Hardware [FIY] If your New 3DS / XL <= 9.2.0 breaks, you are screwed

d0k3

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Left-Right-...02?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item463d94c402
I'm 99% sure that new 3ds uses same microswitches:
https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/jUueFIMQQa2P6sLL
so order this, find somebody who can solder stuff (very easy to do on these buttons) and replace your broken button. Or just wait, chinese manufacturers will start making these for new3ds soon.
Replacing motherboard or sending it to Nintendo for simple button repair is overkill.
It can be easily fixed. Soldering on tact switch's are cake just look in the WTS forms someone can fix it hell I could fix it. It's just the L button?
Yeah, it is just the L button. The ZL button microswitch is included on the same cable and works. I also have someone who can solder stuff. Problem is: By now I asked three different spare parts traders, and each and every one of them says that I can't use the O3DS microswitches in a N3DS. Nintendo seems to use different microswitches on the N3DS than they did on the O3DS.
 

sarkwalvein

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Yeah, it is just the L button. The ZL button microswitch is included on the same cable and works. I also have someone who can solder stuff. Problem is: By now I asked three different spare parts traders, and each and every one of them says that I can't use the O3DS microswitches in a N3DS. Nintendo seems to use different microswitches on the N3DS than they did on the O3DS.
Well, of course they will say this because it will be a non-standard procedure using parts that were not meant for it.
You will probably have to squeeze them somewhat, solder them in some weird way, etc.
But at the end of the day a microswitch is just an old contact, there is no rocket science in that.
Perhaps you can even repair the damaged one if you are good with your hands and feel like a master craftsman.
 

hunter010709

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I have the old 3ds xl and the n3ds xl.

In playing both i will say that apart from a 'minor' improvement in the 3d effects, the old is far superior.

The quality is better in the construction and durability.

The screen apart from 3d stabilization is better.

The sd card slot doesn't even need explanation...

The class 6 o3ds install cias faster than class 10 n3ds in side by side testing.

The circle pad pro available to o3ds is not even comparable to the mini stick and new shoulder buttons added to the n3ds for 'first person' games which is really their main purpose.

I can go on and on, but try both yourself and apart from the 3ds stabilization which is as good as a steady hand and distance management on the old.

I play the o3ds way more than the n3ds, having both unrestriced on cfw....
 
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hunter010709

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Yeah, it is just the L button. The ZL button microswitch is included on the same cable and works. I also have someone who can solder stuff. Problem is: By now I asked three different spare parts traders, and each and every one of them says that I can't use the O3DS microswitches in a N3DS. Nintendo seems to use different microswitches on the N3DS than they did on the O3DS.

Any micro switch with similar pin out, voltage, amperage and function that will fit, will work.

There is no monopoly on switches in electronic by Nintendo unless they would invest in locking micro switches with an extra chip and a drm style software.

Parts are parts, in function apart from secured one. There is no security in switches like these...
 
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funnystory

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I already have a thread about my personal New 3DS woes. In my case, the internal L button unit broke (definitely broken, blowing it, won#t work), and I'm now sitting on a basically unusable (for playing, I also use it for development) unit. I don't want to rant, this is just to sum up the situation.

Now, assume you are one of the lucky ones who has a New 3DS or a New 3DS XL with a FW <= 9.2.0, what if anything breaks? Here are your options:
  • Send it to Nintendo for a warranty repair (if you still got that): Forget it - you'll get a refurbished New 3DS / XL back, which is practically guaranteed to have a bad FW version.
  • Send it to Nintendo for a non warranty repair: See above. Plus, Nintendos repair fees are pretty high.
  • Just get the spare parts from somewhere and do it yourself: Spare parts for New 3DS / XL are not yet available from anywhere. And no, not even China shops. You can't use O3DS spare parts, they are incompatible with the N3DS.
  • Get a defective N3DS / XL unit and grab the parts from there: Good luck finding a defective unit. If you look around eBay, there are basically none. Most people still have warranty and just send it to Nintendo (see above) instead of selling. If a defective unit comes up somewhere, the price will be pretty high because of the rarity.
  • Just get a new N3DS / XL unit <= 9.2.0: Again, good luck. Good FW New 3DS / XL units run for ~280$ here in germany, and I doubt it is better anywhere else. You could let Nintendo replace your defective one (see above) and sell the replacement, but that won't get you anywhere near $280.
The only cheap option you have is to get a replacement / new one with a bad FW. But, even with Ninjhax 2.0, that's not an option if you are a dev and or want to do more with it than Sky3DS allows.

