Great videos and very entertaining, more of them please! About the Switch that only displays 480p, here is a video about it and how to fix it: th-cam.com/video/xF4giWFsR70/w-d-xo.html Greetings from Germany!
Your channel is a perfect example of how you don't need expensive equipment & video editing software to be successful. I love how you still use Windows Movie Maker in 2018! Videos are still great too 👍
ok, first of all, nice going with the repair. You've kept your head, been careful and you've done a pretty good job all around. now: * try to factory reset that non-docking switch, it sounds more like a software problem, but it could be that one of the chips is broken internally, so the external switch circuitry is dead * that blob of thermal paste was 4-5 times bigger than necessary. air's a good insulator, and the paste is supposed to get rid of any microscopic air gaps, not magically move heat * if there's ever a kind of large, fat, putty-like square between heatsink and chip, it's a thermal *pad*, don't chuck it away as thermal paste won't work. You CAN buy replacement thermal pads real cheap from china, but getting the right thickness/type is a PITA. * you should really get some thermal protective tape instead of using tinfoil, which is spreading the heat rather than protecting * USB-C is reversible, but that means that bottom-left switches to top-right, not bottom left to top left when you reverse it (it goes around, not mirrored) :) * when you're heat gunning things, don't yank the components, take your time, don't blast things, and use tweezers to ease them up when they're loose, or you risk pulling up the tracks on the motherboard. * when in doubt, flux. * get yourself some IPA (iso-propyl alcohol) for cleaning up flux, the alcohol you used is good, IPA is better. * learn about solder braid for cleaning solder pads * have fun, you're doing really well :)
These vids are helping scratch my tinkering itch. I can't afford to do it anymore due to many years of illness, but fixing a switch would be sweet. I'd be proud of the result, even if it doesn't dock. Such a minor thing compared to not having one at all. Keep up the good work, it's inspiring!
Love the videos, I started repairing consoles and computer over 15 years ago. Couple of things I learned are... The more flux you use the better and buy the good stuff don't cheap out. The pen style no clean flux are kind of crap, the style in the syringe work much better. When doing small components the extra flux helps hold the component in place. Also, keep the tweezers on top pushing down when heating. Another good item to invest in is thermal tape to protect components you don't want to heat.Thermal paste is there to fill in micro or large cracks to make sure you have 100% contact with the heat-sink. When buying thermal paste make sure its non conductive, Arctic Silver #5 is what I use. Never worked on a switch but I would guess that one has a software issue not hardware.
If the CPU can't see the video encoding chip (if it has one) that does HDCP (content protection) that is on the switch itself, it will not output video to the dock. My guess (without looking at schematics) is that you have two chips on the switch itself not being able to communicate. The nasty thing here is that there are circuit traces inside the circuit board (it has more layers than front and back) and those may have been damaged by bending. If you know which pins on which chips should be connected for this hdcp you could measure if the pcb is still okay or if the trace inside is broken. The typical fix for such a thing is to actually micro solder a wire between the two points that need to be connected. Louis Rossmann shows how to do that in many of his videos.
OK, I never knew that more traces were sandwiched inside the board. I thought it was just top and bottom. So if I knew the faulty trace then I could bridge the points with a jumper wire. I think it is probably time to give up on this Switch as I will not be able to check that. Do you know if it is possible to have multiple layers inside the circuit boards or is it just top, middle and bottom (not on the Switch but other devices). Thanks, Vince :-)
Two and four layer boards are common. Though I have seen 8 later boards as well. As a check, I would look up the chips around the bend and find their power and ground pins. Then test them for power and ground. A two layer board is top and bottom. A four layer board is normally top, bottom, power, and ground.
They are 2 different kinds of thermal grease, likely applied during 2 different stages of assembly, the copper/gold silicone ones are fairly cheap to buy in bulk (you can get a peanut butter sized tub for 20$ on amazon) as opposed to the compound you replaced between the heat sink and heat spreader which is more expensive.
Hey this helped me but only briefly. Using a small plastic prying tool, I wiggled it around the USB-C port on the switch. Then I tried bending very gently the small metal connector inside the port. That made my switch work when docked, but only for a few minutes. I managed to replicate this result by > undocking > putting it in sleep mode > repeating the wiggling with the prying tool > docking > waking the console with the joycons detached. I noticed moving the console even slightly made my picture go away on the TV. Hope this helps figure out what the issue is.
Hi Vince, A complete Factory Reset should cure your issue, and it's an issue a few others have had, and cured having the issues with docking. It is software related, and should be cured with a reset. Hope this helps
Agreed, but I did a search and for some people reset didn't work. www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/tv_resolution_is_stuck_at_480p_after_update_4_0_0
Hi Vince, You may have a software and hardware issue but more likely software. Work on software first. I also watch a channel that you may find interesting. He builds his own iPhone from parts he finds in electronic markets in China. Have a look at all vids but the link is specifically for building iPhone 6S 16GB. A series of videos. th-cam.com/video/leFuF-zoVzA/w-d-xo.html
If that didn't get you hooked on his channel this video will. Bringing BACK The iPhone Headphone Jack - in China th-cam.com/video/utfbE3_uAMA/w-d-xo.html
It's not docking also, that points to a Hardware fault not software. Any Switch can dock with 480 resolution. This one can't and doesn't output image, so it has some hardware problem, most likely some cut trace or break in some lines (or can be some ic).
I recently just got my Switch which I ordered 1 week ago and watched your videos as I find them quite entertaining. Not sure if you still read comments on older videos but I noticed before I put the Switch in the dock, it would also only show Automatic and 480p as the only options. Hope this information helps in some way.
In addition to a factory reset (there are posts on forums about corrupt video drivers) the other thing you can try is set the TV setting to Automatic, turn off the Switch fully (hold power button until it fully shuts down), dock it and power it on while in the dock so the TV is present during it's boot-up phase.
Vince, i love your vids, It's coming from my heart to tell you that i enjoy very much this series and i've seen you get better and better, the internet can be a very rude place, but we don't only love the series, this channel wouldn't work if it wasn't for you. We love your personality. Keep up the good work. Lots of love from italy.
I'd suggest trying to factory reset and re install updates 1 by 1...no switch experience but have known other devices to install a update over a currupt os leaving some features not available
I keep hearing you mention the pins on the switch unit aren’t reversible, that can’t be true. The reason the switch dock has a notch is so that the screen faces the front, and the vents would be sucking in through the hole in the back allowing proper air flow. If you think about it if the pins were not reversible you would only be able to charge the switch if the USB-C cable was facing one way but not the other. Just wanted to mention it you say it often through your videos.
@@JEFF-dd3vu thats 100% false pal. I bought one a week ago and met the guy in a Dennys parking lot and was patient enough to let me set up my hotspot and connect the Switch to it and set it up entirely.
I've got to say, I love your videos because you are so genuine and honest about the fact you ARE a novice! You're not trying to pretend you know everything and honestly as someone who has on damn clue about what's going on- it's nice to watch someon who makes it easy to understand!
Even if you can't fully fix the bent Switch, it does still have some use value as a handheld, great as a travel Switch, keep the fully working one at home.
