Hardware Hacking Switch OLED 256gb NAND upgrade

[zal16]

I think I got it!
(As long as it's OK that it's 233G and not the full 256G...too excited to do the math right now!)



E: It all worked! Thanks for all the cheers and jeers!

View attachment 318533

(now to figure out how to put Android and L4T on their own eMMc partitions like evils_santa was talking about.)

Congratulations my friend, and welcome to a select group of Switch owners with a upgraded Nand.

The 233GB size is correct. This is the old problem of decimal/binary conversion.

 

[binkinator]

I just got Android and L4T installed on eMMC partitions. I definitely feel a speed increase during boot up.

The guys on Switchroot discord are awesome.

https://web.archive.org/web/20220829154006/https://wiki.switchroot.org/en/Documentation/EMMC

in addition to the official documentation above…

To get emmc boot (instead of sd card) for Android you have to:
put tegra210-icosa_emmc-overlay.dtbo file in /switchroot/overlays/ (the overlays directory doesn’t exist in the zip.)
put overlays=tegra210-icosa_emmc-overlay line in the /switchroot/android/uenv.txt file (the .txt file doesn’t exist in the zip.)

For Ubuntu you just need to add the same overlay line to the /switchroot/ubuntu/uenv.txt thats already there.
The overlay directory is already there (just slightly different location…and yes it matters.)

Getting into twrp is a little tricky if yiu have a Trinket M0 because pushing the (Vol +) key to get into TWRP also gets you into Trinket config mode. I ended up restoring my Trinket config from backup so no big deal once I figured out what was going on.

Last tip is you can mount a USB drive with your zip files on it. Doesn’t have to be your SDCard. Learned this from Darth Bacon himself. Really good guy!

 

[binkinator]

for future travelers looking for a guide to light their way:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/nintendo-switch-emmc-nand-upgrade-guide.623318/

 

[some1ne]

No wonder it took me 3 months to solder my eMMC. It's an extremely difficult task, even more so for an OLED Switch, which doesn't have a daughter board.
And after all the difficulty soldering, I still had several side effects, the cooler and display locks broke (I can still connect and work, but it doesn't lock), but the worst of these effects was the fuel gauge chip that, I don't know how, it cracked, which forced me to buy another one and spend several days trying to calibrate the battery, I even had help from Ctcaer.

In the end, I ended up getting it.
But I don't think I would do it again if I knew I would have so much trouble.

What did you do to calibrate the battery? My fuel gauge ic also got chipped during the installation of the hwfly modchip.

 

[binkinator]

^^^this calls for a tutorial!

 

[zal16]

What did you do to calibrate the battery? My fuel gauge ic also got chipped during the installation of the hwfly modchip.

If you broke the Fuel Gauge IC, it needs to be replaced (it's a pain to replace this f@ck tiny piece os silicon). After, is necessary to do 2 full cycles of charge/discharge of the battery to calibrate propelly

 

[binkinator]

If you broke the Fuel Gauge IC, it needs to be replaced (it's a pain to replace this f@ck tiny piece os silicon). After, is necessary to do 2 full cycles of charge/discharge of the battery to calibrate propelly

Well that was easy enough.

I thought there would be more…science? LOL

 

[some1ne]

If you broke the Fuel Gauge IC, it needs to be replaced (it's a pain to replace this f@ck tiny piece os silicon). After, is necessary to do 2 full cycles of charge/discharge of the battery to calibrate propelly

What is hard about replacing it? The reballing of the IC?

Did you have to run this after replacing it? https://github.com/CTCaer/battery_desync_fix_nx

 

[binkinator]

What is hard about replacing it? The reballing of the IC?

YES!

I think this was exacerbated by the fact that (speaking for myself) I had only done 2 other surface mount projects prior and had never worked under a microscope. Lots of new-to-me factors involved.

The big thing in my case was it’s hard to know the right temperature to use with your specific setup and when things were done. Working on several hundred dollars of gadget doesn’t help either. Lots of angst, lots of shaking and lots of doing dumb shit in the middle and creating my own setbacks.

Folks who do this stuff all the time probably think it’s child’s play and if I ever do it again I’m sure it will be much easier.

Bottom Line: I don’t recommend anyone take up this project unless you have a reasonable amount of hanging out with Tiny Solder Guy (tm)!

