Trying to FIX a Nintendo 2DS XL Blue Light But No Display Fault

Hi, this video shows me attempting to repair a Nintendo 2DS XL which will not power up. It has a blue light and charges fine but has no display. Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things.
I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series.
Many thanks, Vince.

[@JohnSaucier]

When you are trying to separate two pieces that are connected with adhesive. Apply heat to it. Then place a spudger in between. Heat it again until you can put another spudger in there maybe an inch apart from the other. The idea is to slowly pull the adhesive from the piece as you heat it up. So you repeat the process, placing spudgers until the heat is able to simply cause the two pieces to separate without any cracks. You shouldn't be trying to force it apart, just allow the tools and the heat to do it for you. You will find this process is the easiest method, and safest for pulling a glass or plastic screen from a back that has been glued into place. If you are finding that its not separating, do not get frustrated, carefully apply heat longer, it will eventually separate due to the pressure caused by the spudger being jammed in between. Also, don't use metal, use plastic spudgers. You do not want to risk scratching or damaging it. Really this method should be used anytime you are trying to separate something from glue.

[@jeroen7062]

Also dripping some alcohol on the wedge will help. It will drip in there and desolve the glue a bit.

[@s_aku]

Here's hoping it won't melt the plastic unline what happened to my laptop 😒

[@TechGorilla1987]

It's that feeling of elation when you touch the mouse to see where the status bar of the video is because you think Vince is done and realize that you're not even half way through the video. That's like getting married to the perfect person kinda elation. Stay well, Vince!

[@ToffeePlays19]

lol

[@maeborowski1315]

lol

[@jackchadwick9583]

lol

[@abouhali2459]

lol

[@inputfunny]

lol

[@BillyBobJoe_ATV]

Finally, after all these years, I may have found the problem and solution to my New 2ds XL.

[@GinandTronics]

I've repaired the 3ds console in the past. the backlight must be connected otherwise the console will make a pop and turn off. you don't even need a screen connected. just the WiFi card, speaker flex cable( powers the backlight for top screen LEDs) and the bottom screen backlight. Your can actually separate the backlights from smashed LCDs on 3ds , it's a shame you can't on these, judging from the ribbon cables. which is a shame. the p6 connector's ( 4 prong zif) on the mobo are, touch, NFC , circle pad and bottom screen backlight. the way yours solid blue lighted was usual, ( normally I sign of a unseated/bad WiFi card) cheers for the video

[@Sylveon9021]

Oh if i knew thew the backlight went on my 2ds xl i wouldn't of thrown it in the bin too late lol mine made a pop and turned off

[@gregpeterson1529]

Amazing repair despite the torn cover. I have learned a lot from your videos, keep up the good work.

[@Jeff121456]

Wow! Imagine that? The Internet was wrong. Who'd of thought. That top screen takes the patience of Job (or My Mate VINCE) to replace without damage. Great troubleshooting. The trick is to learn to trust yourself and find the problem on the device in front of you rather than the one's online.

[@R-E-D-A-C-T-E-D.]

Yea my mate vince is good at this!

[@missionpassed4584]

24:54 instead of peeling off the whole back, maybe lift each corner enough to expose the screws to get a small screwdriver in, great job btw!

[@danilko1]

I watched some Chinese market repairs on Apple IPS displays. What I saw was the use of heat and fishing line to delaminate two layers. When replacing windscreens on cars, the tech will use a cable wrapped around the edges and pull in to break the adhesive between the glass and the body. So I think it would be an interesting test...

[@jonnymorgan8385]

Well done vince another good fix, after been furloughed since 20th march i have been watching most of your videos going back 18 months and you have come a long way keep up the good work.

