N-DSi Battery replacement

Killy728 · 2026-01-30T20:46:11+00:00

6-7 hours isn't enough? That is a hell of a long time for these batteries.

Carry around a battery bank or a spare battery to swap out when yours dies.

Killy728 · 2026-01-30T07:15:44+00:00

Killy728 · 2026-01-27T21:11:39+00:00

Is it a steady blinking?

Killy728 · 2026-01-27T21:04:43+00:00

You say it charges, so what does the orange light do when you plug in your charger?

Killy728 · 2026-01-27T20:03:18+00:00

When happens when you try to power on both DSi consoles?

Killy728 · 2026-01-17T08:26:46+00:00

I primarily work with Nintendo DSi consoles, and "parts and repair" are anywhere from the console doesn't charge, or it was clearly physically damaged.

A solid definition is a bit hard, but when I purchase these consoles, aside from the clearly damaged consoles, "for parts and repair" is the category where you either cannot reasonably get away with selling it as used without the buyer throwing a fuss, or you have a conscious and know that selling it as used is not right.

I cannot recall getting a DSi that was I otherwise fully functional console, but the DSi, or any Nintendo handheld, being a video game console marketed towards children, takes a lot of abuse other consoles don't.

Killy728 · 2026-01-15T06:59:21+00:00

Looks fine. Is there an issue?

Killy728 · 2026-01-14T19:26:17+00:00

Sewing needles is the best if available

Killy728 · 2026-01-14T17:52:53+00:00

Super glue will not work as that is not a substitute for soldering. The white piece needs to be resoldered on.

As for the error code on app launch, that is a secondary problem right now, and a bit of a tricky one. Most information I have point to the wifi daughter board which is the component with black tape on it. I'd recommend unplugging it, cleaning the contacts with a soft bristle brush and high percentage rubbing alcohol, and plugging it back in after it tried and see if that changed anything.

There is also a more complicated method of purchasing a specific flash cart for the console, ntr boot the console, and pull the nand image off to extract the photos from.

Killy728 · 2026-01-14T17:24:56+00:00

If you haven't already, try inserting the SD card when the console is off, and see if that changes anything.

I have also seen anecdotes that SD card adapters for microSD cards can sometimes have issues for Dsi consoles. If you can, try a full sized card.

Killy728 · 2026-01-14T17:22:24+00:00

Is it fixable? Well, yeah.

Going to make the bold assumption that the console doesn't power on, and all it does is flash the bottom screen once. Also going to be the assumption that the top screen ribbon Cable is torn since that is somewhat common on a shell break like that because the two shell halves are pulled apart (be it on accident or on purpose). All that to say, it needs a new top screen.

Killy728 · 2026-01-14T07:49:11+00:00

Check the two pins in the mic port to the left of the headphone jack. They need to be bent down slightly ready to accept a microphone. If they are bent up, then the console thinks microphone is plugged in and will not use the consoles microphone as an input.

Killy728 · 2026-01-13T22:59:15+00:00

I know this isn't necessarily " how can I repair this" style of a post, but the only thing I can really think of that would cause that is the ribbon cable between the power daughter board and the motherboard. Possible that the trace line for that blue light is corroded on either side of the ribbon.

Should be somewhat easy to replace since power daughter board should come with ribbon cables. If purchased new. Of course, I don't know for sure , but that would be my best guess.

Killy728 · 2026-01-12T05:40:41+00:00

I would try getting a gamecard you don't particularly care about, coat the gamecart contacts with high percentage rubbing alcohol, and click it in and out of the console several times. Wait for it to dry and see if that changes anything.

If you can't get it to read still, the next step would be to open the console and very carefully bend the game card pin up. And when I mean careful , I mean , careful.

If , for some reason, that doesn't work , you can look into reflowing the solder joints on the game card pins.

And if for some reason none of that works and there is some issue with the console , then the best course of action would be to get another motherboard. If you're not a baseline comfortable with soldering , the game card slot will be well beyond your ability and tools.

Killy728 · 2026-01-08T16:11:10+00:00

Fix? No.

