Nintendo DSi XL Lower Display Assembly Replacement

Passo 1

Remove the two Phillips screws securing the battery cover to the back of the handheld console.
Lift the battery cover off the back of the DSi XL.

rust/white powder built up on a screw and can’t unscrew it

Eco -

Passo 3

Remove the four rubber screw covers on the lower case by prying them up with a push pin.

Passo 4

Remove the following seven Phillips screws that secure the lower case to the rest of the DSi XL:
Four silver 5.3 mm screws
Two black 5.3 mm screws
One black 2.5 mm screw

Passo 5

Turn the DSi XL over, and open the display.
Insert a spudger between the upper and lower case at the bottom left corner of the DSi.
Slide the spudger along the bottom edge of the upper case to release the latches securing the upper case to the lower case.

Passo 6

Close the display and turn the DSi XL over.
Lift the lower case from the front edge.
Rotate the lower case away from the DSi.
The lower case cannot be completely removed yet, since it is still connected to the motherboard.

Passo 7

Using a spudger, pry the SD card/right shoulder button connector off its socket.
Pry the volume button/left shoulder button connector off its socket on the motherboard with a spudger.

Passo 8

Lift the Wi-Fi board up off its socket on the motherboard.
Do not attempt to completely remove the Wi-Fi board yet. It is attached to the motherboard by an antenna cable.

Passo 9

Use a spudger to pry the Wi-Fi cable off its socket on the underside of the Wi-Fi board.

Can I use any other tool than a spudger?

Noe - 09/09/20

Passo 10

Use a spudger to pry the microphone cable off the motherboard.
Pry from underneath the cable.

Note that the WiFi board has already been removed here! Including this extra step would be convenient here '-)

Sjoerd Hulshof - 24/09/16

Passo 11

Using the flat end of a spudger, flip up the retaining flap on the camera ribbon ZIF connector.
Use the pointed end of a spudger to pull the camera ribbon from the ZIF connector.

Passo 12

Using the flat end of a spudger, flip up the retaining flap on the touchscreen cable ZIF connector.
With the pointed end of the spudger, pull the touchscreen cable from its connector on the motherboard.

Passo 13

Using the flat end of a spudger, flip up the retaining flap on the backlight cable ZIF connector.
With the pointed end of the spudger, pull the backlight cable from its connector on the motherboard.

Passo 14

Using the flat end of a spudger, flip up the retaining flap on the lower display data cable ZIF connector.
With the pointed end of the spudger, pull the lower display data cable from its connector on the motherboard.

-This is where you can replace the charger port. i may change this comment later from May 21-June 5

Artemy Matveev - 06/05/18

Passo 15

Using the flat end of a spudger, flip up the retaining flap on the ZIF connector for the D-Pad/power button cable.
With the pointed end of the spudger, pull the D-Pad/power button cable from its connector on the motherboard.

Passo 16

Using the flat end of the spudger, pry the battery cable up off its socket on the motherboard.

The battery connectors (socket) on the mother board are extremely fragile, so care should be taken to avoid breaking them.

Other than this, the instructions given are precise and straighforward. I do agree with the other comments about step 20.

Paulette Williams -

Passo 17

Remove the screws securing the motherboard to the upper case:
A single 2.5 mm silver Phillips screw
Four 3.7 mm black Phillips screws

the battery connector was (for me) extremely hard to remove. I broke the socket completely off the board hand had to hard solder it directly back.

Rohan Grant-Dawes - 28/03/17

On Step 17, I only had the 3 black Philips screws on the left to remove.

bfmackin - 29/04/17

Passo 18

Deroute the microphone and antenna cables through the slot in the motherboard.

Passo 19

Rotate the motherboard off the lower case.
The motherboard cannot be completely removed yet. It is still attached by the upper LCD's display data ribbon cable.

Passo 20

Using the flat end of a spudger, flip up the retaining flap on the upper display data cable ZIF connector.
With the pointed end of the spudger, pull the upper display data cable from its connector on the underside of the motherboard.
The motherboard is now free from the upper case.

This step is unnecessary. The ribbon is a total pain in the butt to get back in, and if you dont get it PERFECT, the DS will not even fire back up. Unless it is absolutely necessary to remove it... DON'T !!! ( Personal experience, Everything else was SPOT ON) THANK YOU FOR THE HELP, saved me a lot of $$$

Jerod Cook -

Completed, worked perfectly! I agree with the comment about step 20, completely unnecessary.

ian -

Fantastic! Fixed my daughter's irreplaceable DSi XL - you should see her smiles!! Not sure about step 20 I did this before reading the comments (guess there's a message there). Thanks so much whoever wrote this - you're a legend and you've made a child very happy (and a dad too thereby).

lb9 - 17/06/14

I put mine back together for my daughter with the new bottom screen, but it won't power on. It tries but won't I'm assuming that this ribbon is the cause.

bigdrum1998 - 09/07/16

The instructions are perfect though! Great thing to have these instructions it's a tremendous help! :-)

bigdrum1998 - 09/07/16

YHWH is the god of all knowledge. Put a piece of transparent tape on the ribbon cable to give more leverage to pull the cable up to slide it into the slot. Also turn the motherboard slightly so that you can get it closer to the cable.

Deanna Cortez - 24/12/16

I didn't get mine completely reinserted at first. The symptom I experienced when powering it back on is the power light comes on briefly and the bottom screen light flashes, then they both shut off. No flash from the upper display. Had to try reinserting 3 times before I had it in completely. I agree, DON'T REMOVE if you don't have to.