Homebrew Is this enough to do a hardmod?

[KeyMastar]

Ok thanks man. Question guys: I'm going to attempt a temporary hardmod on my working console. Do I just solder one end of the wires to the contacts and the other end to an SD card?

Just to make sure you understand, you need a MicroSD to SD adapter card. Not a regular SD card. With that out of the way... That's the idea. I would suggest color coding your wires to make sure you connect the correct pins from the adapter to the correct pads on the motherboard. Remember, be VERY careful not to apply the soldering iron to a pad on the mainboard for more than like 1-1.5 seconds, even on low heat. If you hold it on there too long, you will melt the adhesive holding the contact pad on and you will no longer be able to complete your task.

 

[stzy]

Just to make sure you understand, you need a MicroSD to SD adapter card. Not a regular SD card. With that out of the way... That's the idea. I would suggest color coding your wires to make sure you connect the correct pins from the adapter to the correct pads on the motherboard. Remember, be VERY careful not to apply the soldering iron to a pad on the mainboard for more than like 1-1.5 seconds, even on low heat. If you hold it on there too long, you will melt the adhesive holding the contact pad on and you will no longer be able to complete your task.

Ok perfect thanks. And yeah, I've got two micro SD adapters So I should hold the iron on the pad, which will heat up the wire and the solder enough to melt the solder? Or should I put the iron on the solder itself until it melts

 

[KeyMastar]

Ok perfect thanks. And yeah, I've got two micro SD adapters So I should hold the iron on the pad, which will heat up the wire and the solder enough to melt the solder? Or should I put the iron on the solder itself until it melts

I suggest looking up a more detailed guide on how to solder to contact pads to learn more, but here's the gist:

Start by "Tinning" both the ends of the wires and the pads you wish to connect to. This is essentially just applying solder to them. You do this by holding the solder and soldering iron to the PAD OR WIRE, don't let them touch. Once the iron heats up the wire or pad enough, the solder will be melted by the wire/contact pad. Never hold the soldering iron on for more than about a second and a half onto the contact pads. You won't need more than that to heat the pad up enough to melt solder (Pay attention to ensure you don't get solder on any other contact pads in the process; this will short your system when you turn it on and can do many things from causing errors trying to boot to frying your system). The wire, may take a bit longer, and will not be harmed by a bit more heat.

Once both the wire and the contact pad have some solder on them, simply bring the end of the wire to the contact pad and apply a very small amount of heat to get the solder of the wire and the contact pad to come together.

Like I said, you could probably benefit from watching a tutorial on youtube as well or something. I'm not an expert, I just know what I do from a couple years of hobby soldering.

 

[stzy]

I suggest looking up a more detailed guide on how to solder to contact pads to learn more, but here's the gist:

Start by "Tinning" both the ends of the wires and the pads you wish to connect to. This is essentially just applying solder to them. You do this by holding the solder and soldering iron to the PAD OR WIRE, don't let them touch. Once the iron heats up the wire or pad enough, the solder will be melted by the wire/contact pad. Never hold the soldering iron on for more than about a second and a half onto the contact pads. You won't need more than that to heat the pad up enough to melt solder (Pay attention to ensure you don't get solder on any other contact pads in the process; this will short your system when you turn it on and can do many things from causing errors trying to boot to frying your system). The wire, may take a bit longer, and will not be harmed by a bit more heat.

Once both the wire and the contact pad have some solder on them, simply bring the end of the wire to the contact pad and apply a very small amount of heat to get the solder of the wire and the contact pad to come together.

Like I said, you could probably benefit from watching a tutorial on youtube as well or something. I'm not an expert, I just know what I do from a couple years of hobby soldering.

Ok cool thanks man. That's basically what I figured but definitely some nice tips in there. One more question though, just out of curiosity: why is it important to never touch the pad to the wire? I'll report back with my progress, I gotta head into work in 30 minutes

 

[KeyMastar]

Ok cool thanks man. That's basically what I figured but definitely some nice tips in there. One more question though, just out of curiosity: why is it important to never touch the pad to the wire? I'll report back with my progress, I gotta head into work in 30 minutes

Sorry if i wasn't clear. I meant you should never touch the solder to the soldering iron. That evaporates the flux inside, the material that causes the solder to adhere to surfaces. If you touch the solder to the iron rather than the component you wish to solder, the solder will not adhere correctly and will be likely to come apart.

 

[stzy]

Sorry if i wasn't clear. I meant you should never touch the solder to the soldering iron. That evaporates the flux inside, the material that causes the solder to adhere to surfaces. If you touch the solder to the iron rather than the component you wish to solder, the solder will not adhere correctly and will be likely to come apart.

Ohhhh ok I understand, makes complete sense. Thanks a lot man you've been really great helping me out, thumbs up.

 

[stzy]

I'm assuming I need to cut a hole in the frame of my 3DS for the wires to go through even though I'm only doing a temporary hardmod... is this correct?

 

[gamesquest1]

no with a temp mod you can just run them out the side of the case, you shouldn't be screwing the case together anyway as a temp mod is really only needed for about 20 mins

 

[stzy]

no with a temp mod you can just run them out the side of the case, you shouldn't be screwing the case together anyway as a temp mod is really only needed for about 20 mins

Do I actually need to turn the DS on or can I just plug the SD card into my computer with connect the SD card, and go from there?

 

[gamesquest1]

Do I actually need to turn the DS on or can I just plug the SD card into my computer with connect the SD card, and go from there?

yeah you need to turn it on or you will be unable to access the nand

 

[stzy]

If I were to use a micro usb port for the hard mod, what pins would i wire to?

 

[Junhyukko]

If I were to use a micro usb port for the hard mod, what pins would i wire to?

Hey did you manage to get your hardmod to succeed?

 

[stzy]

Hey did you manage to get your hardmod to succeed?

No I didnt unfortunately. I broke the zif connector or whatever for the circle pad connection so the whole motherboard was toast. I DID however manage to snag a n3DS from Kijiji for literally $50. Best part is, it was on FW 10.7 gave the working o3DS to my gf before I could do any damage to it. Sorry I couldn't help eh

 

[Duckling]

W

No I didnt unfortunately. I broke the zif connector or whatever for the circle pad connection so the whole motherboard was toast. I DID however manage to snag a n3DS from Kijiji for literally $50. Best part is, it was on FW 10.7 gave the working o3DS to my gf before I could do any damage to it. Sorry I couldn't help eh

What is keiji? I looked it up and a canadian store thingy came up.

 

[Junhyukko]

W

What is keiji? I looked it up and a canadian store thingy came up.

Basically a place for people to put up used items for sale.

 

[stzy]

W

What is keiji? I looked it up and a canadian store thingy came up.

Basically a place for people to put up used items for sale.

Yes, it's basically like a smaller, Canadian eBay. You can find some pretty good deals sometimes and it's pretty easy to get rid of anything you're done with.