Hardware GBA Backlight! (AGB-001)

manzhen

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I'm putting the backlit screen in my pink GBA too now. It's going much smoother than the black one so far. Learning from the mistakes.

What's the take on those aftermarket replacement buttons? I bought a set of black ones to put in my GBA, but the D-Pad feels awful for some reason, and the L&R shoulder buttons just don't work at all. They stay pressed in, amazing. Are they made for replacement cases only? I'll try removing excess plastic to make them fit better or something.

@Sliter it's true, getting the whole set of replacement screen and case can be quite pricey. Maybe try on Taobao instead of Aliexpress? Some sellers send worldwide on there. It might be a bit cheaper (but probably still around 30USD$ for the backlit screen).
 
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AnotherMuggle

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I'm putting the backlit screen in my pink GBA too now. It's going much smoother than the black one so far. Learning from the mistakes.

What's the take on those aftermarket replacement buttons? I bought a set of black ones to put in my GBA, but the D-Pad feels awful for some reason, and the L&R shoulder buttons just don't work at all. They stay pressed in, amazing. Are they made for replacement cases only? I'll try removing excess plastic to make them fit better or something.

@Sliter it's true, getting the whole set of replacement screen and case can be quite pricey. Maybe try on Taobao instead of Aliexpress? Some sellers send worldwide on there. It might be a bit cheaper (but probably still around 30USD$ for the backlit screen).

All my mods have had new 3rd party shells and buttons, from various sources, and I've never been satisfied with the d-pad. I've been doing full shell and button replacement but keeping the original d-pad in all my systems. I think the d-pad is such an important part of a system that the slightest change in feel can really affect the experience. In my experience 3rd party spares are never perfect and while most shortcomings can be ignored the d-pad has to be stock. The only issue I've ever had with shoulder (L&R) buttons has been related to the actual switches, the buttons have always been fine. I tend to gently bend the metal parts of L&R outwards before installation to make sure I get a nice firm click.

How did your black system turn out? Did you get the shell to close up nicely in the end? As far as glue is concerned, hot glue is great for securing the screen if you cut away too much plastic, because whilst it holds really well, it can also be carefully removed if necessary.

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aw guys, I really wanted to do this (like I told before, lol), but now seeing the rpices, it would be over R$200 (in ali express) for the kit and a new housing, I would want to get a batery mod too, it hould be cheaper to look for a GBAsp here xp
(well the want to do it is a bit over the really need for doing it xD)

IMO a backlit screen in a AGB system is totally worth it. As for the batteries...meh...I personally prefer two sets of decent rechargeable AA batteries that I swap out one for the other. I'm getting 15-20 hour per set of AA 2500 Duracell Duralock batteries.
 
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manzhen

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All my mods have had new 3rd party shells and buttons, from various sources, and I've never been satisfied with the d-pad. I've been doing full shell and button replacement but keeping the original d-pad in all my systems. I think the d-pad is such an important part of a system that the slightest change in feel can really affect the experience. In my experience 3rd party spares are never perfect and while most shortcomings can be ignored the d-pad has to be stock. The only issue I've ever had with shoulder (L&R) buttons has been related to the actual switches, the buttons have always been fine. I tend to gently bend the metal parts of L&R outwards before installation to make sure I get a nice firm click.

How did your black system turn out? Did you get the shell to close up nicely in the end? As far as glue is concerned, hot glue is great for securing the screen if you cut away too much plastic, because whilst it holds really well, it can also be carefully removed if necessary.

Hmm, so the buttons do work better in replacement shells it seems. I tried sanding a few corners of the shoulder buttons down, but it doesn't change much, they still get stuck when pressing on them. As for the D-pad, I agree, it's such an important part of the system, it should stay as faithful as possible to the original one.

For the black GBA, I ended up having to remove more plastic with the scalpel (twice). Turns out I'm quite careful, but better to go too slow than too fast. It closes nicely now. Same with the pink one. I also decided to go with the original buttons in both systems. I'll try out some replacement shells soon, some colours are very nice. How do you like them quality wise?
In the pink GBA I removed all the "excess" plastic, it seems that screwing the motherboard into place gives enough pressure to the screen that it doesn't move around at all. I'll see how that holds up in time.

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WildDog

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@Sliter it's true, getting the whole set of replacement screen and case can be quite pricey. Maybe try on Taobao instead of Aliexpress? Some sellers send worldwide on there. It might be a bit cheaper (but probably still around 30USD$ for the backlit screen).

Aliexpress is very cheap IF you look for the right sellers... One example of this, some sellers sell the gb boy colour for 50 us dollars, others sell it for 30, some even for 26. All of them with a lot of good reviews.

30 US dollars for a nice backlight screen. Got my 40 pins, lucky me didn't need to solder it to get a good amount of brightness.
Glass screen 1.7 dollars
Glow in the dark shell 6 dollars.

Not that much, plus you can get an ugly but working GBA for little.
 
