Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[Browbon]

What is the alternative GND point on V2 instead of the point at capacitor near M92T36 IC? I have seen that there are many gnd point on mobo in v6.2 guide

 

[abal1000x]

What is the alternative GND point on V2 instead of the point at capacitor near M92T36 IC? I have seen that there are many gnd point on mobo in v6.2 guide

I might forgot, but in my memory i use that point.

 

[Browbon]

View attachment 377616
I might forgot, but in my memory i use that point.

I did the research and found on old topic that have this ground point. It look safer and easier than the point on V6.2 guide

 

[Adran_Marit]

remember flux is a thing and helps alot

 

[Dee87]

Now if only I can make a fan out of @Dee87 with this set...

View attachment 377570

na bro im good with my stencil , why should i spend money on something that i already have doesnt work better or worse then what i use so just a waste of money for me Xd

Post automatically merged: Jun 13, 2023

I did the research and found on old topic that have this ground point. It look safer and easier than the point on V6.2 guideView attachment 377623

wooooooow that install looks horrible i hope u gave that thing a nice reinstall

 

[tiger111]

I did the research and found on old topic that have this ground point. It look safer and easier than the point on V6.2 guideView attachment 377623

you installed the picofly chip in your v2 switch its working fine or you attempting to install it again?

 

[Browbon]

na bro im good with my stencil , why should i spend money on something that i already have doesnt work better or worse then what i use so just a waste of money for me Xd

Post automatically merged: Jun 13, 2023

wooooooow that install looks horrible i hope u gave that thing a nice reinstall

this's not my installation, its someone else. I have seen this installation use alternative 3.3v point and gnd point different from the picture on V6 guide. It avoid using the point near M92T36 IC that reduce the failure chance. It will help me improve the next installation and avoid my mistake on the last installation

Post automatically merged: Jun 13, 2023

you installed the picofly chip in your v2 switch its working fine or you attempting to install it again?

I installed the picofly successfully on my v2 and its working fine but i almost break the capacitor near M92T36 IC ( you can see it in few previous page). I need to take note some alternative safer point i can get to reduce the failure

 

[Dee87]

this's not my installation, its someone else. I have seen this installation use alternative 3.3v point and gnd point different from the picture on V6 guide. It avoid using the point near M92T36 IC that reduce the failure chance. It will help me improve the next installation and avoid my mistake on the last installation

Post automatically merged: Jun 13, 2023

I installed the picofly successfully on my v2 and its working fine but i almost break the capacitor near M92T36 IC ( you can see it in few previous page). I need to take note some alternative safer point i can get to reduce the failure

the ground point u can can take from any shielding or any grounded unused pad , there are plenty of them on all boards i wouldnt recommend using the ones on the caps since its hard for unexperienced people to solder to without bridging anything else.

i think at @lightninjay should point out to a different gnd point in his .pdf guide :-) just a small hint @lightninjay no hate bro

 

[tiger111]

this's not my installation, its someone else. I have seen this installation use alternative 3.3v point and gnd point different from the picture on V6 guide. It avoid using the point near M92T36 IC that reduce the failure chance. It will help me improve the next installation and avoid my mistake on the last installation

Post automatically merged: Jun 13, 2023

I installed the picofly successfully on my v2 and its working fine but i almost break the capacitor near M92T36 IC ( you can see it in few previous page). I need to take note some alternative safer point i can get to reduce the failure

would you recommend a safe ground point to me as well as alternate...im.having a microscope as well to work only issue im facing is while installing picofly in my switch v1 patched solder not sticking to switch motherboard points especially dat rst etc

 

[Browbon]

the ground point u can can take from any shielding or any grounded unused pad , there are plenty of them on all boards i wouldnt recommend using the ones on the caps since its hard for unexperienced people to solder to without bridging anything else.

i think at @lightninjay should point out to a different gnd point in his .pdf guide :-) just a small hint @lightninjay no hate bro

can you show me some alternative gnd point? my knowledge of electronics is humble (above zero a little bit). thanks!

