Hardware Misc Tutorial Updated

DSi/DSi XL Problem and Solution Master List (In Progress)

Cosmetic Paradise 2 - Make no Kiseki

plasturion · 2024-06-03T22:07:54+00:00

HI, I want present you another hackmod from the series "let's bring back the changes that was made". Cosmetic Paradise - Make no Kiseki was released first in Japan as second game of the series, one year later on the west game was published as...

This is a list I've been compiling for some time now, and I thought it was to a point where it may be useful to others. It does contain a lot of anecdotes and guessing, so use this information with that in mind and do additional research where necessary.

Note that this is an incomplete project that is subject to change when I learn new Information and search through more resources. If you have any forums, webpages, videos or other resources that may be useful, then I'd greatly appreciate them.

This is a Problems and Solution Master List for vanilla Nintendo DSi and DSi XL consoles.
Sources for this information:

Personal Experience
GBAtemp. I stopped on this page.
IFixIt’s DSi and DSi XL Forums
Reddit (Mainly r/consolerepair, r/nds, and r/NintendoDS)

Due to the complexity, fluidity, and variables involved with Homebrewing I omit them from this Master List aside from issues preventing the console from functioning.

Note: “(DSi XL)” and (“DSi)” are based on what I found in my experience or what is specifically mentioned when researching problems. This doesn’t mean the problems only impact one of these consoles as it more than likely impacts both.
Information I found online were hyperlinked. General Information is stuck in “Sources” with specific tips getting their own mention.
The listed solutions are ordered from most likely to help to least likely to help.

Look for the header that fits your problem and look at the listed information.

Boot Related Errors – Errors preventing the Console from Reaching the Main Menu.
Console Shows Little to No Sign of Life. No screen activity. Maybe some Lights turn on.
DSi XL) System doesn’t power on. No blue light or screen flashing.

Bad/Drained Battery
Blown F1 Fuse on Power Daughter Board
Fault in the power button or power board ribbon cable.

Console Doesn’t Boot. No Screen Flashing. Blue light comes on then switches off.
Sources: (0) (1) (2)

Maybe a Homebrewing error. User reported having Homebrewed the console before this problem arose. Holding A + B while booting takes you to Unlaunch.
(3) A fault caused by water damage. No known solution.

(DSi) Console doesn’t boot. Orange light blinks when charger is inserted, but the blinking stops when attempting to boot.
Sources: (0)

User replaced the Wi-Fi board due to a “White Screen of Death” that occurred after the health and safety screen. Apparently, the bios is on the wifi card, so that’s neat.
No Known Solution

(DSi XL) Powers on, but both screens are black and there is no sound. The console is frozen and doesn’t turn off automatically. Battery needs to be pulled.
Sources: (1) (2)

Loose or faulty Wi-Fi Board. Reseat Wifi Board and see what happens.
If it’s a known Homebrewed console, or a homebrew was attempted, the console may be bricked and requires a Hardmod to restore the NAND.
Faulty Wifi card slot (needs reflow) and/or faulty resistor R134

(DSi) Console does not boot. No signs of life. Screens flash when the charger is plugged in.
Sources: (0)

Unknown at this time. Fault in the charge circuit, maybe.

The Console Shows Some Signs of Life. Screens do Something and/or Lights Turn On.
(DSI XL) Top Screen flashes and the console turns off immediately.

Faulty Bottom screen.
Loose or torn bottom LCD backlight ribbon.

(DSi XL) Bottom screen flashes once and the console turns off immediately.
Sources: (1) (2) (3)

Faulty top screen.
Loose or torn top screen ribbon cable.
Tear in the top screen ribbon cable. Tears in the cable or broken contact points on the connector. A tear could be caused by the Wi-Fi and/or mic cable or where the cable meets the top shell’s plastics coming from the screen; where the ribbon begins to coil.
(3) One user claimed that “holding L” allowed their console to boot until the button was released. No known information on how that works.

(DSi XL) On boot, screens turn on for a moment and the console turns off.

