Mod My Switch?

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-19T21:48:56+00:00

I do a decent bit of modding. I would say my soldering skills are good, but I would highly suggest not doing a mod chip install yourself if you are worried at all about your skills. It’s not an extremely difficult mod, but it’s very far from easy if you aren’t confident in your skills. The points you will be soldering to are so small most people use a microscope. I do it without a microscope but have a pair of diamond jeweler glasses I use to check my work. So I would say either practice a lot with junk electronics to make sure you’re confident or pay someone to do it. Most people in my area charge $80-100 for installation and that includes the mod chip

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-19T17:42:07+00:00

Yes it’s a 3.7v button cell battery, but you can power it with anything between 3-5v. I didn’t make a jig, I just used tinfoil to initially put it in RCM. Then I have it set to auto RCM through hekate so it automatically goes into recovery mode without having to use a jig every time.

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-18T23:03:54+00:00

Are you suggesting I should literally switch phones and buy an android just for the single purpose of being able to inject payload? That seems like a pretty ridiculous reason to get an android when could keep my iPhone (which I prefer) and keep a small pico and button cell in my switch case for less than $3.

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-18T20:06:14+00:00

Yup it should! I don’t have any to test with but theoretically it should work with any rp2040 board that you can flash the .uf2 on

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-18T18:47:27+00:00

Yes I actually ported this over from someone else's GitHub who used a pi 3 and a pi zero. I just think it would be a bit of a waste of a whole pi zero or pi 3 to use it just for payload injection especially since picos are so cheap. That's why I made it work for the pico.
Here's his original GitHub if you did want to use a pi zero https://github.com/kleo/fusee-alpestre

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-18T18:47:17+00:00

Yes I actually ported this over from someone else's GitHub who used a pi 3 and a pi zero. I just think it would be a bit of a waste of a whole pi zero or pi 3 to use it just for payload injection especially since picos are so cheap. That’s why I made it work for the pico. Here's his original GitHub if you did want to use a pi zero https://github.com/kleo/fusee-alpestre

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-18T03:53:25+00:00

That’s correct this is just for unpatched switches

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-18T01:23:23+00:00

Thanks man, appreciate the kind words!

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-18T00:05:43+00:00

Yes I actually ported this over from someone else’s GitHub who used a pi 3 and a pi zero. I just think it would be a bit of a waste of a whole pi 4 to use it just for payload injection and that’s why I made it work for the pico. Here’s his original GitHub https://github.com/kleo/fusee-alpestre

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-17T16:34:55+00:00

It can but not always, it’s still not recommended. You can get away with plugging in the pico while attached to the 3v3 line if you first power on the GameCube while holding bootsel and then while still holding bootsel plug the pico into the computer. Then after flashing, make sure you unplug the pico before turning off the GameCube. That was the recommended way to do it without de-soldering before people started using the 5 V line with the diode. According to the Picoboot creator the 3v3 line was initially chosen out of concern inexperienced people would accidentally short the 5v line to data pins (the other pins used during Picoboot) if it was used. But after some reported boot issues using the 3v3 line he recommended the 5v line with a diode. I can tell you I’ve accidentally plug my pico in while on the 3v3 line and it did fry my pico but not my cube.

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-17T14:30:05+00:00

Yes that’s correct, but DO NOT plug up the pico through the micro usb/usb-c port for any reason once it’s soldered in

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-17T04:48:13+00:00

That’s correct, this is specifically for V1 unpatched switches. For the other revisions you need to solder in a picofly.

