Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[pohta99]

Hello everyone, just asking for help,
i have 3 broken switch on my possession now, and all of them has problems.
switch 1: a switch v2 that is modded using rp2040 it works fine for months and im using it as my main switch sadly something dropped on the screen and it broke, i shelved it for months and i decided to fix it now, replaced the screen and it boots fine on hekate, but when i proceed to emummc, it gets hot and the fan start to spin crazy and when i put it on sleep mode, the display goes on and off every 5 seconds.
switch 2: a switch v2 that is modded using rp2040 it works fine until my friend dropped it, now it wont turn on or charge, tested on a charger with meter and it doesn't give power to it, tried to touch any ic and it doesn't get warm at all even the mod chip wont light.
switch 3: bought another used switch v2 and decided to mod it using rp2040 (not good at micro soldering), after installing the mod chip and tested it, it lights 2 blue and 1 yellow, and it does not power the screen, so i decided to remove the solder and test it on OFW, and now the switch wont turn on.
I know im dumb and careless, any help and advice is welcome and i really appreciate it, thanks.

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Hello everyone, just asking for help,
i have 3 broken switch on my possession now, and all of them has problems.
switch 1: a switch v2 that is modded using rp2040 it works fine for months and im using it as my main switch sadly something dropped on the screen and it broke, i shelved it for months and i decided to fix it now, replaced the screen and it boots fine on hekate, but when i proceed to emummc, it gets hot and the fan start to spin crazy and when i put it on sleep mode, the display goes on and off every 5 seconds.
switch 2: a switch v2 that is modded using rp2040 it works fine until my friend dropped it, now it wont turn on or charge, tested on a charger with meter and it doesn't give power to it, tried to touch any ic and it doesn't get warm at all even the mod chip wont light.
switch 3: bought another used switch v2 and decided to mod it using rp2040 (not good at micro soldering), after installing the mod chip and tested it, it lights 2 blue and 1 yellow, and it does not power the screen, so i decided to remove the solder and test it on OFW, and now the switch wont turn on.
I know im dumb and careless, any help and advice is welcome and i really appreciate it, thanks.

Switch 1 : your fan might not be working correctly anymore. Try replacing it and change the thermal compound as well.
Switch 2 : check if you have any loose pins on your USB-C port to start.
Otherwise, check the voltages as described here :
https://www.retrosix.wiki/full-boot-from-bench-power
Switch 3 : maybe some trace that was damaged. Send some detailed pictures of the places you worked on..

 

[pohta99]

Switch 1 : your fan might not be working correctly anymore. Try replacing it and change the thermal compound as well.
Switch 2 : check if you have any loose pins on your USB-C port to start.
Otherwise, check the voltages as described here :
https://www.retrosix.wiki/full-boot-from-bench-power
Switch 3 : maybe some trace that was damaged. Send some detailed pictures of the places you worked on..

thanks for answering my questions,
Switch 1 : i tried other fan and replaced thermal paste and got same result, it gets hot and drains battery even on sleep mode, but when i shut it down, it doesn't get hot, weird is when it is booted on hekate, its normal, fan does not spin fast, but when i booted on emummc, on home screen, it starts to get hot and the fan goes crazy.
Switch 2 : i checked the board and noticed it has traces of flux on it, i think it has been repaired already, i also tried and use a voltage meter to check the voltages.
Switch 3 : i only tried to solder the flex into the chip, i don't have microscope so i'll use my phone to take some pictures.
thanks again.

 

[zeromaya]

Hello everyone I need a little bit of help

I have this Switch Lite and when I turned it on it gives me this error code instead.

I also tried booting it to OFW to no success.

If y'all have any ideas it'd be great.

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

switch 3: bought another used switch v2 and decided to mod it using rp2040 (not good at micro soldering), after installing the mod chip and tested it, it lights 2 blue and 1 yellow, and it does not power the screen, so

The picofly reports errors in short and long blinks.
https://github.com/Ansem-SoD/Picofly
That usually gives an indication where to look.

Switch 2 : i checked the board and noticed it has traces of flux on it, i think it has been repaired already, i also tried and use a voltage meter to check the voltages.

Yes, maybe give it a good cleaning.
Maybe they tried replacing the USB port but went all loco with with flux.
Usually that is not an area with problems.

 

[LuigiGad]

Hello everyone I need a little bit of help

I have this Switch Lite and when I turned it on it gives me this error code instead.

I also tried booting it to OFW to no success.

If y'all have any ideas it'd be great.

It's not an error code, but it seems to me that the glitch occurred successfully. Are you sure you connected the flat cable that goes over the battery connector?

 

[zeromaya]

It's not an error code, but it seems to me that the glitch occurred successfully. Are you sure you connected the flat cable that goes over the battery connector?

I checked and everything is connected. I forgot to mention that there is also no display.

EDIT: Added image

 

[pohta99]

The picofly reports errors in short and long blinks.
https://github.com/Ansem-SoD/Picofly
That usually gives an indication where to look.


Yes, maybe give it a good cleaning.
Maybe they tried replacing the USB port but went all loco with with flux.
Usually that is not an area with problems.

2nd switch : i tried cleaning the flux, same result, no power,

3rd switch : the same problem as zeromaya, same blink on mod chip and no display, tried to remove the flex and boot on OFW, no response, no display. but it has power because the mod chip blinks, unlike my 2nd switch.

