Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[roice2000]

i need your experience.
i heard some peoples modchip get faulty really quick,

After few weeks oder some month the chip dont work anymore. They play everyday and maybe the chip overheat and then their switch wont boot on anymore.

does that happens very often?
Do you guys have to change the chip every now and then? Does somebody here usw the Modchip for years and play everyday without trouble?

would be really glad to hear your experiences?

 

[cowboy619]

i need your experience.
i heard some peoples modchip get faulty really quick,

After few weeks oder some month the chip dont work anymore. They play everyday and maybe the chip overheat and then their switch wont boot on anymore.

does that happens very often?
Do you guys have to change the chip every now and then? Does somebody here usw the Modchip for years and play everyday without trouble?

would be really glad to hear your experiences?

Most likely bad soldering / dry joints - Ive had hwfly and tx mod chips for over 3 years. No issues

 

[Dee87]

Also use thinner enamel wires on oleds, except for the 3V and gnd. Thicker wires can (and have) result(ed) in unsuccessful glitches for oleds.

What are u talking about for 3v and gnd u can use 0.1mm I've done all my install like that and also tested if there is a differein in glitching and I can tell u there is 0 difference

 

[twins333]

What are u talking about for 3v and gnd u can use 0.1mm I've done all my install like that and also tested if there is a differein in glitching and I can tell u there is 0 difference

Well, my modder friend used thicker insulated wires on an oled, but had issues with slow emmc init. switched to enameled wires and it booted right up.

 

[deeps]

Well, my modder friend used thicker insulated wires on an oled, but had issues with slow emmc init. switched to enameled wires and it booted right up.

That is because he needs stronger resistors for dat0/cmd. Using thinner and longer wire may tip the install just over the edge to work, but it is the wrong solution to the problem.

 

[QuiTim]

Thanks for this, I never thought the lcd connector would be the problem since I had the no sd screen and blue screen before. But I verified the soldering on the SP1 pads and a wire had come loose. Fixed that, reattached picofly and actually got successful glitch (blue then short yellow), but nothing on screen. I guess after removing and reattaching the board to diagnose I seem to have damaged the connector, maybe with the tweezers. I tried the fiber glass brush but still no continuity on the multimeter.

Two questions:

Since the pico manages to glitch as far as I can tell, how dead may the console be? (Checked all the caps around both chips you mentioned and found no shorts).

And also, it's not possible for a bad connector to cause a blue screen, right? It would either display or not display, not throw an error, right?

EDIT: Third question, I just found out that if that ribbon is gone, so is the whole lcd. Any way to use jumper wires to fix that scratch?

Did you try using docking station to see if you get anything on screen (with pico removed)?

 

[roice2000]

Most likely bad soldering / dry joints - Ive had hwfly and tx mod chips for over 3 years. No issues

is picofly rp2040 as reliable as hwfly or TX ?

 

[FreeLander]

I've prove by data that, adding mosfet or changing the resistor value, wont affect the glitching time.

So just like what i always said in the beginning, 1 mosfet is enough.

If the glitch didn't happened, than problem lay on other aspect.

I respect a man who backs up his claims by data. So glitching time is just on a console-to-console basis irrelevant to how a modchip was installed? (wire length, mosfet amount, etc)

Hello!
I tried the backside FET method on OLED, but all i get is this error:
"CPU always reach BCT check (no glitch reaction, checkmosfet)"
I'm using the IRFHS8242. Already tried another FET incase it was broken but still same.
Using fw 2.73.

Any suggestions?

See mine for comparison, You can't have too much solder when it comes to MOSFETs.

Post automatically merged: Jul 10, 2023

No. Quit bullshitting, thanks.

Post automatically merged: Jul 10, 2023

I would measure the G/cpu point on the rp2040 and make sure it isn't shorted to ground somehow.

Does this point give a 0.5-0.9 value? It never does in my succeed installs. I've always wondered what test I can do on my MOSFETs to make sure it's solid.

 

[abal1000x]

I respect a man who backs up his claims by data. So glitching time is just on a console-to-console basis irrelevant to how a modchip was installed? (wire length, mosfet amount, etc)

Still not yet found a parameter that could affect the glitching time.

