Hardware GBA Backlight! (AGB-001)

Coltonamore · Jan 9, 2016

Well, I finally got another original gba, and I'm going to mod it to have a backlit screen now since I have the screen,and the adapters are cheap. I have a white tab screen, and a 32 pin GBA so it's obviously a perfect match. I found a seller on eBay selling a 32 pin adapter and a glass screen for $15, and I plan to do it. I'll see if I can do a TV out mod for it again like explained here. http://retrorgb.com/gbacustominstall.html I may design a custom PCB for the TV adapter to allow 240p instead of 480i, but I'll see what happens in the future.

cvskid · Jan 9, 2016

Coltonamore said:
Well, I finally got another original gba, and I'm going to mod it to have a backlit screen now since I have the screen,and the adapters are cheap. I have a white tab screen, and a 32 pin GBA so it's obviously a perfect match. I found a seller on eBay selling a 32 pin adapter and a glass screen for $15, and I plan to do it. I'll see if I can do a TV out mod for it again like explained here. http://retrorgb.com/gbacustominstall.html I may design a custom PCB for the TV adapter to allow 240p instead of 480i, but I'll see what happens in the future.

Backlit screens won't work? It has to be frontlit right or is that just for gameboy color?

Coltonamore · Jan 9, 2016

That's just for the GBC. You can mod an AGS 101 screen into an original GBA with a ribben cable adapter and a wire that solders to a point on the board to give the back light power. However for AGS screens, 40 pin gbas need a black tab with the adapter, and 32 pins need a white tab for that adapter.

XC-3730C · Jan 9, 2016

Coltonamore said:
Well, I finally got another original gba, and I'm going to mod it to have a backlit screen now since I have the screen,and the adapters are cheap. I have a white tab screen, and a 32 pin GBA so it's obviously a perfect match. I found a seller on eBay selling a 32 pin adapter and a glass screen for $15, and I plan to do it. I'll see if I can do a TV out mod for it again like explained here. http://retrorgb.com/gbacustominstall.html I may design a custom PCB for the TV adapter to allow 240p instead of 480i, but I'll see what happens in the future.

I would love a TV adapter that does 240p. When would you have that PCB? I would like a "consolized" GBA system, hopefully with a SNES controller attached.

cvskid said:
Backlit screens won't work? It has to be frontlit right or is that just for gameboy color?

Coltonamore · Jan 9, 2016

I have no ideal. I need to design one for the innovation GBA TV converter. I'm gonna need help as I'm not really fimiller with designing pcbs. Its still a possiblty though.

Ben Ten's Dad · Jan 10, 2016

I have just bought 7 AGS101 SP's in the hope that at least one of them has a brown/black tab. I'm modding 40 pin GBA's as I have no experience with soldering. Can anyone tell me if the brown/black tab 101 screens are more common than white tab? Or am I likely to end up with 7 white tab 101 screens which I will need to re-sell?

ker · Jan 10, 2016

Ben Ten's Dad said:
I have just bought 7 AGS101 SP's in the hope that at least one of them has a brown/black tab. I'm modding 40 pin GBA's as I have no experience with soldering. Can anyone tell me if the brown/black tab 101 screens are more common than white tab? Or am I likely to end up with 7 white tab 101 screens which I will need to re-sell?

I'm here if you need to resell one or two of them ;-)

Ben Ten's Dad · Jan 10, 2016

ker said:
I'm here if you need to resell one or two of them ;-)

I will probable sell them as part of a kit - ie, GBA SP, 32 Pin Ribbon, Screwdrivers and replacement case. The profits will help me to buy more SP's....in the hope they are black/brown tab!

EDIT: Woohoo! Out of the three which arrived today, two have the brown tab! Dancer! 4 more in the post and hopefully I get a similar return with those ones.

GBAResearcher · Jan 21, 2016

Coltonamore said:
That's just for the GBC. You can mod an AGS 101 screen into an original GBA with a ribben cable adapter and a wire that solders to a point on the board to give the back light power. However for AGS screens, 40 pin gbas need a black tab with the adapter, and 32 pins need a white tab for that adapter.

