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| How to Repair Nintendo DS Lite |
| You will need special tools and lots of patience to open the NDS Lite. The tools are available on our website. You need the NDS screwdriver and a #00 screwdriver. You will also need a small pair of adjustable pliers to replace the case. Replacing the top display screen or case requires soldering. |
| Remove all the screws circled in red on the left. If you need to access the top of the DS, remove the screws circled in green on the right. |
| Be careful not to lose the shoulder button shaft and springs, circled in red, they will come out. Notice the cable circled in blue. Do not remove this cable unless you have to, it is very difficult to put back in. This cable connects the display touch screen to the motherboard. The white wire (Not shown) can be unplugged by lifting the little round connector with a fingernail. Now you can pull it through the hinge. If you unplug the black wire and pull it, you would have a hard time getting it back under that socket, I prefer to desolder it from the board in the top case, shown in the photo below on the left. |
| Very Important !!! To unplug the display cables, photo on right, you have to carefully lift the little black latch on the connector. You have to use 2 fingernails, one on each side, to lift these. If you lift on only one side, you will break the black latch on the connector and the whole board will be useless. Same goes putting it back together, be careful pushing the latch back down. The top cable circled in red is for the bottom display. The bottom one is for the top display. There is a screw holding the motherboard in place, remove it and lift the board out. |
| This is the bottom display assembly. The 3 pieces are held together with adhesive. The display is on the bottom, the touch screen in the center, and the protective shield on top. They can be pried apart with a fingernail or something plastic, but be careful not to crack anything. |
| OK, on to the top display. The screw covers can be challenging when they've been in there a while. I use a very small slotted jewelers screwdriver to pry them out. Remove the 4 screws circled in the photo. |
| You'll have to remove these two screws circled in the photo to get the hinge apart. If you are replacing the top display, this will help when you are trying to get the @!*! cable through the hinge hole. The top can be removed now. |
| The speaker wires are soldered to the top display. To replace the case, you'll need to remove the wires to go through the hinge, and to replace the display, you'll have to remove them too. |
| On far left, the black wire that goes through the hinge, it is actually "Jumped", it connects to 2 places on the board, one next to the other. Center, the collar that fits inside the plastic case hole. On right, the angle adjuster. The angle adjuster is best installed with a small set of "Channellock" type adjustable pliers. The jaws move together more evenly than a diagonal plier. |
| READ THIS: Getting the !#@*!! cable through the little hole is a bit tricky. Here's a few tips. Separate the top and bottom cases first, that gives you more room. Remove the black and white wires, you need these out of the way. The cable will go into that thin slot somewhat, that helps. When you put it back together, roll the end evenly from top to bottom first, that will help get it through the hole. You can put the round metal ring on after. Put the wires through last. |
If you have a broken hinge, you will need a new shell. You can get them in
many cool colors.
many cool colors.
| Very Important: When assembling the top and bottom shell, watch out for the on / off button and switch. Line the switch up with the button or you may break the switch! |