Hardware White RCM-X86 wont enter SAMD21 update mode

[PRAGMA]

Hi,

I have a white RCM-X86 with a 5-wire setup (gnd, 3v3, D-, D+, and D0 for Joy-con strap).

It uses the Red-OS Bootloader which requires a boot.dat. I can make a Hekate boot.dat with https://sx-boot-dat-creator.herokuapp.com/ and it works. However, I was hoping to install Fusee-Suite to this instead so I need to enter SAMD21 update mode.

I followed various ways of entering e.g., plug in a USB-C cable to PC at x/y/z time, use this updater payload, e.t.c e.t.c.
Nothing is working. I have no reed switch or button to solder GND and RES with.
I have tried using tweezers to bridge a signal, as well as touching the pads with wire.
I have tried a USB-A to USB-C, and a USB-C to USB-C. Neither made a difference.

I hear Windows 11 going device enter and device exit sound effects, but no drive is appearing.

This appears in Devices and Printers. But I cannot find anything else.

 

[binkinator]

Hi,

I have a white RCM-X86 with a 5-wire setup (gnd, 3v3, D-, D+, and D0 for Joy-con strap).

View attachment 353710

It uses the Red-OS Bootloader which requires a boot.dat. I can make a Hekate boot.dat with https://sx-boot-dat-creator.herokuapp.com/ and it works. However, I was hoping to install Fusee-Suite to this instead so I need to enter SAMD21 update mode.

I followed various ways of entering e.g., plug in a USB-C cable to PC at x/y/z time, use this updater payload, e.t.c e.t.c.
Nothing is working. I have no reed switch or button to solder GND and RES with.
I have tried using tweezers to bridge a signal, as well as touching the pads with wire.
I have tried a USB-A to USB-C, and a USB-C to USB-C. Neither made a difference.

I hear Windows 11 going device enter and device exit sound effects, but no drive is appearing.

View attachment 353711

This appears in Devices and Printers. But I cannot find anything else.

GND the RESET pad twice.

 

[PRAGMA]

GND the RESET pad twice.

I am. It does absolutely nothing. I'm taking the same type of wire used on the soldering, but stripped a bit near the ends, then putting one side on GND, other on RES. Then taking off res, putting back on, then letting go again. This should have ran it twice. Yet nothing happens on the PC side.

Could you guide me what to do from a powered-off state?

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

I'm almost certain I'm doing it correctly, just the "USB Serial Device (COM5)" isn't loading correctly or something.

 

[binkinator]

I am. It does absolutely nothing. I'm taking the same type of wire used on the soldering, but stripped a bit near the ends, then putting one side on GND, other on RES. Then taking off res, putting back on, then letting go again. This should have ran it twice. Yet nothing happens on the PC side.

Could you guide me what to do from a powered-off state?

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

I'm almost certain I'm doing it correctly, just the "USB Serial Device (COM5)" isn't loading correctly or something.

@randy_w has this exact same device.

I found that on my trinket m0 I had to tap it once, take a breath, and then tap it a second time. more of a pulse than a tap-tap. I’m not certain if the white RCMX86 has the exact same timing.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/rcmx86-do-i-have-to-flash-or-do-anything-before-soldering.538066/

you’ve been trying to get this thing to work for 4 years? Let’s get you sorted man.

e2: the black rectangle thing is indeed a magnetically operated reed switch. Check out @randy_w ’s install here:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/interna...ress-guide-files-support.508068/post-10005869

…you can see it in the picture.

I was so jelly I installed a magnetic reed switch in mine
(actually it was because I switched to an aluminu shell and could no longer “flex” the back panel to press the regular reset switch on the Trinket any more.)

