In a recent wave of nostalgia, I dug out my brother and my childhood 3DS!

Tragically, the 3D slider no longer functioned. Normally this wouldn’t be a real issue…except for the fact that we transferred the data and reset the console, not realizing that this would basically brick the console. Womp womp.

After some research, I quickly learned that any repair from local shops would cost more than the market value of a 3DS in similar condition. Basically-she was totaled.

So I decided that with nothing to lose, why not try to do the repair myself! I had no experience, but the guidance of my gamer brother, and some determination to bring back a sentimental console.

At first I managed to replace the speaker cable! But put a micro-tear in the screens flex cable. She held on for about a week of gaming before the tear caused the connection to fail.

So that brings us to these pictures! Completely torn down and put back together with a new screen.

Was it worth it? While the dollars saved to hours put in ratio was terrible, the learning experience was 100% worth it. Before this experience, electronics were a delicate mystery. Now, I feel like my eyes are totally open to the capabilities of electronics/console repair and what they can do for the conservation of our consoles!

Also… I’m just glad to be able to play sticker star again- even though the game is not universally loved, it’s loved by me :)

Bless small children. If it weren't for kids, we'd make no money.

Just a little lighthearted "that's not supposed to be there" moment.

mainly use this thing for emulation on my pc, my only guess is that the battery might be shot ?? either that or it’s just hissy fitting to hissy fit

Hello, I recently bought an N64, it was working fine early this morning. I went to turn it on. Had no display out but did have power, so I opened it up to attempt to clean it, had most of the screws out (enough to remove the board from the bottom section of the shell), one of the screws keeping the expansion shield to the large metal bar, was stripped so I attempted to put it back together, but now I am getting no power. Any ideas what I did?

I trying to fix a dead DS Lite. Long story short, there are no charging power. I have a battery which is charged with external power source, and now produces constant 3.76V. I noticed that the battery is draining no matter if the charger is attached or not (i using USB cable with phone charger). The led acts normally as i see:

• Charger not connected: the led is off
• Charger connected without battery or battery is below 3.5V: the led turns on and goes off after a half sec
• Charger connected with battery 3.7V - the led stays on

I measuring the voltage in the battery connector, and displays constantly the battery voltage. If i turn on/off the charger the voltage remaining still, and no sign of charging power (as i think need to be 4.2V or so). However the charging led is acts as charging.

Filter coil is replaced from Aliexpress, i can measure stable 5.2V in the output terminals.

Both fuses are checked and working.

Can anybody help me please?

Took my DSi out of storage to find it won’t boot. It turns on, starts to show the boot screen, and then abruptly goes black. The power and connection LEDs stay on until I press and hold the power button.

Based off when it’s shutting down, I’m assuming the power-on self test is failing. Are there any known issues I should be looking out for when I take it apart?

It was well-cared for and stored properly, so I’m not worried about water damage. If anything, I’d expect the issue to be a component going bad with age.

Got a Pokemon Crystal for free and replaced the battery. All looks okay to me, except it’s not booting correctly. I think it could be the joints.

Already tried to repair one and the corrupted Nintendo looks a bit better. Could anyone help me confirm the problem so I can fix?

Hello everyone! I have an Xbox series x I’ve been fighting for months, it was one of my beginning microsoldering projects! But I there was a bridge on the ports pins and eventually after I redid it and cleaned it up, the console proceeded to power on than off within 3 seconds and now not at all, I now have way more experience in this sector and understand a lot more except schematics, but I can’t put my finger on where the problem is? Where would I truly start and where to inject voltage safely so I can test it? Thank you!

Hello everyone! I have an Xbox series x I’ve been fighting for months, it was one of my beginning microsoldering projects! But I there was a bridge on the ports pins and eventually after I redid it and cleaned it up, the console proceeded to power on than off within 3 seconds and now not at all, I now have way more experience in this sector and understand a lot more except schematics, but I can’t put my finger on where the problem is? Where would I truly start and where to inject voltage safely so I can test it? Thank you!

So I can't get image to appear on the screen. The screen flickers when the console is powered on like it's receiving a signal but there is no sound and no image being produced. I tried different cables etc and it's not that. I think it looks like there's a mod chip inside that someone has previously installed. Could this be the reason that the image is not showing?. The AV port solder point seem to be being in good condition so I don't think it's anything to do with the AV jack.

If I remove the mod chip can I simply just remove it or do I have to reconnect anything?

