Hardware AGS-101 screen on AGS-001 motherboard

[smokeandlights]

Cool. Replying so I can find this later.

 

[ALT703]

This is how to make AGS-101 screen work with AGS-001 motherboard.

View attachment 88451 Cut this trace. This trace is on board revisions C/AGS-CPU-10 and C/AGS-CPU-11.
on C/AGS-CPU-01 trace goes under display connector.


View attachment 88452 Solder a wire to leftmost pin on the display connector.
View attachment 88453 Solder wires to motherboard and step-up converter, The GND connection is better shown in the next photo.
Step-up converter is Pololu U3V12F12 It's the smallest I found.
View attachment 88454 Use electrical tape to insulate step-up converter.
View attachment 88455Cut plastic to make room for step-up converter.
View attachment 88456 Done.
View attachment 88457 View attachment 88458 Comparison with GB Micro on brightest setting.

Is the regulator the only thing you need to buy? You use the old screen? Or buy a 101 screen? Also is there a more clear tutorial somewhere? Its hard to see where to soldor things. Thanks!!

 

[bitoriginal]

Hi guys! I'm planning but have some questions.

With the voltage regulator powering the AGS101 screen, do you retain use of the potentiometer on the SP motherboard? I've modded a few AGB's and know the 101 screen can be quite annoying without using the potentiometer to get the image perfect.

I'm looking at buying one of the boards in the image attached which has 2 ground holes, one for voltage in and one for voltage out, which one should I use for this mod?

 

[Crissaegrim87]

Hello, is this mandatory? as far as I know, in the agb there is enough power supply to fit an AGS101 without all the extras pcbs

 

[cearp]

Hello, is this mandatory? as far as I know, in the agb there is enough power supply to fit an AGS101 without all the extras pcbs

I've used this with a 001, it works fine:
https://funnyplaying.com/products/gbasp-ips-laminated-display-lcd-kits

If you want to use a regular '101' display, you will have to do special stuff.
But the modern IPS screens work fine without any work.

 

[Crissaegrim87]

I've used this with a 001, it works fine:


If you want to use a regular '101' display, you will have to do special stuff.
But the modern IPS screens work fine without any work.

Not a laminated per se, but an AGS-101 fake (search for Fake AGS-101 LCD in a AGS-001)
That is the one I have probably buyed in aliexpress, it appear to be a ips of some sort packed in a frame to resemble the original one

 

[Crissaegrim87]

Hi, yesterday the cheap fake AGS-101 screen arrived. asi imagined is a ips kit. analizing AGS-CPU-11 board, discovered the lcd pinout pin 34 goes directly to 5v and pin 33 goes toa a various circuits. However, this fake screen comes with an adapter for classic gba and in these, pin 33 is bridged to pin 32 an pin 34 is bridged to pin 28. Also, from pin 34 is a cable soldered to solder in DA1 pin 2 in the original gba board. Any ideas? tested as described and the screen worked and backligted in the classic gba, also mako achieved this through a series o daysy chainig adaptors

 

[Crissaegrim87]

OK, finished it a minute ago. After all the research, and investigation, I made it work!
I used a fake AGS-101 screen, it´s a ips panel inside an enclosure resembling an original AGS-101, I dont know if this has some to do, but at least keep that in mind. As a reference, youtuber makho uploaded that through a daisy chained adaptors the screen can backlight on its own. I searched de pinouts of various boards of AGB and AGS to compare and understand the conversions that where made. The fake screen came with a 32 pin adaptor so I routed the pin 33 & 34 to know where they are connected: pin 33 (U83) was routed to pin 32 (GND); Pin 34 (+5V) was routed to pin 28 (P2VDD)

using the base of the mod @Bazahazano and @steelseth has done, I proceded like this:

Soldered an enameled wire directly from a test point connected to pin 28 (P2VDD 13,5 v) as it was suposed to pull with the adaptor, and cut the trace of pin 34 (my board is AGS-CPU-11) to solder the other end in pin 34. Also, soldered a smd 500 ohm resistor (didnt had other value) in the mentioned ground, and using other piece of wire, soldered it to a through-hole connected to pin 33.
See the fotos to better understanding

This is the result:



The screen works very good, only the brightness button has little difference in high/low brightness, I dont know if it is because the 500 ohms resistor or other cause

I hope this was useful for someone

 

[magic_maik]

The screen works very good, only the brightness button has little difference in high/low brightness, I dont know if it is because the 500 ohms resistor or other cause

What value resistor would you think is better?
I'm trying to do the same mod here...
Greetings!

 

[magic_maik]

OK, finished it a minute ago. After all the research, and investigation, I made it work!
I used a fake AGS-101 screen, it´s a ips panel inside an enclosure resembling an original AGS-101, I dont know if this has some to do, but at least keep that in mind. As a reference, youtuber makho uploaded that through a daisy chained adaptors the screen can backlight on its own. I searched de pinouts of various boards of AGB and AGS to compare and understand the conversions that where made. The fake screen came with a 32 pin adaptor so I routed the pin 33 & 34 to know where they are connected: pin 33 (U83) was routed to pin 32 (GND); Pin 34 (+5V) was routed to pin 28 (P2VDD)

using the base of the mod @Bazahazano and @steelseth has done, I proceded like this:

Soldered an enameled wire directly from a test point connected to pin 28 (P2VDD 13,5 v) as it was suposed to pull with the adaptor, and cut the trace of pin 34 (my board is AGS-CPU-11) to solder the other end in pin 34. Also, soldered a smd 500 ohm resistor (didnt had other value) in the mentioned ground, and using other piece of wire, soldered it to a through-hole connected to pin 33.
See the fotos to better understanding

This is the result:

View attachment 260089 View attachment 260090 View attachment 260091

The screen works very good, only the brightness button has little difference in high/low brightness, I dont know if it is because the 500 ohms resistor or other cause

I hope this was useful for someone

I need clarification...