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

So yeah, it takes a double tap just like the Trinket M0. They say pause for a second between taps.​

How to flash UF2 file (after install it into the switch)​

• solder a magnetic switch between the GND and RES
• turn off the switch
• pull in the type-C, connect the switch with the PC
• Ues the magnet near the magnetic switch (twice at one second, to short the GND &RES)
• normally it will be a new disk in you PC file explorer
• if the PC say unknow usb driver ,just pull down the type-C and pull in it,or try again
• copy the *.uf2 file into the new disk, then the disk will disappear.
• done.

https://github.com/euclala/RCM-X86#how-to-flash-uf2-file-after-install-it-into-the-switch

 

[PRAGMA]

Ok so, an update. I still cannot get it to make a USB drive, however, I have managed to get it to "upload" data to it with the Arduino IDE. I followed this tutorial: https://github.com/euclala/fix_dongle to fix not the dongle but the chip. It successfully changed from red-OS boot.dat to hekate.

It seems it was meant to fix the USB drive on reset, but it has not for me. What I uploaded to the chip I dont know if it was bootloader/firmware/software. Maybe theres something before what I've uploaded (e.g., bootloader before software) that needs fixing.

One problem here seems as if the chip is not on or resettable when the switch is off. So the instructions above are a bit problematic. If I follow them anyway after booting into rcm, it still fails.

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

I used Zadig to replace the usbserv driver of it to libusbK.

I then disconnected, re-connected, then reset twice.
I now have it showing as "Trinket M0", but still no USB drive is appearing.

Once I disconnected to retry, this no longer happened.

 

[wwwcqh]

I have this ,but this chip do not work for volume+，anyone can fix it? Thanks

 

[PRAGMA]

I have this ,but this chip do not work for volume+，anyone can fix it? Thanks

I think the default software on it does not use any other GPIO pads other than D0 for the joy-con strap.

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

I've re-soldered the GND point and now its seemingly randomly resetting, on its own.

 

[wwwcqh]

I think the default software on it does not use any other GPIO pads other than D0 for the joy-con strap.

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

I've re-soldered the GND point and now its seemingly randomly resetting, on its own.

Yes ,I try all it,not work .Can it flash Fusee_suite?

 

[binkinator]

Ok so, an update. I still cannot get it to make a USB drive, however, I have managed to get it to "upload" data to it with the Arduino IDE. I followed this tutorial: https://github.com/euclala/fix_dongle to fix not the dongle but the chip. It successfully changed from red-OS boot.dat to hekate.

It seems it was meant to fix the USB drive on reset, but it has not for me. What I uploaded to the chip I dont know if it was bootloader/firmware/software. Maybe theres something before what I've uploaded (e.g., bootloader before software) that needs fixing.

One problem here seems as if the chip is not on or resettable when the switch is off. So the instructions above are a bit problematic. If I follow them anyway after booting into rcm, it still fails.

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

I used Zadig to replace the usbserv driver of it to libusbK.

View attachment 353724

I then disconnected, re-connected, then reset twice.
I now have it showing as "Trinket M0", but still no USB drive is appearing.

View attachment 353725

Once I disconnected to retry, this no longer happened.

So you can boot Hekate with it now? You should consider this guys payload which boots /atmosphere/reboot_payload.bin

https://gbatemp.net/threads/dragonboot-for-atmosphere-generic-rcm-tools.581600/post-9571750

thismmeans you never have to update your payload ever again…

 

[PRAGMA]

So you can boot Hekate with it now? You should consider this guys payload which boots /atmosphere/reboot_payload.bin

https://gbatemp.net/threads/dragonboot-for-atmosphere-generic-rcm-tools.581600/post-9571750

thismmeans you never have to update your payload ever again…

Yeah seemingly I can edit the fix script to use any payload I want. But, ideally I'd want to use Fusee-Suite for it's battery management. Is there a way to flash a uf2 through a COM port like Arduino IDE does?

Notice that this white version of RCMX86 has no USB Logic IC chip. Maybe this is related?

 

[binkinator]

Yeah seemingly I can edit the fix script to use any payload I want. But, ideally I'd want to use Fusee-Suite for it's battery management. Is there a way to flash a uf2 through a COM port like Arduino IDE does?

Notice that this white version of RCMX86 has no USB Logic IC chip. Maybe this is related?

