Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[lightninjay]

Thanks. I already flashed it before removing the usb port. I tried the pin 1 black and pin 2 red but the rp2040 did not power on. Then I tried the red and black on the usb pins then plugged it on my laptop and it has blue led light then flashed purple. I guess I can still use this rp2040 right?

Yes, this should be fine. As long as those LED's are flashing those kinds of colors, the program is attempting to glitch an attached switch. Go for it!

I just finished up hacking my GF's switch lite (my second picofly install overall) and this time only managed to break a single trace going between the daughter-board and the main board that killed the display (temporarily).

I found the trace that was broken, bodged in a wire, and "presto!" the screen turned on and I was greeted with a "NO SD CARD" screen

This hobby is addicting, not even for the switch aspect, just the micro-soldering. When you get it all done and it JUST WORKS, there's some kind of high that I get from it, wouldn't trade it for the world!

 

[rehius]

Not sure why but I reset the chip to get it to train again and it’s doing this weird shit now instead of training and trying tk glitch, all my solder points are good

CYAN = no reaction to the glitch. Check your mosfet soldering. It must be a 0.2mm wire to both caps, no cold joints. (you can post a photo here). With bad setup it can partially work, but not on the whole range of tested offsets.

 

[nico77]

which "position", goin fit perfectly , to put/place the RP2040-zero :
also im planning remove the:
-usb c port
-boot & reset button

for Lite do~ninten
01) RIGHT SIDE

or


02) LEFT SIDE

also
can the metal shield fit~closed well when the rp2040 installed : 01 or 02 ?

*ill make hole(metal shield) depend where the rp2040 placed.

thx

 

[ppeach]

I keep getting orange light and I've checked all the connections and even used alternate solder points. i have a v2 switch with toshiba emmc it seems. I read somewhere that some emmc may not be supported? or is there anything else that I need to do for toshiba emmc? I used the latest fw 2.64 btw

My lite is a toshiba and it works fine.
rp2040, smd, check the wire connections.
I checked my switch as well because I often get orange or pink LEDs.
The soldering between rp2040, smd and wires was incomplete.

 

[naldo29]

Well, had some fun time today while installing double MOSFET for the first time on the Lite with Sammy eMMC.

Followed @Dee87 's diagram and went full double transistor right away I used AWG30 wire for Caps to MOSFET connections and UV solder mask for fixing stuff.

Here're my 2 cents from what I learned during this install (pics below):

• MOSFET prep

1. place the transistors side by side (source oriented) on an adhesive tape in deadbug style as originally coined by our dear @binkinator (man, where have you been?) and solder the source cable with AWG30 by being careful to not to short the Gate pin of the bottom MOSFET.
2. solder the gate cables (enamel wire should be used here).

• SoC prep

1. solder AWG30 wire by slightly bending the end to each capacitor and gently fix it with some UV solder mask.
2. place two MOSFETs by the SoC side by manipulating it by the source wire.
3. solder the Source and the two Drains by following Dee's scheme.
4. cover everything with solder mask.

Side note: I placed the PicoFly on top of the RAM, though when I assembled the metal and plastic shell it wasn't too smooth, but everything seem to fit OK. The console is glitching, though I had a feeling that it was glitching faster before the metal + plastic shell that probably put some extra pressure on top of Pi. Does this make sense, or should I just chill even if I'm not looking into cutting the metal shell or moving the Pi?

what wires are you using? i know theyre awg30 but i ask like, what type of wires are they? and where did you find them?

Post automatically merged: Apr 16, 2023

also got a question, if 1 mosfet works fine, why do we sometimes need 2? also same question with the resistors, why do we gotta double them up sometimes and if we sometimes gotta double it why dont we just buy something like 94ohm resistors or somethin, idk im just curious lol.

 

[lightninjay]

which "position", goin fit perfectly , to put/place the RP2040-zero :
also im planning remove the:
-usb c port
-boot & reset button

for Lite do~ninten
01) RIGHT SIDE
View attachment 365244

or


02) LEFT SIDE
View attachment 365245

also
can the metal shield fit~closed well when the rp2040 installed : 01 or 02 ?
View attachment 365246

*ill make hole(metal shield) depend where the rp2040 placed.

thx

I just recently (read as within the past few hours) finished up a lite install. I opted for position 02, with USB C and buttons removed, in that same inverted position. Not concerned with seeing the LED while it's inside, so I did not bother to cut the shield, but opted to wrap the RP2040 in kapton tape to insulate it. The shield went on with no bulge.

 

[deeps]

which "position", goin fit perfectly , to put/place the RP2040-zero :
also im planning remove the:
-usb c port
-boot & reset button

for Lite do~ninten
01) RIGHT SIDE
View attachment 365244

or


02) LEFT SIDE
View attachment 365245

also
can the metal shield fit~closed well when the rp2040 installed : 01 or 02 ?
View attachment 365246

*ill make hole(metal shield) depend where the rp2040 placed.

thx

position #2 (on top of emmc shield) is interesting. There is a lot more room under the shield there if the pad on top of the emmc shield is removed. I would say it might even fit without cutting the shield, however it is a super tight fit and will require kapton tape as isolation both underneath, on top and on the sides. Also it will make any future repair difficult since the rp2040 will cover two screws. If you are going to cut the shield anyway I would probably go with position #1

 

[Phantomas77]

which "position", goin fit perfectly , to put/place the RP2040-zero :
also im planning remove the:
-usb c port
-boot & reset button

for Lite do~ninten
01) RIGHT SIDE
View attachment 365244

or


02) LEFT SIDE
View attachment 365245

also
can the metal shield fit~closed well when the rp2040 installed : 01 or 02 ?
View attachment 365246

*ill make hole(metal shield) depend where the rp2040 placed.

thx

Can confirm that #1 leads to a huge buldge on the shield, I closed it, though it's very tight. Better follow the @lightninjay 's solution.

