Hardware Tutorial
Updated
DSi XL Screw Measurements and Differences.
This goes over the screws and other pieces within the DSi XL along with differences in screws used on a per-color or per-console basis.
I originally posted this on Reddit, but I have learned a bit more since then. I will use a lot of information in that post as I believe my measurements are still accurate to my understanding. This is more of a formal post that is organized a bit better.
I did a similar hardware variation post for the DSi as well.
There are Five Variations that I am aware of, and to my understanding, they are benign.
I've done more basic screw measurement posts for several consoles (listed below) including every DS and 3DS console. These do not cover variations as I do not have access to the sample sizes like I do with the DSi and DSi XL.
Other posts can be found here:
- DS (Base)
- DS Lite
- DSi
- DSi XL
- 3DS (Base)
- 3DS XL
- 2DS
- New 2DS XL
- New 3DS
- New 3DS XL
Also check out my DS and 3DS Screw Repository.
How I measured these screws.
I measured the screws on a ruler with markings down to a single millimeter and a digital microscope. Measurements were taken similar to this image of measuring Thread Pitch below.
(Image Sourced from Albany County Fasteners' video, How to Measure Screws & Bolts - US & Metric Sizing | Fasteners 101)
Since I do not have specialty equipment to measure screws this small, I am forced to estimate; especially on the thread pitch itself. Take the measurements with the knowledge that it was done by someone who is a novice in screw measuring.
DSI XL
All Screws within the DSi XL have a JIS head (I assume JIS #00), but a Phillips #00 works. Screws seem to be a variety of Wafer, Truss or Ultra Thin Head machine screws. Pan or Undersized Pan head is also possible. These are just my best guesses. I don't assign a head name to the screws as I don't know for sure.
Below is the list of screws and Hardware grouped by size. Further information is further down.
I'll add links to an IFixIt Guide to match my terms to pictures (i.e. Motherboard Black Screw would point to the Motherboard removal step of an IFitIt guide). The screw names themselves will have a link to the image of the screw removal with another link next to it just in case that link dies.
Screws
Legend:
- Screw Length x Thread Width x Head Width.
- Recommended Driver.
- Screw Amounts, Placeholder name, and Link to IFixIt guides and images.
- Repeated previous entry as needed.
- Thread Pitch Measurement.
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
(*0x or 1x) Black Fine Threaded Outer Shell Card Slot Screw (Step 4 Yellow Circle)
M1.4– 0.4mm x 2mm
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
(7x) Battery Daughter Board (Step 10)
(1x) Small Motherboard Silver Screw (Step 17 Smallest Screw)
(*0x or 1x) Silver Coarse Threaded Outer Shell Card Slot Screw (Step 4 Yellow Circle)
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 2mm
3.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
(**0x or 4x ) Black Shoulder Button Covers Right and Left (Step 8 for Right and Left)
(4x) Motherboard Black Screws (Step 17)
(4x) Top Screen Shell (Step 2)
(1x) Top Screen Selfie Camera (Step 29)
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 3mm
4mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
(**3x or 7x) Golden or Black SD/Stylus Cover Screws (Step 10),
M1.4– 0.6mm x 3.5mm
4mm x 1.5mm x 3.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
(2x) Battery Door Screw (Step 1)
M1.4 – 0.4 x 4mm
5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
(6x) Bottom Shell Screws (Step 4)
M1.4 - 0.6 x 4.5mm
*Whether the Gamecard slot screw is a black fine threaded screw or a coarse threaded silver screw appear to be determined by the console's color (more below). Only the Japanese exclusive Natural White and US exclusive Metalic Rose used the coarse threaded silver screw. The differences in thread pitch between the two screws could damage the screw posts and shouldn't be used interchangeably.
**Variations in consoles makes these screw counts inconsistent. See below for more details. I expect the differences between head thickness and screw length are benign.
Other
(2x) E-clip
4mm width
(2x) Battery Door Nut
5mm Long x 3mm Wide x 1.5mm Thick
(2x) Shoulder Button Spring
6.5mm Length x 3.5mm Diameter
(2x) Shoulder Button Pivot Post
7mm Length x 1mm Diameter
(2x) Clam Shell Stoppers
9mm Long x 2.5mm Tall x 1.5mm Thick
Screw Covers
(2x) Screw Cover Feet
4.5mm Diameter x 2mm Tall
(4x) Top Screen Screw Cover
3.5mm Square x 0.5mm Thick
Battery Door
I will sort the screw via disassembly order. For this, I will be borrowing IFixIt's images from their DSi XL Teardown to point to screws.