 

[Anxiety_timmy]

I can see how the emmc would be faster though, seeing as hekate benches its speed at around 400MB/s (at least from memory, I'll test the speeds on mine when im back home)

 

[binkinator]

I can see how the emmc would be faster though, seeing as hekate benches its speed at around 400MB/s (at least from memory, I'll test the speeds on mine when im back home)

Seat of the pants it feels a little faster. Would be nice to have proof that it's not just confirmation bias on my part...

 

[zal16]

What is hard about replacing it? The reballing of the IC?

Did you have to run this after replacing it? https://github.com/CTCaer/battery_desync_fix_nx

Exactly that, IC replacement!

This shit measures only 2 millimeters.
The first time I soldered, I tried to calibrate for several days without success, when I found out the reason was the bad contact of the welds. In an attempt to re-solder, I ended up damaging the IC again, leading to a second fuel gauge acquisition.

This time I asked Ctcaer for help, and he provided me with this desync app, which at the time was in beta.

Post automatically merged: Feb 14, 2023

What is hard about replacing it? The reballing of the IC?

Did you have to run this after replacing it? https://github.com/CTCaer/battery_desync_fix_nx

This looks big for you? Lol

 

[TheStonedModder]

This is a dumb question I’m sure

But if eMMC is just a more expensive SD card

Could someone make an eMMC to sd card adapter, so that can just be “swapped” out for a larger one at a later date? Not knowing much about this I figure that the sd card you use will be readable and easily copied over to a new blank as easy enough

Almost like flashing an img file

https://www.friendlyelec.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=208

 

[zal16]

I can see how the emmc would be faster though, seeing as hekate benches its speed at around 400MB/s (at least from memory, I'll test the speeds on mine when im back home)

Between eMMC and SD, I don't see much difference in speed, at least when loading games. I upgraded my eMMC focusing on having as much storage space as possible, as I have a 256GB eMMC plus a 1TB micro SD (the largest currently available, but I'm already looking at the 2TB Kioxia prototype lol)

Post automatically merged: Feb 14, 2023

This is a dumb question I’m sure

But if eMMC is just a more expensive SD card

Could someone make an eMMC to sd card adapter, so that can just be “swapped” out for a larger one at a later date? Not knowing much about this I figure that the sd card you use will be readable and easily copied over to a new blank as easy enough

Almost like flashing an img file

https://www.friendlyelec.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=208

I've thought about that in the past. it's impossible. The eMMC is divided into 4 PHYSICAL partitions: Boot0, Boot1, RPMB (not used) and User (where the other LOGICAL partitions exist: prodinfo, system, etc...).

The SD only has the User partition.

 

[hippy dave]

This looks big for you? Lol

You forgot the banana for scale

 

[zal16]

You forgot the banana for scale

Not fit on the image lol

 

[TheStonedModder]

Between eMMC and SD, I don't see much difference in speed, at least when loading games. I upgraded my eMMC focusing on having as much storage space as possible, as I have a 256GB eMMC plus a 1TB micro SD (the largest currently available, but I'm already looking at the 2TB Kioxia prototype lol)

Post automatically merged: Feb 14, 2023

I've thought about that in the past. it's impossible. The eMMC is divided into 4 PHYSICAL partitions: Boot0, Boot1, RPMB (not used) and User (where the other LOGICAL partitions exist: prodinfo, system, etc...).

The SD only has the User partition.

That’s interesting to know

Thanks for sharing the information! I didn’t know there could be physical partitions but in hindsight I guess that’s kinda obvious and makes sense

 

[zal16]

That’s interesting to know

Thanks for sharing the information! I didn’t know there could be physical partitions but in hindsight I guess that’s kinda obvious and makes sense

I speak more:

The eMMC can (with propoer wiring) be readed by sd card readers, but he only "see" the User partition.

An SD card can be soldered in place of an eMMC too. But it only works if the host doesn't use the other physical partitions. Which is not the case with the Switch, as it needs Boot0/1 for security measures from Tegra SoC

 

[Nakamichi]

what are the biggest NAND chips that could be fitted into a Switch Oled?
and where would be the best place to purchase them?

Id love to really max out the storage-space on my switch.

 

[Flaviocarvalho]

Anyone know if this adapter works on a switch lite emmc?