Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

Piorjade

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The protocol is the same, but sometimes there are differences. There might be some oddity stopping it from supporting certain eMMCs, they are all a tiny bit different and have their own quirks, though communication and pinout is supposed to be the same.

I coulda sworn I had read something at some point about this issue, but perhaps not, as I can't find it now. I'll keep looking.
There‘s only differentiation between newer and older eMMC versions

but the versions are backwards compatible, they have to be
 

FruithatMods

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To know for certain if it's actually writing to it, it seems that for some of us it's failing on some stage
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Oh shit wait, wait wait wait, didn't the HWFLY at some point run into an issue where it didn't support one of the eMMC models used in some consoles?? What if this only supports *one* eMMC (and those that the same driver would work on)

That was a thing, yes. The oled switches with an skhynix emmc would boot to a black screen with the non flashable hwfly chip if an SD card wasn't present.

I.e. The "no sd card screen" will remain black.

The same modchip does display the screen correctly if the oled uses a Samsung emmc.
Post automatically merged:

This theory is actually plausible because the timings are anchored to the emmc chip. If chips from different manufacturers have ever so slightly different timings it could mean that the glitch is out of sync on some emmc chips.
 
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TheSynthax

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Ok let me post a full diagram before install
You should just use a CPU flex. Install diagram on page 34. Really, you should just hold off on the install until the chip actually works, you're going to need to plug it back in to USB to install working firmware later. Unless you're going to be actively working on assisting development efforts, you're better off waiting until an actual modchip firmware exists.
 

ifgfgfgfgfgfg

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You should just use a CPU flex. Install diagram on page 34. Really, you should just hold off on the install until the chip actually works, you're going to need to plug it back in to USB to install working firmware later. Unless you're going to be actively working on assisting development efforts, you're better off waiting until an actual modchip firmware exists.
The flex cable defeats the whole purpose of open source/ off the shelf components mod chip that would total 5-10 dollars total. And my purpose would only be using it for android / linux anyhow (delete if not allowed)
 

TheSynthax

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The flex cable defeats the whole purpose of open source/ off the shelf components mod chip that would total 5-10 dollars total. And my purpose would only be using it for android / linux anyhow (delete if not allowed)
Fair enough, you will be able to use it for that right now, assuming the firmware works on your console. Until we nail down what consoles it does and doesn't work on, that's a gamble. About 50/50 it seems, but the sample size is tiny.
 

FruithatMods

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Yes, I get blue>white>green, screen remains black and console is actually in RCM (detected as Nvidia APX if connected to a PC) It hasn't harmed the console in any way, still boots stock just fine if the chip is disabled.
Have you tried powering up the Pico without it being hooked up to the switch at all? What LEDs start blinking?

Perhaps you should desolder it, power it up and then reconnect it to the switch again to try and see if it forces the Pico to write the new bct/Boot0 files.
 

Nagaa

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So i try to install a HWFLY OLED in my lite with the same soldered wire from the rp2040 and it worked instant, so not a problem of installation like some people say
i desoldered it and put on the rp2040 again and the exact same issue has before

I also shorted the 2 pad for led on the backside, it behave the same i just got a green light instead of the yellow like before

I took some picture in Hekate before removing the hwfly, this switch has Samsung eMMC and DRAM
 

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TheSynthax

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Do you think your chip is shorted somewhere? @TheSynthax
Nope, all test points check out in normal ranges. I've checked for shorts across both CPU caps, shorts to ground and 3v3 on all chip points, checked all the eMMC lines for shorts to each other also. I've checked the resistance to ground of each individual line while disconnected from the chip to make sure they are making good contact with the pad, and checked under magnification to ensure they're on the correct pad and only the correct pad. I've tried 3 different RP2040-Zero boards on 2 different consoles. I've replaced the wires entirely and started fresh 4 separate times. I've tried all different lengths of CPU wire. I've tried with and without SD, formatted fat32 or exfat. I've wiped and reflashed each Pico at least 3 times, including trying it with the "locked" firmwares and then the "Ubuntu" firmware to see if those might do any init steps.

So i try to install a HWFLY OLED in my lite with the same soldered wire from the rp2040 and it worked instant, so not a problem of installation like some people say
i desoldered it and put on the rp2040 again and the exact same issue has before

I also shorted the 2 pad for led on the backside, it behave the same i just got a green light instead of the yellow like before

I took some picture in Hekate before removing the hwfly, this switch has Samsung eMMC and DRAM
Interesting, looks like some of these chips have the other LED type, as mine is normally green at the end but becomes yellow with the pads jumped. Yours being the opposite. Seems unimportant though ultimately, but good we know that for sure.

Have you tried powering up the Pico without it being hooked up to the switch at all? What LEDs start blinking?

Perhaps you should desolder it, power it up and then reconnect it to the switch again to try and see if it forces the Pico to write the new bct/Boot0 files.
When disconnected from all lines but power, the LED remains blue for about half a second, then light blue for another half a second, then nothing.

Here's a video of the behavior

Post automatically merged:

Removing CPU line = same behavior (blue > white > green > black screen)
removing rst = long blue light > green > Switch boots to stock
removing dat0, cmd, or clk = blue > white > green > black screen
Post automatically merged:

Removed the 47 ohm resistors, now always getting blue > light blue > black screen (with all lines connected)
 
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FruithatMods

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The other thing you could check is to boot the switch without the cpu line connected to see if it has a function to Rewrite the boot0 partition.

I think rewriting the firmware might be worthwhile instead of trying to reverse engineer this leaked firmware.
 

TheSynthax

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The other thing you could check is to boot the switch without the cpu line connected to see if it has a function to Rewrite the boot0 partition.

I think rewriting the firmware might be worthwhile instead of trying to reverse engineer this leaked firmware.
With or without the CPU line, behavior is the same. Ditto on rewriting the firmware.
 

vittorio

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The other thing you could check is to boot the switch without the cpu line connected to see if it has a function to Rewrite the boot0 partition.

I think rewriting the firmware might be worthwhile instead of trying to reverse engineer this leaked firmware.
there is no one rewriting the firmware
 

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