Notice: I am not receiving notifications for this thread. I didn`t realise people were still posting in it.

Please please accept my apologies if I haven`t replied to tags etc... I have no idea what is happening. I`m subscribed to this thread but I am not receiving notifications. Please inbox me if possible. Or tag me in another thread.

Its amazing that people are still checking all of this out. I thank you for all of the help and support I have received in this thread over this year.

Cheers. Matty.


A video showing a modchip in action. Thank you once again to @metaljay for providing this. This is what you can achieve by fitting a chip!

Section 1. Gather your software.

Get your chip software from THIS THREAD.
Follow the flashing instructions there...

Section 2. Removing USB port and unneeded LEDs. (Adafruit chips only)

• Next, we need to remove the USB port from the modchip. I recommend a heatgun or a rework station. Heat up until the USB port just lifts off the modchip.

• Do the same for the LED just to the right of the USB port.

See picture:

You are now ready to fit your device. Proceed to Fitting section.

Section 3. Fitting modchip to your Switch.
New Universal Method. All SAMD-based internal chips. If your chip is not supported and you cannot work it out, PM me.

Trinket M0.
Solder as laid out in the following picture

==================================================
Rebug SwitchME M0. Use Trinket files.
Solder as laid out in the following picture

==================================================
RCMX86 - Internal modchip version.
Solder as laid out in the following picture

==================================================
Gemma M0. Use Gemma files.
Solder as laid out in the following picture

==================================================
ItsyBitsy M0 Express. Use ItsyBitsy files.
Solder as laid out in the following picture

==================================================
Feather M0 Express. Use Feather files.
Solder as laid out in the following picture

BUILD YOUR OWN FROM A QFP ATSAMD21E18. Trinket equivalent pins.
Flash Trinket bootloader using OpenOCD via serial pins SWDIO / SWDCLK. Fit a reset switch somewhere... Or going to power / wake (aka method 2). If building for external use, it is good practice to fit a third capacitor between 3V & GND. This is deliberately vague and ambigious, as this needs research and you need to know what you are doing.

Link for setting the Pi up with OpenOCD: HERE
Raspberry Pi OpenOCD image in downloads section or HERE

Alternative Solder Points

Credit to @consolex for original pic. I`ve added alternative points to solder to:

Credit to @pyorin for this much tidier version showing the same info as the above one!

Replacement Parts List

Spoiler: Parts

Ok... So you have damaged your switch soldering your chip in. Not to worry.

First things first, DO NOT BRIDGE THE CONTACTS HOPING TO REVIVE YOUR SWITCH. With resistors, you may possibly get away with this, but with the capacitors listed below, if you jump these points, you will make a nice short-circuit to the PMIC and / or the M92T36, killing them instantly. Don`t do it.

OK... I`ll list these parts with METHOD 2 & 3 TRINKET PIN NUMBERS and the values of the components they solder to.

TRINKET 3V (POWER SUPPLY) - 2.2uF 0402 size MLCC capacitor. Voltage unimportant as long as it is over 6.3v
TRINKET PIN 2 (POWER ON RESET - goes to pin 5 on M92T36)- 4.7uF 0402 size MLCC capacitor. Voltage unimportant as long as it is over 6.3v
TRINKET PIN 0 (VOL+) - 150R (150 ohms) 0201 Thick Film resistor. 50mW
TRINKET RESET (SWITCH POWER BUTTON) - 150R (150 ohms) 0201 Thick Film resistor. 50mW

I recommend RS components.

FAQ

Q - How do I boot the switch into APX (RCM) mode?

A - You need to short out pin 10 on the right joycon rail to GND with a jig or modded joycon or paperclip (not recommended... Buy a jig you cheap-ass gyppo). Once shorted out, hold down vol+ and power. The switch screen should be off... Plug into your PC and it should recognise a APX device. Well done. You are in RCM.

Q - What glue should I use?
A - Only glue if necessary! Ideally if your soldering is of sufficient quality and your wire is thin enough, you don`t need glue. I use a bit because I am OCD. Anyway, use Epoxy. It`s what I use. Gives you some working time, is solid. Superglue makes a mess DO NOT USE SUPERGLUE. The only thing super about it is how it melts things. Epoxy won`t stick to the shield long-term, so bear that in mind. Pure Acetone will remove epoxy. Acetone tends to remove / melt anything to be warned. CHECK YOUR GLUE WON`T GO CONDUCTIVE OVER TIME - LOOKING AT YOU SCAMSUNG! The combination of heat cycles and absorbing of moisture can turn adhesive into a high-impedance connection!