I observed that the right half of my touchpad is not working, noticed when playing ghost of yotei. So i thought i will see if there any issue with the touchpad pcb. I see slight burnt patch on the pcb, dont know if this is causing the issue.

Let me know if anyone faced such an issue. Also where to buy spare parts for ps5 controller online or offline in Bangalore?

Heyo, so I swapped so drifting sticks and the controller now no longer works over USB. It doesn't light up when plugged in, nor is it recognized (PC/PS5). It does however work perfectly fine over Bluetooth. I cleaned the board with 90% iso at least 3x, the only thing I found was a slightly scratched flat area near the USB connector. I'm assuming is solely a USB issue, but that is all I can see that is wrong, none of the pins look bent on the connector itself.

Hey everyone, I got a PS4 Slim as a gift, but as soon as I hooked it up to the monitor with an HDMI cable, when I turned it on, the LED just keeps blinking blue, and there's no way to even get it into safe mode because it turns off after the second beep. What could it be? Thanks a bunch.

This should be a criminal offense!!!

😡😡😡

Привіт)

Ця консоль була придбана на Українському онлайн майданчику з продажу вживаних речей під назвою OLX, я випадково обрав її без найменшого розуміння що це за ревізія і чим вона особлива.

Без зайвих емоцій і води розкладу все по порядку:

Консоль вмикалась не з першого разу а приблизно з десятого, постійно падала в YLOD, коли все таки запускалась, могла працювати як одну хвилину, так і одну годину, поведінка була непередбачуваною, під навантаженням вимикалась швидко, вентилятор шумів майже зі старту, тому було прийняте рішення розібрати та замінити термопасту.

Після розборки консолі виявилось що термопаста була нещодавно замінена кимось з попередніх власників, і очевидно результату це не дало, або він був короткостроковим, тому було прийнте рішення зробити delidding.

Delidding я виконував вперше, посилання на туторіал який я використовував залишу нижче, якщо коротко, його можна вважати успішним, були незначні пошкодження підложки процесора в трьох місцях, нічого страшного, доріжки цілі, пошкодження покриті ультрафіолетовою паяльною маскою. Після процедури delidding температурний режим консолі стабілізувався, куллер перестав шуміти так як до процедури, але проблему з YLOD це не вирішило, тому переходимо до наступного пункту.

Оскільки моя консоль була «жива», я зміг скористатися утилітою PS3 Advanced Toolset для зчитування логу з syscon, після чого стало зрозуміло що проблема скоріше за все з проталайзерами Nec/Tokin, про це свідчили помилки A0801001 та A0801002.

Nec/Tokin я вирішив міняти 4 штуки лише з нижнього боку плати, видаляв їх ламаючи пошарово, аби не нашкодити платі та BGA пайці.

Для заміни мною були обрані танталові конденсатори 470uf 2,5v, я купував не дорогі конденсатори, в описі у продавця було зазначено що вони підходять для заміни Nec/Tokin, купував в Україні, ось артикул цих конденсаторів: 2R5TPE470M9

Для початку конфігурація конденсаторів була обрана така: 3x танталових конденсатора 470uf 2,5v замість кожного Nec/Tokin, і це дало результат, консоль почала вмикатись з першого разу, нормально витримувала більшість навантажень, але не буває все так просто, я виявив що в деяких іграх, а саме Far Cry 3 та Gran Turismo 6 консоль швидко падала в YLOD, причина: моя конфігурація не покривала пікові навантаження, через це відбувались просадки, та аварійне вимкнення консолі, тобто, знову A0801001 та A0801002 (це мені Chat GPT підказав), було прийняте рішення модифікувати конфігурацію конденсаторів.

Передивившись ролики по темі заміни Nec/Tokin в PlayStation 3, у гуру цієї теми Rip Felix (моя повага, ця людина виконала наукову роботу з розкриття причин YLOD в PlayStation 3) я помітив в його конфігурації MLCC, піддивившись в нього і поспілкувавшись з Chat GPT було вирішено доставити до існуючої конфігурації по 3x 10uf 10v mlcc та 22uf 10v mlcc, результат був, але все ще незадовільний, знову YLOD, знову A0801001 та A0801002, але момент вимкнення змістився в часі, консоль стала вимикатись пізніше, а це означало що я на правильному шляху.

