Topic: Top Screen Stuck Beyond Maximum Brightness

In some strange way, the top screen of my 3DS has gotten stuck beyond the maximum screen brightness. The screen is so bright that it generates significant heat even while in sleep mode. The brightness control only changes the bottom screen, and even at the brightest setting, it's still not quite as bright as the top screen. I've tried many things; turning it off and on, removing the game card or SD card, and even removing the battery (which only reset some of my settings). The only thing I can think of left to do is a factory reset, which I am very hesitant to do. The problem is, when you turn the system off or put it in sleep mode, it remembers what brightness you had it on. But now, it's stuck on a brightness setting that doesn't exist. I need to find a way to trick it into forgetting. It started after I accidentily knocked my Ridge Racer 3D game card out and put it back in (while the game was running) during sleep mode. Anyone else had a similar problem / any suggestions? At this point, I blame Namco... >.>

Contact Nintendo. If it's heating up, there is a risk of damage. Just send it in.

I'd suggest simply e-mailing Nintendo. You seem to have already tried all the things that will not void your warranty, so contact them in some way, or check the 3ds troubleshooting section on the website. Make sure you don't tell them you removed the battery though.

Call Nintendo if you can; even though you may be on hold for a bit, you'll get an answer as to what to do in minutes as opposed to waiting for them to respond and continuing correspondence after that.

@Happy_Mask - I don't see how removing the battery would be problematic; Nintendo sells additional 3DS batteries on its website for people to replace themselves. If you mean about the warranty being voided, that's only if the battery was replaced by a 3rd Party one (like a Nyko PowerPak+).

this. let them take care of you :3

@everyone: yeah, looks like I'll just have to send it in... I've been noticing that it's causing it to overheat, it was almost too hot to touch the other day so I had to turn it off and let it cool... I think the heat may have had a negative effect on the cameras, because it looks extremely grainy. It may just be the unnatural brightness is causing me to see the graininess of the images more than before. But, it is also using up the battery extremely fast, and is somehow using up battery power while turned off...?

So anyway, I guess I'll be contacting Nintendo...

Could you post a picture of it? I'm curious.

Yeah, sure. You can actually see that the top screen is super bright even before an image appears... usually you can only watch the screens turn on if you're in the dark.

EDIT:Well, you might have to wait a bit 'cause my computer doesn't seem to want to read my SD card...

Okay, got the SD card working; here's what it looks like:

That's what it looks like when it's turning on; note that the top screen is visibly bright.

When running, it's so bright the camera can't really see it.

Holy crap that looks awesome.

I recommend you be vague in the details. Just say it happened by.chance or something.

http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/50500/t1756307-wrong-with-my-...
This person seemed to be having the same problem (As well as more issues). They sent it in to Nintendo, but nothing happened. I don't really know what to say, could've just been the person it got to when it was sent in, maybe it had something to do with the other issues. I'm not familiar with Nintendo's repairing services. Don't know what else to tell you.

@RedPanda: That's not encouraging... I thought, if they were unable to fix a problem, they replace the system for you? Like, do a system transfer and send you a new system?

Hmm... and, similar to this guy, I had it in a jacket pocket, but I was carrying around the jacket, so it was like it was in a bag... I don't think knocking out the game card had anything to do with it.

Yeah, sorry about that >.< That was posted in August, so I'm not sure if the policy has changed or something, but the poster says it was just cleaned. I'll still look into it, though, this stuff interests me. I could only track down a few people who had the problem, and that was the only one that sent it in to Nintendo.
And, seeing your edit, the question now is, if it wasn't you taking out your game card, then what triggered it?

@Gioku if it's still under warranty, I'd suggest just sending it in.
On the other hand, if it isn't, you may want to try disconnecting it from the charger, removing the battery for at least 10 seconds, attempting to turn the system on (still without battery/ AC), re-inserting the battery, and then testing out the system again. Worst case scenario, it still wouldn't function satisfactorily and you'd send it in anyway.

That last link was really the only thing I could see similar to your case, and I feel like they should've mentioned that it was heating up, if it were. So at this point, I'd agree that it at least wouldn't hurt to send it in.

Sir, you are a genius. 'Nuff said!

@shinesprite:
I did that already; no change was observed. Actually, I think the screen has slowly gotten brighter the more I've messed with it... 0_o

Errr you should probably stop messing with it then...get that sucka repaired!

Yeah best thing to do in this case is send it in for repairs. You dont want it to burn down your house or something just as bad.

Yea, this is the point where I'd pick up the phone and try to explain my situation to Nintendo in the most cost-effective manner possible. Best of Luck!