Hardware N3DS no sound after fix, only camera shutter sound

tomsek68 · Dec 13, 2020

Recently I bought a used N3DS. Nintendo sent it back to the original owner from service that they could not fix it. They said that a flex cable should be replaced, and I wonder why they refused the repair.

So: I figured that the speaker ribbon is the one at fault, since the prev. owner had problems with flickering backlight in specific angles. I routed cables from the mobo to the top LCD backlight cable, and now it works nice without flickering.

However, after the repair the sound stopped working. It turns out that it works sometimes in some angles, so I thought that the ribbon _really_ needs a replacement now. But...

upon closer inspection the ribbon seems flawless, no bends/microtears anywhere...
The camera shutter sound works in any angle even though system sound doesn't
- this suggests that the traces on the flex cable to the speakers are good

Then what the hell should I replace? Why is system sound angle-dependent when the shutter sound isn't? Can the flex be thorn without any signs?

The Real Jdbye · Dec 13, 2020

tomsek68 said:
Recently I bought a used N3DS. Nintendo sent it back to the original owner from service that they could not fix it. They said that a flex cable should be replaced, and I wonder why they refused the repair.

So: I figured that the speaker ribbon is the one at fault, since the prev. owner had problems with flickering backlight in specific angles. I routed cables from the mobo to the top LCD backlight cable, and now it works nice without flickering.

However, after the repair the sound stopped working. It turns out that it works sometimes in some angles, so I thought that the ribbon _really_ needs a replacement now. But...

upon closer inspection the ribbon seems flawless, no bends/microtears anywhere...

The camera shutter sound works in any angle even though system sound doesn't

this suggests that the traces on the flex cable to the speakers are good

Then what the hell should I replace? Why is system sound angle-dependent when the shutter sound isn't? Can the flex be thorn without any signs?

As far as I know, if the speaker ribbon wasn't connected or was completely torn, you just wouldn't be able to power on the system, it would immediately shut off. But that doesn't guarantee that the speaker pins are making proper contact.
I think I remember reading something about this before, the shutter sound might be using different pins on the ribbon cable than the regular audio, they did it that way since the normal audio is routed through the volume slider, so that it could always be at max volume and bypass the slider.

tomsek68 · Dec 13, 2020

The Real Jdbye said:
As far as I know, if the speaker ribbon wasn't connected or was completely torn, you just wouldn't be able to power on the system, it would immediately shut off. But that doesn't guarantee that the speaker pins are making proper contact.
I think I remember reading something about this before, the shutter sound might be using different pins on the ribbon cable than the regular audio, they did it that way since the normal audio is routed through the volume slider, so that it could always be at max volume and bypass the slider.

IIRC the slider isn't directly connected to the speakers, but to the SoC and/or to the speaker AMP. Also the (only) speaker traces directly go to the connector "plug" on the fpc.
As a last resort, I slighly bent the base of the n3DS, and sound came back.

So yeah, it seems like I have a cold solder joint somewhere. Once I take it apart again, will check what can cause this odd situation.

My speculation is that the source of the shutter sound is not the main AMP, thus the slider or plugged in headphones can't mute it.
I think this would be the logical (hardware) solution to the japanese "photo = loud shutter sound" law.

The Real Jdbye · Dec 13, 2020

tomsek68 said:
IIRC the slider isn't directly connected to the speakers, but to the SoC and/or to the speaker AMP. Also the (only) speaker traces directly go to the connector "plug" on the fpc.
As a last resort, I slighly bent the base of the n3DS, and sound came back.

So yeah, it seems like I have a cold solder joint somewhere. Once I take it apart again, will check what can cause this odd situation.

My speculation is that the source of the shutter sound is not the main AMP, thus the slider or plugged in headphones can't mute it.

That sounds like it might be the volume slider itself just having come loose from the stress over time. It could be anything between the audio output and the speakers, but the slider is the most likely to experience stress which can over time fracture solder joints.

tomsek68 · Dec 13, 2020

Sadly no, would be an easy fix though

On the n3DS the slider is in the top half of the unit, and mine works when using a headphone.

