How to split xci files for fat32?

tl;dr: Useful for those with FAT32 SD cards. Install XCI files larger than 4GB on Switch.

Download here if you have trouble navigating GitHub: https://github.com/NuVanDibe/XCI-to-Split-NSP/releases/

Sometimes software is only available in .xci format. Many people are saying to just copy that to a Micro SD card and use existing tools to convert it to NSP and install it on the fly. This is great and useful, but if the Micro SD card is formatted as FAT32, and the .xci file is larger than 4GiB, it becomes a much more complicated matter.

FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4GiB, so either only the first part of the file will be copied, or the operating system will complain about the file being too large for the destination file system.

The solution would be to first convert the file from XCI to NSP, and then split that NSP into 4GiB chunks which can fit on the Micro SD card. Then, set the Archive attribute on the folder and files so that NSP install tools can read the converted software and install it.

This script uses The-4n's 4NXCI (based on SciresM's hactool) and AnalogMan151's splitNSP to get the job done in one drag-and-drop operation.

One of the tools, splitNSP, requires Python3. Install Python3, if you haven't already.

Copy 4nxci.exe, splitNSP.py, and your keys.dat file (you're on your own here) into the same directory as the ConvertAndSplit.bat file.

Then, just drag your .xci file onto ConvertAndSplit.bat, and wait.

Don't forget, you need Python3, 4NXCI and splitNSP. Get them from their repositories here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/

https://github.com/The-4n/4NXCI

https://github.com/AnalogMan151/splitNSP

• Vivado by Xilinx. See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application.
• Acrobat (font mapping) by Adobe.
• Switch (game) by Nintendo.
• XCI (game project data) by XCI Developers.

Any x86_64 CPU with support for the FMA instruction set. 6 threads or more are recommended.

OpenGL 4.6 or Vulkan 1.1 compatible hardware and drivers are mandatory. Half-float support and VP9 decoding support are recommended.

Integrated graphics will produce very low performance. A dedicated GPU will produce better results on all scenarios. This is only for listing iGPU support.

Since an integrated GPU uses system RAM as its video memory (VRAM), our memory requirement in this configuration is higher. Highest possible frequency is strongly recommended.

Sample Image:

To start playing commercial games, yuzu needs a couple of system files from a HACKABLE Nintendo Switch console in order to play them properly.

This guide will help you copy all your system files, games, updates, and DLC from your Switch to your computer and organize them in a format yuzu understands. This process should take about 60 to 90 minutes.

The Switch has a hidden recovery mode called RCM. The fusée-gelée exploit abuses a critical error from RCM, where binaries sent to the console have their data read before checking for signatures. As such, you can run any custom code on your Switch as long as it’s vulnerable to this exploit. However, these steps won’t work on patched models despite RCM also existing on such consoles.

Step 1: Open the TegraRcmGUI installer (TegraRcmGUI_v2.6_Installer.msi), go through the installation wizard, and start TegraRcmGUI.

Step 2: In the Settings tab, click on Install Driver and follow the installation instructions.

Step 3: After the drivers have been installed, connect your Switch to your computer using a USB-C cable.

Step 4: Hold the Power button to enter the power menu, select Power Options and then select Power Off. Keep your Switch connected to your computer.

Step 5: Insert your RCM jig into the right side Joy-Con rail, make sure it is seated securely at the base.

Step 6: Hold Volume + and press the Power button.

If you see the Switch icon turn green with RCM O.K. in the TegraRcmGUI window, your console has successfully booted into RCM mode.

Once you have successfully booted into RCM mode, you can now remove the RCM jig from the console.

We’ll now place some files downloaded from the prerequisites section to the microSD card. We can mount the card from a Switch to a computer via USB using the ums-loader payload.

Step 1: Insert the microSD card into the microSD card slot of your Switch.

Step 2: Open TegraRcmGUI. In the Payload tab, click on the folder icon and navigate to the ums-loader.bin file you downloaded earlier.

