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Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

17

Time Required

                          25 minutes - 2 hours

Sections

6

  • Battery
  • 2 steps
  • Lower Case
  • 4 steps
  • Trigger Buttons
  • 1 step
  • Wi-Fi Board
  • 3 steps
  • Motherboard
  • 6 steps
  • Motherboard
  • 1 step

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Battery
  • Unscrew the Phillips screw securing the battery cover to the lower case.
  • The screw remains captive to the battery cover.
  • Pry the battery cover upward with a spudger or fingernail, and lift out of the lower case.

Unscrew the Phillips screw securing the battery cover to the lower case.

The screw remains captive to the battery cover.

Pry the battery cover upward with a spudger or fingernail, and lift out of the lower case.

1024

Step 2

  • Wedge the edge of a spudger in between the side of the battery and the lower case housing and pry upward to dislodge the battery.
  • Remove the battery from the DS Lite.

Wedge the edge of a spudger in between the side of the battery and the lower case housing and pry upward to dislodge the battery.

Remove the battery from the DS Lite.

Step 3

              Lower Case
  • Use the tip of a spudger to pry both rubber feet off the DS Lite.

Use the tip of a spudger to pry both rubber feet off the DS Lite.

Step 4

  • Remove the following screws securing the lower case to the body of the DS Lite:
  • Two 4.3 mm gold Phillips screws
  • One 3.9 mm black Tri-Wing screw
  • One 3.3 mm silver Phillips screw
  • Three 5.5 mm silver Tri-Wing screws

Remove the following screws securing the lower case to the body of the DS Lite:

Two 4.3 mm gold Phillips screws

One 3.9 mm black Tri-Wing screw

One 3.3 mm silver Phillips screw

Three 5.5 mm silver Tri-Wing screws

Step 5

  • Remove the cover from the Game Pak slot before continuing.
  • Insert the edge of a spudger in between the lower and upper case near the top right corner of the DS Lite.
  • Carefully run the spudger along the right edge of the DS Lite, creating an opening in the process.
  • Continue running the spudger along the backside of the DS Lite until the majority of the lower case has been separated from the upper case.

Remove the cover from the Game Pak slot before continuing.

Insert the edge of a spudger in between the lower and upper case near the top right corner of the DS Lite.

Carefully run the spudger along the right edge of the DS Lite, creating an opening in the process.

Continue running the spudger along the backside of the DS Lite until the majority of the lower case has been separated from the upper case.

Step 6

  • Lift the lower case away from the rest of the DS Lite.
  • Pull carefully. Some units are sealed with adhesive, and pulling too hard can damage the power switch.
  • When re-assembling, make sure that power switch and volume sliders are properly aligned with the switches on the motherboard.

Lift the lower case away from the rest of the DS Lite.

Pull carefully. Some units are sealed with adhesive, and pulling too hard can damage the power switch.

When re-assembling, make sure that power switch and volume sliders are properly aligned with the switches on the motherboard.

Step 7

              Trigger Buttons
  • Lift both trigger buttons out of the DS Lite.
  • The trigger buttons are held in very loosely by small metal pegs and springs. Don’t lose track of these pieces.
  • The second picture shows the correct configuration of the trigger assembly for reassembly purposes.

Lift both trigger buttons out of the DS Lite.

The trigger buttons are held in very loosely by small metal pegs and springs. Don’t lose track of these pieces.

The second picture shows the correct configuration of the trigger assembly for reassembly purposes.

Step 8

              Wi-Fi Board
  • Use the flat edge of a spudger to pry the Wi-Fi antenna connector straight up from its socket on the Wi-Fi board.

Use the flat edge of a spudger to pry the Wi-Fi antenna connector straight up from its socket on the Wi-Fi board.

Step 9

  • Use the flat edge of a spudger to pry the Wi-Fi board connector straight up from its socket on the motherboard.

Use the flat edge of a spudger to pry the Wi-Fi board connector straight up from its socket on the motherboard.

Step 10

  • Use the flat edge of a spudger to separate the right edge of the Wi-Fi board from the motherboard.
  • The Wi-Fi board is secured to the motherboard with a layer of adhesive.
  • Remove the Wi-Fi board from the DS Lite.

Use the flat edge of a spudger to separate the right edge of the Wi-Fi board from the motherboard.

The Wi-Fi board is secured to the motherboard with a layer of adhesive.

Remove the Wi-Fi board from the DS Lite.

Step 11

              Motherboard
  • Use the flat edge of a spudger to pry the microphone connector straight up from its socket on the motherboard.

Use the flat edge of a spudger to pry the microphone connector straight up from its socket on the motherboard.

