Hacking Powered off with AutoRCM, Switch seems dead now.

kflemonice2 · Nov 23, 2022

Hi, probably the first time I'm posting here. It's already 3am and I feel rather hopeless.

I charged my 2017 hacked v1 Switch to 100% and tried to install a thing using Awoo Installer like usual. However, it didn't detect USB, it only charged the Switch, which was weird because it had always worked before. (Side note: I found out later that it was my cable. It can charge just fine but can't do anything data related. Found out by plugging it into my phone, charged, but didn't ask to connect to PC, meanwhile the other cable I have did).

So I thought maybe it was some sort of bug, maybe the driver got stuck and required a restart. So I restarted my PC and got no luck, then restarted my Switch (with AutoRCM on), no dice, but nothing unusual. Then I thought maybe I needed to power it off completely. Sure, AutoRCM was on, but I could just use my handy RCM Loader like always.

So I powered it off, plugged my RCM Loader in, turned it on, and... nothing. Just a black screen. I tried and tried again to no avail, I opened the Switch up to unplug the battery, nothing.

What I've tried:
-Holding the Power button for 12 seconds or much longer, then do the + and Power combination, with the jig and without the jig, with the RCM Loader and without. No luck.
-Holding both - and + then press Power, still nothing.
-Using Tegrarcmgui, my laptop still doesn't detect the Switch. No APX driver or anything. Installed the driver from Tegrarcmgui, still nothing. Zadig doesn't detect anything either.

Strange behavior from my RCM Loader: If I plug it into my Switch, it will become unresponsive, no light or anything when I press its button. The only way I've found to get it back to normal is to plug it into the type-C port of my laptop (it will charge as well).

I kinda suspect the type-C port on my Switch to be faulty. It's kinda wiggly, and that thing with Awoo Installer and Tegrarcmgui raises a red flag. However like I mentioned, the reason that Awoo Installer wasn't detecting my Switch was most likely because my cable was faulty, so what are the chances that both my cable and the type-C port became broken in one night?

I haven't tried connecting it to my android device yet because I don't have an adapter. I'll try to get one tomorrow and update you guys.

Any help at all is appreciated. Thank you all.

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2022

P/s: I'm just leaving it to charge overnight for now. Hoping for good news tomorrow. I'll try to get some rest as it is very late now.

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2022

Update: Let it charge night, did nothing. I don't even know if the Switch is alive or not. Is there anyway to know without connecting it to PC? The RCM Loader is still being weird.

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2022

Update 2: I removed nand from the board and powered it on, still nothing.

thesjaakspoiler · Nov 24, 2022

Sound like there is something wrong with your USB port on the Switch or your RCM Loader.
But it can be a whole bunch of other things.

Charging uses 8 pins from the USB port so the chances that they are all broken is very small.
For a data connection, only 2 pins are used. If 1 is broken, bend or disconnected, the whole data connection does not work anymore.

If AutoRCM is on, the Switch will always go to RCM mode as far as I know.
If you turn off the Switch by holding the power button for 15~20 seconds and push the power button again,
you should see the LCD light up very faintly.
This is the easiest way to see if the Switch is still alive.

If you suspect the RCMLoader, you can use a normal USB cable and use the PC to inject the payload.
Or even an Android phone with Rekado. (Enable USB OTG)
If that also does not work, it's likely the USB port on the Switch.

You can use Lockpick_RCM to see if injecting the payload works :
https://github.com/shchmue/Lockpick_RCM/releases
LockpickRCM should boot without any dependency on your SD card or NAND.

Does the SD card contents show up when you plug it into a PC?
If it is the USB port, then it might be as simple as reflowing the USB port connector.
A good repair shop should be able to do that for $30~$40.

kflemonice2 · Nov 24, 2022

thesjaakspoiler said:
Sound like there is something wrong with your USB port on the Switch or your RCM Loader.
But it can be a whole bunch of other things.

Charging uses 8 pins from the USB port so the chances that they are all broken is very small.
For a data connection, only 2 pins are used. If 1 is broken, bend or disconnected, the whole data connection does not work anymore.

If AutoRCM is on, the Switch will always go to RCM mode as far as I know.
If you turn off the Switch by holding the power button for 15~20 seconds and push the power button again,
you should see the LCD light up very faintly.
This is the easiest way to see if the Switch is still alive.

If you suspect the RCMLoader, you can use a normal USB cable and use the PC to inject the payload.
Or even an Android phone with Rekado. (Enable USB OTG)
If that also does not work, it's likely the USB port on the Switch.

You can use Lockpick_RCM to see if injecting the payload works :

LockpickRCM should boot without any dependency on your SD card or NAND.

Does the SD card contents show up when you plug it into a PC?
If it is the USB port, then it might be as simple as reflowing the USB port connector.
A good repair shop should be able to do that for $30~$40.