Step 3: Click on Inject Payload and your Switch will now boot into the UMS menu.

Step 4: Navigate through the menu using the Volume buttons and select Start UMS using the Power button. You should see a removable drive showing up on your computer.

Step 5: Open the file explorer and navigate to the microSD card drive.

Step 6: Extract all the contents inside the atmosphere-X.X.X-master-XXXXXXXX+hbl-X.X.X+hbmenu-X.X.X.zip archive into the root of the microSD card.

Step 7: Extract the bootloader folder from inside the hekate_ctcaer_X.X.X_Nyx_X.X.X.zip archive into the root of the microSD card.

Step 8: Place the hekate_ipl.ini file into the bootloader folder.

Step 9: Place the fusee.bin, Lockpick_RCM.bin and TegraExplorer.bin files into the payloads folder (located inside the bootloader folder).

Step 10: Create a folder named nxdumptool within the switch folder and place the nxdumptool.nro file inside it.

Step 11: Check that you’ve placed all of the files correctly using the following screenshots:

Step 12: Safely eject the microSD card drive. Do not unplug the Switch from your computer yet.

Step 13: From the UMS menu, select Reboot RCM. Your Switch will now boot into RCM mode.

Hekate is a custom bootloader which allows you to load custom firmware and the many tools used for the dumping process.

Step 1: Extract the hekate_ctcaer_X.X.X.bin file from the hekate_ctcaer_X.X.X_Nyx_X.X.X.zip archive to any directory on your computer.

Step 2: Open TegraRcmGUI. In the Payload tab, click on the folder icon and navigate to the hekate_ctcaer_X.X.X.bin file you extracted earlier.

Step 3: Click on Inject Payload and your Switch will now boot into the Hekate custom bootloader.

We’ll now format the microSD card to FAT32 using Hekate.

Step 1: In the Hekate Home menu, tap on the Tools tab and select Partition SD Card.

Step 2: Tap OK on the pop-up and then tap Next Step.

Step 3: Tap Start to start the formatting process. After the safety timer, press the Power button.

Step 4: Once the formatting process has completed, tap OK.

Step 5: Tap Close and lastly Home to return to the Hekate Home menu.

All the tools used in this guide do not alter or modify the data stored inside the Switch. However, it is possible to make a backup of the entire internal storage (NAND) of your console using Hekate for recovery purposes.

Step 1: In the Hekate Home menu, tap on the Tools tab and select Backup eMMC.

Step 2: Tap on eMMC BOOT0 & BOOT1.

Step 3: Tap on Close and select eMMC RAW GPP.

Step 4: Tap on Close twice to return to the Tools menu.

To access the NAND backup, we’ll now mount the microSD card as a drive from your Switch to your computer via USB.

Step 5: Tap on USB Tools and select SD Card. The microSD card should now show up on your computer as a USB drive.

Step 6: Navigate to the microSD card drive and copy the backup folder to your computer.

Step 7: Once the file transfer has completed, safely eject the microSD card drive. Do not unplug the Switch from your computer yet.

We’ll now return to the Hekate Home menu to proceed with the remaining sections of the guide.

Step 8: Tap on Close twice to return to the Tools menu.

Step 9: Tap on the Home tab to return to the Hekate Home menu.

We will now dump the decryption keys from your Switch using Lockpick_RCM so that yuzu is able to decrypt and open your game files (including amiibo dumps).

Step 1: In the Hekate Home menu, tap on Payloads.

Step 2: Tap on Lockpick_RCM.bin in the list of payloads.

Step 3: In Lockpick_RCM, press the Power button to select Dump from SysNAND.

Step 4: Press any button to return to the main menu.

Step 5: Navigate through the menu using the Volume buttons to highlight and select Dump Amiibo Keys using the Power button.

Step 6: Press any button to return to the main menu, then navigate using the Volume buttons to highlight and select Reboot to hekate using the Power button. You should now be booted back into Hekate.

