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Disclaimer

This tool may or may not work correctly. It is not the responsibility of the author of this tool or the author of the homebrew. Users should obtain the latest version of homebrew recompiled against the latest libnx if possible over using this tool. This tool is only an assist for unmaintained homebrew to reduce the impact of kernel changes.

Instructions

  1. Drag and drop your homebrew{" "} .nro file into the patcher tab.
  2. The tool will analyze the file to see if it uses the old ABI.
  3. If patching is needed, click the "Patch File" button.
  4. The patched file will be downloaded automatically.
  5. Copy the patched file to your Switch SD card.

For Developers

Do not rely on this tool. Please recompile your homebrew with{" "} libnx v4.10.0 (or newer).

The updated library resolves the memory conflict and stays backward compatible with older Atmosphère versions and firmwares.

You can find the source code for this tool on{" "} GitHub .

TL;DR

Atmosphère 1.10.0+ integrates kernel optimizations from Firmware 21.0.0. This improves performance but breaks older homebrew, causing crashes or hangs on exit. If your homebrew is unmaintained, use this tool to patch the .nro files. If the app is still active, ask the developer to update it.

How this tool works

This tool scans your .nro files to see if they rely on the old, now-unsafe memory layout. If it detects a conflict, it modifies the binary to{" "} move its Thread Local Storage (TLS) {" "} from offset 0x108 to the safe offset{" "} 0x180. Effectively, it mimics the result of recompiling the app with the latest libraries, restoring stability without needing the source code.

Why isn't this built into the Homebrew Loader?

It might seem logical for the Homebrew Loader (hbl) to handle this automatically, but that's out of scope for a simple program loader. HBL’s job is to execute code as-is, not to dynamically repair binaries.

Trying to patch memory offsets on the fly is invasive and fragile; if HBL guesses wrong, it could corrupt the entire homebrew environment. Furthermore, baking a patcher into the loader sets a bad precedent. The maintainers want to encourage proper fixes (recompilation) rather than relying on permanent "dirty hacks" within the OS itself.{" "} Source: Switchbrew

Why the breakage happened

This isn't a bug; it's a conflict over real estate. In Firmware 21.0.0, Nintendo optimized the kernel to write CPU timing data to a specific memory address (usertls + 0x108) on every thread switch.

Previous versions of libnx (the homebrew library) assumed this space was unused and stored data there. Official software always respected the reservation, so it wasn't affected. Now that the kernel—and by extension, Atmosphère—actively uses that space, old homebrew gets its memory overwritten, leading to immediate crashes.

Why Atmosphère didn't add a workaround

Atmosphère aims to reimplement Nintendo's kernel logic 1:1. When Nintendo changes how the kernel works, Atmosphère must follow suit to ensure official games run correctly.

While the developers have added quiet workarounds in the past (like the FW 19.0.0 debug flags), this specific issue was too risky to mask. A workaround here would require adding conditional logic to the kernel scheduler—the most time-critical part of the system. Adding checks for "broken homebrew" during every thread switch would add complexity, potentially degrade performance system-wide, and could even introduce bugs in official games.

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