iFixit - Answers With Device "Nintendo DSi"

Nintendo DSi: My Dsi XL got wet.

Wed, 24 Sep 2014 17:49:01 -0700

The screen will blink once then turns off, the battery looks like it has a little corrosion on the conectors the red indicator light blinks when connected to charger but when I push the start button it goes to blue for a split second then turns off. Should I replace the battery?

⟐ Answered Eylül 24, 2014 at 17:49 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Why does my screen flash white and turn off

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 16:41:56 -0700

after i managed to change the bottom screen using your guides i now have another problem where the console wont stay on and all i get is a quick white flash then it shuts down what is wrong?

⟐ Commented Şubat 10, 2025 at 16:41 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: My Nintendo DSi Device Won't Turn On or Charge

Fri, 03 May 2024 10:46:46 -0700

Hi!

I found a used Nintendo DSi in a second hand store in perfect physical condition. When I tried to turn it on, the lights and the display turned on for a second or two, so I assumed the battery was simply dead from inactivity. There was no charger or pen with the device. Still, the price was right and the device looks great, so I bought it, thinking that I'll have to replace the battery only.

When I came home and hooked it up to my charger, nothing happened.
I left it there for an hour, but it did not start charging, even the lights wouldn't turn on.

I took another DSi that I own, put the battery from the new one in it and it works. Also, my old DSi was able to charge that new battery without issues.

The new one won't turn on or charge the battery.

I opened the new console to see if there's anything wrong in there. I'm no expert by any means, but the board and all the pieces look okay to the naked eye.

I decided to post here in hopes that someone might have suggestions that I could try to fix my new DSi. I also attached some closeup photos of the board as well as a video, which might be helpful for someone.

Any help is much appreciated! Let me know if I can provide more information or pictures.

Thank you!

PHOTOS: https://imgur.com/a/agcoHEa

YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/gmQyVQYKX6k

⟐ Answered Mayıs 03, 2024 at 10:46 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Why is my R4I not working?

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 22:18:50 -0700

When i load up my R4I game it doesn't seem to work, it only says, " An error has occurred. Press and hold the Power Button to turn the system off. Please see the Nintendo DSI Operations Manual for help troubleshooting". I looked at the manual and it did not help... Does anyone know how to fix this?

Please help :)

⟐ Answer edited Mart 28, 2018 at 22:18 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: My DSi will not turn on or charge

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 08:33:58 -0700

First, i dont want to hear anyone tell me to call nintendo.. second the battery is not the problem so forget about that.. third i disassembled it the other day to fix a seperate problem and when i turned it back on it wouldnt work.. an orange light blinks when i charge it and then i press the power button with the charger in and the blue light turns on for a second but the screens dont do anything. It is completely unresponsive when it isn't plugged in too

⟐ Answer deleted Ağustos 27, 2013 at 8:33 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Indicator blinking orange, no power

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:09:19 -0700

I am also having the same problem after i opened mine since blowing didn't work. i have checked all the connections and looked at the connectors on the battery bit (black and red are in) is there any other way to fix this problem?

⟐ Answered Temmuz 16, 2012 at 13:09 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: power socket smashed need replacement

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 07:22:44 -0700

My nephew brought me his nintendo dsi and the power socket on it go smashed somehow and it is unusable. I have bought the replacement part which is said to require soldering but can find no guide anywhere (pictures or video) on this matter. Can someone give a detailed description on exactly how to go about this. Thank you.

⟐ Answer edited Şubat 05, 2011 at 7:22 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: DSi "The device inserted in the SD Card Slot can't be used."

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 23:53:55 -0700

As the title describes, the DSI unit I'm working on isn't able to read SD cards, displaying the following error when trying to access them via the Camera app. Here's what I've done so far:

Replaced L/R/SD card flex cable with new cable.
Swapped DSI backplate (with flex cable) with a known working system.
Tried several SD cards, re-formatted both with the standard file explorer and the official SD card formatter. Can confirm full function with known working DSI.

At this point I'm almost certain it's a motherboard problem. Based on the rust in the system, (none on the flex cable contacts, mainly on the game cart reader) I'm willing to bet it's suffered water damage and now the motherboard can't read SD cards at all.

At this point I would just go ahead and perform a motherboard swap, but my client specifically wants this board fixed to get their childhood photos off the unit. As far as I know, the SD card is the only way to go about doing that, right?

Two questions:

Is there any chance I could fix this problem on the motherboard?
If not, can I get the photos off the device in any other way?

So I'm throwing in the towel on fixing the problem, but on a good note I figured out a different (albeit slow) way to get the photos off the unit. You can exchange photos over wireless within the camera app if you have another DSi. What I ended up doing was transferring all the photos from the broken unit via this method to an SD card in another working unit. I then transferred the files off the SD card to my client.

⟐ Commented Şubat 12, 2025 at 23:53 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Bottom screen flashes, then console turns off

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 02:58:27 -0700

When I try to turn my DSi on the bottom screen flashes then the console turns off. After doing some research, I learned that this is because there's an error with the top screen connection.

I bought this off eBay for repair practice, so I don't know the history but there does appear to have been water damage in the past. I have cleaned the affected areas very thoroughly, and as far as I can tell they're as clean as I can get them. I also checked the top ribbon cable for damage but my untrained eye couldn't find any noticeable tears. And I've reseated the connection more than once, but the issue persists.

