Here's Why The Nintendo 3DS Was A Nightmare To Work On
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- The Nintendo 3DS released back in 2011 and as they started to break it became clear that fixing the system wasn't for everyone. Many stores would turn away repairs that went too deep into the system. Today we'll take a look at what repair shops would stay away from and why the 3DS is a nightmare to repair.
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#Nintendo #Nintendo3ds #TechWave - เกม
Every single 3ds that I have repaired at my old job was a nightmare. Because every person always broke the top screen. They never broke the easier to take out bottom screen.
Because the bottom screen is protected by glass (i like the glass digitizer better than the plastic one because my ds lite had the plastic one and i scratched T.F out of it playing bejeweled 3 on it and the glass ones you clean and the scratches come out the plastic ones they stay in)
I'm trying to replac the bottom screen in one that I own. The top has to come out to replace the WiFi antenna cable tho
My top screen broke too haha
i broke both...
F
Nintendo: "I'm sick of taking everything apart just to fix the top screen!" [Makes 2DS]
New 2ds: hah sike
But you don’t have to split it in half
Izakurakagel Aeros the hinge idea was always kind of bad to me, the hindges will break over time and I understand it makes it more portable but portability isn’t really as important as your system breaking
charles thomas i also have the OG DS singe it’s Release in 2005 and no hinge issues whatsoever. Same with the lite and the dsi
Tobias Brockmann well my lite had that issue, just because you don’t have the issue dosent mean no one else has dealt with it. I had a red ds lite that I loved more than anything, then eventually it broke🤷♂️ THE END.
Honestly don’t know why you replied
Really makes admire the amount of time and effort put into manufacturing and assembling a 3DS, still have my 2011 model and never knew how complex it was inside!
Most of the development team thought the console would be impossible to mass produce the shells alone, actually fitting everything inside would be even harder!
Back in the days, ppl was afraid they need to solder. Now they afrait to puzzle ribbon cables back in xD
I can't wait until ribbon cables overtake soldering in the radio controlled vehicle hobby.
@@CaveyMoth nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo i HATE RIBON CABLES
@@nathanmead140 YOU CANNOT ESCAPE! EMBRACE THE FRAGILITY!
I'm TERRIFIED by even the thought of opening an electronic/console, let alone a handheld 😂
same. I bought Nintendo Switch and I don't want to know what it has inside
@@shibba2517 Switches don't look that bad to deal with tbh as most of the errors are to do with either the game cart slot or charging so most of the time it's going to be 1 of 5 things and they are all readily accessible
Charge control chip
Battery
Charge port
Cart slot
And the one that's the pain in the ass the audio video chip which unfortunately is under the motherboard so you have to basically disassemble the entire thing to get there to even check it
And the battery is a pain because the thing is stuck in there with adhesive you can get it out easy enough it's just a massive pain in the ass
@@shibba2517 Honestly the Switch and Joy Con aren't too difficult as long as you have tweezers and patience
@@codo8584 fuck those ribbon cables
@@godisgay2725 I mean you do need patience to deal with them, they are mighty small
I wish I took apart my old controllers and consoles back in the day when they stopped working... so I’d at least know how they work and junk
Bounty Hunter Kakuzu same here man.
I constantly took things apart when I was a kid. Now that I have a kid that does the same I realize why my parents were in a constant bad mood.
@@CDRaff haha yep. No doubt.
I traded in my little blue 3ds that looked just like this so I could get a 2dsXL and I wish I hadn't I miss the little guy. I wanted a 3dsXL but when they told me it doesn't come with a charger and they woudln't take my 3ds without my charger I said eff and got the 2dsXL. Is Nintendo actually trying to sell less 3dsXLs or something? Now that I think about I do not remember any other Li-Ion charged handheld coming out without a charger WTF was Nintendo thinking? Lol why do we always become sentimentally attached to our inanimate objects?
I wish i didn't so i didn't have to buy new ones for nostalgia sake lol
It's amazing how much Nintendo crammed into the 3DS. So yeah it's a complicated mess inside.
