Devlog #4: Helping the community restore gadgets 🪛

Hey Restorers 🪛

We have a very different devlog for you today because this one is all about YOU and restoring your love for the forgotten and ✨dusty✨ gadgets you have hidden away.

Introductions

We asked 5 members of our community to share their IRL disassembly projects they were currently working on, and we have an amazing range of gadgets that have been opened up for restoration.

Here are the questions we asked them:

• How did you get into repairing devices?

• Most channeling device?

• How would you compare the repairing to the game and IRL?

• With the devices you posted in the Discord server? How did that rebuild go? Why did you start disassembling?

From beloved handheld consoles to iPods and retro phones, they do it all 👇

sq: I got into disassembling devices for repair after watching a lot of TronicsFix & Odd Tinkering (Both very good channels, if you like retro repair they're great!) and I bought my first project console in 2022, a Wii U. It was mostly a cleaning job, but it worked once I was done! All it needed was to clean the laser. After that I tried to do smaller jobs, like controllers and older consoles, just as a fun hobby.

For my most challenging device to disassemble so far has been a Wii that I managed to get for only $10 (CAD) and it needed some serious cleaning. It's a lot like the Wii U but just more densely packed.

I would say it's very similar! I did send in feedback through the in-game feedback system with some things that may make it more in-depth, such as being able to repair broken parts through soldering, as well as perhaps a harder difficulty that doesn't always tell you when a console is fully clean, or having to remember which screw goes where (that's a BIG thing in repairing consoles)

The DSI LL I posted went well! It was a Japanese Import, and I wanted to mod it for my partner since he had one growing up. I did have to search a while for the exact part, eventually found another DSI LL that was in rough shape for cheap, and transferred the SD card module and it worked!

Credit: sq on Discord

Flehn (GODSPEED): How did you get into repairing devices?

At first, I mainly did not get into them. Sure, I love videogames and I play them and I was interested in some technical aspects of it, but I never got into it, mainly because of my degree as a musician/musicologist. But I remember a moment that caught my spark a little bit, which started rounding into my head every now and then. I play the accordion, and I remember when our teacher brought a professional who worked on tuning and building/fixing accordions, showing us its parts, the reeds, the bellow and how intricate the parts of the instrument were from the inside. Last year, in superior music school, I was able to get into disassembling an accordion and putting it back in. And I remember one time one of my classmates accidentally fell all the buttons of the left hand and we had to place them down. I was in 'a trance'. I will never forget it: it was relaxing, to see how to place all the buttons, not to mix 'major' buttons with the 'minor' ones. However, after that moment, I did not continue it that much. It was interesting, I considered that the mechanical work was more intriguing to me... and then I played this videogame. And after trying to open a CD Player who has been recollecting dust and humidity, to see it from the inside and just take a peek at how it looks from the inside, it was a very lovely experience.

Most channeling device?

To me it will always be the accordion. One day I would love to continue to know what to do with the accordions, and to be able to do some small fixes by myself. I am also interested in the electronic part of music, and I know the accordion can be amplified and even connected with MIDI devices, so it can have really cool opportunities to create new and fresh sounds. So for the most part, it is the accordion the one that still catches my attention by how complicated it is from the inside (and don't even get me started on organs!). As for electronic devices, for now it has to be the CD Player, because it is connected to a few cables and I think I need the soldering tool after opening it whole. But for the time being, I am still very careful because I am really just a beginner overall.

How would you compare the repairing to the game and IRL?

For now it looks pretty similar. @sq made a good point about the screws and the soldering parts, and overall the screws, because that definitely looks important when disassembling the device. But otherwise, at least only on a surface level, it really looks pretty good. Although again, I need to get more into this aspect of tech in the future.

With the devices you posted in the discord server? How did that rebuild go? Why did you start disassembling?

I started disassembling because of this videogame.

Now I do not know how I will continue with the CD Player (again, there are some cables I am not sure if I can get rid of or not, but I can ask the people here), but I have been very interested in repairing my 3DS, for my screens are pretty old already, you see. And now that I have seen tutorials and guides as for how to repair the console and the screens, I think I am going to get into fixing it and asking for the parts that I need so I can fix it. And that is very important to me because the 3DS, along with the Wii, have one of the most beautiful memories I have with this game, along with the many games I found on the R4. I am still nervous, because I am not sure if I will be able to do it or if I will commit a mistake. But I can at least try to fix the Nintendo 3DS, and if that works, then we will continue with the next one. Hopefully I will continue, maybe I won't. But I think I can use this urge and motivation to actually try it! And as Chris Boden would say: that's pretty cool.

Credit: Flehn (GODSPEED) on Discord

Zero: My interest in disassembling and repairing devices started back in junior high—right around the time my entire personality revolved around my PlayStation 3. That thing wasn’t just a console; it was my oxygen supply. If you unplugged it, you basically unplugged me.

