Hardware Swapping motherboards (banned device)

[Pokepicker]

Hi there.

I just have one question before I start fiddling with swapping motherboards:
I assume all device info and stuff like that is stored on the MB?

I just got myself a new N3ds XL after the recent banwave.
The first thing I noticed was the utterly gross colors on the new device. After being spoiled for years with a nice IPS screen, I cant unsee the washed out colors I'm currently faced with.
So I'm concidering on moving my MB from my new device, into my old one.
But I figured it would be smart to make sure all would be fine. So I don't end up doing the operation "for nothing".

 

[Deleted User]

Why not just swap the screen? swapping the motherboard is waay to complex in comparison

 

[Dionissa]

i need a new MB, how do you get yours?

 

[Pokepicker]

@LiveLatios Do you happen to have a guide I could follow?
I found a guide for swapping motherboards at iFixit. Supposedly 15 steps and a 10-15 min job.

I couldn't find a guide at iFixit for the N3DS upper screen swap, but looking at the old 3DSXL guide that seems even harder and more time consuming? Linky

@Dionissa I would have mine from a new console. I do see eBay listings for 3ds motherboards tho. You could take a look there.

 

[juan_3579]

I think it would be better to swap the motherboard if you are more comfortable with ZIF connectors (just don't break them). However, I recall a thread where the screen connections for IPS and TN are different. So either way, it may end up being moot, I'm trying to find the thread that mentioned this.

Edit: http://gbatemp.net/threads/has-anyo...d-and-tn-lcd-on-new-3ds-regular-nonxl.441425/

Seems like it might only be a problem for non-XLs.

Edit 2: Ignore what I said earlier, swap the screens, it will most likely be easier.

 

[invaderyoyo]

@LiveLatios Do you happen to have a guide I could follow?
I found a guide for swapping motherboards at iFixit. Supposedly 15 steps and a 10-15 min job.

I couldn't find a guide at iFixit for the N3DS upper screen swap, but looking at the old 3DSXL guide that seems even harder and more time consuming? Linky

@Dionissa I would have mine from a new console. I do see eBay listings for 3ds motherboards tho. You could take a look there.

I strongly recommend switching motherboards and not the screen. You have to peel off the little sticker things covering the screws to swap the screens. There's no way of doing this without damaging them.

 

[Deleted-19228]

Why not just swap the screen? swapping the motherboard is waay to complex in comparison

Swapping the screens is significantly more difficult. The motherboard can be swapped in under 10 minutes.

 

[Deleted User]

Swapping the screens is significantly more difficult. The motherboard can be swapped in under 10 minutes.

i never did anything like this, so i thought that the screen would be easier

 

[Deleted-19228]

Usually that's the case. The bottom screen can be swapped easily. The top screen has a ribbon cable that's fished through a hole kind of weird. If you do it wrong you snag the cable and can fray it and cause damage.

 

[Pokepicker]

Ok. So we all agree I should swap the motherboard and not the screen.
If done correctly, the 3DS should just boot up as if nothing had happened? And I would no longer need to have the urge to vomit over the gross colors on my TN screen?

Also @invaderyoyo has a point. Removing the stickers that cover the screws is not desirable.

Edit: Came to think of another question. Does anyone have a link to a vendor that sells JPN motherboards? Maybe I could drop that into my new (TN screen) N3DS. Might as well make use of it I figure.

 

[SaffronXL]

Motherboard swapping is much easier than replacing either screen, those who say otherwise have never done it. There's a lot of parts, but there's nothing particularly difficult about it, just don't lose anything. Also some of the connectors are locking/unlocking ZIF, while others don't have any lock.
I was following some decent looking N3DSxl USA mobos on ebay, but they all sold out after the banwave, I'm guessing for the time being they'll be hard to find, irrespective of region.

 

[Dionissa]

i want to buy a motherboard for replacement, does anyone knows how i can find it?

 

[TariqSoftDev]

STOP , someone tried this before, YOU CANNOT swap a IPS Screen motherboard with a non IPS the screens draw different power amounts, IPS draws less and TN draws more , Just dont swap either they are NOT compatible

 

[nero99]

Why not just swap the screen? swapping the motherboard is waay to complex in comparison

have you ever tried to swap the screens? a mobo swap is easier than tearing apart the whole system.

 

[Deleted User]

have you ever tried to swap the screens? a mobo swap is easier than tearing apart the whole system.

i never did anything like this, so i thought that the screen would be easier

You didn't read enough of the thread

 

[SaffronXL]

STOP , someone tried this before, YOU CANNOT swap a IPS Screen motherboard with a non IPS the screens draw different power amounts, IPS draws less and TN draws more , Just dont swap either they are NOT compatible

Replacing a bottom TN with IPS worked fine for me. Nintendo isn't going to make 2 seperate mobos for the different screen types, that would increase costs and defeat the point of using the different screens.
Also IPS definitely uses more power, not TN.

 

[Pokepicker]

Now I'm in doubt.
I know the IPS screens draw more power then a TN screen. But I find it hugely inefficient to make four (4) sets of motherboards, and also keep track of which motherboard goes into which device from a manufacturing standpoint.
Yes, it should deplete my battery quicker. But I'm used to that since I have been using a IPS device since release.

It already seems to be "at random", what screens you get. I just can't imagine them having up to four (4) different SKU's of motherboards and keep track of them depending on what kind of screen they selected to use this day.
1 mobo for upper IPS and lower TN, 1 for IPS/IPS, 1 for TN/IPS and 1 for TN/TN.

I'll hold of this surgical operation until I get some confirmation. But I do find it strange.

Edit: Also looking at eBay for spare motherboards, I can't seem to find listings noting if they are TN/IPS, TN/TN, IPS/TN or IPS/IPS compatible. This lends credence to my suspicion that they are interchangeable.
Do note that this is for the XL model, not the smaller one.

 

[SaffronXL]

Yup, they're all the same, those saying otherwise know nothing about electronic design or industrial manufacturing practices.
In theory IPS uses more power, but the variances in efficiency per sample are certainly greater than that theoretical generalized difference.
Edit: Sorry that I previously implied that the power draw difference is significant between the 2, it's not and you won't notice any difference. Swap away.

 

[TariqSoftDev]

Sorry about getting them the wrong way around but sometimes it the motherboard actually does matter, someone using a NES edition couldn't swap in a IPS without mobo swap as the screen refused to start.

 

[Pokepicker]

@TariqSoftDev Are you sure that that someone didn't damage any cables or something like that during the procedure? I even contacted one of the vendors of MB on eBay regarding the question. He again supposedly contacted his supplier who said they where interchangeable.

I also see a few japanese "SuperFamicom N3DS XL" editions being made into PAL/US versions. I'm sure they could all just have been lucky, but I find it more likely that the one person who didn't manage it screwed up somewhere.

I'm not trying to be harsh. I'm just trying to understand how it would even remotely make sense to have such an advanced production line.