Hardware Hacker Attempts to Run NVMe SSD on Switch 2 but Fails — Adapter May Work with Future microSD Express Emulation

Alright, let’s dive into this chaotic mess of the tech world. So, those MicroSD Express cards? Yeah, crazy expensive at the moment. Like, who even has that kind of money?! Anyway, folks obsessed with modding their gadgets decided to get crafty for the Switch 2. I stumbled across this wild adventure, courtesy of Better Gaming on YouTube. They tried out this open-source MicroSD Express adapter that’s supposed to be a match made in heaven for the Switch 2 by letting it hook up with M.2 NVMe 2230 SSDs. Spoiler alert: didn’t go smoothly.

Now, we’ve talked about this adapter thing before—it’s called the SDEX2M2 project. It kinda uses the nerdy guts of MicroSD Express PCIe stuff to make these NVMe M.2 SSDs play nice. There’s this SD Express 7.1 standard mumbo jumbo involved, bridging via PCIe Gen 3×1 to support NVMe lingo. Sorry if that’s a bit much, just roll with me here.

So, Better Gaming reportedly grabbed the blueprints from SDEX2M2 and churned out some PCBs through a third party. I imagine them hunched over a soldering iron with a look of pure determination, piecing everything together—an M.2 connector here, an R1 resistor there—until bam, it’s alive!

Four soldered boards later, voilà, the adapter works! They pop it into the Switch 2 with something fancy like a Corsair MP600 Mini NVMe SSD. It fits like a glove, the console smiles and nods—yes, it detects you, lovely adapter.

But—and isn’t there always a ‘but’?—here comes the error code of doom: “2016-0641.” The Switch 2 basically throws up its hands like, “Uh, not happening, friend.”

Turns out, all those passive adapters don’t chat like they should with Switch 2’s brain. MicroSD Express has this built-in controller expecting the Switch 2 to vibe with it. But NVMe SSDs, bless their hearts, have their own kinda controllers. Is it a mismatch made in tech purgatory? Kinda feels like it.

The SDEX2M2 crew is onto it, though. Rumor has it they’re cooking up a version with an integrated FPGA to mimic a MicroSD Express controller. Fingers crossed it pans out for everyone eager to boost their 256GB with something smarter.

If this FPGA wizardry becomes a reality, maybe Switch 2 users won’t have to keep counting those penny-pinching MBs. MicroSD Express cards are currently dancing around that expensive 20-25 cents per GB mark, while beefy 1TB NVMe SSDs like Corsair’s own can drop in at a cool $89.99. Talk about stretching your gaming dollar.

Oh, and if you want the lowdown on all things tech, maybe hit up Tom’s Hardware on Google News. I mean, that’s what I do. Well, sometimes.