Switch Lite won't load payload nor OFW after PicoFly install

Wekiiiii

Wekiiiii

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I've spent the last 2 days looking for a thread on any site that showed behavior similar to what my Switch Lite is showing right now and so I decided to make a thread incase anyone could give some input

So long story short I installed a HWFly RP2040 mod chip. I got into Hekate, made an emuNand partition on my new SD card. I was about to create a sysNand backup as per recommendation of every install guide but as I was navigating the menus of hekate (I have not started the backup process) the switch turned off. I try turning it back on but I only got the Nintendo logo and the HwFly giving me error codes. I double check my soldering and even check for continuity. Out of frustration, I carefully desoldered the modchip in hopes I could at least get back into OFW.

At this point with the mod chip now removed:
- Switch would show charging icon whenever I plug in a charger
- Trying to turn on the switch would show the Nintendo logo for a second and then black screen. In this state I also noticed the battery would drain.
- After trying to turn it on the first time, I am not able to attempt turning it on again unless the battery drained completely.


A couple days pass and out of curiosity, I reinstall the mod chip and this is where the behavior gets even more interesting:
- Without an SD Card, I get to the PicoFly screen with "No SD Card" written and a battery icon
- With a BLANK SD Card, I get to the PicoFly screen with "Failed to load payload.bin"
- With an SD Card with Hekate as the payload, the screen stays black and the HWFly LED stays pulsating meaning it's still trying to glitch. It stay like this until it times out.
- With an SD Card with Lockpick or UMS as the payload, the screen also stays black but the HWFly claims that it has glitched successfully.

IMG_7319.jpg

Then following are troubleshooting steps I have tried:
- Formatting my SD Card to FAT32
- Trying different SD Cards of different brands and sizes (8gb, 32gb, and 256gb)
- Redownloading Hekate
- Reflashing the HWFly RP2040 with a fresh install of PicoFly
- Leaving the console to charge
- Double checking solder points, traces, and dirt
- Check diode values of APU capacitors, solder points, and voltage related chips

Any help is gladly appreciated! If there's any info I can provide, I'd gladly oblige!

EDIT1: No payload loads, mod chip is stuck on "glitching" :(
 
Last edited by Wekiiiii,
Wekiiiii

Wekiiiii

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Posting an update for the off chances someone comes across this thread.

I fixed it! Now, I guess I must put a disclaimer that my experience may not be the same as yours. Whatever you do, you do so on your own risk. So there were two issues

1. 3.3v wire was connected to the SD Card capacitor. Do NOT do this. Move it to somewhere else. There are a lot of recommended points online that show where you can get 3.3v. Apparently the SD Card capacitor loses power during a crucial moment in glitching causing the mod chip and the console to restart endlessly.

2. After transferring my 3.3v point to a better point, I was finally able to get into Hekate! But booting to OFW or making an emuMMC from stock FW would give me the Nintendo logo then no boot. This was because (for some reason) my NAND got kinda corrupted(???)
I followed Sthetix's guide for a level 1 unbrick and still nothing but thankfully the NAND wasn't corrupt to the point that I couldn't extract the keys :)
I decided to go for a level 2 unbrick and lo and behold, the switch sprung to life!
 
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  • TwoSpikedHands @ TwoSpikedHands:
    I just found out that the EU version is better in literally every way, better sound quality, better lighting, and there's even a patch someone made to make the text look nicer
  • TwoSpikedHands @ TwoSpikedHands:
    Do I restart now using what i've learned on the EU version since it's a better overall experience? or do I continue with the US version since that is what ive been using, and if someone decides to play my hack, it would most likely be that version?
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    @TwoSpikedHands, I'll preface this with the fact that I know nothing about the game, but, I think it depends on what your goals are. Are you trying to make a definitive version of the game? You may want to refocus your efforts on the EU version then. Or, are you trying to make a better US version? In which case, the only way to make a better US version is to keep on plugging away at that one ;)
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    I'm not familiar with the technicalities of the differences between the two versions, but I'm wondering if at least some of those differences are things that you could port over to the US version in your patch without having to include copyrighted assets from the EU version
  • TwoSpikedHands @ TwoSpikedHands:
    @Sicklyboy I am wanting to fully change the game and bend it to my will lol. I would like to eventually have the ability to add more characters, enemies, even have a completely different story if i wanted. I already have the ability to change the tilemaps in the US version, so I can basically make my own map and warp to it in game - so I'm pretty far into it!
  • TwoSpikedHands @ TwoSpikedHands:
    I really would like to make a hack that I would enjoy playing, and maybe other people would too. swapping to the EU version would also mean my US friends could not legally play it
  • TwoSpikedHands @ TwoSpikedHands:
    I am definitely considering porting over some of the EU features without using the actual ROM itself, tbh that would probably be the best way to go about it... but i'm sad that the voice acting is so.... not good on the US version. May not be a way around that though
  • TwoSpikedHands @ TwoSpikedHands:
    I appreciate the insight!
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    @TwoSpikedHands just switch, all the knowledge you learned still applies and most of the code and assets should be the same anyway
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    and realistically they wouldn't

    be able to play it legally anyway since they need a ROM and they probably don't have the means to dump it themselves
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    why the shit does the shitbox randomly insert newlines in my messages
  • Veho @ Veho:
    It does that when I edit a post.
  • Veho @ Veho:
    It inserts a newline in a random spot.
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    never had that i don't think
  • Karma177 @ Karma177:
    do y'all think having an sd card that has a write speed of 700kb/s is a bad idea?
    trying to restore emunand rn but it's taking ages... (also when I finished the first time hekate decided to delete all my fucking files :wacko:)
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    @Karma177 that sd card is 100% faulty so yes, its a bad idea
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    even the slowest non-sdhc sd cards are a few MB/s
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjCivnt5t50
  • Karma177 @ Karma177:
    @The Real Jdbye it hasn't given me any error trying to write things on it so I don't really think it's faulty (pasted 40/50gb+ folders and no write errors)
  • DinohScene @ DinohScene:
    run h2testw on it
     +1
  • DinohScene @ DinohScene:
    when SD cards/microSD write speeds drop below a meg a sec, they're usually on the verge of dying
     +1
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    Samsung SD format can sometimes fix them too
  • Purple_Heart @ Purple_Heart:
    yes looks like an faulty sd
  • Purple_Heart @ Purple_Heart:
    @Psionic Roshambo i may try that with my dead sd cards
     +1
  • Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo:
    It's always worth a shot
    Psionic Roshambo @ Psionic Roshambo: It's always worth a shot