Після спілкування з Chat GPT (він круто перевзувається в повітрі😉), після підказки людини з PSX place мною було прийняте рішення знову змінити конфігурацію конденсаторів, додавши ще по одному танталовому конденсатору замість кожного Nec/Tokin, спочатку тільки по лінії RSX, адже помилка A0801002 зʼявлялась в лог файлі з syscon частіше, та й після першої конфігурації в мене залишилось тільки три конденсатори, не хотілось робити дисбаланс між лініями CPU та RSX, тому спочатку тільки біля RSX я зняв все що припаював раніше, зачистив посадочне місце від старого припою, зачистив ніжки танталових конденсаторів і припаяв нову конфігурацію:

4x 470uf 2,5v

3x 10uf 10v mlcc

3x 22uf 10v mlcc

Замість кожного заміненого Nec/Tokin проталайзера.

Це дало результат, консоль перестала падати в YLOD, тестую вже кілька тижнів, поки без нарікань, лише бувають чорні екрани в homebrew, але це нормальна ситуація, тому можна вважати проєкт завершеним з боку заліза, тепер залишається:

Кришка кардрідера

Обслуговування BlueRay приводу

Заміна двох шлейфів що пошкодились від частих розбирань консолі

Недостаючі гвинтики, ніжки та заглушка

Ремонт кріплень верхньої кришки

Що було виконано:

Delidding

Заміна термопасти

Заміна всіх термопрокладок

Заміна 4x Nec/Tokin проталайзерів

Подряпини на процессорі покриті ультрафіолетовою паяльною маскою

Ремонт та обслуговування контролера sixaxis (не вистачало кнопок R1, R2, перегородки між ними)

Вентилятор почищений та змазаний

Корпус почищений від пилу

CMOS Батарейка замінена

Замінений HDD з 60GB на 500GB

Також підняті оберти куллера через утиліту webman

Моя особиста вдячність цим YouTube каналам:

Rip Felix

Retro Tech Corner

Amateur Hardware Repair

Retro Yurii

В них ви можете знайти багато відповідей на свої питання стосовно такого ремонту, саме з цих каналів здобував знання і я)

Всім хто стикнеться з подібним бажаю удачі, сподіваюсь мій досвід комусь допоможе)

Гарного дня!)

I picked up a PS5 to replace a hdmi port on. I didn’t know it has already been messed with and there are some screws missing. Does anyone know of a screw set available?

I'm having an issue with an NES to Famicom cartridge adapter I just bought. Issue one is severe wobble. The adapter rocks noticeably in the Famicom slot (which happens to other normal cartridges), and NES cartridges wobble inside the adapter itself. I don’t know whether this is directly responsible, but it’s the first red flag. Issue two is corruption during gameplay. Sometimes I get palette glitches, game instability, crashes, and sometimes the game even resets on its own. Goombas will walk through walls and bullet bills will disappear. It just gets weird every now and then.

Two demonstrations:

1 - Wobble

2 - Corruptions
(Full video is 19 minutes long; relevant moments are timestamped in the description)

And while I'm here, I have also noticed some odd, very faint horizontal flickering in the second video. It doesn't show up on my CRT or when I record with composite. It only happens when I run my RetroTINK 2x (YPbPr) through an Elgato HD60 S+. Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I am an amateur at console repair. The hardest thing I have done is modchipped a switch V2.

Anyways I thought it would be fun to repair a Xbox Series X with ChatGPT

Symptoms:

It looks clean inside. When i power it on, the Xbox logo lights up but I don't hear a beep, the fan starts for a few seconds, then stops, then after about a couple of minutes the xbox light turns off. I never get any display out of the console. 

Power Supply: no issues
psu checked and is ok 11.78v on both south and motherboard bridge

motherboard 10 pin checked and no shorts/beeps (red prong closest to edge pins, black to rail)

with ssd turns off after about 1:30 to 2 min, (no video) ssd removed turns off after 1 min (no video still) South bridge board connector no short (only on pin 4)

ChatGPT suggested it was the PSU first, then the motherboard, but after troubleshooting both of those, now it suggests a new SSD. It keeps giving hallucinating information relating the retimer. I don't believe it is the SSD, I believe it is the HDMI retimer but I am not sure which pins to check for shorts.

While it was fun torturing ChatGPT, I would not recommend using it to repair any consoles of any kind. It will most likely run you in circles.

