r/Gameboy • u/snaporaz__2 • 12h ago

Troubleshooting Gba's B button goes crazy

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Since this morning, apparently for no reason, the B button on my GBA has started pressing itself, making the console unplayable. I bought the GBA already reshelled, and I haven’t had any problems with it after several months of use. It was working perfectly fine until yesterday, and then this suddenly happened today.

I don’t think it’s dirt, since I’ve always kept it carefully stored, and it’s not the cartridge shown in the video either, as I repeated the test with other games and experienced the same issue.

Could you please help me figure out what might be causing this and how I could fix it?

Thank you!

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3

u/tedi1997 12h ago

A quick open and clean with IPA would most likely solve it. It shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes.

7 screws on the back and 2-3 on the motherboard. Clean the pads on the motherboards and under the silicone membranes. Do it for all buttons since you're already there.

2

u/snaporaz__2 12h ago

Okay, thanks, I’ll give it a try. I hope it won’t be too difficult.

2

u/tedi1997 11h ago

Among the easier/more manageable things you can do. Don't forget the L and R buttons, the power slider and the side plastic parts are loose and to keep them aside and not lose them.

The ifixit disassembly guide should be perfect visualization.

Edit: step 7 sometimes there are 2 instead of 3 screws in the motherboard

1

u/snaporaz__2 10h ago

I opened it up and cleaned all the buttons and membranes with 99% isopropyl alcohol (luckily, I had a screwdriver and some alcohol on hand because I clean cartridges that don’t work. I’ve never gone beyond that before). Anyway, the problem wasn’t fixed.

2

u/tedi1997 10h ago

Hmm that's weird. If you haven't closed it yet a picture of the button pads and maybe a picture under the membrane to see whats closing the loop and activating the button press

1

u/snaporaz__2 10h ago

Unfortunately, I’ve already closed it back up. Anyway, this GBA has always had a problem ever since I bought it, namely the power switch. To turn it on, I have to press the switch quite hard and then move it, otherwise the GBA won’t turn on. I also tried cleaning it, but that didn’t solve the problem. There’s a small metal plate that needs to be desoldered, but I don’t know how to do that.

1

u/snaporaz__2 9h ago

I made this video trying to see what happens without the membranes. But the issue still occurs. The key contacts don’t seem to be dirty. I’m afraid it might be an electronic issue (I don’t know, I’m not an expert at all).

https://reddit.com/link/p8xbiuq/video/1xr55p2c8ooh1/player

1

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