My DS Hates Me...

Hey guys, so here's my problem:
I have one of those old DS', the original style one, not a Lite or DSi. And so, I've never had any problems with it and so the other month I was playing it and I turned it off to switch games and bam, the game cartridge won't come out. You know how you just push it down and it pops out? Well, it goes down but doesn't pop back out...

So, I left it alone for a week or two and it still wouldn't come out, so I waited about a month and it's still stuck in there! I don't want to try too hard to get it out because it was one of my newer games and I didn't want to risk the chance of it breaking or anything. Now, the game still works in it, as I can still play it but it's not coming out! So, has this happened to anyone else or can anyone help me with this? o_O Thanks,

im guessing it may be a spring or something. Try pulling it out i guess.

I dunno, it won't come out not matter how hard I push it or try to pry it out... >> This is so frustrating,

SUCCESS! I cut a thin piece of card stock to fit down by the left side of the cartridge (looking toward the cartridge from behind the DS) and it released it. There is a small clip in the slot that holds the cart in a litle indentation on the cart. For some reason the clip gets jammed on this cart and won't release although I tried another cart and it seems OK. I can get it in and out now using my paper "tool" but still not sure why there is a problem.

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I found this on another site where a user seems to have a very similar if not the same problem.

http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/22323/t1039926-slot-1-cartridge-stuck-in-ds/

I think your first mistake was still owning a DS Phat >_<'

Well, try opening it up and see what you can do. Experiment and use logic and common sense. Maybe you can do something. No, I don't know what is inside, but trust me, I've operated many computers and electronics. Don't touch anything that looks sensitive, close it correctly, and you'll be fine.

Then again, after you open it, it'll be easier to just break the thing in half, tape it, and sell it on eBay in 20 years

Grow some nails and carefully place one at the small indent at the top of a DS cartridge. Carefully try to remove it, it worked when my spring disconnected. Fooling around actually fixed it!

AdvancedK47 said:

I think your first mistake was still owning a DS Phat >_<'

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Indeed. From what I hear, DS Phats suffered from several design flaws.

Thanks guys, I'll try getting the cartridge out again tomorrow.
But yeah, I saved my DS Phat because I use it to trade between my Pokemon games and quite a while back I realized that I was in serious need of a new DS so I saved up to purchase a DSi which I am quite happy with. But it is quite a pain that Pokemon Platinum is stuck in there because I still like to play it and the screen on that thing is so annoying and small compared to the DSi screen. ^^;
But thanks, I'll try again and update the current status of my poor game later.

EDIT:
Okay, so, I keep trying to pry it out, it comes up a little but then will not move up. So, I tried the card stock thing and it isn't working.... =/ But, I shall keep trying, I need to rescue my game cartridge! T_T Thankyou guys for all of your help though ^^

Forget my last post, if you have a triwing screwdriver, then go and take the Phat apart.

Heart's Soul said:

Forget my last post, if you have a triwing screwdriver, then go and take the Phat apart.

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Another alternative is to file off one of the notches on a precision Phillips screwdriver and use that to open a DS. But first, you should make sure you have other precision screwdrivers before trying that. I learned about this trick on Instructables dot com, as I am a regular user there as well.

PkMnTrainer Yellow said:

Indeed. From what I hear, DS Phats suffered from several design flaws.

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In all of the time I've owned my DS Phat, I didn't know about it having so many design flaws. I'm just surprised it lasted as long as it did before dying in mid-November. I didn't think too much about its stuck pixels in the middle of the top screen. But when it fell from my desk one morning, the hinge got busted, and I started saving money for the Crimson/Onyx DS Lite that I own today.

Whoop! Hey guys, my cousin ended up getting the game out for me! ^_^ I dunno how he did it, I think that he may have taken my DS apart though... =/ But thankyou for all of your help, it was greatly appreciated! Now, I am never putting any game back into my DS Phat, ever again.

I just screwed myself over. Why? I broke my DS. :(

Now MY DS hates me.

HS, duh. That's what always happens. It's like when you kill a person. They then hate you.

DS "phats" were quite entertaining with their flaws.

The Opera Ghost said:

The DS Phat, itself, IS a design flaw.

I owned one then it annoyed me playing, GUESS WHAT, POKEMON EMERALD!

I kept on trying to beat.... um hold on.... um... the twin leaders i think?
Anyway.. I kept losing.. thats what happenes if you pick Blaziken and raise a Swellow as a partner.
For the 10th time a lost, i got so mad i literally snapped it in two.
It still worked for a while then it broke completely.

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So you call it a design flaw because you forcefully snapped it in half? lol

He calls it a design flaw because it breaks easier than a DS Lite, DSi, DSiXL, 3DS, so on.

Heart's Soul said:

He calls it a design flaw because it breaks easier than a DS Lite, DSi, DSiXL, 3DS, so on.

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You can snap any of those in half if you try, except for the 3DS because it's not even out yet. :[

Heart's Soul said:

He calls it a design flaw because it breaks easier than a DS Lite, DSi, DSiXL, 3DS, so on.

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wakachamo said:

You can snap any of those in half if you try, except for the 3DS because it's not even out yet. :[

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Why do you remind me of GLaDOS from Portal right now?

PkMnTrainer Yellow said:

The DS phat is significantly easier to accidentally "break" due to a couple of design flaws if I recall. That's the point. =<

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I've seen a lot more hinges fail on the DS lites, and there was even a whole batch of DS lites that had the hinges break.

I have an original release-day DS Phat and it's taken an absolute beating. I've dropped it down stairs, onto a concrete driveway from a metre, etc. Both open, I might add. Scuffed to buggery, but it works like a charm.

The DS lites feel tacky and plasticy, rather than the solid design of the DS Phat. Comfier, sturdier and bigger. What else could I want? Oh yeah, a DSi XL. :D