Also GameStop doesn't always format the systems, I had a friend get one with the old owner's data still on it. Even better another friend got a 2DS ad GameStop, the recharged "refurbished"... Which stopped functioning when my friend updated his firmware... Because it turned out the system was hacked with custom firmware. So yeah, GameStop shouldn't be allowed to call anything refurbished, when they don't even flash the firmware to factory default on a soft modded system.
Softmods are cool (i have one on my DSi)
A Wii U I bought from gamestop had 3D World on it and an SD card with an outdated files for the Browser hack exploit.
Are there Even DSi and 3DS Without any cfw out there anymore?😅
@tobiasbrockmann2398 Yes, my DSi XL, and both 3DS's I have aren't modded in anyway. I want to keep it in its original state
@@ShadamyLover15why?
When I read "work on" I thought it meant "develop for" which would have been weird to me considering all that I've heard about 3DS development...
As for repairs, yeah, the charging port on mine is coming loose too, which is just one of the reasons why I want to upgrade to a New 2DS XL...
I can relate so terribly... I’m really new to working with electronics and wanted to have my first take at a refurb on one of my 3ds. It went terribly- I didn’t completely understand what I was doing, as most of my experience was with the bottom half. I also used a hairdryer to loosen the adhesive on the top half of the system and just about burned my fingers. To top it off, I didn’t notice the handy slit in the center joint and thought I had to fit the ribbon cables through the hole in the top and the bottom halves of the case. Needless to say, I destroyed the ribbon cable connecting to the camera and the thing never came back together right. It was a Learning experience for certain and I regret choosing the 3ds family as my first challenges as a developing technician...
You need to put an anxiety warning before this.
If you want to know anxiety when disassembling a console, check out the Panasonic Q. Compared to that, this looks simple.
Although yeah, there is a lot to do in the 3DS in such a small space, kind of like the Gamecube.
everytime you film here, i imagine you laying down on your back and the boxes are actually on the floor instead of hung up
makes the video better
It is sooo cool seeing you take this whole thing apart and then put it back together for it to work as intended. You are a genius sir.
😂😂
The case of "of course there's customers here, so it's worth the trouble".
Definitely my favourite channel very informative and no e begging
@Toran Dulaney u a D!## to one of my favorite utubers
@Toran Dulaney ive noticed that alot of people dislike Wood, i just casually watch him so im not really a fan. can i get some genuine examples of e begging? like i don't pay attention to stuff like that alot so i can't think of any off of the top of my head.
it's a shame how RgT85 tried to steal his news style videos.
I never have the original 3ds before,but glad that I have the new 3ds xl to see bigger screens.
Nice video by the way spawn.
( I would love to see you take apart the new 3ds xl. and probably test out how long will the battery lasts such as Wi-fi off,3d off,volume off,auto brightness off,brightness to level 1 & powersave turned on )
You bought the one that didnt come with a charger? I got the 2dsXL instead.. I hardly ever used the 3d thingy on my regular 3ds anyway.
@@Andronicus87 Yeah. ( I wish nintendo did add a charger from new 3ds systems,but they worry about the cost )
I hate to ask : How many hours does the new 2ds xl battery can last ? ( in the lower settings such as brightness level on 1 , volume off and auto brightness off...including wi-fi turned on )
@@RedRabbit08 about 4 and half to 5 hours on full brightness on lowest brightness 8 to 8 and half hours. I always have wi fi turned on.
@@Andronicus87 Wow,nice. ^_^
I just sure hope nintendo will keep hanging on to their 3ds/wii u online service a bit longer,so I can spend time playing online games with friends. ( without paying the online service like the nintendo switch )
TerriX Zero unfortunately probably not. I’d say it will be gone by 2020 but maybe Nintendo will surprise us.
I've really enjoyed all of these tech waves. Taking a look at the other 3DS models would be cool to see how the system was revised over time. Some of the older Nintendo consoles and hardware would be cool to look at, too, like the N64 and the rumble packs and memory packs for it.
