Gaming Nintendo Ds Lite doesn´t recognize games

[Selif]

Hey community!

I have bought a used Nintendo Ds Lite like a year ago. It is working fine generally, but it just seems to have a problem with recognizing games.

So the problem is that sometimes the Ds Lite won't recognize a game even though it is put in. Sometimes I have games put in in both slots and it will only recognize the game of one of both slots (seems pretty random to me which slot gets recognized/"ignored").
My current solution is to turn the system on and off until it recognizes the game i want to play. This will take some tries most times. Emptying the other slot or taking out the game I want to play, then putting it in again doesn't seem to help either. I can't see a pattern, so it is pretty random/luck-based when I can finally play the game.

Does anyone have similair experiences or maybe even a final solution?

Additionally I would like to ask if the system should be able to recognize if a game gets put in or taken out while it is turned on. When I am in the "home menu" so to speak.
My system doesn't recognize anything. Furthermore, when I take out a game which has been successfully recognized by the system and is ready to start the system just freezes. Can't input anything there. Then I have to restart the system.

I hope someone can help me out. Big thanks to anyone who tries

 

[banjo2]

Have you tried cleaning your game card contacts with a cotton swab and isopropyl alcohol? That worked for me.

Also, I believe that's normal.

 

[Amez]

Just use a nail file, one of the wooden ones like a lolly pop stick, do it gently and it'll get rid of anything sticky in the slot.

 

[Selif]

Thanks to both of you!

I think cleaning the game cards and the card slot with alcohol did the trick for me. Am surprised how well it actually works. This also shows how dirty actually both parts were