It's better than not having enough to cover the spreader. Sure using too much is a wasteful & inefficient use of paste but having it really won't have a negative affect on the temperature since the retention of the cooler will spread & thin it out pushing the excess from the sides which so long as the paste is non-electrically conductive, which this one is, will be safe for the other components. In fact in cases like a GPU with an exposed die with no heat spreader you really want to lean on the side of using too much since missing even a tiny bit of coverage would be catastrophic for it.
I agree. Just a simple place to show that we appreciate your videos and would like to afford you perhaps more parts and equipment that could help you work on bigger projects and further your knowledge. Cause that is what it's really about right?
Great video as usual Vince. Very entertaining. While I'm not an expert at working on the Switch specifically, I do work with electronics and components as well. Doing a little research, I did come across some information that the chip you were looking into is indeed the chip that controls the HDMI out to TV function, known as a Matrix Switch. This particular one being the Pericom Semiconductor PI3USB30532 USB 3.0/DP1.2 matrix switch, which I was able to find with a mixture of an iFixit teardown that outline the components, and Pericom's website: www.diodes.com/products/connectivity-and-timing/switches-mux/protocol-switches/usb-switches/part/PI3USB30532#tab-overview Under the Specs & Tech Docs they outline the chip is used for HDMI out to TV for devices such as Laptops, Tablets, and Mobile; As well as it's use for Docking output via USB C connection. I do think that having it usable in Handheld mode is better than the potential damage that could come with trying to replace the chip, however.
At 19:02 and 19:37 looks to be some oxidation on the board. Could mean poor connection or bad chips. Of course finding out what those do for the system is the hard part. A reflow may solve the problem after a proper cleanup of the oxidized crap. And if you can find some type of schematic and it is broken traces on the inner layer, jumper leads to get around those can be done.
love these videos, very fun, its always cool to learn new things. as a computer nerd its fun seeing you learn i remember first learning and i know how daunting some of it is.
Nice vid, very complete. For the display mode issues, factory reset the switch. Not sure if it will help the docking issue but it will for sure bring the display modes back.
Well done on fixing that antenna connection 👍 another fun video. As many have said, a full factory reset may help, would at least make it a little clearer as to it being a hardware or software issue
One thing to try (saw a chap do this on Reddit. ) restart the console in handheld mode and quickly put it in the dock before it starts up, it may try to force it to output
Great video again. Watching your videos makes me want to move to England, the English people seem so nice and friendly and optimistic. Keep at it, we're rooting you on from the other side of the pond to fix that Switch. ;)
Holy Yevon this fixed my issue with my switch stuck at 480p. I unlocked it then changed the setting to 1080p then docked it. BAM! no its docked at 1080p 😭 Thank you good sir 💚
I’ve watched 3 mins about this! My Nintendo is bent. I bent it back a little bit I changed to 480px then plugged it in!! It worked and I could change resolution
The paste colour is fine. Likely just cheaper quality or differently branded paste on the side that touches the shielding as it's not in contact with a chip, or could have been mixed with a gum to secure the heatsink to the shield more securely. Arctic pastes can be used pretty much anywhere, you don't have to worry about using the "wrong paste" as long as you don't buy any off-brand cheap stuff. As others have said, you applied way too much paste. The idea is that there will be an incredibly thin (1mm or so) layer covering the entirity of the chip once it's spread. Any more than that can insulate heat inside preventing it from escaping quickly enough causing components to heat up. Often it's easier for newcomers to apply a little pinhead amount then spread it with a piece of card, adding more paste and spreading as needed. What you DONT EVER want to happen is exactly what happened in this video, your paste oozed out of the sides. That extra paste is going to liquidate and flow all over the area surrounding the chip as soon as it gets hot, which it will do with the amount of paste used.
When docked the console lcd blacks out so that would suggest the console knows that it is docked and not just connected to a charger. It is at least attempting to output video via the usbc to the HDMI port but of course we could see that no signal is produced. It seemed logical in believing that if there was continuity between the motherboard pins and the bare wires then there is continuity and the pins have not lifted from the motherboard. Howeve while checking continuity you noticed that a lot of the pins were grounded. The switch probably detects this and is causing it to only show 480p in settings and not able to output a signal. Check to see whether if any pins are bent or messed up internally and grounded to the shielding or other ground pins. The incorrectly grounded pins might have coincidentally caused it to believe that the TV is reporting that it supports 480p only, even when nothing is connected. Possibly the console uses other pins to detect it is docked.
Btw I just have a little tip the reason why the Nintendo switch only docks one way or facing one way is so the fans in the back of the switch can work it has nothing to do with the usb c port all it has to do with is the fan. It likes a safety thing so people or children work put the fan holes dead against the dock making it so it can't breath. That's why the switch only gos one way in the dock so the holes foe the fan matches up with the little holes on the back of the dock. Hope this helps
The reason that you don't want to reuse thermal paste is that it can create air pockets where heat builds up and get the components it's supposed to help cool. As far as the different pastes, it should be fine to use the same on both, but like you thought, it's not as important on the connection between the pipe and the heat shield since there's no components involved. Even the bottom one in this case it going from a heat spreader to the pipe, not the chip itself so it's no biggie, but it's good to replace it nonetheless
I’ve worked on a lot of laptops that use a similar designed heatsink and pretty much thermal paste is used to fill in the microscopic spaces between the layers of the chip along with any shielding on top to the heatsink and the reason they are different colors is probably because the pink stuff on top of the heatsink is lower quality paste since the metal frame isn’t really a huge part of thermal dissipation so it saves Nintendo a few pennies. If you want the best performance, you should replace the pink stuff too since it’s already pretty crusty and no longer doing much now that the metal shield was separated and the paste can’t fully connect the layers. It needs to be gooey to work good. Also you should take off the shield over the main chip and replace the paste that’s directly on the die
Hello Vince, i don't know if you still own this switch, but i just repaired mine with similar behaviour. On mine it was the M92 chip that was not fully soldered, to do so, I used some solder paste applied with a toothpick on the 4 corners and melted it, then after removing the bridges, the switche finally docked and charged on both ways
It's highly likely the docking issue is down to the power ic being shorted on the higher voltage detection. Ie 5v will work but not the 15v mode. Replace that ic and it should resolve.
for melting and reflowing chips you want to be up around the 400c mark not 340 and you also want to use a lot more flux. At 340 you're just heating up the components, you're not melting any of the solder or reflowing anything. when positioning components that you're trying to put back on with existing solder you don't need to get them exactly in the perfect spot, as long as you get them fairly close when the solder melts it'll pull them into the right place
That part with dad dad the switch is on fire! Was funny but it brings up a good point. It seems it worked fine and I'm used to loud fans on consoles playing with a ps4 pro aka the aircraft carrier in Texas summer but I'm glad he was aware something was different. Also with thermal paste anytime I can I replace the paste because I heard it dries out but honestly I havent replaced my CPU paste in years and I used to do it regularly so who knows. If you do a giveaway give it to someone who cant afford it and would really appreciate it that would be the best gift. I dont know how you can determine but you can figure it out.
Seems that a lot of people had the problem with the stuck resolution on working switches after software updating to 4.0. Possibly still a software problem?
You generally remove old thermal paste and apply new because you don't want air bubbles in there that will trap heat and make things hotter. That's why people do the dot cause when you apply pressure it spreads out evenly on its own. The color of paste shouldn't matter. You would have been fine and probably better off just applying new paste on the top and bottom of the heatsink. I don't think you have to worry about it though, you applied new paste to the main part so you should be fine.
that with 480p is normal. if you buy a new switch, it will show only 480p and auto. it will only show 720p+ if you dock it and plug it in a 720p/1080p screen.