Here's what the area looks like now: https://imgur.com/a/0uigG79

Before I commit to replacing the top screen entirely, is there anything else to check for?

⟐ Commented Şubat 12, 2025 at 2:58 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Buttons not working past the first screen

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 01:53:07 -0700

My dsi has been sitting not being used for a few years now, i recently booted it up because i want to get my old pictures off of it. I turn it on and can get past the first "touch screen to start" screen but after that i can't navigate or anything, shoulder buttons still work because a popup shows up when i click them.

⟐ Commented Kasım 13, 2024 at 1:53 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Why is my NDSI touchscreen looks distorted?

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 15:54:08 -0700

I just grab my NDSI from my old box where i keep my things inside. The last time i use it is around 2-3 years ago. When i check it, the touchscreen looks like this:

The screen looks distorted, the color looks like a negative effect, and in some game scene it'll flickering. I remember when i was younger before i left the dsi, i used to open the Shell and take a look at the inside (i know it sound dumb. Curiousity just driven me, haha). And when i close the Shell, i accidentally take off the screen ribbon. Then i gently put it in the place. I'm not sure if i might tear it or break it, or maybe it just loosen up.... After close the Shell it used to looks fine, i experience this just by now. What do you guys think?

⟐ Answered Ekim 05, 2024 at 15:54 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Type of/Screw size dimensions for battery case of the Nintendo DSi

Thu, 30 May 2024 18:14:44 -0700

Hey, I have recently been swapping out some batteries for my DSi, testing to see which lasted the longest. This made it so that I had to open my battery case multiple times to swap them out and now the screws are stripped, and I can no longer fully tighten the case. I can't seem to find any information on the screws themselves, but I was wondering if anyone knew the exact type/name/measurements of these screws so I can buy a bunch of philips replacement ones?

⟐ Commented Mayıs 30, 2024 at 18:14 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: How can I fix this battery connector?

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 14:22:07 -0700

This battery connector is sunk, that's why I can't turn on my DS

(Sorry if someone already posted a question like that, I'm new)

⟐ Answer accepted Temmuz 23, 2023 at 14:22 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Removing Micro SD Hack from DSi

Sat, 08 Apr 2023 09:54:24 -0700

Hello! I know this isn’t really a “repair”, but I was wondering if it was possible to remove hacks from a DSi? I was thinking about buying a DSi but it has games downloaded on a micro SD. As a retro game collector, I want all original versions of the games. If I remove the micro SD, will the console still function normally?

⟐ Commented Nisan 08, 2023 at 9:54 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Dsi touch screen stopped working

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 15:30:52 -0700

My dsi's bottom screen worked and had touch screen however the top screen wasnt working. So i opened up the dsi and unplugged and plugged in the top screens ribbon cable and that fixed the problem. So now both screens worked, however, the touch screen on the bottom screen stopped working. I would love answers.

⟐ Commented Şubat 22, 2023 at 15:30 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Can the 3ds game cart reader be soldered in the dsi board?

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 13:55:56 -0700

My dsi stopped reading game carts, so I took a toothpick and lifted the "door" in the game cart reader in order to see the pins and they were bent (like 6 or 7, I also took it apart in order to make sure it was that), so I looked online for replacements, but I only found very expensive ones (I don't live in the us and purchasing on ebay isn't that reliable because of the shipping cost) and the only cheap one I found was a 3ds cart reader that looked almost the same as the dsi cart reader. Replacement cart reader images here.

⟐ Commented Ekim 06, 2022 at 13:55 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: How do I replace charging port?

Sun, 11 Sep 2022 04:04:14 -0700

the charging port on my dsi is broken how can i fix it without destroying it?

⟐ Answer unaccepted Eylül 11, 2022 at 4:04 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: DSi won't turn on, but charging light still seems to work.

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 08:12:28 -0700

I hadn’t used my DSi for many years, and when I decided to power it up again it wouldn’t turn on. The charging light would light up solid orange when plugged in, and would eventually turn off after charging for a while, but still wouldn’t turn on. I decided to look online and figured that the problem was simply a dead battery. I ended up ordering a new one and replaced it, but the problem still wasn’t fixed. I don’t remember it going through any major water damage, but I did drop it quite a few times. Is this problem fixable? Any help would be appreciated.

⟐ Commented Nisan 15, 2022 at 8:12 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: Bottom screen colors become dull over time?

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 11:30:18 -0700

It's not a life-or-death situation since it isn't my main console anymore, but one day I was fiddling with the ribbons and noticed two tiny screws(or resembled screws) on the SD Card ribbon (the ones that are visible just above the battery when you pop out the cover), and lost them. The touch screen works perfectly, but the colors on it gradually become dull to the point that the palette almost looks photo-negative, and is hard to see. Is there some way toto replace the small metal discs that were previously there?

For clarity, this is the affected area:

EDIT: Previously, I had tried to insert a small piece of rolled-up aluminum foil, and poked it through the holes so it touches the tiny contacts on the small circuits, and have had success as the colors go back to normal when I press down on the battery cover, but I need a more reliable fix.

⟐ Answer accepted Ekim 24, 2021 at 11:30 GMT-7

Nintendo DSi: My DSI will not power on, not even on wall power.

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 07:23:12 -0700

When I try to plug it in, it displays a solid orange light and after a while the light turns off. Please help!

⟐ Answered Temmuz 16, 2021 at 7:23 GMT-7