[@DEmma1972]

Possibly one of your best ever fixes. impressed

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Emma :-)

[@Asterix493]

@@Mymatevince your the reason I can still play pokemon diamond

[@1up_Gaming]

What an awesome video Vince, totally threw me for a loop when you tried the board in the other system, from that point on, I knew it was going to be a good one. Felt bad that I'd misdiagnosed it, asking you to swap a board and it turns into hours and hours or frustration and hard work, but it turned into an epic repair video, was a great watch and I'm sure a lot of others will get some enjoyment out of this. I expect it might put folks off trying to chage their 2DS XL screens though, it certainly has for me, removing that top screen looks like THE nastiest job in the world, sorry :-( Looking forward to the Switch video when it turns up, and some of the other bits as well. Thank you so much for this fix and all the awesome content you provide for us to watch :)

[@ray73864]

It's just how Vince chose to remove the thing. iFixit sells a special heat pack that you put in the microwave for a little bit to warm it up, then you put it on the device to soften the glue, after a while it becomes super easy to remove what the glue was holding in place. One just needs the right tools for the job :)

[@meILM]

This happened to my 2DS XL when I dropped it. I knew it wasn't bricked because all the videos with bricked 2d's the backlight came on. Sent it to Nintendo, got it fixed and returned to me with all the data still on it within a month!

[@meILM]

@@t52342 @pikagachazack They did it for free (I bought the warranty)

[@jennifermitchell4026]

This you are a god of repairing electronics! I love all your content.

[@Pocol0c0s]

Perfect timing and as always watching the video all the way!!

[@solveit1304]

Glad to see you again Vince. My lesson from your past videos is that whenever plastic + plastic or plastic + glass is glued, this very thin molybdenum wire was recommended in comment section. Imagine apply heat as you did, then you insert that thin wire from little gap you did with tweezers / prying tool, you can cut that glue like a butter! Your son could help you to hold it down in place when you cut, or some clamps. No risk for sure.

[@heartcrafts3426]

YES!! Nearly an hour long Vince vid... perfect!

[@hundjsiegfried]

Perfect timing. I have a same 2DS XL with the same problem. Thanks for the video!

[@ricardoandrade9943]

Great fix! Enjoy a lot your channel. I really know the nice feeling to see something working again.

[@FFCCDRUGFFCCCRAP]

Nice video i like that you decided to get screens for the 2DS XL lot i watched that one way back when you released it and you said that they were kind of expensive back then and i was looking forward to you catching a good price on some and getting to fix them. Good luck with the 2DS screens and cant wait for the switch video. Cheers!

[@Th3OmegaPoint]

Great fix Vince. One thing you can try when trying to remove adhesive like that is fishing line/ dental floss, and run it through the adhesive like a cheese cutter.

[@metroid031993]

Excellent fix Vince! I really don't have much to add other than, I recommend using your hot air station with a nice low temp rather than the hair dryer; they can usually go quite low temp-wise, and you can control the airflow much better (so you don't have all of your components flying everywhere) EDIT: Oh, one other thing. Hacking these is extremely easy, and recovering a bricked one is also pretty easy. The 3ds bootrom (the first bit of code that ever runs when you turn the console on. It's the same across all 3ds/2ds consoles) actually has some alternate sources where it tries to load it's firmware from; it can boot from 3 things, the internal NAND/eMMC chip (normal boot), a specially crafted DS cartridge, or a SPI flash that's usually used to store the wifi settings. Normally, you'd need specially "signed" images to use the SPI flash or the DS cartridge, but Nintendo screwed up their verification algorithm in the bootrom, and it's much weaker than normal. Thus, you can buy certain flashcarts which either already support it out of the box, or use one you might have laying around with the special flasher (assuming it's supported) to make it into one. Then you just insert it, use a magnet to make the console think it's asleep, and hold a special button combo. Doing all of that triggers the boot from the DS cartridge and then it'll boot a file from the SD card called "boot.firm"; you can make boot.firm some recovery software and reinstall all of your titles and whatnot in order to get a booting system again. Hopefully this is helpful!

[@sjm4306]

The 3/2ds line does a hw check at boot and any peripheral failure results in what looks like a bricked mobo. I used to fix og 3ds consoles and I'd say a good 90% of the systems that saw my bench with black screens/blue power light/clickpop power off issues had either a damaged or misseated ribbon/connector.

[@Sylveon9021]

Hello

[@ryan2537]

Thank you so much for making this video. I was having the same problem and it was driving me crazy.

