Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

terminalshort · Feb 9, 2024

Danook28 said:
Brother are you sure you cover dat0 point with tape???? Are you read all point to chip after and befor. Yes or no
Are you add all flex to conector same factory. And clk point also cover with tape ???

Yes, everything was isolated with tape. Flex and chip is HWfly 2040, bought it together. So no cables and no solder other than the capacitors next to the CPU. I checked there are no shorts or anything.
Just in case there was some residue, I disassembled and cleaned up the entire board and connectors with IPA and a toothbrush. I also replaced the tape.

After that I put everything together and I run Stock software. Tried downloading a game as test, which is enough to cause a crash. As expected it crashed before it finished the download, although this time it gave me error screen 2107-0445, which is related to WiFi. I don't think WiFi is the issue, it was just what was running.

After that I tried atmosphere with no WiFi. I opened a backup and it eventually crashed. This time, however, only the application crashed and I could get back to the main menu and start a different backup. I got back to the same backup and it gave atmosphere error screen this time, with an error report stored in the SD.

Finally, I restarted the switch, started playing a different backup which is less graphic intensive. I was able to play for almost an hour, but in the end screen and audio froze until I reset the Switch.

psycho-neon · Feb 9, 2024

Viktorsilva said:
it should be a great solution .Any idea on the final price for each ?

Could be around 7usd each for the chip once they are batched manufactured. Could be cheaper also. Once I receive my samples from jlcpcb i will post some progress here and the pros/cons.

Im also planning to implemet the mosfet in the board itself so no need for the flex cable, just a single 40awg wire on sp1/2

Danook28 · Feb 9, 2024

terminalshort said:
Yes, everything was isolated with tape. Flex and chip is HWfly 2040, bought it together. So no cables and no solder other than the capacitors next to the CPU. I checked there are no shorts or anything.
Just in case there was some residue, I disassembled and cleaned up the entire board and connectors with IPA and a toothbrush. I also replaced the tape.

After that I put everything together and I run Stock software. Tried downloading a game as test, which is enough to cause a crash. As expected it crashed before it finished the download, although this time it gave me error screen 2107-0445, which is related to WiFi. I don't think WiFi is the issue, it was just what was running.

After that I tried atmosphere with no WiFi. I opened a backup and it eventually crashed. This time, however, only the application crashed and I could get back to the main menu and start a different backup. I got back to the same backup and it gave atmosphere error screen this time, with an error report stored in the SD.

Finally, I restarted the switch, started playing a different backup which is less graphic intensive. I was able to play for almost an hour, but in the end screen and audio froze until I reset the Switch.

Back to ofw and play game card see what will happend If nothing or cpu my be damge bro. You say smook also come from cap in motherboard???

jkyoho · Feb 9, 2024

Viktorsilva said:
a 4MH ceramic inductor\capacitor. Test it putting the red probe off you multimeter on one edge of the capacitor and the black probe on the other edge (in diode mode\continuity mode) and see if it´s bridged to ground. If it is, most probably is broken.

It is inductor in value of 4µH(micro Henry) NOT MEGA HENRY nor mini Henry.
FYI, DMM testing inductor in most case could only test continuity and it should beep. However, for the OLED LCD drive chip, top left inductor is designed to goes ground,therefore if you measure resistance from ground to that inductor it is normal having beep as well.
(Proper measurement of inductor need high end LCR meter.)

terminalshort · Feb 9, 2024

Danook28 said:
Back to ofw and play game card see what will happend If nothing or cpu my be damge bro. You say smook also come from cap in motherboard???

I had to change caps because one got lost but they are OK now. No smoke or heat or anything,

I don't have any game cards, but I have tried with OFW without SD card and it also freezes. I will try to reproduce this again, I expect the same result.

I have also seen this post with a problem that looks exactly like mine:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/switch-keeps-freezing-for-no-reason.594105/

He managed to fix it by sending it to Nintendo (it was unmodded), although whatever they did is not mentioned.

So in the end it might be CPU damage, maybe some cracked solder ball? I could try reflowing the CPU, it might be dangerous but I have nothing to lose I guess.

QuiTim · Feb 9, 2024

NetYaroze said:
Thank you for answering

I don't know how to carry out this measurement, I ask you to explain to me in detail how and in which points (even with a drawing) I have to use my multimeter.

Now that I know what the "ceramic capacitor" is, I found it on Aliexpress, but which one is the right one?

Another thing, I encouraged myself and tried to turn the switch back on even though it was damaged but I couldn't see anything on the screen at all. I know she's alive because the chip glitches. The screen remains totally black. I don't want there to be anything near this chip that has to do with the screen power supply perhaps?

Post automatically merged: Feb 9, 2024

this one

Post automatically merged: Feb 9, 2024

KAMIKAZE METHOD?

The component you are refering to is a SMD inductor most likely 0805.
You can get it here: https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ez2Yqip

Viktorsilva · Feb 9, 2024

NetYaroze said:
@Viktorsilva
This motherboard was successfully modified by me, but at some point, after a few hours of gaming, the touchscreen and right joycon stopped working.

So I disassembled the motherboard and when reassembling it something made contact (I put the metal protection back on the nand and it moved to that area making contact) and this chip in the image made white smoke. I think it doesn't work anymore.

