Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[deeps]

@Dee87 I don't see how those holders would work with the stencil you linked, though (I also have a multi-stencil for NSW but mine's lacking the emmc, thought I had one )

There's always the 'ball approach', too:
*Edit, oof, didn't know it would make its own page here:

gist.github.com/dev-zzo/d0f468b40e2fe601c684cdb9c6590fa0

I fully believe the only thing(s) holding me back from accomplishing anything is having experience with the proper tools. Time to research\buy holder(s).

All you really need is a heat gun, 0.15mm BGA153 stencil and solder paste, some flux, a decent scraping tool to scrape paste into the holes, and a pair of tweezers to hold the stencil in place while scraping and applying heat. I reballed an EMMC recently just to try in case I'd have to at some point, see pic. I simply placed the emmc on a napkin for some movement resistance, then placed the stencil on top and aligned it, then held it in place with tweezers. I applied flux after melting the solder balls and applied low heat to melt the flux and loosen the chip from the stencil.
The holder and alignment kit linked above probably makes things easier and I would buy it if I were to do reballs every day, but as long as it's just occasionally then eh.
If you fail you can just wipe the emmc clean with solder wick and try again.

 

[Dee87]

View attachment 362930
Magnetic holders with solder paste do make things easier.

Emmc setup:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255...tewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US

CPU setup:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...tewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US

that looks nice , thanks for the links :-)
if i get into working more on switches ill def get a set of those :-)

Post automatically merged: Apr 3, 2023

All you really need is a heat gun, 0.15mm BGA153 stencil and solder paste, some flux, a decent scraping tool to scrape paste into the holes, and a pair of tweezers to hold the stencil in place while scraping and applying heat. I reballed an EMMC recently just to try in case I'd have to at some point, see pic. I simply placed the emmc on a napkin for some movement resistance, then placed the stencil on top and aligned it, then held it in place with tweezers. I applied flux after melting the solder balls and applied low heat to melt the flux and loosen the chip from the stencil.
The holder and alignment kit linked above probably makes things easier and I would buy it if I were to do reballs every day, but as long as it's just occasionally then eh.
If you fail you can just wipe the emmc clean with solder wick and try again.

nice to hear yeah im waiting for my stuff to arrive and let u all see what i can get myself into :-)

 

[LogicalMadness]

All you really need is a heat gun, 0.15mm BGA153 stencil and solder paste, some flux, a decent scraping tool to scrape paste into the holes, and a pair of tweezers to hold the stencil in place while scraping and applying heat. I reballed an EMMC recently just to try in case I'd have to at some point, see pic. I simply placed the emmc on a napkin for some movement resistance, then placed the stencil on top and aligned it, then held it in place with tweezers. I applied flux after melting the solder balls and applied low heat to melt the flux and loosen the chip from the stencil.
The holder and alignment kit linked above probably makes things easier and I would buy it if I were to do reballs every day, but as long as it's just occasionally then eh.
If you fail you can just wipe the emmc clean with solder wick and try again.

Maybe I'll give those PS4 SBs and NSW WiFi ICs another shot.

 

[Dee87]

Maybe I'll give those PS4 SBs and NSW WiFi ICs another shot.

go ahead i mean lerning by doing we all make mistakes sometime but thats how we learn :-)

 

[R-Couto]

Good evening everyone, I'm new to this picofly, I would like to clarify three doubts. of the CPU, I saw some videos but I couldn't see well if and in the 3rd or 4th point of the flex if anyone has an image thank you, and does the resistor in the rst need to be placed? I saw some mentioning him.

 

[deeps]

Maybe I'll give those PS4 SBs and NSW WiFi ICs another shot.

There are a few "tricks of experience" that take a few tries and some fine tuning to get right:

- Solder paste is normally rather "wet" with flux. The flux will create a mess as it is pressed through the stencil holes. The paste needs to be dried out a bit before being applied into a stencil, either by leaving it exposed to air for a few days, or by putting the paste on a napkin and apply low heat to melt the flux and let the napkin absorb it. If you watch any reball video on youtube, the paste looks far more dry than normal, almost like a powder of sorts.

- It is very important to hold the stencil perfectly flat against the emmc. Any little distance, caused by even something as minor as a speck of dust or some left over solder on one of the edge points, creates enough room for solder paste to escape under and join balls together. At first I tried to hold the emmc in place with kapton tape, which didn't work at all because of the gap created by the tape.

