I Built the ULTIMATE New 3DS XL from Junk

I purchased a really beaten up new 3DS XL from Japan I got it for very cheap because it was sold as faulty and obviously it's in extremely poor condition I sent it to my friend Joey who diagnosed the fault he ordered a replacement powerboard and battery and that got it firing up however the top screen doesn't work replacing the screen is a nasty job since it requires dismantling the entire unit and it just so happens that the new 3DS XL is one of Nintendo's most complicated devices to dismantle I'm also going to be software and Hardware modding this thing to make it the ultimate new 3DS XL it's going to need a lot of work but I'm up for a challenge [Music] [Music] once inside we can start to remove all of the individual pieces I've always love the modular design of the new 3DS XL it's com in very handy when repairing these because everything can be purchased individually and replaced there's a separate board for the power which is the one that we've replaced there's also a separate board for the d-pad if that got worn or a separate board for the cartridge slot if the pins got damaged as well as that the micro SD card reader is removable and so is the joystick all of these are prone to wear so I think this was a really cool move from Nintendo [Music] [Applause] [Music] with all of that unplugged I can hinge out the main board this is obviously the most expensive component inside these devices so fortunately ours is in good condition however I'll be soldering some tiny little bits to that later so it might not stay that way then we can remove the final pieces from the bottom half and we can turn our attention to the top half which is an absolute [Music] nightmare all of the screws that hold the top half together are hidden under these rubber pieces I'll be replacing ing the shell so it doesn't matter but trying to remove these without damaging the shell or tearing the rubber covers is near impossible I've managed to get the hang of it but my thoughts go out to all who have tried and failed with all of those removed I can slide the top cover off and get inside there's two boards holding the different sliders down and once everything is free I can then wrestle out the hinge there's a reason this is known as the hardest Nintendo device to work on and this is it [Music] well that's everything torn down I'm very pleased and I'm relieved now it's time to get the real work [Music] started I ordered a new top screen in replacement shell from China and I reached out to Neil from 3DS capture.com and he very kindly agreed to send me one of his capture kits for this video I'm beyond excited about this previously obtaining a 3DS console with a capture card inside was unbelievably expensive since the mods were made in very low quantities and are incredibly difficult to put together this company has made one of the biggest advances in 3DS capture kits they cost $120 and minimal soldering is required it's not cheap or easy but it's five times cheaper and easier than the previous methods and an infinitely better design let's carry on a assembling the 3DS and we can take a look at the installation of the capture [Music] [Music] card the mod contains a board and three ribbon cables the first part of this installation is going to be cutting up the shell to fit the board and expose the USBC Port this is very tedious but lupy mods has a great guide for the installation which I will link below the hardest part is making the USBC Port look clean but that was easily my favorite part [Music] [Music] I'm quite happy with how it turned out next up we have to snip the corner of the screen bracket to help the board fit properly and then we can assemble the 3DS as normal [Music] [Music] there are two ribbon cables which intercept the display signals for the top and bottom screens they then have separate little ribbons which will connect to the capture board which then allows us to Output the display via the USBC Port everything else is then done in a free piece of software we have to download but more on that later once those ribbon cables are in we can carry on assembling and then we have to solder in the audio ribbon cable which is absolutely terrifying [Music] it's very good [Music] the audio ribbon cable is solded to a bunch of tiny pads below the micro SD card slot you have to Tin up the pads and then solder through the eyelets in the ribbon cable it is a really tricky process but if you take your time and use plenty of flux it's certainly doable after that we can connect up the board and screw it down into place there are two wires we have to solder to the charging port of the 3DS which allows us to then actually charge the device via the USBC Port it's rather [Music] brilliant with that we can finally close up the unit and add the finishing touches [Music] [Music] left [Music] [Music] I am so pleased with how this has turned out I absolutely love the green shell the USB port I cut out is good enough for rock and roll so let's give this thing a [Music] try the new top screen we installed works but unfortunately mine has arrived faulty so I'm going to have to take the whole thing apart and install a new one which I'm really excited about once we open up the software it immediately detects the new 3DS and shows the displays using another piece of software like OBS allows you to live stream or record which is going to be really handy for me the final thing to sort out is making the 3DS region free since I bought this from Japan it only plays Japanese 3DS games which is pretty useless luckily installing custom firmware onto this thing is really simple you just have to follow a decent guide you don't even have to install anything else you can if you want to change the language and customize it more but just the basic home brw unlocks the region fully and so now I can play my English 3DS [Music] games it's come a long way and I'm super proud of it I really hope you've enjoyed this video see you again soon [Music] woo

Channel: The Retro Future

Views: 370,282

Keywords: TheRetroFuture, RetroFuture, The Retro Future, Gameboy, Nintendo, Famicom, NES, SNES, Super, Repair, Fix, Restore, Collection, Japanese, Switch, MrBeast GameBoy, Elliot Coll, Retro Tech, DS, DSI, 3DS, Wii, Fake, Handheld, Console, Upgrade

Id: YMAa6obDNZs

Length: 10min 38sec (638 seconds)

Published: Mon May 27 2024