iFixit - Answers With Device "Nintendo Handheld Console"

Nintendo DSi: Why is my dsi not reading my games with the save file?

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:10:29 -0700

I have a dsi where I would put in a game it would tell me that the save files cannot be accessed and power off the console. I tried again and again and still nothing.

⟐ Commented April 08, 2026 at 13:10 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL 2015: Why does my system keep freezing?

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:05:35 -0700

My new Nintendo 3ds xl will power on but at random times between seconds and 6 minutes the screen freezes audios stop and the only thing I can do is a full power off, happens even without games on or in the console. If I place the console on an ice pack the freezing does not happen, I opened up the back and see no thermal paste, but there is a pink powder spread throughout on the inside of the back plate, but could anything else be causing it/ is there a solve with getting thermal paste?

⟐ Commented April 07, 2026 at 1:05 MST

Nintendo 3DS: Stuck On Home Menu: Inputs, Sound, 3D Slider Don't Work

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 14:34:09 -0700

I received a 3ds in a lot of damaged electronics. I've managed to repair everything so far except this 3ds which has me stumped.

The system turns on and loads to the main home screen. The top screen animation runs, I can turn the wifi on and off, the game reader reads games, the system charges, if I hold the power button to get to the power down screen, I can press the home button to get back to the home menu, and I can enter the update/safemode screen when holding L+R+A+d-pad up (Edit: was d-pad down, I meant d-pad up). I cannot enter into touch screen calibration, touch input doesn't work. On very rare occasions if I'm holding down d-pad right when powering on the system, the home menu will start scrolling right indefinitely and I'm able to "fight" against it by repeatedly pressing d-pad left and only when in this state I can enter into an app if press A at the right moment (which is how I know the cameras work), but the touch screen still wont work.⏎
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Otherwise though, the joystick, touch screen, ABXY, sound, and 3d slider do not work at all.⏎
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I've already tried cleaning under and changing out the digitizer, as well as the bezel, and cleaning under the button pad stickers. I've also tried systematically disconnecting one component at a time and testing to see if anything changes or works. Unfortunately, though, none of this has seemed to work. ⏎
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The scrolling right only happens when I have the system taken apart, but it isn't consistent with any specific component being disconnected.⏎
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The battery does have a slight curvature to it, but I'm not sure if that would cause these issues. ⏎
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Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!⏎
Thanks!

⟐ Commented April 06, 2026 at 14:34 MST

Nintendo Handheld Console: New Nintendo 3DS xl Y button not working tried the usual whats next

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 21:20:51 -0700

So I have tried cleaning the board contacts, changing the dome sticker. making sure the ribbon/flex cable is on correctly, I ordered a new board same issue. Im currently waiting on a new flex/ribbon cable. but the one I have im not sure shows signs of issues. is there any next steps to try or trouble shoot before I have to just get a new main board?

all the other buttons and functions from that board are 100% fine is really just the y button.

⟐ Edited by author March 31, 2026 at 21:20 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL 2015: Device will not power up after attempting capture card mod

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 02:26:36 -0700

! I hope someone might be able to help me out here.

I was doing a capture card mod on my New3DSLL (the japan version of XL) a year or so ago now and when I got to the step on making sure everything still worked, well it didn’t work. With the battery connected I get no reactions from the device when trying to power it on. No amber, no blue, no lights at all. If I plug it in without thr battery the amber light lights up for 5seconds then goes off. If I connect the battery and the charge it lights up amber but still does not turn on.

I believe I may have accidentally put the battery in in reverse when I was trying to test ot initially, but cannot be too certain that that was the case.

I tested the red (0.012) and the blue ( 0L and then 12.00) as labeled on that one picture that floats around from infinity (it wont let me add the picture sorry). I am not too knowledgeable with multimeters and dont know if this is right.

Does this sound like a case of one of the fuses or the chip on the daughter board for the abxy being blown or does it sound like something else is wrong along the way of doing the mod?

