XCI

Known internally as "XCI" (NX Card Image), this is the format used for storing the contents of a Nintendo Switch Gamecard.

Gamecard Header

This header is 0x200 bytes and is located at offset 0 in the Gamecard.

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x100	RSA-2048 PKCS #1 signature over the header (data from 0x100 to 0x200)
0x100	0x4	Magicnum "HEAD"
0x104	0x4	Secure Area Start Address (in Media Units which are 0x200 bytes)
0x108	0x4	Backup Area Start Address (always 0xFFFFFFFF)
0x10C	0x1	Title KEK Index (high nibble) and KEK Index (low nibble)
0x10D	0x1	Gamecard Size (0xFA = 1GB, 0xF8 = 2GB, 0xF0 = 4GB, 0xE0 = 8GB, 0xE1 = 16GB, 0xE2 = 32GB)
0x10E	0x1	Gamecard Header Version
0x10F	0x1	Gamecard Flags (bit0 = AutoBoot, bit1 = HistoryErase)
0x110	0x8	Package Id (used for challenge–response authentication)
0x118	0x8	Valid Data End Address (in Media Units which are 0x200 bytes)
0x120	0x10	Gamecard Info IV (reversed)
0x130	0x8	HFS0 partition offset
0x138	0x8	HFS0 header size
0x140	0x20	SHA-256 hash of the HFS0 Header
0x160	0x20	SHA-256 hash of the Initial Data
0x180	0x4	Secure Mode Flag (always 1, which means Secure Mode is available)
0x184	0x4	Title Key Flag (always 2)
0x188	0x4	Key Flag (always 0)
0x18C	0x4	Normal Area End Address (in Media Units which are 0x200 bytes)
0x190	0x70	Gamecard Info (AES-128-CBC encrypted)

Gamecard Info

When decrypted, this 0x70 byte region is as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x8	Firmware Version (0x01 for old Gamecards, 0x02 for new Gamecards with the "logo" partition)
0x8	0x4	Access Control Flags (0x00A10010 for 25MHz access or 0x00A10011 for 50MHz access)
0xC	0x4	Read Wait Time (always 0x1388)
0x10	0x4	Read Wait Time2 (always 0)
0x14	0x4	Write Wait Time (always 0)
0x18	0x4	Write Wait Time2 (always 0)
0x1C	0x4	Firmware Mode
0x20	0x4	CUP Version
0x24	0x4	Empty
0x28	0x8	Update Partition Hash
0x30	0x8	CUP Id (always 0x0100000000000816, which is the title-listing data archive's title ID)
0x38	0x38	Empty

Gamecard Certificate

This is the Gamecard's unique certificate and is located at offset 0x7000.

FS IDeviceOperator cmd 206 "GetGameCardDeviceCertificate" retrieves this data.

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x100	RSA-2048 PKCS #1 signature over the data from 0x100 to 0x200
0x100	0x4	Magicnum "CERT"
0x110	0x10	?
0x120	0xA	?
0x12A	0xD6	Encrypted data. Some kind of key?

The data between the Gamecard Certificate and the start of the HFS0 region is all 0xFF.

Initial Data

This data is used for challenge–response authentication when changing to the Gamecard's secure mode.

FS calculates a SHA-256 hash over the whole 0x200 bytes and compares it with the hash stored at offset 0x160 in the Gamecard Header.

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x8	Package Id from Gamecard Header at offset 0x110
0x8	0x8	Empty
0x10	0x10	Challenge–response authentication data
0x20	0x10	Challenge–response authentication MAC
0x30	0xC	Challenge–response authentication Nonce
0x3C	0x1C4	Reserved (must be empty)

HFS0

This is the Gamecard file system which starts with magicnum "HFS0".

Header

The "SHA-256 File System" or "HFS0" starts at offset 0xF000 in the Gamecard. The first 0x200 bytes act as a global header and represent the root partition which points to the other partitions ("normal", "logo", "update" and "secure).

A hash for this header is stored at offset 0x140 in the Gamecard Header.

File System

The actual file system is as follows (also valid for the root partition):

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x4	Magicnum "HFS0"
0x4	0x4	Number of files
0x8	0x4	Size of the string table
0xC	0x4	Zero/Reserved
0x10	X	File Entry Table
0x10 + X	Y	String Table
0x10 + X + Y	Z	Raw File Data

Where File Entry Table consists of Number of Files FileEntries:

Offset	Size	Description
0x0	0x8	Offset of file in Data
0x8	0x8	Size of file in Data
0x10	0x4	Offset of filename in String Table
0x14	0x4	Size of Hashed region of file (for HFS0s, this is the size of the pre-filedata portion, for NCAs this is usually 0x200)
0x18	8	Zero/Reserved
0x20	0x20	SHA-256 hash of the first (size of hashed region) bytes of filedata

The string table is 00-padded to align the start of raw filedata with a sector/media unit boundary (usually?).

Cartridge Layout

Observed gamecards contain three partitions: "update", "normal", and "secure".

The update partition (Gamecard partition 0 for fsp-srv cmd 31) contains .cnmt.nca + .nca files for the entire system update required to play the game. Launch day carts contain a full copy of 1.0 ncas, newer carts contain newer sysupdate NCAs etc.

The normal partition contains the .cnmt.nca and the game icondata nca. This is presumably for future compatibility so that if a future update changes the cryptographic protocol for the secure partition, Game icon data can still be shown in the home menu on old firmwares.

The secure partition contains an identical copy of the .cnmt.nca and game icondata nca, as well as all other ncas required for the game.

The entire rest of the Gamecard after the secure partition ends is all FF padding.

[4.0.0+] The "normal" partition is now empty and a new partition "logo" was added.