Thank you for your response.

I can't say that I'm seeing the LCD light up, I tested it in a dark room, but I couldn't see it. However, based on the RCM Loader's behavior I think the Switch is somehow still alive. I'm assuming that whenever I unplug the battery and plug it back in, the Switch will power up automatically, is that correct? Because whenever I do that with the RCM Loader plugged in (still responsive), it becomes unresponsive, no light flashes. But whenever I plug the battery back in and hold Power for 12 seconds (now assuming it's powered off) and plug the RCM Loader in, I can still get the light to flash after a couple of presses (it flashes once per press when unplugged), and then it will become unresponsive again if I press the Power button.
Edit: Just tested it again, the RCM Loader's light can still flash after I plug the battery in. I don't really know anymore.

I'd really like to try and inject payloads, but my laptop just doesn't recognize the Switch being plugged in at all. Unfortunately I still don't have an adapter for my phone so I can't try that, and I don't have another PC.

The SD card contents all show up on PC, the RCM Loader as well. I tried to update the RCM's hekate payload but it didn't work so I'll stick to what I used before.

If there's no other way I'll have to send it to repair.

By the way, is the metal frame on the charging port supposed to wiggle around? It might be intentional but I can't be sure because I don't have another Switch to compare it with. If it's supposed to be completely solid then I think I'll just save myself some time and send it to repair.

fvig2001 · Nov 24, 2022

Hard to say. Could be actually dead switch or broken USB-C port. Have experienced both at the same time.

Worst case:

1. Replace USB-C port
2. Replace the 2 ICs

Other case:
1. Replace 1/2 ICs

Although to me it screams yours is a really bad USB-C port. Mine at least had unknown device errors on Windows and RCM worked 1/50 times. Then I idiotically plugged in on the dock and the dock killed it.

Had 2 ICs replaced and the USB-C port could not be connected back well by phone repair stores. I had to revert boot0/boot1 using another Switch and then it could boot to horizon but can't use RCM at all.

Ended up just selling it as parts... I kept the NAND because I wanted whoever got it to struggle getting it to work.

kflemonice2 · Nov 24, 2022

fvig2001 said:
Hard to say. Could be actually dead switch or broken USB-C port. Have experienced both at the same time.

Worst case:

1. Replace USB-C port
2. Replace the 2 ICs

Other case:
1. Replace 1/2 ICs

Although to me it screams yours is a really bad USB-C port. Mine at least had unknown device errors on Windows and RCM worked 1/50 times. Then I idiotically plugged in on the dock and the dock killed it.

Had 2 ICs replaced and the USB-C port could not be connected back well by phone repair stores. I had to revert boot0/boot1 using another Switch and then it could boot to horizon but can't use RCM at all.

Ended up just selling it as parts... I kept the NAND because I wanted whoever got it to struggle getting it to work.

That last part lol

May I ask where the 2 ICs are located? Just out of curiosity.

If I can't get the thing to boot today I'll send it to a repair guy to take a look for me.

thesjaakspoiler · Nov 24, 2022

It's the MT92 and BQ24193 chip.
Those are the USB controller and the battery management chip.
If the MT92 is broken, USB communication doesn't work and if the Switch doesn't turn on, the BQ chip is the usual suspect.
But in your case I would sacrifice a USB cable and measure with a multimeter if all the signals reach the Switch mainboard.

The BQ24193 chip is the dark blue one and the MT92 is the light blue one :
(https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Switch+Teardown/78263)

kflemonice2 · Nov 28, 2022

Thank you all for the replies. A little update so far: I sent it to a repair guy, he replaced the type C port (about half of the pins were broken). Still didn't turn on and there's a short somewhere. Apparently because the port was so bad, me tinkering with it trying to connect it to my pc and charge it resulted in a short. Two of his rcm loaders also became unresponsive after plugging them in with the port replaced, and he had to press the reset button on them. He tested and the ICs seemed to be fine. Now he's searching for whatever that got shorted.

dicamarques · Nov 28, 2022

kflemonice2 said:
Thank you all for the replies. A little update so far: I sent it to a repair guy, he replaced the type C port (about half of the pins were broken). Still didn't turn on and there's a short somewhere. Apparently because the port was so bad, me tinkering with it trying to connect it to my pc and charge it resulted in a short. Two of his rcm loaders also became unresponsive after plugging them in with the port replaced, and he had to press the reset button on them. He tested and the ICs seemed to be fine. Now he's searching for whatever that got shorted.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/switch-with-autorcm-not-detected.621451/#post-9988930

I had something similiar, so far it seems my emmc died. try booting the console without the emmc and see if it works

kflemonice2 · Nov 29, 2022

dicamarques said:
I had something similiar, so far it seems my emmc died. try booting the console without the emmc and see if it works

I actually took it out (if by emmc you mean the part on the left side of the board) before sending to repair and tried to boot, didn't work, but thank you.

