Hardware Boot problems with a (bricked?) N3DSLL

[3DSLLGuy]

Hi. I'm completely new here - so if anything isn't as it should be, please correct me and bear with me

Anyway, about a week ago a friend of mine bought a used N3DSLL, so the JAP version, in near perfect visual state but not being able to boot (if power button pressed there's no reaction, including LEDs). The defect was described in the selling, so no problem regarding the seller. My friend then gave me the N3DSLL in hopes that I could maybe able fix it - it would be a shame to throw away or sell for parts a near new device. Yeah, I know it sounds odd that she bought it but don't even want to try to fix it... But here I am. :-/ And I sincerely would love to see the beauty work again!

So, I opened the console and noticed that a transistor on the motherboard (side B) is burned away as well as the golden "pins" for DAT0, CMD and the alternative CLK on side A. Also a connection "string" between the NAND chip (which apparently isn't neither Toshiba nor Samsung) and a two-point "pin" is floating freely around but doesn't seem really damaged from a first look. As I have some theoretical knowledge of hard modding the N3DSXL, it seems to me very much like someone soldered an HM (in an ugly way) and then pulled it away by brute force (in an even worse way).

Spoiler: Pictures

Side A:

Side B:

NAND closeup 1:

NAND closeup 2 (red are missing parts, blue are start and end of the damaged connection, green is a suspected solder leftover):

Has anyone got an idea how to fix the console? Is it fixable at all - or should my friend sell it for parts? Is a bridge required and if, where (I guess so if it is fixable)? Please instruct me (in detail) as I'm a complete noob of modding in practice. I have a solder station, a hot glue gun and minimal experience with soldering.


Thanks for any help and the awesome community!

 

[gamesquest1]

honestly that thing is ruined by some noob being told that "hard mods are easy if you just follow this guide" it's a shame seeing so many consoles killed because of people being pushed to do diy hardmods,

in regards to fixing this, the odds are pretty slim tbh

the first thing is that even with all those torn traces and stuff the console should still power on and crap itself with a blue screen, so focus on trying to get to that point first , once the system is powering on you can try fixing all the horribble torn traces and pads, it may be possible to fix or the original owner might have completely fried something on there, check fuses would be a good start I guess

you could always try finding a replacement motherboard

 

[3DSLLGuy]

@gamesquest1 Thanks for the info! I've been looking for a motherboard on eBay for quite some time now (because the best US offer I could find was around $70 and my friend bought the whole N3DSLL for $80, so that wouldn't be a preferable option) and today I found an amazing offer of 2 N3DSXL consoles (one has the touchscreen and A button damaged, the other one doesn't read games correctly - but overall they both work and are on 10.1 ) for currently $25 + 30h to go. I bet the price will still go up but I'm holding my fingers crossed

 

[3DSLLGuy]

Update
I reassembled the N3DSLL and left the stock battery from Japan out. The result - the power indicator LED is on for exactly 5 seconds then turns off :-/ Still no response from screens or other LEDs. Also, no "pops" or "cracks" to hear.
Additionally, when the power button is pressed the power LED blinks (only in that 5s span) - I know that this is a well-known indicator for damaged ZIFs or ribbons at the 4 critical points, so I disassembled the console again to see if anything was damaged. And after a basic inspection, I guess it all looks pretty normal - no broken ZIFs, no visibly damaged ribbons at all.

So how shall I progress?

@gamesquest1 What fuses should I check and where can I find them? (I couldn't find a picture or schematic)

And I lost the offer for the two N3DSXLs - they went away for $250 But maybe another day...

 

[3DSLLGuy]

Any ideas? Anybody? I would really like to see the console repaired and working (if it goes). Again, thanks for any help!

 

[3DSLLGuy]

I give up. Apparently, no one here has an idea how to fix it, so if GBATemp users don't know, no one knows.