The Consipracy of the Illusive NDS Lite Screwdriver

[TheMagnolia]

Alright for those of you who've read my posts about me complaining constantly that the screwdrivers sent to me to open my DS were the wrong size, this is the post addressing the conspiracy which I like to call "Nintendo doesn't want me to open my DS".  So I went out on a quest to find the *right* screwdriver.  I had 2 shipped to me, 1 was one that came with my ghost case, the other I ordered from a gaming store where it SPECIFICALLY said on the name "it will open up a DS lite".  Lastly I got annoyed and found a bargain bin at the Best Buy's phone section and "test drove" all their trigram screwdrivers until I found the right size and I bought it.



Exhibit A: Here's a collection of trigram screwdrivers and only 1 opened up my DS lite.  Take a guess which one it is?



Exhibit B: For anyone questioning the make and model of my screwdrivers, here it is:

Top) Says "Penggong 3 CRV"
Middle) Unlabelled
Bottom) 360/x50 screwdriver (HFA tool)



Exhibit C: The explanation of the screwdrivers.

Left: Angle of the tip is at 70* and its total width before it fattens out is 2 mm (Penggong)
Middle: Angle of tip is at 20* and its total width before it fattens out is 3 mm (unlabelled)
Right: Angle of tip is at 20* and its total width before it fattens out is 3 mm (DS screwdriver)



So in conclusion, if you haven't guessed yet.  The screwdriver that EVENTUALLY opened my DS lite is the one labelled "penggong".  Not the other ones that were "especially" made for the DS. 

There we have it ladies and gentlemen.  It's one big conspiracy.  The screwdriver I found to open it was in the cell phone aisle and less expensive then the other 2 because it didn't mention ANYTHING about it working on a DS and it was made specifically for opening Sony cell phones.

[Timmy]

interesting perspective

one flaw though: How can it be less expensive then the other two when the other two come FREE with repair parts...............

im sorry they didn't work out for you but a fair few people have tried both of those and they work fine......

Do you use correct screw driver technique? Checking 100% for sure you are coming directly from the top?

And im also sorry to have to be the one to inform you, but those weren't made specifically for the DS Lite either, you can get them in screwdriver sets made by there respective companies or seperate, the size just happens to suite the ds lite, phillips screwdrivers ship with psp cases but they aren't made specifically for the psp lol

Also looking at the tips of the "wrong ones" it looks like you've been doing some stripping, this is most likely from angling it too much when unscrewing

otherwise a well written write up

[TheMagnolia]

one flaw though: How can it be less expensive then the other two when the other two come FREE with repair parts...............

1 was free because it came with my Ghost case, the other one I just purchased from the net and paid roughly $7 including shipping to Canada.  The other one cost me $0.95.

im sorry they didn't work out for you but a fair few people have tried both of those and they work fine......

I've heard the same before but my screwdrivers weren't filed or altered in any way whatsoever.  It's the same as it was when it came out of the box.  Meaning if all the screwdrivers were EXACTLY as this it would be next to impossible to get it out without scratching the sides of the screw slots and also rounding off the screw or brute forcing it.

Do you use correct screw driver technique? Checking 100% for sure you are coming directly from the top?

Yes, the beautiful thing about the DS lite is that it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE to do anything else BUT the right screwdriving technique.  You're inserting a screwdriver down a hole, either the head of the screwdriver locks with the slots on the screws or it doesn't.  There's no where else for the screwdiver to go, there's no room to shove it off to the side under the screw or into some odd spot in the hole.  The DS was also brand new so there was no damage to the screws before hand and also no debris to get in the way.

 The other 2 screwdrivers were simply too fat to really have much else to move in the hole and as a result the screwdrivers scratched the insides of the case and also rounded off the screw a bit (if you notice the black one it's a little white because it scraped up against the inside of the DS and it started taking off the paint). 

That and the only screw I was able to remove with some difficulty was the black one where you insert the games.  Only reason why was because I could easily see the head of the screw and I had to really try to remove it without rounding the screw.