Do the 3DS XL, man. I think these vids you are doing are a real confidence builder for us average tech savvy folk. Like you stated, I too would love to see a really in-depth 2DS XL tear down. I’ve done few of my own repairs successfully, and these no holds barred, no bullshit are super fascinating and really inspire me to dive a little deeper.
Thanks for the great content and news, dude!! Keep it up!
👍🏻
Looks like a crime scene to me
GUTS EVERYWHERE!
It looks like my ex wife. -A mess, I mean! Not guts!
My daughter had one of these, (my wife and I have the XL). She broke the top screen. I am accustomed to modifying controllers and consoles, so I figured I could replace the screen. I bought a new screen and got it all apart and back together, mostly. I forgot to run the ribbon cables through the hinge so they would lay flat and at some point they got twisted. On my second attempt to remove the cables, they broke. RIP that system.
I like how your videos are like pros and cons about tearing down whilst tearing down
threading those three ribbon cables through that damn hinge is such a nightmare.
This is weirdly nostalgic for me. I did a full housing swap, plus screen and camera replacement, when I was about 15 or 16. Those three cables were a PAIN, I think feeding them through in the right order took me about an hour iirc.
The system ended up having a parental lock on it, and the previous owner refused to tell me the code :(
My 3DS stopped working due to a micro tear in the speaker system ribbon cable where it goes through the hinge (actually quite a common issue). I tried for years to fix it as a kid, but to no avail. As an adult, I finally had the courage and experience to completely disassemble my system and pull out the faulty cable and order a new one on ebay. Working on and modding other handhelds like the GBA and GBA SP along with the OG DS really helped me out and the whole thing was easier than I expected. Currently, the system is in part baggies while I wait for the new cable from china, but hopefully once I get it I can FINALLY revive my system after almost a decade of sitting useless in my closet. (Would not recommend for beginners... experience and patience is KEY.
Damn 236k subs!! Great Job. I've been off TH-cam for a while now but I remember you at 40k subs in like why isnt he bigger cause your content is great. So I'm happy to see you grow!
Same I have been here since he was a brand new channel.
I am late (maybe i don't know how to see when i subbed)
you should make a video about how to clean the L/R buttons, im tired of blowing into them to get them to work
Yeah, I have accidentally broken the ribbon cable of my joystick and the digitizer screen.. Now I am currently waiting for my replacements to arrive.
I’m taking on my first disassemble/reassemble of a 3ds to replace the speaker ribbon cable and totally clipped the top screen ribbon cable lol. It’s a labor of love to do this work, that’s for sure!
I love taking apart consoles I put a translucent green shell on a DS lite that was broken and its just on a shelf looking cool now.
Wow, that was really impressive work, you really are a pro!
Back in 2016 I straight up gave up repairing my circle pad. I have stripped 4 internal screws. 4 damn screws.
dropped my 3ds when it slipped out of my sweater pocket while replacing something on the ceiling landing on hard tiled floor just inches from carpet. would've made a difference if it did. immediately checked to see if it was ok from the fall and it wouldn't power on properly. the screen would just stay solid with the back light lit and the 3d feature wouldn't function. at this point i thought 'this is it, i've lost everything on the system' decided to take it into my own hands by repairing it myself. long story short--turned out i had to unplug/replug the wifi adapter once i opened it and it worked like a charm. not sure what the wifi adapter has got anything to do with the 3d function let alone function at all.
3DS shell swap was my first real refurbishment project on a console and god damn was that a nightmare lacking proper tools. The good thing is know everything I've done since is like a cakewalk haha
Ha was a pain just to put a SD card in lol well on the 3DS XL
You are talking about the NEW 3DS XL. The "normal" XL has simply a slot on the right side.
That's the NEW 3DS. The New 3DS isn't the 3DS. The New 3DS is to the 3DS what the GBC and DSi were to the Game Boy and DS. It's a hardware upgrade with exclusive games.
Wait, dontcha just take two screws off the back and the slots right there?
@@JazzyWaffles i wonder if the New 3DS XL is as annoying as this one - spawn took the New 2DS XL apart and had to pretty rip the front of to get to the screen
@@pushlive I've taken apart original 3DS, old 3DS XL and New 3DS XL models, though I didn't have to take apart the top half. Both XL models were considerably easier to work in than the original. After the original they optimized the design a bit so there are fewer fiddly little parts you have to deal with, and being larger there's more room to finesse the ribbon cables back into their sockets.