It all began when my PS3 controller developed stick drift so dramatic it looked like it was trying to moonwalk on its own. A friend lent me his dad’s precision tool set, and not only did I manage to fix the controller, but his dad eventually gifted me the tools. That was the moment I realized, “Wait… taking things apart is actually fun. And I can put them back together without crying.”

Then came the legendary “red light of death.” My PS3 overheated itself into a coma, and I was devastated. Living in a border town, I crossed into Mexico on a mission. A college kid—friend of my cousin, part-time tech wizard—offered to teach me how to fix it if I bought him some chips. Best bargain of my childhood.

Credit: Zero on Discord

He grabbed the rest of the parts from a RadioShack in Mexico (yes, they still exist, and yes, they’re basically sacred ground), and together we cracked open the PS3 like it was a treasure chest. We replaced the thermal paste, swapped the board it needed, and when that console powered back on… I swear I ascended. That moment hit me: I brought something back to life. That spark is what pulled me into the world of tech and repair. And honestly, if we’re comparing real-life repairs to ReStory? I’d say it’s about 92% accurate. The only things missing are the picks, the suction gummies, and the slim separators—basically the tiny tools that make you feel like a surgeon for electronics.

Fast-forward to now, and I’m still at it. The iPod Classic I posted on Discord? I revived that thing too. It wasn’t turning on, so naturally I took it apart. I swapped the dead battery, upgraded the old ISP display to an OLED panel, and the rebuild was a total success. I’m just waiting on a few more parts—the new faceplate and the iFlash card so I can load it up with four 256GB microSD cards. A tiny device with a full terabyte of storage? Yes, please.

The best part? I found my old iPod that my dad gave me. It still has his music on it. Fixing it wasn’t just a repair—it felt like reconnecting with a piece of my past.

All of this—from resurrecting my PS3 to modding an iPod into a tiny futuristic jukebox—reminds me why I fell in love with tech in the first place. It’s not just about fixing devices. It’s about the stories they carry, the memories they hold, and the feeling of bringing something back to life with your own hands.

Le_rouleur_fou: My interest in disassembling and repairing devices started a few years ago, around 3–4 years back. At first, it was pretty simple stuff. I began by cleaning old consoles and fixing small issues like controllers that weren’t working properly. I’ve always loved old stuff

I originally got into it by watching restoration videos on YouTube. Seeing people take apart broken devices, clean them, fix them, and bring them back to life

For a while, I mostly stuck to basic things like maintenance and small repairs. But recently, I started working on more serious issues. One of the most challenging ones was my PlayStation 1, which wasn’t reading games anymore I had to adjust the laser and I try doing a reflow that works pretty well I never donne this before so for a first time I'm happy with the results. And I'm currently working on a sega saturn that won't work at all I have some board problem that need more than I can do for the moment. But I try to learn everyday.

In the end, the rebuild went well. The console is working again, and honestly, that feeling is one of the best parts of repairing. Compared to doing repairs in games, real life is way more complex. You need patience, precision, and skills. But that’s exactly what makes it so satisfying.

That experience really pushed me further into repair and restoration, and now I want to keep improving and working on even more challenging devices.

Credit: Le_rouleur_fou on Discord

Nebby: How did you get into repairing devices? I enjoyed taking devices apart as a kid, just for interest. I got into repair in 2020 which really rekindled it. I also watch a lot of repair & restoration content. We produce so much e-waste now that redirecting those things back into use is very satisfying, on a technical level but also as an act of resistance against disposable tech.

Most challenging device? My first serious repair attempt was a home theatre amplifier, it wasn't too hard to disassemble but the repair was very challenging. Hardest disassembly might have been a cheap coffee machine that wasn't designed for repair (or durability). That or a Ryobi inverter generator, which was complex & very densely constructed.

Credit: Nebby on Discord

How would you compare the repairing to the game and IRL? The game does a wonderful job capturing the vibe in a way that's simple and fun. The level of detail shows a lot of respect for the devices, without getting tedious at all. My kids will sit with me while I play the game, but they won't stay for long at the real workbench 😆

With the devices you posted in the discord server? How did that rebuild go? Why did you start disassembling? The Nokia 5510 was no longer usable and I wanted to see how it was constructed, this was back in 2010. It was very cool to see what looked like a Nokia 3310 chassis inside it! I didn't reassemble it, but I kept some of the parts for repurposing. The vintage lamp was a street find, so I did a full teardown to clean it, replaced broken parts, and make sure it was safe. I added an earth wire which probably wasn't needed and painted the inside of the shade. It's been serving me well above the workbench for about 4 years now.

Before we finish up today's devlog, we wanted to celebrate that we have over 13,000 of you join our Discord server and shared many repair projects you've worked on or are working on right now! You can join in right here: discord.gg/restory

For this achievement, there is a hidden gadget behind the text. Can you guess what it is?