[@paullefur6213]

Vince has nailed again, nice vlog

[@AaronKeigher]

Great video, very entertaining and informative! Vince you ever think of getting one of those heated mats or one of the iFixit heat pads? Might help with the direct heat to get the pieces apart?

[@moosesugar]

vince you made that screen replacement look easy at last a proper how to video on the proper way to get that panel off to get to the screws and not break the frame unlike most videos i have seen before on you tube well done mate

[@Donny.mp4]

Hey vince i love your repairing videos keep up the good work!!

[@craighodgkissbodgeittillit9798]

Not enough heat, but we love watching you anyway vince, keep it up

[@bukhrin]

The orange/white looks sooo nice once cleaned up.

[@cliffordgallagher4531]

You are Brilliant and Tremendously Patient! Thank you for sharing this!

[@GaryMeatsFood]

Thanks for this video. My daughters 2DS XL has the same symptoms. I watched your video and took apart my sons perfectly working 2DS XL to try the screen. I have now confirmed my daughters one needs a new top screen and I managed to put my sons 2DS back together without breaking it :D I am going to keep an eye out for a broken 2DS XL with a function top screen to fix my daughters one. I', not going to to a screen replacement. A full top half will do the job fine.

[@tomeli282]

Hello Vince, with regards to the broken back plastic plate, removing any type of 3M’s adhesive where you firstly heated up the back plate then try to peel away, also try a little white spirit being applied with a very small detail paint brush as it does work, just give it a minute or two, try to peel then apply a little more as the glued surfaces that become exposed. Works for me 👍 good luck and keep up the excellent work.

[@Gilbird]

Hey Vince! Just letting you know, with some systems, sometimes when it doesn’t detect a top screen it just turns off and pops! I learned that from one of my friends, I hope it works and I hope it’s true! Thanks for the great content!

[@Sylveon9021]

Oh so THAT was what was wrong with mine

[@gab_v250]

"this is going to be a very boring video" in these times, nothing can be boring. Thanks Vince, from Italy

[@heatedgamer2931]

Perfect time for a vid when I'm just about to eat my tea and wondering what to watch lol

[@LennerPOPPADOPALIS89]

I eat my tea as well.

[@bazooragamer7951]

Do you eat your tea with sugar

[@heatedgamer2931]

Here in the north of the UK we call our evening meal 'tea'

[@lochanathambeliyagoda5065]

I cook my tea first

[@OrientalAttack]

I drink my HAMBURGUER!!

[@mch2007uk]

I want too see the production line on how Nintendo make these. Well done vince.

[@robertotorres6790]

Thank you so much!! I didn't know that there was a recovery mode for the 2ds, literally just ran into the issue with my basically brand new 2ds XL which doesn't even have a full year of use the recovery mode seemed to do the trick just fine.

[@TobiEstosWorld]

tanks to your videos. with your help did I managed to fix a faulty and non working Paper MArio Cardridge for the N64. So good. saved me a tone of money. thx vince :)

[@octubre_lilaka]

I was wondering what was wrong with my 2ds, since I have the same issue. Thank you for making this video

[@Vermilicious]

Oh man, all that adhesive stuff! It makes me mad just watching! I guess it's because everyone wants their devices to be as slim as possible, while the screens are still not very flexible. Wasn't OLED supposed to remedy this somewhat? Maybe some day. Anyway, it's another typical example isn't it. It's usually related to liquid damage, drop damage, or charger/surge events. Good job Vince, despite the cracked plastic piece. Now you know, and thanks to you, so do we.

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

That seemed to be a hard one. I don't really like the 2DS because they are ao cheaply made. But the original 2 ds looked far more odd. I really like this black/green one and after you cleaned it, it looks fantastic.

[@niklasmichalski1852]

Nice Video! Have the same problem with my N2DSXL. I’m right now following your steps to swap the screen. Tried already the new screen and it’s working! Thanks again for the detailed video!