Is there a way to see if this chip is still alive?
Anyway....This little chip What is it? I'm looking for it on aliexpress

A series of unfortunate eventsView attachment 419003

Look at the technique you can use to find the short circuit this guy uses (watch minute 7:53) :

but you will need this tool to find it:

https://mauser.pt/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=095-2522

this is a great technique

deeps · Feb 10, 2024

psycho-neon said:
Im also planning to implemet the mosfet in the board itself so no need for the flex cable, just a single 40awg wire on sp1/2

It's a nice idea, but wire length seems to matter a lot for the mosfet so I'm not sure it will work as well as one could hope

superxoi · Feb 10, 2024

terminalshort said:
I had to change caps because one got lost but they are OK now. No smoke or heat or anything,

I don't have any game cards, but I have tried with OFW without SD card and it also freezes. I will try to reproduce this again, I expect the same result.

I have also seen this post with a problem that looks exactly like mine:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/switch-keeps-freezing-for-no-reason.594105/

He managed to fix it by sending it to Nintendo (it was unmodded), although whatever they did is not mentioned.

So in the end it might be CPU damage, maybe some cracked solder ball? I could try reflowing the CPU, it might be dangerous but I have nothing to lose I guess.

I have fixed similar case like yours one before. I reballed emmc,cpu,dram in 1 go because i didn't know which one causing this but since i took the board off so i did 3 of them to be sure. And the switch no longer be freeze anymore. 1 thing i noticed from the customer board was that he used hwfly flex and under it had too much residual flux. I took the flex off and wired all the points for him. Maybe that residual flux causing problem all the time.

psycho-neon · Feb 10, 2024

deeps said:
It's a nice idea, but wire length seems to matter a lot for the mosfet so I'm not sure it will work as well as one could hope

Thanks for the insight, i will try to make a couple of test boards once the chip comes on my old v2 switches and see the glitching performance.

Vigintiduo · Feb 10, 2024

Viktorsilva said:
It is now possible to install a modchip on OLED models without accessing the lower layer. Fewer components to disassemble = lower risk of breakdown.

How would you reach the RST point from the front?

Viktorsilva · Feb 10, 2024

Vigintiduo said:
How would you reach the RST point from the front?

Hi

you can use this alternative point :

Danook28 · Feb 10, 2024

terminalshort said:
I had to change caps because one got lost but they are OK now. No smoke or heat or anything,

I don't have any game cards, but I have tried with OFW without SD card and it also freezes. I will try to reproduce this again, I expect the same result.

I have also seen this post with a problem that looks exactly like mine:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/switch-keeps-freezing-for-no-reason.594105/

He managed to fix it by sending it to Nintendo (it was unmodded), although whatever they did is not mentioned.

So in the end it might be CPU damage, maybe some cracked solder ball? I could try reflowing the CPU, it might be dangerous but I have nothing to lose I guess.

Can i see sp1 sp2 flex and are you add one musfet from aback of motherboard for oled picofly by mistake???

Viktorsilva · Feb 10, 2024

psycho-neon said:
Thanks for the insight, i will try to make a couple of test boards once the chip comes on my old v2 switches and see the glitching performance.

This look to me like a great ideia. Having the Mosfet on-board will make it quite simple.

I'm curious to know if the length of the cable from the sp2 point to the MOSFET drain being longer influences the glitch time. On the other hand, we will have the Gate output up to rp2040 shortened.

QuiTim · Feb 10, 2024

Viktorsilva said:
This look to me like a great ideia. Having the Mosfet on-board will make it quite simple.

I'm curious to know if the length of the cable from the sp2 point to the MOSFET drain being longer influences the glitch time. On the other hand, we will have the Gate output up to rp2040 shortened.

This has been tried already (almost a year back) and it did not work.
It all pointed to wires being to long and since timing is really the key for this glitch to work, it makes sense.
However, as far as I remember, all the atempts to make this work were done by connecting the mosfet wires (from the custom board) to sp1&sp2, so this was before abal1000x came up with the idea to attach mosfet to the back of the board.
Maybe using the points on back of the board could make this work but that would defy the purpouse of having the mosfet on the custom board so.....

nuage83 · Feb 10, 2024

Hi

Is it necessary to put the aluminum cover back on v1 and v2?

Vigintiduo · Feb 10, 2024

Viktorsilva said:
Hi

you can use this alternative point :

View attachment 419169

Didn't know about that! I'm gonna test it soon

Viktorsilva · Feb 10, 2024

nuage83 said:
Hi

Is it necessary to put the aluminum cover back on v1 and v2?

Of Course yes. It Reinforces the protective structure of the components and also to dissipate the heat that is released by the Tegra

deeps · Feb 11, 2024

nuage83 said:
Hi

Is it necessary to put the aluminum cover back on v1 and v2?

Yes, it serves a purpose. The least invasive solution is to cut a hole for the chip with a dremel, see photo

lightninjay · Feb 11, 2024

deeps said:
Yes, it serves a purpose. The least invasive solution is to cut a hole for the chip with a dremel, see photo

Cutting of the shield is not required. You can run the wires carefully through the hole where the fan is and lay the board on top of the metal guard, just place some kapton tape to keep from shorting.

Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

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