Hacking The $16 dongle experience

[guitarheroknight]

Which one? ns-atmosphere or the one in the thread?

Btw, how is the usb c plug? I heard that, on some dongle, it is somewhat loose.

The transparent one in the OP. It works pretty great so far, but it does have a little gap between the USB C plug so I guess its not that well made if you think about it since it has no support. You have to be careful with it, but dang it, it works everytime!

I ordered this one, hope everything goes well with it.

Thank you for the review! made me take the decission.

You wont have any issues with it, just be sure to be gentle with it since as I said above, there is no support between the USB port and the housing which could lead to the plug breaking.
But to be honest, if you have a compatible phone the best thing would be to buy a USB C to USB C or a USB C to Micro USB and use the SX app to boot the console.

 

[SirNapkin1334]

I love the clear plastic

 

[Huntereb]

Mine's been in the mail for almost 30 days now. I think my SwitchMe modchip is going to arrive before it now. Oh well, maybe I'll give it to a friend.

 

[1219chicho]

The transparent one in the OP. It works pretty great so far, but it does have a little gap between the USB C plug so I guess its not that well made if you think about it since it has no support. You have to be careful with it, but dang it, it works everytime!



You wont have any issues with it, just be sure to be gentle with it since as I said above, there is no support between the USB port and the housing which could lead to the plug breaking.
But to be honest, if you have a compatible phone the best thing would be to buy a USB C to USB C or a USB C to Micro USB and use the SX app to boot the console.

Hey Guitarheroknight for some reason mine is not being detected after i flashed main.ino and .h file any ideas?

 

[guitarheroknight]

Hey Guitarheroknight for some reason mine is not being detected after i flashed main.ino and .h file any ideas?

Hey, sadly I wouldn't know since I only use it with the SX OS payload. If I'm not wrong I think there was an app that could convert other payloads and inject them in a boot.dat and use them with the SX OS payload.

 

[Akira]

I received mine today. Flashed reinx and sx os payload and it works. Dongle works fine too. You have to pry open the plastic casing if you want to flash a new payload but other than that, it works fantastically well.

 

[guitarheroknight]

I received mine today. Flashed reinx and sx os payload and it works. Dongle works fine too. You have to pry open the plastic casing if you want to flash a new payload but other than that, it works fantastically well.

How do you flash it? I was thinking on just modifying the boot.dat if I ever decided to move to another CFW.

 

[Akira]

How do you flash it? I was thinking on just modifying the boot.dat if I ever decided to move to another CFW.

The instruction is in the github page provided by the seller. But i’ll just type it in anyway.

I only tested it on Windows, I will try to test it in Mac OS once Im home.

Link: https://github.com/euclala/RCM-X86

1.) Get the corresponding uf2 of the payload you want. It’s in the github, instruction says take it from the “V3” folder.

2.) Remove the upper casing of the dongle to access the “RES” button(button image in the github too)

3.) Connect the dongle to your computer via USB A

4.) It might start downloading and installing the drivers, just let it finish. Once done, double click the “RES” button, another drive will be detected by your computer(which is the dongle).

5.) Now, open the newly detected drive, and just drag and drop the uf2 file of your choosing.

6.) The dongle will now auto disconnect, meaning the flashing of the new payload is successful.

7.) Profit!!!

 

[guitarheroknight]

The instruction is in the github page provided by the seller. But i’ll just type it in anyway.

I only tested it on Windows, I will try to test it in Mac OS once Im home.

Link: https://github.com/euclala/RCM-X86

1.) Get the corresponding uf2 of the payload you want. It’s in the github, instruction says take it from the “V3” folder.

2.) Remove the upper casing of the dongle to access the “RES” button(button image in the github too)

3.) Connect the dongle to your computer via USB A

4.) It might start downloading and installing the drivers, just let it finish. Once done, double click the “RES” button, another drive will be detected by your computer(which is the dongle).

5.) Now, open the newly detected drive, and just drag and drop the uf2 file of your choosing.

6.) The dongle will now auto disconnect, meaning the flashing of the new payload is successful.

7.) Profit!!!

Thanks! I'll edit the OP with the instructions!

 

[Huntereb]

Thought I'd post this here as well. I was able to desolder the battery and USBA from the board shown in the OP, and solder it in as a modchip using method 1 from here. It just werks, turns on with the console and turns off after a payload has been uploaded!

 

[mastermx]

how do you even remove the casing. seems to be glued on shut tight

 

[Huntereb]

how do you even remove the casing. seems to be glued on shut tight

Just a little bit of black adhesive holds onto one side, it's not easy to break the case itself, just give it a little bit of a pry from one of the holes on each end.

If you're planning on flashing a new firmware, be warned that many people have seemingly "bricked" their devices attempting to do so. I can't really warrant a proper method of updating these things, just be careful.

 

[mastermx]

Just a little bit of black adhesive holds onto one side, it's not easy to break the case itself, just give it a little bit of a pry from one of the holes on each end.

If you're planning on flashing a new firmware, be warned that many people have seemingly "bricked" their devices attempting to do so. I can't really warrant a proper method of updating these things, just be careful.

Bricked their switch? or just the dongle?

 

[Huntereb]

Bricked their switch? or just the dongle?

The dongle lol.

 

[mastermx]

Ah got you. Thanks for the heads up. lol

EDIT: I can't get this damn thing open. Been prying it with screwdrivers. Maybe they used super glue on my one.

Managed to do it, after much prying.

 

[Akira]

Thought I'd post this here as well. I was able to desolder the battery and USBA from the board shown in the OP, and solder it in as a modchip using method 1 from here. It just werks, turns on with the console and turns off after a payload has been uploaded!

So in order to change payload, you need to remove the casing again right? I think hardmod is good if the switch is near it’s EOL because there might be some changes(hopefully an easier method) or change on the payloads. But whatever, people who can solder doesn’t really care if they have to disassemble something again

 

[sheg0]

Is anyone facing a problem on windows 10?
When I press the reste button twice, the dongle shows up as device for a split second and disappers immediately.

 

[Akira]

Is anyone facing a problem on windows 10?
When I press the reste button twice, the dongle shows up as device for a split second and disappers immediately.

I used windows 10 to change payloads for a couple of times. Never encountered that problem. Check on other laptop/macbook or change usb ports to rule out what’s the issue. Worst comes to worst your dongle itself may be the problem.

 

[sheg0]

I treid different ports and so on. Seems like Windows recognizes this as a CSR GAIA bluetooth device. Seems to be a problem on my side.

 

[Huntereb]

So in order to change payload, you need to remove the casing again right?

For this specific device, correct. I'm sure a payload could be written for it to allow changing payloads through the USBC on the switch, but the firmware this comes with does not allow for that. This was just a temporary project I did before my real modchip comes, the SwitchMe. That one allows for changing the payload by plugging your Switch into your computer and copying a new firmware image to the storage device that pops up. No disassembly required!