into the SX Loader payload and tap Options, then EmuNAND

Tap create EmuNAND

From here on you have 2 feasible options:

SD Files or SD Partition

You may pick either, however if you pick SD Partition PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE BACKED UP YOUR MICRO SD CARD’S CONTENTS, AS CHOOSING THAT OPTION WILL FORMAT IT AND LEAVE BEHIND ONLY BOOT.DAT AND LICENSE.DAT!

Once you have tapped the button to create your EmuNAND, wait. Patiently. This will take a VERY long time.

Once your EmuNAND is created, congrats, you can now run SX OS. If you chose the SD Partition option restore your SD card files and proceed to

Updating your SysNAND⌗

Now that your EmuNAND is made, you need to put your SysNAND back onto the firmware it was on before, usually you can just use the latest firmware for this without too much consequence but if you had a lower firmware than that you are free to restore it to that.

Download the latest firmware or the firmware you otherwise want from here and place it in a folder on your micro sd card.

Boot into Hekate. For modchipped users, the SX OS options menu has a ‘Payloads’ submenu that checks for payloads in the root of the micro sd card, use that to boot Hekate.

Before launching your SysNAND CFW, please make sure that /atmosphere/contents is either empty or does not exist, if it is not empty, feel free to rename it to something else.

Go to ‘Launch’ and choose the SysNAND CFW option.

Use daybreak-nx like we did earlier to update your sysnand to your needed version.

Turn off the switch and boot it into stock fw by pressing the power button to ensure it is working as intended. Modchip users skip this step.

Congratulations, you now have SX OS installed on an EmuNAND.

90DNS and configuring your network on SX OS⌗

Configure your network as you usually would but DO NOT CONNECT TO IT JUST YET!

Before you connect, configure the network and change the DNS settings to manual, and then the servers to the following:

PRIMARY DNS: 163.172.141.219

SECONDARY DNS: 207.246.121.077

If you are in the US, reverse these settings so that the primary and secondary DNS IPs are swapped.

Then, connect to the internet.

Congratulations! Your SX OS install is now online but blocked from Nintendo servers.

Why not use SX OS’ built-in stealth mode?⌗

SX OS’ stealth mode does prevent you from getting banned by blocking some functionality, however I don’t recommend relying solely on it for a few reasons

First, stealth mode will not prevent supernag as it was not designed to do so.

Additionally, we just can’t know what TX decided to block and what they didn’t because SX OS is not open source, we can know what 90DNS blocks however as it is literal public information.

Congratulations! Your SX OS EmuNAND is now set up!⌗

From here you can do whatever you want with your emunand, download or dump some XCI files, try out some homebrew and see what works, apply a theme, it’s up to you alone from here on out.

Thank you for reading this guide, and see ya next post.