iFixit - Answers With Device "Nintendo Game Console"

Joy-Con: Analog stick on both joy-cons having issues after replacement

Sun, 24 May 2026 16:20:50 -0700

Hey all, I replaced both analog sticks on my joy-cons due to drift. Now, when I turn the controllers on, the right stick is jittery, and the left stick is unresponsive when pushed to the left. Both act totally fine if you operate the sticks in any direction (any other than left for the left stick) and have no issues with game play. But if changing grip, the issues come back after the controllers have been turned off and reconnected.

I've tried calibrating the sticks multiple times, I've reset the switch, I checked for updates to the controllers, and with the right joy-con, I've had it apart multiple times looking for the issue and have cleaned a few connectors and double checked that everything is installed fully and correctly.

The replacement sticks were purchased here, through iFixit, so I don't have any spares (other than the originals...).

Could it just be lemon analog sticks, or am I missing anything?

⟐ Answered May 24, 2026 at 16:20 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Does this sp have some kind of mod?

Sun, 24 May 2026 16:16:52 -0700

I noticed when I opened my SP I saw that there was soldered something to it. I know that the system is region free so that can't be it unless it could be a overclock mod maybe. Can I remove this?

⟐ Commented May 24, 2026 at 16:16 MST

Joy-Con: Right joycon disconnects when far from console

Sat, 23 May 2026 08:10:47 -0700

My right joycon works perfectly, but only very close to the console, when I move less than a meter from the console it disconnects... I can't understand

⟐ Answer accepted May 23, 2026 at 8:10 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL 2015: Recently replaced the circle pad and is now drifting

Fri, 22 May 2026 01:01:22 -0700

Today, I received a replacement circle pad from iFixit and installed it. The installation went fine, and the circle pad is more or less recognized by the console. However, it doesn't register my inputs and pushes to the left as hard as possible. Will I need to find a new one? I spent $21 on this...

Update: I've wiggled the cable around a bit, and now left and right work, but up and down don't register at all.

⟐ Answered May 22, 2026 at 1:01 MST

Nintendo 3DS 2015: My New 3DS turns on and then off with a popping sound.

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:35:47 -0700

After spilling around a third of a cup of dilute orange juice back in 2016, when I turn on my New Nintendo 3DS, the blue light comes on for about three seconds and then the bottom screen flashes for less than a second and instantly turns off which is accompanied with a popping noise. The humidity sticker near the battery is untouched and when I disassembled the New 3DS there were no signs of corrosion or water damage to the motherboard. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

Update 2026: Board pictures. No noticeable corrosion to the board and the water sticker is undamaged. The flap for one of the touch screen ribbon cables is missing, but the issue I'm having was present before breaking that off. Continuity for caps on the board seems to be fine after a quick probe. I should mention that when the console came into contact with orange juice, the top screen failed with bottom screen still working for a bit. Cannot remember if it died or I turned it off and turned it on again.

I have swapped the top screen before in an attempt to fix it with no progress. The bottom screen flashes - I've read online that this indicates its okay and it would be the top screen that is the issue hence why I replaced it - and the power board has its LEDS working. Not sure where to go from here.

Here are pictures of the speaker ribbon cable assembly.

⟐ Commented May 22, 2026 at 0:35 MST

Nintendo 3DS 2015: 3DS doesn't charge or work unplugged, but sees the battery fine

Thu, 21 May 2026 05:13:04 -0700

[It's USB-C modded, fiy]

Recently, I've decided to pick up my New 3DS to play some Picross, and noticed that it wouldn't power on. I tried charging it over night, but it still wouldn't work, I assume it never charged despite turning on the charge light.

I checked with a multimeter and the battery only showed 1.2v, so I'll assume it's dead dead.

As I've been waiting for a new battery to arrive, I've been playing it with a power bank attached.

Today, it arrived, and the 3DS doesn't turn on with it. It sees the battery, it shows it's fully charged, but when I unplug the power bank, it immediately shuts off.

I don't want to assume I have a new dead battery just yet, but I haven't opened it just yet.

Pertaining to the USB-C mod, it's only become an issue now, despite around a year of using it, it charged the battery just fine.

