DSi XL cartridge reading problems

So my childhood dsi has been having issues reading cartridges for the past few years. I have to insert and take out the cartridge a few times before it detects it. When it does detect it, it’ll stop reading and the game will crash/freeze after a few hours, sometimes days if I’m lucky. When this happens, rebooting the system either reveals that the cartridge is no longer detected or it still shows the game, but booting into it shows an error message. I did manage to open it up to take a look, but as someone with zero experience repairing electronics, I have no idea what to look for. Any assistance would be appreciated.

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u/enrique4403 16h ago

Hello friend, I have had similar problems with the DS Lite and the solution was always to change the cartridge reader, it fails a lot over time, as I understand that you do not have spare parts, the ideal would be to disassemble it and clean all the contacts very well with alcohol and isopropyl. I hope your help.

1

u/ACM1227 15h ago

Hi, thanks for the suggestions! I’ll give cleaning it a try. From what I understand, changing the cartridge reader itself would require soldering. Unfortunately, I don’t have the tools, nor do I know how to solder…

1

u/enrique4403 7h ago

Yes, it is necessary to carry out welding work but it is not advanced work. I already told you, the problem is not with the board, it is with the cartridge reader itself, which gets screwed up over time. All the best!!

u/iVirtualZero 13h ago

Try cleaning with IPA but if the pins are bent. It will need replacing.

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u/ACM1227 13h ago

The pins don’t appear bent to me?

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u/iVirtualZero 13h ago

Try cleaning it with IPA 99%. Put IPA on a game and press it in and out.

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u/ACM1227 13h ago

Ok, will do, thanks for the recommendation!