Q - What size wire should I use?
A - I use AWG40 magnet wire or AWG30 Kynar. AWG40 goes onto components easier... And if you snap it, chances are the wire will snap and not the trace / component.
A2 - You can also use AWG30. I recommend Kynar wrapping wire but any will do. Looks nice, good resistance to elements, tidy. Nothing thicker than AWG30. You are just causing yourself more headaches. Trust me.

Q - Is AWG40 thick enough?
A - Yes. AWG40 is good for around 90mA.

Q - which methods do you recommend?
A - Connect all the straps...

Q - how do you recommend to set it up?
A - Fusee Suite. Search for Fusee Suite or go to link at top of this OP.

Q - My switch is flat and won't turn on.
A - Have you got the charger connected? Disconnect it or your switch won't boot! Boot to a payload (SX loader/Hekate), reconnect charger and leave on the payload menu and charge. Leave for 15 minutes and switch will start normally. It will continue charging one booted.

Disclaimer:
You have only yourself to blame. This voids warranty. This may or may not get you banned from online services. If it does, you got yourself banned. I`m not responsible if you kill your switch / your first-born with any of this in this post. I`m not infalliable. I`m partly senile. Do your own research. Kids, get bill payers permission before you attempt even using a screwdriver.
NUTSHELL: Don`t come having a go at me because you fooked your £300 console up. I`ll do my best to help you though if you do, Just don`t blame me.

Credits to Quantum-Cross, Atlas44, @Ninoh-FOX , @jcrorxp , @tecfreak, @mooglazer, @subcon959, @64Dp128k, @mikeleuskaldunak, @M-O-B, CTCaer, @evilsperm, @consolex and everyone else for valuable input.

IF YOU REQUIRE SUPPORT, IF YOUR CONSOLE ISN`T WORKING CORRECTLY... PLEASE POST A HIGH RESOLUTION PICTURE OF YOUR INSTALL. You might think it isn`t your soldering, but in all cases with the new methods, it is bad soldering. So, please post a picture.

A BRIEF WARNING - PLEASE READ

Spoiler: READ THIS

THIS MOD IS NOT FOR THE FEINT OF HEART. WE ARE SOLDERING TO TRACES AND COMPONENTS ON THE FRONT SIDE OF THE BOARD TO SAVE HAVING TO REMOVE THE BOARD AND SOLDER TO TESTPOINTS. IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING, OR THINK YOU ARE GOING TO STRUGGLE, PLEASE PLEASE SOLDER TO THE TEST POINTS NOTED IN THIS AND OTHER THREADS (YOU WILL NEED TO REMOVE THE MOTHERBOARD). DOUBLE - TRIPLE CHECK EVERYTHING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
Good soldering skills are needed!
A magnifying glass is needed!
Good soldering iron needed - ideally with a 0.3 conical tip. No more than 30w!
SECURE YOUR WIRES PRIOR TO SOLDERING. Stick them down with double-sided tape.
Only use glue if you need to and glue wires after soldering. Don`t glue the solder to the component!
Put the tiniest amount of glue on the PCB mask only. Never on components. Use a cocktail stick for more glue control!!!
Take a look at alternative solder points to get you out of the sh*t if you do rip something off the board
If you aren`t the best at soldering, then think very carefully about connecting to pin 6 capacitor (the one in these new methods). If you rip this pad, you WILL NEED TO REMOVE YOUR BOARD and run from a testpoint.

 

[pcwizard7]

does anyone know if there any place that do this mod for you? Australia preferred?

 

[IronWarship]

I tried to put a trinket into my Switch and at first everything was going good- the Switch turned on, it booted to the home menu fine. Then I realize that the power button and the volume down button weren't working. When I clicked volume up, it showed that it was at max volume. From that, I figured the trinket was just pulling vol+ constantly. I unsoldered the vol+ strap and the volume returned to normal. However, the power button was still not working.I checked all my wires and they looked good as far as I could tell under my microscope.

Then, it stopped turning on. I would plug it in, and the screen would stay black. I knew it couldn't be in RCM because I had to disconnect the battery to turn it off, since the power button didn't work to let me turn it off. The weirder thing is that if I plugged it in, unplugged it, and waited a few minutes, it would turn ion. I thought maybe the battery was just dead, so I let it charge for half an hour with the Nintendo power cord. It still wouldn't turn on when I plugged it in.
So, I panicked a bit. I unsoldered all my my wires, and it still doesn't turn on normally. While writing this, it turned on once randomly, but immediately turned back off.

I attempted to install:
Trinket M0 with 3V near rail, Vol+ strap, and USB strap. Ground pin nearest the charger port.
When I have the Nintendo charger plugged in, my meter reads 15V at 0.2A sometimes, 0.25A others, and 0.0A.
My battery is at 3.62V measured from the header.
I tried a known-good battery, and it still did not work.
The fuse near the charging port shows continuity.

