Hardware New 3DS XL won't boot

[The Real Jdbye]

I have a New 3DS XL (2015 model) with Luma3DS CFW installed onto a 64gb SD card that I changed the broken lower LCD on. The console was working perfectly fine with the broken screen, but after changing the screen the blue power LED comes on for a few seconds then turns itself off. I have checked the resistors to make sure they are all ok and I've unplugged and reinserted every ribbon cable in the 3DS but nothing has changed, the console still won't boot. I've looked through many threads on GBATemp but nothing I have found has helped solve the problem.

Is there anything that I could try to get at least a backup of the entire system so that I can restore it to a new system if I have to buy a new console? or is there anything i can do to get the console fully working again?

EDIT: Just tried the broken screen and the bottom of the screen quickly flashes when the console turns off, if that's of any use to anyone

There's a chance you damaged one of the ribbon cables, a few of them (including the upper screen cable) will cause this behavior if damaged. Inspect them closely for any damage, even a tiny fracture could be enough.
If it is a damaged ribbon cable then you might need to replace the entire component as a lot of the ribbon cables are soldered onto the component.

 

[Kubas_inko]

I would assume so as if one or more parts are not being supplied power like they should be then the excess power from the battery could cause other parts to overload.

That's not how this works

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Tbh, I'm only really bothered about one or two Pokemon saves that I've dumped a crap tone of hours into, but it would probably be easier to buy a new console and install Luma CFW.
My only real reason for trying to get the console to work is that it is, after buying a new screen, dual IPS with the yellow Pikachu casing so is worth a fair chunk of money if I can get it to work.

There's no good way to go about this. If your saves matter more to you, I suggest you do the motherboard swap idea.

Once you get those saves out of the way, you can then go about A-B testing which of your part(s) aren't working on the Pikachu model by using the ones from the donor N3DSXL.

You just have to be super careful you don't ruin your donor parts, leaving you stumped in figuring out what needs to be replaced.

Hard bricking? (I gues by shorting something right?)

Shorting, unintended SMD surgical removal procedure, scratching/scrapping/cracking, etc.

 

[Kubas_inko]

There's a chance you damaged one of the ribbon cables, a few of them (including the upper screen cable) will cause this behavior if damaged. Inspect them closely for any damage, even a tiny fracture could be enough.
If it is a damaged ribbon cable then you might need to replace the entire component as a lot of the ribbon cables are soldered onto the component.

From my own testing, damaged nfc and touch panel for bottom lcd will cause the same behaviour.

 

[Lefty_Wrighty]

I think what I'm going to do is leave the console alone for a while - I did this before and it randomly decided to turn back on after being left for a few months, this was before I changed the screen - and buy a new console which I'll CFW myself. I'll find someone who is willing to have a look at both consoles, swap the shell and the IPS screen, providing the new console isn't dual IPS or the Pikachu edition, over to the new console.

This just seams like the safer and easier option to go for instead of potentially ruining two consoles.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Make sure to remove the battery from the 3DS for long term storage. Some users come back to find their 3DS dead from electric leak; their capacitor and/or fuses were on their last leg, and the battery kept in place was what pushed it over the edge.

 

[Lefty_Wrighty]

Make sure to remove the battery from the 3DS for long term storage. Some users come back to find their 3DS dead from electric leak; their capacitor and/or fuses were on their last leg, and the battery kept in place was what pushed it over the edge.

Will do

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I think what I'm going to do is leave the console alone for a while - I did this before and it randomly decided to turn back on after being left for a few months, this was before I changed the screen - and buy a new console which I'll CFW myself. I'll find someone who is willing to have a look at both consoles, swap the shell and the IPS screen, providing the new console isn't dual IPS or the Pikachu edition, over to the new console.

This just seams like the safer and easier option to go for instead of potentially ruining two consoles.

It's already broken, so it's not like you can make things worse by trying to fix it. If one of the ribbon cables turns out to be damaged then you know what you need to fix and it should be simple enough.
You should be able to find replacement parts no problem.
Not sure what you meant by ruining two consoles though.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

It's already broken, so it's not like you can make things worse by trying to fix it. If one of the ribbon cables turns out to be damaged then you know what you need to fix and it should be simple enough.
You should be able to find replacement parts no problem.
Not sure what you meant by ruining two consoles though.

I advised him about retrieving his game saves in an earlier post. Swap motherboards from a donor N3DSXL unit with risk of damaging both.

 

[Hayato213]

I would advise not to do the motherboard since if you mess up a zif connector the console would be for parts then, at this point is probably best just to get a new unit and use that instead.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I advised him about retrieving his game saves in an earlier post. Swap motherboards from a donor N3DSXL unit with risk of damaging both.

No need to do that when it's probably just a ribbon cable that's damaged and needs replacing.
Of course there's a chance he blew a fuse but that's highly unlikely.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

No need to do that when it's probably just a ribbon cable that's damaged and needs replacing.
Of course there's a chance he blew a fuse but that's highly unlikely.

That's the problem. He can't determine which of those cable(s) is/are bad. Do you keep plugging and playing until it works? This itself is risking as the more you mess with that motherboard, the higher the chance of an accident happening.

