Hacking Hardware Different DAT0 connection types on OLED switch (Kamikaze vs DAT0 adapter vs Reball)

[randy_w]

I've seen a lot of posts of failed Kamikaze mod recently, as well as ebay/facebook listings selling oled motherboards damaged from Kamikaze. So just want to make this post to discuss different dat0 connection method and their reliability/risk before inexperienced people jumping to Kamikaze and killing their switch. Feel free to share your thoughts.

1. DAT0 adapter

Installation difficulty: 1/5
Risk: 0/5
Long term reliability: 2/5
Fixable if installation gone wrong: yes (desolder and adjust positioning)

There are many different designs of dat0 adapter, I've used the corner one which comes with original unflashable hwfly for oled, the yellow one which comes with instinct v6, and the black one which comes with hwfly v4. Tbh there's no different between these adapters, they all do the same thing with the same method: making contact with dat0 bga ball with friction/tension. Therefore it may come loose in the future due to oxidation/heat cycling. I used to install them till people bringing their consoles back due to dat0 connection issues. By the way I installed them using the recommended method, pushing the adapter in with tweezers while soldering anchoring points. I modded about 10 consoles with dat0 adapter, 4 of them were brought back due to dat0 issue.

2. DAT0 adapter with reflow

Installation difficulty: 2/5
Risk: 3/5
Long term reliability: 5/5
Fixable if installation gone wrong: yes (desolder and adjust positioning, reball emmc)

I found this method from sthetix, you add a little bit of leaded solder to the tip of dat0 contact, then slide the adapter in and reflow emmc. After it cools down pull dat0 adapter with a pair of tweezers, if it doesn't come out then dat0 bga ball is soldered to the adapter properly. One issue i found with this method is that when heating up emmc, the adapter sometimes moves a little, maybe due to surface tension of flux or wind from hot air station, and it may short dat0 with dat1 next to it. Sometimes it pulls right out after reflow so you need to place the dat0 adapter precisely. So far I haven't re-serviced any console with this dat0 connection method.

3. Direct connection to dat0 pad

Installation difficulty: 4/5
Risk: 4/5
Long term reliability: 5/5
Fixable if installation gone wrong: yes (desolder and reball emmc)

Started using this method as sometimes takes several tries to solder in dat0 adapter properly. This method is straight forward, just desolder the emmc chip, solder a wire to dat0 pad on motherboard, reball emmc and solder it back in. Might be difficult if you never reballed bga chips before. Also toshiba emmc is a bit fragile, I once killed a toshiba emmc just by desoldering it. emmc is completely dead, not even detected in a programmer. I recommend practicing emmc reballing on those used android tv boxes before doing it on a switch. Many people are just giving away those used android tv boxes for free or for less than $10 on facebook, they make good retro gaming emulatior consoles too.

4. Reball DAT0 adapter

Installation difficulty: 4/5
Risk: 4/5
Long term reliability: 5/5
Fixable if installation gone wrong: yes (desolder and reball emmc)

Used this adapter several times with those hwfly v5 chips, stopped using it because stability issues with hwfly v5 chip and switched back to v4. The adapter itself is ok, it sandwiches between the motherboard and the emmc chip and breaks out D/A/C signals, which means you don't need to solder to those points on the front side of the motherbaord. Only down side is that you need to do reball twice. I think it's out of production right now, tried to find it on aliexpress but no match. It's a simple design anyway, you can draw it in eda in less than 10 minutes. Another issue with it is it's hard to position it on motherboard.

5. Kamikaze

Installation difficulty: 5/5
Risk: 5/5
Long term reliability: 5/5 (?)
Fixable if installation gone wrong: no

To be honest, I never used this method on a working switch. Only practiced on 2 dead motherboards, then deemed it's too risky for me. I can reball the emmc in about 10-20 min but with this method I have to be very careful and it takes more than 30 minutes to reach the 3rd layer. Also if you damage the dat0 point on 3rd layer it's over, as this trace goes directly under tegra soc. Maybe it's easier with better tools/more practice but i'll stick with emmc reball for now.

 

[lightautodark]

I think everything comes down to practise. Kamikaze in my opinion is a lot easier than reballing. Even if a trace is accidentally cut, it's not difficult to reconnect it.