Edit: Here is a picture of my board and mod. It's not the best, but I'll get a better one when I can

Edit 2: I think I have found the issue... Those cables aren't meant to be crimped, are they?...

Edit 3: I have tested what I presume to be both F1 and F2 fuses (it's the ones surrounded) and they appear, at first glance, to be nominal. There's a slight voltage drop in the F2 fuse (from 4.3 to 3.7 volts), but not being sure about nominal voltages, I'm assuming they're fine.

⟐ Commented May 21, 2026 at 5:13 MST

Nintendo Switch Lite: Switch lite screen misaligned

Tue, 19 May 2026 07:22:38 -0700

Hi, my switch lite screen is misaligned and looks wonky. How would I go about fixing it? Is it possible to do without opening?

⟐ Commented May 19, 2026 at 7:22 MST

Nintendo Switch: Crashes when not plugged in, works fine when charging or on dock.

Mon, 18 May 2026 22:26:54 -0700

my brother switched out the batteries for both my switch and his switch light, his dosent have this issue but mine will crash when playing a game or show the low battery signal when it says its at 100%, but only when its not plugged in or on the dock. when not plugged in, it crashes in at least 30 seconds and has been doing this for about a year, (from what I remember) with on and off playing I havent noticed it because I mainly play it docked, but I got tomodachi life and need to use the touch screen for a lot of things. I can still play it plugged in but I would just like my switch to not be broken <3 no ammount of Reddit or internet searching has given me an answer or even another case of this problem so Im not sure what to do :( anything helps, thank you <3

⟐ Commented May 18, 2026 at 22:26 MST

Nintendo 3DS: How can I reattach a ZIF connector latch if it broke off?

Mon, 18 May 2026 08:15:53 -0700

So, I broke 3 of the clasps off. Joycon, two of the bottom screen ones. How can I reattach them? I’ve looked at tutorials but the thing about 3DS ZIF connectors is that THEY ARE NOT BUILT THE SAME (see image)

How do I reattach a ZIF latch with this odd port? Do I have to take the ports off and solder new ones on? I want to get my 3DS up and running again.

Here’s the images of the ‘damage’

Also, here’s how the latch should normally look while it’s on.

⟐ Commented May 18, 2026 at 8:15 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL 2015: Blue light turns on but nothing else turns on

Sun, 17 May 2026 21:27:45 -0700

I took apart the system to replace the XYBA button contacts and then after putting it back together the system had an issue with turning on and then turning off with a pop. I have since fixed that problem by replugging some cables however now the system blue light turns on while nothing else does. If i charge the system the orange light will turn on but will immediately turn off upon turning the system on. If I remove the sd card the blue light turns off immediately instead

⟐ Commented May 17, 2026 at 21:27 MST

Joy-Con: buttons are Non responsive. Joystick works fine.

Fri, 15 May 2026 16:52:55 -0700

Opened my joycon to swap shells (which I’ve done countless times) only this time, when I reconnected the battery the buttons do nothing. All of them are not responding, except the joystick.

⟐ Commented May 15, 2026 at 16:52 MST

Nintendo Switch: Getting the 2162-0002 error message when microSD card is inserted

Fri, 15 May 2026 01:25:46 -0700

If a microSD card is inserted I get the error message 2162-0002. With the microSD card slot empty everything works normally. I tried to switch the microSD card module, without success. The module works in a different switch and a working module give the same error when connected. This is a picture of the connector as I was not able to identify any faults myself (unless this spec in the middle on the left hand side has any meaning?).

Edit:

Was able to clean it with a toothbrush. Still getting the same error

⟐ Commented May 15, 2026 at 1:25 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL: Nintendo 3DS XL, won't start.

Fri, 15 May 2026 00:50:57 -0700

Hi guys, I'm having a problem with my Nintendo 3DS XL.

The Nintendo was shipped to me completely disassembled, so I reassembled it and replaced the top display (the flat panel was visibly damaged).

I charged the Nintendo and the charging LED lights up correctly, but after charging it for over an hour, the Nintendo won't turn on for any reason.

When connected to the power supply, pressing the power button turns the charging LED off and back on within a second; no flashing displays, no sound, nothing.

However, when running on battery power only, no LED lights up, not even for a moment.