The battery door consists of Two Parts: The screw and the retention clip (E-clip).
Two Battery Door Screws:
M1.4 – 0.4 x 4mm
4mm x 1.5mm x 3.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
Two E-clips:
4mm Width
Bottom Shell
This is where the first variation comes in.
All but Two Console Colors use Six Long Screws (Two Black and Four Silver) and One Short Black Screw. These are all of the console colors with the black bottom shell (Mario Red, Yellow, Green, and Midnight Blue) and the Bronze and Burgundy consoles (with non-black bottom shells).
The US Exclusive Metalic Rose and JPN Exclusive Natural White use the same 6 Long screws, but only silver. It also uses a different Gamecard slot screw screw which is the same silver screw used on the Battery Daughter Board and the small screw on the upper right hand side of the MOBO (more on that later).
It is my understanding this is all for aesthetic reasons and the different small screw makes no structural difference. The decision to use the Silver Screws in place of the black screws makes sense as it would stand out less on the lighter-colored bottom shells. There is the difference between a coarse threaded silver screw and fine threaded black screw which may damage the screw post is used in place of the other (i.e. stripping the threads).
For the Screws themselves:
Six Bottom Shell Screws:
(Either Two Silver and Four Black or Six Silver. Purely cosmetic.)
M1.4 - 0.6 x 4.5mm
5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
One Gamecard Slot Screw: Black Fine Thread or Silver Coarse Thread
Either One Black Fine Thread Screw...
M1.4– 0.4mm x 2mm
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
or One Silver Coarse Thread screw
(Same as Battery Daughter Board/Small Motherboard Silver Screw)
Seems to be based on the Console's color (See above): JPN Exclusive Natural White and US Exclusive Metalic Rose Consoles.
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 2mm
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
Motherboard and Power Daughter Board
The Motherboard and Powerboard are combined since the Motherboard Silver Screw in the top right corner is the same as the screws used on the power board. It saves space on this post.
Four Black Motherboard Screws:
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 3mm
3.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
Eight Small Silver Screws:
- One Small Motherboard Silver Screw.
- Seven Battery Daughter Board.
This is the same screw mentioned for the Bottom Shell (Gamecard slot screw) of the Metalic Rose and Natural White DSi XL Consoles.
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 2mm
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
Upper Shell Screws
Five Silver Screws:
Four screws holding the upper shell and One screw within the shell holding the piece that covers the Selfie camera and microphone.
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 3mm
3.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
Bottom Shell (Shoulder Buttons and Stylus Cover)
This is where the other variation comes in.
To my knowledge, there are three variations in what screws were used.
One variation was all Seven Gold screws; similar to the IFixIt photo above.
Another used a mix of Four Black screws for the Shoulder Buttons and Three Golden Screws for the Stylus cover.
And the last used all Seven Black screws. I have reasons to believe this is NOT AN OEM pattern, as I only came across this once, and the shoulder buttons were not OEM. Where the OEM screws went for this console, I do not know, but the running theory I have is it was repaired by a shop. I do not include this variation in the screw count, but it's something I thought I should mention.
I was unable to find a pattern between which one had which set of screws, but I would guess that the later releases of the DSi XL had all Gold Screws as that makes the most economic sense.
Where it gets a little confusing is that not all black screws are the same, but all of the golden screws are. The black screws used for the Shoulder Buttons differ slightly from the ones used for the Stylus Cover.
Three or Seven Golden and Black Stylus Cover Screws:
M1.4– 0.6mm x 3.5mm
4mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
Zero or Four Black Shoulder Button Screws:
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 3mm
3.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
Two Battery Door Nuts.
These are lodged in the bottom shell.
5mm x 3mm x 1.5mm
Shoulder Button Hardware
These are the shoulder button pivots and the springs.
Two Shoulder Button Spring:
6.5mm Length x 3.5mm Diameter
Two Shoulder Button Pivots:
7mm Length x 1mm Diameter
Clam Shell Stoppers
Two Clam Shell Stoppers
9mm Long x 2.5mm Tall x 1.5mm Thick
Screw Covers
Two Screw Cover Feet
4.5mm Diameter x 2mm Tall
Four Top Screen Screw Covers
3.5mm Square x 0.5mm Thick
I originally posted this on Reddit, but I have learned a bit more since then. I will use a lot of information in that post as I believe my measurements are still accurate to my understanding. This is more of a formal post that is organized a bit better.
