Hacking M3 Perfect Black Screen fix

[Pliskron]

I flipped when my M3 Perfect stopped working. All I was getting was a black screen. I finally got around to thinking the battery might be the problem but I couldn't find the battery with the solder tabs so I ordered a new battery without them then I pried off the battery from the solder tabs leaving them on the card and I cut off the plastic around the battery. I then put the plastic on the new battery and placed it in the card without soldering. It worked perfectly and now when I change the battery on my M3 I don't have to bother with the soldering iron. The point is I've read a lot of threads where people were getting black screens on the M3 perfect. The battery is most likely the cause and there is an easy fix.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

If you need a battery with tabs, I have the 3in1 guide updated with a tabbed battery source under maintainence. You can only choose to pay for ground shipping, that means UPS ground, cost for shipping is going to be around 5 to 10 bucks to shipped for a $1.25 battery, I suggest buying a few.

Or you can order from Mouser, shipping is going to be the same, gound only. You want a CR-10XX battery or a CR-12XX battery if possible. The 10 and 12 in the battery type is the size in mm. Fitting it in a M3 perfect requires removing some of the plastic in the case to fit the battery inside depending on how you place it in there.

http://www.mouser.com/Power/Batteries/Non-...Leads/_/N-5gbu/

 

[TM2-Megatron]

And if you wanted the exact type of battery the M3 Perfect uses (LIR1220) this is the only place online I've found that sells them:

http://www.pchub.com/uph/laptop/48-35505-9...Resume-RTC.html

That store also has CR1220s with the appropriate tabs. What I like about that place is it has the option of not using a courier service like UPS, which I absolutely refuse to deal with for anything that crosses a border. While you can avoid their obscene brokerage fees by clearing it through customs yourself and just paying the taxes (which tends to be a tiny fraction of the brokerage fee total) it's still an unnecessary pain in the butt.

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Let me explain something to you: THERE IS A TRANSPORT RESTRICTION ON BATTERIES OF THIS TYPE.

http://www.icass.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=...db-3ac4f6a0b791


That is why you can only ship it UPS ground or FEDEX ground. It doesn't matter what you like, we in the USA are screwed over that restriction.

 

[TM2-Megatron]

Let me explain something to you: THERE IS A TRANSPORT RESTRICTION ON BATTERIES OF THIS TYPE.

http://www.icass.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=...db-3ac4f6a0b791


That is why you can only ship it UPS ground or FEDEX ground. It doesn't matter what you like, we in the USA are screwed over that restriction.

Interesting; I hadn't heard of that before. No need to yell, though. I'm in Canada, though, so I think that store I listed would be a better option for me and others in this country. UPS and FEDEX ground services are allright for shipments within the US, but if they go over the border either way the fees start adding up. I once had them try to charge me upwards of $70 for a shipment with a marked value of around $120.

 

[Pliskron]

I got five batteries on ebay for $1.25 but no tabs. I'm really happy that I don't have to bother with an iron. I'll use this same method for all my games and cards that use batteries.

 

[WigWrm]

Yeah bumping this insanely old post is ridiculous but.... I recently replaced the battery in my M3 lite. I used a ML-1220 (3V rechargeable with tabs). Tabs needed to be bent a bit to create the right fit, but you do not need a 3.6V battery. Since the LIR1220's are so hard to find, I doubt you could even buy a fresh one. RTC events working now and black screen is gone.

Here's a tip though, if you want to boot the M3 lite but are facing a black screen... use a slot-1 card to boot into NDS mode. Then boot into gba mode with the start button.

 

[Lemmy Koopa]

I flipped when my M3 Perfect stopped working. All I was getting was a black screen. I finally got around to thinking the battery might be the problem but I couldn't find the battery with the solder tabs so I ordered a new battery without them then I pried off the battery from the solder tabs leaving them on the card and I cut off the plastic around the battery. I then put the plastic on the new battery and placed it in the card without soldering. It worked perfectly and now when I change the battery on my M3 I don't have to bother with the soldering iron. The point is I've read a lot of threads where people were getting black screens on the M3 perfect. The battery is most likely the cause and there is an easy fix.

It could actually be that the SRAM data got corrupted and removing the battery caused it to be lost, so your SRAM was cleared to stop glitching to a black screen.

There was a time when the image viewer caused my M3 not to boot properly, so I reflashed it and it worked fine. I think reflashing might also do something to the SRAM data as well, so it is probably the same instance.

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Also, another thing, if the tab does not fit the solder pads, do not try to bend the tabs to fit. That caused the pad on mine to lift, and I had to solder a wire to the trace to fix it.

Instead, solder a wire to one of the tabs to one of the pads. One will be secured by the tab to the pad, while the other will use a wire to go to the pad.

 

[WigWrm]

I taped the battery down and bent the tabs to touch the pads with a pair of needle nose pliers. Then I soldered the tabs to the pads. No risk of breaking the solder joint or ripping a pad, doing it that way.