Pictures from my microscope attached.

Can someone tell me what I did wrong and how/if I can fix it?

EDIT: So it looks like the Switch is turning on now. I forgot to mention that every one in a few boots, the power screen will pop up.That's happening now as well. Also, it keeps turning too 100% volume. Could something be pulling the power button, causing it to stay off and hard restart all the time? Battery seems stuck at 15% no matter how long I leave it on the charger.

EDIT EDIT: And it seems like the Switch will boot to the home menu, but the screen stays black

 

[wartutor]

@mattytrog now working perfect that was the problem thx for all you help and great work here. Now to install 2 more lol

 

[salitoshater]

I tried to install a rebug switchme today. I immediately started with the, for me, most difficult part, the Vol+Strap. Unfortunately the cable didn't want to be fixed with solder.
Does anyone have a tip for this difficult spot?

 

[mattytrog]

I tried to put a trinket into my Switch and at first everything was going good- the Switch turned on, it booted to the home menu fine. Then I realize that the power button and the volume down button weren't working. When I clicked volume up, it showed that it was at max volume. From that, I figured the trinket was just pulling vol+ constantly. I unsoldered the vol+ strap and the volume returned to normal. However, the power button was still not working.I checked all my wires and they looked good as far as I could tell under my microscope.

Then, it stopped turning on. I would plug it in, and the screen would stay black. I knew it couldn't be in RCM because I had to disconnect the battery to turn it off, since the power button didn't work to let me turn it off. The weirder thing is that if I plugged it in, unplugged it, and waited a few minutes, it would turn ion. I thought maybe the battery was just dead, so I let it charge for half an hour with the Nintendo power cord. It still wouldn't turn on when I plugged it in.
So, I panicked a bit. I unsoldered all my my wires, and it still doesn't turn on normally. While writing this, it turned on once randomly, but immediately turned back off.

I attempted to install:
Trinket M0 with 3V near rail, Vol+ strap, and USB strap. Ground pin nearest the charger port.
When I have the Nintendo charger plugged in, my meter reads 15V at 0.2A sometimes, 0.25A others, and 0.0A.
My battery is at 3.62V measured from the header.
I tried a known-good battery, and it still did not work.
The fuse near the charging port shows continuity.

Pictures from my microscope attached.

Can someone tell me what I did wrong and how/if I can fix it?

EDIT: So it looks like the Switch is turning on now. I forgot to mention that every one in a few boots, the power screen will pop up.That's happening now as well. Also, it keeps turning too 100% volume. Could something be pulling the power button, causing it to stay off and hard restart all the time? Battery seems stuck at 15% no matter how long I leave it on the charger.

EDIT EDIT: And it seems like the Switch will boot to the home menu, but the screen stays black

OK. Editing post... Please wait

The vol+, vol - and pwr are all buffered with 150 ohm resistors. These can be safely bypassed as the current going to the GPIOs is limited, so if you break one don`t worry too much.

Have you had the fan out? People tend to damage the pwr / vol ribbon removing/refitting the fan in my experience. Can you follow the pwr/vol flex and ensure it is undamaged?

 

[IronWarship]

@mattytrog Sorry, didn't get a chance to check until now.

It doesn't look like the ribbon cable is damaged at all. Check the pictures and let me know what you think.
I also included two pictures of the board around where the Vol+ strap is. I don't see anything out of the ordinary, but maybe you do?

 

[mattytrog]

@mattytrog Sorry, didn't get a chance to check until now.

It doesn't look like the ribbon cable is damaged at all. Check the pictures and let me know what you think.
I also included two pictures of the board around where the Vol+ strap is. I don't see anything out of the ordinary, but maybe you do?

Try this:

The PWR button RED point looks dry on your picture. Can you reflow that?

 

[xHR]

Hi there! I have another strange issue with one of clients consoles. Is is shows me Nintendo's logo and turned off on OFW (just before Nintendo Switch bootscreen shows normaly). On Atmosphere booting console turned off after Atmosphere b\w logo. Android works great. Console was harmoded before, but I desoldered it for testing - nothing changed. Few times it starts works fine when I testing it with hardmode and desoldered USB-pin

I think it is hardware issue, but I cannot understand what is going wrong exactly

 

[mattytrog]

Hi there! I have another strange issue with one of clients consoles. Is is shows me Nintendo's logo and turned off on OFW (just before Nintendo Switch bootscreen shows normaly). On Atmosphere booting console turned off after Atmosphere b\w logo. Android works great. Console was harmoded before, but I desoldered it for testing - nothing changed. Few times it starts works fine when I testing it with hardmode and desoldered USB-pin

I think it is hardware issue, but I cannot understand what is going wrong exactly

Hmmm... What fuse count / firmware? Sounds like a fuse mismatch. If you were relying on the Switchboot (part 1) before and you disconnecrted the chip and tried to normal boot, fuses would have burned. Has the unit been downgraded?