Nintendo won't go through the trouble of manually checking your tickets.db imagine if they did that for every console, it would literally be way cheaper to replace them without checking than to have someone check them one by one. I think what happens is that you send in your unit and they ship you back a refurb.
 
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d0k3

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Well, of course they will say this because it will be a non-standard procedure using parts that were not meant for it.
You will probably have to squeeze them somewhat, solder them in some weird way, etc.
But at the end of the day a microswitch is just an old contact, there is no rocket science in that.
Perhaps you can even repair the damaged one if you are good with your hands and feel like a master craftsman.
Any micro switch with similar pin out, voltage, amperage and function that will fit, will work.
There is no monopoly on switches in electronic by Nintendo unless they would invest in locking micro switches with an extra chip and a drm style software.
Parts are parts, in function apart from secured one. There is no security in switches like these...
There are differences (sorry about the large images)...
3ds-rl-key-micro-press-the-micro-switch-button.jpg
4-5-4-5-4-3mm-micro-switch-touch-switch-4-5x4-5x4-3mm-button-switch.jpg


HTB1KjDPFXXXXXXlbXXXq6xXFXXXi.jpg


I guess it's at least safe to say that trying with the O3DS microswitches (first image) would be my best bet. If you've got any more information that could help me find a proper replacement (you both sound like you know what you're speaking of), it would be greatly appreciated.

I have the old 3ds xl and the n3ds xl.

In playing both i will say that apart from a 'minor' improvement in the 3d effects, the old is far superior.

The quality is better in the construction and durability.

The screen apart from 3d stabilization is better.

The sd card slot doesn't even need explanation...

The class 6 o3ds install cias faster than class 10 n3ds in side by side testing.

The circle pad pro available to o3ds is not even comparable to the mini stick and new shoulder buttons added to the n3ds for 'first person' games which is really their main purpose.

I can go on and on, but try both yourself and apart from the 3ds stabilization which is as good as a steady hand and distance management on the old.

I play the o3ds way more than the n3ds, having both unrestriced on cfw....
To be honest, my main argument for getting a new 3DS was the super stable 3D plus the the slightly bigger screen size. And, in fact, super stable 3D won't help you as much on a rocky ride as you might think. If you're playing under bright sunlight, super stable 3D even seems to malfunction pretty often and leaving out the adjustment would be the better option. However, there are still upcoming New 3DS only games. May be it will be the same as with the DSI (and at the moment, it seems like that's the case), where there were only a handful of DSI only games, and a slightly bigger lot of DSI-enhanced games.

Nintendo won't go through the trouble of manually checking your tickets.db imagine if they did that for every console, it would literally be way cheaper to replace them without checking than to have someone check them one by one. I think what happens is that you send in your unit and they ship you back a refurb.
I have my doubts... Sure, checking ticket.db would be costly, and in at least 9 out of 10 cases they will find nothing. If they only do it on systems <= 9.2, it would most likely be a different story. However, dumping the NAND, extracting the ticket.db, analysing that, making sure the customer is not wronged - that's stuff I wouldn't want to do with one 3DS console, and they'd have to do it with thousands of 3DS consoles. Alone given the fact that consoles are not actually repaired but rather replaced by refurbished ones should give you an idea of how fast they have to work at Nintendos repair centre, and that makes ticket.db checking rather unlikely.

By the way, my point was that you will send in a good FW New 3DS and get a bad FW refurb back. If I'd still get warranty (I also already opened the New 3DS to check the microswitch) is rather theoretical.

Let's ask this differently - is there anyone who had his warranty voided because of a a suspicious ticket.db or software modifications in general?
 
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Maximilious

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By the way, my point was that you will send in a good FW New 3DS and get a bad FW refurb back. If I'd still get warranty (I also already opened the New 3DS to check the microswitch) is rather theoretical.

