Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[thesjaakspoiler]

Helllo

Why did you cut off the flex cable?

Those 2 capacitors both connect to the same voltage rail but Aalot of current will flow through that single wire from that single capacitor.
Even these wires might be on considered small :

 

[CarlosCruz]

Why did you cut off the flex cable?

Those 2 capacitors both connect to the same voltage rail but Aalot of current will flow through that single wire from that single capacitor.
Even these wires might be on considered small :

View attachment 507247

It is a flex v2 adapted to v1 with a mosfet

 

[psycho-neon]

Helllo

love the way those wires intertwined.

 

[dotmhd]

Hello guys,

I’m desperately seeking help with this issue: My friend needs his Switch back by tomorrow before leaving for a month, and I’m stuck.

This is probably the 20th Switch I’ve modded, and everything went smoothly. I completed the post-install steps without any issues, and the console stayed connected to my PC during the game installations (about 2 hours). When I unplugged it, the battery was at 100%.

Two days later, my friend came back saying the Switch wouldn’t charge anymore.

Upon inspection, it seems like a resistor might be blown, or there’s possibly a short, because Hekate no longer receives any temp/fan/battery data from the sensors.

Here’s the current situation:

• I unsoldered the Picofly: the Switch won’t boot at all.
• With the Picofly still soldered, Hekate boots, but neither Atmosphere nor stock Horizon OS will load.
• The fan is constantly spinning at 100%, which I assume makes sense since the sensors aren’t transmitting data to the CPU.

I’ve attached some pictures of the install (and can provide more if needed).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[malgamer]

Hello guys,

I’m desperately seeking help with this issue: My friend needs his Switch back by tomorrow before leaving for a month, and I’m stuck.

This is probably the 20th Switch I’ve modded, and everything went smoothly. I completed the post-install steps without any issues, and the console stayed connected to my PC during the game installations (about 2 hours). When I unplugged it, the battery was at 100%.

Two days later, my friend came back saying the Switch wouldn’t charge anymore.

Upon inspection, it seems like a resistor might be blown, or there’s possibly a short, because Hekate no longer receives any temp/fan/battery data from the sensors.

Here’s the current situation:

• I unsoldered the Picofly: the Switch won’t boot at all.
• With the Picofly still soldered, Hekate boots, but neither Atmosphere nor stock Horizon OS will load.
• The fan is constantly spinning at 100%, which I assume makes sense since the sensors aren’t transmitting data to the CPU.

I’ve attached some pictures of the install (and can provide more if needed).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

check battery fuel gauge ic probably blown

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Upon inspection, it seems like a resistor might be blown, or there’s possibly a short, because Hekate no longer receives any temp/fan/battery data from the sensors.

The CPU communicates with the battery management chip over I2C (2 datalines) .
Those traces run near and under the metal shield of the CPU.
Sometimes the traces get damaged when removing the shield with a screw driver.
Other times missing the I2C pull up resistors near the shield are causing the problem.

As a protection from setting your house on fire due to a faulty battery, Nintendo blocks booting the OS in OFW/CFW.
So if you fix the battery gauge problem then likely you will be able to boot again.

 

[dotmhd]

Thank you for your answers
Could you guys show me how can I inspect the 2 datalines ?
I'll check the fuel gauge ic too

 

[Danook28]

nintendo switch oled 19.0.1
not mod new console
now the update is mod 20.1.0 oky i need to mod the console with never ever get banned console. must mod with 19.0.1 if 20.1.0 what is bad on this firmware and how not get ever never banned and mod safe with warranty i have ready lite switch mod use it and ready was banned mistake. thank you.

 

[twins333]

nintendo switch oled 19.0.1
not mod new console
now the update is mod 20.1.0 oky i need to mod the console with never ever get banned console. must mod with 19.0.1 if 20.1.0 what is bad on this firmware and how not get ever never banned and mod safe with warranty i have ready lite switch mod use it and ready was banned mistake. thank you.

you can mod it normally. the new firmware hasn't changed anything important. Just use the latest atmosphere or HATS package and you will be fine. Also configure dns mitm properly to not get banned

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Thank you for your answers
Could you guys show me how can I inspect the 2 datalines ?
I'll check the fuel gauge ic too

Just do a visual inspection around the shield.
The location of datalines and resistors depend on the model.
The picofly has an option of using these 2 lines to increase the maximum power to the 3.3v power rails.
With the same lines, the CPU retrieves the battery charge information from the MAX ic.
Most people don't install it anymore so you might have to read back in this thread for the details.
This is the OLED version :

Both datalines are pulled up by a resistor.
You can refer to the picofly installation manuals where to find these 2 points.
I think the pull up is connected to the 3.3v lines so each point should have something like 5~10K resistance if you measure between the point and the 3.3V. If you measure no resistance than you might have knocked of f the resistor for that line.
If you measure resistance, then likely you damaged the trace somewhere near the cpu shield.
It is sometimes hard to see.
If you can boot up and charge your Switch then probably the MAX IC is fine.

