Topic: Limit of how many games can be installed to SD

As a physical game collector, I've accumulated so many Switch games over the years, that I wanted to store their game updates on a 2TB Micro SD card simply for convenience.
However as the numbers of installed game data surpassed around 1000 games I've encountered an error which seems to relate to the file in the save folder of the SD card, which is used to store information of the games installed to the card. Specifically the file 8000000000000124

Let me just point out that the Micro SDXC card is not the issue:

The card is a genuine SanDisk Extreme microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card 2TB.
The card still has around 30% storage left (~650 GB) when the issue happens.
It has been tested and verified with H2testw.
I even tried formatting to FAT32 as well as the standard exFAT which the Nintendo Switch would format to by default.

The conclusion I have come to is that the file 8000000000000124 that stores all the game information installed on the SD card (not the actual game data/updates, this is stored in the contents folder) simply becomes too big and cluttered with information. Not in terms of file size, but just too much information.
Everytime you install a game update to the Micro SD card this file is updated with additional information.
I believe that around the point of 1000+ games registered to this file, the Nintendo Switch can no longer update this file. Probably because of a timeout. This results in the game icon showing a blinking X on the image, which means the update was unsuccesful.

I would love to hear if any of you has experienced the same or have any knowledge of this?

Please note that this discussion is in no way related or intended to focus on piracy.
This is an issue experienced for 100% legit game cartgridges.

(I would have added a picture of my insanity shelves, to once again state that this issue is in no way related to piracy, but it does not seem like you can attach images)

I spent a lot of time with CFWs on Switch 1. Unless I'm mistaken, installed apps (including updates and DLCs) are automatically kept track of by Nintendo through a .txt of sorts that adds a line with the ID every time something new is added. Installed homebrews and game backups that create an icon on the Home menu (instead of working through Title Takeover) "leave a stain" on this .txt file, and if you connect to Nintendo servers with a "stained" file, the console is automatically banned, as you shouldn't have access to this file unless your console is hacked. It's the same if you try and manipulate this app list file.

What's probably happening is that, as you have mentioned, this app list file (or something similar to it) must have a reading or writing limit. The firmware is either failing to read or write past a line, resulting on the issue you're experiencing.

This could be an intentional limitation to keep specific system UIs from breaking visually or even crashing the firmware. The Switch doesn't have complete access to its hardware until you launch into a title, meaning the system menus are working under a much more strict and fragile memory limit.

Thanks for your input, but as already stated it's a clean console. Never been hacked, no apps, homebrew or anything. All 1000+ games installed are original cartridges, as insanely as it sounds including some digital downloads.
It just doesn't make sense that the Nintendo Switch supports 2TB cards, if you are never able to actually use it for games. Maybe they thought only sane people would use such a large capacity by filling it with video captures.
Hopefully a firmware update will come at some point which will split this content file list into two, but I doubt it now the Switch 2 is out.

@Aneira I believe you've missed my point. I know your console is not hacked. The app list is generated even on a completely non-hacked console running zero homebrews or backed up games, and it works the same way, under the same limitations. It's just that you can't actually see and understand it unless it's hacked, as you can't access firmware files.

As for the console supporting 2TB cards but failing to put it to use, that once again comes down to the firmware being designed not to fully access Switch's hardware until you launch a title. Due to that limitation and the firmware failing (or refusing to, in order to prevent crashes and UI issues) to either write or read the app list past a line number, the support to 2TB cards is more so that you can hold loads of media files together with huge games rather than installing all updates to your physical library or loads and loads of small games. Although I do agree these limitations are very inconvenient.

@Strawblaze Thanks. I really appreciate your detailed answer.
I spend a ridiculous amount of hours trying to nail the very reason.
Sometimes you just need to know the cause of death before you're ready to move on

@Aneira No problem at all! It'd be great if Nintendo let people know about this sort of limit on their FAQ page.