Hacking HWFly Lite modchip does not start

[Gesztiboy]

Hello All,

In the last month I ordered a HWFly Lite modchip via Ali and I soldered it (I used mostly sth*tix videos, he has pretty good vids) but somehow the modchip does not start blinking, doing the glitch or doing anything. The Switch Lite turns on without any problems, no BSOD, no black screen, etc...and I still don't see the imfamous "space rocket and NO SD" screen on my Switch Lite or Hekate, only the OFW boots

Just in case, I checked, what happens, if I connect the chip via debug cable to my PC and then the green LED turns on.


If I measure the new solder points with multimeter, it's beeping, thus the ribbon cable won't be broken

Just a picture about the installation


Does anyone have idea/suggestion, what can cause the problem? How can I measure it, if the soldering cause the problem? Can anyone provide a valid soldering guide, which points are need to solder? What can be the effects of the broken modchip? Any idea much appreciated

 

[de9ed]

What are the values of CMD/clk/dat0/rst ? ( Diode mode, red on gnd and black on point)

 

[Gesztiboy]

What are the values of CMD/clk/dat0/rst ? ( Diode mode, red on gnd and black on point)

Silly question but where can I find those? I mean I can measure values on the modchip itself but I'm not sure, which point would be which one. I measured the following:

 

[impeeza]

Hello All,

In the last month I ordered a HWFly Lite modchip via Ali and I soldered it (I used mostly sth*tix videos, he has pretty good vids) but somehow the modchip does not start blinking, doing the glitch or doing anything. The Switch Lite turns on without any problems, no BSOD, no black screen, etc...and I still don't see the imfamous "space rocket and NO SD" screen on my Switch Lite or Hekate, only the OFW boots
View attachment 311937

Just in case, I checked, what happens, if I connect the chip via debug cable to my PC and then the green LED turns on.
View attachment 311934

If I measure the new solder points with multimeter, it's beeping, thus the ribbon cable won't be broken

Just a picture about the installation
View attachment 311933

Does anyone have idea/suggestion, what can cause the problem? How can I measure it, if the soldering cause the problem? Can anyone provide a valid soldering guide, which points are need to solder? What can be the effects of the broken modchip? Any idea much appreciated

the picture isn't clear but seems what the welds on the CPU's condensers are in short.

 

[Gesztiboy]

the picture isn't clear but seems what the welds on the CPU's condensers are in short.

I tried my best and made a photo about condensers. By the way, if those are in short, then the switch lite can turn on without any issue?

 

[impeeza]

on that picture doesn't appears to be on short.

The switch could work with these on short, because part of the "magic" of the core/HWFLY is to put down the CPU's voltages on specific time and frecuencies to take the CPU to a vulnerable mode and use to load unsigned firmware.

 

[OrganixXx]

I have not tried but I think with shorted caps it won't turn on. The magic is to pull the voltage in the right moment deep enough to glitch the bct check. Not to short it continuesly.

 

[de9ed]

The numbers looks ok.


https://www.reddit.com/gallery/u47zuc


I would check the sp1 and sp2. Sometime it could be the cpu cable that has issue

 

[Sandmann]

the hwfly gets no power!

Check this:

 

[Gesztiboy]

The numbers looks ok
I would check the sp1 and sp2. Sometime it could be the cpu cable that has issue

Could you please suggest similar measurement method as before?

 

[Gesztiboy]

the hwfly gets no power!

Check this:
View attachment 311958

I was thinking before but I didn’t know where does the chip gets the power. I thought via the ribbon cable which is not connected to the CPU. Any idea How can I check/measure if the chip gets power or not? I checked the soldering and both sides of the bigger capacitor are covered. I’ll doublecheck later

 

[de9ed]

Could you please suggest similar measurement method as before?

check both left and right side of sp1 ans sp2 to gnd, it should beep

 

[Sandmann]

check both 3.3v and gnd, it should beep!

 

[Ferris1000]

I would try to fix the bad looking solder joints on sp1 and sp2 by using Noa little bit of noclean flux, flux will make the solder joints look clean and show if there is a connection issue or solder bridge. Left side of sp1 doesn't look soldered which would prevent the console from booting, I already had a console where one of those were the cause

 

[Gesztiboy]

check both left and right side of sp1 ans sp2 to gnd, it should beep

Checked, all four beeps

check both 3.3v and gnd, it should beep!

Just for curiousity I checked those joints with tweezers and the left side of the soldering wasn't in contact. Let me try to resolder those

I would try to fix the bad looking solder joints on sp1 and sp2 by using Noa little bit of noclean flux, flux will make the solder joints look clean and show if there is a connection issue or solder bridge. Left side of sp1 doesn't look soldered which would prevent the console from booting, I already had a console where one of those were the cause

Even if those four joints were beep, do I need to resolder?

 

[Sandmann]

when the chip gets power from the switch it must light up (pulsate)

 

[Gesztiboy]

Gentlemen,

I think we're done! Now the chip gets power, the LED pulsing and at the end it turns into green!

And the rocket with NO SD comes in as well


In this case the lack of power caused the problem but it's recommended to measure the CMD/CLK/DAT0/RST points and recheck with tweezers/resolder the joints one by one. So thank you for the help for Everyone!

A sidenote for those who will experience the same in the future:
- If you have no experience in soldering (as I had) don't worry, buy SMD/THT/microsoldering practice board and practice. It worth, really
- Using good quality tweezers, flux, 60/40 solder, soldering iron and I-Tip or similar is recommended. I used cheap tweezers in the beginning (during practice) and I couldn't hold the small capacitors, ribbon cables normally, it just caused headache
- I didn't use microscope, only "third hand with magnifying glass", the ribbon cable under the modchip was a bit difficult but not impossible. It took a few hours to solder it. And the same for the cable on the CPU. Only for one project, microscope would be overkill but longterm, it is recommended for microsoldering
- Be patient during soldering. Don't rush, otherwise, it can cause trouble
- Doublecheck the joints with tweezers, push down the cable and resolder if need (this was the problem in my case)

Once again, thank you for the help! Now I'm going to create a NAND backup and install CFW/EmuNAND