Do you happen to know how much power the backlight takes when it is on the max setting on the SP?

Ben Ten's Dad said:
I will probable sell them as part of a kit - ie, GBA SP, 32 Pin Ribbon, Screwdrivers and replacement case. The profits will help me to buy more SP's....in the hope they are black/brown tab!

EDIT: Woohoo! Out of the three which arrived today, two have the brown tab! Dancer! 4 more in the post and hopefully I get a similar return with those ones.

Glad to hear you found what you wanted. How much would you charge for a kit btw?

Ben Ten's Dad · Jan 21, 2016

PM'd you.

Incidentally of the two that have arrived in the last two days, one brown tab and one white tab.

opt2not · Jan 22, 2016

Haven't logged on in a while, but I was able to finish my 2 GBA backlight mods:

As I mentioned earlier, these are hosting the deluxe ribbon adapters with the ability to change brightness between 5 levels by holding down Select and pressing L to toggle through. The top GBA is a 40-pin, the bottom is 32. I kinda think the 32 pin looks a bit better....in either case, my original GBA's are now perfect!

XC-3730C · Jan 22, 2016

@opt2not,

Those are absolutely gorgeous! Do you sell these?

opt2not · Jan 22, 2016

XC-3730C said:
Those are absolutely gorgeous! Do you sell these?

No sorry, these are my personal ones. My wife and I play head-to-head games sometimes, and having them both modded now makes the experience a lot better.

Shadow#1 · Jan 22, 2016

opt2not said:
Haven't logged on in a while, but I was able to finish my 2 GBA backlight mods:

As I mentioned earlier, these are hosting the deluxe ribbon adapters with the ability to change brightness between 5 levels by holding down Select and pressing L to toggle through. The top GBA is a 40-pin, the bottom is 32. I kinda think the 32 pin looks a bit better....in either case, my original GBA's are now perfect!

Delux ribbon cable?

GBAResearcher · Jan 22, 2016

opt2not said:
No sorry, these are my personal ones. My wife and I play head-to-head games sometimes, and having them both modded now makes the experience a lot better.

Are they brighter than the SP at its highest setting? I made a thread asking for the power requirements of the LCD backlight so I could maximize it's brightness but no one seemed to respond yet. And this is the first I have heard about a deluxe ribbon cable.

EDIT: Just found this thread on here after a search https://gbatemp.net/threads/gba-backlight-agb-001.328487/page-48#post-5609348
I'm totally buying one! It's brighter than the SP!

Ben Ten's Dad · Jan 22, 2016

If I had soldering skills I would go that route. As I don't, then it is 40 Pin non-soldering method for me. Btw opt2not, did you replace your lens with the glass version? I'm keeping with plastic as I have heard the glass lens sticks out a bit. Also, if I was to drop the case, or something was to smash the lens there would be possible damage to our cherished 101 screens due to glass shards.

XC-3730C · Jan 22, 2016

Is it possible to fit an original GBA system with an SP style rechargeable battery?

opt2not · Jan 22, 2016

Ben Ten's Dad said:
If I had soldering skills I would go that route. As I don't, then it is 40 Pin non-soldering method for me. Btw opt2not, did you replace your lens with the glass version? I'm keeping with plastic as I have heard the glass lens sticks out a bit. Also, if I was to drop the case, or something was to smash the lens there would be possible damage to our cherished 101 screens due to glass shards.

I didn't get to replace my lens with the glass one. But my current lens' are still in pretty good shape so I figured it wasn't necessary. Plus with it being plastic, there's a bit more "give" for fitting the new screen and ribbon cable into the case. It's pretty tight right now, and if you tighten the screws all the way, the lens gets a bit of a bulge 'cause the new parts are thicker than what was in there before.

pelago · Jan 25, 2016

XC-3730C said:
Is it possible to fit an original GBA system with an SP style rechargeable battery?

Not that I've seen. I just use rechargable AAs.

Ben Ten's Dad · Jan 25, 2016

Would be awesome if it could be done but if it was possible I think some genius would have already done it by now.

Hardware GBA Backlight! (AGB-001)

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