Hacking Hardware Picofly - a HWFLY switch modchip

[Ferras]

Last week I managed to install the picofly on my Switch Oled (well, it's working, even though I killed the SP2 capacitor), however during assembly I noticed that the measurement for the 3.3v point was approximately 1.05 instead of the range of 0.5~0.8, even though the chip was receiving 3.3v normally and it worked, I ended up leaving it alone, but I had it in my head and today I took the flat out to take a look and apparently everything is normal, even so the measurement is 1.05. The Switch is working normally. I ended up ordering the SP2 capacitor from Aliexpress and I can try to fix both at the same time.... does anyone know what it could be? Is it okay to leave it like this?

 

[Phantomas77]

Last week I managed to install the picofly on my Switch Oled (well, it's working, even though I killed the SP2 capacitor), however during assembly I noticed that the measurement for the 3.3v point was approximately 1.05 instead of the range of 0.5~0.8, even though the chip was receiving 3.3v normally and it worked, I ended up leaving it alone, but I had it in my head and today I took the flat out to take a look and apparently everything is normal, even so the measurement is 1.05. The Switch is working normally. I ended up ordering the SP2 capacitor from Aliexpress and I can try to fix both at the same time.... does anyone know what it could be? Is it okay to leave it like this?View attachment 409257
View attachment 409259

Not a problem to leave them like this, it's common ground and common +3.3V on those caps.

Regaring the SP1/2 cap, as suggested by rehius, you can source them directly from your Rpi if you use RP2040-Zero baord for example:

Once I left it without the SP1 cap, the console works well. Since it's a filtering cap and you want to keep it OEM for a peace of mind, replace it.

 

[Ferras]

Not a problem to leave them like this, it's common ground and common +3.3V on those caps.

Regaring the SP1/2 cap, as suggested by rehius, you can source them directly from your Rpi if you use RP2040-Zero baord for example:
View attachment 409283

Once I left it without the SP1 cap, the console works well. Since it's a filtering cap and you want to keep it OEM for a peace of mind, replace it.

Thanks for the answer! I used a picofly v5 from Aliexpress, so I can't steal the board cap. Maybe I expressed myself badly in relation to the 3.3v point, my doubt is not in relation to ground and common to those points, I know that they are in parallel on the PCB itself, what I would like to know is about the measurement with the multimeter on the diode scale showing 1.05 instead of the 0.5~0.8 that the tutorials indicate, I want to know if there is a problem with the board or any other component due to this "strange" measurement. In addition, as far as I remember, the 3.3v was the second point I made (the first was dat0), which is why at the time I didn't pay much attention to this strange measurement, as I hadn't yet reached the complicated points.

 

[Phantomas77]

Thanks for the answer! I used a picofly v5 from Aliexpress, so I can't steal the board cap. Maybe I expressed myself badly in relation to the 3.3v point, my doubt is not in relation to ground and common to those points, I know that they are in parallel on the PCB itself, what I would like to know is about the measurement with the multimeter on the diode scale showing 1.05 instead of the 0.5~0.8 that the tutorials indicate, I want to know if there is a problem with the board or any other component due to this "strange" measurement. In addition, as far as I remember, the 3.3v was the second point I made (the first was dat0), which is why at the time I didn't pay much attention to this strange measurement, as I hadn't yet reached the complicated points.

Are you connecting the red probe of your multimeter to the ground while in diode mode? If not, that's why you have "different" readout.

 

[toribird]

no I didn’t but damn was it all over the place. Threw a pico in it and it’s all good.

Post automatically merged: Dec 18, 2023

Post your work. Are you sure your DAT0 is connected to the right spot? On the lite they’re kind of all close to other points.

thank you for your reply.
The solder on DAD0 doesn't look good, but I've corrected it nearly 7 times so far, and all of them were "=* D0 is not connected". I have never seen the picofly boot screen (no sd).

I will leave a photo of the area I worked on. It's the x5 zoom on my smartphone because I don't have a digital microscope. I apologize in advance.

 

[Ferras]

Are you connecting the red probe of your multimeter to the ground while in diode mode? If not, that's why you have "different" readout.