Step 12

  • In the following steps you must pull the antenna cable between the DS Lite game cartridge reader and motherboard. Pull slowly and stop when you feel resistance to avoid damaging the cable or motherboard.
  • Position the antenna cable with its connector facing up and away from the motherboard using a spudger to hold it down lightly in the gap between chips on the motherboard.
  • Slowly and carefully pull the antenna cable until the cable connector is under the DS Lite game cartridge reader.
  • Continue pulling the cable until the cable connector comes out from under the game cartridge reader on the right side.
  • When reassembling and attempting to feed the antenna cable back under the game cartridge reader, the cable may kink or become difficult to feed through. If so, try feeding a piece of thread through first; then, tie the thread to one end of the cable connector and pull it through, guiding it past any obstructions.

In the following steps you must pull the antenna cable between the DS Lite game cartridge reader and motherboard. Pull slowly and stop when you feel resistance to avoid damaging the cable or motherboard.

Position the antenna cable with its connector facing up and away from the motherboard using a spudger to hold it down lightly in the gap between chips on the motherboard.

Slowly and carefully pull the antenna cable until the cable connector is under the DS Lite game cartridge reader.

Continue pulling the cable until the cable connector comes out from under the game cartridge reader on the right side.

When reassembling and attempting to feed the antenna cable back under the game cartridge reader, the cable may kink or become difficult to feed through. If so, try feeding a piece of thread through first; then, tie the thread to one end of the cable connector and pull it through, guiding it past any obstructions.

Step 13

  • Use your fingernail or the edge of a spudger to carefully flip up the touchscreen ribbon cable retaining flap.
  • Make sure you are flipping up the retaining flap, not the socket itself.
  • Use the tip of a spudger to pull the touchscreen ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Use your fingernail or the edge of a spudger to carefully flip up the touchscreen ribbon cable retaining flap.

Make sure you are flipping up the retaining flap, not the socket itself.

Use the tip of a spudger to pull the touchscreen ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Step 14

  • Remove the two 3.4 mm Phillips screws securing the motherboard to the upper case.

Remove the two 3.4 mm Phillips screws securing the motherboard to the upper case.

Step 15

  • Open the display enough to use your finger to push the front edge of the motherboard up and away from the upper case.
  • Do not try to remove the motherboard, as it is still connected to the upper display via the upper LCD ribbon cable.

Open the display enough to use your finger to push the front edge of the motherboard up and away from the upper case.

Do not try to remove the motherboard, as it is still connected to the upper display via the upper LCD ribbon cable.

Step 16

  • Use your fingernail or the flat edge of a spudger to carefully flip up the upper LCD ribbon cable retaining flap.
  • Make sure you are flipping up the retaining flap, not the socket itself.
  • Pull the motherboard away from the DS Lite to separate the upper LCD ribbon cable from its socket on the motherboard.
  • Remove the motherboard from the DS Lite.
  • Now you may open the retaining flap for the lower LCD screen in the same way and separate the lower LCD screen from the motherboard.

Use your fingernail or the flat edge of a spudger to carefully flip up the upper LCD ribbon cable retaining flap.

Pull the motherboard away from the DS Lite to separate the upper LCD ribbon cable from its socket on the motherboard.

Remove the motherboard from the DS Lite.

Now you may open the retaining flap for the lower LCD screen in the same way and separate the lower LCD screen from the motherboard.

Step 17

              Motherboard
  • Motherboard remains.

Motherboard remains.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                    Matthew Newsom

Member since: 01/05/2010

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frodypup - Dec 13, 2016

Reply

Hey I took my do lite apart to repair the mic but then I saw that it would be risky do I put it back to tether carefully and now when it turns in the bottom LCD screen flickers then shuts down after the two speakers make a tiny pop sound, I did plug the top LCD screen cable back in but now I’m sad cause it’s my first ever do before my 3ds, please help

enekuda - Jan 24, 2017

Just checking but did you make sure to reinsert the tiny ribbon cable from step 13? might be something tiny you overlooked?

Juan Carlos Ramirez Chegue - Apr 7, 2018

Reply

Is there any way to replace the socket for the touch screen? I bought a used DS lite with a non working screen and when I opened it I found out that the flap was broken

Andres Guerrero Maldonado - Mar 16, 2019

Reply

Hi, I was trying this and everything works, but my left trigger button on the motherboard came off. I tried resoldering it and test it and it works… too well. As in it’s constantly being pressed on, or it’s registering constant button presses, even though it’s not being pressed on. When I resoldered it, it only had 2 metal contact pins at the bottom. If I can get help for this as soon as possible, the repair will be complete.

[deleted] - Jun 28, 2019

Reply

The “microphone connector" is actually the digitizer ribbon, the microphone runs through the same cable as the top screen. Just a minor thing I wanted to point out.