Sure, I got this.
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Okay, here’s the scoop. So, these MicroSD Express cards? Yeah, they’re costing an arm and a leg right now. Which, let’s be real, isn’t great for any gamers out there. And, of course, it’s got the DIY crowd buzzing like bees around honey, trying to figure out workarounds. There’s this YouTube channel, Better Gaming — catchy name, right? — that’s trying out this open-source MicroSD Express adapter for the Switch 2. It lets you use these fancy M.2 NVMe 2230 SSDs. Tried it. Didn’t work. Bummer, huh?
So, we’ve talked about this adapter they’re using. It’s called the SDEX2M2 project. Kind of a mouthful. Anyway, it’s trying to leverage MicroSD Express’s PCIe roots, like NVMe magic in a tiny package. The SD Express 7.1 standard is at play here. Yeah, I know, techy, techy. It involves a PCIe Gen 3×1 interface, which is how it handles the NVMe protocol, supposedly.
Anyway, Better Gaming got the designs, sent them off to some third-party folks, and bam — multiple PCBs were birthed into the world. After getting them, he went all solder-happy, sticking on all the bits and pieces to make those boards dance, including an M.2 connector, if I’m remembering right.
After four attempts — try, try, try again, you know? — he was finally in business. Popped everything into a Corsair MP600 Mini NVMe SSD. And the physical side? Flawless. The adapter fit the Switch 2 like a glove. The system even recognized it! Woohoo, right? Well… not quite.
Boom, error code “2016-0641.” Adapting ain’t so simple, I guess. Turns out, these passive adapters aren’t chatty enough for the Switch 2. They lack that special something — a communicator maybe? These MicroSD Express doodads have their own controllers built-in, which the Switch 2 expects to talk to. NVMe SSDs? Not so much. They’ve got their own, but it’s a different lingo, it seems.
So yeah, the brilliant minds behind the SDEX2M2 noticed this little hiccup and are apparently whipping up a new design with an FPGA to mimic the MicroSD Express controller. Tech wizardry at work!
If — big if — this FPGA thing takes off, gamers could finally have a solid alternative to beef up the Switch 2’s somewhat puny 256GB storage. Of course, it might be a bit clunky to handle while you’re on the move. Right now, MicroSD Express cards are, like, 20 to 25 cents per GB. So, yeah, 256GB costs more than fifty bucks. Meanwhile, 1TB NVMe SSDs, like our friend Corsair MP600 Mini, are under ninety. Cheaper, in the grand scheme.
Oh, and if you’re into this stuff, Tom’s Hardware has all the updates. Hit that follow button, or maybe don’t. It’s your call, really.
