Hardware Repair Log thread for motherboard and Joycon PCB repair logs

SolidSnakeUk89 · Aug 17, 2019

Devon093 said:
I like this thread so i will ask for help here regarding a non charging switch.

Switch powers on and had physically damaged USB-C port. I replaced it (as I have maybe 15 times before) and i am not getting a charge in either direction of the usb c cable. The fuse near the port is good, and im pretty sure i have the port lined up correctly. Any advice? I checked for shorts on some caps and resistors but didnt find anything quickly.

Hi Devon093,

now much amps is it drawing when you plug it? (test it with one of those USB adapters that you can plug in between charger and NSW)

take the main board out of the case, check for corrosion aroudn BQ and M92 chips
check pin 5 and 6 of the M92t36 chip with the battery and plug connected, you should get between 3-6v on each one
check the test pad next to the fuse, you should see full 4.9 or 5v coming in
unplug charger and plug battery only, now check the test pad to the right of the water indicator, should see 3.7v coming in
check caps around BQ chip, they should not be shorted on 1 side (disconnect battery for this) we have other thread where we shared the readings for those caps you may want to compare them but I would say.. as long as you dont see nasty short and none of them have developed "an eye" then you are good..
check that there is no solder between the anchor points of the USB port and the shield to the left.. or the test pads right to the left on the front of the board, I saw a couple of switches that came over with a bad USB repair done and it was sending the main power rail to ground LOL
if all is good but there is no charging at all, check PI3USB, sometimes this been shorted causes weird behaviour in other parts of the board

if all of this is good and you still not getting charge, try a known good battery

next is to start checking for shorts somewhere else, the power cycle seems to be sending current to WIFI chip after passes through the APU so if you see normal voltages there.. it means the APU is good, if you see something strange on that side then get worried.

ultimately, if all fails I would start lifting the main chips 1 by 1 and re-checking for shorts after and testing after each chip, a good re-flow get those balls back in order sometime

Good luck mate let us know how it goes!

Testo · Aug 17, 2019

Devon093 said:
I like this thread so i will ask for help here regarding a non charging switch.

Switch powers on and had physically damaged USB-C port. I replaced it (as I have maybe 15 times before) and i am not getting a charge in either direction of the usb c cable. The fuse near the port is good, and im pretty sure i have the port lined up correctly. Any advice? I checked for shorts on some caps and resistors but didnt find anything quickly.

I had a similar situation and it turned out to be the M92T36, the capacitors around have all been good. I think it's worth a try

Borega · Aug 17, 2019

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
here you go ! hot out of the oven

https://imgur.com/YQ3cQgc
https://imgur.com/eIdRqaF

I will include these in my Nintendo Checks Doc LOL

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I had loads of shorts in a Mobo last week and turned out to be the PI3USB.. bit weird but after lifting it I discovered a blown up pad I guess as last resource I would start lifting chips to check 1 by 1 and hope.. if after all cant see anything strange and still shorted then is a donor board LOL

Thank you for this. My values look a lot different for some of them. The big grey ones all show 0.0 and 3 show OL. So I need to find the cause for this. I think it might be p13usb. will try to source a good one. Last one I bought was just pulled off and had no pads left on him...

Devon093 · Aug 17, 2019

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
Hi Devon093,

now much amps is it drawing when you plug it? (test it with one of those USB adapters that you can plug in between charger and NSW)

take the main board out of the case, check for corrosion aroudn BQ and M92 chips
check pin 5 and 6 of the M92t36 chip with the battery and plug connected, you should get between 3-6v on each one
check the test pad next to the fuse, you should see full 4.9 or 5v coming in
unplug charger and plug battery only, now check the test pad to the right of the water indicator, should see 3.7v coming in
check caps around BQ chip, they should not be shorted on 1 side (disconnect battery for this) we have other thread where we shared the readings for those caps you may want to compare them but I would say.. as long as you dont see nasty short and none of them have developed "an eye" then you are good..
check that there is no solder between the anchor points of the USB port and the shield to the left.. or the test pads right to the left on the front of the board, I saw a couple of switches that came over with a bad USB repair done and it was sending the main power rail to ground LOL
if all is good but there is no charging at all, check PI3USB, sometimes this been shorted causes weird behaviour in other parts of the board

if all of this is good and you still not getting charge, try a known good battery

next is to start checking for shorts somewhere else, the power cycle seems to be sending current to WIFI chip after passes through the APU so if you see normal voltages there.. it means the APU is good, if you see something strange on that side then get worried.

ultimately, if all fails I would start lifting the main chips 1 by 1 and re-checking for shorts after and testing after each chip, a good re-flow get those balls back in order sometime

Good luck mate let us know how it goes!

