Hardware Can i get my Nintendo Switch back to reading SD-cards again anyhow?

[CrizzKid]

Hello everyone,
I had problems with my SD card socket and I gave it to a friend of mine 'cuz his dad knew about stuff like that. When I got it back he said he couldn't get it fixed and after a little chat with a professional I was told to just buy a new one 'cuz some of my soldering pins were torn off and 2 of them have been short circuited. I can't enter RCM mode anymore, no matter what I do, my switch just keeps booting into original software. Is there ANY way to connect my SD card reader back to the mainboard? I thought about buying a new motherboard but a) these things cost 150€ for me b) they're currently unavailable to buy. I also saw a similar thread where people connected their SD card reader with wires or something, is this an option maybe? Thanks in advance guys, I really appreciate your help! (:

 

[masagrator]

I can't enter RCM mode anymore, no matter what I do, my switch just keeps booting into original software.

This is not related to damaged sdcard connector. RCM should still work, just you won't boot anything outside of standard payloads. Except when someone will short circuit something related to RCM, but this is fault of someone who was tinkering.

And this is how it should look like after pins have been torned off.


On your picture definitely someone damaged it more.

My wild guess is that your buddy's dad removed connector (and additionally shortcircuiting some paths), tried to do something with connector, gave up and give it back.
It could be recoverable before, but now chance is very very small.

 

[linuxares]

@squee666 is this something even you can fix? This looks really bad and it looks like someone already tried something on it already

 

[izy]

Yeah gl with that those traces need redone entirely

 

[CrizzKid]

Damn, means I can buy abnew one, nice. Not gonna be easy finding unpatched switches for an acceptable price. Thank you guys for helping!

 

[britain4]

That could probably theoretically be bodged back together by someone with the right skills - wiring diagram post 6 here: https://gbatemp.net/threads/sd-card-port-issue.521485/

I will say that board looks an absolute mess and if the short isn’t that visible blob of solder across the top row of pins it’d be a much more difficult job