I use fusee-suite V7 on my trinket, so I hear you there. I set it and forget it. I haven’t had to touch it since installation and it just works. I’d say you get it working and leave it alone, maybe you put the reed switch on and futz with it over time, but the double tap thing is supposed to be the way you get it to connect.

 

[PRAGMA]

I use fusee-suite V7 on my trinket, so I hear you there. I set it and forget it. I haven’t had to touch it since installation and it just works. I’d say you get it working and leave it alone, maybe you put the reed switch on and futz with it over time, but the double tap thing is supposed to be the way you get it to connect.

When I was re-soldering GND point I was getting USB Not Recognized notifications on windows. Its odd. Before I did that, if I put my tweezers on just reset and held it there it would constantly reset. So I assume some gnd issue here?

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

Turns out the switch wont charge now. Everything looks connected fine

Post automatically merged: Feb 17, 2023

Removed the RCM-X86, all wires, cleaned up where I attached wires, and still doesnt charge. Wild. I was very careful as well. This is the 2nd time this has happened. I last attempted an rcmx86 4 years ago. These things are mega fucking cursed, stay away from them and get a Trinket M0...

 

[PRAGMA]

Hi, in retrospection I want to inform what likely was the case of this in case anyone else also has this issue.

• I do not think I needed to rewrite the chip's software with Arduino IDE under the instructions in the fix_dongle repository. It is nice to just change what payload is launched, but if you have this issue it likely is not going to be your fix.
• If you are like me and are only able to get a COM port, then the bootloader on it may not be the U2F bootloader, or your D- and D+ has issues.
• In my case, the issue of not getting the U2F drive to show up may have actually been because charging stopped working after I installed the RCM-X86, and still doesn't work once removed.

Whatever the reason, I think overall it was caused by me. See my thread on attempting to fix charging if you would like to see what could be possible causes to my Type-C port, and hopefully in the future a fix or diagnosis. If we get a diagnosis it may assist in diagnosing this issue as well, perhaps even fixing it too.

Overall In my honest opinion, stay away from the new white and black RCM-X86 chips. They are clones of an already clone, with already many different versions of both the black and white chips. E.g., I know of 3x different white chip layouts. Notable differences are: Normal 'VB' PCB, 'V1.1' PCB with A/B labeled pads, and 'VB' PCB with 'RCM-X86' written in gold on the PCB (the one I use). And that's just the white chip.

If you just want to mod your Switch to not require a Jig and Payload Injection, then go for a regular Trinket M0 with the USB still connected. While it may seem like a better tradeoff to have no USB/LED and smaller form factor, you're actually giving yourself more headache with bollox surrounding chip/pcb revisions, clones of clones, and extra effort on the initial flashing process. The fact an RCM-X86 is a clone of the Trinket M0 is also a problem when researching issues. When looking into my issue I found nothing at all for RCM-X86 other than my own threads about similar issues from 4 years ago.

tl-dr; Fuck RCM-X86 and its 90 revisions and clones of clones, get a Trinket M0. You will save yourself a ton of headache. Trinket m0's are only 30% more expensive from what I can see. Don't risk a couple of euros.

 

[rcpd]

tl-dr; Fuck RCM-X86 and its 90 revisions and clones of clones, get a Trinket M0. You will save yourself a ton of headache. Trinket m0's are only 30% more expensive from what I can see. Don't risk a couple of euros.

Honestly, thanks for this. I was on the fence about getting one of these because it seems simple to install and is cheaper than the Trinket.

I’ll grab the Trinket M0 instead and just solder blob pins 9 and 10 on my JoyCon. My payload injector has been giving me headaches lately and this is just as cheap as buying a new one.

Will the M0 fit with the USB port or do I have to remove it? I’m on a v1 Switch.

 

[binkinator]

Will the M0 fit with the USB port or do I have to remove it? I’m on a v1 Switch.

You must remove it. It stands too tall with it still on the board.

 

[rcpd]

You must remove it. It stands too tall with it still on the board.

Perfect. Thank you!