Hacking F-G Joycon Mod: MagnetHax Switch Edition

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TheCyberQuake

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This is my basic write-up of my joycon mod for Fusee Gelee that only shorts pins 9 and 10 when a magnet is held to the joycon.

Why did I do this?
Well, there are a few reason. Firstly, I got the idea from someone on discord (who were kinda joking) but I decided I should actually do it.
I also was a bit nostalgic for the 3ds when we used ntrboot to hack it using a button combo and a magnet.
Finally, even if it's not likely or reasonable for nintendo to detect pin 10 being constantly pulled low with the other joycon modifications, I just wanted to stay safe in case they ever did do something like poll it overtime to see if it always is triggered.
And while i could have just made a jig, I didn't want to have to take my switch case off and take off a joycon just to boot into RCM.

Parts:
Soldering Iron + Solder (obviously)
Thin gauge wire
Reed switch
heat shrink tubing (optional, but recommended)
Multimeter (optional, but recommended to ensure things are working properly before fully reassembling)

Basic install instructions:
Not going to go too in depth here as it's essentially the same as modding it with a wire internally, but instead you are puttting a reed switch in the middle of that wire.

For exact locations of the points on the right joycon PCB to solder to, you can refer to the other joycon modding threads.

You'll obviously want to dissassemble your joycon until you can get good access to the points on the board you need to solder to
From there, you'll want to shorten the leads on your reed switch, and solder a short wire to each end of the reed swtich.
AgBfSS0.jpg


From there if you have heat shrink tubing, cut it to appropriate size and place it over the reed switch to cover it and the exposed leads to prevent any accidental shorting in the joycon.
BNuhqvP.jpg


Finally, just take what you made and solder it to the correct test points on the PCB, which will give the optimal placement for the reed switch.
VAISMP2.jpg


Finally, you'll want to CAREFULLY reassemble your joycon. If you have a multimeter, I would do a partial assembly by putting the joycon pin ribbon cable back in, and putting the back on, and using the pin solder points on the rail to ensure the circuit is remaining open without a magnet, and then closes with a magnet.
You may need a stronger magnet if you find the circuit isn't closing when you place your magnet over the lower portion of the back of the joycon (where the reed switch is obviously).
5PuCiU3.jpg


Once complete, your joycon should now only short pins 9 and 10 when you hold a magnet to the back of the joycon (may also work from the front with a strong enough magnet)
Here's a video showcasing the mod in action (holding Vol + at boot not entering RCM, then holding a magnet to the joycon, holding Vol + and entering RCM and running a payload)
 
Last edited by TheCyberQuake,
This is excellent. Thanks OP.

One thing worth noting is some cautionary advice regarding using pin 9 as Ground, as noted here and for a few posts after that:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-ultimate-list-of-mods-to-enter-rcm.502145/page-4#post-7943125

It's looks like it's best to use pin 1 as Ground instead of pin 9 because there's the chance that pin 9 could be pulled High by some software (see details in above link) - I don't know whether there's a pin 1 test pad for soldering a wire to, I'd need to take my Joycon apart again to check. I use pin 1 as Ground and not pin 9 (different internal mod to this) and it works fine.

I'll get a reed switch ordered and try this using pin 1 as Ground. Thanks again OP. :)
 
That's kinda awesome!

But what I'm always afraid of: Doesn't a magnet destroy such devices as the Switch? I mean flash memory (like it's used on SD cards and eMMC) stores its information in electric signals and a magnet would wipe them or am I completely wrong about that?
Is it absolutely safe to touch the Switch with a magnet? Or are there any places we should avoid touching with the magnet?
 
I'm fairly certain that only pertains to magnetic storage, ie a hard drive. It shouldn't affect flash storage
That's kinda awesome!

But what I'm always afraid of: Doesn't a magnet destroy such devices as the Switch? I mean flash memory (like it's used on SD cards and eMMC) stores its information in electric signals and a magnet would wipe them or am I completely wrong about that?
Is it absolutely safe to touch the Switch with a magnet? Or are there any places we should avoid touching with the magnet?
 
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That's kinda awesome!

But what I'm always afraid of: Doesn't a magnet destroy such devices as the Switch? I mean flash memory (like it's used on SD cards and eMMC) stores its information in electric signals and a magnet would wipe them or am I completely wrong about that?
Is it absolutely safe to touch the Switch with a magnet? Or are there any places we should avoid touching with the magnet?

No, magnets are only dangerous to hard drives.

Keep in mind a ton of smartphone flipcases use magnets. There's no risk.
 
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You have large hands. Also, nice payload.

I'm gonna do this to a joycon at some point, this is pretty damn clever
 
I didn't call it hax, it's named after the 3ds where you hold a magnet to it as part of an exploit (later called ntrboot)
I know it comes from the 3DS, that's the reason I'm saying that.
But anyway, nice mod
 
Last edited by MAXLEMPIRA,
Nicely done. Neat, no cutting of the JoyCon case for a switch. No faffing about shorting pins with wires or Jigs.

Definitely the way I’ll be doing it now I think. And it’ll finally give me a reason to use my sadly neglected new iron :D
 
This is excellent. Thanks OP.

One thing worth noting is some cautionary advice regarding using pin 9 as Ground, as noted here and for a few posts after that:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-ultimate-list-of-mods-to-enter-rcm.502145/page-4#post-7943125

It's looks like it's best to use pin 1 as Ground instead of pin 9 because there's the chance that pin 9 could be pulled High by some software (see details in above link) - I don't know whether there's a pin 1 test pad for soldering a wire to, I'd need to take my Joycon apart again to check. I use pin 1 as Ground and not pin 9 (different internal mod to this) and it works fine.

I'll get a reed switch ordered and try this using pin 1 as Ground. Thanks again OP. :)
I'll take a look into finding what test pad is pin 1 and testing the install with that instead.
 

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