Two separate 3DS hang when I close and reopen them

[Quaxo76]

Hello, my son and daughter both use their own original 3DS. Both have Luma and Godmode, and have worked for quite some time. Recently my daughter's console started hanging quite often when she closes and reopens it: it just shows both screens black, and the power LED is lit. She has to force shutdown and restart it (and often that makes her loose her game progress).
The firmware version is 11.16.0-49E, and Luma and Godmode are fully updated.
I can't use the standard way of checking the SD because I run Linux exclusively and can't use H2testw, but I tested the SD as thoroughly as I can by filling it with large files and checking the data using the md5 checksum.
I backed up the entire contents of the SD to my computer, formated the SD and copied the data back to the card, but the issue is still there.
My son's console started showing the same issue, though on his console (same hardware model and same CFW) it doesn't happen as often.
They almost never crash while actually using them. Only when reopening the console.
Any ideas, beside trying new SD cards (but I find it weird that both should get damaged almost at the same time)...

Thank you,
Cristian

EDIT: The power LED isn't "fully lit". It slowly pulsates between minimum and maximum luminosity.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

They almost never crash while actually using them. Only when reopening the console.

Almost never? If everything is working normally, there shouldn't be any crashes. It can happen very sparingly, but shouldn't on regular basis.

EDIT: The power LED isn't "fully lit". It slowly pulsates between minimum and maximum luminosity.

It does this in standby mode.
Maybe the magnetic switch isn't working correctly… wait: It wouldn't work after a reboot then.

I sadly have no idea what might be the issue here. What I did notice, is a increasing number of hardware problems with 3DS. They are aging and often worn.
Most frequent issue are the cables inside the hinge tearing (can't turn on, randomly turns off, randomly changes upper screen brightness, only works when opened to a certain angle).
The thing with the LED behaving like in standby is puzzling. →

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It doesn't sound like an issue with the SD (and not like a software problem – if it happens with all games, DS(i) or 3DS).
Still, for reference: No idea if h2testw fully works in wine, but there is F3 which does the same test.

 

[Quaxo76]

Almost never? If everything is working normally, there shouldn't be any crashes. It can happen very sparingly, but shouldn't on regular basis.

Yes, that's what I meant, maybe they get a crash every couple of weeks, if that (and my son especially, plays about one hour a day). I don't know if that's above average, but I find that acceptable.

It does this in standby mode.
Maybe the magnetic switch isn't working correctly… wait: It wouldn't work after a reboot then.

Well, it is intermittent; I mean I can sometimes open and close it 20 times in a row and nothing happens. Bot once it happens, it happens for good (no amount of opening/closing will get it back, until a hard power cycle).

I sadly have no idea what might be the issue here. What I did notice, is a increasing number of hardware problems with 3DS. They are aging and often worn.

Well, that's also to be expected, but these particular 3DS's have been well cared for, and it's weird that they both show a similar issue at about the same time. I also had it happen to my own new3DS XL, but it only happened once or twice, and that did not worry me...

It doesn't sound like an issue with the SD (and not like a software problem – if it happens with all games, DS(i) or 3DS).
Still, for reference: No idea if h2testw fully works in wine, but there is F3 which does the same test.

Thank you very much, I will try F3.
I actually haven't tried with DS games, nor with hardware games - only cia games. But I have several older original game carts, I'll try with one of those...

Thanks again
Cristian

 

[Quaxo76]

Just a quick update to report that the problem has been (at least partially) solved. After some research, I found other users mentioning that similar symptoms were related to the WiFi connection.
Sure enough, turning off WiFi stopped the crashes. Even better, after deleting the internet connection settings, I could turn WiFi back on, so we could play games together.
It's been about a week now, and I haven't had a single crash since.
It has to be something with the router configuration, since it's not likely that all 4 consoles broke at the same time. Weird that other, more modern, devices can connect to my wifi without issues.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Just a quick update to report that the problem has been (at least partially) solved. After some research, I found other users mentioning that similar symptoms were related to the WiFi connection.
Sure enough, turning off WiFi stopped the crashes. Even better, after deleting the internet connection settings, I could turn WiFi back on, so we could play games together.
It's been about a week now, and I haven't had a single crash since.
It has to be something with the router configuration, since it's not likely that all 4 consoles broke at the same time. Weird that other, more modern, devices can connect to my wifi without issues.

Awesome!

Thanks for telling. I would never have guessed it. 3DS behave so strange sometimes and never explain anything or report a meaningful error by default (CFW can do a bit in this regard).
Will bookmark this for the case anything like this happens again.

 

[jeffyTheHomebrewer]

Sounds like they're getting stuck in sleep mode. This has actually happened to me a few times over the years, my solution was to just hold down the power button until it turns off, then turn it back on. Honestly I thought it was the magnetic sleep switch acting weird, no idea it could've been a Wi-Fi thing!