No wonder when I asked for my 3DS top screen to be fixed it came back as completely black instead lol.
A couple years ago my son dropped his 3ds XL on a tile floor and the top 3d screen broke. Went online and saw a replacement screen was only $40 so I ordered it. When it got in a few weeks later I realized I had a much harder job than I anticipated. I'm not an expert, I just know enough to be dangerous, so I watched a video on how to take it apart and figured out the rest. It took me a couple hours, 40 min of work and the rest of the time cursing at those damn ribbons rolled up in the hindges. I'm kinda proud that I fixed it though.
I've had my original 3DS since April 2011 (before the eShop opened).
The only problem with it is that the headphone jack's busted. I *could* send it in to someone who knows what they're doing but I simply didn't find the time to do so
I have a 3DS and the top screen has a small scratch in the left side. Well, it is going to stay that way. I can't believe how people can assemble it in the factories. It is a complicated mess! Nice video though but I wish you could show the assembly in normal speed too.
The top screen on my kids new 3ds quit working and I debated on trying to repair it. But after watching this I can see that itd not worth me trying.
Still have a huge backlog on my 3DS. So many RPGs and they all take sooo long to finish
Whenever I see an Aqua Blue 3DS, I always go "Why tf is it so dark?" And then I remember that my 3DS is a Japanese Light Blue variant.
My 3DS XL's lower shell broke, around the control stick. I ordered a new part for the shell, but in my attempts to replace it the ribbon for the top screen got cut. So I had to order a whole new top screen as well. That hinge is a real troublemaker.
Bro I Was Concentrating So Hard To Find The CPU/Processor & GPU Inside The 3DS That When I Paused the Video I Fell Asleep...Had A Dream I Was A Computer Hardware Engineer...,Then Woke Up & Here I am 2 Hours Later Phone In Hand and soon as I Look At The Screen,.. Bang... CPU In My Face lol. Never Could Locate The GPU. Never Saw Inside One Of Those So Im Just Guessing The Little White Square Was A Processor Of Some Sorts. Im Just So Fascinated With Computers & How They Work. I love All Those Videos Like This & How You Explain All The Parts.
I just swapped several parts between 2 midnight purple 3ds's. Made a near flawless 3ds. It's not as bad as he mentions, you get the hang of it. Getting the ribbon cables i say is were you need to take your time.
These things probably have a crazy number of manufacturing steps compared to say a modern smartphone where it's just a slab with a single board and a screen.
The assembly line to build one of those must have been nothing but hell. I can just imagine the biggest sigh in history of Foxconn, when Nintendo sent their schematics for the Switch.
I had to replace a Digitizer last week for a friend. It was hell to get the ribbon cables to the top screen back on haha. Almost broke the SD card slot off as i forgot to attach the screens ribbon cable, the metal solder broke off on one side but luckily still works. In the end the battery was a dead one so im having to buy a new one 😰
it's incredible how much engineering goes into this original 3DS model. The switch lite is an incredibly simpler system: only one screen, no sliders, no cameras! I hope i never need to open up my original 3DS!
I spent all my money getting the 3DS when it launched. I didn't have wifi at the time, so I got super burned when they cut the price.
I would like to see the New Nintendo 3DS XL for sure. I've wondered what is inside it, but I don't want to take it apart and break it.
I enjoy watching your teardowns and the explanations of the parts, design issues or pluses, or the cpu gpu memory specs of things.
I think what I need to see is how to put it back together. Next time can you go fast in the disassembly and then slow for the assembly.
Thank you for doing this, i had been contemplating opening mine up for a while now but after watching this that'll be a big bucket of nopes for me!
Congratulations on your transformation spawnwave!
I've done this once and can confirm that it was really irritating. Took me maybe 5 hours in total, because I derped around with some cables.