Don't know how you can work on the floor all the time. A desk would be far far better especially for your knees & back. I'd try a full factory reset 👍🏻
Great video again vince and nice fix on the connector ive done a couple not a easy job regards too the dock not switching to hdmi i think the pi3usb30532 ic maybe at fault not sure how easy it would be too swap one though
Thanks fellow Vince, I was really pleased with the connector :-) Apparently the Switch has traces sandwiched inside the top and bottom layers on the circuit board so maybe one of these have a hairline break on it. I don't think I will risk replacing that pi chip as I wouldn't be confident with that at the mo :-) Thanks for the views and comments :-)
Totally agree not everyone uses the docking station anyway, as long as it charges etc its still usable handheld console so you would be able to re sell if you wanted too.Multi layer pcbs Most applications require between four and eight layers, though applications like mobile devices and smartphones tend to use around twelve layers from what i have read on the internet.This is the microscope i will get when funds allow a lot of mobile phone repair guys started with one of these www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AmScope-10X-20X-LED-Binocular-Stereo-Microscope-Boom-Arm-LED-Gooseneck/400429192095
I think this is a software issue as well! Allthough unlikely, something may have gone wrong during the installation. And maybe the switch didn't register all the components in the os for the output properly? I suggest you try to reinstall the switch from the memory stick. Just to make sure... Some info that might be useful for you about graphics processors... The graphics processor will likely be rendering at an constant internal resolution either way. And the resolution options is just a matter of scaling the image. Which should be no issue, with it rendering in the first place.
Available resolutions are determined by the TV once the switch is able to communicate with it. Default “failsafe” res is 480p. Seems that there is no communication with the TV. If you fix that, the resolutions supported by your TV will be available in the menu. Try reflowing some solder joints where the bend was using plenty of flux to not bridge pins... Also, I would definitely revisit that connector with a fine tip soldering iron just to have the best possible joint. It might be on now, but maybe the cable will pull it off sometime in the future... And if you want to learn soldering minuscule things properly, look up Louis Rossman on TH-cam and watch his tutorials and repair videos... you’ll be amazed at how easy it is with proper tools and loads of flux paste!
Vince, silly question, @50:27 , you see that PCB plugged, it's the acutal NAND of the console, why not trying exchanging them ? the bricked one on the other one and vice versa, just sayin, maybe will not work but shoudl worth the try
With thermal paste usually less is better, especially for such small components. Also once you put it on and place the heatsink on top you shouldn't tap it or adjust it. That will create air bubbles which will impede optimal heat transfer.
I’m having this problem My switch when its put into the dock shows the green light but doesn’t go onto the tv. Sometimes it goes onto the tv but only for about 5 seconds to 2 minutes. Please let me know what to do
I had that same problem, but mine was Not even charging, When I checked the charging port I saw a very bent pin, with a tiny stick i putted it back and It started charging, but no image on tv. I saw another bent pin and when I putted it back in the Right spor it was perfect, it sabes my quarentine
Boyman And fam check them again and gently try to put them in their position if you see something out of place. Make sure there is no dust or some shit in there
I had this issue too on once I was repairing, the plastic around the usb port was ever so slightly warped so when I docked it, the green light went on and it charged but no display, it would sometimes recognise it but still no display. Figured the plastic was creating a little push since it wouldn't slot in nicely and the switches seem to be quite finicky getting them to dock if you happen to move it ever so slightly when seating it. I cut the plastic away and now it docks without issues. Also good to check P13USB and the bottom pins towards the filters near the usb side, each pin should head towards the other side of the filter and can be checked with continuity. If one filter is bad there can be a cross over where both pins go to both ends of the filter. Replace it and you're good to go. EDIT: By filters I mean the square black components under the caps under P13USB that have 4 connections to them. Any docking issues, if the USB C port is good, will probably revolve around that chip and subsequent components.
Yes you can.clean the surface and apply the same thermal paste to both surfaces but just apply a pea size drop to the surface to help to dissipate the heat from the chip
Just did a leg transplant due to a scrape on the thy. Now they tell me a plaster would have fixed it. Just disassembled a switch to repair the dock fault. Now they tell me a factory reset would have fixed it. Sound familiar XD Ps: Love your videos
the reason you want to change it, is beacuse most of the time the factory thermal compound is not good. and just some advice for the next time. for referance on how much to put on i would say the size of a rice grain for the switch. and that thermal compound you got is one of the best brands to use. it worked very well for me on the pc's i build
not sure if you are still monitoring these comments but I have a switch here with exactly the same issue. I bought one with a docking issue and 480p only. I tried everything to get it working, system reset, diffrent dock, different ac adapter etc etc. I then left it overnight in the dock charging, woke up next morning, pushed the home button on my joycon and it actually showed an image on screen. I then restarted the switch whilst docked and the video options all showed up. I selected 1080p, undocked the console and redocked it multiple times and all seemed well. I put mario kart in and it then started to update then all of a sudden my screen went black and now the switch won't dock. Out of ideas, anyone got any input?
Good video enjoyed watching you work on this. I read that people are saying you should set it back to factory settings. I’m interested in finding out if you did already.
Great video again vince .keep up the good work . Videos are very intresting . Also you can type the chip names online (or any other part your unsure of ) on google etc and it can tell you what it is and it even might show you a schematic for it .
Idk if your using the aluminum foil for protection but aluminum dissipates heat better then most metals so when your heating up one spot that foil is actuly heating up the entire board u could be losing alot of heat this way too cuz the foil is just sucking it up u should really find a better heat shield so u can point heat better in one area
My best guess on why the switch wasn't docking is probably because when it was bent it probably slightly damaged the inside parts needed to help dock it in a TV. So maybe the next time you purchase a switch you can try and swap the internals from that to the one that won't dock if the one that you end up actually docks itself and isn't bent. With all the reports people had when the console came out of it bending maybe the person bought the switch right when it released and it worked for a good while. Then it probably bent itself and the person didn't want to wait for Nintendo to fix it so they sold it on eBay for someone like you to try and fix it. Thats my guess anyway. Hope its been helpful
Thanks for close up's i am wondering if the video chip (output) is borked in some way, thus preventing the last 2 resolutions. Check last update info, also check tracks on board with a loupe/magnifying glass if possible. Heating of chips is defunct on this type of error imo.
Hey Vince, I noticed on all your working switches it has “match tv power state” to on where as the faulty one says off. Probably won’t make any difference but might be worth turning it on to see what it does.
I really do think it's a broken trace or two (and maybe a ground plane) ... that was a pretty serious bend and copper traces aren't that thick. I can find instances of devices restricting themselves to 480p on google... seems to be cables that aren't up to snuff. That leads me to believe the traces that send the hdmi signals are damaged, and the switch is acting like it has a bad hdmi cable attached. I'd just replace the board, hard to tell what other damage hasn't made itself evident yet... God forbid the charging regulation circuitry.
