Hey Guys, I've a strange one for you: I was given 3 DS lites today, all from the same family , none of which are reading games. The family has a young child who is taking the blame for the damage but no one knows what happened to them. The DSs turn on fine, play GBA games but just wont play DS games. Here's what i have tried: I've tried every cartridge i get get my hands on, none of them a reconised. I've tried wedging a piece of paper in with the games to see if it helps the make contact, I've opened the ds and inspected the pins the best i could, they all seem fine. I've measured the voltage between pin 8 and ground and its 3.3v (what it should be) I butchered a N5 cart and soldered some wire from the cart contacts to outside the cart to test were the pins making contact with the ds games, bar one or two not wokring the rest are, but i'd say that more down to my poor attempt at making the particular tester than them not touching! Any one have any suggestions? Might try replacing one of the slots if i get a chance over the next few days. Appreciate any help you can give, and sorry about the long post! Thanks
Look closely in slot 1. Pins are probably bent or sprung. They should look straight and parallel like a comb. If they aren't, it's got to be repaired by Nintendo or the logic board must be replaced. You will not be able to replace the slot. The slot one housing is heavily shielded and soldered and cannot be easily removed. Another possibility is that the logic board is fried. Same repair scenario.
The DS has two fuses to hopefully prevent frying the batteries and circuit boards, F1 blown - DS won't charge, F2 blown - DS slot to board protection so it will not detect game cards. The fuses change position on the different board types but I would look at this fuse and see if it blown before scrapping them. Changing a surface mount fuse can be fun tho. Hope it helps
I'd say that well could be it! I've examined the pins and they are definitely fine. I'll try this later on in the week and get back to you. Edit: Actually thinking about it thats not it. A blown F2 fuse would mean the DS wouldn't turn on, but thanks for the suggestion Thanks for the replies guys!
No with F2 blown the DS looks and turns on fine, both the fuses do not stop the DS turning on - they are both just to protect the motherboard from the plug in components in case of a short / bent pin F1 - is usually located near the power socket (on DS Phat it is on the other side of the board NOT on the side you see when turning on) F2 - located on the right hand side of the card slot Both fuses are marked on the circuit board F1&F2 F1 is a common one to fail - several DS's a week on ebay with this fail to charge fault, you can buy the fuses from industrial suppliers like RS. Ds Games fail to load can be a bad pin, the fuse or if the fuse failed to blow in time it can take out the motherboard. If the fuse has blown as a temperary fix, to check if everything else is OK you can desolder the fuse and short it out with a solder blob or piece of wire. The replacement fuses are 603 style surface mount - 500ma.