Thank you in advance <3

⟐ Commented March 31, 2026 at 2:26 MST

Nintendo 3DS: 3DS overheating plus screen won't turn on after repair

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 08:34:28 -0700

Hi. Ok let me start from the beginning. I've had an Old 3DS since 2018 but it was passed down to me by my cousin who bought it in 2011, I had to change the battery for the first time in 2023 and after that I modded it somewhat in december 2024. During the end of 2025's first semester it started to stop charging until it just stopped working in general, I took it to a repair guy who tried to change the charging port on my 3DS, we tried to use a different charger but nothing was working (batter shows no signs of inflation/getting bigger). Then he opened it up and discovered that apparently there was something wrong with the motherboard that was stopping the electricity from getting to the battery but if I take the battery out and charge it via an adapter it works. I came back home now (live in Brazil but was living for a few months on Italy) and tried to power it up, unfortunatly the blue LED turns on but both screens stay pitch black and won't even turn on. Also for some bs reason it's overheating on the left upper screen hinge when I power it on so I'm scared of leaving it on for a long time to see what happens. Can anyone please help me, this was my first ever eletronic/videogame and it matters a lot to me. Thanks

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Why does it acknowledge old cartridges but not play them?

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 12:55:59 -0700

GBA sp acknowledges original Gameboy games but doesn't play the game.loads and plays GBA games flawlessly. Disassembled the cartridge switch noticed the contacts were dirty so I cleaned them well all the contacts were shiny so I put it all back together and still no change I'm at a complete loss. Why does it acknowledge the cartridge but not play it?

⟐ Commented February 08, 2026 at 12:55 MST

New Nintendo 2DS XL: Ribbon cable of the top screen is getting extremely hot

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 11:17:53 -0700

The ribbon cable is getting really hot and surface of the screen is almost painful to touch. The issue persisted even after the screen replacement. The screen was also replaced a while ago (6-7 years ago I think). It may be because the previous guy covered the left side of the screen (where the ribbon cable is) in glue (ribbon cable was covered in it).

⟐ Commented January 25, 2026 at 11:17 MST

New Nintendo 2DS XL: Why is my DS sometimes not waking from Sleep?

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 07:15:35 -0700

Hello friends!

I bought a Modded New Nintendo 2ds XL sometime in 2017 or 2018. Since then stopped using it for awhile formatted the micro SD that had come with it. Now I have recently picked it up again and was having issues with getting to boot properly. Turns out I needed to get all of the Luma Files,GM9 (GodMode9) back onto a new SD card. After that I was able to get it to boot properly again.

After that I was able play games for awhile but noticed that after playing some games that intermittently it would not wake from sleep! Now I have tried a few things to resolve this issue. Here's a breakdown of what I have tried.

I have ensured that both boot.firm, boot.3dsx, and config files from the latest release of Luma are pasted to the root of the SD Card.
Checked that boot.firm file has been updated in CTRNAND via GM9
Updated GM9 to latest version from GitHub
Used a new SD card and repeated steps from Above
Forced a rebuild of exdata
Re-seated battery a few times during this process

At this point I'm assuming that there is an issue with firmware corruption and will try a CTRTransfer before I start to assume that there is some weird faulty hardware.

My question to you fine folks is. What else is there left to try, did I miss anything while troubleshooting here? Does anyone have any idea what is going on and have run into any similar issues? I have went ahead and ordered a new battery as I am assuming that this one is worn and would need to be replaced at some point not that I am expecting this to fix the issue. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know and I will probably give it a try.

Thanks ahead of time to anyone willing to help!

-A very sad Pokemon enjoyer

⟐ Commented November 21, 2025 at 7:15 MST

New Nintendo 2DS XL: I have a blue light on but the screen doesnt turn on

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 02:08:48 -0700

I have tried to boot it into safe mode multiple times yet it still doesn’t work

⟐ Commented November 16, 2025 at 2:08 MST

Game Boy Advance: GBA can not read the game card

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 17:47:56 -0700

My gameboy can be turned on but was not be able to getting into the game. Can anyone help?

⟐ Commented November 07, 2025 at 17:47 MST

Nintendo 3DS: 3D light of 3ds turns on, fades out and console turns off

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 08:38:56 -0700

Hello everyone I'm having a issue with my console:

At first it was working but it had the blue light and popping sound so I replaced the speaker ribbon cable (I already tried with 4 different ones) I had to solder the speakers my self no problem there.

The issue now is that after everything is connected the console won't turn on at all. But when I disconnect the speaker ribbon cable and I turn on the console, the 3D green light on the side of the top screen turns on for 1 second and fades out, that's all it happens.

What should I try next? I also tried 2 other top screens and it was the same thing

Thanks!

⟐ Commented November 03, 2025 at 8:38 MST

Nintendo 3DS: 3ds turns on with black screen and audio

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 02:57:07 -0700

When I turn on my 3ds I hear the menu sounds and touchscreen works but there is no image at all even in the safe mode. It has cfw.