TurdPooCharger · Dec 13, 2020

Go get a wooden toothpick or skewer.

tomsek68 · Dec 13, 2020

TurdPooCharger said:
Go get a wooden toothpick or skewer.

Help! My 3DS sound not working after cfw install!

Help! New 3DS XL sound not working after Luma Updater update!

[New 3DS XL] Headphones detected even if nothing is plugged into the port

'been trough all of these. None of them are like my issue. I know how sad it is when people just post instead of research, but this is not the case here. Please read the post too, not just the title.

Edit:
Sorry, the last one might be interesting for me, but I am sure that it isn't the port itself.

lone_wolf323 · Dec 13, 2020

tomsek68 said:
'been trough all of these. None of them are like my issue. I know how sad it is when people just post instead of research, but this is not the case here. Please read the post too, not just the title.

You are refering to Turdpoocharger. Instead of just running your mouth off here actually try what he says instead of just instantly replying that you have. He has helped fix a lot more 3ds systems than you could think of.

TurdPooCharger · Dec 13, 2020

lone_wolf323 said:
You are refering to Turdpoocharger. Instead of just running your mouth off here actually try what he says instead of just instantly replying that you have. He has helped fix a lot more 3ds systems than you could think of.

It's okay @lone_wolf323. Thanks for sticking up.

@tomsek68, no hard feelings taken from your last reply. Your frustration on this audio issue is very understandable.

Ya, my bad. I skimped on reading his original post. Got lazy thinking this might have been a typical headphone port sensing a false jack insertion.

tomsek68 said:
'been trough all of these. None of them are like my issue. I know how sad it is when people just post instead of research, but this is not the case here. Please read the post too, not just the title.

Edit:
~~Sorry,~~ the last one might be interesting for me, but I am sure that it isn't the port itself.

Try this.

In the 3DSident-GUI app under Hardware, determine if the Headphone status matches the jack inserted in the headphone port.

tomsek68 · Dec 13, 2020

Okay, maybe i am a little too grumpy now. Sorry, TurdPooCharger. It's almost 5AM here, might need to rest.

Ive read a lot of posts about this lately, including the port and the shutter sound. I will report back when I get the chance to open the system again, and see what can I use from the links.

The Real Jdbye · Dec 13, 2020

tomsek68 said:
Sadly no, would be an easy fix though

On the n3DS the slider is in the top half of the unit, and mine works when using a headphone.

Right, forgot about that (even though I have a n3DS myself, just haven't used it since I got a Switch)
I guess the best thing you can do then is get your multimeter out, figure out which pin and chip the speaker output is located on, and trace it all the way to the speakers, probing at every possible point checking for continuity. Alternatively, going backwards from the speakers, then you don't need to know beforehand which chip and pin to start at. Should be quite simple to find the fault, if a bit time consuming.
First checking if the headphone jack is detecting the headphones as always plugged in like @TurdPooCharger said seems like a good idea though. That would certainly cause the behavior you're describing.

tomsek68 · Dec 13, 2020

God, the 3DSident tool is awesome.
I had to homebrew the system quicky, because the prev. owner was a die-hard-anti-modding-nintendo-fanboy.

Turns out, when I twist the base of the unit, the headphone insertion state changes. So the cause of the problem is identified thanks to @TurdPooCharger, but not the source itself.
The port itself is not damaged, and its solder joints are perfect. I will inspect the sense line now.

I had to do an SMD rework when I rerouted the backlight traces for the top screen. (because of a big solder blob) This might has to do something with the cause...

tomsek68 · Dec 13, 2020

Problem solved. So simple, yet so annoying.

There is a metal sponge stuck to the main board (near the headphone jack), which connects the boards ground plane to the game cart readers ground plane.
It was slightly misaligned, and only when assembled it would push against a resistor on the sense line fooling the system into thinking the jack was plugged in.

Hardware N3DS no sound after fix, only camera shutter sound

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