hekate - CTCaer mod
Custom Nintendo Switch bootloader, firmware patcher, and more.
Bootloader folders and files
| Folder/File | Description |
|---|---|
| bootloader | Main folder. |
| |__ bootlogo.bmp | It is used when custom is on and no logopath found. Can be skipped. |
| |__ hekate_ipl.ini | Main bootloader configuration and boot entries. |
| |__ update.bin | If newer, it is loaded at boot. For modchips. Can be skipped. |
| bootloader2/ini/ | For individual inis. 'More configs...' menu. Autoboot is supported. |
| bootloader2/sys/ | For system modules. |
| |__ libsys_lp0.bso | LP0 (sleep mode) module. Important! |
| bootloader2/payloads/ | For payloads. 'Payloads...' menu. Autoboot only supported by including them into an ini. All CFW bootloaders, tools, Linux payloads are supported. |
| bootloader2/libtools/ | Future reserved |
Note: Sept files for booting 7.0.0 and up are expected at /sept folder at root of sd card.
Bootloader configuration
The bootloader can be configured via 'bootloader2/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.
Global Configuration keys/values when boot 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. |
| verification=2 | 0: Disable Backup/Restore verification, 1: Sparse (block based, fast and not 100% reliable), 2: Full (sha256 based, slow and 100% reliable). |
| 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. |
| backlight=100 | Screen backlight level. 0-255. |
Possible boot entry key/value combinations:
| Config option | Description |
|---|---|
| logopath={SD path} | If global customlogo is 1 and logopath empty, bootlogo.bmp will be used. If logopath exists, it will load the specified bitmap. |
| warmboot={SD path} | Replaces the warmboot binary |
| secmon={SD path} | Replaces the security monitor binary |
| kernel={SD path} | Replaces the kernel binary |
| kip1={SD path} | Replaces/Adds kernel initial process. Multiple can be set. |
| kip1={SD folder}/* | Loads every .kip/.kip1 inside a folder. Compatible with single kip1 keys. |
| fss0={SD path} | Takes a fusee-secondary binary and extracts all needed parts from it. |
| kip1patch=patchname | Enables a kip1 patch. Specify with multiple lines and/or as CSV. Current available patches nosigchk and nocmac(mandatory for the first time downgrade). |
| fullsvcperm=1 | Disables SVC verification (full services permission) |
| debugmode=1 | Enables Debug mode. Obsolete when used with exosphere as secmon. |
| atmosphere=1 | Enables Atmosphère patching |
| stock=1 | Disables unneeded kernel patching when running stock or semi-stock. |
| payload={SD path} | Payload launching. Tools, Linux, CFW bootloaders, etc. |
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: Never define core kips when using fss0 and make sure that the folder (when using /*), does not include them.
Payload storage:
Hekate now has a new 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: sept run. |
| '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 | Reserved. |
| '0x98' rsvd[128] | Reserved. |
You can find a template Here
If the main .ini is not found, it is created on the first hekate boot.
hekate (C) 2018 naehrwert, st4rk
CTCaer mod (C) 2018 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 (SE sha256, prc id kernel patches), Copyright (C) 2018, Atmosphère-NX
- elfload, Copyright (C) 2014 Owen Shepherd, Copyright (C) 2018 M4xw
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