Let's ask this differently - is there anyone who had his warranty voided because of a a suspicious ticket.db or software modifications in general?

Well as a MMN3DSXL <9.0 owner, I would hope Ninty gives me MY unit back and not a refurb. I can see them repairing your button and not replacing it with a refurb. They likely would flash the NAND, BUT you can always get a hardmod and flash back your original FW version. If you're in development then I can't see you not being able to hardmod already.

And honestly, if you have invalid tickets, they're going to upgrade your NAND anyway so it should theoretically take care of the issue of you installing them in the first place thinking you won't hard mod and flash back your NAND.

I've never sent in a warranty unit though. There is a chance they could replace with an entirely different unit, but for a button? Highly unlikely for them to scrape the whole unit and give you a new one. Especially with the financial situation Ninty is in.
 

d0k3

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Well as a MMN3DSXL <9.0 owner, I would hope Ninty gives me MY unit back and not a refurb. I can see them repairing your button and not replacing it with a refurb. They likely would flash the NAND, BUT you can always get a hardmod and flash back your original FW version. If you're in development then I can't see you not being able to hardmod already.

And honestly, if you have invalid tickets, they're going to upgrade your NAND anyway so it should theoretically take care of the issue of you installing them in the first place thinking you won't hard mod and flash back your NAND.

I've never sent in a warranty unit though. There is a chance they could replace with an entirely different unit, but for a button? Highly unlikely for them to scrape the whole unit and give you a new one. Especially with the financial situation Ninty is in.
I had a repair once, but it was out of warranty, for a Nintendo DS Lite. I think it was the top screen that had problems at that time. I sent in a crimson red unit (US import, these are normally not available in germany :angry:) and got back a completely black one, which seemed to be good as new. So, I lost a (locally) rare one and got back a common one. As the colour was the only downside, I didn't complain. They didn't ask if replacing it was okay, though.

By the way, I'm a software developer and have never before touched a soldering iron, so that much about getting a hard mod ;). Thinking about it, though. Better do it before it is too late.
 

Maximilious

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I had a repair once, but it was out of warranty, for a Nintendo DS Lite. I sent in a crimson red unit (US import, these are normally not available in germany :angry:) and got back a completely black one, which seemed to be good as new. So, I lost a (locally) rare one and got back a common one. As the colour was the only downside, I didn't complain. They didn't ask if replacing it was okay, though.

Well, they probably saw that it was a Red unit from Germany, knew it was out of region and made sure you were in region. That's just common sense there.

Computer repairs are the same. Customs comes down heavy on any technology that doesn't belong to their region or isn't registered to their country.
 

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Well, they probably saw that it was a Red unit from Germany, knew it was out of region and made sure you were in region. That's just common sense there.

Computer repairs are the same. Customs comes down heavy on any technology that doesn't belong to their region or isn't registered to their country.
I doubt that was their logic behind it. The DS (lite) didn't have any region restrictions. Internally, J/U/E units were identical. Also, I think they wouldn't replace f.e. a (U) region locked console with an (E) region locked console just because it was sent in in germany. Otherwise I could just buy my 3DS where it is the cheapest and then let them replace it. And, also think of someone who sends his console in out of region (cause he only temporarilly lives in europe, etc...).

By the way, I heard that for actual special edition consoles, they will ask you before replacing.
 
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The tact switch's shouldn't matter. All your doing is completing ground every time the button is pressed. Tact switch's are flexible you might have to hack something up to make it work with the L button of the N3ds but 9 times out of 10 it's just a low profile tact switch
 