 

[Danook28]

You really think I would ask that question? Tut tut tut

Post automatically merged: Jul 10, 2023

I'm sure I read the length of wires makes a difference. This is a timing mod and exploit after all. Plus manufacturer of the nand chip.

Hhhhhhh that awsome mate. Dont worry about my replay.ask and well replay you.

 

[Dee87]

Well, my modder friend used thicker insulated wires on an oled, but had issues with slow emmc init. switched to enameled wires and it booted right up.

well then ur moffer friend doesnt know his shit .............
he might get in this thread so he ,learns a thing or two :-)
slow emmc has something to do with resistors not wire :-)

so maybe tell ur friend to visit us ;-)

Post automatically merged: Jul 10, 2023

That is because he needs stronger resistors for dat0/cmd. Using thinner and longer wire may tip the install just over the edge to work, but it is the wrong solution to the problem.

thanks

 

[Quezacotl]

Does this point give a 0.5-0.9 value? It never does in my succeed installs. I've always wondered what test I can do on my MOSFETs to make sure it's solid.

Gives nothing. Only 0,5V reversed to ground(red lead gnd)
I also added more solder to everything.

Did i miss something, like a resistor somewhere etc.? All i think is needed is just the fet.

 

[twins333]

well then ur moffer friend doesnt know his shit .............
he might get in this thread so he ,learns a thing or two :-)
slow emmc has something to do with resistors not wire :-)

so maybe tell ur friend to visit us ;-)

Post automatically merged: Jul 10, 2023

thanks

why so much hostility? he added two 47ohm resistors to clk, dat0 and cmd. the thing that worked was to switch to thinner enamel wires, as oposed to insulated ones. that was his first oled with picofly.

Post automatically merged: Jul 10, 2023

That is because he needs stronger resistors for dat0/cmd. Using thinner and longer wire may tip the install just over the edge to work, but it is the wrong solution to the problem.

He likes insulated wires, just to be sure the enamel isn't scratched if the switch is dropped. shouldn't happen if the wires are secured with the uv resin, but to each his own. he did my 2 v2 switches with insulated and it worked just fine.

 

[LogicalMadness]

why so much hostility?

Pretty sure that's not the first time you've made an incorrect STATEMENT. Learn to be humble about your facts until YOU'VE 'DONE' the work.

 

[deeps]

why so much hostility?

Because you are spreading confusion by being confidently incorrect

 

[cowboy619]

Because you are spreading confusion by being confidently incorrect

"My friend" did 1 oled and throwing us facts here about wires. Here we've done over 20 installs

 

[Quezacotl]

Hello!
I tried the backside FET method on OLED, but all i get is this error:
"CPU always reach BCT check (no glitch reaction, checkmosfet)"
I'm using the IRFHS8242. Already tried another FET incase it was broken but still same.
Using fw 2.73.

Any suggestions?

Solved the problem!
I put two fets in parallel. And also it boots under 2 seconds.

 

[lightninjay]

Solved the problem!
I put two fets in parallel. And also it boots under 2 seconds.

More and more the "two fets" and the "more solder" fixes are starting to make me think it's simply a resistance issue when the glitch is failing. Better soldering, different solder (low-temp leaded vs higher temp unleaded), different wire thicknesses and materials (copper/silver/aluminum), all these things have an effect when we're talking about the speeds and timings these glitches are needing to occur at.

 

[Quezacotl]

More and more the "two fets" and the "more solder" fixes are starting to make me think it's simply a resistance issue when the glitch is failing. Better soldering, different solder (low-temp leaded vs higher temp unleaded), different wire thicknesses and materials (copper/silver/aluminum), all these things have an effect when we're talking about the speeds and timings these glitches are needing to occur at.

Yea, so to make it fail free install, people should always use two fets.
About the extra resistors, 100R instead of 47R, is there really any disadvantage from using always 100R for both? I have uses 100R/100R/68R for all installs and no problems so far. I think now i've done 9 or 10 mods with picofly so far.

 

[deeps]

Yea, so to make it fail free install, people should always use two fets.
About the extra resistors, 100R instead of 47R, is there really any disadvantage from using always 100R for both? I have uses 100R/100R/68R for all installs and no problems so far. I think now i've done 9 or 10 mods with picofly so far.

I use 100/100/47 for all mine, no issues, no reason to use anything else