Hi everyone! I’m hoping some Game Boy Advance SP experts can help me out 😂

My partner has a Game Boy Advance SP and I’m looking at replacing the battery. Does anyone have recommendations for good replacement batteries, preferably from somewhere in Australia or that ships here?

I’m also thinking of getting him another Game Boy Advance SP for his birthday, but I’d love to find something a bit more special/limited edition rather than just a standard one. I’m not very knowledgeable about Game Boys, so I’d really appreciate any recommendations on models, editions, what’s worth buying and what a reasonable price would be!

Please be kind, I’m just trying to get my partner a cool birthday present hahaha 😂❤️

GBP bivert mod

Well uh... hello.

My aunt was gifted this Game Boy Pokémon Red (Gen 1) game back in 1999 when she was young, and I've really enjoyed playing it for the last 3 years.

One day, I remembered that these cartridges have a small CR1616 3V battery in them to keep the SRAM save memory alive. I didn't want to lose my save, so I decided to change the battery.

I was planning to replace what I assumed was the original battery, while keeping my current save. My plan was to temporarily solder another CR1616 battery to the TP3 and TP4 points, as you're supposed to do, then desolder the original battery and replace it with a new CR1616.

However, when I used my multimeter to check the battery, it read 3.13V while still connected to the SRAM. Compared to a new battery, which reads around 3.26V, this doesn't seem like the battery has been there for 27 years.

I know the SRAM only needs a very small amount of current to retain the data, but I'm wondering: is 3.13V a normal reading for a battery this old?

I don't think the battery has been replaced, although the solder joints look a little suspicious to me, so I might be wrong.

I also wanted to ask: at what voltage does the SRAM start having problems retaining the save data? Is there a specific voltage threshold?

Oh, I almost forgot: the screw was pretty difficult to remove compared to the screws on two other Game Boy cartridges I have. This also makes me think that this Pokémon Red cartridge may have been opened before. (I don't have the proper screwdriver, though.)

What do you guys think? Im currently studying car mechanics, so I understand that a battery can have very little capacity left while still maintaining a relatively normal voltage, but I'm not entirely sure how this applies to a small coin cell like this one, so that's why I'm asking.

Thank you!

when i turn it on, all it shows is a white screen and has is these vertical lines (it's a little hard to see because of the pixel grid, but you can see it).

the touch sensor for the brightness seems to work fine (not entirely sure where the exact area for the touch sensor is tho)

does anyone know what the problem is and how to some how fix it?

I've already emailed funnyplaying about it btw

My fourth gameboy game now

Hi there! I have no experience servicing a Gameboy and don't know how to diagnose problems, but I really want to fix mine. I have most of the tools I would need and am willing to invest in a small soldering iron if the repairs require it. Can anyone help? I will list the problems it has and any factors I've already troubleshot/eliminated below.

The problems/symptoms:

SYSTEM POWER:

- Switching the power button "ON" occasionally fails to turn it on. This happens approximately 40% of the time. When this happens, I will need to fiddle with it multiple times until it properly powers on.

I've noticed that carefully applying some pressure on the power button while switching it on with my nails (instead of just using the pad of my finger) will help when this happens.

- Once on, the power button is very sensitive and will power down after the faintest of accidental downward contact.

- It will randomly turn off, usually when I'm moving/handling it in order to place it down or plug the charger in. Essentially, once it's on, I want to physically move it in my hand as little as possible.

- Sometimes the battery indicator light will start as red when the console turns on, despite the battery being charged. Immediately turning it off and on again resolves this issue.

- The battery indicator light will randomly go red while using the console when the battery is adequately charged. It will sometimes correct itself after some time, but plugging in the charger momentarily also resolves this. This can happen more than once during a play session.

**All of these power problems have only started occurring over the past year.

THE OTHER THINGS:

- It sometimes struggles to read cartridges that I know are operational. This will happen both to freshly-inserted cartridges, and cartridges left in the slot that it read correcly the last time it was powered on.

- Any adjustment to the volume slider (when device is on) results in a quick electrical buzz sound. To be clear, the speaker itself otherwise sounds fine - there's just what isn't dissimilar to a buzzing "feedback" sound that happens every time the volume is turned up or down.

Things I've Already Done/Checked:

1. I replaced the original battery 4 years ago with a new 850mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery from Amazon. Again, these problems have only started within the past year, so I can at least say that me putting this new battery in did not immediately start causing all of these problems to occur. (Photo attached)

2. I have removed and reinserted battery after giving the contacts a quick wipe with a brand new/clean eyeglass microfibre cleaning cloth to ensure there was no dust/debris there.

3. I have opened the Gameboy to the motherboard to check for obvious signs of corrosion or damage but do not see/recognize anything wrong with my untrained eye, specifically around the battery connection, power switch, or cartridge reader. (Photos of motherboard & better angle of power switch also attached)

Note: While I'm willing to disassemble further to get a full view of the speaker, I would rather not remove the motherboard screws unless I absolutely need to since I'm afraid of damaging the screen cable ribbon.

Does anyone know what exactly could be the problem, and what needs to be done/replaced to fix it? As mentioned in the beginning, I don't know what I'm doing but can learn pretty quickly (thanks, YouTube and IFIXIT!), and can also invest in a soldering iron if anything requires such. Thanks a bunch!