How do you know what's wrong if visual inspection fails to yield a clue?

IMO, (if he wants his pokemon saves bad enough), is to first swap motherboards and back those saves. When this is no longer a concern, then do A-B testing between the two systems to find and replace the broken part on the Pikachu model.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

That's the problem. He can't determine which of those cable(s) is/are bad. Do you keep plugging and playing until it works? This itself is risking as the more you mess with that motherboard, the higher the chance of an accident happening.

How do you know what's wrong if visual inspection fails to yield a clue?

IMO, (if he wants his pokemon saves bad enough), is to first swap motherboards and back those saves. When this is no longer a concern, then do A-B testing between the two systems to find and replace the broken part on the Pikachu model.

As far as I can tell he never inspected the ribbon cables, only replugged them to make sure they were inserted properly. Which is why I suggested to do that.

There's no good way to go about this. If your saves matter more to you, I suggest you do the motherboard swap idea.

Once you get those saves out of the way, you can then go about A-B testing which of your part(s) aren't working on the Pikachu model by using the ones from the donor N3DSXL.

You just have to be super careful you don't ruin your donor parts, leaving you stumped in figuring out what needs to be replaced.



Shorting, unintended SMD surgical removal procedure, scratching/scrapping/cracking, etc.

The good way to go about it would be with an OTP dump if he has one. That along with a boot9 dump (which he can find somewhere if he doesn't have one) is enough to decrypt the NAND, get at the movable.sed, and then use that to decrypt the SD card data and dump the decrypted saves. A NAND backup if he has one would greatly simplify things, since otherwise getting at the movable.sed would require a hardmod (and you'd also need to figure out a way to power the chip without powering on the 3DS, as all hardmods I've seen require the 3DS to be on)
Everything he needs besides boot9, OTP and a NAND backup is this: https://github.com/ihaveamac/fuse-3ds
Assuming his 3DS is modded with B9S he hopefully already has all of those things.
Edit: Better yet, if he has used GodMode9 at any point and made an essentials backup when asked to, that backup already contains his movable.sed and I believe it also contains the OTP, so technically he doesn't even need a NAND backup.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

As far as I can tell he never inspected the ribbon cables, only replugged them to make sure they were inserted properly. Which is why I suggested to do that.

Hmm, point taken. I did jump a step in the order of risk mitigation, so he definitely should first check the cables if any of them look damaged or frayed.

My proposed idea still stands in case he doesn't have any luck finding which part went bad.

Basically, it sucks whichever way he approaches it.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Hmm, point taken. I did jump a step in the order of risk mitigation, so he definitely should first check the cables if any of them look damaged or frayed.

My proposed idea still stands in case he doesn't have any luck finding which part went bad.

Basically, it sucks whichever way he approaches it.

Yup. But at least he can hopefully recover his saves easily.
Unless the damage is really tiny, it should be possible to spot, but even if not, that's what magnifying glasses are for. The bottom screen ribbon would be the first thing to check since it's the part he replaced. But it's possible that the screen was faulty from the get go, and something isn't making contact so the 3DS thinks there's no screen connected. That's less likely than it just being a damaged ribbon cable though.

 

[Lefty_Wrighty]

I've previously had the ribbon cables checked and that was what originally caused the broken touchscreen. I do believe that several of the cables are not as good as they previously have been, and I think that is what is causing the problem of the system failing to turn on.
As for my saves - I'm no particularly bothered about any of them anymore as I can just get 'totally 100% legit' Pokemon from PKSV or whatever.
I'm just going to buy a new console at this point cause my current 3DS isn't in a great state anyways and even if it somehow does turn on I don't know what else may be wrong with the system. I go on holiday for 4 weeks in a few days so I'll be able to leave the system alone for that time and, just like last time, the system might turn back on miraculously after a good few weeks of being left alone.

 

[HugaTheFox]

If you have a nand backup, you could try and decrypt the saves. Idk if it works but: https://www.reddit.com/r/3dshacks/c..._about_the_3ds_but/?utm_source=reddit-android

 

[Lefty_Wrighty]

If you have a nand backup, you could try and decrypt the saves. Idk if it works but:

I believe I will have in my backups folder, but it will be from when I first installed CFW well over a year ago, so the saves will be extremely outdated and some of the games won't be on there as USUM came out well after the backup I made.
But I'm not that bothered about them anymore and buying a new console will be an easier solution to this big mess.

 

[HugaTheFox]

I believe I will have in my backups folder, but it will be from when I first installed CFW well over a year ago, so the saves will be extremely outdated and some of the games won't be on there as USUM came out well after the backup I made.
But I'm not that bothered about them anymore and buying a new console will be an easier solution to this big mess.

Okay. But the nand backup doesnt matter how old it is. It will be able to decrypt the saves, as long as you never formated your console.

 

[Hayato213]

Okay. But the nand backup doesnt matter how old it is. It will be able to decrypt the saves, as long as you never formated your console.

I guess for him he doesn't want to use the two years old nand copy because he won't get much pokemon out of it. Only if did made some decrypted backup of games save that would been easier for him.