Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[abal1000x]

Adapter
It hasn't budged. Well soldered and its solder pad (and the wire attached to it) reads proper values after months.

Do you mean flex adapter?

 

[Dee87]

Adapter
It hasn't budged. Well soldered and its solder pad (and the wire attached to it) reads proper values after months.

DAT 0 adapters Tend to bend when they warm up some more some less
It's def your adapter had a few people come to me with the same issue, after setting a permanent Dat0 and reballing the issue never came back

 

[ppedroto02]

replace dat0 resistor on rp2040 with 100 ohm

Hello, actually, I went to inspect it, and the resistor that was in the dat0 line was 250 ohms. I was using a hwfly ro2040 clone chip, and it has this resistor with an incorrect value, which meant that it didn't enter OFW on the Nintendo Switch, but I replaced it and it worked fine. Thank you very much for your tip, it was really valuable.

 

[eddz]

i have just gotten a bad batch of dat0 adapter now. these chinese seller are tricky one. first i bought 15 they shipped me the good one this time i bought 50 and i got this shitty ones. i will rely on reballing waiting for another batch.

What makes it a bad dat0 adapter?
Also, for bonus points, which pin of the emmc does the adapter tap into? I still dont understand how it can go in there without reballing/soldering. Does it just put into the existing soldered point?

 

[deeps]

What makes it a bad dat0 adapter?
Also, for bonus points, which pin of the emmc does the adapter tap into? I still dont understand how it can go in there without reballing/soldering. Does it just put into the existing soldered point?

The bad adapters are either not well anchored or have a bad shape on the dat0 connector. The adapter slides under the emmc and is pressed against the dat0 point and then soldered with "anchors" around the emmc to stay in place.

 

[Ganesha0112]

Hello!

Today came a Nintendo switch lite with a failed Picofly installation and the buttons don’t work, when I opened i see a disaster, but one thing caught my attention.

This 2 point are no more, so, I think this is the problem.

Anyone know where this 2 points go? The connections that there see just are ground.

 

[nitrozz]

The bad adapters are either not well anchored or have a bad shape on the dat0 connector. The adapter slides under the emmc and is pressed against the dat0 point and then soldered with "anchors" around the emmc to stay in place.

using uv mask can help to stay in place. just ask

 

[terrariablablabla]

Just finished a couple switches as a Christmas gift, this thread has been so valuable for info (DAT0 being done last, avoiding shorts, and containing resistor values,ect) bravo everyone! Gotta say, this video above all was the most useful for me especially when using a $10 iron and an iPhone

Only thing I recommend for anyone who can't find soldering mask from a reliable source / anywhere on amazon and need a quick alternative; "GAOY-Polish-Finish-Varnish-Lasting", not sure if it breaks down with acetone so well though, all I know is that it stuck to the board, secured the points (for now) and didnt melt at 100+ degrees under hot water as a test, so hopefully it holds up well.

 

[cilione]

Hello!

Today came a Nintendo switch lite with a failed Picofly installation and the buttons don’t work, when I opened i see a disaster, but one thing caught my attention.

This 2 point are no more, so, I think this is the problem.

Anyone know where this 2 points go? The connections that there see just are ground.

You can run a wire between the traces.
Mask the damage if it has been scraped to the ground plane on the layer below.
You are also missing what I think is a 100ohm resistor (size 0201). The position is indicated with blue cross.

 

[MoeXzl]

using a $10 iron and an iPhone

Everyone sees it differently. But you should invest in some equipment, especially if you mod for others.
It won't do you any good if your soldering iron doesn't produce enough heat and you end up with cold soldering joints.

P.S. By the way, I think the cable is too thick. Solder pads can tear off very quickly.

 

[chiefjoe]

Need some help on an install. RP2040-zero, on a V2 switch, using Helder's extension board. Soldered everything up, plugged battery in, and got an initial blue light, followed by two quick yellow lights, which repeats 3 times. Decoding ** tells me 'RST is not connected'. After which it will boot the original firmware. And I've been stuck there for several days.

Things I've tried:
Triple checked my soldering to the RST point. It's solid, not bridged.
Checked continuity between RST point on the motherboard to the RST point on the extension board, and to #26 on the RP2040 itself.
Changed the 38 AWG wire for 30 AWG wire.
Tried a different RP2040, with a different extension board.
Tried 2.73, and 2.75.
Connected to the motherboard RST point, then tried EMMC RST point.
Tested diode values: when trying to boot, I'm getting .300-ish volts (which, from what I can tell, is too low?). Did some more messing around, and discovered that that diode reading, after I unplug the battery, will eventually climb back up to about 1.4 volts.
Even tried hooking up the SDA and SDL points, just for kicks and giggles.

In case it matters, this switch had to have it's charge port replaced. This was done before trying to mod, and it passed all tests after. The unmodded switch was fully functional, and was reinitialized before modding.

This is the 4th one of these I've done in the last couple weeks, all v2's, all setup the same way. The first 3 went fine, so I'm (fairly) confident that this is a board problem, and not user error. I just have no idea how to go about diagnosing what's wrong with the RST point. Ideas? Thanks.

 

[Myst0gan]

Adapter
It hasn't budged. Well soldered and its solder pad (and the wire attached to it) reads proper values after months.

What values do you read??

Post automatically merged: Jan 9, 2024

Need some help on an install. RP2040-zero, on a V2 switch, using Helder's extension board. Soldered everything up, plugged battery in, and got an initial blue light, followed by two quick yellow lights, which repeats 3 times. Decoding ** tells me 'RST is not connected'. After which it will boot the original firmware. And I've been stuck there for several days.

