Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[LuigiGad]

It was late last night so I didn’t try getting it to boot into ofw. Do I need to disconnect the whole thing? I did a reflow on it and I still get the same readings.

Listen, the points to work the oled as you well know are 7. 6/7 points are clear so you can't go wrong and we take them for 100% good. The only point that is not visible if you use the adapter is the dat0. Usually if there are problems only with the dat0 you have an error but it starts in the original with all the chip installed or you have blue LED flashing endlessly and it doesn't start at all. What are your cases?

 

[BlueBeans]

Listen, the points to work the oled as you well know are 7. 6/7 points are clear so you can't go wrong and we take them for 100% good. The only point that is not visible if you use the adapter is the dat0. Usually if there are problems only with the dat0 you have an error but it starts in the original with all the chip installed or you have blue LED flashing endlessly and it doesn't start at all. What are your cases?

I use to put it all together then test but that’s a hassle if there’s problems. Now I just plug in the battery and charging cable. That activates the chip. I’d have to plug in the screen. Will do that and report back.

 

[LuigiGad]

I use to put it all together then test but that’s a hassle if there’s problems. Now I just plug in the battery and charging cable. That activates the chip. I’d have to plug in the screen. Will do that and report back.

it probably starts in original and the problem lies in data0

 

[BlueBeans]

it probably starts in original and the problem lies in data0

Just removed everything and it doesn’t start

 

[hreggi89]

Hello good people.

My Picofly is acting a bit weird on my Switch Lite. Sometimes it will show blue light for glitching and then the green then off which is the normal thing, but sometimes it does this you can see in the video. Blue, then teal for bad cpu pin, then yellow for bad D0 pin and then green and the green stays on until I power off the system, it still powers on just fine. I've tripple checked my connections, no shorts and everything is measuring correct values on a multimeter in diode mode. Does anyone know what this means and/or where I can find information about what this behaviour might suggest?

Thanks.

 

[Hassal]

Just removed everything and it doesn’t start

Did you lift your flex cable?

Hello good people.

My Picofly is acting a bit weird on my Switch Lite. Sometimes it will show blue light for glitching and then the green then off which is the normal thing, but sometimes it does this you can see in the video. Blue, then teal for bad cpu pin, then yellow for bad D0 pin and then green and the green stays on until I power off the system, it still powers on just fine. I've tripple checked my connections, no shorts and everything is measuring correct values on a multimeter in diode mode. Does anyone know what this means and/or where I can find information about what this behaviour might suggest?

Thanks.

That's a clone so the chip itself could be the issue.

 

[LuigiGad]

Just removed everything and it doesn’t start

Then the problem is not the DAT0. Or you didn't work cleanly and did damage near or right at the remaining points.

 

[chronoss]

Hello good people.

My Picofly is acting a bit weird on my Switch Lite. Sometimes it will show blue light for glitching and then the green then off which is the normal thing, but sometimes it does this you can see in the video. Blue, then teal for bad cpu pin, then yellow for bad D0 pin and then green and the green stays on until I power off the system, it still powers on just fine. I've tripple checked my connections, no shorts and everything is measuring correct values on a multimeter in diode mode. Does anyone know what this means and/or where I can find information about what this behaviour might suggest?

Thanks.

Is it this chip ?

 

[BlueBeans]

Did you lift your flex cable?

That's a clone so the chip itself could be the issue.

Yes I lifted the flex cable

Post automatically merged: Nov 1, 2023

Then the problem is not the DAT0. Or you didn't work cleanly and did damage near or right at the remaining points.

I reflowed the emmc (carefully). Could that be the reason? I’ll look over the board but I’m sure no damage was done. I’ve done several of these.

 

[LuigiGad]

Yes I lifted the flex cable

Post automatically merged: Nov 1, 2023

I reflowed the emmc (carefully). Could that be the reason? I’ll look over the board but I’m sure no damage was done. I’ve done several of these.

You answered yourself. If we take the visible welding points for granted, the answer is in the eMMC. If you say you've done a reflow, the answer is in your statement.

 

[BlueBeans]

You answered yourself. If we take the visible welding points for granted, the answer is in the eMMC. If you say you've done a reflow, the answer is in your statement.

Reflowing a chip should not stop it from working. People do permanent dat0 all the time.

 

[hreggi89]

Is it this chip ?

Yeah, I'm starting to think there is something wrong with the console. This was my first attempt at installing a modchip and I did take into account that I might mess it up. The CPU soldering wasn't proper for some time and I probably also shorted the CLK pin to ground for some time, all of wich are fixed but I at one point forgot to unplug the battery when I was desoldering the 3.3V. Figure I might have given the charging IC a electromagnetic shock but it did work for a while until I overclocked for 30mins and now it will only turn on for a couple of minutes if I leave the battery unplugged for couple of hours, then screen goes black and no life, sometimes the fan will ramp to 100% when it goes unresponsive. Might get another motherboard from a Lite with a broken screen later, also need to test unsoldering the modchip to see if it works without it but last time I tried it didn't make a difference. When it boots up from being unplugged for couple of hours the glitch is performed correctly, blue then green then off on modchip.

