Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

alexh wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 2:08 pm If you google for Switch + SD + Dismount + Standby you find several threads suggesting that the brand of SD card could be the issue. That sort of makes sense if the switch tries to put the SD cards into deep sleep and that doesn't work correctly on some SD cards. Worth trying a different card just to be sure.
Well that did cross my mind the SD card was an issue, so I will buy some proper branded ones as the ones I have are just generic right now.

EDIT - I tried a Samsung card I have, however it was the same, but it's an older card and behaves the same.

So looking at what's recommended, it seems to be SDXC are what's needed and I don't have any, so I'll get one ordered see if it changes anything.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

So a 2nd game card arrived today, and it's still no dice with the card reader...

So I pulled the reader out and had a close look at the connector and it's not good news:

IMG20240517160802.jpg
IMG20240517160802.jpg (164.59 KiB) Viewed 1067 times

The contact 2nd from the right is looking dodgy. Luckily I have spares on the donor boards, so I need to pull it apart again and somehow get an undamaged one off a donor and onto the working board...

I suspect it may have been damaged at the same time as the traces, but didn't move out of place until I unplugged the card reader. That would explain why it worked fine before I took the damaged but working switch apart, but not when I reassembled it.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Well, it's been a good day with the Switch :)

Firstly I recovered the card reader connector from my donor board. The whole process was actually surprisingly easy and because I heated from below the board, the connector came off like new. Getting the heat and airflow was critical here.

I used the same process to remove the damaged one, and the same process to fit the spare to the mainboard, and I shockingly got it soldered all in one go, and with no sneezes to dislodge anything!!!

Here it is fitted:

IMG20240518160736.jpg
IMG20240518160736.jpg (225.56 KiB) Viewed 1056 times

It's hard to give an idea of scale, but the connector is no more than about 15mm long, so you can imagine the size of the pins, and there are pins both sides!

It needed a good clean to get rid of all the flux needed for replacing the connector, and great care was needed not to damage the replacement.

At first it didn't work, despite making sure everything was clean, but I swapped out the card reader with my spare and lo and behold it was all working perfectly!!!

Here it is reassembled and with 2 card games installed on the front page :)

IMG20240518165809.jpg
IMG20240518165809.jpg (171.02 KiB) Viewed 1056 times

Next up I want to see if I can manage to rebuild the power circuit I sneezed away last time and see if I can get a 2nd board working.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by alexh »

Congratulations. You have one fully working console now?
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by stephen_usher »

Yay! And good luck with the other one.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

alexh wrote: Sat May 18, 2024 5:45 pm Congratulations. You have one fully working console now?
I do indeed, very pleased with the result :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Sat May 18, 2024 5:52 pm Yay! And good luck with the other one.
Thanks, The other one will be interesting since some of the missing parts are possibly the smallest SMD parts I've ever seen, but worth a try :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

So this arrived today, it's a Switch Lite mod chip:

IMG20240521145948.jpg
IMG20240521145948.jpg (167.69 KiB) Viewed 1019 times

One thing missing though was the instructions.

Now the USB port and black lead I get, but the other lead, :shrug:

IMG20240521150353.jpg
IMG20240521150353.jpg (367.15 KiB) Viewed 1019 times

It just doesn't seem to line up with anything!

I'm using a parts board BTW, so no need to worry about the working Switch!
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by stephen_usher »

Maybe there are different top ribbon cables depending upon the board revision?
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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Re: Exxos will like this colour of Switch Lite :)

Post by alexh »

I think you have the flexible cable upside down and back to front? In the correct orientation the cable folds back on itself to insert into the modchip.

https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005007024450666.html

Scroll down to see the installation images.
Senior Principal ASIC Engineer - SystemVerilog, VHDL
Thalion Webshrine - http://thalion.atari.org
ST,STf,STfm,STe,MegaST,MegaSTe,Falcon060
A500+,A600,A4000/060,CD32,CDTV
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