Hacking Switching mobos and possible top screen issue

[covtops]

Hey everybody,

A while back i bought a brand new 3ds xl that had fw 4.4 on it. However i was one of the first people to report a brick on here and i sent it right away to nintendo before they caught wind of what was happening and when we all that that nand sized was changed to 0. Well... They repaired my 3ds and obviously it came back with 7.1 on it. Fast forward to now and and i picked up a cheap used xl with 4.4 on it. Problem is upon recieving i found out that it has that ptoblem where the top screen is stuck on max brightness and changing the brightness setting only affects the bottom screen... Ive had the idea since the beginning to swap the mobos because my first one is in pristine condition. But now im worried that the problem might carry over. Does anybody if the brightness problem is amobo issue or if it is the actual screen?? Cause i dont wanna go through all the trouble of disassembling then reassembling 2 3ds just to see that the problem has carried over...

Any insight would be grateful, thanks!

Actually after looking at it a bit more the brightness settings DO affect both screens... It seems the problem is that the top screen is brighter than normal and the bottom screen is darker than it should be...

 

[alexenochs]

Are you using 3d as well ? I've noticed when using 3d mode the screen dims a bit not because of the light LEDs but because of displaying 3d

 

[tickle.my.pickle]

yes swapping mobos are not new... its possible..
i've seen US guts swaped with JAP shells...

 

[covtops]

When using 3d the top does dim a little. But it is still brighter than it should be in comparison to the bottom screen :/

yes swapping mobos are not new... its possible..
i've seen US guts swaped with JAP shells...

I wanted to know if this screen brightness issue would carry over

Here a some photos showing what im talking about. As you can see even with brightness on 5 the bottom screen seems darker than it should be. And the top screen is definitely brighter than it should be...

 

[mvmiranda]

yes swapping mobos are not new... its possible..
i've seen US guts swaped with JAP shells...

BTW, I'm looking for some Japanese Shells (or any other customized 3DS XL shells, like Pokemon, Luigi, etc).
Do you know where to buy these?

 

[Sicklyboy]

Honestly the top screen brightness looks about right, the bottom screen is quite dark though.

Mind taking another set of pics? Power save mode OFF, pic on brightness 1 and pic on brightness 5?

 

[covtops]

Honestly the top screen brightness looks about right, the bottom screen is quite dark though.

Mind taking another set of pics? Power save mode OFF, pic on brightness 1 and pic on brightness 5?

There ya go.

 

[tickle.my.pickle]

BTW, I'm looking for some Japanese Shells (or any other customized 3DS XL shells, like Pokemon, Luigi, etc).
Do you know where to buy these?

http://www.play-asia.com/

jap limited edition xl's cost an arm and leg.... D:
not to mention shipping cost...

I wanted to know if this screen brightness issue would carry over

that i dont know...
keep us posted if you do tho...

 

[gamesquest1]

try just swapping the bottom screen over, could just need a replacement bottom lcd

 

[SmileCitrus]

I've never seen this particular issue in an XL because I don't usually repair those, so please take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I've seen it numerous times in ordinary 3DS consoles and it's always a motherboard issue. Swapping in a different motherboard solves the brightness issue, so it's not a problem with the screen itself. I have several otherwise fully functional motherboards with this problem sitting uselessly in a pile beside my desk right now that I wish I knew how to repair so I could reuse them.

 

[gamesquest1]

I've never seen this particular issue in an XL because I don't usually repair those, so please take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I've seen it numerous times in ordinary 3DS consoles and it's always a motherboard issue. Swapping in a different motherboard solves the brightness issue, so it's not a problem with the screen itself. I have several otherwise fully functional motherboards with this problem sitting uselessly in a pile beside my desk right now that I wish I knew how to repair so I could reuse them.

have you checked the voltages going to the back-light?
just having a look online it doesn't appear to be a common error so it seems weird you have several all with the same issue

 

[covtops]

Well

I've never seen this particular issue in an XL because I don't usually repair those, so please take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I've seen it numerous times in ordinary 3DS consoles and it's always a motherboard issue. Swapping in a different motherboard solves the brightness issue, so it's not a problem with the screen itself. I have several otherwise fully functional motherboards with this problem sitting uselessly in a pile beside my desk right now that I wish I knew how to repair so I could reuse them.

Well shit... I guess i cant seem to catch a break, thats all the proof i needed... At least you saved from a lot of pointless work. Well... Gotta think positive At least on brightness 5 and with 3d on the light levels match, its gonna be abitch on the battery though. my other 3ds xl will have to wait till/if 7.1 gets hackes

 

[SmileCitrus]

have you checked the voltages going to the back-light?
just having a look online it doesn't appear to be a common error so it seems weird you have several all with the same issue

Haha, I bought a couple big lots of broken consoles. I didn't get them all at once. I have a multimeter, but honestly I barely know how to use it. How would I check the voltages to the backlight?

 

[gamesquest1]

Haha, I bought a couple big lots of broken consoles. I didn't get them all at once. I have a multimeter, but honestly I barely know how to use it. How would I check the voltages to the backlight?

well the back light is on a separate ribbon cable afaik, you would just have to measure the voltage on a working 3ds and on a non working 3ds and see if there is a diffrence, if there is try follow the trace to see if there is any parts that may be broken/faulty further down the line

 

[SmileCitrus]

Well, there's a separate ribbon for the backlight, but that gets connected to the speaker assembly in the top of the console, which I know isn't the problem since the top screen backlight works normally with a different motherboard. I guess the problem would have to be a faulty component connected somewhere to the the speaker connector. But since I don't really have any experience in electronics, rather than try fixing them, it's easier for me to just sell the broken boards off as a lot to someone more knowledgeable than me once I've accumulated a large enough amount.

 

[mvmiranda]

http://www.play-asia.com/

jap limited edition xl's cost an arm and leg.... D:
not to mention shipping cost...

Hello!
Are you sure there are shells (or housings, if you will) listed in play-asia? I couldn't find any!

Cheers!

 

[tickle.my.pickle]

Hello!
Are you sure there are shells (or housings, if you will) listed in play-asia? I couldn't find any!

Cheers!

nope... AFAIK there are no 3rd party shell yet for xl... only way to get one is to buy a jap ver... :/

 

[mvmiranda]

nope... AFAIK there are no 3rd party shell yet for xl... only way to get one is to buy a jap ver... :/

I see!
Well, it's a shame there isn't any way of buying the shells.

Thx!

 

[tickle.my.pickle]

I see!
Well, it's a shame there isn't any way of buying the shells.

Thx!

welp... i guess you could buy a defect unit with a limited edition shell..??
try ebay... keep us posted if you do...

 

[mvmiranda]

welp... i guess you could buy a defect unit with a limited edition shell..??
try ebay... keep us posted if you do...

Well, I don't plan to spend a whole lot of money (3ds full price) just to have a shell... I'm the only one that have a 3DS at home and I also have the NAND read/write mod so there's no point in having a second unit. Anyway, if I change my mind, I'll let you guys know.

Thx and cheers!