To expand, the console behaves as though it’s a failed self check. Subjectively speaking, the screens seem to behave differently than the typical screen flashing you see; the screens were turned on for a little longer. It’s as if the console attempts to boot, freezes, and crashes.
The solution to this problem was a faulty camera unit. Since the camera unit is a non-essential boot component, how it causes a fault in the boot is unknown, but swapping out the camera with a different camera fixed the issue.

(DSi) Console boots to a white screen and freezes. Console is known to be homebrewed.
Sources: (0)

The console is bricked. It may require a Hardmod to restore the NAND.

(DSi) White screen after after the health and safety screen. After replacing the Wifi Card, the console is stuck with the charge light on. When on the charger, the charger light blinks.
Sources: (0)

White screen seems to be impacted by the change of the Wifi module. No known fix for the latter issue.

Power/Charging Related Errors – Errors relating to Charging the Console or Power related issues. Console Boots but Doesn’t Charge Correctly/Powers Off Randomly.
Consoles Doesn’t Charge properly.
(DSi XL) Console doesn’t charge property. Charge port repair was very bad.

A new charge port fixed the problem.

Charge Light Flashes. Console doesn’t turn on.
Sources: (1) (2) (3)

Faulty power board.
Faulty Battery
Blown “F2” fuse. Blown F1 fuse on the Power Board. The console doesn’t detect a battery.
Faulty EM1
Faulty Charging IC (U11)
Battery Board became unseated (main positive and negative lead)
(2) “On a DSi the orange charging light blinking indicates improper voltage.”

(DSi XL) Charge Light Flashes. Console Turns On.

Unknown at this time. Might be related to EM1 or U11.

(DSi XL) No charge light. No charge. The console powers up and plays games.

Unknown

(DSI XL) Console drains the battery and dies very quickly with known good batteries. Changer doesn’t work.

Short on the motherboard? No solution found.

(DSi XL) Battery drains even when console is off.

Component U11 heats up and remains “hot” when the console is off.

(DSi XL) Charge light turns on for a few seconds, then turns off (not flashing) (I failed to note whether this console turned on or not).

Battery is full
(Something on the motherboard?)

(DSi XL) Charge port looks fine, but doesn’t charge unless the charge cable is pushed down (Cable is assumed fine)

Busted solder joints on F1 fuse, charge port, and/or component EM1.
Charge port is faulty or the pins bent.

Power board connector ripped off.

Replace with new connector. Part name: BM02B-ACHSS-GAN-ETF From Digikey
Snip and solder the wires directly to the board

(DSi XL) Charge port ripped off taking the + and – Pads with it.

Solder the + To the EM1 (follow the + trace to see where to solder to) and the – to any ground pad like the game card shield.

Console Randomly Turns Off.
(DSi) Console turns off when the lid is closed.
Sources: (0) (1) (2)

Other threads on Reddit point to the battery being faulty, or the act of closing the lid shifts the battery enough to lose contact with the console. The user cites that the games sometimes freeze before the console turns off which doesn’t suggest a battery knocked loose.
Might be the battery is being shaken out of place due to the impact of the closing of the DS. Not known.

(DSi) Console turns off when brought out of standby (opened). Blue light is “breathing” normally while in standby, so the console doesn’t shut off when the lid is closed.

May be an issue with the card slot. Unknown.

(DSi) Console shuts off while in standby mode.

Possibly an issue with the gamecard or card slot.

(DSi XL) Console Shuts off without warning.

Possible loose battery.

(DSi) Console shuts off when the back is tapped.

Loose battery or dirty battery contacts.

Software Errors - Errors that prevent the Console from Functionally Normally. This includes error codes or “An Error Has Occurred” messages.
Error Codes:
(DSi XL) Error 0000FE00
Sources: (1)

The console shut off during a update.
“0000FE00 means there was an error when communicating with the NAND”

(DSi XL) Error 0000FEFE preventing boot.
Sources: (1) (2) (3)

Faulty NAND. “0000FEFE is "Boot sector integrity error (Sector 0x200 not valid), or error in NVRAM contents”. The console is bricked and requires a Hard Mod restore from backup.
Faulty Wifi Card
(4) You may be able to temporarily resurrect the console by clearing the RAM. This can be done by removing the battery and letting the console discharge overtime (A week, maybe). It may only be a temporary solution.
In one case, I had a DS

“An Error has Occurred”
An error has occured when booting up (1) (2)

May be the sign of a corrupt NAND.
(1) Bad WIFI card. Replacing it fixed the problem.
(2) Might be that, during a homebrew attempt, a file was put into the wrong spot on the SD card.
(2) Try booting into Unlaunch with A+B + Power Button

(DSi XL) Known hacked DSi XL boots to a “An Error has Occurred”

A solution was not found. May require Hard Mod to restore the NAND.
Might also be a WIFI card.