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Nintendo won't go through the trouble of manually checking your tickets.db imagine if they did that for every console, it would literally be way cheaper to replace them without checking than to have someone check them one by one. I think what happens is that you send in your unit and they ship you back a refurb.
well some people have had their warranty voided on wiiu's for having "unofficial content installed" despite removing them before sending it in for warranty, i guess if nintendo want to save as much money as possible by denying warranty claims they could easily make a repair center cart that they insert into the console and it scans for any out of place/bad tickets automatically along side other generic fault tests, then as with the wii u they can then turn around and say you have 3 options,
A) pay a steep repair cost
B) pay a steep return postage cost
C) we will "recycle" the console

i think the repair process is probably more along the lines of
A. check for any physical damage and check if it powers on (if there is any physical damage go to step F, if no physical damage and it powers on go to step C.)
B. try a different battery
C. run diagnostics cart and check for any errors (if any unofficial software is detected go to step F.)
D. open it up and check the water ingress indicator's, (if there is any indication of water ingress goto step F.)
E. post out a pre-refurbed console and add this console to the pile for workers to refurb when they have no other diagnostics work to do
F. demand a pound of flesh for out of warranty repair
 

funnystory

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well some people have had their warranty voided on wiiu's for having "unofficial content installed" despite removing them before sending it in for warranty, i guess if nintendo want to save as much money as possible by denying warranty claims they could easily make a repair center cart that they insert into the console and it scans for any out of place/bad tickets automatically along side other generic fault tests, then as with the wii u they can then turn around and say you have 3 options,
A) pay a steep repair cost
B) pay a steep return postage cost
C) we will "recycle" the console

i think the repair process is probably more along the lines of
A. check for any physical damage and check if it powers on (if there is any physical damage go to step F, if no physical damage and it powers on go to step C.)
B. try a different battery
C. run diagnostics cart and check for any errors (if any unofficial software is detected go to step F.)
D. open it up and check the water ingress indicator's, (if there is any indication of water ingress goto step F.)
E. post out a pre-refurbed console and add this console to the pile for workers to refurb when they have no other diagnostics work to do
F. demand a pound of flesh for out of warranty repair

What if he peeled the warranty with a blow dryer/heatgun gently. Fried the nand chip carefully put it back together and maybe nintendo will be able to help him out then no?
 

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What if he peeled the warranty with a blow dryer/heatgun gently. Fried the nand chip carefully put it back together and maybe nintendo will be able to help him out then no?
there really isn't any warranty sticker on 3DS's so you *could* do that....theoretically ofc, but none of this really solves the issue of them returning a 9.3+ console, truth is if you want to keep your console on a hackable FW its DIY or go to a third party repairer who will specifically not update the console
 
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andre104623

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Make a NAND backup then send to nintendo. When it gets back reflash the NAND there you go. You really don't need to send it to nintendo though it can be fixed without the use of nintendo service
 
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d0k3

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Make a NAND backup then send to nintendo. When it gets back reflash the NAND there you go. You really don't need to send it to nintendo though it can be fixed without the use of nintendo service
Yeah, I'll try the repair on my own. As for just doing a NAND backup before sending it in - that NAND backup can only be restored on the specific 3DS it was created from. So, if I get a refurb back, NANDmod that and restore the previous backup: boom, it's (semi-, you still got the NAND mod) bricked.

Otherwise (if we could restore our NAND backups to any 3DS), there would be a big market of GW ready O3DS / N3DS consoles. All a trader would have to do is buying a lot of O3DS / N3DS consoles, doing a simple NAND mod on them and use that one good NAND backup to flash each and every console. Then sell that for big $$$ (price for a NAND modded good FW N3DS in germany is ~400$). That would rule out online play with these modified consoles (hundreds of identical customer IDs?), but seriously, how many people care and how many would accept this for a good FW unit? Would be a good business idea if it worked, though ;),
 
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By the way, I heard that for actual special edition consoles, they will ask you before replacing.

I know it doesn't really apply in this situation, but they did, in fact, ask me whether I wanted the broken console back or if I wanted a non-special edition replacement system when I sent a special edition console in for repair that they said they couldn't/wouldn't fix.
 
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Maximilious

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I know it doesn't really apply in this situation, but they did, in fact, ask me whether I wanted the broken console back or if I wanted a non-special edition replacement system when I sent a special edition console in for repair that they said they couldn't/wouldn't fix.

What a crock, give me my special edition AND a new one back. That's kind of ridiculous.
 
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d0k3

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An update: I asked Nintendo directly if they could send me a replacement for the defective L/ZL shoulder button unit. I even offered sending in the defective unit. They still told me, no, it is not possible. It was worth a try, but now it only serves to confirm the topic of this thread.
 
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