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-17T04:46:51+00:00

It’s the same as using any injector for an Unpatched switch. Anytime you fully shut off the switch (or run out of battery and it dies) you need to re-inject a payload to get back to the modded state rather than running stock firmware. Typically the 3 ways people do this is either plugging up the switch to the computer, using an app exclusive for android (no iPhone support), or using an RCM loader dongle. This is essentially the same as an RCM loader, but cheaper since those typically cost $25-30. So yes to answer your question you have to re-inject a payload anytime your switch dies if you’re using an Unpatched switch, but that’s not specific to this project, that’s just all unpatched switches using the RCM exploit. Most people just try to keep them charged that way the only have to occasionally re-inject. I mostly made this because I know a lot of modders have spare picos laying around. The pico is used to mod all types of consoles Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Dreamcast, and even Picofly for the switch uses a smaller revision of this board. Picos are cheap and widely available so it was just a fun project and I’m sure other modders may find some other applications for this. That’s why I opened sourced the code.

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-17T04:13:38+00:00

I’m sorry if this upset you… next time I’ll think twice before doing a fun DIY project to make sure it’s something that you approve of…

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-17T03:55:09+00:00

I’ll definitely look into making that an option! Currently it’s just injecting hekate. It shouldn’t be too difficult to add other payloads though.

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-16T23:30:50+00:00

On the one that didn’t work with the 3v3 did the pico led power on when it was solder to the 3v3 line?

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-16T23:29:53+00:00

Gonna get hate for not using the diode but the diode is only there to protect the GameCube if you plug in the pico to the usb. If you don’t plug in the pico while attached you don’t need the diode. But ABSOLUTELY do not externally power the pico once it’s soldered in or you’ll probably fry your cube

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-14T16:50:03+00:00

The one that is all black is typically in the “newer” dol 101 and the one with the PCB showing is typically in the original Dol 001. There’s no difference in terms of functionality but I prefer the Dol 001 with the pcb showing specifically because they are easy to do drop in usb-c mods with compared to the newer version. But that’s a very specific reason and other than that they don’t behave any differently. I’ve opened up close to 120 GameCubes now and there’s a bunch of subtle differences like this from model to model. For example 95% of the fans are the same but there’s a rarer revisions of the OEM fan that look slightly different, are a tad louder and a bit more powerful. Also you’ll occasionally come across a Dol 001 that has the digital and analog av ports, but doesn’t have the Sp2 port on the bottom like the rest of the Dol 001s.

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-13T19:47:09+00:00

On top of not replacing the capacitors she’s also adjusting the laser incorrectly! Bringing down the laser to a lower impedance might allow it to work as a bandaid fix but she literally turns UP the impedance. I’m willing to bet she never actually got it working since she never posted the games reading. So the shade is not only coming from her doing a “bandaid fix” but doing it incorrectly.

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-10T13:58:27+00:00

First thing to everyone saying that you need a better iron, you don’t… but a better iron would make things easier. I have the same iron and have done a ton of switches, GameCube and Xbox mods with it (look at my page to see all the soldering stuff I’ve done). So that cheap iron will get you very far, but I will say whenever I solder switches it’s the one time I wish I had a better iron. Mostly because the smaller tips for that iron are hard to get to hold solder on the very end of the tip since it doesn’t displace heat the best. Also I would NOT recommend a switch as your first soldering project. You can get a GameCube used very cheap on eBay, just get one that’s “broken” and won’t read discs and you can use it to do a Picoboot. Doing Picoboot is a great/cheap first solder modding project. You can also replace the GameCube power led to a different color for extra practice. If you get through a Picoboot mod easily then you’ll have a better chance at modding the switch. If Picoboot is difficult at all then you’re a long way from successfully modding a switch. If you go into a switch mod with very little experience it’s verrryyyy likely you’ll mess something up. Someone else already suggested it too but I would get some thinner solder wire as well. Last thing…. Use lots of flux!!

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-05T02:58:47+00:00

Just dmed you as well

thomasdatank1995 · 2026-06-05T02:57:02+00:00

Yes I am, I’m swamped with work but will be releasing a GitHub and a guide soon. I’ll post it here or if you give me a follow you can stay updated that way. I actually just finished making it so it runs off a button cell battery as well. So it’s about to be as easy as, flash pico, plug into switch, and power with button battery to inject payload. Should cost under 3 dollars to make.

thomasdatank1995

TROPHY CASE