⟐ Commented September 22, 2025 at 2:57 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL 2015: Hardware Question Based on Step 5 of the Circle Pad Replacement

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 23:16:19 -0700

While following the circle pad replacement guide, I've ran into an issue. I can't seem to remove the bottom right screw in the 2nd image, circled in yellow. When I initially opened it, it's the one that just was not turning, and now I've %#*@ near stripped it. How can I hope to remove it without damaging my "NEW"3DS XL? Do I risk using a bit of super-glue to set the screwdriver, and remove both? I don't know if it's safe to do with an electronic device like this.

⟐ Commented September 04, 2025 at 23:16 MST

Nintendo 3DS: My old 3ds turns black after opening apps

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 03:38:14 -0700

When i try to open a app only appears a black screen. I can navigate in the home menu, but selecting the apps dont work. Also tried to open the câmera but it froze on the home menu. Do you guys have any idea how to solve it?

⟐ Commented September 03, 2025 at 3:38 MST

Nintendo 3DS: Safe mode update freezing?

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 04:03:42 -0700

I’ve booted my stock 3ds into safe mode since it is soft bricked, everything works until i press yes to connect to wi-fi and update. After that the bottom screen just turns white and doesn’t show the user agreement. I’ve been stuck on this screen for a long time now.

⟐ Commented August 20, 2025 at 4:03 MST

Nintendo 3DS 2015: How to move the cpu chip to a new board

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 09:24:47 -0700

How do I move the cpu chip to a new motherboard

⟐ Commented August 19, 2025 at 9:24 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL 2015: Blue led, no boot, system shut-down

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 21:53:07 -0700

I’m looking for a little advice. I have a New 3DS LL I picked up for pretty cheap, knowing it wasn’t fully functional. Unit shuts off after a few seconds of blue light. It isn’t necessarily making the popping sounds which might indicate a faulty speaker ribbon cable. Since there are too many variables to rule out, not knowing if it’s one or multiple components, I decided to put this board into a known working unit.

In the first picture, you can see the four seated ribbon cable (indicated by numbers 1. through 4.), along with the ABXY daughterboard (not photographed) to allow my fully functioning board to get me to a boot screen. After disconnecting the good board and swapping it with the faulty board, symptoms still remain. This leads me to believe that there is something wrong on the board itself.

I’m wondering if anyone might be able to offer a little advice on how to test the sockets/capacitor/circuitry found in the second image (indicated by red rectangle). Does anyone know what these capacitor readings should be when testing with a multimeter? When I compare them to the know working motherboard, they are certainly different.

In the third image, a close up is taken of the same indicated area of the faulty board from the second photo, which there appears to be a discolored capacitor (indicated by magenta arrow), second from the top.

Logic tells me that if even (1) capacitor near these (4) sockets is faulty, this would cause a no boot situation, correct?

⟐ Edited by author July 27, 2025 at 21:53 MST

Nintendo DSi: How do I fix the coding from looping in settings

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 09:33:17 -0700

More and also, how do I put my pictures on the sd card well the DS is keeping the looping settings. Also, I can tell you what I was doing about my dsi I was on the twilight menu and I was on the no crash thing and I was just trying to go to the scissor says, but I was actually at the control leg and I just that’s different stuff. I didn’t know cause I think I saved it and it was looping in settings

⟐ Commented July 09, 2025 at 9:33 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL 2015: "safety_test" not working on GM9?

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 07:55:10 -0700

I am following this guide, https://3ds.hacks.guide/uninstall-cfw.ht... Since i am trying to unmod my 3ds but whenever i try to do it, It does all of the steps and it stops at "boot G:/exefs/.firm And no, no error code, nothing just a black screen, BUT WAIT! It's "sorta" what i mean is that it is a gray likeish screen Which means it's still in gm9, but nothing appears, I am not going on their discord cuz of gen alpha and that crap.. Nothing is wrong with my CFW 3DS, like AT ALL. And didn't do anything that would brick it if i unmodded it, Because i checked this guide steps muitple times, PLEASE HELP :(

would darthmango answer?!??! :0 and if he does js to let u know i have my 3ds fixed nand finally worked somehow-

Here is what it exactly shows if i didn't explain it right

⟐ Edited by author June 16, 2025 at 7:55 MST