Hacking What is this DS' hardwareproblem?

[willywillywilly]

I recently had to open up my phat DS because the touchscreen spazzed out. Seems there was dirt under it and I was able to fix it. But after closing the machine back up and trying to start my DS, I get nothing. :'(


I use:
- A phat DS flashed with Flashme (I dont know which version - but it is online compatible)
- A Supercard SD
- A slot-1 game (and Passme, for that matter)

What I have done prior to the problem:
- Opened the DS up
- Unplugged the ribbons of both screens+touchscreen
- Unplugged the antenna
- Cleaned up
- Closed it up again

Problem:
- Pushing the on-button on the empty system results in the DS slowly fading in the bottom screen and then suddenly shutting off
- Same with a slot-1 game or GBA game inside
- Pushing the on-button while holding Start+Select+A+B results in the green light staying on but nothing else happening - but the machine stays switched on (with no picture though)



So my questions now are:
a) What broke and how could I fix it? I doublechecked the ribbon cables and everything seems fine. I guess.

b) Would Nintendo still offer a replacement unit to me although I opened the system up and Flashme'd it? I'd send it to Nintendo Germany for that matter.

 

[imyourxpan]

you could send it back saying that the DS is not responding and they MIGHT do it because sometimes they don't check. somehow maybe if you can find out if there are any defects for the phat(idk any) and then recreate the defect, send it in saying that your ds phat is defective.

but, how old is your ds phat by chance? if it's more than you warranty, you can still pay and they will fix your ds phat to new. they will fix it, you just have to pay like 1/3rd of how much you bought the ds phat.

 

[dbgtdob]

you could send it back saying that the DS is not responding and they MIGHT do it because sometimes they don't check. somehow maybe if you can find out if there are any defects for the phat(idk any) and then recreate the defect, send it in saying that your ds phat is defective.Â

but, how old is your ds phat by chance? if it's more than you warranty, you can still pay and they will fix your ds phat to new. they will fix it, you just have to pay like 1/3rd of how much you bought the ds phat.

they charge a flat fee of $75 dollars for repair after warranty expires, so its 1/2 the price of a dsl basically.

 

[Devil_Spawn]

you didnt connect the top screen ribbon cable well enough

OR you damaged it

(for definite)

 

[willywillywilly]

I asked them and they'd charge 59€+3.50€(shipping) for me (living in Germany). What would happen if they found out that I opened up the system and also used Flashme? Would they trash the DS? I probably broke it myself after all.


But that aside, I'd really like to know what broke and how to fix it.

Could it have something to do with the fact that for the first time since I flashed Flashme, the DS had its battery removed and had a total reset? What would I do then?


I have no clue what happened. Help.

[Edit]
Thanks Devil_Spawn, I'll rerecheck that connector. I hope that's it.

 

[Devil_Spawn]

it happened to me, that is a surefire sign that the top screen is not connected properly, so the ds shuts itself off instantly.

it also shows that there is probably minimal damage to the rest of the system as it boots up fine (sort of)

make sure you push it in fairly firmly, then clip it back up without it slipping out etc

 

[willywillywilly]

No, all ribbon connectors are connected perfectly now. I also cleaned them with alcohol.

Could I shorten some pins on the ribbonconnector of the mainboard to make the DS think a topscreen is connected? This way I could make sure that the top screen is not the source of error.

 

[cory1492]

It's kind of a dumb question on my part, but are you sure you have the cable facing the right way up?

I know for a fact there is a pin you can short (not really short, but it fools the power chip into thinking the screen is there), but I'll be darned if I can find the spec on it. Someone had a broken top screen on their DS not that long ago, and wanted to use it for GBA only, so they had to short that one pin. Here is what I did find, from darkfader's site:

The bottom screen does not need to be connected as long the backlight contacts are bridged by a resistor (6K8 or so).

So if the backlight isn't coming on on the top screen, it could be a good bet that is the source of the problem.

 

[willywillywilly]

The cable is facing the right way up. Only the bottom screen fades in, so it could very well be that I broke the ribbon to the top half. Sadly I could not find any further info on which of the 51 pins are used for the backlight. :/

If I'd open up the top half now to find out more, I'd have to remove those little rubber protectors hiding the screws - and then Nintendo would never ever replace my unit.

Can I just send them my DS with a letter stating "It fell down and broke - here are 62.50€ for you" and they send me a new one, or would they first check if I used Flashme, opened the unit etc.? What would happen to the DS then?