Some games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe require the use of system files found inside the Switch’s System Firmware to be playable. We’ll now dump the firmware files from your Switch using TegraExplorer.

Step 1: In the Hekate Home menu, tap on Payloads.

Step 2: Tap on TegraExplorer.bin in the list of payloads.

Step 3: In TegraExplorer, navigate through the main menu using the Volume buttons and select the FirmwareDump.te script using the Power button.

Step 4: Select Dump sysmmc.

Step 5: Press any button to return to the main menu and select Reboot to bootloader/update.bin. You should now be booted back into Hekate.

This section covers the dumping process for any game on your Switch that is either a digital or physical copy, alongside any installed game updates and DLC. We’ll be using NXDumpTool for this.

Step 1: In the Hekate Home menu, tap on Launch.

Step 2: Tap on CFW - sysMMC.

Step 3: Once your Switch has booted into the HOME Menu, hold the R button on your controller while launching any game to access the hbmenu.

Step 4: Use the touchscreen or your controller to navigate through the hbmenu and select nxdumptool.

You should now be at the main menu of NXDumpTool, displaying the following options:

Step 1: Select Dump gamecard content.

Step 2: Select NX Card Image (XCI) dump.

Step 3: Set the following settings:

Step 4: Select Start XCI dump process. Wait for the dumping process to finish.

Step 5: Press any button to return to the previous menu and then press B twice to return to the main menu.

Step 1: Select Dump installed SD card / eMMC content.

Step 2: Press Y to enter into the Dump installed content with missing base application menu.

Step 3: Select the update or DLC you wish to dump from the list.

Step 4: Select Nintendo Submission Package (NSP) dump.

Step 5: Set the following settings:

Step 6: Select Start NSP dump process. Wait for the dumping process to finish.

Step 7: Press any button to return to the previous menu. Press B twice if you want to return to the list of installed updates/DLCs, or press B twice again if you’re done and want to return to the main menu.

Step 1: Select Dump installed SD card / eMMC content.

Step 2: Select the game you wish to dump from the list.

Step 3: Select Nintendo Submission Package (NSP) dump.

Step 4: Select Dump base application NSP.

Step 5: Set the following settings:

Step 6: Select Start NSP dump process. Wait for the dumping process to finish.

Step 7: Press any button to return to the previous menu. Press B twice if you want to return to the list of installed digital titles, or press B again if you’re done and want to return to the main menu.

Step 1: Select Dump installed update NSP.

Step 2: Set the following settings:

Step 3: Select Start NSP dump process. Wait for the dumping process to finish.

Step 4: Press any button to return to the previous menu. Press B twice if you want to return to the list of installed digital titles, or press B again if you’re done and want to return to the main menu.

Step 1: Select Dump installed DLC NSP.

Step 2: Set the following settings:

Step 3: Select Start NSP dump process. Wait fot the dumping process to finish.

Step 4: Press any button to return to the previous menu. Press B three times if you want to return to the list of installed digital titles, or press B again if you’re done and want to return to the main menu.

Once you have finished dumping your game files, press the + (Plus) button on your controller to exit NXDumpTool and return to the hbmenu.

We’ll now dump the save data of all your games to transfer your progress to yuzu using JKSV.

Step 1: Open the hbmenu by opening the Album or through Title Override.

Step 2: Select JKSV from the list of homebrew apps.

Step 3: Move up or down to highlight a source from the left side of the interface.

Step 4: Press the X button for User Options.

Step 5: Select Dump All For .

Step 6: Press + (Plus) to exit JKSV and return to the hbmenu.

Once you’re done with dumping the games (and/or save data) that you need, we’ll now boot into Hekate from custom firmware. There’s no need to scroll back to the beginning of the guide to achieve this.

Step 1: Hold the Power button to enter the power menu.

Step 2: Select Power Options.

Step 3: Select Restart. You should now be booted back into Hekate.

We’ll now access the microSD card from the Switch to your computer without the need of taking it out from the microSD card slot. This is done from Hekate which has the feature to mount the card over a USB connection.

