L4T Ubuntu Noble 24.04 Install Guide

Installation guide/tutorial for Switchroot L4T Ubuntu Noble on Nintendo Switch

Current version: 5.1.2 based on Ubuntu Noble Numbat 24.04 LTS Note: hekate 6.0.6 or newer MUST be used for this release. Maintainer: theofficialgman - https://github.com/sponsors/theofficialgman

If you need help you can ask in our Discord Server under #noble-support You should also take a look at our FAQ and Common Issues which may already answer to some of your questions

Prerequisites

• hekate 6.0.6 or newer

• A 16GB SD Card MINIMUM (Recommended: 128GB and up U3 or U3/A2 class, see SD Card Guide for more details)

• A computer (for backing up and extracting the installation files)

Installation

1. Download the latest version of the L4T Ubuntu Noble Image directly or via torrent from here of either the kubuntu(KDE Plasma Desktop) or ubuntu-unity (Unity Desktop) flavor. ubuntu (GNOME) release is delayed due to upstream bugs.

2. Backup your SD Card:

   • Backup normal files from FAT32 (this also backs up emuMMC if file based)

   • If emuMMC raw partition exists, go to hekate -> Tools -> Backup eMMC. Tap on SD emuMMC RAW Partition button and back it up (emuMMC BOOT0/1 and emuMMC Raw GPP)

   • If android exists, do a TWRP backup Suggestion: Use hekate UMS (hekate -> Tools -> USB Tools) with a USB-C cable connecting your switch and PC to mount your SD card and transfer files instead of swapping your card from Switch to PC.

3. WARNING: This following will wipe everything on your SD card. Partition your SD card in hekate -> Tools -> Partition SD Card leave at least 7GiB for FAT32 for installation files downloaded in step 1 AND recreate any partition that may have backed up.

4. From your PC, extract the 7z to your SD FAT32 partition. Suggestion: Use hekate UMS (hekate -> Tools -> USB Tools) with a USB-C cable connecting your switch and PC to mount your SD card instead of swapping your card from Switch to PC. 5. In Hekate, go to Tools -> Partition SD Card -> Flash Linux. 6. Go to hekate -> Nyx Options -> Dump Joy-Con BT to dump Joycon pairing data, with both Joycon connected to console, after they were paired in hos first. This must be run even if a Switch Lite is used, since it dumps the factory calibration data.

7. Now you can boot L4T Ubuntu Noble (under More Configs). Make sure any existing online updates are done via Software Updater,Discover Software Center (on kubuntu), or apt command.

8. After making sure everything is fine, you can now restore your backed up files

   • Copy your normal files to FAT32

   • For emuMMC use Hekate to restore your backup hekate -> Tools -> Restore eMMC

   • For Android, copy your TWRP backup to your FAT32 partition then follow the Android setup guide starting at step 4 BUT instead of installing "Lineage zip, followed by your GApps zip" at step 5.(f on 10, g on 11) restore your backup in TWRP

Updating

Updates are shipped OTA like any standard Ubuntu Distro, so use the Software Updater or Discover Software Center (on kubuntu)application. Or open terminal and execute: sudo apt update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Next Steps

• Read about our Supported Features

  • Flatpak support out of the box in the Software Center

  • JoyCon Mouse/Keyboard mapping

  • Pairing Nintendo Switch Pro Controller

  • CPU/GPU Overclocking

  • RAM Overclocking

• L4T-Megascript

  • Available in your apps list You can get or build various essential stuff, apps or emulators with a single click. All configured and optimized for Switch.

• Pi-Apps

  • Install from the L4T-Megascript or follow the official install instructions. A well-maintained collection of nearly 200 app installation-scripts with a focus on desktop applications that you can run with one click.

Missing Features

• No Ubuntu (GNOME) image currently due to upstream bugs

  • https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mutter/+bug/2052913

  • https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/2063005

These features are currently missing in comparison to L4T Ubuntu 18.04 and may be available in future releases.

• No CUDA compiler support (CUDA runtime 10.0 is preinstalled and functions)

• No GSTREAMER HW Decode or Encode (eg: GNOME Totem Videos)

  • NOTE: FFMPEG based players DO HAVE HW Decode/Encode and work great (eg: MPV, SMPLAYER, and VLC)

Credits

theofficialgman (ubuntu jammy and noble distro maintainer, L4T-Megascript) CTCaer (kernel/bootloader, ubuntu bionic distro maintainer, NVENC/NVDEC), Gavin_Darkglider (lakka distro maintainer), Azkali (fedora distro maintainer), Ave (switchroot website host), DanielOgorchock(Switch controller drivers/joycond), Bylaws, Langerhans, Natinusala, stary2001 (reboot2payload), NVIDIA (Tegra BSP), cobalt2727 (L4T-Megascript), Everyone else in switchroot