DS Lite Slot -1, games cartridge not reading games repair / resolution.

Hi,

Has your slot -1 games cartridge reader stopped working? Is it being temperamental with your cartridges? Here are a few tips to get your DS lite back to full working order.

1) First try giving the games cartridges metal contacts a clean, ideally with a cotton bud and white spirit (if you don't have white spirit try avoiding anything soapy, if you can try to stick to an alcohol based solvant such as nail polish remover).

2) If that doesn't work you can try cleaning the cartridge socket (slot1), you can buy proper cleaning cartridges for the DS lite, or, if your feeling brave you can get a jaye cloth, dampen it with an alcohol based solution (same as what is used to clean the cartridge) make sure it is well wrung out so that the cloth is only slightly damp and thinly wrap it around a rigid ruler, which can then be gently placed into the slot to give it a bit of a clean.

3) If both of those fail you may find that some of the pins within slot1 are bent/snapped and so this will need to be fixed, If under warranty i'd suggest taking them in to get looked at. If they are not and you feel brave you can set about fixing it yourself, take the DS lite apart and have a look at the pins on the slot1 socket, if they are damaged you can buy a replacement socket on ebay, but be warned it is a tricky job to solder a new one on.

To solder the replacement slot -1 on firstly you will need to remove the old one, take care not to damage the pcb tracks when doing this as it will cause the replacemet process to be far more difficult and a purchase of a track repair fluid may be needed. Your best option is to de-solder it buy removing the exisiting solder to free it from the motherboard. Once you have done this you need to put the new one on, take great care not to fuse any of the pin connections together with the solder as this will cause the DS great problems and break it. Re assemble the DS lite and give it a try.

If you need help with taking the DS lite apart please refer to my other tips and tricks posted on here.

Just so you know I take no responsability for any damage that may occur whilst following these tips.

Regards,
SOD69