I guess the pink thermal paste is almost the same as the blue, maybe not as fluid so it wont spread all over the place. It is my logic guess, so i think you would be good if you applied the blue one there too, just maybe a bit less so it wont come into contact with other parts.
there does seem to be a thread on the nintendo forums about some switches having a bug , where they are stuck on 480p not sure if it relevent to this repair !
There is no such thing as 480p HD. 720 is the minimum to be considered HD as per broadcast standards with 480 and 576i being the US and PAL standard definition (SD) respectively.
I was having this same problem. No shorts, but it would not display on TV (dock works fine). I did a reflow on the p13USB chip (on the back of the motherboard) and it worked flawless for me. Hope this helps anyone in the future
Could be a software issue. Not sure but worth looking into more software solutions. You’re correct though, probably would be a chip if the system can see a fault (not displaying all the resolutions).
it's not the cable that does the small image it is the port/video input settings one of them is set to fill the screen with whatever pixel count it has so it just magnifies
Vince, since you opened it I would recommend cleaning that thermal paste off and re applying a new one before reassembling. Also do a factory reset to clear whatever settings the previous owner had in there
hi vince, I like your nintendo switch Episodes, hoping you can fix a few not docking. here is some information that i found on this problem, They had me unplug all the cables from the dock, as well as the adapter from the wall and wait a full minute. I replugged everything in, and bam, it worked. Since I have two other docks I haven’t played around with it too much, but the Nintendo tech said that the adapter has a little breaker in it that can only be reset by removing it from the wall and letting it power cycle.they said they repaired a connection in the Switch itself.
Have you tried using the USB ethernet adapter with it? The chip you tried to reflow (or one of the components connected to it) does seem like the most likely culprit, since it seems to do switching between USB/HDMI out, but it would help a little to know if it's just HDMI out that's not working or if the USB portion isn't working either. If the ethernet adapter doesn't work either, then it seems like the chip isn't switching for some reason, maybe one or more pins aren't making proper contact or one of the components connected to it isn't making contact and you just didn't use enough heat to reflow it. But if the ethernet adapter doesn't work then the chip might be dead. The bend could have stressed the internals of the chip enough to make it fail. It could still be a software issue, but if it is a hardware issue then it's most likely that chip or something connected to it. Anyway, I hope you can fix it or at least figure out for sure what's wrong with it, and I'll be looking forward to any future videos on it. Edit: More info in the replies.
Also, the chip not switching could explain why it only displays 480p. If the chip doesn't switch, then the Switch can't read the EDID information from the TV, and it might fallback to only 480p as a compatibility option. That could also happen if the chip was dead however.
Had another look at the part where you test the shorts to ground. The first pin you tested is GND, so that's fine. The next two that aren't shorted are RX+/RX- (these are different pairs for each side), so that sounds fine. Then the next: VBUS, SBU, D-, D+, CC, VBUS, TX- are all shorted, but TX+ isn't, last one is GND again. SBU, CC and TX are also different for each side. Then on the other side, it's the same thing, but TX- isn't shorted this time. This might be normal, as looking at the datasheet for the matrix switch, in DP+USB mode, one of the TX/RX pairs of the USB-C port goes to the TX/RX input/output that's connected to the USB 3.0 controller elsewhere on the board (presumably in the SoC), the other pair goes to the DP output. This TX/RX pair is internally pulled down to ground with a 100k resistor in the matrix switch according to the datasheet. If you measure the resistance and it's ~100k then this is likely normal. Why RX- on the same pair didn't appear to be shorted to ground even though the datasheet says it should also be pulled down to ground I'm not sure, but it might not matter. CC doesn't appear to go to the matrix switch at all, and is used for negotiating the USB version (3.0-3.2) and the charging voltage, I will assume this part is working but that could easily be tested by seeing if the console will charge at reasonable speed while playing a game. If it wasn't able to negotiate a higher voltage the console would charge very slowly in game, and you would likely have noticed. D+/D- is just plain old USB 2.0, this doesn't go to the matrix switch either and isn't especially relevant since the dock doesn't need it. VBUS is for the power, it seems weird to me that it would be shorted to ground, but maybe that's normal when the console is off, since something in the console must be sensing when power is applied before it decides to accept it and actually charge the device. Clearly the console is charging so we can assume this is not an issue. Datasheet for the matrix switch: www.digchip.com/datasheets/parts/datasheet/129/PI3USB30532ZLE-pdf.php And the USB-C pinout I got from Wikipedia. You can see what pins on the chip correspond to what pins on the USB-C connector. I don't know if any of this is helpful right now, it certainly didn't make me much wiser. But I think you need to test continuity to ground again with the console on (with and without the dock plugged in) to see if the results change as it might give you some important clues.
You're welcome. Additionally, you should test the continuity between the TX/RX and DP pins on the matrix switch docked and undocked to determine if it's switching correctly.
I've always seemed to have a fascination with watching people learn a task or procedure. Thank you for sharing your learning process.
Great videos and very entertaining, more of them please! About the Switch that only displays 480p, here is a video about it and how to fix it: th-cam.com/video/xF4giWFsR70/w-d-xo.html
Greetings from Germany!
Your channel is a perfect example of how you don't need expensive equipment & video editing software to be successful. I love how you still use Windows Movie Maker in 2018! Videos are still great too 👍
Thanks mate :-)
ok, first of all, nice going with the repair. You've kept your head, been careful and you've done a pretty good job all around.
now:
* try to factory reset that non-docking switch, it sounds more like a software problem, but it could be that one of the chips is broken internally, so the external switch circuitry is dead
* that blob of thermal paste was 4-5 times bigger than necessary. air's a good insulator, and the paste is supposed to get rid of any microscopic air gaps, not magically move heat
* if there's ever a kind of large, fat, putty-like square between heatsink and chip, it's a thermal *pad*, don't chuck it away as thermal paste won't work. You CAN buy replacement thermal pads real cheap from china, but getting the right thickness/type is a PITA.
* you should really get some thermal protective tape instead of using tinfoil, which is spreading the heat rather than protecting
* USB-C is reversible, but that means that bottom-left switches to top-right, not bottom left to top left when you reverse it (it goes around, not mirrored) :)
* when you're heat gunning things, don't yank the components, take your time, don't blast things, and use tweezers to ease them up when they're loose, or you risk pulling up the tracks on the motherboard.
* when in doubt, flux.
* get yourself some IPA (iso-propyl alcohol) for cleaning up flux, the alcohol you used is good, IPA is better.
* learn about solder braid for cleaning solder pads
* have fun, you're doing really well :)
Brilliant, great list of advice and tips. Thank you :-)
Get your self a IPA ( beer) for drinking after fixing stuff.
These vids are helping scratch my tinkering itch. I can't afford to do it anymore due to many years of illness, but fixing a switch would be sweet. I'd be proud of the result, even if it doesn't dock. Such a minor thing compared to not having one at all. Keep up the good work, it's inspiring!
Why can't I stop watching these videos, just bought a goosed xbox off eBay because of this guy
Love the videos, I started repairing consoles and computer over 15 years ago. Couple of things I learned are... The more flux you use the better and buy the good stuff don't cheap out. The pen style no clean flux are kind of crap, the style in the syringe work much better. When doing small components the extra flux helps hold the component in place. Also, keep the tweezers on top pushing down when heating. Another good item to invest in is thermal tape to protect components you don't want to heat.Thermal paste is there to fill in micro or large cracks to make sure you have 100% contact with the heat-sink. When buying thermal paste make sure its non conductive, Arctic Silver #5 is what I use. Never worked on a switch but I would guess that one has a software issue not hardware.
