Doctor Doctor - My DS Needs Help

[TheMagnolia]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O7ug9uER10

This somehow happened to my DS.  The speakers work intermittently and at different angles.

[decy90]

all i can think of is that the wire is loose and when in the closed position it means they connect loosly and when you open it you pull the connection apart.... open it up and see if there are any irrgularities in the wiring or solder connections and you should be able to sort it out.

[seikene]

Heh I dunno whether you just said doctor doctor to just say it, or if you meant me :P (from my doctor blog thing I did ). Anyway yeah it might be the wires being loose. Those things are mad weak (on a lite I mean), and they can be bent and snapped pretty easily. If anything, try to see if you can remove those wires and try using something a bit thicker, that way, not only should they work if that was the problem, but it shouldn't break as easily.

[Timmy]

as i told you on msn, check the wires, but because its happening at screen angles chances are is the FPC/flat cable, because the speakers connect onto that which in tourn goes through the left hinge to the motherboard, you may need to buy a new top screen if thats the case

[TheMagnolia]

So I took it apart, resoldered all the connections and it fixed the problem temporarily but I think that the problem maybe in the cable leading to the top screen.  What is that ribbon called and where may I find one?

[seikene]

A flat ribbon wire, and if that's messed up, then you'll need a new top screen, sorry to say ;(. You can find one cheap on ebay, usually for around 12-20 USD w/shipping.
Off topic- This is one of my good reasons for switching to the phat

[TheMagnolia]

How do I *test* if it's the ribbon that'smalfunctionoing? 

[seikene]

Well it's more of a checkup then a test. Get a magnifying glass and carefully look at the ribbon. If it's doing what you're saying it's doing, then that ribbon should have a seriously fine crack or break in it. You can't really test it, unless you want to start opening and shutting your DS with the case removed to see if it's the ribbon that malfunctions when you bend it.

[Timmy]

yeah just look for cracks in it

orrrrrr an easier way is to take your multimeter on continuity, put and test resistance between the the speakers and there points on the mobo, check my PulseVU tutorial for where the speaker mobo points are, there nice and big, thats the positives (red wires) ie left speaker red wire to left point etc, then pick either of the black wires (they are connected so it doesn't matter) and test there continuity to teh ground (i think)

that is all