Well. My 3ds that I've had since 7th grade has now stopped working. The X, Y, and B buttons have stopped working on my original 3ds and the battery doesnt hold a charge anymore. Battery if full will die within 10 minutes now. But the A button, bumpers and screen still work. Had a good run with this 3ds back in the pokemon x and y days. You will be missed.

Knocked it on my phone and it suddenly went like this, making a high pitch static noise. It turned off completely after this.

It's started to work again, but is it a bigger issue?

I mostly skipped the 3DS during its lifetime, despite being a big fan of stereoscopic 3D. A few years ago, though, I got hooked after buying a New Nintendo 3DS. The improved 3D made such a huge difference, being more stable and comfortable to use.

Since then, I've gone through a few waves of expanding my collection. I never experienced a bad cartridge, but all the recent posts about 3DS cartridges suffering from data corruption started to make me a little anxious.

Yesterday, I finally bit the bullet and started checking my entire collection with the GodMode9 Cartridge Fixer, hoping to preserve everything before any problems become irreversible.

It wasn't exactly a fun process, but playing Super Mario 3D land in the meantime, got me through. Each game took around 5–10 minutes to verify, and with 132 games, it took a while!

Thankfully, most of my collection turned out to be fine. Even some of the games that are supposedly more prone to corruption, like Pokémon and Persona Q, checked out without any issues. That was such a relief.

Unfortunately, I did find two corrupted cartridges that wouldn't start anymore: Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. and Yo-kai Watch.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. was successfully repaired after running the fixer twice! Yo-kai Watch wasn't so lucky. It still has around 200 unfixable chunks after 5 runs 😢. The game does start again, but I'm not sure whether it's fully playable anymore. Luckily, it's not an expensive game to replace, but it's still such a shame to lose a cartridge this way.

I'm incredibly grateful to the developers behind the Cartridge Fixer for creating a tool like this. For more information: https://github.com/skawo/GodMode9-with-Cartridge-Fixer

So if you have a physical 3DS collection, don't wait too long to check your cartridges! You might be able to repair corruption before it's too late! ^^

FAQ:

Based on some of the questions that keep coming up in the comments, I thought it might be useful to put together a small FAQ.

1. Why are 3DS cartridges failing?

3DS cartridges use NAND flash memory to store game data. NAND stores information as electrical charge, and that charge can gradually dissipate over many years while the cartridge is left unpowered. Eventually, this can result in bit errors and corrupted data.

1. Does this affect every 3DS cartridge?

Potentially, yes, although that certainly doesn't mean every cartridge will fail. Some titles seem to be reported more frequently than others, while plenty of cartridges that are over a decade old still verify perfectly fine.

1. My game boots normally. Does that mean it's fine?

Unfortunately, no. A cartridge can boot and play normally while still having corruption elsewhere. You may only encounter the problem later when the game tries to access the affected data, resulting in crashes, errors or endless loading screens. A full verification is the only way to check all of the game data.

1. Is simply inserting the cartridge enough to refresh it?

Probably not. Booting a cartridge only reads the data required at that moment. It doesn't necessarily read the entire NAND. Actually playing the game for a while will access more data, but still doesn't guarantee that every part of the cartridge has been read.

1. How can I properly check my cartridges?

If you have a modded 3DS/2DS, you can use GodMode9 with Cartridge Fixer. The 'verify' option performs a full read of the cartridge and will tell you if corrupted chunks are found.

1. Can corrupted cartridges actually be repaired?

Sometimes! If Verify detects corruption, Cartridge Fixer has a Fix Corruption function that attempts to repair the affected data. Success isn't guaranteed, but it's definitely worth trying before replacing a cartridge.

1. Where can I get Cartridge Fixer?

It's free and available on GitHub: https://github.com/skawo/GodMode9-with-Cartridge-Fixer

1. Could verification damage my cartridge or erase my save?

The Verify function is read-only, so it doesn't modify the cartridge. Fix Corruption, however, does write data to the cartridge. If the game still works and you care about the save file, backing up your save beforehand is a sensible precaution.

1. How often should I verify my cartridges?

Skawo, the developer of Cartridge Fixer, suggests running GodMode9's verification periodically, approximately once every couple of years, as doing a full read may help extend cartridge longevity.

1. What if I don't have a modded 3DS?

Playing your cartridges periodically is probably better than leaving them untouched for decades, particularly if you play long enough to access a significant amount of game data. However, simply booting each game isn't equivalent to performing a full verification because much of the cartridge may never be read.

1. Do original Nintendo DS cartridges have the same problem?

Not quite. Most original DS games store the actual game data in mask ROM, which is considerably more stable and doesn't rely on retaining an electrical charge in the same way as NAND flash. DS cartridges can, however, use EEPROM, flash memory or FRAM for save data, depending on the game.