Step 1: In the Hekate Home menu, tap on the Tools tab.

Step 2: Tap on USB Tools.

Step 3: Tap on SD Card. Your microSD card should now be mounted as a drive to your computer.

We’ll now transfer the dumped system firmware, decryption keys and game files from your microSD card to your computer and setting them up for yuzu.

Step 1: Open yuzu or yuzu Early Access.

Step 2: Go to File > Open yuzu Folder. This is the yuzu data folder where we’ll place the decryption keys and firmware files.

Step 3: Open another file explorer window and navigate to your microSD card drive.

Step 4: Open the switch folder and copy prod.keys, title.keys, and key_retail.bin files to the keys folder (that is inside the yuzu folder).

Step 5: Navigate to sdcard:/tegraexplorer/Firmware//.

Step 6: Copy all the .nca files and place them in yuzu/nand/system/Contents/registered/.

Step 7: Close the yuzu folder and relaunch the emulator. The missing keys warning message should not appear at launch anymore.

Step 1: Make a new folder to store all your game dumps somewhere in your computer.

Step 2: Navigate to sdcard:/switch/nxdumptool/.

Step 3: Move every .xci and .nsp file (not folders) you can find within the XCI and NSP folders to your newly created games folder.

Step 1: Extract nxDumpFuse.exe from the win-x64.zip archive.

Step 2: Open nxDumpFuse and click on Input.

Step 3: Navigate to sdcard:/switch/nxdumptool and open the NSP or XCI folder.

Step 4: Select one part of the split game dump, then click on Open.

Step 5: Click on Output and navigate to your newly created games folder, then click on Select Folder.

Step 6: Click on Fuse. Wait for the merging process to finish.

Your merged game dumps should now be available at your games folder.

Step 1: Open yuzu or yuzu Early Access.

Step 2: Double click on the emulator window to add a game folder.

Step 3: Navigate to your newly created games folder and click Select Folder.

All your dumped games should now appear on the emulator window as a list. However, we’re still not done yet!

Step 1: In yuzu, go to File > Install Files to NAND …

Step 2: Navigate to your games folder and select .nsp files with the (UPD) or (DLC) suffix on its filename, then click on Open.

Step 3: Click on Install. Wait for the installation process to finish.

Your games should now be up-to-date with their DLCs installed and ready to go.

Step 1: In yuzu, right-click on a game from the game list.

Step 2: Select Open Save Data Location. It should now open the game’s save data folder.

Step 3: Open another file explorer window and navigate to your microSD card drive.

Step 4: Open the JKSV folder.

Step 5: Copy the save data file(s) to the save data folder that was opened from yuzu.

If you’re done following the sections you needed for setting up yuzu, we’ll now reboot the Switch back to its original firmware. But first, we must safely disconnect the Switch from your computer.

Step 1: Safely eject the microSD card drive.

Step 2: Tap on Close twice to return to the Tools menu. You can now disconnect the USB cable.

Step 3: Tap on the Home tab to return to the Hekate Home menu.

todo:

It's an open-source homebrew application capable of generating NX Card Image (XCI) dumps from Nintendo Switch gamecards.

Note #1: if you use a SD card with a FAT32 partition and the game you wish to dump is bigger than 4 GiB, you can dump it in smaller parts, but you must reassemble them afterwards.

Note #2: if you use the latest stable build, you don't need to have enough free space in your SD card for a whole dump. Sequential (multi-session) dumping is available in nxdumptool, and it's automatically triggered if there's not enough space for a whole dump - but there must be at least 1 GiB of free space. After each session, you'll have to transfer the generated part files to your PC before continuing the dump process in the next session. This feature isn't available in builds from the rewrite branch.

Note #3: to use USB -> PC dumping capabilities from the rewrite branch, and only if you're using Windows, you need to install the libusbK driver:

Stable build

Rewrite build

Also, submit the same info for the Initial Area and Card ID Set files.