I'm connecting the black probe to the ground and the red probe to the 3.3v point... I measured all the points like this and they are correct (switch turns on normally and the modchip works), only the 3.3v gives this reading above 0.8v.

 

[Phantomas77]

I'm connecting the black probe to the ground and the red probe to the 3.3v point... I measured all the points like this and they are correct (switch turns on normally and the modchip works), only the 3.3v gives this reading above 0.8v.

Please define "correct".

...Maybe I expressed myself badly in relation to the 3.3v point, my doubt is not in relation to ground and common to those points, I know that they are in parallel on the PCB itself, what I would like to know is about the measurement with the multimeter on the diode scale showing 1.05 instead of the 0.5~0.8 that the tutorials indicate, I want to know if there is a problem with the board or any other component due to this "strange" measurement.

What tutorials are you following?
The correct way to measure components in diode mode is with red probe on the ground. If you do it otherwise, you're just getting another perspective of current flow, the values will be different.
But in the end you want it to work, right? I understood everything is working correctly, or did I miss something? And once more, this is RP2040 Waveshare based "Picofly" thread, maybe some chinese knock-off components of "Picofly" have different impedence when soldered, who knows... surely this is not the right topic to discuss it.

 

[Ferras]

Please define "correct".

What tutorials are you following?
The correct way to measure components in diode mode is with red probe on the ground. If you do it otherwise, you're just getting another perspective of current flow, the values will be different.
But in the end you want it to work, right? I understood everything is working correctly, or did I miss something? And once more, this is RP2040 Waveshare based "Picofly" thread, maybe some chinese knock-off components of "Picofly" have different impedence when soldered, who knows... surely this is not the right topic to discuss it.

Correct for me would be the measurement between 0.5~0.8. Oops, I'm actually measuring wrong so I have the black tip on the ground. Yes, it's working, it turns out that as I found this measurement strange I wanted to confirm if there was a bigger problem, as I'm going to fix the SP2 cap if there was a problem with the 3.3v I could also try to fix both. The text tutorial does not show the measurements, for them I saw many online tutorials on YT to find the measurements (especially sthetix and a channel called Tvpartsworld). Sorry, I thought this topic would be for any picofly and I thought it would be better to create a post here than just a topic. As everything is working I'll leave it like that until the capacitor I bought arrives, then I'll measure everything again the right way xD. But anyway, thank you, you helped me a lot.

 

[rull_bull]

thank you for your reply.
The solder on DAD0 doesn't look good, but I've corrected it nearly 7 times so far, and all of them were "=* D0 is not connected". I have never seen the picofly boot screen (no sd).

I will leave a photo of the area I worked on. It's the x5 zoom on my smartphone because I don't have a digital microscope. I apologize in advance.

No wonder you dont see the picofly boot screen.
First off is that your flex on the cpu is not seated correct.
So it is hard to tell if you even have made contact with the correct points and not bridged anything.
I dont see the cap to the right of sp2, is it missing?
And your solder looks terrible, no flux?
And it seems like you dont have contact with all points and possible bridge under flex.

For the rest of the flex cables i cant tell because i have not done a lite.
But it seems you have bridged stuff there also.

Does the switch even boot?

I would say that you dont have the skills to peforme a mod like this and you risk fucking it up even further by attempting to fix it by yourself.

Better leave it to a pro and have it fixed.

 

[toribird]

No wonder you dont see the picofly boot screen.
First off is that your flex on the cpu is not seated correct.
So it is hard to tell if you even have made contact with the correct points and not bridged anything.
I dont see the cap to the right of sp2, is it missing?
And your solder looks terrible, no flux?
And it seems like you dont have contact with all points and possible bridge under flex.

For the rest of the flex cables i cant tell because i have not done a lite.
But it seems you have bridged stuff there also.

Does the switch even boot?

I would say that you dont have the skills to peforme a mod like this and you risk fucking it up even further by attempting to fix it by yourself.

Better leave it to a pro and have it fixed.

ah. . Thank you for your important advice. I think everything you say is correct.
Fortunately, my Switch Lite seems to be booting and alive in OFW.
It seems that I installed the CPU flexible cable (FPC) in the wrong position. I placed it too high. The chip next to SP2 is present, but it appears to be hidden because the FPC window is located higher up.
Do you think it is possible to safely remove and reuse these FPCs? Or should I reorder.