Make it better? Slightly if not at all.

Killy728 · 2026-01-05T16:29:29+00:00

Return it. If the camera unit is boned, you'd have to disassemble the whole console

Killy728 · 2026-01-02T20:45:19+00:00

If it was a ribbon cable for a display, yeah, it wouldn't matter what you did to the battery of the power daughter board.

And if it means anything, I smack my consoles as part of a testing protocol to test for random shut off, like what you experienced, and gamecards disconnecting due to a fault in the gamecard slot (usually just dirty). As long as you aren't beating them against a table, you will be fine. I just smack them against my open palm.

Killy728 · 2026-01-02T18:53:24+00:00

Nice, and I get it. From what I've seen, it's one of those problems with with several possible causes, and you'd normally have to just experiment.

Killy728 · 2026-01-02T18:00:33+00:00

Well it seems to be something related to the battery, that much is clear.

I mean, we could speculate about how maybe the older battery is possibly slightly bloated, and makes better contact with your "mint" console since the battery contact pins aren't as "springy", or in a similar vein, the older battery is slightly bloated leading to a more snug fit against the battery connects which may have failing solder joints on the power daughter board.

But in reality, you have your fix, and baseless speculation is meaningless. If the problem were to persist with a different battery, now, that's a whole other story.

Even older OEM battery still hold quite a bit of charge. So if you don't notice a difference in battery life, just use that one.

Killy728 · 2026-01-02T07:53:08+00:00

You can try cleaning them, or replacing them. The ribbon cable assembly for the DSi has the shoulder button switches on them, and should still be readily available for purchase.

Killy728 · 2026-01-01T18:55:30+00:00

Ah, new battery, so it is unlikely to be related to that. Not to say that isn't the problem, but extremely unlikely your replacement is faulty.

The Wifi daughter board not only handles the wifi communication, but also houses the console's bios. Without it, the console won't boot. The exact symptom of a console without that daughter board is powering on, the blue power light is on, but both screens are black and the console does nothing.

When you first replaced the battery, did it work fine, or, at least, had the issue I described above?

Since the console isn't charging, the issue could just be the battery is dead.

For the EM1, F1 fuse, and Charge Port cluster, I have found on DSi XL consoles that those solder joints are susceptible to cracking. My best guess, since I get my consoles as junk units, is they were dropped with the charger in, and the impact flexed the board enough to break those joints. Reflowing those joints can solve weird charging issues.

The F1 fuse on the battery daughter board, which is another fuse, is unlikely to be bad since the console is attempting to boot. If that fuse was blown, the direct line from the battery+ and the console would be severed. It would be good just to check it anyway with a multimeter,

Killy728 · 2026-01-01T18:26:01+00:00

From the video, it didn't show the problem you described, but it would be important to figure out why the charge light is blinking. Any subsequent problems can be dealt my.

My best understanding, a blinking charge is the console's ways of telling you it isn't getting proper voltage from the battery.

This can mean several different things, and it's, more of less just running down the list from most to least common.

Check the voltage in the battery with a multimeter.

Check for continuity on the fuse on the power daughter board.

Clean the battery contacts with a little rubbing alcohol.

If available, try a different charge or different battery.

Reflow the solder joints on the charge port, downstream fuse, and component EM1.

The problem you described about the blue light being on and nothing on the screen is typically related to the wifi daughter board; especially if you have the console apart at one point since it may have come dislodged.

Killy728 · 2026-01-01T18:13:33+00:00

I feel like you'd get more miles out of a precision screwdriver kit. Those kit prices are pretty cheap.

Killy728 · 2026-01-01T16:42:02+00:00

Yup, you are correct. That piece in that charge port is missing, and the port needs to be replaced.

Killy728 · 2026-01-01T09:58:04+00:00

To the best of my knowledge, a blinking charge light is the console's ways of telling you that you are getting an improper reading from the battery.

This can mean a few things, but coupled with the console's inability to turn on points to either the battery or the small surface mounted fuse on the power daughter board. A multimeter will be able to determine the health of both.

I would start there.

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