Thank you for this reply, i have a USB c multimeter and i was getting no reading with the switch, unfortunately it wasnt turning on with the NSW ac adapter so i used my pc usb.

Took out the board, no corrosion.

Assuming i checked the right pins on the m92, i have .291v on pin5, and virtually nothing on pin 6.

The test pad that is in-line with the usbC fuse im getting .971v

Test pad near water indicator I do have 3.9v

Caps near BQ seem alright, all have 1 side to grnd except for one which is normal compared to another board

I wasnt sure exactly what you meant by a short between the shield near the port, so i included a pic!

SolidSnakeUk89 · Aug 17, 2019

Borega said:
Thank you for this. My values look a lot different for some of them. The big grey ones all show 0.0 and 3 show OL. So I need to find the cause for this. I think it might be p13usb. will try to source a good one. Last one I bought was just pulled off and had no pads left on him...

Seems that you have a short between the cap and ground, somewhere along the line the current is getting shorted.
I would start with the M92T36 since this is involved in managing power. if you can replace it, try, if you dont have a replacement to hand.. maybe make it dance with hot air and flux and see what happens?

if known good is in, and still shorted, then yes, go for PI3USB

Good luck!

SolidSnakeUk89 · Aug 17, 2019

Devon093 said:
Thank you for this reply, i have a USB c multimeter and i was getting no reading with the switch, unfortunately it wasnt turning on with the NSW ac adapter so i used my pc usb.

Took out the board, no corrosion.

Assuming i checked the right pins on the m92, i have .291v on pin5, and virtually nothing on pin 6.

The test pad that is in-line with the usbC fuse im getting .971v

Test pad near water indicator I do have 3.9v

Caps near BQ seem alright, all have 1 side to grnd except for one which is normal compared to another board

I wasnt sure exactly what you meant by a short between the shield near the port, so i included a pic!

Sounds like is time to replace the M92 chip, you have a known good?
if no.. try lifting it, then test the voltages again, you should at least get 3-6v on the cap that is connected to pin5

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

just to add: - if after lifting you dont get the right voltage then is got to be PI3USB .. I had something similar in the past just that I found one of the pads on that chip to be blown up so didnt need to lift M92 first to realise lol

Devon093 · Aug 17, 2019

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
Sounds like is time to replace the M92 chip, you have a known good?
if no.. try lifting it, then test the voltages again, you should at least get 3-6v on the cap that is connected to pin5
View attachment 176572

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

just to add: - if after lifting you dont get the right voltage then is got to be PI3USB .. I had something similar in the past just that I found one of the pads on that chip to be blown up so didnt need to lift M92 first to realise lol

I will try to swap it monday, i do have some spares. Thanks so much and ill be sure to let you know my results

bootaholic · Aug 18, 2019

Got a strange one for you guys. Repaired a water damaged console, replaced screen and deep cleaned mobo. Console works flawlessly however, when turned off the fan goes to 100% and will not shut off until console is turned back on.... the fan seems to work fine when turned on - that is, it cycles through different speeds and even turns off when idling.

I have yet to probe around yet, anyone experience this before?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

microtsip · Aug 18, 2019

Hi guys, if it's ok to ask, what may be tge problem if the switch can't wake from sleep even in official firmware? AutoRCM was uninstalled/disabled. No microSD inserted. It needs to be powered off by holding power for 12-15secs. Then power-on again.

Is it the M92T36 being faulty also?

SolidSnakeUk89 · Aug 18, 2019

bootaholic said:
Got a strange one for you guys. Repaired a water damaged console, replaced screen and deep cleaned mobo. Console works flawlessly however, when turned off the fan goes to 100% and will not shut off until console is turned back on.... the fan seems to work fine when turned on - that is, it cycles through different speeds and even turns off when idling.