And im also sorry to have to be the one to inform you, but those weren't made specifically for the DS Lite either, you can get them in screwdriver sets made by there respective companies or seperate, the size just happens to suite the ds lite, phillips screwdrivers ship with psp cases but they aren't made specifically for the psp lol

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1887

In the advertisement it says "NDS NDSL and wii", hence why it's a conspiracy.  It works fine on the DS phat, it works fine on the Wii but the conspiracy is with the DS lite.  Also they sent me the other screwdriver (which was the same size as the one in the link) to go with the ghost case.  It also didn't work.

[Timmy]

If you payed anything more then $0 for one of those red screwdrivers you have been ripped off, they come free with practically every part ive seen on ebay.

Looking at your last and first hi-res images you can see very clearly that the two "wrong" screwdrivers have either be unintentionally altered or you've been stripping the screws......

[TheMagnolia]

Like I said Timmy, I stripped the screws on my other DS trying every fashionable way to SCREW UP (no pun intended) pulling them out of my DS.  I tried screwing it one way, the other way, tried to shove the screwdriver to the side.  There was just no way for me to get it out.  I tried pushing in the screwdriver, push in, pull out give it a wiggle.

I even tried the "tie the screwdriver to a string" trick.  (Basically you tie the screwdriver to a piece of string, hang the string from something and lower it into teh hole, if the screwdriver stops spinning it's contacted the bottom and has into the slots). 

I tried the freeze the screwdriver, heat the screwdriver... anything and everything else I could think of from a chemist's perspective to alter the size of the screwdriver without mechanically altering it aka filing it down, etc. . . . .

Finally someone told me to brute force it with a dremel before I tried looking for the "perfect" screwdriver.

Lastly, yes I made an idiot of myself buying a screwdriver for that purpose of trying to find one that works.  But I really had no use for any spare parts.  The DS' I was working with already had a spare case, no parts of my DS were broken either.

[Timmy]

Hey, Hey Calm down im not calling you an idiot, i remember saying you did a good job on the write up lol

It's the luck of the draw sometimes, it sounds like you just got sent dud versions of those screwdrivers, i just meant GENERALLY those brands of one work.

[TheMagnolia]

LOL

I'm not mad :P  I just finished writing up a research proposal and got badgered every which way how to excessively explain everything.  THat and unfortunately you can't really show emotion in text on the internet.  If you could actually watch me write thing thing you'd see that I'm smiling.

Anyways I've come with up with the understanding that with some guys it really is "it fits perfectly!  after I filed it down a little bit, inserted it at this angle and turned hard it worked well!" but for the other gender, it really is "if it doesn't work on the first try without any effort it doesn't fit".

[seikene]

Hey, Hey Calm down im not calling you an idiot, i remember saying you did a good job on the write up lol

It's the luck of the draw sometimes, it sounds like you just got sent dud versions of those screwdrivers, i just meant GENERALLY those brands of one work.

Agreed, I'm guessing you got unlucky with it since I have that exactly red one and it has worked with me from the start. Yours does really look like it's been used nasty or just altered, but if you say you didn't do it, then only one to blame is the company for defective products which makes alot more sense, mate. Nice guide tho :P

[TheMagnolia]

Agreed, I'm guessing you got unlucky with it since I have that exactly red one and it has worked with me from the start. Yours does really look like it's been used nasty or just altered, but if you say you didn't do it, then only one to blame is the company for defective products which makes alot more sense, mate. Nice guide tho :P

I gotta admit, I REALLY abused it trying to make it work (meaning I spent like 8 hours trying to unscrew a screw before giving up) because you guys said that it should work.  Not to mention I got 2 from 2 independent sources and they both didn't work.  In both cases they were just simply too big.  At first I thought it was just *my* DS that was too small but I tried it once on the other and still no luck.  Hence why I said it was a conspiracy... it LITERALLY felt like the DS was yelling "I won't let you open me!!!"

My dad tried to open it, I gave it to my sister to try, even my BF tried but it still didn't work.

So yes, by the time I got my DS to eventually open up, I felt like I wanted to hold a party or something.   

So there we have it, if anyone wants to mod their screwdriver to fit PERFECTLY into the slot, just file it to a 70* degree angle at the head and make sure the head doesn't exceed 2.5mm.  It'll work like a charm.

[Fe1ipe]

so u payed like a dollar for the penggong.i got it forl ike 7 dollars from play asia........