 

[twins333]

2nd switch : i tried cleaning the flux, same result, no power,

3rd switch : the same problem as zeromaya, same blink on mod chip and no display, tried to remove the flex and boot on OFW, no response, no display. but it has power because the mod chip blinks, unlike my 2nd switch.

Are you sure the display on the 3rd switch is good? maybe test it with a good working switch. Also the display connector might be bad on the 3rd switch, check for any bent pins there.

 

[calcom21]

Hi All I'm trying to install v2 flex cable for rp2040 ocofly. Some dumb question.

1. Can I use solder paste and heat gun to make sure it flow instead of soldering? Will it damage the capacitor, switch and cables? Anyone tried and works?
2. For soldering, any recommendation to pre-tin on solder tip and flux on the cable and then touches on it or put the soldering wire near the cap and solder it? Or pre tin both the flex cable and the cap and then line up and add flux and touch on soldering tip to reflow?

 

[detilmalala]

Hello friends, at the point indicated with the arrow I have a short to ground, I have already injected voltage and nothing heats up. Does anyone know which component may be shorted, I already lifted that piece and at that point on the board I have the short to ground

 

[thesjaakspoiler]

Hello friends, at the point indicated with the arrow I have a short to ground, I have already injected voltage and nothing heats up. Does anyone know which component may be shorted, I already lifted that piece and at that point on the board I have the short to ground

If I'm correct, that is just a filter and the side with the arrow goes to the USB port directly.
If you have a short even after removing the part maybe have some damage like a bent pin in the USB port or just a short under the USB port that you don't see.
If you got it in this state, maybe someone else tried to repair it previously.

 

[dukekahboom]

Put some Kapton over the flex before applying the shield.

yup i did it melted through the kapton lol, cap was dead short after. i suspect v1 sp1/sp2 caps about to reach their life span, during modding due to heat from soldering iron aggravates and caused it to fail and short. i have no issues at all with v2, lite and oled.

 

[LuigiGad]

I wanted an opinion from those more experienced with installations using Kamikaze. It happened to me again. Modchip installation with Kamikaze was perfect. Boot was perfect, but after 10 minutes of operation the screen goes black and an *== error appears. When it starts, there are screens with graphic glitches and eMMC initialization errors, even a purple screen during stock boot. Leaving it unplugged for an hour makes it work perfectly again. This happens rarely. It also happened to Sthethix, who wrote about it. In your opinion, what could it depend on?

 

[dukekahboom]

in my experience for oled kamikaze if works and then dies of later with glitches etc or stuck at boot logo, i will check B point first to make sure nothing has shorter while grinding or scratching, then mask anything that should not have been exposed.

next i'll check point D the one where we have to cut the shield to expose. also make sure nothing is shorted there. the make sure not to have a cold solder joint there.

and point A resistor, cold solder joint there also will produce all sort of weird issue, purple screen + graphic glitch.

 

[LuigiGad]

in my experience for oled kamikaze if works and then dies of later with glitches etc or stuck at boot logo, i will check B point first to make sure nothing has shorter while grinding or scratching, then mask anything that should not have been exposed.

next i'll check point D the one where we have to cut the shield to expose. also make sure nothing is shorted there. the make sure not to have a cold solder joint there.

and point A resistor, cold solder joint there also will produce all sort of weird issue, purple screen + graphic glitch.

Maybe the translator translated it incorrectly. To summarize: installation ok, startup ok, works for about 10 minutes then black screen and various errors, disconnect the battery for 1-2 hours, everything works perfectly again forever. It only happens rarely with OLED+kamikaze.

 

[twins333]

Maybe the translator translated it incorrectly. To summarize: installation ok, startup ok, works for about 10 minutes then black screen and various errors, disconnect the battery for 1-2 hours, everything works perfectly again forever. It only happens rarely with OLED+kamikaze.

You should check if kamikaze debris got under the cpu(apu).
also clean all the flux from under the cpu as well. use the lowest temperature and high air speed to blow under the cpu, if your hot air station can go low enough to not melt the cpu solder. squirt some isopropyl alcohol under the cpu and try blow it again.
are you using the real rp2040 or some clones?

 

[LuigiGad]

You should check if kamikaze debris got under the cpu(apu).
also clean all the flux from under the cpu as well. use the lowest temperature and high air speed to blow under the cpu, if your hot air station can go low enough to not melt the cpu solder. squirt some isopropyl alcohol under the cpu and try blow it again.
are you using the real rp2040 or some clones?

That's what I think too, manufacturing residues, Sthetix suggests electrostatic electricity, who knows... the mystery remains that everything starts working on its own. I don't use hot air during rp2040-zero installations (clones of course, I've never used the originals)

 

[pohta99]

Are you sure the display on the 3rd switch is good? maybe test it with a good working switch. Also the display connector might be bad on the 3rd switch, check for any bent pins there.

i think you are right, on the 3rd switch, after fixing the caps on the processor, tried booting it up, it gets warm, means i think it boots up but no display, tried looking on the display connector and it has bent pins, i ordered replacement parts and try to replace the connector on board when it arrive, thanks

 

[LonelyPeople]

Yes. I got partialaes.keys and decrypt it.

Now I need device_key. prod.keys contains device_key_4x only.
Description of hactoolnet : "Save data options: --sign Sign the save file. (Requires device_key in key file)".
hactoolnet shows error: "Unable to sign save file. Do you have all the required keys?"

Post automatically merged: Dec 28, 2023

hii! did you find a fix for this?