I have yet to probe around yet, anyone experience this before?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

LOL never heard of that but seems you have some diode that has decided to turn and become a dual way wire..
I would start from the fan plug, identify where the power comes from and follow it through, without schematics is difficult to properly troubleshoot but you can get your multi-meter in continuity mode, strap an alligator to some tin-foil and wrap it round your finger, then the other probe on the pin that delivers power and start poking around to find where there is continuity, take notes, follow it through and take measures of the components and check what is shorted or what doesn't look right.

let us know how it goes, it will be interesting to know

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

microtsip said:
Hi guys, if it's ok to ask, what may be tge problem if the switch can't wake from sleep even in official firmware? AutoRCM was uninstalled/disabled. No microSD inserted. It needs to be powered off by holding power for 12-15secs. Then power-on again.

Is it the M92T36 being faulty also?

checked whether this is a back-light issue or the whole LCD?

hardware wise.. could be the ribbon cable of the on/off button but I doubt... if is hardware the problem it sounds like one of the MAX chips that control the wake up of the screen I am not sure where but there must be a controller for the wake up, some sort of mosfet followed by a tiny coil and some caps or maybe a tiny chip that controls the power that goes to the back-light and wakes up the console from the trigger of the button, these usually have a constant voltage until the button is pressed so I would probe around and test few times to see what happens.

you gonna need a "known good" to probe, if you need example measurements let us know we may be able to provide some

GrimDim · Aug 18, 2019

WadsRUs said:
Repair #10 - Switch powers on, Nintendo logo appears, screen clears ......... so far so good. However, it then takes longer than usual for the Switch logo to appear and when it does that's it, the Switch logo stays onscreen and nothing further happens

Fix: Faulty M92T36 replaced

Hey, thanks a lot for this guide! My system behaves like repair #10, but I would like to ask two questions about it:

1) Is it possible for charging and data transfer to be working assuming the M92T36 is bust?
2) Do you think it's possible for Linux to boot with a bust M92T36?

Both of these are the case for my system which makes me hesitate. If anyone else can answer, feel free to chime in as well

SolidSnakeUk89 · Aug 18, 2019

GrimDim said:
Hey, thanks a lot for this guide! My system behaves like repair #10, but I would like to ask two questions about it:

1) Is it possible for charging and data transfer to be working assuming the M92T36 is bust?
2) Do you think it's possible for Linux to boot with a bust M92T36?

Both of these are the case for my system which makes me hesitate. If anyone else can answer, feel free to chime in as well

it may be useful to understand what is the role of this chip... M92T36 chip is responsible for negotiating power through the USB-C port, which happens to also be the port through which HDMI out video passes through. When damaged, the negotiations fail, causing both charging problems as well as video out problems.. now, pin 2 of the chip labelled VSTR/ATST2 is responsible for "Analog TEST/ Debug Pin2", it looks like this pin s responsible for measuring the battery voltage and thus its charge. Since the switch is reading an analog signal from this pin, and it does not receive any, the chip returns an unknown value to the switch and is possible that the system freezes because it enters a loop. At least this would be my suspicion with regards to the console not starting but going through the 1st boot logo.

I would love to get my hands on one of these, hook a potentiometer to pin 2 and test with different resistances to see what happens but that could be suicidal to the poor NSW lol

now.. if you still have problems after replacing the M chip, the next culprit with regards to consoles freezing has to be the CPU and is more probable that is a cracked solder ball or a bad chip thats packed up.. a good reflow in a special oven for a couple of minutes would be the treatment but (like with all of these devices) it can either last all its life or 2 months.. LOL

GrimDim · Aug 18, 2019

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
it may be useful to understand what is the role of this chip... M92T36 chip is responsible for negotiating power through the USB-C port, which happens to also be the port through which HDMI out video passes through. When damaged, the negotiations fail, causing both charging problems as well as video out problems.. now, pin 2 of the chip labelled VSTR/ATST2 is responsible for "Analog TEST/ Debug Pin2", it looks like this pin s responsible for measuring the battery voltage and thus its charge. Since the switch is reading an analog signal from this pin, and it does not receive any, the chip returns an unknown value to the switch and is possible that the system freezes because it enters a loop. At least this would be my suspicion with regards to the console not starting but going through the 1st boot logo.

So if I understand you correctly, the fact that my switch charges fine would indicate that M92T36 is *not* broken? I tested it with a multi-meter and there are no shorts on the capacitors and pin 5&6 output 3+ volts.