Post automatically merged: Jun 13, 2023

would you recommend a safe ground point to me as well as alternate...im.having a microscope as well to work only issue im facing is while installing picofly in my switch v1 patched solder not sticking to switch motherboard points especially dat rst etc

would you recommend a safe ground point to me as well as alternate...im.having a microscope as well to work only issue im facing is while installing picofly in my switch v1 patched solder not sticking to switch motherboard points especially dat rst etc

Im learning too. For unstick pad, i think you can add some flux on it and try to tin it gently. It will hard at begin but after 4-5 time trying to tin the pad, the lead will stick on. Or you can try to scratch it gently, the copper will be show and easy to tin it ( I dont recommend this method because it can damage the pad and rip it off)

 

[Adran_Marit]

the ground point u can can take from any shielding or any grounded unused pad , there are plenty of them on all boards i wouldnt recommend using the ones on the caps since its hard for unexperienced people to solder to without bridging anything else.

i think at @lightninjay should point out to a different gnd point in his .pdf guide :-) just a small hint @lightninjay no hate bro

True but if they can't manage a small ground how are they going to manage the rest of the points. This isn't exactly an easy mod to do, but yeah maybe there is a larger gnd pad we can use on board

 

[giovany86]

Hello there, after reading a bit, is the pull-down resistor mandatory on the mosfet and what are the risk of not doing it ? I've done 2 dual-mosfet install without issue but i'm worried after reading these posts x)

 

[Dee87]

True but if they can't manage a small ground how are they going to manage the rest of the points. This isn't exactly an easy mod to do, but yeah maybe there is a larger gnd pad we can use on board

Thare are plenty enough larger point :-)

 

[Adran_Marit]

Thare are plenty enough larger point :-)

I'm sure there are, I just cbf doing the hard work XD

 

[Dee87]

Hello there, after reading a bit, is the pull-down resistor mandatory on the mosfet and what are the risk of not doing it ? I've done 2 dual-mosfet install without issue but i'm worried after reading these posts x)

I havent done any install as long as u don't disconnect the CPU while on there shouldn't be a issue.

 

[lightninjay]

the ground point u can can take from any shielding or any grounded unused pad , there are plenty of them on all boards i wouldnt recommend using the ones on the caps since its hard for unexperienced people to solder to without bridging anything else.

i think at @lightninjay should point out to a different gnd point in his .pdf guide :-) just a small hint @lightninjay no hate bro

Nope. This is something I said from the very beginning when I called out a GND point in the guide at ALL.

"Lightninjay, why would you tell people a specific point to solder GND? There are SOOOO MANY other better points?"

Me:"Because people need to be told what to do."

If someone is incapable of making such a trivial choice as where to solder GND, or don't understand the significance of what GND is to a functioning circuit, then as far as I'm concerned, they can go kick rocks and shouldn't be doing this mod.

I even went so far as to callout a place to solder GND AND say that you can use ANY other GND on the board.

The GND points in the guide will not be changed.

 

[CodyRoseman]

DragonFly

Just got my dragonFly boards in, I'll let you guys know how they go
Also I made some changes and have ordered some to be assembled. If everything goes well you guys can have some to test.

• Dual MOSFET onboard in single package
• CMOS oscillator
• All components are virtually the smallest available package size
• Ideally would be made of 0.1mm flex, but 0.8mm/1mm FR4 is cheap and good enough for this revision
• 22mmx13mm(7/8"x1/2"), final version will be 15mmx10mm(5/8"x3/8")
• I think I'll sell them for $15 AUD ($10 USD)
• Most importantly, rounded traces

 

[RiotRetroGaming]

DragonFly

Just got my dragonFly boards in, I'll let you guys know how they go
Also I made some changes and have ordered some to be assembled. If everything goes well you guys can have some to test.

• Dual MOSFET onboard in single package
• CMOS oscillator
• All components are virtually the smallest available package size
• Ideally would be made of 0.1mm flex, but 0.8mm/1mm FR4 is cheap and good enough for this revision
• 22mmx13mm(7/8"x1/2"), final version will be 15mmx10mm(5/8"x3/8")
• I think I'll sell them for $15 AUD ($10 USD)

View attachment 377641View attachment 377639

Cool, what's the postage to UK like and lead time compared to China?

 

[CodyRoseman]

They're designed to be mounted upside down on the ram, or on top of the ram enclosure, though that just makes it harder to route the capacitor wires, but each to their own.

 

[RiotRetroGaming]

Going to chime in and say this is all I do with the ODAT0 adapters I get.
I literally just snip the left hand piece off.
Job done!