I think I can rule out damage to one of the displays, since from what I know, if one of the two displays is damaged, a white flash should be visible on one of the displays.

I checked fuses F1 and F2, and they're OK.

I've unplugged and replugged all the flat cables and the wireless card, but the problem still persists.

The only oddity is the battery voltage. Specifically, when I insert the battery into the contacts, it reads 4.1V correctly. When I press the power button, the voltage drops to 0.85V and stays there until I remove and reinsert the battery, returning it to 4.1V.

I removed the SD card, and there's no play in the card slot.

I should point out that there's not the classic blue LED and black screen problem; no LEDs light up, except the charging LED.

Can anyone tell me what the problem might be? I've been stuck in this situation for days now, and there doesn't seem to be a way out.

Thank you all for your time.

⟐ Answered May 15, 2026 at 0:50 MST

Joy-Con: How can I just get the joystick without the tools (that I already have

Wed, 13 May 2026 06:14:57 -0700

how can i just get the joystick both L and R

without the tools (that i already have)

⟐ Commented May 13, 2026 at 6:14 MST

New Nintendo 2DS XL: Turns off with a pop but not right away

Mon, 11 May 2026 22:55:23 -0700

My 2ds xl has been having issues since I modded it however I recently fixed them all. When I turn on my console it turns it will run games it overall works. However if you push down on the front of it It’ll shut off with a pop. I took out some screws in the motherboard but then put them back. I don’t believe that is the issue though because I loosened them a little. Please help me I don’t want to be in constant fear of squeezing it too hard and it turning off.

⟐ Commented May 11, 2026 at 22:55 MST

Nintendo DS Lite: Won't read cards.

Mon, 11 May 2026 15:24:29 -0700

I can/have done a hard reset and reset my parameters but it will not read that there are any cards installed. I have tried all of the cards I have. It has a new battery and is charged.

⟐ Commented May 11, 2026 at 15:24 MST

Nintendo 3DS XL 2015: Why won’t console charge the battery but will turn on

Sun, 10 May 2026 22:25:39 -0700

I just replaced the charge port and the console will say that it’s charging but the battery won’t actually charge, the only idea I have left is to replace the power board

⟐ Answered May 10, 2026 at 22:25 MST

Nintendo Wii: Where can I find 3D print files for the GC port covers?

Fri, 08 May 2026 14:09:33 -0700

So my Wii's GC port covers are broken, and I want to 3D print some new ones for it. The only problem is, I can't design new covers because the original ones aren't in good enough condition to use as a reference for CADing. So then I checked all of the 3D print file websites I know of and searched to see if anyone had already designed them, but I couldn't find files for new port covers on any site I checked (Thingiverse, MakerWorld, etc.). Does anyone know of a site that does have files for these port covers?

⟐ Commented May 08, 2026 at 14:09 MST

Nintendo 3DS: One of the screws is stripped

Fri, 08 May 2026 12:49:10 -0700

One of the screws on the bottom cover of my old 3DS XL is stripped and won’t turn. I’ve tried applying a small amount of superglue to a very thin flathead screwdriver, but nothing seems to work. I need to fix it so I can open the system properly and easily remove and insert my SD card.

⟐ Commented May 08, 2026 at 12:49 MST

Nintendo Switch Lite: Help identifying FPC connector ribbon

Fri, 08 May 2026 06:57:14 -0700

Hello everyone!

I recently started my soldering journey and decided to step up buying a faulty NS Lite.

The assessment from the vendor was no power, no charge, no LCD. I tried soft reseting and suddenly I was getting weak power draw instead of 0.

After some time it was able to reach 15V, 0,46A and 6,94W. The battery is at 4.1V so it looks healthy.

Upon eye inspection I noticed that the 29 pin FPC connector that sits right above the battery connector was missing the white cover that holds the cable in place. Under the microscope I noticed some damage to the FPC connector pins inside it. Checking the ribbon cable confirmed this since I could see some lifted traces in the cable due to the connector.

I have identified that I need the 29 pin FPC connector but I am having trouble identifying what ribbon cable is this. I am seeing everywhere daughterboard, Left pad and these names and I feel lost. Would appreciate some directions <3

⟐ Answered May 08, 2026 at 6:57 MST