Gaming DSi faulty d-pad fix

[Drenn]

My dsi's d-pad has always been crummy - it was hard to do diagonals, and my thumb would get sore while playing Contra 4. It wasn't until after the warranty expired that I considered it might be just my dsi. I've read of people who have compared different dsi's d-pads and concluded that theirs was faulty.

Well, I've been messing around with my dsi's and 3ds's innards since getting the right tools. I tried swapping the d-pad's rubber pad with the one from my 3ds. It worked surprisingly well, and I was considering getting another one for this purpose.

But then, after reassembling my dsi with its original components, the d-pad was suddenly working wonderfully! It made fairly loud clicks, but it felt worlds better. As far as I can tell, I accidentally flipped the rubber pad over while reassembling it.. Perhaps this is how it's supposed to be, and my dsi was assembled with its rubber pad backwards? Just a theory. But if you can't play d-pad heavy games on your dsi, you may want to try this.

Ifixit has a guide to remove the power board, which is all that's necessary to get at the d-pad. But I couldn't remove the wired connector, I only removed the ribbon cables.

 

[pu1se80]

Sorry to necro this post 7+ years down the line but THANK YOU! The diagonals barely working on my DSi XL was driving me up a wall. Some games were rendered basically unplayable and the ones that were, were very uncomfortable to play when any diagonal input was attempted.

I found the disassembly quite easy. Didn't require the use of a spudger and while the wired connector is awkward, it does literally just lift up. You're right, the d-pad is now much more audible but I'm much more willing to put up with that than with the crappy d-pad. Diagonals are very responsive now and it is just amazing how much difference turning the pad over made.

Again, sorry for the necro but thanks again for sharing this!

 

[Drenn]

I'm glad at least one person found it useful during the 7 years since I posted that, lol.

 

[ABigRock]

Sorry to necro this post 7+ years down the line but THANK YOU! The diagonals barely working on my DSi XL was driving me up a wall. Some games were rendered basically unplayable and the ones that were, were very uncomfortable to play when any diagonal input was attempted.

I found the disassembly quite easy. Didn't require the use of a spudger and while the wired connector is awkward, it does literally just lift up. You're right, the d-pad is now much more audible but I'm much more willing to put up with that than with the crappy d-pad. Diagonals are very responsive now and it is just amazing how much difference turning the pad over made.

Again, sorry for the necro but thanks again for sharing this!

It's actually interesting that this is a thing, because several times now I've come across consoles that have mushy, crappy D-pads. Some of the must have just been defective, I guess.

 

[Amez]

It's actually interesting that this is a thing, because several times now I've come across consoles that have mushy, crappy D-pads. Some of the must have just been defective, I guess.

Seems to be a thing with second hand DS Lite / Dsi / DSi XL consoles, often you can be lucky and the seller will have only used it for touch screen games, but buy one from someone who has played Fifa on it and you'll notice you can only move the player up/down/left/right naturally but to use the diagonal direction they need pushing down fairly firm,

It's worth buying some genuine original spare D-Pad's as if you ever change the housing, they come with dreadful cheap pads that feel awful.

 

[suckmyventilation]

I'm glad at least one person found it useful during the 7 years since I posted that, lol.

Make that 2

 

[thiagoaraujos]

10 years later this has also helped me, thanks! However, I'm a little embarrassed because this the loudest D-pad I've ever used! When pressing a diagonal it makes multiple loud clicks!

Is the 3ds rubber membrane comparable to the flipped membrane solution? I'd use one if it's more silent.

The DS Lite, on the other hand, already has a perfect D-pad. I beat Contra 4 today on it and it's great.

 

[thiagoaraujos]

Ok, the clicky d-pad was great but very noisy. I bought an original rubber membrane from Ali Express, replaced it and voila! Silent (not 100%... original is not 100% silent), soft(er) and perfect, just like an OG. Hopefully this will be useful for others: either flip the membrane (warning: good but noisy) or buy a new one.

 

[Ampersound]

Ok, the clicky d-pad was great but very noisy. I bought an original rubber membrane from Ali Express, replaced it and voila! Silent (not 100%... original is not 100% silent), soft(er) and perfect, just like an OG. Hopefully this will be useful for others: either flip the membrane (warning: good but noisy) or buy a new one.

Time to revive the thread yet again ;D
Could you please share an aliexpress link of the membrane you've purchased?

I've bought a DS Lite rubber membrane there sometime ago, and it was horrible.
There was even less resistance compared to my well used membrane which I wanted to replace.

 

[NemSubstract]

Had the same problem while playing PMD Explorer of Sky and Contra 4. Saw this thread and immediately disassembled my DSi. Dpad now very easy to use diagonally and way way way nicer feeling tha before.

Tho in the process I have stripped 3 screws on the back and had to chip off some part of the shell to open it, but it was worth it lmao.

 

[Maxwellp]

I hate that this worked. It makes the dpad louder and more responsive but I don't understand why.

Thanks for saving my thumb.

 

[pinopio]

I'm glad at least one person found it useful during the 7 years since I posted that, lol.

Just wanted to say thanks for this fix as well! I was gifted a DSi XL whose dpad was refusing to do diagonals. Cleaning it didn't improve things, but putting the rubber pad back in upside down did the trick. It's very clicky now as everyone says, but better that than no response. I think it has to do with the fact that, on the rubber pad, the nubs for each direction has little holes in them on the top side, while the ones on the bottom are solid. This causes the protrusions on the underside of the dpad to activate the tactile switches on the PCB sooner and more fully, hence the clickiness. If this isn't a problem on new DSi units, I imagine the rubber holes wear down/become looser with use. Anyway, all good for now, but I"m half worried that the stronger force might mean the switches may wear down more quickly instead. So I'll look into getting replacement rubber pads from Aliexpress or somewhere. Thanks again!