(Dsi) Console goes black when Game Card is inserted.

This happened on a Japanese unit. The message that popped up read “An error has occurred. Press and hold the power button on the main unit to turn it off. Pleasure follow the instructions in the main unit’s instruction manual” via Google Translate.

(DSi) Console crashes when a gamecard is inserted. Gives an error message.

(Theory) it might be that the card slot is borked and two pins are shorting against each other. Might be worth testing on a junker console that needs a new card slot or pins.

(DSi) Console crashes when a Gamecard is launched. Gives “An error has occurred” message.

No known issue. May be a card slot issue.

(DSi) An error appears when opening any program. (1) (2)

Loose or faulty WIFI card.
(0) The problem is the Wifi board, but not the board itself, but the connection to the board. The solution was propping up the Wifi Card up with a bit of paper so that it could connect in the right position.

(DSi) Showing impossible date (00/00) and time (00:00) and error code when launch software

Known. May be a wifi board error. Similar relating to the latter issue.
i XL with corrosion around the NAND that turned the FEFE error into an FE00 error. Could be unrelated. Need to reflow the NAND chip and try a WIFI card on that console.

(DSi) An Error has occurred after Helth and Safety screen on a known hacked console. OP admits doing something “really dumb”.

Console may be bricked and requires a Hard Mod to restore NAND

Screen Related Errors. Console is Fully Functional, but There are Errors in the Displays.
Color Related
(DSi) Colors are fine at first, but after about 20 minutes, the color invert on the top screen

Maybe related to potentiometer.

(DSi) Top screen colors are inverted

Adjusting the potentiometer fixed the issue.

(DSi XL) Color are inverted on the bottom screen

The author’s adjustment to the potentiometer didn’t change anything.
Unknown

(DSi XL) Yellowing Display remains even after a screen replacement.

A component on the board may be at fault. Without schematics, it’s impossible to say.

(DSI XL) Top screen colors washed out

May need a new screen since the potentiometers didn’t work.

(Dsi) Top Screen has a Green Hue after replacing the screen.

Now, I have experienced this with my test bench console that I use to test screens, and it was solved by me reseating the top screen ribbon cable. I didn’t pay enough attention to properly search for the cause.

(DSi XL) Top and Bottom Screens have different Color Temperatures.

It is really hard to say as it is near impossible to photograph and could be entirely subjective. Swapping screens didn’t seem to impact the issue, so it may be a fault in the motherboard.
Issues can range from one display being more red or more blue than the opposite screen. The variation is so small, it is impossible to see on a non-matching or non-white display.

(DSi XL) Powers on and boots, but bottom screen is black.
Sources: (1)

Relating to the bottom screen. The bottom screen may be dysfunctional.
Loose or torn bottom screen LCD ribbon
Backlight connector may be damaged

Fading, Flickering, or Vignetting.
(DSi XL) Vignetting on both screens. (2)

Possibly needs new screens. May be the screens are “burned”. Unknowns.

(DSi) Nintendo DSi Screen Flickering both screens (1)

Fixed by one user who adjusted the potentiometers in the battery compartment.

(DSi) Corners of DSi Screen are White

Requires new screeen

(DSi XL) Corners of the Top Screen are dark

Not solved by manipulating the potentiometers.
May need a new screen

(DSi XL) Bottom Screen fades to blank after some time (1)

Unknown.
May be potentiometer related.

(DSi) Top Screen fades with “Flickering Lines”

Potentiometer related issue.

(DSi) Top screen a tiny bit dimmer (1)

Maybe purely subjective. Could need new screens or adjusting the potentiometers.