[@NepgearGM6.1]

I didn’t even know there was a recovery mode

[@oligranados9534]

Me too

[@meILM]

The recovery mode is just system settings; system updates

[@oliverisawesome1290]

You think he's gonna fix his own 2ds the xls

[@CraftyTheFox]

its called safe mode. and their is an exploit for it to mod it

[@_Hashim3318_]

Same 2

[@jayarmstrong9504]

Literally just opened KZbin to see if anything new was in... uploaded 13 seconds ago :)

[@abdulhkeem.alhadhrami]

My Mate Vince to the rescue from boredom!

[@laniemon]

Love it when watching through the video then the nutcracker song starts playing slowly in the background.

[@geekjit215]

Awesome work again Vince. I think the original screen itself was not defective with respect to the screen electronics or backlight but the flex cable worn out as a result of normal opening and closing effectively rendering the screen unusable, a problem similar to sliding and folding phones back in the time. I had a slider phone from Samsung in 2007 (SGH-E250) and it had a similar problem where it would sometimes not power up if the flex cable was torn. Luckily, the flex cable was a separate part and hence one could replace the cable separately (replacing the display was not required at all).

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

I don’t think so, as all my gameboy advance SP have working ribbon cables. Also my 2ds(original) had the same issue as this 2ds xl and it has no hinge.

[@PhilipBryden]

An old bank card might be a good tool when removing that glued top panel. Nice fix, well done.

[@gbudb9303]

LUV your vids pal BUT when I'm needing the 'easy' fix & you eliminate the 'easy' fixes quickly & the duration of your vids is 40-60 min just means I'm in for a near impossible repair. In ALL cases, you are wonderful for your work & thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@GadgetUK164]

Great job Vince =D Good god, what a nightmare those 2DS XL top screens are!!!! Manufacturers have started making these things less serviceable =/

[@spooktasticaparanormal]

Hi Vince. Yet again another great video. Kind regards. Paul.

[@williamgreedy6079]

Once you have made a start you can use IPA to soften the glue then use strong fishing line to get between glass and screen.

[@ctopedja]

Someone send this man ifixit kit, it breaks my heart watching him separate it like that with sharp tweezers

[@primusoriginal8648]

I have a very special tool I waned to send him lol but idk if my wife would get mad because I accidentally ordered 2 so she says the others is hers, but she will never even open it lmfao I really would like his videos to have it though its the Ruputas Wow stick

[@ronalddhs3726]

What a fix! Thanks for the content :)

[@MadManMcGirt]

The sell these sort of bean bags you heat up in the microwave that heat the glue, they are used for phone screens, etc...they are not very expensive and tend to be better than a hair dryer

[@zarcha]

@GM Kof hard he meant the heating up the bag in the microwave not the device. the device would then be set on top of the hot bag.

[@shaunheatley9892]

Use the alcohol you have it eats away at the glue

[@abzhuofficial]

@@shaunheatley9892 That only applies for direct application to adhesives. Screens or sheets of material stuck onto a surface leaves no adhesives exposed for isopropyl alcohol to eat into the adhesive, so thermal measures have to be implemented

[@timcarr5129]

Perfect! Was hoping and praying for a mmv vid to watch! Been so long since the last one! Hey is that the hairdryer you repaired a while back? 🤔🤔

[@CLC-1000]

Awesome video Vince.

[@pretzel2540]

Isnt it funny how in Ifixit tutorial to take this apart they actually break the case? I didnt tried changing it beacuse it looked like quite a pain. I did changed a old 3ds xl top screen once. It was a HUGE pain, wouldnt recommend it, but in the end it actually worked and it felt really good

[@Tylahh]

thank you so much for this!!! I thought my regular 2ds (not xl) was bricked, I never hacked it and I've had it for 3-4 years now with no problems, but it just had the blue light and wouldn't turn on the screens. I did the recovery mode after taking out the SD and game card and it worked! Again tysm for saving me money on buying another 😊

[@T_Ocha_Streams]

i repaired a 3ds awhile ago. & it was doing the thing where it wouldn't turn on with blue light then pop off. turned out it was just the ribbon cable to the top screen that was ripped.

[@leilachu]

Top or bottom?