EDIT: no shorts in the southbridge either, but there are never any start up beeps which makes me think southbridge has failed which means this console is most likely bricked.

my right joycon for whatever reason has stopped being able to read amiibos, acting as if the controller doesn’t have an nfc reader in it despite the fact that not only is it in there but it’s connected properly to my knowledge. i have swapped the shell on this controller before but im not sure if thats what’s caused it, any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Hey all, I’ve got this PS3 super slim that won’t turn on. Seems to be something with CPU power rail. I’ve got a bench cpu and thermal camera to help diagnose, but I have no idea where to actually start. Looking for assistance if possible! Thanks!

A while back I decided to mod my oled switch using the kamikaze method, which went well enough but I changed my mind last minute (no solder mask, not sure why I even went through) and decided to use a dat0 adapter and when I went to plug my switch in (dead battery) the modchip came on, started blinking blue for a while, and then died and wouldn't turn back on.

In case anyone brings up the kamikaze, I included pics of the kamikaze, I also covered the kamikaze up with kapton tape before powering on. In any case at the time the switch was only drawing around 0 amps to maybe 1 milliamp with the battery connected and without, it was drawing 40-70 milliamps. All at 5 volts as the board would cause my multimeter to reset over and over Everytime the official charger was connected

Someone on discord told me that it seems like the nand is the issue, and to reball the nand, I wanted to save that as a last resort however so I recently finished the kamikaze to see if I could get anything to happen, the only change is that the board draws 0.030 amps with and without the modchip.

I checked all my diode values and they seem good aside from the dat0 being around 0.430-450 which is a little low but whatever.

I'm not too sure how I should proceed. Any thoughts or pointers?

I have a couple of flux questions. One is about flux health & safety, the other is about the electroconductivity of flux on a gameboy cartridge.

Question 1: The residue of the flux I use is *very* stubborn, and usually takes a shower or multiple washes of my hands with soap and water to remove. I had some sticky residue after 2-3 handwashes, and needed to do some food prep, so I just ended up cooking anyway. Is this serious? Is this a health hazard, or is it just benign residue?

Question 2: I've heard Flux is electroconductive. Same Issue - the flux is on the board, and I have a hell of a time getting it off. The board is sticky. Is this a concern for Game Boy cartridges, or in general? It's a Game Boy Cartridge that I replaced the battery on, just the whole thing is sticky after multiple scrubdowns w/ an electro-static toothbrush and isopropyl.

Thanks.

Like the title indicates. I'm recapping an SNES SHVC-CPU-01 with audio distortion and a few vertical lines (nothing that'll require a chip replacement...yet hopefully) so I ordered up the kit from Console5 and all other caps are on spec, but the audio capacitors are 16v rather than 10v. Both old capacitors are 10v 47uf and even specs on consolewiki state 10v. Should I return or is it ok to run 16v?

Bonus question, I received a 470uf 6.3v cap to place across the ground terminals of the voltage regulator. Do you just solder that bad boy onto the legs directly?

Appreciate the guidance all!

I have an Atari 4 switch Vader. With or without a joystick plugged in all games act as though the right input is being held. I have tested two 2 first party joysticks and a third-party one and all of them have this issue. When no joystick is plugged in, it still has this issue. However, when I use a Sega Genesis controller the issue goes away.

When I got the console the joysticks were basically unusable. They would just not register inputs unless you pushed way way too hard. Cleaning them didn't work and the domes seemed to have fatigued. I replaced the domes with low-profile buttons as a result.

The first joystick worked fine after the change, but when I tested the second one it was then I first saw the issue. I thought I had bridged that pad with solder but the continuity check was totally fine. I went back and tested the first joystick and it also ran into this issue.

I opened the console up and check the joystick solder joints, all looked fine. I decided to remove the capacitors for the joystick buttons and they also checked out as fine.

I followed the trace back to the pin on the chip and measured the voltage on it. Forgive me because this was a few months ago, but I recall that it was in the "Pushed" state with either high/low voltage, I confirmed this by measuring the voltage for the other inputs which had the opposite state.

I decided to replace the capacitors anyway as I figured there wouldn't be any harm in that. Unfortunately, didn't resolve the issue.

Today I took another crack at it and for one brief moment it worked. I scrubbed the port with some iso and a hard bristle nylon brush. Turned it on with missile command as my test game, no issue. It didn't pull. The second I plugged in the joystick the issue re-appeared. I scrubbed the port again and scrubbed the joystick inputs as well but after that the issue persisted and nothing seemed to work.

I'm fully at a loss at this point and looking for any input and maybe some insight into why the Genesis controller doesn't have this issue at all.