If the CPU can't see the video encoding chip (if it has one) that does HDCP (content protection) that is on the switch itself, it will not output video to the dock. My guess (without looking at schematics) is that you have two chips on the switch itself not being able to communicate. The nasty thing here is that there are circuit traces inside the circuit board (it has more layers than front and back) and those may have been damaged by bending. If you know which pins on which chips should be connected for this hdcp you could measure if the pcb is still okay or if the trace inside is broken. The typical fix for such a thing is to actually micro solder a wire between the two points that need to be connected. Louis Rossmann shows how to do that in many of his videos.
OK, I never knew that more traces were sandwiched inside the board. I thought it was just top and bottom. So if I knew the faulty trace then I could bridge the points with a jumper wire. I think it is probably time to give up on this Switch as I will not be able to check that. Do you know if it is possible to have multiple layers inside the circuit boards or is it just top, middle and bottom (not on the Switch but other devices).
Thanks, Vince :-)
Circuit boards can have many layers. Don't know if there is a manufacturing maximum.
Get a soldering microscope to see the motherboard better and is a good add to your tools you fix stuffs
Two and four layer boards are common. Though I have seen 8 later boards as well. As a check, I would look up the chips around the bend and find their power and ground pins. Then test them for power and ground.
A two layer board is top and bottom.
A four layer board is normally top, bottom, power, and ground.
They are 2 different kinds of thermal grease, likely applied during 2 different stages of assembly, the copper/gold silicone ones are fairly cheap to buy in bulk (you can get a peanut butter sized tub for 20$ on amazon) as opposed to the compound you replaced between the heat sink and heat spreader which is more expensive.
I'm gonna be on the hunt for faulty Switches to fix on my channel. Quite inspiring channel you have.
Hey there my mate Vince. I am sick in bed and your videos are really enjoyable. Thank you for these. I will support you!
Me too
You're the one who's generous enough to give it away! You give it away how you want!
Hey this helped me but only briefly. Using a small plastic prying tool, I wiggled it around the USB-C port on the switch. Then I tried bending very gently the small metal connector inside the port. That made my switch work when docked, but only for a few minutes. I managed to replicate this result by > undocking > putting it in sleep mode > repeating the wiggling with the prying tool > docking > waking the console with the joycons detached. I noticed moving the console even slightly made my picture go away on the TV. Hope this helps figure out what the issue is.
Completely erase and factory reset the thing at the lowest level you can, it seems software related.
youre an idiot. it fixed nothing
nah didn't fix my faulty one, idc I only play in handheld and my main Switch has 1080p
Dumbass
@@Suedeash same
You should use the community post feature on TH-cam to ask questions while working on something.
Hi Vince,
A complete Factory Reset should cure your issue, and it's an issue a few others have had, and cured having the issues with docking.
It is software related, and should be cured with a reset.
Hope this helps
Agreed, but I did a search and for some people reset didn't work.
www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/tv_resolution_is_stuck_at_480p_after_update_4_0_0
Hi Vince,
You may have a software and hardware issue but more likely software. Work on software first.
I also watch a channel that you may find interesting. He builds his own iPhone from parts he finds in electronic markets in China. Have a look at all vids but the link is specifically for building iPhone 6S 16GB. A series of videos. th-cam.com/video/leFuF-zoVzA/w-d-xo.html
If that didn't get you hooked on his channel this video will.
Bringing BACK The iPhone Headphone Jack - in China
th-cam.com/video/utfbE3_uAMA/w-d-xo.html
It's not docking also, that points to a Hardware fault not software. Any Switch can dock with 480 resolution. This one can't and doesn't output image, so it has some hardware problem, most likely some cut trace or break in some lines (or can be some ic).
Jason Birch I
I recently just got my Switch which I ordered 1 week ago and watched your videos as I find them quite entertaining. Not sure if you still read comments on older videos but I noticed before I put the Switch in the dock, it would also only show Automatic and 480p as the only options. Hope this information helps in some way.
In addition to a factory reset (there are posts on forums about corrupt video drivers) the other thing you can try is set the TV setting to Automatic, turn off the Switch fully (hold power button until it fully shuts down), dock it and power it on while in the dock so the TV is present during it's boot-up phase.
so glad you managed to swap that part from the broken board
Vince, i love your vids, It's coming from my heart to tell you that i enjoy very much this series and i've seen you get better and better, the internet can be a very rude place, but we don't only love the series, this channel wouldn't work if it wasn't for you. We love your personality. Keep up the good work. Lots of love from italy.
Thank you for the lovely comments. Really good to hear. Thanks so much :-)
@@Mymatevince A pleasure :D
I'd suggest trying to factory reset and re install updates 1 by 1...no switch experience but have known other devices to install a update over a currupt os leaving some features not available
I keep hearing you mention the pins on the switch unit aren’t reversible, that can’t be true. The reason the switch dock has a notch is so that the screen faces the front, and the vents would be sucking in through the hole in the back allowing proper air flow. If you think about it if the pins were not reversible you would only be able to charge the switch if the USB-C cable was facing one way but not the other. Just wanted to mention it you say it often through your videos.
Garrett yes, and very annoying.
Not necessarily, if the pins in the charging cable are also mirrored.
Have you restored it to factory setting I assume you have but if not try that you never know
Georgie Steward when u start up a new switch it has to go to the tv so if he resets it it could be completely useless
no it doesn't you can skip that part of connecting to the tv when I bought mine I never connected it up and just use it portable
@@JEFF-dd3vu thats 100% false pal. I bought one a week ago and met the guy in a Dennys parking lot and was patient enough to let me set up my hotspot and connect the Switch to it and set it up entirely.
@@sethkauffman9915 he skipped it when he fixed this switch that isn't docking
@@sethkauffman9915 sry meant to respond to jeff comment
A giveaway would be fun! I really enjoy these videos and its fun to learn as you're going along with it.
vince mate you are an inspiration to others, keep up the good work
Love ur vids Vince, all credit to you for having a go..
I've got to say, I love your videos because you are so genuine and honest about the fact you ARE a novice! You're not trying to pretend you know everything and honestly as someone who has on damn clue about what's going on- it's nice to watch someon who makes it easy to understand!
Even if you can't fully fix the bent Switch, it does still have some use value as a handheld, great as a travel Switch, keep the fully working one at home.
Just a heads up, that was waaaay too much thermal paste.
Nope, did you see how much was put from the factory? Also that Switch seems worst that some laptops gaps, so more thermal paste for better coverage.
i like that word "computerist" im stealing it and making it mine
Indeed. It's a bit too much for the Switch. Half of that is more than enough.
It's better than not having enough to cover the spreader. Sure using too much is a wasteful & inefficient use of paste but having it really won't have a negative affect on the temperature since the retention of the cooler will spread & thin it out pushing the excess from the sides which so long as the paste is non-electrically conductive, which this one is, will be safe for the other components. In fact in cases like a GPU with an exposed die with no heat spreader you really want to lean on the side of using too much since missing even a tiny bit of coverage would be catastrophic for it.
Who cares. It's his paste and he can waste it if he wants. It won't affect performance.