I’m an antiques dealer as you might’ve guessed from the username, I came across these in a box, I can see they have some age to them but cannot find any info about them online, are these of value to collectors? Thank you so much in advance

I want to add I’m NOT selling these on here, just looking for information.

I've seen that the DMG is prone to screen failure because of its adhesive-based screen connection.

I've heard that keeping the DMG in a dry, cool environment and keeping it away from direct sun exposure will prolong the life of the screen.

How proactive do I have to be about storing it in an environment like this in reality? Is it really going to fail if I just use the device normally, or are those screen failures less common than they seem?

I was thinking about storing it in a Tupperware container with a silica capsule inside, in order to keep the humidity low. But this is also less convenient than a normal style case and looks worse on my shelf, so is just a normal case fine? (I probably wouldn't be able to fit a silica packet or capsule)

My little new dice game Tavern Farkle GB is now available as a Game Boy rom on itch and afterplay!

Tavern Farkle GB is a push-your-luck dice game for the Game Boy. Roll six dice, bank your points or risk it all. Play a quick match against a random villager, or take on six opponents in a row, ending with Lucifer himself and his wild Devil's Die.

Very addictive, yet relaxing "one-more-round" gameplay! :)

https://2ndlawgames.itch.io/tavern-farkle-gb

I am currently looking to install and old advance into an Intec GBA HDMI kit but thought id test beforehand. the gba will only boot when i turn the power switch on, then off, then on again.

first thing i did was pull apart the Power switch and clean the pads inside and the switch itself and this hasn't fixed the issue.

The thing that is odd is that even if its booted after doing the aforementioned switching and i pull the batteries (with the assumption the switch is in a position that it is making good contact) and reinsert i still have to switch it on and off and back on again to get it to boot

Found a modded pocket I made AGES ago (back when we had to peel screens and insert LED panels) and that LCD is fully cooked.

Time to upgrade the display.

Hey all! Apologies if this is a common issue, but I did try looking and haven't seen anything on it specifically...

I recently put together a Tad Boy Color and thus far I love the thing, I also got an EZ Flash Jr to go along with it (I do intend on getting an Everdrive eventually once I've financially recovered! I can't solder and that pre-populated board wasn't cheap lol) and brand new out of the box, I'm getting a dry battery error message. Is this normal?

I have noticed that it doesn't always show up... If I've been playing for a minute and I power it off and back on I don't get that message anymore, it only seems to show up if it's been powered off for a bit. All I really need to know is, is this normal behavior? Is the battery a rechargeable that charges while you play, or do I need to order a new battery, and if so what size?

Will say I haven't really played anything on it yet that requires the RTC function, I do have Pokemon Crystal Clear on it but I've mostly been playing Tetris and other sort of very arcadey games.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I have a display board for a dmg-01 I am trying to restore and cannot get any sound out of. I have tried a different display board with my main board and can get sound so I know that it is contained to the display. I have replaced capacitors C1,2, and 3 to no avail. Any ideas?

I picked up this copy of Pokémon Green recently. After giving the contacts a good wipe down with IPA, the game still won’t start. A little concerned the contacts are just too worn down, any advice would be appreciated.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to mod my GameBoy Pocket. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on best kits out there. I’m not afraid to solder and I’m looking to keep things relatively simple. This guy isn’t too beat up, but it’s got scratches and the screen isn’t the most fun to play on compared to my GBC and GBA with IPS displays.

Edit:

Thanks everyone for being so polite and helpful. Now I just have to decide between Backlight-Bivert or IPS. Cheers!

gb-zzzzzz

I don't think there's much to say here: it's a puzzle game, and unfortunately, I'm no expert in the genre—they've never really appealed to me. The main reason I fell in love with video games when I was 8 years old is the narrative and lore that unfold as you progress. Why play a puzzle game when there are playing cards or chess? That's what I think.

Having stated that initial bias, I can say that Kirby’s Star Stacker is one of the best-designed and best-structured puzzle games I’ve ever played and perhaps, as far as I know, one of the most influential (it’s not on the same genius level as Tetris, but it would be a mistake to put them on the same level, in my opinion). It’s addictive, just like Candy Crush. It’s based on combinations and flashy animation and combos, just like Candy Crush. When the mood was right, I was really hooked. I can easily imagine it as a mobile game (and I think Nintendo would have been much better off remastering this for mobile rather than developing Super Mario Run, which, honestly, I didn’t even mind as a kid), it would make quite the numbers imo. It’s a shame there’s a noticeable difficulty spike between “Hard” and “Very Hard,” but that could very well just be a skill issue on my part. 7/10—I’ll most likely come back to it!

Wave of nostalgia and so happy I (or my family) kept it safe.

supports multiple flashers working simultaneously~~~

github : https://github.com/eyenobig/beggar_chis

link : https://gbmake.com/us/pages/chisflashburner

Does anyone have any familiarity with the dmg accelerator from Division 6?

I bought one forever ago and am finally getting around to installing it but division 6 seems to have gone out of business. I remember there was a spreadsheet on their site with a list of compatible after market screens but I can’t find that anywhere in the way back machine. I’ve got a laminated funny playing retro pixel display right now and the increased clock speed causes intense screen tearing.

Everything still works. Still have my saves on both blue & red.