Hardware Bit of a weird issue with an O3DS, help?

[plasma]

Right, so I was given a 3DS by a friend because they don't use it anymore, but I need a bit of help diagnosing this problem.

The 3DS 90% the time cannot read carts (yea tried with paper trick etc), but the other 10% the system freezes and I have to do a hard reboot. Also, when putting a game in, sometimes all the applets will lose their banners, and if I click anything or close/open the console it freezes.

I took the back cover off and made sure it wasnt water damaged or damaged at all, and honestly everything is in tact. So I am unsure to think it is hardware-based.

Has anyone else had this problem and managed to diagnose the cause or possibly even fix it?

edit: if I put a DS cart in then turn it on, the screen will light up and freeze, so it wont even go tot he HOME menu;-;

 

[hippy dave]

In technical terms, it sounds like it's buggered.

 

[gamesquest1]

look in the card slot and see if any of the pins are bent.....does it work normally until you insert a card?

 

[plasma]

look in the card slot and see if any of the pins are bent.....does it work normally until you insert a card?

The 3DS acts fine when a cart is plugged in around 90% of the time, freezing sometimes. However, when a DS cart is put in (I used Pokemon Diamond and the Blue Gateway Card - both work already) the 3DS locks up.

 

[SmileCitrus]

If I'm remembering correctly I think I've seen this happen when two of the pins in the cartridge slot were bent in such a way that they touched each other when a cartridge was inserted. If you can see any bent pins in there try straightening them out with some long tweezers or just any pointy tool you can find.

 

[plasma]

Spoiler

It doesn't look like any pins are bent SmileCitrus

 

[Lucifer666]

dumb question but did you try a system format?

 

[plasma]

dumb question but did you try a system format?

I've done everything except update. I don't want to update it to 9.7.0-26

 

[Maximilious]

To me, it does look like some of the pins on the right and left sides are bent upward.

 

[gamesquest1]

dont really look bent to me, for them to be shorting they have to be badly out of shape and skewed to one side so they touch when a cart is inserted....those look fine.....i guess you could check with a multimeter or whatever, but idk it may just be failing hardware

 

[SmileCitrus]

Spoiler

View attachment 18457

It doesn't look like any pins are bent SmileCitrus

Yeah, those all look nice and straight. They look clean, too, so I doubt dirt or corrosion would be a problem. Sorry to not be of much help. Unfortunately I'm not sure what else might cause these issues other than cartridge slot problems.

 

[plasma]

Yeah, those all look nice and straight. They look clean, too, so I doubt dirt or corrosion would be a problem. Sorry to not be of much help. Unfortunately I'm not sure what else might cause these issues other than cartridge slot problems.

This is a perculier problem indeed, I feel like its software based though...

 

[BvanBart]

Could be me but the one on the left looks a bit off... Is it with all your DS games?

 

[gamesquest1]

actually, don't all the 3DS's have that slot guard on them, like this

which normally means you cant actually see the pins without bending it down.......could the original owner of snapped it off attempting to fix the pins or had it replaced with a dodgy third party one......im 99% sure all 3DS card slots had that bent bit to prevent kids jamming stuff in the slot but its missing in the picture leading me to believe *something* has been done to the card slot at some point

 

[Maximilious]

Since it was a friends unit, I would just ask them if they ever had issues with it before. They will probably say "no" but you never know. Could be a totally new problem too - I bought a wii off a buddy and less than a week later the internal power supply went bad and wouldn't power on anymore after a lot of diagnosis. He ended up refunding me because he felt bad ha.

 

[DjoeN]

Right, so I was given a 3DS by a friend because they don't use it anymore, but I need a bit of help diagnosing this problem.

The 3DS 90% the time cannot read carts (yea tried with paper trick etc), but the other 10% the system freezes and I have to do a hard reboot. Also, when putting a game in, sometimes all the applets will lose their banners, and if I click anything or close/open the console it freezes.

