DSi Blue Light Black Screens. What are all of the causes?

actualkoifish · Jan 2, 2023

Hello all,

I'm working through diagnosing a DSi and I am trying to determine the problem. When you turn it on, it shows blue power light but the screens stay black and the system is unresponsive.

The most common cause I can find for this is a disconnected WiFi board. However, I have confirmed that my wifi board is not a problem (I am swapping in parts from another working model and the one in the bad DSi is working). The power board also appears to be fine.

Can you tell me or show me a list somewhere of all the different causes of the "blue light black screen" issue so that I can go through and compare every one against this system? If wifi board is the only one that causes this, then I'll have to assume the wifi board slot itself on the mainboard is broken, but I'd like to have a reference to go through so that I can be sure (and so that I can save some time on further diagnostic). Anyone who can help me with this would be greatly appreciated.

CoolMe · Jan 2, 2023

actualkoifish said:
Hello all,

I'm working through diagnosing a DSi and I am trying to determine the problem. When you turn it on, it shows blue power light but the screens stay black and the system is unresponsive.

The most common cause I can find for this is a disconnected WiFi board. However, I have confirmed that my wifi board is not a problem (I am swapping in parts from another working model and the one in the bad DSi is working). The power board also appears to be fine.

Can you tell me or show me a list somewhere of all the different causes of the "blue light black screen" issue so that I can go through and compare every one against this system? If wifi board is the only one that causes this, then I'll have to assume the wifi board slot itself on the mainboard is broken, but I'd like to have a reference to go through so that I can be sure (and so that I can save some time on further diagnostic). Anyone who can help me with this would be greatly appreciated.

Have you rooted out that's it can't a software issue? Does the blue (power) light stays on?
What's the last thing you did with it when it was still functional?
Since you have a DSi, do you have Unlaunch installed? You can check by holding both the A+B buttons on boot, it should boot Unlaunch. Otherwise, you either don't have installed, or some hardware issue is preventing it to wboot/work properly.

actualkoifish · Jan 3, 2023

CoolMe said:
Have you rooted out that's it can't a software issue? Does the blue (power) light stays on?
What's the last thing you did with it when it was still functional?
Since you have a DSi, do you have Unlaunch installed? You can check by holding both the A+B buttons on boot, it should boot Unlaunch. Otherwise, you either don't have installed, or some hardware issue is preventing it to wboot/work properly.

No idea on software. The light does stay on until I turn it off.
This is a used model that I bought for parts/not working. I'm trying to determine what part(s) are broken on it. I don't have any insight into how it was used before I got it, as the problem was present at time I bought it.
I tried holding both A+B on boot and nothing changed. Would it be possible that unlaunch won't work if something is wrong with the SD card? I could try setting up an SD card to the proper format if that might make a difference (don't know anything about Unlaunch but maybe I could set it up and use it).

CoolMe · Jan 3, 2023

actualkoifish said:
This is a used model that I bought for parts/not working.

Unless you got it for dirt cheap like less than $10, you should've gotten a working one. you can get a DSi XL these days for $30 or less locally, and it would've been the sensible option if what you want is a working DSi, instead of fixing a broken one..

actualkoifish said:
I'm trying to determine what part(s) are broken on it.

Well not to keep nagging at you or anything, but you should've made your research prior to buying it. and even the ones that are experienced with the hardware try to steer away from buying broken systems..

actualkoifish said:
Would it be possible that unlaunch won't work if something is wrong with the SD card?

It came with an sd card? If so, you could check what files are on it, it'd tell you if it was modded.
You can try holding A+B when the sd card is not inserted too.

actualkoifish said:
I could try setting up an SD card to the proper format if that might make a difference (don't know anything about Unlaunch but maybe I could set it up and use it).

No, it won't make a difference if it was or was never modded, cause from the sound of it the hardware is the one at fault here (sold for parts)..
Things you could try :
- Re-seating or replacing the WiFi chip.
- inspecting the the screens from the outside as well as on the inside, for the latter open the system and check the ribbon cables and see if there's any damage for both screens, and maybe even unplug/replug them (ribbon cables).
Also check the pcb itself, any corrosion, liquid spilled, damage/cut on the board etc.

actualkoifish · Jan 3, 2023

CoolMe said:
Unless you got it for dirt cheap like less than $10, you should've gotten a working one. you can get a DSi XL these days for $30 or less locally, and it would've been the sensible option if what you want is a working DSi, instead of fixing a broken one..

Well not to keep nagging at you or anything, but you should've made your research prior to buying it. and even the ones that are experienced with the hardware try to steer away from buying broken systems..

It came with an sd card? If so, you could check what files are on it, it'd tell you if it was modded.
You can try holding A+B when the sd card is not inserted too.

No, it won't make a difference if it was or was never modded, cause from the sound of it the hardware is the one at fault here (sold for parts)..
Things you could try :
- Re-seating or replacing the WiFi chip.
- inspecting the the screens from the outside as well as on the inside, for the latter open the system and check the ribbon cables and see if there's any damage for both screens, and maybe even unplug/replug them (ribbon cables).
Also check the pcb itself, any corrosion, liquid spilled, damage/cut on the board etc.

Haha, I appreciate your concern, but this is not my first foray into buying broken systems. It's a hobby of mine to buy them and to try and fix them up. As for DSi, I actually have a few units, mostly ones that I bought cheaply in "for parts/not working" condition, to see if I could fix them. So far they've all been either a broken screen replacement, or a new digitizer, or a bad F1/F2 fuse, but this one seems to have given me a bit tougher of a problem. Of course I have demonstrated that I'm also not 100% on all the ways that DSi express hardware problems, and such was the reason for this thread. As for the financial side, I can assure you that I didn't lose much skin in this game. The price was exceptionally low, and moreover the unit was of a uncommon variant, and so it was more than worth it for me, even if it ended up only as a parts source.

As for the hardware condition, the mainboard is not in fantastic shape, but visually it didn't give me the perspective of being totally lost. I may have to give it a more thorough inspection (there are a few ribbon cables yet to check, I always hesitate on the top screen half because those cables are a PITA), but given that I've already tried two wifi boards (and confirmed that the original one was working), I am starting to think that the wifi card slot on the mainboard is what is faulty, especially with your additional information about Unlaunch. I'll report back if I find anything else, but for now I'd say it's about closed up. Appreciate your weighing in and providing of info.

KIlly728 · May 23, 2024

Have you had any luck finding a solution? This seems to be a problem unique to the DSi since I haven't run across any mention of it on the DSI XL.

DSi Blue Light Black Screens. What are all of the causes?

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