Hardware Strange small smashed area on corner of the top screen

[Biovirulent]

My N3DSXL got dropped accidentally and now the lower left corner of the top screen has a bunch of "dead"-ish pixels, but the strange thing is that it sometimes fades and gets smaller, lessening the black pixels, but it also sometimes gets larger, expanding and covering more area of the corner of the screen. I don't quite understand what triggers the expansion and contraction of these "dead" or black pixels, but it's an annoyance nonetheless. Recently I accidentally dropped it again and the area moved ever so slightly to the right, leaving a part of the area where the "dead" or black pixels were, normal again.
I don't know if it would, but it started getting larger than usual lately, not dropping it at all and I was wondering if anyone ever had a similar problem, and if there's any way to fix or quell it from expanding?

 

[proflayton123]

My N3DSXL got dropped accidentally and now the lower left corner of the top screen has a bunch of "dead"-ish pixels, but the strange thing is that it sometimes fades and gets smaller, lessening the black pixels, but it also sometimes gets larger, expanding and covering more area of the corner of the screen. I don't quite understand what triggers the expansion and contraction of these "dead" or black pixels, but it's an annoyance nonetheless. Recently I accidentally dropped it again and the area moved ever so slightly to the right, leaving a part of the area where the "dead" or black pixels were, normal again.
I don't know if it would, but it started getting larger than usual lately, not dropping it at all and I was wondering if anyone ever had a similar problem, and if there's any way to fix or quell it from expanding?

I'd personally say a repair on the top screen

 

[Biovirulent]

I'd personally say a repair on the top screen

I can't send it in to Nintendo, I have A9LH installed.

 

[DanTheMan827]

I can't send it in to Nintendo, I have A9LH installed.

You could always try installing the latest in development version of A9LH which can boot without a SD card...

You could also try this:

• Purchase field runners and install the hacked save
• Using the system settings, copy the DSIWare app to your SD card
• Uninstall A9LH...
• If Nintendo replaces the 3DS with a completely different system they should have also transferred the data from the broken one (including field runners and the hack)

Mind you, doing the second method would require that you re-install A9LH once you get your system back from repair...

You could also use a combination of the above... that way if they just replace the screen you still have A9LH... if they replace the system you can still downgrade whatever version thanks to field runners...

Mind you, I don't know if anyone has tested this on an actual repair so this is just speculation...

 

[Biovirulent]

Maybe... but this isn't anything worth a repair over I would think, it's a small area on the corner of the screen, and it's mostly a minor annoyance. I was just wondering if anyone had a similar problem.

While using the 3ds, it almost seems as if playing it for an extended period of time causes it to expand, and not using it causes it to retract.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

My N3DSXL got dropped accidentally and now the lower left corner of the top screen has a bunch of "dead"-ish pixels, but the strange thing is that it sometimes fades and gets smaller, lessening the black pixels, but it also sometimes gets larger, expanding and covering more area of the corner of the screen. I don't quite understand what triggers the expansion and contraction of these "dead" or black pixels, but it's an annoyance nonetheless. Recently I accidentally dropped it again and the area moved ever so slightly to the right, leaving a part of the area where the "dead" or black pixels were, normal again.
I don't know if it would, but it started getting larger than usual lately, not dropping it at all and I was wondering if anyone ever had a similar problem, and if there's any way to fix or quell it from expanding?

Got a picture?
It's just a guess, but from the sound of it, it sounds like something got moved out of its correct position when you dropped the console (maybe a ribbon cable), and it's pressing on the corner of the screen slightly, or the screen itself got moved out of the correct position. If so then opening the top half of the console and repositioning everything should solve the problem.
It's also possible that the screen got damaged and you need to replace it.

 

[Biovirulent]

Got a picture?
It's just a guess, but from the sound of it, it sounds like something got moved out of its correct position when you dropped the console (maybe a ribbon cable), and it's pressing on the corner of the screen slightly, or the screen itself got moved out of the correct position. If so then opening the top half of the console and repositioning everything should solve the problem.
It's also possible that the screen got damaged and you need to replace it.

Everything else is working fine, so a ribbon cable shouldn't be the problem, right? I thought the ribbon cable was a really important piece.
The picture I have doesn't show it in good detail, but a few of the pixels in that little area are visible, so it's not completely black.
(Also the picture is backwards, hope that isn't a problem, lol)

Spoiler: Picture

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Everything else is working fine, so a ribbon cable shouldn't be the problem, right? I thought the ribbon cable was a really important piece.
The picture I have doesn't show it in good detail, but a few of the pixels in that little area are visible, so it's not completely black.
(Also the picture is backwards, hope that isn't a problem, lol)

Spoiler: Picture

That looks a lot like the corner has a very small hairline crack in it, so small you can't actually see the crack itself.

 

[Biovirulent]

That looks a lot like the corner has a very small hairline crack in it, so small you can't actually see the crack itself.

So what's this mean for the crack itself? Like I said, the black area occasionally expands and retracts, so is this something to be worried about in this moment in time?

 

[DanTheMan827]

So what's this mean for the crack itself? Like I said, the black area occasionally expands and retracts, so is this something to be worried about in this moment in time?

If it doesn't bother you I wouldn't worry about it...

Otherwise, your only option is to replace the screen (if it is in fact a crack)

 

[The Real Jdbye]

So what's this mean for the crack itself? Like I said, the black area occasionally expands and retracts, so is this something to be worried about in this moment in time?

My guess is that because that area of the screen has been weakened, due to the crack the LCD screen glass (or plastic) is no longer holding together the way it's supposed to, making it a bit "wobbly", and it's pressing on the liquid crystal inside, the area that is being pressed on by the screen glass is what you see as a black splotch, and when the screen glass "wobbles" the splotch can grow or shrink in size. If the crack develops further the splotch would increase in size permanently but I wouldn't worry about it for the moment. Be careful not to drop the console again though as it might cause the crack to grow.

 

[Biovirulent]

My guess is that because that area of the screen has been weakened, due to the crack the LCD screen glass (or plastic) is no longer holding together the way it's supposed to, making it a bit "wobbly", and it's pressing on the liquid crystal inside, the area that is being pressed on by the screen glass is what you see as a black splotch, and when the screen glass "wobbles" the splotch can grow or shrink in size. If the crack develops further the splotch would increase in size permanently but I wouldn't worry about it for the moment. Be careful not to drop the console again though as it might cause the crack to grow.

All right, thank you for your help.
I never try to drop it, haha. Just gravity doing it's thing...
And being a little clumsy.

 

[Zyteus]

Everything else is working fine, so a ribbon cable shouldn't be the problem, right? I thought the ribbon cable was a really important piece.
The picture I have doesn't show it in good detail, but a few of the pixels in that little area are visible, so it's not completely black.
(Also the picture is backwards, hope that isn't a problem, lol)

Spoiler: Picture

That would drive me completely insane.