Repair guy is saying that my CPU shorted. Not sure if he can fix it, it's risky.

Post automatically merged: Nov 29, 2022

Update: Apparently there's a short around the cpu chip? He's going to take it out, reball it and put it back. If it still shorts then it's a dead cpu, I'm told. If it is a dead cpu, I'll just sell it for parts since replacing the cpu requires you to replace the emmc and it's just not financially viable.

dicamarques · Nov 30, 2022

kflemonice2 said:
I actually took it out (if by emmc you mean the part on the left side of the board) before sending to repair and tried to boot, didn't work, but thank you.

Repair guy is saying that my CPU shorted. Not sure if he can fix it, it's risky.

Post automatically merged: Nov 29, 2022

Update: Apparently there's a short around the cpu chip? He's going to take it out, reball it and put it back. If it still shorts then it's a dead cpu, I'm told. If it is a dead cpu, I'll just sell it for parts since replacing the cpu requires you to replace the emmc and it's just not financially viable.

The problem with replacing the Cpu is finding one that still isn't patched and then getting the keys to rebuild the emmc. Thats what I think.

But did you try to send a payload without the emmc inserted?

kflemonice2 · Nov 30, 2022

dicamarques said:
The problem with replacing the Cpu is finding one that still isn't patched and then getting the keys to rebuild the emmc. Thats what I think.

But did you try to send a payload without the emmc inserted?

Yeah finding an unpatched cpu would prove difficult.

I tried pushing a payload without the emmc and it still produced the same result.

Repair guy reballed the cpu but still got a 3v+ short (not sure if that's the correct term, I'm not very familiar with it), so we concluded that the cpu is most likely dead because of a current going directly into it. I sold it for parts and will look for another one.

nin_tendo · Apr 15, 2023

kflemonice2 said:
Hi, probably the first time I'm posting here. It's already 3am and I feel rather hopeless.

I charged my 2017 hacked v1 Switch to 100% and tried to install a thing using Awoo Installer like usual. However, it didn't detect USB, it only charged the Switch, which was weird because it had always worked before. (Side note: I found out later that it was my cable. It can charge just fine but can't do anything data related. Found out by plugging it into my phone, charged, but didn't ask to connect to PC, meanwhile the other cable I have did).

So I thought maybe it was some sort of bug, maybe the driver got stuck and required a restart. So I restarted my PC and got no luck, then restarted my Switch (with AutoRCM on), no dice, but nothing unusual. Then I thought maybe I needed to power it off completely. Sure, AutoRCM was on, but I could just use my handy RCM Loader like always.

So I powered it off, plugged my RCM Loader in, turned it on, and... nothing. Just a black screen. I tried and tried again to no avail, I opened the Switch up to unplug the battery, nothing.

What I've tried:
-Holding the Power button for 12 seconds or much longer, then do the + and Power combination, with the jig and without the jig, with the RCM Loader and without. No luck.
-Holding both - and + then press Power, still nothing.
-Using Tegrarcmgui, my laptop still doesn't detect the Switch. No APX driver or anything. Installed the driver from Tegrarcmgui, still nothing. Zadig doesn't detect anything either.

Strange behavior from my RCM Loader: If I plug it into my Switch, it will become unresponsive, no light or anything when I press its button. The only way I've found to get it back to normal is to plug it into the type-C port of my laptop (it will charge as well).

I kinda suspect the type-C port on my Switch to be faulty. It's kinda wiggly, and that thing with Awoo Installer and Tegrarcmgui raises a red flag. However like I mentioned, the reason that Awoo Installer wasn't detecting my Switch was most likely because my cable was faulty, so what are the chances that both my cable and the type-C port became broken in one night?

I haven't tried connecting it to my android device yet because I don't have an adapter. I'll try to get one tomorrow and update you guys.

Any help at all is appreciated. Thank you all.

Post automatically merged: Nov 23, 2022

P/s: I'm just leaving it to charge overnight for now. Hoping for good news tomorrow. I'll try to get some rest as it is very late now.

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2022

Update: Let it charge night, did nothing. I don't even know if the Switch is alive or not. Is there anyway to know without connecting it to PC? The RCM Loader is still being weird.

Post automatically merged: Nov 24, 2022

Update 2: I removed nand from the board and powered it on, still nothing.

Same thing happening to me.
No response.

Hayato213 · Apr 15, 2023

nin_tendo said:
Same thing happening to me.
No response.

If it lose all it battery in autoRCM it take a while to charge in RCM mode, as for getting it to boot up, you need atleast 10% battery.

Hacking Powered off with AutoRCM, Switch seems dead now.

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