 

[LuigiGad]

Reflowing a chip should not stop it from working. People do permanent dat0 all the time.

What guarantees does a blind reflow give you? First of all, why did you do a reflow? A permanent dat0 needs a reballing and you need to know how to do it. In the end it's a matter of logic, you have 6 100% safe connection points according to you, on the only point you don't see you have done a reflow and the console no longer starts, in your opinion where is the problem?

 

[BlueBeans]

Reflowing a chip should not stop it from working. People do permanent dat0 all the time.

What guarantees does a blind reflow give you? First of all, why did you do a reflow? A permanent dat0 needs a reballing and you need to know how to do it. In the end it's a matter of logic, you have 6 100% safe connection points according to you, on the only point you don't see you have done a reflow and the console no longer starts, in your opinion where is the problem?

I just wanted to come back and say that you were correct… partially lol I went over the board again and removed the wiring. I had left it there in case I got it to work. When I removed the wiring from CLK I noticed that the pad had come away from the via. I restored the trace and lo and behold it works again. It’s no longer a candidate for a mod but at least it works. I had used a grinding pen to expose the point which I’ve never done. Definitely won’t do that again. Anywho, lesson learned

 

[Crung]

I just wanted to come back and say that you were correct… partially lol I went over the board again and removed the wiring. I had left it there in case I got it to work. When I removed the wiring from CLK I noticed that the pad had come away from the via. I restored the trace and lo and behold it works again. It’s no longer a candidate for a mod but at least it works. I had used a grinding pen to expose the point which I’ve never done. Definitely won’t do that again. Anywho, lesson learned

do you have any pictures with the clk pad damage?

 

[abal1000x]

I had used a grinding pen to expose the point which I’ve never done. Definitely won’t do that again. Anywho, lesson learned

People has warn like thousands time in this thread, don't use grinding pen, its risky. That the only method you used, when theres no other method available.

The problem not just lays on the risk of grind that trace out of the pcb. Its also the debris, which almost couldn't be cleaned out. You will need an ultrasonic cleaner for that, and it gives another risk of destroying the component cause of the ultrasonic waves. And you need to use alcohol, if you use water, it will lead to another risk of corrotion. Even the alcohol you used have water on it, except you buy a 99% methanol/ethanol.

And even if the clk ripped, that device still could be modded, if you use emmc adapter. Since the clk, cmd, dat0, 3.3V, gnd all exist on the emmc pins.

Like i said, the clk point is risky. I rather use emmc adapter, to solve the risky clk, the problematic dat0, and the difficulty of cmd point, in one solution.

 

[Crung]

People has warn like thousands time in this thread, don't use grinding pen, its risky. That the only method you used, when theres no other method available.

The problem not just lays on the risk of grind that trace out of the pcb. Its also the debris, which almost couldn't be cleaned out. You will need an ultrasonic cleaner for that, and it gives another risk of destroying the component cause of the ultrasonic waves. And you need to use alcohol, if you use water, it will lead to another risk of corrotion. Even the alcohol you used have water on it, except you buy a 99% methanol/ethanol.

And even if the clk ripped, that device still could be modded, if you use emmc adapter. Since the clk, cmd, dat0, 3.3V, gnd all exist on the emmc pins.

Like i said, the clk point is risky. I rather use emmc adapter, to solve the risky clk, the problematic dat0, and the difficulty of cmd point, in one solution.

are there any aliexpress sellers who sell emmc pcb adataper? The one where you have clk dat0 cmd on the adapter? I searched for it and i cant find anything except hwfly v5 reball adapter ,but they are not selling anymore. What are the words i can search and find them? or maybe a link? Thank you

 

[abal1000x]

are there any aliexpress sellers who sell emmc pcb adataper? The one where you have clk dat0 cmd on the adapter? I searched for it and i cant find anything except hwfly v5 reball adapter ,but they are not selling anymore. What are the words i can search and find them? or maybe a link? Thank you

The cons of using emmc adapter is its tedious and need an experienced skill.
Its not for ordinary user for sure. It needs precision when reballing to the emmc.
I've tried to eliminate this precision requirement, but no solution yet.

You might goes to hassal route by using flex as the adapter. He shared his works. I've not yet tried that. I've got very busy with other things.

I've order the emmc adapter on jlcpcb using this,
https://github.com/abal1000x/emmc_adapter/releases/tag/v2.0.0
For the configuration just search in this thread i've already post it.

You could order it on jlcpcb 5pcs for around $4. For me its $5 including tax, transport, custom, etc. So 1pcs like $1. And i could order it, as small as 5pcs.

 

[Crung]

I have an OLED (emmc reballed ,permanent dat0) that is giving *= CMD is not connected. the wire are properly soldered. When i measure CMD resistor on board its a dead short in continuity ,and 0 ohm in resistance . I think the resistor went bad. Anyone encountered this problem before?

 

[LuigiGad]

I have an OLED (emmc reballed ,permanent dat0) that is giving *= CMD is not connected. the wire are properly soldered. When i measure CMD resistor on board its a dead short . I think the resistor went bad. Anyone encountered this problem before?

Couldn't the reballing have gone wrong?