Hardware 3ds demo unit

[djgarf]

hi all
been a long time since i posted on here lol
some of the oldskool tempers will no doubt remember me from when i was a moderator hehe
anyway i got a quick question
my girlfriend was given a 3ds console today that was taken out of the display unit that was on the shop floor where she works
the thing is it will only work when it has a power cord connected to it
i have taken the battery out and tested it with my multimeter and its fully charged (outputting around 4v) but will not turn on unless its plugged in
has nintendo done this on purpose or is their a fault with it?

hope someone can shed some light on the situation

cheers

 

[Deleted_171835]

Regular 3DS units don't have to be plugged in to turn on.

Although it may be different if she got a demo unit.

 

[jimmyemunoz]

How does this cord look? I'd love to see a picture. I'm assuming the converter is housed in the cord versus in the unit. I'm wondering, why didn't Nintendo use the normal charger as a means of a constant voltage supply? They must have seen a problem of continuous drain on the system, using the standard plugin charger. Where are the Game Stop employees?

 

[Hells Malice]

How does this cord look? I'd love to see a picture. I'm assuming the converter is housed in the cord versus in the unit. I'm wondering, why didn't Nintendo use the normal charger as a means of a constant voltage supply? They must have seen a problem of continuous drain on the system, using the standard plugin charger. Where are the Game Stop employees?

I left my 3DS charging for a week and my charger ended up dying.
Pretty sure it can't handle so much continuous usage.

 

[djgarf]

i dont have the cord that connected the unit to the demo stand
i bought one from work today

 

[jimmyemunoz]

Like I mentioned earlier, I'd love to hear what a Best Buy, EB Games or Game Stop worker has to say on this subject. I can't give an answer and feel 100% sure. This is actually a great question.

 

[Janthran]

System update?
Demo units have their own firmware, IIRC.

 

[Thesolcity]

System update?
Demo units have their own firmware, IIRC.

Yup. Always a couple numbers down.

 

[Janthran]

System update?
Demo units have their own firmware, IIRC.

Yup. Always a couple numbers down.

So maybe if it can update to normal firmware, that would fix it.
It's possible for it to tell the system not to boot while not plugged in, right?
Prevents theft or something.

 

[McHaggis]

Regular 3DS units don't have to be plugged in to turn on.

Thanks for clearing that up for anybody that might have thought otherwise

So maybe if it can update to normal firmware, that would fix it.
It's possible for it to tell the system not to boot while not plugged in, right?
Prevents theft or something.

That sounds quite plausible. I doubt they can update the firmware, though – the demo units I've seen are locked to a single game and you cannot access the settings or the main menu (unless there's some kind of trick to it). Even then, It's likely a firmware update would refuse to download to a demo machine.

 

[p1ngpong]

Every 3DS demo unit I have seen has a warning sticker on it saying that the 3DS will not work unless it is attached to the main unit. So I would suspect that this is intentional and not a fault with the 3ds.

 

[Snailface]

snip

So maybe if it can update to normal firmware, that would fix it.
It's possible for it to tell the system not to boot while not plugged in, right?
Prevents theft or something.

That sounds quite plausible. I doubt they can update the firmware, though – the demo units I've seen are locked to a single game and you cannot access the settings or the main menu (unless there's some kind of trick to it). Even then, It's likely a firmware update would refuse to download to a demo machine.

Yes there is.
http://www.ripten.com/2011/03/19/3ds-demo-kiosk-locator-justin6464/
(2nd paragraph)

On the most recent demo kiosk units I've seen in the US, they allow access to the Menu normally without the hotkey trick. I don't know if this demo update has made the rounds around your neighborhood, but it's quite common here now.

 

[djgarf]

i can access the menu and settings no problem
i even updated it last night to the latest firmware
it still wont turn on without the power lead being connected but as soon as you connect the lead it turns on automaticly
also once its powered on with the lead pressing the power button switches it off but it switches itself back on a few seconds later

 

[McHaggis]

On the most recent demo kiosk units I've seen in the US, they allow access to the Menu normally without the hotkey trick. I don't know if this demo update has made the rounds around your neighborhood, but it's quite common here now.

I've only seen a few demo units around here, Asda and Argos have them as well as a few GAME stores. They usually house two units with one running MK7 and the other running Mario 3D Land (both demo versions). On the ones I've mucked around with, the Home button does nothing and they just switch back on after momentarily powering off the unit, resuming the game that was playing.

i can access the menu and settings no problem
i even updated it last night to the latest firmware
it still wont turn on without the power lead being connected but as soon as you connect the lead it turns on automaticly
also once its powered on with the lead pressing the power button switches it off but it switches itself back on a few seconds later

If it updated to the latest firmware then it's probably a minor hardware difference. I'm not sure that you'll be able to do anything about it until more is known about the internals.

 

[boombox]

Hmmm, does a demo unit have warranty? could you be cheeky and see if Nintendo can put a new battery in it for you?

 

[muckers]

Perhaps being 'always plugged in' has wrecked the battery and now it can't hold any charge. See if where she works have any faulty retail 3DS consoles that have been returned and maybe she can swap the battery over. Either that or buy one of the Nyko high capacity ones.

 

[McHaggis]

A thought did occur to me, you could probably get one of these to fix it:

http://www.amazon.com/Nyko-Power-Grip-3DS-Nintendo/dp/B0057WWR0C

It looks like it connects to the power much like the docking cradle does, so if your 3DS switches on whilst sat in one of those cradles then the Nyko Power Grip should work too. Can't find them on sale in UK though.

 

[djgarf]

the battery is fine afaik as i tested it with my multimeter
it came from a argos demo stand and had nintendogs demo with it
are their any decent quality schematics online for me to compare the internals with?

cheers

 

[mjax]

the battery is fine afaik as i tested it with my multimeter
it came from a argos demo stand and had nintendogs demo with it
are their any decent quality schematics online for me to compare the internals with?

cheers

http://nintendo3dsblog.com/disassembled-a-very-detailed-inside-look-at-the-guts-of-a-nintendo-3ds

 

[djgarf]

cheers
i had a quick look last nite and one thing i did notice was on the little white squares just below the pins the battery touches someone has written "t" on one of them and "e" on the other one
may just be a conceidence
obviously thats not wot is causing the issues with it but just thought it was worth mentioning