I'll never stop saying this : Start a Patreon page. I'm pretty a lot of us would love to support you so you can do more video and get better gear! ;)
I agree. Just a simple place to show that we appreciate your videos and would like to afford you perhaps more parts and equipment that could help you work on bigger projects and further your knowledge. Cause that is what it's really about right?
We will beat TronicsFix next time for sure :)
No
Just found your channel, thank you for your time, especially explaining things efficient,
Great video as usual Vince. Very entertaining. While I'm not an expert at working on the Switch specifically, I do work with electronics and components as well. Doing a little research, I did come across some information that the chip you were looking into is indeed the chip that controls the HDMI out to TV function, known as a Matrix Switch. This particular one being the Pericom Semiconductor PI3USB30532 USB 3.0/DP1.2 matrix switch, which I was able to find with a mixture of an iFixit teardown that outline the components, and Pericom's website: www.diodes.com/products/connectivity-and-timing/switches-mux/protocol-switches/usb-switches/part/PI3USB30532#tab-overview
Under the Specs & Tech Docs they outline the chip is used for HDMI out to TV for devices such as Laptops, Tablets, and Mobile; As well as it's use for Docking output via USB C connection.
I do think that having it usable in Handheld mode is better than the potential damage that could come with trying to replace the chip, however.
Thanks for the info and the link :-)
At 19:02 and 19:37 looks to be some oxidation on the board. Could mean poor connection or bad chips. Of course finding out what those do for the system is the hard part. A reflow may solve the problem after a proper cleanup of the oxidized crap. And if you can find some type of schematic and it is broken traces on the inner layer, jumper leads to get around those can be done.
Great to see you observe people's comments and love your Switch fix-it videos! Good job, mate!!😎😎
love these videos, very fun, its always cool to learn new things. as a computer nerd its fun seeing you learn i remember first learning and i know how daunting some of it is.
U say always say youre a rookie but ur end result is like a pro
Goodjob
Nice vid, very complete. For the display mode issues, factory reset the switch. Not sure if it will help the docking issue but it will for sure bring the display modes back.
Well done on fixing that antenna connection 👍 another fun video. As many have said, a full factory reset may help, would at least make it a little clearer as to it being a hardware or software issue
One thing to try (saw a chap do this on Reddit. ) restart the console in handheld mode and quickly put it in the dock before it starts up, it may try to force it to output
Just a tip. Always add fresh solder to make the job a million times easier to remove and to put the new component on there.
Can't wait to hear if the factory reset fixed it. Great video (once again)
Great video again. Watching your videos makes me want to move to England, the English people seem so nice and friendly and optimistic. Keep at it, we're rooting you on from the other side of the pond to fix that Switch. ;)
Holy Yevon this fixed my issue with my switch stuck at 480p. I unlocked it then changed the setting to 1080p then docked it. BAM! no its docked at 1080p 😭 Thank you good sir 💚
I’ve watched 3 mins about this! My Nintendo is bent. I bent it back a little bit I changed to 480px then plugged it in!! It worked and I could change resolution
Vince the Prince, love the videos bud.
The paste colour is fine. Likely just cheaper quality or differently branded paste on the side that touches the shielding as it's not in contact with a chip, or could have been mixed with a gum to secure the heatsink to the shield more securely. Arctic pastes can be used pretty much anywhere, you don't have to worry about using the "wrong paste" as long as you don't buy any off-brand cheap stuff.
As others have said, you applied way too much paste. The idea is that there will be an incredibly thin (1mm or so) layer covering the entirity of the chip once it's spread. Any more than that can insulate heat inside preventing it from escaping quickly enough causing components to heat up. Often it's easier for newcomers to apply a little pinhead amount then spread it with a piece of card, adding more paste and spreading as needed.
What you DONT EVER want to happen is exactly what happened in this video, your paste oozed out of the sides. That extra paste is going to liquidate and flow all over the area surrounding the chip as soon as it gets hot, which it will do with the amount of paste used.
I love this stuff, great content vince!
When docked the console lcd blacks out so that would suggest the console knows that it is docked and not just connected to a charger. It is at least attempting to output video via the usbc to the HDMI port but of course we could see that no signal is produced.
It seemed logical in believing that if there was continuity between the motherboard pins and the bare wires then there is continuity and the pins have not lifted from the motherboard.
Howeve while checking continuity you noticed that a lot of the pins were grounded.
The switch probably detects this and is causing it to only show 480p in settings and not able to output a signal.
Check to see whether if any pins are bent or messed up internally and grounded to the shielding or other ground pins.
The incorrectly grounded pins might have coincidentally caused it to believe that the TV is reporting that it supports 480p only, even when nothing is connected. Possibly the console uses other pins to detect it is docked.
Btw I just have a little tip the reason why the Nintendo switch only docks one way or facing one way is so the fans in the back of the switch can work it has nothing to do with the usb c port all it has to do with is the fan. It likes a safety thing so people or children work put the fan holes dead against the dock making it so it can't breath. That's why the switch only gos one way in the dock so the holes foe the fan matches up with the little holes on the back of the dock. Hope this helps
That helps a lot. Thanks for the info :-)
The reason that you don't want to reuse thermal paste is that it can create air pockets where heat builds up and get the components it's supposed to help cool. As far as the different pastes, it should be fine to use the same on both, but like you thought, it's not as important on the connection between the pipe and the heat shield since there's no components involved. Even the bottom one in this case it going from a heat spreader to the pipe, not the chip itself so it's no biggie, but it's good to replace it nonetheless
That makes sense, thanks for the info :-)
i have the exact same problem, except my switch's resolution settings only display 480p and 720p. not 1080p. and yes, i know i'm pretty late in this
I'm pretty sure the red paste is just another version of what you have. You can use MX-2 to replace that stuff too.
I’ve worked on a lot of laptops that use a similar designed heatsink and pretty much thermal paste is used to fill in the microscopic spaces between the layers of the chip along with any shielding on top to the heatsink and the reason they are different colors is probably because the pink stuff on top of the heatsink is lower quality paste since the metal frame isn’t really a huge part of thermal dissipation so it saves Nintendo a few pennies. If you want the best performance, you should replace the pink stuff too since it’s already pretty crusty and no longer doing much now that the metal shield was separated and the paste can’t fully connect the layers. It needs to be gooey to work good. Also you should take off the shield over the main chip and replace the paste that’s directly on the die
Hello Vince, i don't know if you still own this switch, but i just repaired mine with similar behaviour. On mine it was the M92 chip that was not fully soldered, to do so, I used some solder paste applied with a toothpick on the 4 corners and melted it, then after removing the bridges, the switche finally docked and charged on both ways
It's highly likely the docking issue is down to the power ic being shorted on the higher voltage detection. Ie 5v will work but not the 15v mode. Replace that ic and it should resolve.
Exactly the same issue I'm having right now also tried to change P13USB not working at all, do you solved it？ Please let me know thank you!
7:20 the small picture issue is caused by tv settings each output has diffrent settings you might want to change it
Gabrielo (darkspongebob11) he set the other switch to 480p and it was still a larger screen.
it was the chance of input on the tv not him charge ing the switch / dock / cable
Gabrielo (darkspongebob11) right! I forgot he used the other dock. Im sorry. Goid point.
not only did he use the other dock more importantly he also changed the tv input to match
I don't need to watch any second of the video, I already know that's interesting as hell
for melting and reflowing chips you want to be up around the 400c mark not 340 and you also want to use a lot more flux. At 340 you're just heating up the components, you're not melting any of the solder or reflowing anything. when positioning components that you're trying to put back on with existing solder you don't need to get them exactly in the perfect spot, as long as you get them fairly close when the solder melts it'll pull them into the right place
Thanks for the info :-)
The remains of the old solder were way too dry, clean the pads first, get rid of the old solder and apply some new leaded solder on the pads.
That part with dad dad the switch is on fire! Was funny but it brings up a good point. It seems it worked fine and I'm used to loud fans on consoles playing with a ps4 pro aka the aircraft carrier in Texas summer but I'm glad he was aware something was different. Also with thermal paste anytime I can I replace the paste because I heard it dries out but honestly I havent replaced my CPU paste in years and I used to do it regularly so who knows. If you do a giveaway give it to someone who cant afford it and would really appreciate it that would be the best gift. I dont know how you can determine but you can figure it out.
Seems that a lot of people had the problem with the stuck resolution on working switches after software updating to 4.0. Possibly still a software problem?
You generally remove old thermal paste and apply new because you don't want air bubbles in there that will trap heat and make things hotter. That's why people do the dot cause when you apply pressure it spreads out evenly on its own.
The color of paste shouldn't matter. You would have been fine and probably better off just applying new paste on the top and bottom of the heatsink. I don't think you have to worry about it though, you applied new paste to the main part so you should be fine.
Gotta say, I always learn something from your videos! Hopefully you've found a fix for the resolution issue!
that with 480p is normal.
if you buy a new switch, it will show only 480p and auto.
it will only show 720p+ if you dock it and plug it in a 720p/1080p screen.
Interesting, I never knew that :-)
Don't know how you can work on the floor all the time. A desk would be far far better especially for your knees & back. I'd try a full factory reset 👍🏻
Great part 2 video Vince! I was waiting on this😊
Great video again vince and nice fix on the connector ive done a couple not a easy job regards too the dock not switching to hdmi i think the pi3usb30532 ic maybe at fault not sure how easy it would be too swap one though
Thanks fellow Vince, I was really pleased with the connector :-) Apparently the Switch has traces sandwiched inside the top and bottom layers on the circuit board so maybe one of these have a hairline break on it. I don't think I will risk replacing that pi chip as I wouldn't be confident with that at the mo :-)
Thanks for the views and comments :-)
Totally agree not everyone uses the docking station anyway, as long as it charges etc its still usable handheld console so you would be able to re sell if you wanted too.Multi layer pcbs Most applications require between four and eight layers, though applications like mobile devices and smartphones tend to use around twelve layers from what i have read on the internet.This is the microscope i will get when funds allow a lot of mobile phone repair guys started with one of these www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AmScope-10X-20X-LED-Binocular-Stereo-Microscope-Boom-Arm-LED-Gooseneck/400429192095
I think this is a software issue as well! Allthough unlikely, something may have gone wrong during the installation. And maybe the switch didn't register all the components in the os for the output properly? I suggest you try to reinstall the switch from the memory stick. Just to make sure...
Some info that might be useful for you about graphics processors... The graphics processor will likely be rendering at an constant internal resolution either way. And the resolution options is just a matter of scaling the image. Which should be no issue, with it rendering in the first place.
Available resolutions are determined by the TV once the switch is able to communicate with it. Default “failsafe” res is 480p. Seems that there is no communication with the TV. If you fix that, the resolutions supported by your TV will be available in the menu. Try reflowing some solder joints where the bend was using plenty of flux to not bridge pins...
Also, I would definitely revisit that connector with a fine tip soldering iron just to have the best possible joint. It might be on now, but maybe the cable will pull it off sometime in the future...
And if you want to learn soldering minuscule things properly, look up Louis Rossman on TH-cam and watch his tutorials and repair videos... you’ll be amazed at how easy it is with proper tools and loads of flux paste!
Vince, silly question, @50:27 , you see that PCB plugged, it's the acutal NAND of the console, why not trying exchanging them ? the bricked one on the other one and vice versa, just sayin, maybe will not work but shoudl worth the try
With thermal paste usually less is better, especially for such small components. Also once you put it on and place the heatsink on top you shouldn't tap it or adjust it. That will create air bubbles which will impede optimal heat transfer.
Hey I need some help! I'm trying to Connect my wiiU controller to the Nintendo Switch, USB drive. If you can help that would be awesome!!!
no
Try a factory reset, it looks like a software screwup with the display options not appearing.
I’m having this problem
My switch when its put into the dock shows the green light but doesn’t go onto the tv. Sometimes it goes onto the tv but only for about 5 seconds to 2 minutes. Please let me know what to do
I had that same problem, but mine was Not even charging, When I checked the charging port I saw a very bent pin, with a tiny stick i putted it back and It started charging, but no image on tv. I saw another bent pin and when I putted it back in the Right spor it was perfect, it sabes my quarentine
Tell me if it works
IM HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM
@@matecarto my pin was not bent and i still have the problem. is there anything else you did to try to fix this
Boyman And fam check them again and gently try to put them in their position if you see something out of place. Make sure there is no dust or some shit in there
I had this issue too on once I was repairing, the plastic around the usb port was ever so slightly warped so when I docked it, the green light went on and it charged but no display, it would sometimes recognise it but still no display. Figured the plastic was creating a little push since it wouldn't slot in nicely and the switches seem to be quite finicky getting them to dock if you happen to move it ever so slightly when seating it.
I cut the plastic away and now it docks without issues.
Also good to check P13USB and the bottom pins towards the filters near the usb side, each pin should head towards the other side of the filter and can be checked with continuity. If one filter is bad there can be a cross over where both pins go to both ends of the filter. Replace it and you're good to go.
EDIT: By filters I mean the square black components under the caps under P13USB that have 4 connections to them. Any docking issues, if the USB C port is good, will probably revolve around that chip and subsequent components.
Great and entertaining video as usual vince
Those switch’s cost a lot and take care of your family Vince hope you don’t get a cold or get sick!
Yes you can.clean the surface and apply the same thermal paste to both surfaces but just apply a pea size drop to the surface to help to dissipate the heat from the chip
Just did a leg transplant due to a scrape on the thy. Now they tell me a plaster would have fixed it.
Just disassembled a switch to repair the dock fault. Now they tell me a factory reset would have fixed it.
Sound familiar XD
Ps: Love your videos
the reason you want to change it, is beacuse most of the time the factory thermal compound is not good. and just some advice for the next time. for referance on how much to put on i would say the size of a rice grain for the switch. and that thermal compound you got is one of the best brands to use. it worked very well for me on the pc's i build
not sure if you are still monitoring these comments but I have a switch here with exactly the same issue. I bought one with a docking issue and 480p only. I tried everything to get it working, system reset, diffrent dock, different ac adapter etc etc. I then left it overnight in the dock charging, woke up next morning, pushed the home button on my joycon and it actually showed an image on screen. I then restarted the switch whilst docked and the video options all showed up. I selected 1080p, undocked the console and redocked it multiple times and all seemed well. I put mario kart in and it then started to update then all of a sudden my screen went black and now the switch won't dock. Out of ideas, anyone got any input?
Good video enjoyed watching you work on this. I read that people are saying you should set it back to factory settings. I’m interested in finding out if you did already.
What's up Vince? great work man.
Great video again vince .keep up the good work . Videos are very intresting . Also you can type the chip names online (or any other part your unsure of ) on google etc and it can tell you what it is and it even might show you a schematic for it .
Idk if your using the aluminum foil for protection but aluminum dissipates heat better then most metals so when your heating up one spot that foil is actuly heating up the entire board u could be losing alot of heat this way too cuz the foil is just sucking it up u should really find a better heat shield so u can point heat better in one area
That's why Kapton tape is used.
You can use the thermal paste on all of the heat sink.
My best guess on why the switch wasn't docking is probably because when it was bent it probably slightly damaged the inside parts needed to help dock it in a TV. So maybe the next time you purchase a switch you can try and swap the internals from that to the one that won't dock if the one that you end up actually docks itself and isn't bent. With all the reports people had when the console came out of it bending maybe the person bought the switch right when it released and it worked for a good while. Then it probably bent itself and the person didn't want to wait for Nintendo to fix it so they sold it on eBay for someone like you to try and fix it. Thats my guess anyway. Hope its been helpful
Thanks for close up's i am wondering if the video chip (output) is borked in some way, thus preventing the last 2 resolutions. Check last update info, also check tracks on board with a loupe/magnifying glass if possible. Heating of chips is defunct on this type of error imo.
Hey Vince, I noticed on all your working switches it has “match tv power state” to on where as the faulty one says off. Probably won’t make any difference but might be worth turning it on to see what it does.
I really do think it's a broken trace or two (and maybe a ground plane) ... that was a pretty serious bend and copper traces aren't that thick.
I can find instances of devices restricting themselves to 480p on google... seems to be cables that aren't up to snuff. That leads me to believe the traces that send the hdmi signals are damaged, and the switch is acting like it has a bad hdmi cable attached.
I'd just replace the board, hard to tell what other damage hasn't made itself evident yet... God forbid the charging regulation circuitry.
I guess the pink thermal paste is almost the same as the blue, maybe not as fluid so it wont spread all over the place. It is my logic guess, so i think you would be good if you applied the blue one there too, just maybe a bit less so it wont come into contact with other parts.
hahah the tea towel workbench and the baking tray cracked me up ;) You have to improvise eh! Enjoyed :D
there does seem to be a thread on the nintendo forums about some switches having a bug , where they are stuck on 480p not sure if it relevent to this repair !
There is no such thing as 480p HD.
720 is the minimum to be considered HD as per broadcast standards with 480 and 576i being the US and PAL standard definition (SD) respectively.
I was having this same problem. No shorts, but it would not display on TV (dock works fine). I did a reflow on the p13USB chip (on the back of the motherboard) and it worked flawless for me. Hope this helps anyone in the future
Could be a software issue. Not sure but worth looking into more software solutions. You’re correct though, probably would be a chip if the system can see a fault (not displaying all the resolutions).
it's not the cable that does the small image it is the port/video input settings one of them is set to fill the screen with whatever pixel count it has so it just magnifies
Awesome video man, Well done on replacing the antenna on the board!
Question... Have you tried resetting the switch to factory settings ?
Vince, since you opened it I would recommend cleaning that thermal paste off and re applying a new one before reassembling. Also do a factory reset to clear whatever settings the previous owner had in there
hi vince,
I like your nintendo switch Episodes, hoping you can fix a few not docking.
here is some information that i found on this problem,
They had me unplug all the cables from the dock, as well as the adapter from the wall and wait a full minute. I replugged everything in, and bam, it worked. Since I have two other docks I haven’t played around with it too much, but the Nintendo tech said that the adapter has a little breaker in it that can only be reset by removing it from the wall and letting it power cycle.they said they
repaired a connection in the Switch itself.
Did you ever find the problem? I just bought a brand new switch and it only gives me the 480p choice
I love the update videos on these!
Have you tried using the USB ethernet adapter with it? The chip you tried to reflow (or one of the components connected to it) does seem like the most likely culprit, since it seems to do switching between USB/HDMI out, but it would help a little to know if it's just HDMI out that's not working or if the USB portion isn't working either.
If the ethernet adapter doesn't work either, then it seems like the chip isn't switching for some reason, maybe one or more pins aren't making proper contact or one of the components connected to it isn't making contact and you just didn't use enough heat to reflow it. But if the ethernet adapter doesn't work then the chip might be dead. The bend could have stressed the internals of the chip enough to make it fail.
It could still be a software issue, but if it is a hardware issue then it's most likely that chip or something connected to it. Anyway, I hope you can fix it or at least figure out for sure what's wrong with it, and I'll be looking forward to any future videos on it.
Edit: More info in the replies.
Also, the chip not switching could explain why it only displays 480p. If the chip doesn't switch, then the Switch can't read the EDID information from the TV, and it might fallback to only 480p as a compatibility option. That could also happen if the chip was dead however.
Had another look at the part where you test the shorts to ground. The first pin you tested is GND, so that's fine. The next two that aren't shorted are RX+/RX- (these are different pairs for each side), so that sounds fine. Then the next: VBUS, SBU, D-, D+, CC, VBUS, TX- are all shorted, but TX+ isn't, last one is GND again. SBU, CC and TX are also different for each side.
Then on the other side, it's the same thing, but TX- isn't shorted this time.
This might be normal, as looking at the datasheet for the matrix switch, in DP+USB mode, one of the TX/RX pairs of the USB-C port goes to the TX/RX input/output that's connected to the USB 3.0 controller elsewhere on the board (presumably in the SoC), the other pair goes to the DP output. This TX/RX pair is internally pulled down to ground with a 100k resistor in the matrix switch according to the datasheet. If you measure the resistance and it's ~100k then this is likely normal. Why RX- on the same pair didn't appear to be shorted to ground even though the datasheet says it should also be pulled down to ground I'm not sure, but it might not matter.
CC doesn't appear to go to the matrix switch at all, and is used for negotiating the USB version (3.0-3.2) and the charging voltage, I will assume this part is working but that could easily be tested by seeing if the console will charge at reasonable speed while playing a game. If it wasn't able to negotiate a higher voltage the console would charge very slowly in game, and you would likely have noticed.
D+/D- is just plain old USB 2.0, this doesn't go to the matrix switch either and isn't especially relevant since the dock doesn't need it.
VBUS is for the power, it seems weird to me that it would be shorted to ground, but maybe that's normal when the console is off, since something in the console must be sensing when power is applied before it decides to accept it and actually charge the device. Clearly the console is charging so we can assume this is not an issue.
Datasheet for the matrix switch: www.digchip.com/datasheets/parts/datasheet/129/PI3USB30532ZLE-pdf.php
And the USB-C pinout I got from Wikipedia. You can see what pins on the chip correspond to what pins on the USB-C connector.
I don't know if any of this is helpful right now, it certainly didn't make me much wiser.
But I think you need to test continuity to ground again with the console on (with and without the dock plugged in) to see if the results change as it might give you some important clues.
Thanks for the great in depth analysis and suggestions :-)
You're welcome. Additionally, you should test the continuity between the TX/RX and DP pins on the matrix switch docked and undocked to determine if it's switching correctly.