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[Altor]

I notice with GBA cartridges, when I take them out I often have to pull them with a little force to get them out.  Especially things like flashcarts, but to a lesser extent with regular GBA stuff too.

What I realized yesterday is that when I pull them out, I use my index and middle finger to pull on the little notch underneath, and push against the top screen with my thumb for leverage.  So much pressure could probably, over time, cause the hinge to crack or even break entirely.

Does anyone else do this?  Consider, if Nintendo can be believed, the cracked hinge problem is only affecting less than 1% of DS Lites.  This sounds like damage control talk to me, but if it's actually true, could that less than 1% of people be ones who are using flashcarts that require excessive force to remove?  Or even just people who use my above method to remove regular GBA carts?

Since the Phat was so much larger and top and bottom didn't fold flush, you probably used something else for leverage, like a section of the bottom housing, explaining why there are no reports of Phat owners having this problem. (aside from Phat's obviously more durable construction)

Anyway, I guess, try to be careful not to do this.  Even if it's not what's causing the hinge problem, it's probably not doing your shiny new DSL any favours either.

[bitblt]

There have been reports of cracked hinges made by people who only play legitimate DS game carts. Your point is still quite valid though.  People should avoid applying stress to the Nintendo DS Lite hinge.

I tried to warn people before this problem surfaced . . .

Sat Jun 24, 2006 2:39 am
http://scdev.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4639

I have taken an NDSL apart and I can tell you it's cheaply made.  The entire construction is very streamlined. I would say the button switches are of lesser quality than phat DS.  The phat DS is a more rugged design.  I would be mindful not to drop your NDSL much.

Unfortunately even one of my Nintendo DS Lites is "on crack" now . . .

http://scdev.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5514

[zektor]

I got one brand new, and the hinge was cracked right out of the box... so while I think it is good practice of course NOT to cause any strain on the hinge, it will probably happen anyway if you are one of the unlucky ones.

[teknicz]

I'm thinking it has to be more than 1%.


Also, I didn't know that if left unfixed, the cracked hinge problem could become so bad, I had figured it was just cosmetic at worst. If the top screen could really become detached, I'm going to install Flashme_Stealth right away and ship this off to Nintendo.

[Hanafuda]

It's all about torque. Chinese factory was putting too much torque on when tightening the hinge. THe piece that's been cracking is pinched when there's too much torque.

The question is, can the DSL hold itself together without that torque?

Mine just went to Nintendo for the crack and is due back by UPS on Monday the 11th. I'm interested to see if the hinge on the replacement unit I get "feels" different.

[squall51489]

The only crack i have is near the GBA slot from when i dropped my DSL and my SC poppped out, nothing on the hinge....yet D:

[uzumakishade]

i heard the ds phats are also starting to get cracked hinges as well. Hopefully nintendo takes care of these as well, would be cool if they replaced them with ds lites but highly doubtful