Old 3DS XL blue light turns on and off after a couple of seconds, nothing else happens

[HexFY]

Long story short, tried to play on my 3DS after one year after last doing it, booted just fine. When i tried to open Universal Updater the console just turned off and won't turn on again. The blue light still flashes for a second and there's no "pop" sound.

Already tried (what i can remember): re-seating the cables on the back panel (didn't have time to fully open it since i had to bring it to a tech);
booting it without the camera cables connected as i saw some guy doing in an youtube video, nothing happens;
booting it holding start/select/recovery mode, nothing happens;
booting with the original unmodified SD Card, nothing happens;
changing the boot.firm file multiple times, nothing happened.

it used Luma and Godmode for homebrew stuff

while trying to change the boot.firm files to different versions and stuff my SD Card unfortunatelly got corrupted and i had to format it.

 

[IC_]

Sounds like a problem with your specific SD card - try putting the right boot.firm file on another known good SD card.
You didn't have to do any hardware troubleshooting with the 3DS yet, the chance of it being a hardware issue with the 3DS is very low if it just suddenly started turning off without a popping noise, it's most likely boot9strap being unable to boot.

 

[CoolMe]

@HexFY Can you try booting into Luma3DS menu & GodMode9 without the sd card inserted? If it does boot into them then it's a good sign, and prolly an easy fix with just replacing the sd card.
I would recommend testing the sd card with h2testw to check it's not faulty or defective. Backup what's on the sd (or it doesn't matter since you've formatted it already..) on your pc before doing the test. Make the sd card is clear, then run the test with the read & write option.
If it passes the test, format it again as Fat32 32kb cluster size , and go to this guide and put the Luma3DS and GodMode9 etc. files back and boot the system again.
If it didn't pass the test, then your sd card must've been the culprit and it is the one that's causing you these issues, and you should get a new sd card and test it out just the same.

 

[HexFY]

@HexFY Can you try booting into Luma3DS menu & GodMode9 without the sd card inserted? If it does boot into them then it's a good sign, and prolly an easy fix with just replacing the sd card.

i've tried that and it doesn't boot.

I would recommend testing the sd card with h2testw to check it's not faulty or defective. Backup what's on the sd (or it doesn't matter since you've formatted it already..) on your pc before doing the test. Make the sd card is clear, then run the test with the read & write option.
If it passes the test, format it again as Fat32 32kb cluster size , and go to this guide and put the Luma3DS and GodMode9 etc. files back and boot the system again.
If it didn't pass the test, then your sd card must've been the culprit and it is the one that's causing you these issues, and you should get a new sd card and test it out just the same.

just finished testing it with h2testw, all seems just fine. got the files from the guide back in it and still won't boot

 

[HexFY]

Sounds like a problem with your specific SD card - try putting the right boot.firm file on another known good SD card.
You didn't have to do any hardware troubleshooting with the 3DS yet, the chance of it being a hardware issue with the 3DS is very low if it just suddenly started turning off without a popping noise, it's most likely boot9strap being unable to boot.

i've tried booting it with the original, unmodified SD Card and since it worked before all this i thought it would in this case, but it didn't. shouldn't it work if the issue was this specific SD Card?

 

[IC_]

i've tried booting it with the original, unmodified SD Card and since it worked before all this i thought it would in this case, but it didn't. shouldn't it work if the issue was this specific SD Card?

What do you mean by the original, unmodified SD card? One from a time before you modded the 3DS? You need the right boot.firm file on it now for it to boot.

 

[HexFY]

What do you mean by the original, unmodified SD card? One from a time before you modded the 3DS? You need the right boot.firm file on it now for it to boot.

Yes, it's the SD Card that came with it, i had decided to not mess with it to not corrupt my old save files and still have them when i wanted to play those games.
What i mean is that even after i modded the 3ds it would still boot with this original SD Card, it just wouldn't have all the homebrew apps. That's why i thought it is strange that it won't boot now.

 

[IC_]

You should still try putting the boot.firm file on a different SD card and booting with it inserted, you shouldn't move on further until you try that, it usually has a high chance of solving this issue.
It's also possible that you didn't reconnect some of the cables correctly when re-seating them, and now it's shutting off because off a hardware problem with them (can't detect critical system components). Even if there's still no popping sound, it could be the speaker cable.

 

[HexFY]

You should still try putting the boot.firm file on a different SD card and booting with it inserted, you shouldn't move on further until you try that, it usually has a high chance of solving this issue.

Just tried with another SD Card and it didn't work either, this one's 256gb tho but i was able to format it to FAT32 using guiformat, don't know if that would influence in something.
Also, if i try to boot it with only the boot.firm and boot.3dsx files in the SD Card, it still creates the luma folder, is this a good sign?

 

[HexFY]

Since i can now post links, here's a screenshot of the luma folder i mentioned after trying to boot the 3ds with boot.firm and boot.3dsx only.
And also a video of the issue.

 

[IC_]

After seeing the video, I'm convinced that this has turned into a hardware issue - the blue light shuts off abruptly instead of smoothly fading out just like the fade-in, which would normally happen if boot9strap was unable to boot a boot.firm file. Even if it's not accompanied by a popping noise, it might just be that the speakers are not properly connected. I'd recommend that you try taking the 3DS apart again, and once again reconnect the cables that you tried reconnecting before, making sure that they are fully inserted into the connectors. Be careful with them as well.