[@the_real_space]

Bro it's the same this happening to my 3ds, I'll try to repair it again, hope it's just the ribbon cable

[@HoudiniFontmeister]

@@the_real_space odd thing to hope as that means replacing the entire screen which is the most frustrating thing to replace on it

[@zerocool278]

What a nice fix well done for figuring that out, I wonder how many have been deemed bricked when they weren't, How come the hair dryer and not hot air for the screens and back? Hope you're all well!

[@abzhuofficial]

"This is therapeutic" - My Mate VINCE (when watching his content, LOL)

[@TheRealssppllaatt]

Superb repair

[@peterbrandt7911]

Good job Vince!

[@zincmann]

YAY!!! Love the 2DS / 3DS Series!!

[@eveangreen1871]

Also first mistake not reseating the cables Vince. My brother had a dsi xl that was dropped off the China stand. It broke and was left there for years until last year I repaired it it needed a new hinge and me to re plug the cables I did and it worked he’s on it next to me with flip note hatena which is awesome.

[@Ordinary_Mortal]

Thank you this video was truly really helpful, actually my 2ds xl had the exact same problem with the one shown in this video. It's just i knew the top screen was smashed. It didn't open at all and the blue light was continuously on. I thought that it was definitely a motherboard problem but turns out no it's just the screen

[@MissRoxanne123]

I haven't finished watching this, but I had the same issue on a japanese 3ds xl with only a blue light and black screens. You could clearly see that the top screen was broken, as there were cracks on the screen. Brought a replacement screen and it worked with the new screen. So it seems that it doesn't always pop with a broken top screen

[@smackdaddy710]

Hey Vince a way to get the sticker off is with some fishing line and heat, I use a bit of braided line wrapped around lil bits of wood to get off car badges at work and works a treat!

[@AnonymousRepair]

Great Video , I dislike screens that use that type of hinge systems the lcd cable will end up breaking very bad design my nintendo, Very nice repair

[@oliverer3]

Not to sound too cynical but that might be the point

[@TooFurious4]

I've soft modded a few 3DS. It's been a while since I've done it but If the console is modded and is missing a certain file/folder from the SD card it will not boot. Maybe check that next time before taking it apart.

[@stopregionlocking5144]

This happens when the step is skipped where a copy of the luma3ds boot.firm is installed to ctr nand and can be tested with a fat 32 formatted mirco sd with the boot.firm of luma3ds in its root: github.com/LumaTeam/Luma3DS/releases

[@RicardoRiSkAmaro17]

Nice, that's the same 3DS I have. Bought one last year. Good video.

[@SublimeArchi]

Just a couple thoughts...First, you probably could have just hooked the pokemon top screen to Mike's without removing Mike's top screen just for testing. It worked out because that was indeed the problem, but if it wasn't, you wasted time removing his screen at the hinges. Could save you some headaches in the future. Secondly, in the auto body shop biz, they use strong nylon string or fishing line to "cut" through the adhesive of emblems to remove them for bodywork/painting. It might be worth a go next time. If it worked, you wouldn't have snapped that black cover when trying to remove it or damaged the LCD when removing the clear piece over it. Just trying to be helpful. Love your vids, mate. :)

[@akubura]

Wow and I thought the DS Lite top screen was hard, this takes it to a whole new level! It's somewhat sad that it's so hard to fix some electronics. It's simply not worth the time vested most the time for most as you can spend a few more dollars to get a working item. Luckily I'm in the same boat as you as it's not the end item but the experience you gain in the process. The problem I have now is nothing to fix! I find myself spending too much money on eBay buying broken items just to attempt to fix now days!

[@mkdragnos]

Out of all the videos I’ve seen of yours this is the first one I’ve caught a glimpse of your face :P

[@TheManOfMuscle]

That was amazing. What a beast.

[@mikehensley78]

Awesome fix! That thing has a nice, vivid screen. I never had a DS...they came after i was out of highschool. i wonder if there are hacks to play retro games on a 2DS-XL?

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

You don’t need hacks, it has the virtual console.

[@Yoldark34]

Thx for the video. Please, test the "new" parts before assembling or even disassembling :)

[@kraiker1]

I actually just saw 2ds Xl screens up on ebay right now, so maybe he'll be fixing these up soon?