Post automatically merged: Apr 16, 2023

what wires are you using? i know theyre awg30 but i ask like, what type of wires are they? and where did you find them?

Post automatically merged: Apr 16, 2023

also got a question, if 1 mosfet works fine, why do we sometimes need 2? also same question with the resistors, why do we gotta double them up sometimes and if we sometimes gotta double it why dont we just buy something like 94ohm resistors or somethin, idk im just curious lol.

I used Kynar AWG30 wire, and stripped the Kynar isolation. You can find themon RS, Digikey, etc or even some low-quality on Ali. The usefull thing is that it's only a single conductor.

Installing 2 MOSFETs is a failproof method, if everything is done correctly, the glitch will work. In most of the cases, 1 is enough, though it seems that there're some consoles that need extra "triggering" on the APU capacitors. As reported by rehius, 1 MOSFET connected to both capacitors should work well instead of using 2.

Roughly speaking, resistors are related to signal "quality", try with 47 Ohm first and don't use long wires: if you still encounter issues, we're here to help.

 

[808080]

DATA0 has an alternative point. But you may need to repair the damaged line.
DATA0有一个替代点。但是您可能需要修复损坏的线路。

Is there a similar tutorial on fixing DATA0 corruption in lite, please, video or picture is fine.

 

[Smiles]

Is there continuity on the mosfet once wired in? I bought three. I removed one because continuity and the next behaves the same in circuit.

 

[Frullone]

I'm now facing a new install and I'm thinking: would it make sense to rip on purpose the traces you don't need on the flex cable?

 

[kkkk134]

I use 2.65 firmware and the chip changes from a blue light to a red light when I turn it on. What is the problem?

Post automatically merged: Apr 16, 2023

I use 2.65 firmware and the chip changes from a blue light to a red light when I turn it on. What is the problem?

 

[Frullone]

I use 2.65 firmware and the chip changes from a blue light to a red light when I turn it on. What is the problem?

Post automatically merged: Apr 16, 2023

It's an image, not a video. By the way it's most likely purple and that means that you should check your DAT0 or CLK connection

 

[nico77]

I just recently (read as within the past few hours) finished up a lite install. I opted for position 02, with USB C and buttons removed, in that same inverted position. Not concerned with seeing the LED while it's inside, so I did not bother to cut the shield, but opted to wrap the RP2040 in kapton tape to insulate it. The shield went on with no bulge.

i havent open my lite, so soon i should seen them by myself. number 2 look great if didnt neet to cut the shield, but also im ok if need cut the shield little bit just around the rp2040 location... . yeah ive prepare my kapton tape... for everything .


are those cover 1&2 has the same high/height/tall

from image number 2 kinda look lower than no.1
but idk is just illusion ? maybe im wrong.....

 

[Dandan0404]

What would happen if i join all of the pins in the HWFLY FLEX CPU CABLE? will it affect something? or like the 2nd and 5th pin would be soldered

 

[kkkk134]

It's an image, not a video. By the way it's most likely purple and that means that you should check your DAT0 or CLK connection

 

[DynaMight]

which "position", goin fit perfectly , to put/place the RP2040-zero :
also im planning remove the:
-usb c port
-boot & reset button

for Lite do~ninten
01) RIGHT SIDE
View attachment 365244

or


02) LEFT SIDE
View attachment 365245

also
can the metal shield fit~closed well when the rp2040 installed : 01 or 02 ?
View attachment 365246

*ill make hole(metal shield) depend where the rp2040 placed.

thx

Initially I intended on position 2, I dry fitted everything before soldering and it fitted in snug without any shield cutting, however once I started soldering everything, I decided to go with position 1 because the the cables naturally went that way and I didnt want to put a lot of pressure on them (I didnt use extremely thin magnet wire, I used 30awg Kynar wire so had a little fight in it) and also my CPU flex cable came out and sat in position 2 and I didnt want to stack the Pico on top of the connector, it would had probably been fine but I had already changed to position 1 at this point.

Position 2 will probably give the cleaner install, I did cut my shield for position 1 but obviously looks fine with the shell!

 

[nico77]

position #2 (on top of emmc shield) is interesting. There is a lot more room under the shield there if the pad on top of the emmc shield is removed. I would say it might even fit without cutting the shield, however it is a super tight fit and will require kapton tape as isolation both underneath, on top and on the sides. Also it will make any future repair difficult since the rp2040 will cover two screws. If you are going to cut the shield anyway I would probably go with position #1

yeah im thinkin that too... emmc cover
the rp2040 back side, gonna fit there? (kapton tape prepared)

those make rp2040 not flat T T

 

[Tom8823]

So how do you guys stick mosfet to the board and rp2040 to the shield?

Double sided tape? Kapton tape? Solder mask?

 

[Arakon]

So how do you guys stick mosfet to the board and rp2040 to the shield?

Double sided tape? Kapton tape? Solder mask?

I put a layer of kapton down, double sided tape (thin) on that, rp2040, and a layer of kapton on top of the chip, anchored to the bottom of the fan frame and the metal shield. For the mosfet, I put shrinktubing over it and squeezed it under the metal bar that runs between CPU and RAM, although it was a tight fit, so I would probably use a drop of glue or solder mask next time instead.