Check GND is soldered well.

 

[xHR]

Hmmm... What fuse count / firmware? Sounds like a fuse mismatch. If you were relying on the Switchboot (part 1) before and you disconnecrted the chip and tried to normal boot, fuses would have burned. Has the unit been downgraded?

Check GND is soldered well.

I already desolder chip. Nothing is changed
I had 10 burned fuses and 8.1.0 on a board .

 

[mattytrog]

I already desolder chip. Nothing is changed
I had 10 burned fuses and 8.1.0 on a board .

does it charge OK?Charge / battery nice asnd stable in Hekate? If not, BQ24193 suspect.

Also - how are you powering the chip? From emmc point or other?

 

[xHR]

does it charge OK?Charge / battery nice asnd stable in Hekate? If not, BQ24193 suspect.

Also - how are you powering the chip? From emmc point or other?

Charge fine only with original ac. About +1000. When charging with leeco fastcharge adapter charging very slow - about +50. Few times was +1 or even 0

Chip powered from point benearh backlight ribbon.

Will try to resolder bq on the next week, thnx

 

[DenisTheManis]

Hi everyone. I tried to install the M0 on my switch, and while I was soldering (I'm a complete noob). I fried two of my M0 chips already. The image attached is how it looks now. Is it possible to still somehow use this chip, eventhough the 2nd pin fell off? Can I just put some tin on it?
Also I couldn't manage to connect the 3V connection on the right of the screenshot provided in the first post. Is it ok to use the left one?
I managed to have all cables soldered and started the switch. The M0 chip was blinking, but I couldn't get into SX Mode. Could that have to do with the cables I was using?
Thanks for your help in advance

 

[mattytrog]

Hi everyone. I tried to install the M0 on my switch, and while I was soldering (I'm a complete noob). I fried two of my M0 chips already. The image attached is how it looks now. Is it possible to still somehow use this chip, eventhough the 2nd pin fell off? Can I just put some tin on it?
Also I couldn't manage to connect the 3V connection on the right of the screenshot provided in the first post. Is it ok to use the left one?
I managed to have all cables soldered and started the switch. The M0 chip was blinking, but I couldn't get into SX Mode. Could that have to do with the cables I was using?
Thanks for your help in advance

It is possible to still use the chip.

But you NEED to be really confident at soldering sir.
Feel free to send it here if you require assistance

 

[DenisTheManis]

It is possible to still use the chip.

But you NEED to be really confident at soldering sir.
Feel free to send it here if you require assistance

'Thanks for the swift reply. How would I manage that? Can I simply apply some solder at the spot where the connection point was?

 

[mattytrog]

'Thanks for the swift reply. How would I manage that? Can I simply apply some solder at the spot where the connection point was?

No. You need to go directly to the chip with some very thin wire. AWG30 or thinner. Use Kynar

 

[DenisTheManis]

No. You need to go directly to the chip with some very thin wire. AWG30 or thinner. Use Kynar

Cool. Will try that. I will have to wait for the AWG30 though, as it wont arrive until next week wednesday.
Thanks again.

 

[digipimp75]

Cool. Will try that. I will have to wait for the AWG30 though, as it wont arrive until next week wednesday.
Thanks again.

I did the same thing, ripping those two data pads. I had to solder the wires directly to the chip legs, and it works great now! It's not an easy task though. You need very thin wire, a good magnifying glass, and a precision tip for your soldering iron. Good luck!

 

[DenisTheManis]

I did the same thing, ripping those two data pads. I had to solder the wires directly to the chip legs, and it works great now! It's not an easy task though. You need very thin wire, a good magnifying glass, and a precision tip for your soldering iron. Good luck!

Thanks mate. I'm excited to try it. I finally have also bought a magnifying glass .
I was so unprepared. It hurts thinking about it ^^

 

[smasha]

Hi @mattytrog

Just received a switch that someone tried and failed modding, was wondering if you can tell me the best way to fix this?

Resistor has been desoldered and that usb pad has been lifted. (this is the next to the USB disconnect strap). Are you able to advise OHMs or part number I'd need to replace it? Can I short this? Switch does not boot as is.

EDIT:
Switch DOES boot, it just had autorcm on, injected hekate via pc and it boots. Is it safe to ignore this resistor?

Cheers mate!