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Dumping Games for Archival

This page helps with the process of archiving your games. It allows you to back up and store your gamecards and digital titles somewhere safely, for preservation.

NX Dump Client Setup

Note

These steps are needed to configure nxdt_host, a client program for dumping games directly to your PC. THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR THIS SECTION! If you'd still like to dump to your console's SD card and copy the files to your PC later, you can skip this section.

Section I - Requirements

Section II - Instructions

  1. Launch HBMenu on your Switch, and open NXDumpTool (nxdt_rw_poc.nro).
  2. Connect your console to the PC via USB (with nxdt open).
  3. Run Zadig on your PC. Go to Options and check the List all devices option.
  4. In the top dropdown menu, select the nxdt_rw_poc USB device.
  5. Change the Driver dropdown on the right to libusbK (vX.X.X.X).
  6. Click on Install Driver. Wait for the installation to finish.
  7. Extract nxdt_host.7z using 7-Zip. If you don't have 7-Zip, you can download it here.
  8. In the extracted files, find and run nxdt_host.exe
  9. Set the output directory by pressing Choose and selecting a folder of your choice.
  10. Click Start server.

You're ready to start! Proceed to the Dumping your games section below.

Section I - Requirements

Section II - Instructions

  1. Install NX Dump Client either via the AUR on ArchLinux based distros, or via Flathub on others.
  2. Start NX Dump Client on your PC.

You're ready to start! Proceed to the Dumping your games section below.

Section I - Requirements

Section II - Instructions

  1. Install python3 using the provided link above.
  2. Open a new terminal window and cd (change directories) into the folder that contains the nxdt_host python script.
  3. Start the script by running python3 nxdt_host.py.

You're ready to start! Proceed to the Dumping your games section below.

Dumping your games

Section I - Instructions

  1. Launch sysCFW via hekate. If you followed our guide for CFW setup, this is the Atmosphere PKG3 sysMMC button.
  2. Launch HBMenu and open NXDumpTool (nxdt_rw_poc.nro).
  3. Select user titles menu
  4. Find the game you want to dump and select it.
  5. Select nsp dump options --> dump base application
  6. If you wish to be able to install the dump to an emuMMC later, enable nca/tik: remove titlekey crypto. Otherwise you can leave everything at defaults.
  7. If you're dumping to a PC, set output storage: to usb host (pc)
  8. Select start nsp dump
  9. If you set output to usb host (PC), make sure NX Dump Client/nxdt_host is open on your PC, then connect your Switch. Dumping will begin.

Section I - Instructions

  1. Launch sysCFW via hekate. If you followed our guide for CFW setup, this is the Atmosphere PKG3 sysMMC button.
  2. Launch HBMenu and open NXDumpTool (nxdt_rw_poc.nro).
  3. Select user titles menu
  4. Find the game you want to dump and select it.
  5. Select dump update to dump an update, or dump dlc to dump DLC for the game.
  6. If dumping DLC, press L/ZL or R/ZR to change the selected DLC title to dump.
  7. If you wish to be able to install the dump to an emuMMC later, enable nca/tik: remove titlekey crypto. Otherwise you can leave everything at defaults.
  8. If you're dumping to a PC, set output storage: to usb host (pc)
  9. Select start nsp dump
  10. If you set output to usb host (PC), make sure NX Dump Client/nxdt_host is open on your PC, then connect your Switch. Dumping will begin.

Note for Linux Users

If you set NSP/NCA checksum verification to Strict, and you enable remove titlekey crypto, NXDC will fail with the below error. Either disable remove titlekey crypto or set NSP/NCA checksum verification to Compatible.
strict mode in NXDC

Organizing Dumps

By default, NX Dump Client will output your dumps to $HOME/Downloads, you can however change this to wherever you like. Either way, you can now move your game dumps from the output folder to anywhere you find convenient.

Merging Split Dumps

Info

If you chose to dump to your SD card, files over 4GB in size will be split to accommodate for FAT32 filesystem restrictions. If you would like to merge them into one file, follow this section. Those who chose to dump to PC can skip this section.

Section I - Requirements

  1. Access your SD card and copy your game dump(s) to an easily accessible location on your PC.

    • You can access your SD card via hekate by going to Tools > USB Tools > SD Card and plugging your Switch into your PC via USB.

  2. We will use a terminal/command prompt window on your PC to merge the dumped files.

Select the right tab for your computer's operating system:

Section II - Instructions

  1. Open File Explorer, and navigate into the folder where you placed your split game dump.

    • Make sure the dumped files are in a dedicated folder, that doesn't contain any other files.

  2. Click on the address bar in File Explorer.

  3. Type in cmd and hit Enter. A command prompt window should open.

  4. To merge your game dump, do the following depending on whether you have a gamecard and/or digital title dump:

    • To merge a gamecard dump, type in copy /b * "[name].xci" and hit Enter. (Replace [name] with the filename of the dump you are merging)

    • To merge a digital game dump, type in copy /b * "[name].nsp" and hit Enter. (Replace [name] with the filename of the dump you are merging)

  5. That's it! Your dumps are now merged.

Section II - Instructions

  1. Open your desired file manager, and navigate into the folder where you placed your split game dump.

    • Make sure the dumped files are in a dedicated folder, that doesn't contain any other files.

  2. Right click anywhere in the folder and open a terminal window in the current folder.

    • You can also simply open a terminal window and cd into the directory containing the split game dump.

  3. To merge your game dump, do the following depending on whether you have a gamecard and/or digital title dump:

    • To merge a gamecard dump, run cat * > '[name].xci' (Replace [name] with the filename of the dump you are merging)

    • To merge a digital dump, run cat * > '[name].nsp' (Replace [name] with the filename of the dump you are merging)

  4. That's it! Your dumps are now merged.