Hacking M3 SD perfect not reading SD card

[Lemmy Koopa]

Hello. My M3 Perfect has had a problem with the SD driver for some years. One of the pins/prongs broke off in the drive, but luckily I could jam it back in and it would read the card again.

A few nights ago, the prong slid out again, and I lost it, so I decided to disassemble an old SD reader and use prongs from there, but it still won't pick up the SD card.

I believe the connector isn't picking up the prong correctly. Is there anyway I can fix this? Would soldering fix this, or would it not be compatible with the prong?


Please help, as I really don't want to have to retire my M3. It's been the best flash card I ever had and I'd rather not have to downgrade to a lesser flash card. Thank you.

 

[jimmyemunoz]

You could replace the part. That would actually be the most correct fix. Which M3 Perfect do you have? The M3 Perfect SD right?

You want to replace the whole SD card reader connector from the motherboard, and solder in a new one. 'Quik Chip' is needed to remove the old connector, but solderwick would also work (just not as well and it's not as safe). For the new connector install you need some solder paste, along with a hot air soldering iron, but you could use a soldering iron and a rosin core flux (would take longer). If done correctly, your issue would be solved.

 

[Lemmy Koopa]

I have an M3 Perfect slim SD.

Thank you very much for the input. Originally it wouldn't read any other metal besides prong connectors I extracted from an old SD card reader. It was fine until that slipped out, then I tried to make sure it wouldn't come out ever again, but it just got worse, and now it can't read the prong at all. The connector can't reach it anymore, so I'm hoping solder can fix that.

I don't know, I know there's decent flash cards but M3 is the best GBA & DS medium. I feel like they brought out the best of both systems.


EDIT:
I have some pictures of what the damaged area looks like, if this can help anyone help me to fix my cart. Please, if any people with knowledge of electronics is here, please help me.

SD Prong "9" completely missing

Close-up of where the prong should be embedded

Current prong I tried using to fix it

Questions: Should the silver area where the prong was soldered be touching the golden ring by it? I imagine that it's traced there and then to wherever, as the rest of the prongs have gold rings beside them or trace to gold rings.

And will that prong I'm using work? I lost the original and 1 that I used before that worked, but with all the attempts I do with this one, it wont read that it's there. Is that the prong's fault? It looks like it's a different type of metal.


EDIT 2: So I attempted to fix it again tonight, and I tried something different, I left the front cover open so I can quickly access the board. The SD drive case's solderwork came undone at a few places. I assumed these were just to hold it in place and not to transfer data, but I pushed it down as it booted, with the prong in place firmly, and it worked!

I put a piece of tape between the metal case and the front case so that it compresses it down, and now it's running fine! I need to solder this later on.