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crazyfrog1

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I’ve used the aliexpress voltage regulator and have done the mod in both a AGS-001 and AGB.
The AGS definitely looks better due to the glass screen cover sticking directly to the screen so there’s no light bleed like on the AGB.
I may have an issue with the brightness switch on the AGB but the modded AGS has better colours and deeper blacks.
 

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WildDog

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I’ve used the aliexpress voltage regulator and have done the mod in both a AGS-001 and AGB.
The AGS definitely looks better due to the glass screen cover sticking directly to the screen so there’s no light bleed like on the AGB.
I may have an issue with the brightness switch on the AGB but the modded AGS has better colours and deeper blacks.


If you are using the same screen type they should have the same colours and blacks. I think the issue with the AGB, comes down to the trimming part, done by hand is near impossible to get a perfect trim. So the screen will always be at an angle even if it is very small, so colors may look different and we may see some light bleed.




This my AGB, with the aliexpress screen, without any solder, just using the ribbon adapter.
 
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crazyfrog1

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If you are using the same screen type they should have the same colours and blacks. I think the issue with the AGB, comes down to the trimming part, done by hand is near impossible to get a perfect trim. So the screen will always be at an angle even if it is very small, so colors may look different and we may see some light bleed.

This my AGB, with the aliexpress screen, without any solder, just using the ribbon adapter.

I've since taken the AGB apart so I can compare it to my modded AGS001 SP with the same voltage regulator. It turns out that the AGB casing adds a tint due to backlight bleeding around the edges of the screen and retromodding sell a part to fix the issue but the file is available from deadcerial on thingiverse. To be fair retromodding arent marking this up much but I dont really want to pay this much plus post to the uk.

I really have to recommend the deadcerial as hes also made a GBA sp battery life extender

To those curious my modded AGS-001 with the AGS-101 screen has a glass SP screen stuck directly to it so almost zero gap between the glass and screen, also theres zero light bleed due to the position of the glue strips.

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I've also measured the voltage output from the voltage regulator and its doing 11.7v(close to 12v). Working with the 0.1mm jumper wire is much easier than the wire included with the adapter cables and is alot easier to route wires.
 

WildDog

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I've since taken the AGB apart so I can compare it to my modded AGS001 SP with the same voltage regulator. It turns out that the AGB casing adds a tint due to backlight bleeding around the edges of the screen
Yeah, i know what you mean. The original screen(at least in my GBA). Had a non reusable black foam that was like glued to the edge of the screen. That avoided any bleeding. I guess using electrical tape and cutting it to size, would fix the problem, but too much work.
 

AyanamiRei0

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I recently got a premodded GBA agb 001 with a backlit screen but the screen doesn't seem bright enough it's a 40 pin model I noticed the cable from the adapter wasn't soldered to the board but then saw a few comments on youtube after looking up my issue and seeing the 40pin model doesn't require the extra cable after that I messed with the pots a bit but that didn't appear to do anything.

If anyone knows what the issue may be please let me know thanks!
 

Liriel

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I recently got a premodded GBA agb 001 with a backlit screen but the screen doesn't seem bright enough it's a 40 pin model I noticed the cable from the adapter wasn't soldered to the board but then saw a few comments on youtube after looking up my issue and seeing the 40pin model doesn't require the extra cable after that I messed with the pots a bit but that didn't appear to do anything.

If anyone knows what the issue may be please let me know thanks!
The cable must soldering every time!
IT May seem to work without but its not enough Power for the light

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AyanamiRei0

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The cable must soldering every time!
IT May seem to work without but its not enough Power for the light

Gesendet von meinem Huawei P10 mit Tapatalk
Ha yeah kinda figured that out after I ordered a new ribbon cable and soldered that to the board
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NPlayer

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Hi! My Gba is working properly, but I’m having some strange behaviour with a game like super Mario land. When mario moves there seems to be some sort of ghosting issue than happens very fast and gives the sensation that the game is in “Bold” (like a type font). And so lines are darkened, but when you stop moving, everything seems normal again. This does not happen with neither classic game boy nor an ags game boy advance. Could someone who doesn’t have ghosting issue try this game? Later I could upload a video.

Thank you!
 

malheur

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When mario moves there seems to be some sort of ghosting issue than happens very fast and gives the sensation that the game is in “Bold” (like a type font). And so lines are darkened, but when you stop moving, everything seems normal again.

That's whats called "interlace line". Ghosting(aka image retention) is totally different problem, and it can be adjustable. Turn the potentiometer slowly for proper interlace frequence.
 
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gibberish

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That's whats called "interlace line". Ghosting(aka image retention) is totally different problem, and it can be adjustable. Turn the potentiometer slowly for proper interlace frequence.

ghosting can't usually be solved using the potentiometer. ghosting occurs on 40pin boards and it requires de-soldering of some components to make it work correctly.

kvlhvSn.jpg
 

NPlayer

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That's whats called "interlace line". Ghosting(aka image retention) is totally different problem, and it can be adjustable. Turn the potentiometer slowly for proper interlace frequence.

So I can adjust the issue with the potentiometer? I should switch off the gba every time I change it toi see the adjustment? Thank you!

Also, there is some colour differences between this gba and another one I have.
 
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