SolidSnakeUk89 · Aug 18, 2019

GrimDim said:
So if I understand you correctly, the fact that my switch charges fine would indicate that M92T36 is *not* broken? I tested it with a multi-meter and there are no shorts on the capacitors and pin 5&6 output 3+ volts.

if you switch is stuck in the boot logo I would check pin2 rather than 5 and 6 since you may have healthy charging but the chip is not talking to the console and it gets asked "are we there yet? are we there yet?.." causing it to freeze.

I would try replacing it with a known good, they are not too expensive or if you have another switch swap them just to see how it goes.

GrimDim · Aug 18, 2019

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
if you switch is stuck in the boot logo I would check pin2 rather than 5 and 6 since you may have healthy charging but the chip is not talking to the console and it gets asked "are we there yet? are we there yet?.." causing it to freeze.

So pin 2 reports 3v, I'm assuming that's good?

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
I would try replacing it with a known good, they are not too expensive or if you have another switch swap them just to see how it goes.

Yes I suppose I might have to try if nothing helps, but I would like to avoid it unless it is really necessary, since the soldering is not trivial

Devon093 · Aug 19, 2019

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
Sounds like is time to replace the M92 chip, you have a known good?
if no.. try lifting it, then test the voltages again, you should at least get 3-6v on the cap that is connected to pin5
View attachment 176572

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

just to add: - if after lifting you dont get the right voltage then is got to be PI3USB .. I had something similar in the past just that I found one of the pads on that chip to be blown up so didnt need to lift M92 first to realise lol

Swapped M92 and was successful, pins must have crossed in the broken USB-C and damaged the IC as well. Thanks for the help, now i have a new way to test M92 minus just looking for shorts

SolidSnakeUk89 · Aug 19, 2019

Devon093 said:
Swapped M92 and was successful, pins must have crossed in the broken USB-C and damaged the IC as well. Thanks for the help, now i have a new way to test M92 minus just looking for shorts

Hey awesome to hear!!

I may start my own YouTube channel one day showing these things lol

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

GrimDim said:
So pin 2 reports 3v, I'm assuming that's good?

Yes I suppose I might have to try if nothing helps, but I would like to avoid it unless it is really necessary, since the soldering is not trivial

Ok so shows 3v but is it constant? What happens during boot process does it go up and down? You should see some oscillations since this is the pin that checks back and forward.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

GrimDim said:
So pin 2 reports 3v, I'm assuming that's good?

Yes I suppose I might have to try if nothing helps, but I would like to avoid it unless it is really necessary, since the soldering is not trivial

Ok so shows 3v but is it constant? What happens during boot process does it go up and down? You should see some oscillations since this is the pin that checks back and forward.

GrimDim · Aug 19, 2019

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
Ok so shows 3v but is it constant? What happens during boot process does it go up and down? You should see some oscillations since this is the pin that checks back and forward.

I'm actually suspecting the BCM4356 wifi chip now. Another user (in my thread) mentioned that it could also cause boot problems, and indeed wifi is not working in any of the linux-based OS! (I tried: Lakka, L4T Ubuntu, LineageOS)

microtsip · Aug 20, 2019

SolidSnakeUk89 said:
checked whether this is a back-light issue or the whole LCD?

hardware wise.. could be the ribbon cable of the on/off button but I doubt... if is hardware the problem it sounds like one of the MAX chips that control the wake up of the screen I am not sure where but there must be a controller for the wake up, some sort of mosfet followed by a tiny coil and some caps or maybe a tiny chip that controls the power that goes to the back-light and wakes up the console from the trigger of the button, these usually have a constant voltage until the button is pressed so I would probe around and test few times to see what happens.

you gonna need a "known good" to probe, if you need example measurements let us know we may be able to provide some

Thanks for the tip! We'll check it maybe this weekend.

bootaholic · Aug 23, 2019

Here's another one I haven't seen before.

Got a console, super nice shape; doesn't even seem to be used at all. The thing didn't turn on when I first received it, let it charge for a bit and it powered up! Now, if I let it sit and idle for a while, regardless of whether the screen is on or off, the console locks up. Screen on, it doesn't respond to any input, touch, anything. I updated it to the latest software, no difference.

Thoughts?

Edit: rebooted and now the screen is off color (redish) and has some weird artifacts on the screen. Hmm. I will disassemble and look around.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

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