FAQ and troubleshooting#

Questions people ask#

Do I need a Shadow subscription?#

Yes. Halyard is a client: it signs in as you, with your own account, to your own machine. Without a subscription it has nothing to connect to.

Is it safe for my account?#

You sign in through Shadow's own login page, and Halyard circumvents nothing — no authentication, no payment, no DRM. But using an unofficial client may still breach Shadow's terms of service, and your account is what is at risk. Read the legal notes before you install.

Is it made by Shadow, Nintendo or Sony?#

No. Halyard is an independent, unofficial project, and none of those companies has anything to do with it. Their names appear only to say which service it talks to and which hardware it runs on.

Which consoles does it run on?#

A Nintendo Switch running Atmosphère, and a PS Vita or PS TV running HENkaku or h-encore. What differs between them is listed in Controls and on the home page.

Is there a PC, Mac or web version?#

Not as a product. Halyard also builds on Linux and Windows, but those builds are for developing and testing it: the interface is made for a gamepad and a console screen. On a computer, Shadow's own apps are the better choice.

A web version is not possible as Halyard is built: it talks to your machine over raw network connections that a web page is not allowed to open.

Does it cost anything?#

No. Halyard is free software (GPL-3.0-or-later): you can read, build and share it.

How do I update it?#

Download the new release and replace the file: copy the new halyard.nro over the old one on the Switch, or install the new halyard.vpk over the old app on the Vita. Your settings and your session are kept. See Install and sign in.

How do I sign out?#

Settings › Account › Sign out. It forgets the session and quits; the next launch asks you to link the console again. Deleting refresh_token from the data directory does the same.

Which version am I running?#

Settings › About shows the version and the build. On the Switch, the homebrew menu shows it too.

When something goes wrong#

"No internet access" when it starts#

Check the console's own connection first. On a Switch that has been on for a long time, the system's network service is sometimes left in a bad state: restart the console.

The sign-in code never gets accepted#

The code is valid for a few minutes, counted down on screen. If it runs out, press A to get a new one. Type it on the address shown on the console, signed in to the Shadow account that owns the machine.

My machine does not appear, or does not start#

The list shows the machines of the account you linked. A machine that is off is started when you pick it, which can take a minute or two. If the list is empty or wrong, refresh it; if it stays wrong, check the machine from Shadow's own app.

"Session already open on another device"#

Shadow allows one session per machine. If you have just left a session on a computer or another console, give it a moment to close, then try again.

The picture breaks up while playing#

Lower the maximum bitrate to about 25 Mb/s — in the pause menu, or in Settings. Above that, over Wi-Fi, the server probes for more than the link carries and loses data on every probe. See Picture, sound and network.

Short freezes every so often#

On Wi-Fi, the network stalling for a fraction of a second is the usual cause, and no setting can prevent it. A wired connection (a Switch in its dock with an Ethernet adapter) helps more than anything else. The performance panel shows the loss and the round trip while you play.

There is no sound#

Check the volume in the pause menu. If the sound stops after reconnecting, note the version from Settings › About and report it. The log says which audio format the server granted and whether it is being decoded.

The controls do not reach the game#

Some games only react to a gamepad, others only to a mouse and keyboard. Check Controls for how the buttons are sent, and the settings that change it: sending the console's gamepad to the machine, and the mouse mode for games that capture the pointer.

The app crashed#

Relaunch it. On the Switch, Atmosphère writes a report under /atmosphere/crash_reports/; on the Vita, a psp2core-*.psp2dmp file appears in ux0:data/. Both help a bug report — see Advanced.

Reporting a problem#

Open an issue on GitHub: the form asks for the console, the version and what happened. Quote a few lines of halyard.log around the problem if you can, after reading them — never attach a whole log or a network capture.