I did a similar hardware variation post for the DSi as well.
There are Five Variations that I am aware of, and to my understanding, they are benign.
I've done more basic screw measurement posts for several consoles (listed below) including every DS and 3DS console. These do not cover variations as I do not have access to the sample sizes like I do with the DSi and DSi XL.
Other posts can be found here:
- DS (Base)
- DS Lite
- DSi
- DSi XL
- 3DS (Base)
- 3DS XL
- 2DS
- New 2DS XL
- New 3DS
- New 3DS XL
Also check out my DS and 3DS Screw Repository.
How I measured these screws.
I measured the screws on a ruler with markings down to a single millimeter and a digital microscope. Measurements were taken similar to this image of measuring Thread Pitch below.
(Image Sourced from Albany County Fasteners' video, How to Measure Screws & Bolts - US & Metric Sizing | Fasteners 101)
Since I do not have specialty equipment to measure screws this small, I am forced to estimate; especially on the thread pitch itself. Take the measurements with the knowledge that it was done by someone who is a novice in screw measuring.
DSI XL
All Screws within the DSi XL have a JIS head (I assume JIS #00), but a Phillips #00 works. Screws seem to be a variety of Wafer, Truss or Ultra Thin Head machine screws. Pan or Undersized Pan head is also possible. These are just my best guesses. I don't assign a head name to the screws as I don't know for sure.
Below is the list of screws and Hardware grouped by size. Further information is further down.
I'll add links to an IFixIt Guide to match my terms to pictures (i.e. Motherboard Black Screw would point to the Motherboard removal step of an IFitIt guide). The screw names themselves will have a link to the image of the screw removal with another link next to it just in case that link dies.
Screws
Legend:
- Screw Length x Thread Width x Head Width.
- Recommended Driver.
- Screw Amounts, Placeholder name, and Link to IFixIt guides and images.
- Repeated previous entry as needed.
- Thread Pitch Measurement.
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
(*0x or 1x) Black Fine Threaded Outer Shell Card Slot Screw (Step 4 Yellow Circle)
M1.4– 0.4mm x 2mm
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
(7x) Battery Daughter Board (Step 10)
(1x) Small Motherboard Silver Screw (Step 17 Smallest Screw)
(*0x or 1x) Silver Coarse Threaded Outer Shell Card Slot Screw (Step 4 Yellow Circle)
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 2mm
3.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
(**0x or 4x ) Black Shoulder Button Covers Right and Left (Step 8 for Right and Left)
(4x) Motherboard Black Screws (Step 17)
(4x) Top Screen Shell (Step 2)
(1x) Top Screen Selfie Camera (Step 29)
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 3mm
4mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
(**3x or 7x) Golden or Black SD/Stylus Cover Screws (Step 10),
M1.4– 0.6mm x 3.5mm
4mm x 1.5mm x 3.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
(2x) Battery Door Screw (Step 1)
M1.4 – 0.4 x 4mm
5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
(6x) Bottom Shell Screws (Step 4)
M1.4 - 0.6 x 4.5mm
*Whether the Gamecard slot screw is a black fine threaded screw or a coarse threaded silver screw appear to be determined by the console's color (more below). Only the Japanese exclusive Natural White and US exclusive Metalic Rose used the coarse threaded silver screw. The differences in thread pitch between the two screws could damage the screw posts and shouldn't be used interchangeably.
**Variations in consoles makes these screw counts inconsistent. See below for more details. I expect the differences between head thickness and screw length are benign.
Other
(2x) E-clip
4mm width
(2x) Battery Door Nut
5mm Long x 3mm Wide x 1.5mm Thick
(2x) Shoulder Button Spring
6.5mm Length x 3.5mm Diameter
(2x) Shoulder Button Pivot Post
7mm Length x 1mm Diameter
(2x) Clam Shell Stoppers
9mm Long x 2.5mm Tall x 1.5mm Thick
Screw Covers
(2x) Screw Cover Feet
4.5mm Diameter x 2mm Tall
(4x) Top Screen Screw Cover
3.5mm Square x 0.5mm Thick
Battery Door
I will sort the screw via disassembly order. For this, I will be borrowing IFixIt's images from their DSi XL Teardown to point to screws.
