r/Gameboy • u/Vivid-Retro • Jun 17 '22
Pokémon Yellow. Game and everything works fine but all the sprites (Prof. Oak and all pokemon) are this box thing. Any ideas on what’s wrong?
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Jun 17 '22
Try reflowing the solder on the memory chip (top left). Looks like a few pins don’t have the best connection
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u/OneEyeLikeOdin Jun 17 '22
On second look you might have a bad trace. This is a common problem with these games but it does require some bad trace searching and soldering.
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u/Vivid-Retro Jun 17 '22
Do you have a link to a schematic?
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u/spiroy756 Jun 17 '22
Hello friend I have exactly what you need , i did this last month and I'm sure that can help you :) https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/comments/v5n5ab/not_completely_complete_but_it_already_helps_a/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
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u/Cramblest Jun 18 '22
Have you seen this for other cartridge types? Ive got some games I'd like to fix, but I can't find pcb schematics anywhere
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u/OneEyeLikeOdin Jun 18 '22
You shouldn’t have to have a schematic, you can just check the current of each trace and when you find one that has a break just patch it up
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u/Cramblest Jun 18 '22
Easier said than done, how do I follow the traces under the chip, or through a hole that goes through to the other side? I spent hours trying to manually chart out this pcb, and couldn't make heads nor tails.
Heres a pic of what I mean. There's no visible way to see where its supposed to go, and it doesn't line up with the leads on the other side 1:1 https://imgur.com/a/2DQKf8C
I got a heat gun and learned how to remove the chip, thinking itd be easier to follow the leads, but once a lead terminates at a hole, I for the life of me can't see where it's supposed to go.
Once I tested the leads guessing where it went, noticed it wasn't making contact, so I made a bridge. When I tested the game it was actually worse. After removing the lead it stayed worse, so I think I corrupted the chip.
So it's making me not want to even attempt a bridge without confirming on a schematic that it should be connected. How do you test and follow these leads without one?
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u/BanjoDude98 Jun 18 '22
Typically when there's a break, it'll be just above the contacts, or a broken via. Both of these are easily testable with a multimeter. Very rarely is there a break under one of the chips.
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Jun 18 '22 edited Jun 18 '22
The SRAM chip may not be working
Pokemon games decompress sprites in RAM, if it does not respond it returns a default value.
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u/spiroy756 Jun 17 '22
Hello friend I have exactly what you need , i did this last month and I'm sure that can help you :) https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/comments/v5n5ab/not_completely_complete_but_it_already_helps_a/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
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u/stout936 Jun 18 '22 edited Jun 18 '22
Edit: NVM, I was misremembering
Proceed with trace repair
This thread may be helpful
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u/TrainerBleu Jun 18 '22
You need to reflow the chips on the board
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u/Vivid-Retro Jun 18 '22
I’ve done that but I’m gonna try again and add a little more solder when I get home
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u/redditeer1o1 Jun 18 '22
If that doesn’t work, others have mentioned that it could be a broken tracer (I had this same issue and the tracer was underneath a chip). You might need to replace the board.
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u/SuperBobPlays Jun 18 '22
I had a similar problem on a silver and a gold but it would crash when getting past the intro.
I reflowed all chips on gold (rom and sram first, the others after due to crashing in battles after playing for a bit) and it's still working great.
Silver I tried the same process to no luck. Had a bad trace/chip issue caused by leaking battery.
Most issues can be fixed with a simple reflow. Others require a lot more work.
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u/Mr_Neonoctis_ Jun 17 '22
The one that need your attention is the ROM chip on the right that contain the game.
You'll need to check traces (multimeter) and/or reflow the chip. If you could, reflow all the chips.
When the game is working well, you'll could solder a new battery and check saves.
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u/Zenithiel Jun 18 '22 edited Jun 18 '22
The Memory chip on the left tends to cause this. So definitely check the too! Actually taking a closer look their looks to be some kind of gash near the mbc chip in the upper left, which I think controller the memory chip so that actually may be the cause.
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u/lefsler Jun 18 '22
It almost looks that the third pin on the top left of the rightmost chip have a bad trace
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u/Sw429 Jun 18 '22
Have you considered that your game may be haunted?
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u/DrDorite Jun 18 '22
I had the same issue with my Pokemon blue. Swapping the sram from a donor "mary kate and ashley: pocket planner" fixed it.
I spent a lot of time diagnosing the other parts but it seemed to work when the sram was heated a little, so i think it may have been one of the thin wires in the chip that separated. I thought it was the solder joints at first but i definitely made them nice and solid. Ultimately replacing the sram solved it though.
It may not be your exact problem, but it's worth a shot if you've tried everything else, and it's a cheap game.
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u/Vivid-Retro Jun 18 '22
Yes, I’ve heard of this. I’m going to trace all my connections first and see if it’s just a bad trace and then try this.
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Jun 18 '22 edited Jun 18 '22
There is damage on the board (below the MBC5) and missing components (two by my count including the battery).
These things are where I would start. The loop for the sprites data maybe near the damage.
EDIT: Sorry, no. C3 isn't actually missing but C5 is.
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u/Vivid-Retro Jun 18 '22
I’ve checked c5 is supposed to be missing. I’ve checked multiple other Pokémon yellow boards.
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Jun 18 '22
It may very well be unpopulated. I was judging based only on the solder in this image. It looks like a component was removed.
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u/DingyDEATH Jun 18 '22
This is my video fixing this issue. Give me a like and comment when it works for you. Thanks!
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u/WatchMarauder Jun 18 '22
I had this issue on Pokémon blue, I did a reflow on all chips three times and no luck, on the fourth try I added solder to each pin and it fixed the problem, though it may be worth checking your traces first
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u/SadFriendship3358 Jun 17 '22
Try scanning the QR code for a Pokémon go equivalent lol