3ds xl black screens some times come on and works for a little while then bottom screen goes black with yellow lines and screams at you. Or comes on and doesn't recognize a game in slot. Then back to black screens with blue light.
Which one is the worst, the regular one or the New models? Regular size or XL? I got a a New 3DS XL recently and I'm scared to ever break something on it, it's impressive how those "cheap" consoles are so complex inside, do you guys know if they're built entirely with robots? I hope no humans has to manually slide those ribbons in the hinge all day long, what a nightmare. Props to you for doing this so "casually" on a system that doesn't need repair and actually rebuiilding it immediately afterwards, that's very high dedication, I'm in no way good at this but I've swapped a battery on a smartphone from 2017, managed to do it without breaking anything, those are all glue and tape inside it's really scary when you do it for the first time but those ribbons in the hinges? I don't think I would attempt that, it's like surgery and when you don't know from lack of experience the amount of strength you can put on each type of components, each step is nerve breaking!
Im totally trying this with my old 3ds, I already got a new one but my old 3ds has a special place in my heart and I got nothing to loose by trying to find why it stopped working :/
I was able to bumble my way through fixing the left shoulder button on my launch 3DS with no hiccups. Trying to repair the launch 3g vita on the other hand is a pain in the ass yo
This is also why it's so good. All these parts work together to make one of the best portable things for gaming we've seen. (not counting it's own improvements like 2ds and Pro)
I am actually amazed at the amount of stuff in there!!! Kinda makes me regret selling my original 3ds when I upgraded to the newXL :-/ ...Great video as always!
I took my 3DS XL apart and took the 3D slider out this was before the 2DS as a thing so technically I had the first 2DS before it finally died two years ago.
Can you do a Vita next?!?
Those are easy
There So Not Easy Nathan Mead... Go Ahead... Send Him A Video Of You Doing Just That lol
@@Treydizzleo7 why do you begin every word with a big letter?
My Phone Just Does It Automatically. Im Sure I Could Turn It Off.
@@Treydizzleo7Iol
John, your videos should be in the Smithstonian; they are classics that pay respect to their source material.
Also, can you open up a Vita?
Screw the 3DS.
I tried to fixed my 3DS XL Top screen and ended up ripping 3 speaker cables someonehow and stripping 70% of the screws.
But hey, at least it still charges.
And I've got to replace the top screen in my 3DS...as the parallax barrier is cracked (rest of the screen works fine).
Just got ahold of one of these (the black) after building a GBA. Gotta say this looks a bit more involved but it needs a good cleaning and a new Dpad so it must be done.
How is it now?
@@archivushka got a replacement Japan ice white shell and buttons coming for it.
The screws are so small, I wanted to unscrew the 3ds but couldn't because all my screw drivers were too big for it
I've noticed you are able to get into things pretty quickly with that screwdriver.. must be all that practice repairing top screens.
My launch day black 3DS still works like a charm 😊 I’m glad it does cause I’ve had problems with all of my other DS systems in the past. I don’t know what changed with it but it’s still as good as new and I’ve never had to buy a new DS since
To replace the top screen you have to somewhat destroy the top black plastic layer, hmm that's a big no for me
Kobalt brand has a nice Electronics Screwdriver kit.
It just doesn't work with the GameCube screws, the Hexagon ones, also probably doesn't work on the SNES cartridges, really hard.
I've got an ugly red 3ds in great working condition with a weak hinge, and a jacked up black 3ds with a great hinge, but all the problems are in the bottom half. i've been thinking of pulling out the insides of the black one, and putting the bottom half components in there, to have a better looking, better folding handheld over all.
I broke the upper screen of my XL because I was trying to replace the bottom screen that it had broken when I tried to replace a broken ginge (I didn´t had a service in my country). Now I have a perfect working 3DS XL with a red tint in the upper screen :/
So no, don´t try to fix it yourself.
Run some Virtual Boy roms on there LOL
Damn this is such a great series I love watching you open these consoles up
Is the gameboy advance sp 101 any easier to repair?