Things I've tried:
Triple checked my soldering to the RST point. It's solid, not bridged.
Checked continuity between RST point on the motherboard to the RST point on the extension board, and to #26 on the RP2040 itself.
Changed the 38 AWG wire for 30 AWG wire.
Tried a different RP2040, with a different extension board.
Tried 2.73, and 2.75.
Connected to the motherboard RST point, then tried EMMC RST point.
Tested diode values: when trying to boot, I'm getting .300-ish volts (which, from what I can tell, is too low?). Did some more messing around, and discovered that that diode reading, after I unplug the battery, will eventually climb back up to about 1.4 volts.
Even tried hooking up the SDA and SDL points, just for kicks and giggles.

In case it matters, this switch had to have it's charge port replaced. This was done before trying to mod, and it passed all tests after. The unmodded switch was fully functional, and was reinitialized before modding.

This is the 4th one of these I've done in the last couple weeks, all v2's, all setup the same way. The first 3 went fine, so I'm (fairly) confident that this is a board problem, and not user error. I just have no idea how to go about diagnosing what's wrong with the RST point. Ideas? Thanks.

Could you share the pictures of the install??
The problem could also be caused by residual Flux

 

[Constrabus]

Do you mean flex adapter?

Yeah, flex.

 

[abal1000x]

Need some help on an install. RP2040-zero, on a V2 switch, using Helder's extension board. Soldered everything up, plugged battery in, and got an initial blue light, followed by two quick yellow lights, which repeats 3 times. Decoding ** tells me 'RST is not connected'. After which it will boot the original firmware. And I've been stuck there for several days.

Things I've tried:
Triple checked my soldering to the RST point. It's solid, not bridged.
Checked continuity between RST point on the motherboard to the RST point on the extension board, and to #26 on the RP2040 itself.
Changed the 38 AWG wire for 30 AWG wire.
Tried a different RP2040, with a different extension board.
Tried 2.73, and 2.75.
Connected to the motherboard RST point, then tried EMMC RST point.
Tested diode values: when trying to boot, I'm getting .300-ish volts (which, from what I can tell, is too low?). Did some more messing around, and discovered that that diode reading, after I unplug the battery, will eventually climb back up to about 1.4 volts.
Even tried hooking up the SDA and SDL points, just for kicks and giggles.

In case it matters, this switch had to have it's charge port replaced. This was done before trying to mod, and it passed all tests after. The unmodded switch was fully functional, and was reinitialized before modding.

This is the 4th one of these I've done in the last couple weeks, all v2's, all setup the same way. The first 3 went fine, so I'm (fairly) confident that this is a board problem, and not user error. I just have no idea how to go about diagnosing what's wrong with the RST point. Ideas? Thanks.

The reset not connected is simply checking the RST voltage.
Its the first check the firmware did.
If the connection is solid, then the problem lay in other factor that make the RST voltage outside the accepted one.

Could you photo the point you use for 3.3V?

 

[Constrabus]

short with dat1... 100%

Hmmm could be. Is the theory heat? If so cooling down doesn't fix. Battery unplug fixes. Seems more like chip needs power removal.

 

[abal1000x]

Yeah, flex.

I am quite sure thats the source of the instability.

 

[eddz]

The bad adapters are either not well anchored or have a bad shape on the dat0 connector. The adapter slides under the emmc and is pressed against the dat0 point and then soldered with "anchors" around the emmc to stay in place.

Interesting.
According to your attached image the dat0 point (in blue) is near the top left, however, the dat0 adapter is slid in from the bottom. How does it connect to the correct point? According to the image not all the emmc pins are needed, does it mean they aren't all soldered which is why the dat0 connection can slide between the chip and the board?

Because we aren't reballing/resoldering my assumption would be the dat0 point sidles up against one of the emmc pins along the outside perimeter and just touches it to make a connection. Is that right?

 

[deeps]

Interesting.
According to your attached image the dat0 point (in blue) is near the top left, however, the dat0 adapter is slid in from the bottom. How does it connect to the correct point? According to the image not all the emmc pins are needed, does it mean they aren't all soldered which is why the dat0 connection can slide between the chip and the board?

Because we aren't reballing/resoldering my assumption would be the dat0 point sidles up against one of the emmc pins along the outside perimeter and just touches it to make a connection. Is that right?

The top of the picture is the side where the dat0 adapter slides in from. a lot of emmc pins are not used. they are still soldered, just not actually internally connected to anything on either the mainboard or emmc side.
the dat0 adapter simply has a small metal edge at the right spot which makes it press against the dat0 ball, so yes, just touch. not really a permanent solution, but it's the only "easy" way to make a modchip reach that point.

 

[eddz]

The top of the picture is the side where the dat0 adapter slides in from. a lot of emmc pins are not used. they are still soldered, just not actually internally connected to anything on either the mainboard or emmc side.
the dat0 adapter simply has a small metal edge at the right spot which makes it press against the dat0 ball, so yes, just touch. not really a permanent solution, but it's the only "easy" way to make a modchip reach that point.

Got it! Thanks.
Makes sense why we need to make sure it's anchored properly.
My first OLED mod I reballed the emmc but didn't feel comfortable doing it again for other OLEDs. They all worked and are still working. Future mods I'll just make sure it's anchored on all 3 sides properly and call it a day.

 

[abal1000x]

Got it! Thanks.
Makes sense why we need to make sure it's anchored properly.
My first OLED mod I reballed the emmc but didn't feel comfortable doing it again for other OLEDs. They all worked and are still working. Future mods I'll just make sure it's anchored on all 3 sides properly and call it a day.

My experience with the flex is, its usually not stable.

When i played the NS by shaking, or carrying it on the train, car, playing outside, somehow, at one point it will simply failed. And you need to shake it couple of time until its glitched again. Its annoying in the side of the consumer. And yes its the most easier route for the modder.