iFixit - Answers With Device "Nintendo 3DS"

Nintendo 3DS: No power - makes a popping sound - fails to turn on.

Sat, 31 Aug 2024 17:36:24 -0700

Hello,

I have 3 (three!) 3DS systems that have the same problem. When you press the power button, the blue light turns on for a second, and then the screen flashes with a popping sound and the system shuts off.

Any idea on what's going on here? I read something once about a fuse, but that was long ago.

Thanks,

Andrew

⟐ Answered August 31, 2024 at 17:36 MST

Nintendo 3DS: How do I fix my 3DS Error Problem?

Sun, 09 Mar 2025 18:24:07 -0700

When I turn my 3DS on after about a minute or so it will say "An error has occurred. Hold down the POWER Button to turn off the power, then turn it on and try again. For help, visit support.nintendo.com."

I have checked the website and tried to turn it off and on several times, but nothing seems to be working. I believe I know what caused it, while reaching for something I knocked my 3DS off of my desk maybe 2.5-3 feet. Anyone know whats wrong and how to fix it?

⟐ Commented March 09, 2025 at 18:24 MST

Nintendo 3DS: Nintendo 3DS Charge but won't turn on.

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 04:23:28 -0700

Hello,

Recently I got a 3ds - The small first version.

When I plugged it into the charger, I noticed the light turn on, but when I try to turn the device on - nothing!

The lights turn off when I press the power buttom and after a few secounds - turn on again without the decive coming to life.

theres no crack on the screen.

Thanks you.

⟐ Commented December 19, 2025 at 4:23 MST

Nintendo 3DS: My games will not load

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:47:57 -0700

I cannot play games on my 3ds. When I put a game in the 3ds does not load or even recognize the game. This happens with all games not just one particular game. I have inspected my games and the pins are not the problem. Help please

⟐ Answered January 23, 2026 at 10:47 MST

Nintendo 3DS: japanese region 3ds how do I change to english

Sat, 08 Apr 2023 09:53:58 -0700

have a Nintendo 3ds bought in japan it however is in Japanese, how do i switch it into English?

⟐ Commented April 08, 2023 at 9:53 MST

Nintendo 3DS: 3DS Black Screen When Booting Up/ Has CFW

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 12:32:13 -0700

When I try to turn on my 3ds it will have a black screen and a blue light that will fade away (if there is no SD card inserted) but if a SD card is inserted the blue light will stay there, the problem is the problem is i installed homebrew and the contents from the SD card are deleted and replaced with my own personal files that are now lost somewhere. is there anyone know how to fix? did it brick?

anyone know whats wrong with it.

⟐ Commented October 20, 2024 at 12:32 MST

Nintendo 3DS: How do I unscrew a stripped screw on the lower case?

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 15:15:50 -0700

Well i got a problem with my 3DS when i recognized that my Internet doesen´t work, i´ve thought that my WIFI board is defect so i tried to open the 3ds with a ph000 screwdriver everything went fine except at the lower case part i had to remove those 9 Phillips screws

and i could only unscrew 5 screws the other 4 screws were stripped because i put too much power on the other screws so that they were stripped. So does anyone have a solution how do i unscrewed those little stripped screws on my 3DS?

⟐ Answered February 21, 2023 at 15:15 MST

Nintendo 3DS: Can I fix water damaged 3DS?

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 18:13:59 -0700

My sister dropped her 3DS in the toilet and after a few days spent in rice I decided to try turning it on. It charges fine but the power button doesn't work all the time, both screens have water marks on it and either the joypad or the D-pad is stuck to constantly scroll right, making it hard to play games. It functions fine on the main screen apart from the right direction being stuck and the power button only working occasionally.

Is there anything I can do to fix it or is it destined for the bin?

⟐ Commented July 12, 2022 at 18:13 MST

Nintendo 3DS: 3ds top screen not working

Mon, 27 Jul 2020 18:17:04 -0700

My top screen is black and the bottom touch screen works does anyone know why I am having this problem with my 3ds?

