FTP file transfer for romfs, save, and tmp.

A homebrew FTP server for SmileBASIC, built with the HBLauncher SDK. Open it on your console and connect from a PC with FileZilla or another FTP client.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. This software is provided as-is, without warranties. RavensClawX and contributors are not responsible for damage to your Nintendo Switch 2, PC, Pico, or other hardware; data loss; corrupted saves; or other consequences of using this software. Back up important data before making changes. FTP writes and deletes affect real SmileBASIC files.

Maintained by RavensClawX. Version 0.1.0.

1. Install or update to HBLauncher v0.2.0 or newer. The older initial launcher does not include the FTP service. Follow its setup guide for SmileBASIC, the Pico and the PC host.
2. Download ftpd-sb-v0.1.0.zip from Releases.
3. Extract its ftpd-sb folder into the host PC's HBLauncher/apps/ directory:

   HBLauncher/
     apps/
       ftpd-sb/
         app.json
         app.vert.spv
         app.frag.spv
         app.comp.spv
         assets/
         ...
   

4. Start the updated HBLauncher host. In the launcher, select Refresh, then open ftpd-sb. No app compilation or files on the Pico/console SD card are needed for this prebuilt package.
5. Press A or tap Start. The app displays the console's IP address and port.

The supported environment is the same as HBLauncher: SmileBASIC 4.4.9 on Switch 2 firmware 23.0.1, with the Pico bootstrap already configured. This is an HBLauncher GPU app, not an NRO for a conventional custom-firmware launcher. The PC host must remain running throughout the session.

Create a Site Manager entry with these settings:

Click Connect. The left pane shows PC files; the right pane shows console files. Drag between them to upload/download. Right-click files and folders to rename, delete or create directories. With other clients, use username anonymous and any password. Plain FTP is unencrypted and anonymous: use it on a trusted local network, not through public port forwarding.

• A / Start or Stop button: start or stop the FTP server.
• B / Minus / Back button: return to HBLauncher and close FTP connections.
• The status badge shows whether the server is stopped, ready, connected or transferring. The arrows animate while data is moving.

This does not expose the SD card, other games' saves, or the host PC filesystem. The title's SD filesystem request is denied on the tested environment. Save files are real SmileBASIC data: keep a backup before replacing or deleting them. Temporary storage is not a durable backup location.

Uploads, appends, downloads, resumed downloads, directory listing, folder creation, rename and deletion are supported. Successful writes are flushed and committed before completion is reported. Overwriting an existing file replaces it directly; disconnects or stopping midway can leave a partial file. Wait for transfers to finish before stopping the app or closing the host.

Version 0.1.0 supports one client at a time, IPv4 and passive transfers. It does not implement encrypted FTP, upload resume, timestamps, recursive directory delete, or cross-mount rename. Directory listings are limited to 4096 entries. The host's wireless debugging bridge limits transfer speed; it is not a native standalone CPU executable or a replacement for full SD-access homebrew.

Return to HBLauncher first. Replace apps/ftpd-sb/ with the newer package and select Refresh to update. Delete that folder and Refresh to remove the app. App-only updates can be loaded without restarting SmileBASIC. If the release requires a newer host/SDK, update the host and start a fresh SmileBASIC session.

• Starting... never changes: update HBLauncher to v0.2.0 or newer and restart the host. Its terminal should say SDK FTP service ready.
• Could not start server: check the host's private session ftp-service.json for the error. Another server may already own port 5000.
• FileZilla connects but transfers hang: set the site's maximum simultaneous connections to 1 and disconnect other clients. Use passive mode.
• Connection refused: press A to start the server; use the console IP on screen, not the PC/Pico IP. Keep devices on the same reachable LAN.
• A write fails: /rom is read-only. Save capacity, invalid paths, missing parent folders, or existing rename destinations can also reject an operation.
• A transfer disconnects: retry on a stable LAN. Downloads support resume; restart incomplete uploads or use append only when you know the correct size.

Install the tools described in HBLauncher's SDK guide (Node.js 22+, Python with Pillow, DejaVu fonts, glslangValidator and spirv-val). Then:

node build.cjs /absolute/path/to/HBLauncher
node check.cjs /absolute/path/to/HBLauncher

Alternatively set HBLAUNCHER_ROOT to that directory. Build copies the SDK headers, rasterizes the text/icon, creates initial state, and compiles/validates all three shaders. The prebuilt assets are checked in, so users do not need the build tools merely to install the app.

The app declares sdk.services: ["ftp"] in app.json. Its compute shader sends start/stop requests through hbFtpCommand(); its fragment shader reads the hbFtp* status helpers. The SDK owns the actual console sockets, native file handles, protocol processing and commit lifecycle. No arbitrary host script is loaded from the app package. See the SDK FTP documentation for the full manifest, protocol and memory layout.

Tested live with console TCP echo and isolated read/write/rename/delete/commit checks on both writable mounts. Python ftplib completed upload/download, overwrite, append, resumed retrieval, MLSD, rename and delete round trips; FileZilla connected and browsed the console. UI shaders were rendered on desktop Vulkan and loaded into the live launcher. SDK regression tests cover path boundaries, ROM write rejection, peer matching, partial sends, authentication, transfer cleanup and long-transfer idle handling.

Built with the HBLauncher SDK, whose entry path credits pepsipu/ns2jb. Text is rasterized from DejaVu Sans and DejaVu Sans Mono. This is an independent project, not affiliated with Nintendo, SmileBoom, FileZilla or the original ftpd project. No blanket license has been assigned to this package; third-party components retain their terms.