Hacking SX Core with conductive glue/paint

[Navlida]

What do your solder joints look like? Send though some photos if you can.

 

[DragarX]

What do your solder joints look like? Send though some photos if you can.

Sure thing, this was taken after I had the issues and decided to clean it up a little bit in hopes of it helping, but even with mmc chip removed I still get nothing.

 

[MusicCanKill]

If all solder points are ok i would remove the chip and try to boot it.
If it still doesn't boot try connecting it on pc and check with tegrarcmgui to see if it is in rcm mode..!
I have had a switch lite always boot in rcm mode cause of bad connection with emmc.

 

[DragarX]

If all solder points are ok i would remove the chip and try to boot it.
If it still doesn't boot try connecting it on pc and check with tegrarcmgui to see if it is in rcm mode..!
I have had a switch lite always boot in rcm mode cause of bad connection with emmc.

I'm not sure what the issue was, but after cleaning it and leaving it for a good half hour, it's turning on again. I'm thinking either my cleaner isn't as pure as it says, or my thermal compound is slightly too conductive at 30% silver. But I've seen people use silver compounds before without issue.

 

[Navlida]

Would you be able to post a closer photo(s) of the solder joints? I'm not 100% sure about the cap on the right side.

 

[DragarX]

Would you be able to post a closer photo(s) of the solder joints? I'm not 100% sure about the cap on the right side.

You think that could maybe cause intermediate issues? Because it works fine now, although I haven't fully reassembled it yet

russian photo sharing

 

[Navlida]

If for some reason the cap didn't receive enough heat, the solder that's attached to the pad might to be attached to the cap, but just pressing against it. Considering the size of the capacitors as well as the shape of the solder (due to the surface tension while the solder is molten), I don't think that is likely.

As you said earlier, try a different thermal paste. If you are still having issues, try re-soldering each joint again with a little bit more solder and heat (but try not to make any bridges).

 

[pcwizard7]

side notes about booting with the modchip
1. make sure you're updated on firmware 1.3 booted into the latest sxos would have done it
2. make sure the boot.dat/license files are still on the sd card as when i created the emunand they were gone
3. it doesn't always boot sometimes it will flash blue for while then turns off but if it goes green its booted, sometimes it took 2-3 trys
4. the website is back up so u should be able to activate it
5. it is possible to use hekate on v1 switch with the chip

 

[MusicCanKill]

I would also suggest to be sure that the solder on the right cap doesn't connect to the metal shield when you put it on as there seems to be a solder ball there which may be higher than the cap an the chip itself.

 

[DragarX]

I would also suggest to be sure that the solder on the right cap doesn't connect to the metal shield when you put it on as there seems to be a solder ball there which may be higher than the cap an the chip itself.

This could actually explain it, as I was using the system fine while holding it and then placed it down to transfer some file and that's when it shutdown and refused to reboot.

 

[AlexValCar]

You're making a short, so much solder in the joints, try to clean the excess of solder

 

[ghjfdtg]

As for the original idea with conductive glue:
It won't work. Even small changes in resistance will cause problems with glitching since it's essentially shorting the rail for nano- or microseconds and resistance is important here.

 

[DragarX]

As for the original idea with conductive glue:
It won't work. Even small changes in resistance will cause problems with glitching since it's essentially shorting the rail for nano- or microseconds and resistance is important here.

Thank you, although it's too late. I appreciate you giving me an answer with a reason rather than just telling me not to do it.

 

[ghjfdtg]

You can see from other answers even soldered it's not 100% reliable. Conductive glue will lower the chance of it working by a lot even bridging this small of a gap. And i doubt it will hold in place long term due to the hot-cold cycles of the SoC. Soldering is is the way to go.

 

[DragarX]

You can see from other answers even soldered it's not 100% reliable. Conductive glue will lower the chance of it working by a lot even bridging this small of a gap. And i doubt it will hold in place long term due to the hot-cold cycles of the SoC. Soldering is is the way to go.

This is what I had originally thought, but I made this thread in hopes of someone with a bit more knowledge than me to explain it. I know a lot of people were hoping for a easier method, but after doing soldering and even having to re-do the whole thing, I think that solder is probably the best option and not really as hard or destructive as some have made it out to be. I didn't even have any kind of optical magnification and I still got it done.

 

[britain4]

I do NOT recommend or endorse doing this in any way but I had some issues with mine after soldering which i thought were related to the solder joints touching the shield. Rather than risk resoldering I cut out a section of the metal CPU shield over where the solder joints are to stop them shorting on anything.

Like I say NOT recommended and not responsible if you do it and it breaks your Switch but if the chip otherwise works and you don't want to risk going back in with the soldering iron mine hasn't had any ill effects from doing this (have even heard of people leaving the metal shield off completely).

 

[MusicCanKill]

I do NOT recommend or endorse doing this in any way but I had some issues with mine after soldering which i thought were related to the solder joints touching the shield. Rather than risk resoldering I cut out a section of the metal CPU shield over where the solder joints are to stop them shorting on anything.

Like I say NOT recommended and not responsible if you do it and it breaks your Switch but if the chip otherwise works and you don't want to risk going back in with the soldering iron mine hasn't had any ill effects from doing this (have even heard of people leaving the metal shield off completely).

You can always put a thin layer of tape insulation where the caps are to avoid this!

 

[britain4]

You can always put a thin layer of tape insulation where the caps are to avoid this!

You can and I tried this initially but the pressure from the heat sink on the solder joint nearly punctured a hole in the tape. Might have better luck with Kapton though.

My method isn’t professional or the correct way of doing it at all but I wanted to be 100% sure the joints weren’t going to short against that shield and it does all work fine so I’m happy.

 

[DragarX]

You can and I tried this initially but the pressure from the heat sink on the solder joint nearly punctured a hole in the tape. Might have better luck with Kapton though.

My method isn’t professional or the correct way of doing it at all but I wanted to be 100% sure the joints weren’t going to short against that shield and it does all work fine so I’m happy.

Even after cleaning the solder i was still a bit suss and placed a tiny piece of insulation tape over the joints. Surprisingly it's still lower than the die itself, should be 100% safe and as far i can tell doesn't not affect thermals at all.

 

[britain4]

Even after cleaning the solder i was still a bit suss and placed a tiny piece of insulation tape over the joints. Surprisingly it's still lower than the die itself, should be 100% safe and as far i can tell doesn't not affect thermals at all.

Awesome if it all works for you, that is how it’s meant to be done. I just knew I had solid solder joints and didn’t want to go back in and risk messing them up. I consider myself good at soldering normally but for me this was tiny.