Jailbreaking the Switch 2

KeplerBoy

Putting the obvious discussion about how much the AI matters in comparison to the user (experienced security expert from a few glances at the blog) aside; i think it's really neat how modern tooling (the KVMs, bluetooth light switch flicker, and usb controller support out of the box) enables this level of automation.

_imnothere

IMO, Nintendo deserves stronger backlash just like Sony. Game keycards keep the appearance of physical ownership without delivering what people expect from a cartridge. I sure looking forward for more people hopping on the AI hacking trend to bring them down.

xacky

The Switch 2 jailbroken with the help of a Switch Flicker. Really funny.

Velocifyer

It's unfortunate that this requires a specific $25 game (SmileBASIC 4)

hturan

Incredible all around. If this is true decrypted `fs` r/w, I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing Switch 2 game dumps appear in a few hours. Given the world of recomps/decomps we now live in, that would mean console exclusives playable on arbitrary hardware (a worst-case scenario for Nintendo). We've already seen things like Tears of the Kingdom running at 60fps natively on an iPhone. Giving LLMs arms and eyes via KVM (or webcam) is a very strong paradigm for this sort of hardware work, as it allows things to be parallelised and run 24/7. Highly recommend people play with this more (to less nefarious ends!) when working on firmware/hardware for external devices. Worth noting too that this would have easily fetched >$50k via Nintendo's HackerOne ( https://hackerone.com/nintendo ).

RicoElectrico

And in the process obsoleting the work of many very dedicated fans who went to great lengths in order to record the Mario Kart World soundtrack (iykyk)

enricozb

> thanks to my friends in Dabney House ... Cool to see this happened at Caltech :)

GolDDranks

If one follows this and jailbreaks their Switch 2, are they in danger of getting their account banned by Nintendo, and their games unaccessible?

attels33

What SW is needed for the jailbreak to work? Is it worth trying to buy a used console now?

aarroyoc

PS2 can also be jailbroken with Yabasic, another BASIC interpreter, which was given for free in some consoles in Europe. But typing the exploit isn't very practical compared to other methods (and this exploit was found out later)

OleksandrC

Looking forward to the eventual full jailbreak. Maybe sooner rather than later with all of the advanced AIs of today. Nintendo recently banned my Switch 2 from accessing online services. This effectively turns it into a fancy brick, since you can't install any digital games or updates - only games on physical cartridges will work (without possibility of installing updates). This is despite both the console and all games being purchased legitimately. The only weird part is me being in Ukraine where there is no official Nintendo presence, and so I had to use US eShop (with PayPal and prepaid digital codes). Nintendo support is extremely unhelpful, they just say that "unauthorized transaction detected" or something like that, without offering any human review/appeal path. It's one thing to reject a transaction in the eShop, it's another thing to permanently ban console for that. What a shit company with shit business practices. 0/10, would not recommend, would not touch anything Nintendo-related ever again without a jailbreak.

kyleforkbomb

really nice work, and an enjoyable read too this seems like the right level of human/agent collaboration to me. there's so much that codex can automate and giving it more tools is definitely super high leverage.

maxlin

Love the power button nubbin doing the hard work

__natty__

Layoffs "because of AI" (plus cheap money drying up and offshoring) versus individuals hacking devices and software, and making dummy copies of paid software that are "good enough" for most users. I wonder if that might be an early sign of a turning point in the IT economic cycle, where companies will need to invest more in security services and specialists with extra knowledge who know where and how to make the most of AI before their rivals do.

vlaaad

This is great. I wanted to prototype some couch co-op games and be able to play them on my Switch 2.

Retr0id

I haven't got the PoC to land successfully on my device yet, but it does seem to be legit.

m_aukuras

Imagine an open console, that sells games anyway, because they are fairly priced and convenient. The console producer doesn't have to spend money to harden security, secure processors and can focus on performance instead. Oh wait, is that not the Steam deck?

AaronAPU

I had assumed Codex would disallow hacking, have I been wrong all this time or are people jail breaking Codex first?

waltbosz

Does Nintendo et al have teams dedicated to jailbreaking their own consoles first before a jailbreak is found in the wild ? Do they use AI to review their code for exploits?

snowram

I am dumbfounded on why Nintendo still allowed a game that allows to run a full coding language, one that already led to an exploit on the 3DS.