Switch unable to boot, but not always

Nintendo Questions Nintendo Switch
1

Hey there,
I’ve got an interesting Switch here. It’s my personal one, so I’m ok with putting a bit more time and effort into it. Just for fun :slight_smile:

Let me start with the problem:
I’ve changed the M92T36 on the board a while ago. After that the Switch worked for a while. After a few days, when I played for about 30 Minutes or an hour, the Switch crashed. It did so by simply freezing, also sound froze (repeating the same half second of sound all the time). After that the console was unable to boot at all. When turning it on, I simply got a blue screen. My Switch is unpatched, so I tried reading out the keys, interestingly none of them was readable anymore (and yes, I could read them before). Injecting payloads partially works, not all worked.

After a bit of tinkering I took the Switch apart and took out the mainboard. There was a bit of what looked like remainders of flux here and there, so I just gave it a thorough cleanup and put it back together. Interestingly, now the console worked again like nothing ever happened. Until I again played for a prolonged period (less than 1 hour). The game again froze, I could only power off the console by pressing the power button for 12 seconds. Again, nothing worked anymore, I got the blue screen upon boot again, only very few payloads could be injected, no keys could be read out of the device anymore. So, same as before.

I took the mainboard out another time and cleaned it thoroughly again, this time concentrating on the RAM and SoC, because I was worried there might be flux below them in the BGAs. After putting everything back together again, surprise, the Switch worked again, without any restrictions. Until I again played for about 20 Minutes this time. The game, once again, froze, and again, nothing works anymore. Blue screen, keys unreadable and so on.

As a side note: Everytime the crash happened I was in handheld mode. So, I would guess it’s not a thermal problem. Just leaving the console disassembled, also without the battery, does not change anything. The cleaning seems to do something.

Has any of you ever had a problem like this? Or does anybody have an idea what it might be? Any idea is welcome :slight_smile:

1 Like
2

It’s kernel panicking mate give the entire board a clean see if that stops the kernel panic if not it’s possible there’s a short somewhere causing it

1 Like
3

Hey there,
Cleaning definitely helps (temporarily at least), so I don’t think it’s a short somewhere.
What bothers me is that after the crash the keys are not readable. Maybe that gives a clue about where to clean…

1 Like
4

Put the motherboard in isopropyl alcohol and in the ultrasonic tank for 5-7 minutes to clean all the residual flux.

1 Like
5

Hey there,
Thanks for the great idea @FXDX! :slight_smile:
I’ll try that next. Strangely, after last cleanup the console does not boot anymore at all. No Nintendo logo when turning it on, also no charge icon when plugging in the charger. Interestingly RCM still does work. In hekate the battery percentage jumps between 109%, 0% and 249% and the battery info I get when displaying the details is completely bogus, especially the battery gauge ic data.
Pin 6 of the M92T36 reads 3,2 V when connected to USB, so that should be ok, no shorts around the M92T36, so I assume it is ok. After all, it’s brand new… That leaves the BQ24193.

No shorts around any ICs. Just, and this makes me really wonder, a couple of caps below the SoC… But the SoC seems to be ok, all payloads run without any problem at all…

But, before replacing that I’ll try the ultrasonic idea. Or does anyone have an alternative idea?

1 Like
6

Hey @kage-chan
Replaces BQ24193 and tries with another battery.

7

Hey there,
Have to order BQ24193 first, will take a couple of days until it arrives. Will report back :slight_smile:

1 Like
8

Hey there,
I have done this a few times, but I think there’s lots of people around here who don’t, so as a precaution:
Please, never ever put any flamable liquids (like IPA) inside an ultrasonic cleaning device!

@FDFX: Sorry, don’t get me wrong, I still love the idea. But I guess there’s a lot of people coming by here who don’t know that this might actually be dangerous.

1 Like
9

Yes, there are some risks. Buy and use this, it is best for electronic components.
Elmasonic Elma Tec Clean A1 10 Liter Ultrasonic Cleaning Solution.

  • What it removes: water damage, water-soluble flux, oil, grease, fingerprints, dust, coffee, tea, cola, milk
  • What it is: highly concentrated ultrasonic cleaning solution
  • What it cleans: PCBs, mother boards, electronic parts, fine optics and plastics
  • Fast and efficient
  • Free rinsing - leaves behind no chemical residue after rinsing with water

After cleaning the parts must be rinsed in distilled or deionized water. This is very important in order to remove any traces of cleaning solution residue. Because tap water also will leave residue deposits it must not be used as a rinse. Dry the components thoroughly before reassembly.

1 Like
10

Hey there,
Additionally, if some oxidisation has already happened, a cleaning concentrate like Tickopur RW 77 might also help. This will clean the same things as the A1 does, but additionally removes light oxidisation.

1 Like
11

That’s good brother:yum: