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Commerce · February 25, 2024

RE

Reverse-Engineering a Switch Lite with 1,917 wires

Hey Hackers. This is a project I solo-developed that turns completed PCB assemblies into an easy to use boardview with some accompanying boardscans. There are lots of easier and better ways of doing this, but this is an experimentation to do it as cheaply as possible, with the highest quality and lowest chance of errors. The technical details are in the link. Most public boardviews are almost entirely the result of industrial espionage, other than a few encrypted subscription based software platforms that provide extensive access. The process output is released as donationware, as my main…

In plain words

This project converts Nintendo Switch Lite circuit board assemblies into detailed boardviews and scans using a low-cost, high-accuracy experimental process. Aimed at hardware hackers and reverse engineers, it provides downloadable files showing the board layout and component placement. The creator released the output as donationware, prioritizing free access to hardware documentation over commercial models.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

Hey Hackers. This is a project I solo-developed that turns completed PCB assemblies into an easy to use boardview with some accompanying boardscans. There are lots of easier and better ways of doing this, but this is an experimentation to do it as cheaply as possible, with the highest quality and lowest chance of errors. The technical details are in the link. Most public boardviews are almost entirely the result of industrial espionage, other than a few encrypted subscription based software platforms that provide extensive access. The process output is released as donationware, as my main concern is that even released as a low-cost purchase, there is a very strong culture to share this type of information at no cost. I would like to have a more sophisticated suggested donation system adaptive to user country, but I wasn't able to find a good solution. In terms of 'good startup ideas', I don't think this is one of them. The very high level of soldering skill required makes it difficult to scale, and the prevailing piracy culture makes it challenging to monetize. My main advantage is that costs are very low now that I have the entire thing working. Other than forge ahead at a loss and hope for the best, or to pivot hard leveraging the imaging technology, I'm not sure what other options I have. It feels too complicated and repetitive for shoft-form video content. If you have any feedback, questions, suggestions, etc., I'd love to hear them.

Pricing, as stated on its site

Free — This is a free resource sharing reverse-engineering data and boardview files for a Nintendo Switch Lite. No pricing or paid tiers are mentioned; downloads are available via torrent or direct download.

checked September 2026 · prices change

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