Warning: Lots of rambling ahead
First time trying to install a modchip on one of these things (hell, first time even owning one that works and isn't a paperweight), and I fucked it up due to inexperience, overconfidence and probably a lack of proper equipment.
As you can see in this badly taken picture, the pad for
And in this one, you can see that the pad for
In these overhead pictures, you can also see that things are not looking so well from up top.
However in this one, if you zoom in real close, you can see that
Right now when the console is turned on, it doesn't visibly turn on, but I do know it's on since it with the Picofly, it gives an
The proposed fix?
Grind into the PCB (underneath a microscope!) and jump traces from the pads underneath it while referencing the board scans (again, using a microscope!)
If-all-else-fails fix:
The SoC would need to be taken off the board, then jumper wires put on to reconnect
Probably not a repair I would be financially capable of doing, so if this does end up being required, it'll become a parts board, sadly.
Bonus shots, the FPC cable soldered to the SoC. This was surprisingly the easiest part of the whole process, other than the fiddly bit making sure it's connected and not bridging to the other capacitor.
This was all done using one of the cheap and shitty 2-in-1 soldering stations, and without a microscope.
I highly recommend doing this work properly, with a microscope and microsoldering iron. It saves on the headache avoiding this mess.
First time trying to install a modchip on one of these things (hell, first time even owning one that works and isn't a paperweight), and I fucked it up due to inexperience, overconfidence and probably a lack of proper equipment.
As you can see in this badly taken picture, the pad for
CMD is *completely* gone (well, not completely - yet, but we'll talk about that later.)And in this one, you can see that the pad for
DAT0 is completely gone, however it does still partially have the pad left. It's slightly better hopes of repair than the DAT0.In these overhead pictures, you can also see that things are not looking so well from up top.
However in this one, if you zoom in real close, you can see that
CMD looks like it has a pad left - at least underneath it. So there is still some hope for it, albeit slim.Right now when the console is turned on, it doesn't visibly turn on, but I do know it's on since it with the Picofly, it gives an
RST error and even charges properly. I'm not quite sure if this means RST is also bad, but that's a bridge to be crossed later on.The proposed fix?
Grind into the PCB (underneath a microscope!) and jump traces from the pads underneath it while referencing the board scans (again, using a microscope!)
If-all-else-fails fix:
The SoC would need to be taken off the board, then jumper wires put on to reconnect
DAT0 and CMD, then the SoC put back onto the board.Probably not a repair I would be financially capable of doing, so if this does end up being required, it'll become a parts board, sadly.
Bonus shots, the FPC cable soldered to the SoC. This was surprisingly the easiest part of the whole process, other than the fiddly bit making sure it's connected and not bridging to the other capacitor.
This was all done using one of the cheap and shitty 2-in-1 soldering stations, and without a microscope.
I highly recommend doing this work properly, with a microscope and microsoldering iron. It saves on the headache avoiding this mess.