 

[Nephiel]

there's no different between these adapters, they all do the same thing with the same method

There can be huge differences in the quality of the cut and shape of the contact point. The worst ones are so poorly cut that it is just a hole, a closed "O" shape instead of a "C" shape.

Kamikaze in my opinion is a lot easier than reballing.

I completely agree. It can be done without removing the motherboard, doesn't stress the eMMC with heat, and doesn't require a hot air station + reballing setup (stencil, paste/balls, etc).

IMO the best, no-compromises method is the reball adapter, as it is the only one that can be installed without permanent damage to the board (no cut shields/frames, no drilling). However, reballing is riskier than kamikaze, because a botched kamikaze might still be fixed, unlike a cooked eMMC.

 

[randy_w]

I think everything comes down to practise. Kamikaze in my opinion is a lot easier than reballing. Even if a trace is accidentally cut, it's not difficult to reconnect it.

True, I prefer reballing simply because I've done a lot of BGA reballing in the past and i'm more comfortable with it. Maybe with better tools and more practice I'd switch to kamikaze, but it's definitely not for inexperienced people

There can be huge differences in the quality of the cut and shape of the contact point. The worst ones are so poorly cut that it is just a hole, a closed "O" shape instead of a "C" shape.

I think it's only the first batch of unflashable oled chips had those bad quality adapters, then they quickly fixed the issue and having a better dat0 adapter is the selling point for many shops selling oled chips on aliexpress. Some picofly chips have these bad adapters as well, but that's simply some manufacturer in china tries to cheap out and lower production cost.

because a botched kamikaze might still be fixed, unlike a cooked eMMC.

How do you save a failed kamikaze? afaik the dat0 trace on 3rd layer goes directly under tegra soc, unless you can desolder the soc and solder a wire to its pad, idk how you can save it

 

[Nephiel]

How do you save a failed kamikaze? afaik the dat0 trace on 3rd layer goes directly under tegra soc, unless you can desolder the soc and solder a wire to its pad, idk how you can save it

Usually there's enough of a trace left on the APU side so you could reattach. There's another spot near the eMMC, or use an adapter, or reball the eMMC.
Otherwise, yes, reball the APU to run a wire, I guess? Never done that myself.

But if the eMMC goes without a backup, the most that can be done is a lv.3 unbrick/rebuild, that results in a CFW-only boot without online capabilities.

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Adapters will give you headaches afterwards.
The contact points on the adapters are usually gold plated but the balls under the emmc are not.
Due time they will slightly oxidate and if you are out of luck, then the connection fails.

 

[linkref]

Hi, i consider myself as a mid-lelvel modder, close to the beginner. But I can advise you to keep practicing kamikaze, i can expose d0 in less than 4minutes now. Then applying solder mask, wire etc, i think 20min is donc for d0.

 

[vLTD]

Usually there's enough of a trace left on the APU side so you could reattach. There's another spot near the eMMC, or use an adapter, or reball the eMMC.
Otherwise, yes, reball the APU to run a wire, I guess? Never done that myself.

But if the eMMC goes without a backup, the most that can be done is a lv.3 unbrick/rebuild, that results in a CFW-only boot without online capabilities.

There have been many cases where people show pictures of restored failed kamikazes but I'd love to see a repair video, I don't recall there beeing any

 

[lightautodark]

There have been many cases where people show pictures of restored failed kamikazes but I'd love to see a repair video, I don't recall there beeing any

plenty on bilibili.

here's one extreme case where the you can literally see a hole in the board.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Mc411q7xQ/

but it's rarely that extreme, normally just 2-3 traces broken when the grind head used was bigger than 0.5mm.

If I can fix these I'm sure you guys can too and I just started soldering 3 months ago.

 

[vLTD]

plenty on bilibili.

here's one extreme case where the you can literally see a hole in the board.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Mc411q7xQ/

but it's rarely that extreme, normally just 2-3 traces broken when the grind head used was bigger than 0.5mm.

If I can fix these I'm sure you guys can too and I just started soldering 3 months ago.

Ah thank you! I'll take a look