CTCaer/hekate
Hekate
Hekate is a bootloader and system recovery tool for Nintendo Switch hardware. It functions as a multi-OS boot manager that allows the execution of binary payloads and the launching of stock firmware, custom firmware, Android, and Linux through a graphical interface.
The project provides a suite of recovery and system modification tools, including the ability to create and restore full backups of internal storage. It also features a USB HID gamepad emulator that maps device controller inputs to USB signals for interacting with external computers.
The software covers broad capability areas including hardware health monitoring for processor fuses and battery telemetry, SD card partitioning, and USB mass storage exposure for file transfers. It further supports the flashing of external operating system distributions and the use of custom boot logos.
Features
- Multi-Boot Managers - Functions as a graphical multi-OS boot manager for launching stock firmware, custom firmware, Android, and Linux.
- Multi-OS Boot Management - Provides a graphical boot menu to launch stock firmware, custom firmware, Android, and Linux.
- Flash Partition Managers - Manages flash partitions to write external operating system images at specific offsets for booting Android or Linux.
- Automated Payload Execution - Executes custom binary payloads, tools, and bootloaders directly from the SD card to modify system behavior.
- Firmware Flashing - Flashes Android and Linux distributions directly to the device internal storage using built-in tools.
- OS Bootstrapping - Loads multiple independent operating system environments and bootloaders from an SD card into system memory.
- Binary Payload Execution - Provides the ability to run unsigned binary payloads to modify system state before the primary kernel boots.
- Custom Firmware Bootloaders - Functions as a bootloader to execute binary payloads and modify system behavior before the primary OS starts.
- Hardware Specific Bootloaders - Provides a specialized boot manager for launching multiple operating systems on Nintendo Switch hardware.
- Multi-Boot USB Utilities - Implements a graphical interface to boot multiple different operating system images from a single device.
- OS Image Flashing - Writes complete third-party operating system images to an SD card for booting on the device.
- System Recovery Tools - Provides a suite of tools for backing up internal storage and restoring system functionality when the primary OS fails.
- System Partition Backups - Creates and restores full raw copies of internal system partitions to prevent data loss.
- System Storage Backups - Provides tools to create, restore, and verify full backups of internal storage for system recovery.
- Hardware Health Monitoring - Displays critical hardware health metrics including processor fuses, battery telemetry, and RAM status.
- Device Health Diagnostics - Checks the operational health of internal components including processor fuses, RAM, and battery telemetry.
- HID Emulations - Maps internal controller inputs to USB HID signals to simulate a gamepad for external computers.
- Mass Storage Deployment - Exposes internal memory and SD card partitions as a USB mass storage device for file transfers via a computer.
- Partitioning Tools - Includes utilities for partitioning SD cards to support various operating system environments.
- Virtual Memory Management - Creates and migrates virtual copies of system memory to isolate and run different operating environments.
- Hardware Abstraction Layers - Implements a hardware abstraction layer to read processor fuses and battery telemetry directly from hardware registers.
- Gamepad Emulators - Turns the device into a simulated USB HID gamepad for interacting with other computers.
