Game Boy & GB Advance Appreciation Thread

[Colonel Panic]

That down pad looks done. 

[DennyDifferent]

21 minutes ago, Colonel Panic said:

That down pad looks done. 

 

Funnily enough since I've cleaned it it's working 80% of the time. But the left one isn't working at all still and I don't think that one looks too bad... My select button isn't working either. I'm starting to think that this might be a lost cause, though. Might be in the market for a new one.

 

This is how it looks now:

 

[MikeBeaver]

2 hours ago, DennyDifferent said:

 

Funnily enough since I've cleaned it it's working 80% of the time. But the left one isn't working at all still and I don't think that one looks too bad... My select button isn't working either. I'm starting to think that this might be a lost cause, though. Might be in the market for a new one.

 

This is how it looks now:

 

Get your multimeter out

 

https://nintenfo.github.io/repository/systems/GBC/documentation/schematics/

 

It's taken me 20 mins to find that, but KNEW I'd seen it somewhere, now I have... I can get to sleep 😛

[yakumo]

OT but since there's some repair gurus here, I wanted to ask if anyone can help in replacing a digitiser for a switch. Made a thread about it but please remove if not proper here but wanted to get as many eyes as possible.

[DennyDifferent]

8 hours ago, MikeBeaver said:

Get your multimeter out

 

https://nintenfo.github.io/repository/systems/GBC/documentation/schematics/

 

It's taken me 20 mins to find that, but KNEW I'd seen it somewhere, now I have... I can get to sleep 😛

 

Cheers! Though I have to admit... I've no idea how to use that to test if the buttons are knackered or not 😂

[Colonel Panic]

The traces from the pads usually have test points that look like little holes. One end of the multimeter goes there, the other on the pad. 

[DennyDifferent]

Yeah, I think the trace for the left button is knackered. Looking at the schematic there's a small group of points on the left that are all for the buttons and looking at my board there's was a fair bit of corrosion in this area as you can see here:

 

I put a few drops of white vinegar over the area and left it for 10 minutes and it cleaned up well but there's still no continuity to the marked point. All the others work fine.

[MikeBeaver]

5 hours ago, DennyDifferent said:

Yeah, I think the trace for the left button is knackered. Looking at the schematic there's a small group of points on the left that are all for the buttons and looking at my board there's was a fair bit of corrosion in this area as you can see here:

 

I put a few drops of white vinegar over the area and left it for 10 minutes and it cleaned up well but there's still no continuity to the marked point. All the others work fine.

Gently scrap the traces back and see if you can find out where the break is, either fix the break with a small wire or blob of solder, it's definitely not dead yet!!

[iloverage]

I've no prior soldering/electrical experience but I got it in my head that I wanted to trying backlighting and biverting a DMG. First attempt resulted in a total botch of the motherboard trying to install the bivert chip, as well as two missing horizontal lines on the screen.

 

I bought a 'broken' dmg to try again (the battery contacts were corroded so an easy fix). I managed to solder the bivert chip to the motherboard perfectly and it works great. However I somehow managed to damage the ribbon cable for the screen again! I was super careful taking off the polarizer and there doesn't appear to be any physical damage but shit, horizontal lines all over the place.

 

I've ordered another DMG and we go again! Hopefully in a week or so I'll be able to post a picture of my new backlit DMG, having only learned to solder over the past few days.

 

[electricmastro]

Anyone here familiar with this game? I imagine more people in PAL territories would have longer histories with this game, since the US didn't get it until 2016, so I was curious to know.

 

[MagicalDrop]

47 minutes ago, electricmastro said:

Anyone here familiar with this game? I imagine more people in PAL territories would have longer histories with this game, since the US didn't get it until 2016, so I was curious to know.

 

 

Yes I owned this, bought at retail. Interesting maze game. 

[BoggyB]

They sucked all the joy out of the pal box art. The Japanese original was quite nice.

 

[BoggyB]

17 hours ago, iloverage said:

I've no prior soldering/electrical experience but I got it in my head that I wanted to trying backlighting and biverting a DMG. First attempt resulted in a total botch of the motherboard trying to install the bivert chip, as well as two missing horizontal lines on the screen

 

What went wrong? I can’t imagine a soldering job going so awry that the motherboard is a write off.

[iloverage]

3 hours ago, BoggyB said:

What went wrong? I can’t imagine a soldering job going so awry that the motherboard is a write off.

Mangled pins on the ribbon cable connector and made a total mess trying to remove the bivert chip. You're right though, I'll spend some time with it and see if I can salvage.

[DennyDifferent]

11 hours ago, electricmastro said:

Anyone here familiar with this game? I imagine more people in PAL territories would have longer histories with this game, since the US didn't get it until 2016, so I was curious to know.

 

 

One of my favourite GBA games. If you like this, check out Roundabout too: 

 

 

[David Kenny]

11 hours ago, electricmastro said:

Anyone here familiar with this game? I imagine more people in PAL territories would have longer histories with this game, since the US didn't get it until 2016, so I was curious to know.

 

I got 3 stars or whatever the perfect rating was on every single level of this game. One of the few truly stupid feats of gaming I have ever undertaken. Doing the final level within the time limit and without taking any damage nearly broke me.

 

(The only other one I did was winning every race, getting gold on every licence, and beating every time trial in Gran Turismo 3. I have no idea why I did that.)