- The emmc is very likely to get stuck together with the stencil. If this happens, you can add some flux on the balls and around the emmc chip, apply low heat to melt the flux, and let it lubricate the balls (lmao) while carefully poking the emmc to get it to come loose. You cannot pull the emmc off the stencil, it will result in balls coming off.

- Be sure to remove as much of the original solder as possible before reballing. The original solder is lead free which means a higher melting point, which means far harder to deal with, requiring higher temperatures which means higher risk of damaging the emmc.

 

[Donnie-Burger]

Good evening everyone, I'm new to this picofly, I would like to clarify three doubts. of the CPU, I saw some videos but I couldn't see well if and in the 3rd or 4th point of the flex if anyone has an image thank you, and does the resistor in the rst need to be placed? I saw some mentioning him.

Bridge 3+4 = this will eave 2 pins on the left and 2 pins on the right unsoldered. This is the way.

 

[Dee87]

There are a few "tricks of experience" that take a few tries and some fine tuning to get right:

- Solder paste is normally rather "wet" with flux. The flux will create a mess as it is pressed through the stencil holes. The paste needs to be dried out a bit before being applied into a stencil, either by leaving it exposed to air for a few days, or by putting the paste on a napkin and apply low heat to melt the flux and let the napkin absorb it. If you watch any reball video on youtube, the paste looks far more dry than normal, almost like a powder of sorts.

- It is very important to hold the stencil perfectly flat against the emmc. Any little distance, caused by even something as minor as a speck of dust or some left over solder on one of the edge points, creates enough room for solder paste to escape under and join balls together. At first I tried to hold the emmc in place with kapton tape, which didn't work at all because of the gap created by the tape.

- The emmc is very likely to get stuck together with the stencil. If this happens, you can add some flux on the balls and around the emmc chip, apply low heat to melt the flux, and let it lubricate the balls (lmao) while carefully poking the emmc to get it to come loose. You cannot pull the emmc off the stencil, it will result in balls coming off.

- Be sure to remove as much of the original solder as possible before reballing. The original solder is lead free which means a higher melting point, which means far harder to deal with, requiring higher temperatures which means higher risk of damaging the emmc.

thanks for the tips much appriciatet :-)

i do apply low melt solder to everything before i wick it away after that i always apply another round of low melt to get the rest of it wicked away

example from some test emmcs

View attachment 2022_0212_075513_008.JPG

View attachment 2022_0212_075459_007.JPG

 

[Donnie-Burger]

thanks for the tips much appriciatet :-)

i do apply low melt solder to everything before i wick it away after that i always apply another round of low melt to get the rest of it wicked away

example from some test emmcs

View attachment 362936

View attachment 362935

Emmc isnt to hard to reball, just be careful as they dont like to much heat and will kill them. If you have a nand backup you can work with more confidence - Pics look good.

 

[RexSonic]

The AIO thread says 8050, so that's what I searched:

Probably worth an edit to prevent future confusion.

Either way, thank you! Found this listing.

Post automatically merged: Apr 3, 2023

Another question: what is the reason for removing the 3.3V regulator from the RP2040? If I'm to update the firmware later, wouldn't I need this?

Would also like to know

 

[Dee87]

Would also like to know

Read the replys after it

 

[rr8400]

Is there any way of updating the firmware once the the USB and buttons are removed?

 

[deeps]

Is there any way of updating the firmware once the the USB and buttons are removed?

Yes, by reattaching the USB and buttons

 

[z1317z]

OLED+hw FFC+RP2040 Zero

 

[Donnie-Burger]

OLED+hw FFC+RP2040 Zero
View attachment 362948

Not bad, I hate using those spare flex cables and prefer direct wire though.

 

[jkyoho]

OLED+hw FFC+RP2040 Zero
View attachment 362948

How is it when closing with the shield?

 

[z1317z]

How is it when closing with the shield?

OK

 

[R-Couto]

Good night, in a lite I use a flex v2 or does it have to be a flex ite curved?

 

[aramirez0425]

yeah they arent made for those holders thats why eather goona try it first by handy and if that doesnt work im gonna cnc some holders

yeah i know about the ball approch but id rether not try to set every ball :-P even with the stencil id rather just use past :-)

thats why im gonna try with the stencil and paste first its gonna work some how all u need is a stencil hot air gun some past and try and learn Xd

Post automatically merged: Apr 3, 2023

also a nice idea to do it , u have any issues with reballing the emmc ? just asking for a friend Xd

No issues, pretty straight foward. Use stencil, paste and tweezers. Not hard at all.

 

[grooster]

OLED+hw FFC+RP2040 Zero
View attachment 362948

Looks great!