I took the back cover off and made sure it wasnt water damaged or damaged at all, and honestly everything is in tact. So I am unsure to think it is hardware-based.

Has anyone else had this problem and managed to diagnose the cause or possibly even fix it?

edit: if I put a DS cart in then turn it on, the screen will light up and freeze, so it wont even go tot he HOME menu;-;

This sounds alot the same what i sometimes get. one 3DS XL can't read SD carts 95% of the time, all icons are gone and if i get icons, the games freeze when starting up or while playing for a minute or 2
Cartridge games greeeze when the try to write to SD, often i get the message : The software on the SD kan be shown, because the SD isn't accessible or or it just freezes while booting and tries to read from SD, same when i press home it also often freezes

When i remove the sd, it doesn't freeze at all

 

[plasma]

This sounds alot the same what i sometimes get. one 3DS XL can't read SD carts 95% of the time, all icons are gone and if i get icons, the games freeze when starting up or while playing for a minute or 2
Cartridge games greeeze when the try to write to SD, often i get the message : The software on the SD kan be shown, because the SD isn't accessible or or it just freezes while booting and tries to read from SD, same when i press home it also often freezes

When i remove the sd, it doesn't freeze at all

Oh believe me I've tried eveything I can except updating, and I dont want to update to 9.7...
If I plug a DS cart in, then turn it on, it just shows the blue light and wont turn on...

 

[migles]

dumb question but did you try a system format?

I've done everything except update. I don't want to update it to 9.7.0-26

did you system format? format it doesn't require update. however it will remove all the installed stuff like games

actually, don't all the 3DS's have that slot guard on them, like this

which normally means you cant actually see the pins without bending it down.......could the original owner of snapped it off attempting to fix the pins or had it replaced with a dodgy third party one......im 99% sure all 3DS card slots had that bent bit to prevent kids jamming stuff in the slot but its missing in the picture leading me to believe *something* has been done to the card slot at some point

can confirm my 3dsxl have it. i can't see the pins without sticking the stylus inside xD

 

[plasma]

I have no idea where the guard went, but on my red american 3ds, it doesnt have the guard and picks up carts fine..

I have tried /everything/, format included.

 

[Avalynn]

Right, so I was given a 3DS by a friend because they don't use it anymore, but I need a bit of help diagnosing this problem.

The 3DS 90% the time cannot read carts (yea tried with paper trick etc), but the other 10% the system freezes and I have to do a hard reboot. Also, when putting a game in, sometimes all the applets will lose their banners, and if I click anything or close/open the console it freezes.

I took the back cover off and made sure it wasnt water damaged or damaged at all, and honestly everything is in tact. So I am unsure to think it is hardware-based.

Has anyone else had this problem and managed to diagnose the cause or possibly even fix it?

edit: if I put a DS cart in then turn it on, the screen will light up and freeze, so it wont even go tot he HOME menu;-;

Curious, if you put a game in and then remove it, do the applets still loose their banner or do things still freeze? or this only when the game cart is inserted?

If only when a cartridge is inserted then the system sounds like it hanging when trying to read the NAND / EEPROM memory on the cartridge.

If the applets normally don't always open or freeze then it sounds like eMMC corruption and that could be just wear and tear over time, maybe a update will help it, maybe it's the actually hardware eMMC starting to die, depend on how many uses but they are rated to last at least over five years or more if I recall. Though I have seen them fail earlier in a DSi and a original 3DS.

actually, don't all the 3DS's have that slot guard on them, like this

which normally means you cant actually see the pins without bending it down.......could the original owner of snapped it off attempting to fix the pins or had it replaced with a dodgy third party one......im 99% sure all 3DS card slots had that bent bit to prevent kids jamming stuff in the slot but its missing in the picture leading me to believe *something* has been done to the card slot at some point

Also, I do not believe that is a slot guard at all, it in fact it appears to apply downward pressure on the card to ensure a better connection. They did however stop using that particular cartridge slot shielding and I'm sure there is a reason