Hardware New 3DS XL Screens only display recovery mode

[LogicIsHansom]

Gisel213 Thank you man, it worked like a charm, you just saved me 200$ ty!

 

[Wingzero4985]

This has been a great help to getting my nephew's n3ds working again. He's had problems with the camera pretty much since I hacked it. The system still worked up till a couple weeks ago when he said it bricked. Can't believe it was all due to the camera.

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Thank you for your help. I already ordered a new camera so i have to wait now.
It now works flawlessly (except for the touchscreen and for now the camera). The screen flickering stops after 1-2 minutes so it's not a problem.

Just a last question. I also seen that pressing around the bottom screen will make pressure to the screen (part of the LCD turning white). I would like to know if it's only for me or if it's the same for everyone.

@Msama
Did replacing the camera work or was it in vain?

 

[Benimaru025]

@gisel213 I made an account just so I can thank you!

I got a N3DS XL that I haven't used it in a while. It was out of battery so i decided to charge it for a couple of hours. After awhile I picked it up i noticed that the back plate is bulging a bit so i decided to investigate. It turns out the battery was bloated (nani?!). I quickly removed it and ordered a replacement battery from Amazon. The battery arrived after a couple of days and I installed it, but alas, BSOD.

After searching for hours for a fix, i found this post. I opened the back and disconnected the camera ribbon cable and turned the 3DS on. It worked!! I turned the system off again and re-attached the camera cable and it booted! everything works again. Thanks!

 

[DSoryu]

@gisel213 came here to thank you too, your tip saved a Majora's Mask Edition new3DS XL that was rotting in my attic since 3 years ago!! Now it fully works, I replaced the cameras and is like that time hasn't passed for it since then.

Thank you very much!!!

 

[DSoryu]

Well, I just wanted to share photos from the saved 3DS, for me, its one of the most beautiful Special editions alongside the Pikachu and the Samus editions. It even looks New Despite being purchased since 2016

 

[smallmedicap]

Hey gisel213 here i aint posted in a awhile... Theres nothing wrong with your mods. I had a New 3ds xl that had the same problem black screens sound but could see recovery menu...
The answer is this bad camera open the console just remove the camera ribbon... You will have no camera but it will work otherwise... Cheers and good luck and leave that camera ribbon cable unplgged when you put it back together.

@smallmedicap

smallmedicap reporting in

This DID fix mine as well. Thanks gisel213 (and TurdPooCharger).

I'm also adding that this:

It worked!!! I turned the system off again and re-attached the camera cable and it booted! everything works again. Thanks!

Did NOT work for me, but that is to be expected. That's because some people, like Benimaru, might just have a dirty/bad connection, which unplugging it and plugging it back in fixes. Most of us though, with bad cables, would not be so lucky that just a re-plug in would fix it.

I also want to shamelessly add that I predicted this fix back at the start of my thread. Since we knew this was only happening to "new" styles, I guessed that it had to be related to one of the new features. I picked the wrong one of the main two (brightness sensor instead of new camera assembly) though...

Are most examples of this brick on New style systems? If so, here is a theory:

Maybe the auto-brightness feature they implemented on New styles is causing a problem somehow. And since recovery mode was very likely never updated with that feature, the screen & input in recovery mode works fine...

In other words, a hardware problem with the auto-brightness sensor & light level changing might be causing this. Which would explain why this brick is not recoverable through any software means.

 

[Alex1132]

I had the same issue. Bought a new 3ds xl that wouldn’t turn on. Both screens black but can hear music in the background and bottling into safe mode turned the screens on. Couldn’t figure it out for days. Swapped motherboards to check and see if motherboards in a different working 3ds and they were fine. So I tried disconnecting the camera ribbon cable and the system turned on. My guess it had something to do with the sensor on the camera that wouldn’t turn the screen on.

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I had the same issue. Bought a n3dsxl from eBay that had both screens black but played sound in the background. Screen would only work when doing the L+R+up+A. I even swapped motherboards into working 3ds and they were fine. I fixed the issue by unplugging the camera ribbon cable and the system turned on. My guess the sensor that is on the camera went bad and won’t turn the screens on when booting.