The battery door consists of Two Parts: The screw and the retention clip (E-clip).
Two Battery Door Screws:
M1.4 – 0.4 x 4mm
4mm x 1.5mm x 3.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
Two E-clips:
4mm Width
Bottom Shell
This is where the first variation comes in.
All but Two Console Colors use Six Long Screws (Two Black and Four Silver) and One Short Black Screw. These are all of the console colors with the black bottom shell (Mario Red, Yellow, Green, and Midnight Blue) and the Bronze and Burgundy consoles (with non-black bottom shells).
The US Exclusive Metalic Rose and JPN Exclusive Natural White use the same 6 Long screws, but only silver. It also uses a different Gamecard slot screw screw which is the same silver screw used on the Battery Daughter Board and the small screw on the upper right hand side of the MOBO (more on that later).
It is my understanding this is all for aesthetic reasons and the different small screw makes no structural difference. The decision to use the Silver Screws in place of the black screws makes sense as it would stand out less on the lighter-colored bottom shells. There is the difference between a coarse threaded silver screw and fine threaded black screw which may damage the screw post is used in place of the other (i.e. stripping the threads).
For the Screws themselves:
Six Bottom Shell Screws:
(Either Two Silver and Four Black or Six Silver. Purely cosmetic.)
M1.4 - 0.6 x 4.5mm
5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
One Gamecard Slot Screw: Black Fine Thread or Silver Coarse Thread
Either One Black Fine Thread Screw...
M1.4– 0.4mm x 2mm
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
or One Silver Coarse Thread screw
(Same as Battery Daughter Board/Small Motherboard Silver Screw)
Seems to be based on the Console's color (See above): JPN Exclusive Natural White and US Exclusive Metalic Rose Consoles.
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 2mm
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
Motherboard and Power Daughter Board
The Motherboard and Powerboard are combined since the Motherboard Silver Screw in the top right corner is the same as the screws used on the power board. It saves space on this post.
Four Black Motherboard Screws:
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 3mm
3.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
Eight Small Silver Screws:
- One Small Motherboard Silver Screw.
- Seven Battery Daughter Board.
This is the same screw mentioned for the Bottom Shell (Gamecard slot screw) of the Metalic Rose and Natural White DSi XL Consoles.
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 2mm
2.5mm x 1.5mm x 2.5mm
Phillips: PH#00
Upper Shell Screws
Five Silver Screws:
Four screws holding the upper shell and One screw within the shell holding the piece that covers the Selfie camera and microphone.
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 3mm
3.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
Bottom Shell (Shoulder Buttons and Stylus Cover)
This is where the other variation comes in.
To my knowledge, there are three variations in what screws were used.
One variation was all Seven Gold screws; similar to the IFixIt photo above.
Another used a mix of Four Black screws for the Shoulder Buttons and Three Golden Screws for the Stylus cover.
And the last used all Seven Black screws. I have reasons to believe this is NOT AN OEM pattern, as I only came across this once, and the shoulder buttons were not OEM. Where the OEM screws went for this console, I do not know, but the running theory I have is it was repaired by a shop. I do not include this variation in the screw count, but it's something I thought I should mention.
I was unable to find a pattern between which one had which set of screws, but I would guess that the later releases of the DSi XL had all Gold Screws as that makes the most economic sense.
Where it gets a little confusing is that not all black screws are the same, but all of the golden screws are. The black screws used for the Shoulder Buttons differ slightly from the ones used for the Stylus Cover.
Three or Seven Golden and Black Stylus Cover Screws:
M1.4– 0.6mm x 3.5mm
4mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
Zero or Four Black Shoulder Button Screws:
M1.4 – 0.6mm x 3mm
3.5mm x 1.5mm x 3mm
Phillips: PH#00
Two Battery Door Nuts.
These are lodged in the bottom shell.
5mm x 3mm x 1.5mm
Shoulder Button Hardware
These are the shoulder button pivots and the springs.
Two Shoulder Button Spring:
6.5mm Length x 3.5mm Diameter
Two Shoulder Button Pivots:
7mm Length x 1mm Diameter
Clam Shell Stoppers
Two Clam Shell Stoppers
9mm Long x 2.5mm Tall x 1.5mm Thick
Screw Covers
Two Screw Cover Feet
4.5mm Diameter x 2mm Tall
Four Top Screen Screw Covers
3.5mm Square x 0.5mm Thick
Last edited by KIlly728,