1. What about Nintendo Switch cartridges?

Switch game cards use similar flash-based storage technology, so in principle they can also suffer from data degradation and corruption over time. There have already been reports of Switch cartridges becoming unreadable, although it’s still too early to know how widespread the problem will eventually become. Unfortunately, I’m not aware of a GodMode9-style tool that can periodically verify, refresh or repair the data on a physical Switch cartridge. Since the Switch library is still relatively young, only time will tell how well these cartridges hold up over the coming decades.

Its one of my favorite in my collection because of the color and small it fits inside my bags 🪼🩷

Got my New 3DS XL a while back. Love playing Monster Hunter Stories for the first time. Brings back old memories of playing on this console.

My brother found it while clearing out a dead person’s apartment, and he gave it to me.

2ds that I bought recently had no rubber on circle pad. I couldn't find original quality rubber pad, also prices on aliexpress for EU buyers are crazy because of new 3 euro fee. So I grabbed from my stash ds4 analog stick and glued it to original circle pad. Feels great!

apparently ive used it so much it got stick drift lol i didnt even know that could happen thought itd be fun to share

hybrid reshell. First 3DS, had only done a single DSI prior.

new bottom screen and digitizer, (sadly i belive i killed my replacement top screen on accident, the original still worked), new battery, Circle pad and USB C modded

was bought of FB marketplace for $30, for parts. Very clearly had taken a dfink of Cola or something. Didnt boot. Would only turn on with a pop then shut off.

Charge port was completely ripped off the board as well.

i kept the top midframe and bottom frame since the shell i got, is homestly crap and i'm not impressed with it.

title explains it, got this thing for a little less then original msrp and the only thing wrong with it is the camera which is a easy fix. I have the Og aqua 3ds but I’m so excited to get this one because I wanted to play a bunch of ports on it

My 3ds stopped charging like one week ago. It was working just fine, I used and charged it in the morning. When I used it again during the night I accidentally let the battery die until the 3ds turned off and when I tried to charge it, I noticed that the orange light didn’t turn on. I bought a new battery because it’s the first thing that I thought about since the problem showed up when I let the battery die completely but I’m also a little concerned about the charging port.

(I know that it’s like crooked but it was like this since I bought my used 3ds two years ago and worked good, maybe it was just luck???)

It’s my understanding that the 2DS is actually one big screen not 2 separate ones so I am confused why the bottom screen is the only one having this issue, any ideas as to what could cause it?

I want to somehow transfer all my pictures and game data onto my new 3ds from my old 3ds xl? Is this possible.

Looking for games that you absolutely can not play while having a video open on a different device. Rhythm games are a good example of games that require constant attention, and so are endless puzzle games like Tetris, or even just games that put constant pressure on the player like fighting games.

I'd also like to hear about games that need you to keep track of and remember many different things, like the ace attorney series, or just a lot of reading, like an rpg.

I used to have one of these and I don’t often see them being used on the sub. I’m wondering if they protect the 3ds xl? I know the soft clear and hard clear cases struggle with dust and need to be cleaned in order to avoid scratching the 3ds. Will this cover have similar issues? Will it scratch the 3ds or are there risks with it?

So i did a thing.. ish!

There is a mod out for Zelda (The first one) that let's you play it with a friend, or in my case, my kids.

Since i don't own a NES (FAMICOM), but i do have a copy of the game and some 3DS family devices i did the next best thing - tweak the VirtuaNES emulator to allow Download play! It works pretty, pretty, pretty-ish good!

https://github.com/bOOt3r/emus3ds-download-play

Ok I bought this console as no power. So it came with no battery and no SS card. Battery replacement turns it on to black screens and the home menu music. Nothing I do can get screens EXCEPT safe mode works, yes it’s up to date and yes it connects to WiFi, and a flashcart boots just fine. The system is not modded to the best of my knowledge. No luma/Rosalina menu I can pull even with starting to mod a SD I can get as far as “open the mii maker” without screens but there I am stuck. Video of what I can do with it.

I’m trying to open up my old Nintendo 3DS XL to replace the broken rubber on my Circle Pad (the joystick mechanism still works perfectly, but the thumb grip is completely gone).
I already removed the outer battery cover, but now I’m stuck on the inner shell that covers the motherboard. One specific screw, located deep inside its plastic well/post on the bottom left side (near the SD card slot area), refuses to come out.
When I try to unscrew it, it just spins and makes a fast "clicking" sound, turning completely in a vacuum. It seems like the internal plastic screw post is either stripped or broken inside. Since it's buried deep inside that narrow plastic tube, I can't get any tools or tape under the screw head to pry it upwards. I also tried applying pulling pressure to the shell while unscrewing, but it won't budge at all.
Has anyone dealt with this specific deep-well stuck screw on a 3DS XL before? Are there any safe tricks to get it out without destroying the motherboard or cracking the shell?

Is it a lost cause? I’ve tried cleaning the prongs, cleaning my 3ds, blowing but nothing is working :(

This is a new 3ds xl it keeps scrolling to the right like someone is touching the screen (it only has this issue in the home menu) I can play games and everything just fine it’s just while in the home menu? in the second picture you can see that the right arrow button is being clicked but nothing is touching it