 

[Danook28]

you can mod it normally. the new firmware hasn't changed anything important. Just use the latest atmosphere or HATS package and you will be fine. Also configure dns mitm properly to not get banned

thank you so much.god bless you.

 

[Pazuzo]

Can someone help me with value of this cap ?

 

[Danook28]

person update his nintendo switch to 20.1.0 emummc the ofw is 18.1.0 he has error pkgl is he break his sysnand or what happend how fix he has full nand backup and prod info and emummc working fine 20.1.0

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Can someone help me with value of this cap ?

Likely 0.1uF as most capacitors on the rp2040 boards have that value :
https://www.digikey.com.mx/maker-media/c4b1a108-fa40-435b-97fb-752a4edc982c
Only the capacitor values for the crystal matter, the rest are there to smooth the voltage rail.
If the modchip is unstable, try 1uF.

Post automatically merged: Jun 4, 2025

person update his nintendo switch to 20.1.0 emummc the ofw is 18.1.0 he has error pkgl is he break his sysnand or what happend how fix he has full nand backup and prod info and emummc working fine 20.1.0

*harhar* sigpatches? *harhar*
Else maybe something isn't updated properly (Hekate / Atmosphere/ primary payload).

 

[PikachuPrincess23]

I want to update my Nintendo switch lite since are on firmware 20.0.1 and I have laters AMS.
When I click on Switchway CFW Pack Modchip.
I get this error message.
I have payload.bin in SD card.

 

[twins333]

person update his nintendo switch to 20.1.0 emummc the ofw is 18.1.0 he has error pkgl is he break his sysnand or what happend how fix he has full nand backup and prod info and emummc working fine 20.1.0

I want to update my Nintendo switch lite since are on firmware 20.0.1 and I have laters AMS.
When I click on Switchway CFW Pack Modchip.
I get this error message.
I have payload.bin in SD card.

HATS package. download from here: https://www.sthetix.info/hats/releases/

Info on how to install (and more) here: https://www.sthetix.info/the-hats-pack/

 

[Console-Center]

Such a good chip - Most of the varaints/newer FW's glitch pretty fast.

 

[TheCatsMeow]

Hey all, I could really use some help with this one... I did two OLED Picofly Kamikaze installs today - One went totally fine, the other not so much. I thought everything was going good, as I didn't have any issues during the install. I tested that glitching was working at every stage, including once it was back together. But when I dropped the files on the MicroSD and inserted it in the switch, then tried to boot, I got a screen full of colorful noise. I thought maybe the SD was bad, so I pulled it and booted again. The glitch worked fine and landed me on the "No SD Card" screen. I then pressed the + and - buttons to boot to OFW, and was greeted with a very nice (lots of sarcasm here) bright blue screen. I powered off, and again tried to boot - this time the glitching failed, and it sent me straight to the bright blue screen.

At that point I realized that I had shielded the chip in other ways, but forgot to cover it with a big piece of kapton tape before putting the big metal shield back on the console. I figured something was shorting or touching (I've had a similar issue with V1/V2s before), so I pulled it back apart. I added some tape, confirmed it still glitched, and then put it back together. But again when I booted with the SD card in, or tried to boot to OFW with no SD card, the screen was garbled noise or blue, respectively.

The install went smooth so I was pretty surprised. I removed the modchip and still had the same issue. I removed the upper flex and inspected everything below. I did notice that I accidentally cut the clock line where the trace meets the via, so I soldered a wire to that; still no change. I thought maybe the line above the dat0 kamikaze point (on that first layer, goes to the resistor) was cut, so I ran a jumper just in case; no change. I thought maybe my dat0 point had come undone or something else was damaged there that I didn't notice, so I drilled again to remove all of the UV resin; nothing was wrong, but still the same blue screen (modchip is removed at this point so no glitching obviously). I inspected where I cut the APU shield on both sides, and there are no cut or damaged traces; everything on the board is clean. I resoldered all connections using a new flex, and a new Picofly chip; same results. The last thing I then tried was removing the APU flex and inspecting for damage, of which there was none; same blue screen when booting.

I probed all points (A, B, C, D, 3.3v), and everything reads good. At this point I have no clue what could be wrong. Any ideas?

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Blue screens can be caused by a number of things.
Usually it is related to the DRAM chips not getting power, cut traces to the DRAM chips or those chips detaching themselves from the PCB due to excessive heat from a USB port replacement gone bad.
Chances that the DRAM chips or even the APU are broken are usually very slim.
A blue screen is the APU trying to start up and finding itself unable to use the dram for some reason.

Measuring some of the required voltage lines is maybe an easy start :
https://www.retrosix.wiki/full-boot-from-bench-power
Note that the DRAM chips use something like 1.4v and not the 3.3v
And recheck the board for damage, especially around/under the shield.
I spent 2 weeks on a controller, drunk on my skills, figuring out that things weren't as perfect as I thought.

 

[SlipperySalmonn]

New to soldering here. I'm trying to install a PicoFly and am currently trying to solder on the cable. Thoughts? How bad is my first attempt? Also, I ended up getting a bit of solder on the capacitor next to the one on the right. I don't think its touching/bridging anything, but should I still try to get it off?