⟐ Answered July 27, 2020 at 18:17 MST

Nintendo 3DS: Stuck on Sleep Mode and Frozen on Home Menu

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 03:19:42 -0700

After about 2 months of not being used, my son opened his Nintendo 3DS and it goes to the Sleep Mode screen. It gives you the option to power off or go to Home Menu and that is where it freezes. Once you're on Home Menu, you can't go any further. It just says 'Home Menu'. I've tried taking out battery and reformatting sd card. I've tried turning on and off the console. Can't go any further. Seems like something so simple but yet so expensive to get fixed. Any suggestions before I'm another $60 in the hole on top of all of the games and the cost of the console?

P.S. I've spent countless days researching this online so I have done my homework for the most part.

⟐ Commented April 08, 2022 at 3:19 MST

Nintendo 3DS: I hear a popping sound and it shuts off.

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 12:21:56 -0700

When I turn on the 3DS it starts to power on and then I hear a popping sound and it shuts off. I tried removing the batter and putting it back in after a few minutes with no luck. I have taken the 3ds apart but all ribbons seemed to be seated well and there doesn't seem to be any tears in the ribbons. The only thing I noticed was the WiFi antenna is torn a bit. In all fairness I don't remember if I tried it with the WiFi off. Could the WiFi antenna cause this issue?

⟐ Answer accepted January 14, 2023 at 12:21 MST

Nintendo 3DS: 3ds wont turn on

Mon, 22 Mar 2021 16:04:21 -0700

When I push down the button the blue light will fade on and off. That's it. This happened when I took the SD card out. Had homebrew on the SD card (I wanted custom backgrounds) and it was messing up so I was trying to fix it. It's at home charging now and I'll try to mess with it when I get home. The 3ds is about 6 years old had it since it got out. Maybe it's just old. Did I dun muff up my 3ds? Can it be fixed?

Uh oh now it won't charge. When I plug in the charger the orange light will stay on for a couple of seconds and then shut off.

⟐ Commented March 22, 2021 at 16:04 MST

Nintendo 3DS: How can I get DS/3DS games clean and read properly?

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 10:40:14 -0700

I have a lot of DS games with a lot of hours played with. Sometimes when I try to play them on any DS or 3DS device the game won’t read. I have to pop it in and out or blow on the cartridge’s contacts with an air compressor. Sometimes I just try to wiggle it out a bit. The DS/3DS works fine with newer game and as well as the older games themselves. I want to know if there is a better way to clean them and get them to work probably from just slotting it in one go. Eventually in time I’ll have the same problems with the 3DS and Switch cartridges.

⟐ Answered August 19, 2024 at 10:40 MST

Nintendo 3DS: My 3ds will not hold a charge for long.

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 06:29:15 -0700

Hello all. I recently purchased a second-hand Nintendo 3DS Standard. I knew what I was getting into when I purchased it used that is just a gamble you play. I was told the battery was not holding a charge and thus got it pretty marked down. Battery replacement seemed like the obvious plan after seeing that indeed the battery would not stay charged. You could Plug it up for 3 hours and within 30 seconds the battery level would indicate that it was at 50% and then it would die. No matter the charge time whether it was 3 hours or 3 minutes. So I ordered a replacement battery, Popped it in there expecting it to fix and the same thing. No matter how long you charge it it will die in moments.

Well after doing some digging all I was able to turn up was that some people claimed to have tripped over the cord while charging and it either bent the pins in the charging port or it broke a solder connection between the motherboard and the charging port. Checked for bent pins and very carefully examined the connections on the motherboard and just for the obvious I checked the connections in the battery compartment. All connections are being made and nothing seems bent or broken (I compared the port pins with a friend's) and even tried a different charger. It works just fine while on the charger and Ive been able to play atleast 10 hours of uninterrupted gameplay before just saying that it works good and setting it down, but I know it's got to be bad to just leave the thing on the charger so I only plug it up when I want to play.

