Late last year, a homebrew developer made a massive announcement: there was a new Nintendo Switch modchip coming soon, and it would support not just launch units, but also more modern OLED and Mariko Switch revisions (though not Erista). The icing on the cake was that the modchip to hack the Switch only cost $3. and consist of a RP2040-Zero unit, which hugely contrasted with the only other available modchip--the HWfly--which went for over $100 at the time. Dubbed the Pikofly chip, it would, in theory, be able to install custom firmware on your Switch.

Scene members quickly took notice, as many began working on breaking down how the chip functioned, with lots of information available in the Pikofly discussion thread. And now, thanks to their hard work, you can now take advantage of it, in order to get the Pikofly modchip working on your Switch. GBAtemp user Rehius has published a GitHub project page that has a firmware file and further documentation, while Flynnsmt4 managed to decrypt parts of the code, even creating a cycle-accurate emulator that further explains how the chip works. With these new milestones, people are already discussing techniques to solder the chip to their consoles.

If you're curious to see more, and how this unfolds, head on over to the Pikofly thread to see the latest discussion and updates.

 

[Jayro]

Gotta love USB 3.2 Gen 2x2. Naming makes perfect sense.

That's basically what USB 4.0 should have been, 20Gb/s.

 

[Foxi4]

pretty sure the raspberry pi pico is just a microcontroller made by the raspberry pi ppl. The raspberry pi zero and regular pi are the ones with the arm processors. Raspberry pi naming schemes are getting garbled now since they have a tons of different SKUs that do mostly the same stuff. At least it's not as hard as finding the right arduino clone to use

EDIT: I'm wrong, even the pico even has an ARM Cortex processor inside but it's super low-power. I wonder if it was picked for convenience or if they needed more performance than an average microcontroller for some reason

Apparently the Pico is actually the ideal pick, a couple users posted an explanation earlier in the thread. I’ll have to look into it, seems like a fun board to play around with.

 

[raxadian]

Isn't the RCM Switch hack practically brick proof from a software perspective so long as you have a good dump? Possibly going further and using emunand to avoid the sysnand entirely?

I am so paranoid I didn't hack my 3ds until I got a second one.

I tend to be less of a worrywart if I buy a system already hacked or just to hack it.

 

[HideoKojima]

To be fair. None of the modchip solutions have been noobfriendly. The easiest is the RCM bugged Switches.

You reminded me of the PS1 modchip back in the day

 

[Viri]

Looks like a fun project to do. You can still get the chip off eBay for less than 10 dollars.

 

[Frankbel]

I am gonna drink some wine tonite.

 

[anhminh]

So any tutorial for Switch Lite install yet?

 

[xthird16]

So any tutorial for Switch Lite install yet?

as of today there are no tutorial.. hopefully someone will make a tutorial

 

[linuxares]

So any tutorial for Switch Lite install yet?

Sort of

 

[Soundtoxin]

Rp2040 Zero - https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/RP2040-Zero
Pico - https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/Raspberry_Pi_Pico


No they use Rp2040 zeros in the installs that I've seen

I used some of the RP2040-Zero when I built some Flatbox Rev5 controllers. It concerns me that Waveshare seems to be the only place to get them, and from what I remember they took a while to arrive. It seems like a clear point of failure. I wonder which other boards would be a good fit here. Adafruit has a few RP2040-based options.

 

[linuxares]

I used some of the RP2040-Zero when I built some Flatbox Rev5 controllers. It concerns me that Waveshare seems to be the only place to get them, and from what I remember they took a while to arrive. It seems like a clear point of failure. I wonder which other boards would be a good fit here. Adafruit has a few RP2040-based options.

Ali express got loads. So dont worry a out them disappearing

 

[Bladexdsl]

Looks like a fun project to do. You can still get the chip off eBay for less than 10 dollars.

yep as long as you buy the parts and assemble it yourself all nintendo can do is stand there with their thumb up their ass

 

[osaka35]

I've got quite a few various pi development boards lying around. I'm looking forward to trying this and hacking ALL the switches.
Except Erista.
...maybe?
Think I'll wait until things are more clear-cut, as I'm the overly cautious type, but looking forward to super tiny soldering.

@Chary
Wait, is it Pico or Piko? the github says Pico, but people keep saying Piko/Pico interchangeably?

 

[blueice7]

Sort of

the video is good but we need a tutorial with mosfet without hwfly parts

Post automatically merged: Mar 22, 2023

Sort of

the video is good but we need a tutorial with mosfet without hwfly parts.

 

[linuxares]

the video is good but we need a tutorial with mosfet without hwfly parts

Post automatically merged: Mar 22, 2023

the video is good but we need a tutorial with mosfet without hwfly parts.

I think they will come soon enough

 

[rcpd]

I think they will come soon enough

Some alternatives have popped up on the Picofly-AIO thread from Rehius:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/picofly-aio-thread.628951/post-10107013

https://gbatemp.net/threads/picofly-aio-thread.628951/post-10107028

https://gbatemp.net/threads/picofly-aio-thread.628951/post-10107037

 

[PopcornSweetie]

I’d honestly wait for a QS solution for something this compact. Hoping one comes.

Same. give it a couple years and there will be a solution, i am sure of it!

Hopefully someone will make a open source one and we can print it on like pcbway

That would be nice and would make it really cheap to produce and create. and hope for the best

 

[zebrone]

Does someone know about some shops that sells chip-modded Oled Switch?

 

[Blavla]

Does someone know about some shops that sells chip-modded Oled Switch?

I could make you one and send it to italy

 

[zebrone]

I could make you one and send it to italy

From where?