r/3dshacks • u/MTVA0 • Aug 22 '26
Finally got around USB C modding my New 3DS XL
It was easier than I thought finding space near the battery to put the USB C board although I should advise anyone trying to do this to make sure the wiring is correct cause I almost made that mistake 😅
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u/BOSS-3000 Aug 24 '26
Just be careful on which charger you use. Make sure it uses the proper voltage and amperage that match (within tolerances) the voltage and amperage on the sticker.
A Wii remote wrist strap is an interesting choice. I would recommend finding a wrist strap from a DS fat. It has a thumb pad that is a total game changer when controlling certain games. As always, use screen protectors.
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u/MTVA0 Aug 24 '26
Well I have the USB C board configured to always negotiate 5 volts from any charger so it should be fine and regarding the strap, I just used what I had on hand but I will look into the DS strap it sounds interesting
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u/Sasuke082594 Aug 24 '26
Wait a god damn minute… there’s a spot for a lanyard?
Edit: holy cow, I’ve never noticed lol
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u/Dangerous_Choice_664 Aug 24 '26
Do you solder boards for a living? What’s the difficulty level for someone with soldering experience but not usually on circuit boards?
Would love to do mine
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u/MTVA0 Aug 24 '26
Nah I do fix electronics as a hobby but even for an absolute beginner this should be easy since it's only 2 wires to solder and the points you are soldering to are fairly big, the hardest part is actually making the hole for the port since to do it cleanly you need some small drilling bits and to take your time
There are guides on YouTube on how to do it so I will see if I can edit the post later to include them
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u/Dangerous_Choice_664 Aug 24 '26
I solder db9 connectors, 3.5mm jacks and xlr’s frequently but never tried a board
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u/MenuOne3855 Aug 28 '26
I really wanna do this but alas, I ain't got the balls for it
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u/MTVA0 Aug 28 '26
Well you can always find someone to do it for you but you gotta make them sign a paper where if they mess it up they buy you a new one 🙃
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u/MenuOne3855 Aug 28 '26
Exactly, the issue is I'm in Pakistan and while u can find a good dude sometimes, a lot of these guys are assholes who just don't take the responsibility
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u/KegManWasTaken Aug 24 '26
Is it easy to mod the 3ds so that I can have it plugged into a TV? Id like to show my kids some of the older Pokémon games without them hovering over my shoulder
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u/MTVA0 Aug 24 '26
That would require a capture card board, the install process is a bit harder than just USB C charging cause it requires more soldering but it's not that hard if you follow instructions but it's way more expansive ($100+)
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u/DaBeast893 Aug 24 '26
If you have CFW on the 3ds I believe there's a way to stream the screen to a PC, might be easier to connect that to a tv instead.
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u/MTVA0 Aug 24 '26
There is but its not that reliable
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u/Southpaw98 Aug 25 '26
I've had the opposite experience with Arctic Base, it worked great on my windows pc. Haven't tried it since I switched to Linux, but should be similar as it runs through a popular emu that shall not be named.
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u/MTVA0 Aug 25 '26
The reliability issues comes from the reliance on WiFi and that makes it dependent on nearby WiFi devices, access points and signal quality
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u/DaBeast893 Aug 25 '26
Feal like that's still easier and cheaper to solve than soldering a capture card to a 3ds.
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u/StrongNormals Aug 25 '26
As cool as that is, doesn't feel worth it when you can get a dongle or 3DS-USB-C(or A) and save yourself the risk.
Now if the USB-C port could transfer data.....entirely different story
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u/MTVA0 Aug 25 '26
well fun fact, I live in a country where this is easier to do than getting the dongle believe it or not
also in terms of risk its supper low if you know what you are doing but for most people that don't want to do it I guess the dongle is a better option1
u/StrongNormals Aug 25 '26
Oh wow! I guess there really are places AliExpress doesn't ship 😯 In my case i can just go to the nearest GEO shop and get one. That's actually what i did - not the most durable, but dongles usually aren't anyway
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u/nichrs Aug 24 '26
I'm not complaining about yours or anything like that, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I'd ever have the courage to modify mine. I try to keep my consoles as original as possible, unless something breaks or gets damaged. And there are small adapters on Aliexpress that do the job well. That said, you did a great job, it looks very clean.