I have updated and reformatted the memory and have even fully charged the battery and let it die over 20x. It appears to stop charging after about 20 minutes then you can turn it on and it will work for approximately 10 minutes before going dead now. Some improvement but nothing praise worthy.

Anyone out there have any ideas that they have in mind that I could check/verify or try to fix? I would ship it off to Nintendo but they are charging 85 for me to mail it and I only paid about 30 bucks for the thing. Like I said though everything works great it just wont hold a charge. It also didn't appear to have suffered water damage.

Thank you for your time and hopefully one of the IFixit gurus out there will see this and know what Is up. I'm gonna run it up to CPR tomorrow just for giggles to see what they think but I don't want to commit to anything until all my options are considered. Because most places are gonna charge me 80 bucks for 10 minutes of labor and a 2 pin resistor.

⟐ Commented March 21, 2023 at 6:29 MST

Nintendo 3DS: Can't turn on my 3DS after failed attempt on "jailbreaking". Any help?

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 21:48:29 -0700

I tried to hack my 3Ds by downloading LUMA, Homebrew, FBI and all that stuff. It turned out that it didn't work, so i wanted to get it back to normal again. Then i deleted everything inside the SD card, and when i put it back into my 3DS, it wouldnt turn on. it glows orange when i charge it but when i press the power button, it goes blue for 1 second then goes black. Help please?

⟐ Answered September 01, 2023 at 21:48 MST

Nintendo 3DS: Why wont it read the game I put in it?

Mon, 21 Dec 2020 18:39:48 -0700

Alright, a little white ago my little sister started playing with my 3ds, but put a game in wrong. After using knifes and tweezers to get it out it finally got out. The game is a bit roughed up but it still works and the 3ds seems fine. It turns off and on but will not play a game. i don't want to raise up the money to buy a new one either. What is going on T_T

⟐ Answered December 21, 2020 at 18:39 MST

Nintendo 3DS: Why won't my 3ds read game cards?

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 16:54:19 -0700

Hi, I recently was playing SSB4 on my 3DS, ejected the game card because I wanted to switch to Pokemon Omega Ruby because I was getting tired of smash, and when I tried to put the Pokemon game in the slot, nothing would happen. I turned my 3DS on and off, tried other game cards, did the paper in front of game card trick, and none of it has worked. I love my 3DS very much and I'm on it almost all of the time. If any one can help with this please respond, because I want to make this work ASAP! Thanks!

⟐ Commented September 26, 2019 at 16:54 MST

Nintendo 3DS: System not reading games?

Tue, 15 May 2018 21:57:37 -0700

I went to toys r us bought my son a brand new game. Came home and he tried to play it but when you insert it into the system nothing shows up. The screen is working the buttons all work, camera is working so i try an old game, one i know was working same thing its as if there is no game in the system even when there is one?

⟐ Commented May 15, 2018 at 21:57 MST

Nintendo 3DS: How easy would it be to repair the 3DS charge port?

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 22:27:49 -0700

I am thinking of getting a 3DS for cheap (cheap because its 'charge port is bad'), but I was wondering just how easy or difficult it would be to repair it.

I have a soldering iron and decent soldering experience, but it'd still be nice to know if it even COULD be repaired before I try.

⟐ Commented December 13, 2024 at 22:27 MST

Nintendo 3DS: My 3DS top screen goes dark, bad flex cable maybe?

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 16:26:06 -0700

I've had my 3DS for a few months now, recently the top screen starts going dark, I can usually wiggle it to get it back, its like the backlight goes out or something. I don't know if it the device has been dropped, my 3 year old plays with the device quite often so it is possible. Other than that the device works fine. When I started googling similar problems I found some people talking about the flex cable, I guess it can go bad from just opening and closing the screen on certain models. Anyone encountered this problem or any clue on how I can fix it. My son ripped the serial number sticker off the back of the device so I can't send it back to Nintendo to get fixed. If its something I can fix myself I'd like to that anyway.

⟐ Answered April 09, 2019 at 16:26 MST