[@JohnGotts]

Excellent Nintendo handheld work. Invest in plastic razor blades. They are the best. If you want the latch area to snap together correctly, route the wire a bit better and you'll be a happy camper.

[@leogreaves2931]

I have a white and orange one with a broken hinge from October 2019!

[@neagease5302]

Haha no way I actually know the dude who sent this 2ds in and I buy from their locally owned store all the time!

[@adrianpearce5214]

Great job vince

[@clementpetit9900]

What I do to take this backings off the top is I use plectrums like guitar plectrums and I go around the whole edge and then I work inside and I usually get it off without any hassle EDIT: I see you did that with the blue one haha just finished watching the whole vid great work Vince

[@PandH24]

Great video Vince 2 ideas maybe get some plastic razor blades and one of them hand warmers you put in microwave to heat it up 👍

[@imzimansvideos]

Good work on the screen ribbon removel tore mine jus the other day 😭

[@UltimatelyEverything]

When you were trying to remove the plastic plate you should have used some IPA to soften the glue and help the plate come loose and a plastic spudger to avoid any scratches or damage or maybe a plastic pry tool might have done the job with some IPA. As for the screen you should have used some IPA on that as well to soften the glue and avoid breaking the LCD.

[@IMDYT420]

27:38 that one kid who trys to keep the class quite so they dont get in trouble

[@joebastianich3410]

He hairdrys a 3ds screen?

[@akmaldanial67]

@@joebastianich3410 He says "sssshhhh"

[@1up_Gaming]

OK, this isn't Thursday :-p Psyched to watch this though :-)

[@SaucyBegger25]

I have the black and green one. My wife bought it for me the other year. Funny enough I bought her the white and purple one lol. Great things. I completed resident evil on it. Good to use too as they are XL

[@TheFamilysam]

Hey Vince, really helpful video. I have a pokeball refurbished 2ds xl and it was working fine all last night,but then it just black screened me as I was soft resetting pokemon soul silver. I havn't dropped it or anything recently(may have shifted the screen since its so flimsy), but it is basically bricking like mike's was here. I tried to run it through a power cycle, which seemed to momentarily fix it, but then I tried to run SS on it again and it just froze on me and now its just blue lighting again. I remember hearing the DS initialize when I turned it on, but now there is no sound or anything, just blue light. Sorry if this is alot but any idea why it would be doing this?

[@Retrobution]

25:18 I watch these videos for these moments as i know I would have done this myself and rage-quit the whole thing, im currently replacing a top screen my son has broken by snapping the entire top hinge and biting the screen! i took the top off mine today after seeing this. this is so tough to seperate because it is secured to glossy plastic, and the adhesive is like tar too! my method for removing stuff like this is with those guitar pick things, or a bank card style tool, coat these with wd40 and it makes it much easier to work with. do this only if you are not looking to re use the sticky stuff.

[@MichaelandCathy1999]

Take a shot every time he says “Motherboard”. I can’t stand right now.

[@Juan-ln8rb]

Lmao

[@Regaljester75]

I dron’t dink (hic) 🥴🤢🤮😌

[@abzhuofficial]

If I drank alcoholic beverages and played that word game, I'd be dead from liver disease. LOL

[@techtricity1341]

@@abzhuofficial you would drink astaghfurallah

[@Sylveon9021]

No

[@lucasnonoobs16]

Thanks Vince

[@davesmith7671]

Would ipa of helped to melt the adhesive to the screen ? Curious so I know for when I attempt this myself

[@leadeddeveloper9575]

Good job mate!

[@ashthelass234]

Wow who knew it was the top screen! I hope I can get mine repaired soon. Its a random one, sometimes everything displays and works and sometimes it does blue light of death & black screen- last time I sent it over, it did not show the fault but at least now I know what it is, thanks so much!! (Its the animal crossing 2DS XL)

[@Tim_3100]

Wonder if it's had a9s installed on it in the past which is cfw and caused issues

[@ameliaxxx1557]

Me: checks to see if I’m almost at the end. The video: 4:43 😩

[@franciscophk]

Hi VINCE luv ur YT tutorials for using my switch