I cleaned all the flux to take this photo. Paste flux is usually used. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 

[superxoi]

Hello everyone on the forum.
I received picofly (to Lite) the other day. I started working on it right after that, but I failed because I didn't have the micro soldering skills. Space is very limited around DAT0 and it was a time of patience. Fortunately, this Switch Lite will start up in OFW, so I plan to collect more information and try again.

So I have a question for you all.
There is some advice that I often come across when gathering information on forums. "Use a good tip and solder"
There was no specific product name written there.
Could you please tell me the tip and solder you are using? Also, do you think I should use solder containing lead?

I'm currently working with equipment like this.
Any advice would be appreciated. thank you!

Soldering iron: HAKKO FX-600
Iron tip: T18-BR02/T18-S4
Solder: Oyaide SS-47

i used to use a 10$ solder station named hakko 936(now i have my buddy aifen a9 pro) and a 2$ cheap set of tips( 18 tips in a set) . "use good tip and solder" i think the proper term is "use proper tip and solder" . my favourite tip for modding switch is 1.0mm bevel tip.

 

[BlueBeans]

thank you for your reply.
The solder on DAD0 doesn't look good, but I've corrected it nearly 7 times so far, and all of them were "=* D0 is not connected". I have never seen the picofly boot screen (no sd).

I will leave a photo of the area I worked on. It's the x5 zoom on my smartphone because I don't have a digital microscope. I apologize in advance.

Honestly, if I were you I would remove all those flex cables and just run wires.

 

[Purple_Heart]

have an hwfly in my oled. it worked till yesterday fine, but now suddently it says no sd if i wanna boot it. i have an sd in it, formatted with fat32 and tested it of errors but it doesnt have any and its a genuine 1tb sandisk ultra. it was at 20 percent battery before i went sleep. could this be the prob?

 

[linuxares]

have an hwfly in my oled. it worked till yesterday fine, but now suddently it says no sd if i wanna boot it. i have an sd in it, formatted with fat32 and tested it of errors but it doesnt have any and its a genuine 1tb sandisk ultra. it was at 20 percent battery before i went sleep. could this be the prob?

Boot ofw and see if it sees the SD card. Else your sd carder reader probably have died.

 

[Purple_Heart]

how to boot offical on a chipped oled? if i press power i get a screen with a rocket and it says no sd in a large red text

 

[jkyoho]

how to boot offical on a chipped oled? if i press power i get a screen with a rocket and it says no sd in a large red text

vol + & - . usually

 

[Purple_Heart]

still get no sd error

Post automatically merged: Dec 18, 2023

got it

Post automatically merged: Dec 18, 2023

booted to the modchip menu and it booted hekate now it works

Post automatically merged: Dec 19, 2023

created a new emummc and put back my files (ok installet games are gone but idc)

 

[BlueBeans]

I have finally achieved a single mosfet install! ordered some mosfets from Amazon and they worked! Finally!

 

[Danook28]

Any One know why nintendo switch oled with good reading dat0 adapter from. 0.696 V to 0.701v only black secreen this is The 3 oled with same problem but all console working fine. The adapter is not bad at all. I can add pic. Thanks

 

[toribird]

i used to use a 10$ solder station named hakko 936(now i have my buddy aifen a9 pro) and a 2$ cheap set of tips( 18 tips in a set) . "use good tip and solder" i think the proper term is "use proper tip and solder" . my favourite tip for modding switch is 1.0mm bevel tip.

I'm glad for your reply. I was satisfied when I heard that. My mod is just getting started. I want to acquire skills and knowledge little by little and eventually become successful. thank you!
"use proper tip and solder"

Honestly, if I were you I would remove all those flex cables and just run wires.

I'm glad for your reply. surely. Looks like my work was too bad. I would try removing the flex cable and using wire or a new flex cable if possible.
Also, congratulations on modifying the MOSFET!

Post automatically merged: Dec 19, 2023

Hello. I'm currently redoing the picofly flex cable. Can someone please tell me the multimeter's diode mode measurements for Switch Lite's A, B, C, and D points? Thanks in advance!