(DSi) Both Screen Faded

Adjusting potentiometers fixed it.

Top screen is darker than the bottom screen. (1) (2)

Adjusting Potentiometers.

Artifacting, Dead Pixels, and Bleeding.
(DSi XL) Backlight bleed on the bottom screen.

Some of the bleed was lessened by “twisting” the shell. It could mean there needs to be more pressure behind the bottom screen. Maybe a pad or something?

(DSi XL) Top/Stuck Pixel after a drop

Solution: The LCD Display was fine, but the screen lens had a scratch creating the appearance of a dead pizel.

(DSi) Top Screen artifacting

Maybe caused by R4 card with a dodgy kernel according to the OP.
It was fixed when the console was left off overnight. Pulling the battery may also fix it.

Non-Boot Essential System Errors. The Console Boots to the Main Menu and Functions, Though has some Software or Hardware issues.
Software Errors.
(DSi) SD Card was no longer detected by the DS. SD Card was fine when plugged into the computer. (1)

The user was using a MicroSD card in an adapter to make it a full-sized SD Card. The adapter went bad/developed a fault which resulted in the console not being able to read it.

(DSi XL) Volume buttons do not change the volume. The volume works, as indicated by the console, but the speakers remain at Level 2 Volume. (1)

No Known solution.

(DSi) Hacked DSi cannot load normal Games

Insert game card and power on holding “A”. There should be an entry with the game.

The system doesn’t read games normally but does when you hold the card down.

Dirty game slot pins

Parental Locks

Wii Parental Control Password Resetter (marcan.st)
Set your console to the current date, go to the parental controls setting, say you forgot the passcode until you hit a confirmation number. Enter the confirmation number in the website, and it’ll give you your passcode.

(DSi XL) No Data Management (1)

Connect to the DSi Eshop (which probably isn’t available).
Homebrew

(DSi) Camera Application opens to a black screen

Maybe a faulty camera unit.

(DSi XL) Wifi Light is not on.

Wireless Communications was turned off in the settings.

(DSi) Cannot detect game cartridge after a card slot replacement

In one post, the OP accidently knocked the EM13 component off the board. It may be the problem.

Physical Errors
(DSi) DSi Volume Buttons are changing brightness instead of Volume.

Check the Select Button for Faults. Holding Select and using the volume controls the brightness.

(DSi XL) Stuck right shoulder button

Required cleaning.

(DSi) Unresponsive Shoulder Buttons

“Mashing” and “Blowing” the shoulder buttons fixed the issue.

(DSi) D-pad feels “Crummy” and hard to do diagonal inputs. ((DSi XL) Reddit)

Flipping the D-pad membrane over in the shell.

(DSi) Power button doesn’t soft reset the console.

Unknown. Issue fixed itself.

Mic doesn’t work. No response in the Sounds app.

(1) The two metal pins in the external mic slot, next to the 3.5mm jack, are stuck up. Bending the pins back down should fix it.
Dirty mic slot (the slot next to the headphone jack)
Torn Cable.
Possible motherboard error. Good mics have been tested on these boards, and the mic doesn’t pick up any audio. The connector on the motherboard seems fine, but the connector, the traces, and components.

Cosmetic and Other Errors
(DSi XL) Shell creaking near d-pad.

Unconfirmed hypothesis: D-pad membrane is keyed and was installed on the wrong side. May be millimeter differences in shell pieces, but that is unconfirmed.

(DSi XL) Shell Separation near face buttons.

Not related to bottom shell, shoulder button, SD card Slot, or Stylus holder. Seems to be some resistance between the motherboard and upper lower shell. May be related to the button membrane being too thick, suggesting an extremely minor variation in DSi XL consoles, or the membrane being misaligned. Could also be related to Wifi Antenna and Mic cable routing on the shell.

(DSi) Weird marks on the top screen. Almost looks like dust underneath the top screen lens.

Some weird fault in the top screen lens. Doesn’t appear to be impacting the LCD display. It doesn’t clean off, so replacing the lens is the next best thing.
Could be due to the lens making physical contact with the LCD display. GBAtemp

END OF TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE

Console Information
Components Needed to Boot