Damn, I don't wanna get all crazy with this thing. I'll just have to play L-button games on my DS Phat. This sucks.

I've had the same problem for ages, at first intermittently but now most of the time. Blowing is a quick fix sometimes, but then it will quickly return, and that fix seems to lose its effectiveness with each subsequent attempt.

A couple times I just blew air through it very hard, and the lower screen on my ds went crazy for a minute, so I thought I'd best not do that again.

I'll have to think about the disassembly option, as I've been wanting to return to Quake II on my flashcart for ages, and last I tried it wasn't worth it due to the inconsistent shooting. If only I didn't need one of those damn triangle screwdrivers.

I fixed it!


I yanked the button up really high until it got stuck, and I blew in it really hard, and it didn't help. So I pulled the button high and got it stuck again, and then just shook the hell out of it and flicked the button really hard several times, and then put it back in place and it works like a dream.

There was something nasty in there that I had to get loose I guess.

I'd say it's still highly likely to return, although of course I hope for your success. But I've messed around with mine several times and suddenly had it return to normal functionality, only to lose it again in a few days or weeks.

Option 1: Call Nintendo for repair

Option 2: take it apart and fix the spring

The L/R spring for the DS is probably the shoddiest part.

Never had this happen and i don't know anyone who has either. Is this really common?
(>'.')>

@Pretendo

From searching for a solution online, I can confirm that this is a very common problem. I seem to have been somewhat unlucky in general with my DS Lite, though: only a month after buying it, with only normal usage, I already had about 5 pixels die on the top screen, so I had to ship it back for repair (which was free, fortunately). Just after the warranty expired, however, I've had the shoulder button issues, mostly on L but also sometimes on R. Also, there is a very slight gap where the lower screen joins the body ever since it returned from that initial repair, but not really noticeable unless you are looking for it.

For the record, however, this is the only piece of Nintendo hardware I've ever owned that has malfunctioned, and, having been a fan since the earliest days of the original NES, I've given my share of Nintendo products a good workout.

My theory with anything crappy is use baby wipes. They are easy on the tushy, so they're easy on everything else.

It's common enough to have videos on YouTube showing you how to fix it with Q-Tips, water, and cottonballs.