Hardware New 3DS XL Hardmod - Failure

[Gray Fox]

I'll go straight to the point, I believe I've ruined my motherboard. The console won't start up. I was attempting to downgrade 11.0 to 9.2

I'd like some advice on what my options are at this point, I'd greatly appreciate any help.

 

[cravas]

I'll go straight to the point, I believe I've ruined my motherboard. The console won't start up. I was attempting to downgrade 11.0 to 9.2

I'd like some advice on what my options are at this point, I'd greatly appreciate any help.

Check the ribbons if there's any loose/unplugged.
Also, pictures of your soldering would help a lot.
And more details of what you did, and already tried to do to solve it.

Only saying that you ruined only because it doesn't start doesn't give any clues of what is happening.

[EDIT]
This thread has valuable information:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-noob-friendly-nand-dumping-2ds-3ds-3ds-xl-n3ds-n3ds-xl.414498/
[/EDIT]

 

[Gray Fox]

Check the ribbons if there's any loose/unplugged.
Also, pictures of your soldering would help a lot.
And more details of what you did, and already tried to do to solve it.

Only saying that you ruined only because it doesn't start doesn't give any clues of what is happening.

I'm unable to take a picture at the moment, I'll edit the motherboard picture in the topic you've posted.

The pad on the alternate CLK was ruined for some reason and wasn't taking solder anymore so I attempted to solder the original CLK pad but because of its small size I managed to solder both the CLK and a pad next to it, after a test the 3DS opens for 1 second and shuts down immediately. I assumed it was a short due to the poor soldering job I did.

After that, it got worse, the arrows in the picture show where the solder got when I tried to remove the solder using a vacuum solder sucker (Should have used a wick but didn't have one in hand) I'm pretty sure I burned the chips marked in circle trying to remove the pesky solder.

After that mess, the 3DS won't turn on anymore unsurprisingly.

I apologize if I unnecessarily posted a topic when I should have posted elsewhere, but if there is somewhere I should have posted please let me know. Thanks.

 

[cravas]

If any of the pads came off then your board is gone, sorry.

Only way is a board replacement.
https://pt.ifixit.com/Guide/Nintendo+3DS+XL+2015+Motherboard+Replacement/41361


If you don't feel confident in doing it yourself, perhaps you should poke one of the vouched modders. @gamesquest1 is UK based.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/list-of-hardmod-installers-by-region.414224/

 

[Gray Fox]

If any of the pads came off then your board is gone, sorry.

Only way is a board replacement.
https://pt.ifixit.com/Guide/Nintendo+3DS+XL+2015+Motherboard+Replacement/41361


If you don't feel confident in doing it yourself, perhaps you should poke one of the vouched modders. @gamesquest1 is UK based.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/list-of-hardmod-installers-by-region.414224/

I feel confident in replacing the motherboard on my own, but I'm not exactly sure where to get one and if it has to be European. Would it be possible to get a US one? What about Nintendo ID and Purchases?

 

[cravas]

Maybe on ebay. You can use a USA one but don't know if you'll be able to use eShop or have a NNID with it.
Wait for someone to give some pointers about this.

 

[Gray Fox]

I took a picture of the motherboard.

As can be seen from the picture, I left the solder on the CMD and DAT0 pads, and tried to clean up as much of the mess as I can. I managed to get the 3DS to power on, but only for 3 seconds until it turns off again by itself with a faint click or pop as if it has shorted out, the screens don't turn on during this period as well.

Any ideas?

EDIT: Nevermind, I cleaned the messy area a bit more, got rid of the excess solder and a speck of solder splash, secured everything and got it to work surprisingly. I'll just stick to homebrew for now.