Disassembly of gameboy SP's aren't too bad. Was there something wrong with your SP or was it just a general question?
frizzykid100 just want to change the scratched screen and battery
Yes and i will be doing some mods on mine so i could make some videos while doing that
I opened up my New 2DS XL following iFixit's guide and everything went smooth although putting ribbon cables back in place was annoying. Then I got to this one ribbon cable where the latch wouldn't lock down. Turns out some of the connectors (three or so) on the motherboard once opened can't be latched down again. This wasn't mentioned anywhere in iFixit's guide. I had to superglue the one I opened very carefully.
I still have my og 3ds it was a tank. need the circle pad replaced as the circle pad covering started to come off.
I see everyone saying to use a 2mm Phillips head but my 3ds has three sided screw holes. What do I buy?
I own one of those, then an old xl, and now a second hand new3ds, I still believe that the first model was the most beautiful and portable, if they only made that version with the super stable 3d, I would have bought it immediately
A+ work sir! Such skill! Very impressed.
What about opening up a PS Vita Original 1000 model? I feel the Vita deserves some dissecting as well.
There looked like there was a lot going on in the 3DS. I can understand why when you said, people don't like dealing with them. By the way, what's the name of the track used when putting together the 3DS and the end of the video?
These type of vids are awesome, thanks 👍👍
Another great video. Very informative. Thank you.
I've done a few of these myself....
When you first start working on these they are a PAIN.
However, now that I am used to it, I am pretty decent with it 😁
I noticed you didn't mention or say anything about the left or right shoulder buttons stop working. My 3DS's right shoulder button stopped working a lil less then 2years ago & it's been very frustrating for me not being able to play certain games like Ice Station Z & and this Submarine game that relie on the right bumper(exclusively to fire weapons) & there's no button mapping to change it. So I hardly ever play my 3DS now, & when I mostly play Pokemon or Final Fantasy IV , & Team Kirby Clash Deluxe because they don't heavily on the shoulder buttons. But that's all. Now even my left one is starting go out but still works. I tried to fix it but didn't want to open the system all the way so I just left it alone.
After resoldering the power port, maybe add a lil hot glue behind it for extra support?... :)
I had the black model. I bought mine one day after the ambassadors program ended...and sadly I paid the full price....and didn't get in...one of the Nintendo decisions that almost killed it.
Your content is top notch my friend!
Great job/video. I'm all up for a challenge, but I'm certain I would've been working on that thing for at least 2 days, no kidding. Yikes!
I think that you might need a magnetic parts tray to put the screws and other parts into.
I actually took my 3ds completely apart and put it back together again so I could get a black one... yeah
also, it's not a Phillips head, it's a JIS. You'll strip them with a Phillips.
When rubber ripped off the circle pad on my o3DSXL, I ordered a custom replacement (one metal and one matte plastic) and then replaced the analogue stick myself after watching some tutorials. Not that difficult. I used the other one to swap out the stick on the circle pad pro. Swapping over Joycon shells wasn't that bad either.
I'd be interested in any of Nintendo's handhelds for a tech wave.
My 3DS still works! But if it broke down at some point, I would be screwed because you lose your entire Streetpass Mii Plaza data and you'd have to go back to Square One!
StreetPass Mii Plaza is Good For Nothing at best, but what killed it is that there's too many Puzzle Swap puzzles added and the other minigames are nothing more than gambling!
And what's going to happen to Nintendo Network? We're never too old to let everything go!
Is that why geek squad gave me a new dsi when my top screen broke.. also the dsi they gave me wasn’t the Mario special edition that we sent for repair :(
Nice job!
I'd like to see you year down a New 3DS XL. I have one and it may want a few repairs soon. The joystick is getting a little sticky. 😶
I have an original blue 3DS, the charging port doesn't work (I use a Niko battery and change it through a dock) the digitizer has dead zones, the top screen has a line of dead pixels, both speakers don't work at all. I don't even remember how it got so bad, my DSi is in pretty good condition, anyway I use a New 3DS now and I've kept it in mint condition but it's sad seeing my original 3DS, it still works it's just faulty
I replaced a touchscreen on a 3DS first try and it worked perfect.
And here I thought replacing the DS Lite's upper LCD screen was bad...