As for the luma folder - that's actually very interesting, I didn't know that could happen in such a scenario. I'd guess Luma creates that folder before initializing the other hardware components of the 3DS, which then causes the abrupt shutoff.

 

[CoolMe]

Can you plug it in the charger, and see if the charging led stays ON or of it fades after a few seconds?

 

[HexFY]

Can you plug it in the charger, and see if the charging led stays ON or of it fades after a few seconds?

I plugged in the charger for a good couple of minutes and it does stay on.

Also, i won't be able to take the 3DS apart right now but i'll update this with the results when i do. I should mention that the blue led did this exact same thing (shutting off abruptly) before i opened it for the first time yesterday. If it is indeed a hardware problem then i gotta have some bad luck lol.

 

[CoolMe]

I plugged in the charger for a good couple of minutes and it does stay on.

Also, i won't be able to take the 3DS apart right now but i'll update this with the results when i do. I should mention that the blue led did this exact same thing (shutting off abruptly) before i opened it for the first time yesterday. If it is indeed a hardware problem then i gotta have some bad luck lol.

It could be the sd card reader, WiFi board or the cameras. You should start with the cameras, make everything is connected to the mobo and is snug in place. Re-seat the WiFi board. Do the same to the sd card reader. And for all these components check the ribbon cables on them, and if they're cut or have worn pins. It should give you an indication of what's causing the problem if that's the case.

 

[HexFY]

I took it apart and took some pictures, everything seemed fine. Re-seated all cables, including the WiFi board (except the cameras cable because it was being a pain in the ass to do it and i know it works without them). Tried booting it up and still nothing, no pop sound either.

 

[CoolMe]

(except the cameras cable because it was being a pain in the ass to do it and i know it works without them).

The 3DS WILL NOT boot without the (working) cameras plugged in. So please make sure they're, or any troubleshooting you do after won't lead to the real culprit. Unless you are really sure that you've plugged everything correctly the first time..
Though i think it's either the SD card reader or the WiFi board that's preventing the system from booting up.
I'd suggest trying folding a piece of thin paper 2 or 3 times and placing on top of the sd card reader and close to the pins, assemble the system, make sure the piece is in that spot, and turn on the system. if shows anything, then it's the sd card reader indeed.

 

[IC_]

Weird. Assuming that all the important cables and the wireless board are in fact properly connected and not broken, I'd guess this is either a really weird software issue or a really fatal and unfortunate hardware issue which would require a motherboard replacement. Might be a dumb thing to suggest at this point, but also make sure that the cables going to the top part of the 3DS are inserted in the right orientation, as it is possible to insert them upside down.
Did any files get created in that Luma folder? Could you try putting godmode9 on that fresh SD card, and then booting into it by holding START? https://3ds.hacks.guide/godmode9-usage

The 3DS WILL NOT boot without the (working) cameras plugged in. So please make sure they're, or any troubleshooting you do after won't lead to the real culprit. Unless you are really sure that you've plugged everything correctly the first time..

The 3DS will boot and work without the cameras plugged in.

 

[CoolMe]

The 3DS will boot and work without the cameras plugged in.

There's was someone who was having similar issues with his 3DS, last year i think, at the end it turns out it was one of the cameras was no longer working. And his system wouldn't work without it.
I can't remember if he had an Old 3DS or a "New" one, or if there's any difference between the two, regarding the need for the cameras to be working/plugged in so the system can boot.
@KleinesSinchen Might remember about it.

 

[HexFY]

Might be a dumb thing to suggest at this point, but also make sure that the cables going to the top part of the 3DS are inserted in the right orientation, as it is possible to insert them upside down.

I'm pretty sure they are not upside down since otherwise it would be considerably harder to plug them.

Did any files get created in that Luma folder? Could you try putting godmode9 on that fresh SD card, and then booting into it by holding START? https://3ds.hacks.guide/godmode9-usage

Nope, just the Luma folder. Tried putting godmode9 in the SD Card and nothing happened.

Of course i cannot be 100% sure i plugged all the cables perfectly since they are really small and i'm no expert, but i do what i can

As for the cameras discussion, this guy had a similar problem with a 3DS XL, his solution was to boot the system WITHOUT the cameras plugged in. Seems like at least for the old 3DS XL it doesn't require them to boot.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

There's was someone who was having similar issues with his 3DS, last year i think, at the end it turns out it was one of the cameras was no longer working. And his system wouldn't work without it.
I can't remember if he had an Old 3DS or a "New" one, or if there's any difference between the two, regarding the need for the cameras to be working/plugged in so the system can boot.
@KleinesSinchen Might remember about it.

New 3DS XL (not sure about the non-XL model) are known to fail booting Home Menu with bad camera. GodMode9 and Luma3DS settings as well as safe mode work fine.
Disconnecting the bad camera makes the system boot up normally (obviously without the super stable 3D as it needs the camera for head tracking).

Old3DS (XL) don't have that problem. In neither model a disconnected camera will prevent booting.
========

Usually the abrupt shutoff is caused by torn cables to the upper screen assembly (might be very small damage). When they start tearing they must be replaced. Replacement of upper LCD and loudspeaker cable is needed (both, since they are both worn). Loudspeakers are soldered to the cable, so make your soldering equipment ready. Not a hard soldering job. Way harder is routing the new cables through the hinge without breaking them.

Good luck!