(P2VDD 13,5 v)

This means you don't even need the 12v converter because the AGS-001 arleady has the 13V power source on the motherboard by itself? That would be awesome!

Also when you are referring to "pin 28", "pin 34", etc you mean the pins of the place where the ribbon cable of the display goes in, yes?

So:
1. pin 28 -> P2VDD on board (for 13V light power source?)
2. pin 33 -> BT- on board (=ground) + a resistor in between?
3. cut off pin 34

Is that right? At least for the mainboard that you got?

EDIT: This is (mostly) all wrong

 

[magic_maik]

I did it!
I used this step up converter because it has the extra feature that the sleep function will still work:
https://www.retromodding.com/products/game-boy-advance-ags-101-voltage-regulator

The display is this knockoff ags 101 IPS display, I believe it is the same that @Crissaegrim87 also bought

 

[Crissaegrim87]

I need clarification...

This means you don't even need the 12v converter because the AGS-001 arleady has the 13V power source on the motherboard by itself? That would be awesome!

Also when you are referring to "pin 28", "pin 34", etc you mean the pins of the place where the ribbon cable of the display goes in, yes?

So:
1. pin 28 -> P2VDD on board (for 13V light power source?)
2. pin 33 -> BT- on board (=ground) + a resistor in between?
3. cut off pin 34

Is that right? At least for the mainboard that you got?

EDIT: This is (mostly) all wrong

Sorry for the late answer, been gone for too long.
I am glad that you succesfully made it work!
This setup worked, because this screen was a drop in for AGS101 based on a IPS panel. This lets the screen work with less power, hence it came with a ribbon adaptor for a no solder instalation on 32-pin GBA001 (tested by me).
So, if it works in AGB001, it pretty much has to work on AGS001. The thing is AGS001 DOES has 34 pins too, but with differrent voltage from AGS101, so cut a trace, lift a pin and solder wires and resistor was mandatory.
As you have noted, my mod makes "believe" the fake screen that it was intalled on 32-pin AGB001 so it worked just fine. The resistor between pin 33 and ground is there because in AGS001, the button works as a on/off switch instead of a dimmer like in AGS101. By putting that component there, you don´t open the circuit, just route via the resistor (mimicking to some excent AGS101 behaviour)
So, AGS001:
Board AGS-CPU-11
pin 34 -> 5v (it has 1 led for frontlight originally)
pin 33 -> Switch backlight (its a circuitry, buts acts like a switch)
pin 32 -> GND
pin 28 -> P2VDD (in schems, stated as a 13v source for contolling contrast, confirmed by the bridge in the ribbon adaptor that came along)
So, you lift (or cut its trace, depends on board type) pin 34 connector from board and bridge it to pin 28 (or some TP connected to it) to feed 13 v to the FAKE screen (not tested on original, I assume it will not work). Next, bridge pin 33 connector to GND though a resistor, so the voltage drops near the output originally intended from it and acts as a dimmer. DONE, ready to enjoy.
It will not be VERY bright, but that comes with few advantages:
* no need to source extra parts (step-up, doble sided tape, etc)
* battery life is extended compared to the step-up install
The step up is only needed if you are installing a original AGS101, as of others says, that thing will not backlight wit only pin 28 power (Can't confirm as I do not own one to test).
I have tested the sleep function in Super Mario 3 and it worked fine, the screen and sound goes off when you press L+R+SELECT
Hope this solved your doubts.

 

[Hirugaru]

Sorry for revive this old thread about this mod, but I just wanted to share a solution for people who has the AGS-CPU-01revision

On this revision you need to Lift the PIN 34 of the screen connector (its responsable to power the front light with 5V),
This pin is connected also with pin 31.

The problem is:
The 5V comes FROM pin 34, then also goes to pin 31 to feed the screen, I don't know exactly the function pin 31 5V, but don't cut that trace.
Cutting the trace that is outside the connector WILL NOT remove 5V from pins 31 and 34, so when doing this mod you will feed 13,5V into a 5V rail and things will go bad.

So only lifting the pin isn't enough, you need to make sure that pin 34 isn't connected anymore to its rail, so you need to remove the Pad bellow it or attach some insulation below the pin like a capton tape, Ive choosen to remove the Pad.

You can do this by using an exacto knife and a soldering iron (needless to say that it's VERY difficult).

USE FLUX

Heat the pin/pad (just touch with the tip of your iron), 350°C to 380°C temp should be enough, you'll need a VERY THIN soldering iron tip and a steady hand, then insert the knife between the pad and the base of the pin, after you successfully lift/disconnect the pin, you can pull it out the screen connector with a very thin point tweezer (pull it back, parallel to the board) remove/cut the pad , then insert the pin back by "sliding" it in.

Then pull a wire from P2VDD (13,5V) to PIN 34 to feed the screen backlight.
I've also added an 1uf 16V (C35 or C36 from a GBA motherboard) capacitor to smooth the voltage to pin 34, but it's not needed, just a precaution

Then, to "control" the backlight, you can add a resistor between pins 33 (switch for the front light) and 32 (GND)

I've put a 103ohms resistor (the lower the value, the dimmer the screen will be)

So instead of turning on and off the screen, now it will have 2 brightness levels, the difference on brightness will be the value of the resistor, pin 33 line just pulls the voltage to ground).

This is with max brightness

This is at minimum with the 103ohms resistor

I'm also using a fake AGS-101 screen from aliexpress

Hope this helps someone in the future.

Will try to take more pictures of the procedure soon.