Hardware Homebrew Display problem (distorted colors/flickering)

[Puffz]

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[a_username_that_isnt_cool]

Hi there,

First of all, really happy to be here! Shame my first post needs to be about a problem, but oh well.

Last week I bought 3DS XL with CFW already installed. I played a bit with it and all seemed to work fine. Then I decided to start fresh, restore factory settings, update CFW, etc. All looked good until I did the following:
1. Charged it for the first time (with a phone charger ~15W)
2. Formatted SD card via GM9 (without creating a backup)
Now, I’m completely aware the above are my screwups, but what’s done is done, uhh

Anyway, after these steps (not sure whether exactly after 1st or 2nd) the top screen seems to be broken. The colors are distorted, there’s some pixelation and flicker, some moving vertical lines are slightly visible and everything looks off (e.g., as you can see, in the GM9 menu only the currently selected option is visible at all due to this) – please see the screenshots. Apart from that, everything else seems to be ok.
View attachment 382125View attachment 382126View attachment 382127

So far I’ve tried the following:
• Full battery reset:

• Restoring factory settings
• Formatting SD card again and following Restoring / Updating CFW and Finalizing Setup from 3DS Hacks Guide
• Checking ribbons (I assume these are the ones?)
View attachment 382124
• Twiddling with the 3D slider
• Changing battery saver and brightness settings

This is my first time with this console and CFW, and while I’m trying to learn as much as I can through this forum and guides, so far I couldn’t find the possible root cause. Is it possible that some essential configuration was stored on the SD card or can it be somehow related to CFW or something?

Did anyone else by any chance have a similar issue and might have suggestions on what to try next? Also, do you guys think the problem is due to the above two actions, or can it be just a hw issue and it’s a coincidence it started to appear now? I’d like to try as many things as possible before trying to return the console.

Please let me know if any more details are needed.

Any input would be appreciated!

This should NOT happen. Your screen is likely broken, or it's (hopefully) just a Luma3DS issue.
(note: I am also a noob, so this may not be true)