[Ninja Doctor]

I spent a rather enjoyable half hour fixing a Dr Mario cart this morning. Probably not worth the effort as it only cost me a fiver but some corrosion near the contacts had eaten through a trace. One small bodge wire later and we’re back in business. Another cart saved from the recycling. 

[Afternoon Delight]

2 hours ago, David Kenny said:

I got 3 stars or whatever the perfect rating was on every single level of this game. One of the few truly stupid feats of gaming I have ever undertaken. Doing the final level within the time limit and without taking any damage nearly broke me.

 

(The only other one I did was winning every race, getting gold on every licence, and beating every time trial in Gran Turismo 3. I have no idea why I did that.)

 

I've not spent time with the original, but there's a JPN only sequel called Kururin Paradise which I picked up cheap just to bulk out a Play-Asia order one time.

I ended up doing the same thing, rinsed the lot of it for three stars. You don't need to know a word of Japanese to enjoy it, highly recommend giving it a try on your portable gaming machine of choice. 

I love that little blue guy. There's also a Gamecube game, again JPN only but again no language barrier. 

[electricmastro]

Test Drive Le Mans is prob one of the best showcases for the GBC.

 

 

 

[David Kenny]

14 hours ago, Afternoon Delight said:

 

I've not spent time with the original, but there's a JPN only sequel called Kururin Paradise which I picked up cheap just to bulk out a Play-Asia order one time.

I ended up doing the same thing, rinsed the lot of it for three stars. You don't need to know a word of Japanese to enjoy it, highly recommend giving it a try on your portable gaming machine of choice. 

I love that little blue guy. There's also a Gamecube game, again JPN only but again no language barrier. 

Avatar checks out!

[Yasawas]

I shamefully neglected GBA at the time but Kuru Kuru Kururin has been my pick of the first batch of Switch Online titles. Wonderful thing, I was playing it only yesterday. If it had a quick restart mapped to a shoulder button or something I might not have stopped, and I think I know what I'm doing the next time I pick up my Retroid now.

[DennyDifferent]

Finally got around to attempting to bypass my left button to the via tonight and it... didn't go very well...

 

 

So... looks like I'm in the market for a new GBC 🤣

 

The worst thing about this is it was working but I was trying to tidy up the soldering because I made a mess of it. If I'd just left it it would've been fine. Ah, well.

 

[MikeBeaver]

8 minutes ago, DennyDifferent said:

Finally got around to attempting to bypass my left button to the via tonight and it... didn't go very well...

 

 

So... looks like I'm in the market for a new GBC 🤣

 

The worst thing about this is it was working but I was trying to tidy up the soldering because I made a mess of it. If I'd just left it it would've been fine. Ah, well.

 

Still fixable.....

[DennyDifferent]

9 minutes ago, MikeBeaver said:

Still fixable.....

 

I really don't think so... I did try soldering another wire into the via and there was continuity between the left button pad and the wire I soldered into the via but I presume the copper inside the via has been completely destroyed because the button still doesn't work. I flipped the board over to see where the via goes and it's behind the cartridge slot so I'd have to desolder that and take it off to try and find some trace on the other side of the board to follow.

[MikeBeaver]

1 hour ago, DennyDifferent said:

 

I really don't think so... I did try soldering another wire into the via and there was continuity between the left button pad and the wire I soldered into the via but I presume the copper inside the via has been completely destroyed because the button still doesn't work. I flipped the board over to see where the via goes and it's behind the cartridge slot so I'd have to desolder that and take it off to try and find some trace on the other side of the board to follow.

Have a look at that link I posted up thread, that might show the via's final destintion.

[MikeBeaver]

https://www.retrosix.wiki/gbc-board-scans

You can follow the trace on this, or if it's going in the bin, send it my way and I'll use it for a video

[DennyDifferent]

8 hours ago, MikeBeaver said:

https://www.retrosix.wiki/gbc-board-scans

You can follow the trace on this, or if it's going in the bin, send it my way and I'll use it for a video

 

I'll have another look after work but if it's too rich for my blood then you're welcome to it.

[DennyDifferent]

22 hours ago, MikeBeaver said:

Have a look at that link I posted up thread, that might show the via's final destintion.

 

Left is working again! I followed the trace through the via, along the other side of the board and then it comes back through so I wired it into there. I've made a right mess of the left pad, though. But for some reason my down button isn't working now and it's really odd because the continuity doesn't make any sense:

 

 

The jpeg compression has knackered this image but you should be able to make out that I've marked two points, A and B. There's continuity between the down pad and point A, and there's continuity between point A and point B but there ISN'T continuity between the down pad and point B. Why?!

 

And just to throw another spanner in the works, I've just noticed that my Select button doesn't work and that my Start button seems to act as both Start and Select so there must be something bridging the traces but I'm finding it really hard to follow the Start and Select traces to test. What a project!

[DennyDifferent]

Well, it's a mess but we're back in business. All buttons are working now. I was wrong about Start acting as both Start and Select. I didn't realise that if you have the cursor on "2 Player" on the Tetris title menu then it moves it to "1 Player". I assumed that it was acting as Select. But in all I had to manually bypass the traces for Left, Down and Select to get everything working.

 

 

Next I need to try and find out why the speaker isn't working...

[JamesC]

This is like McGyver's Gameboy.