EZ Flash Junior not triggering Gameboy mode unless I hold cartridge down.

[Alacres]

I just bought a new modded GBA from Funnyplaying's eBay page (one with an ITA screen) and I've noticed various questionable things about it (like the screen having these faint/faded vertical and horizontal lines that can be seen when holding it at an angle, and some image ghosting which is worse on some games than others). I'm not sure how normal the aforementioned problems are as I've read that ITA/DSI screens still suffer from some ghosting and the lines appear to be some kind of faint burn-in that will hopefully go away in time.

The biggest problem I'm facing now though is what I mentioned in the title of the thread: I just bought both a EZ Flash Junior and Omega DE, and the junior isn't working unless I push down on the cartridge. I feel a little give when I push down and then it springs slightly back up, like it's not fitting down properly. It's weird because I feel and hear it click down like a cartridge should but it's still not enough to trigger GB mode. I can't imagine it's the fault of the new GBA as funnyplaying is pretty respectable, but given the possible faults of this thing, I guess that might be what it is? Or is it more likely the cart? For the record, the Omega DE has worked flawlessly so far.

If any of you have any experience with EZ Juniors and know if there's a way to fix this, I'd really appreciate the advice. Thanks in advance.

Edit: I checked inside the cartridge slot and I pushed the little GB mode switch to make sure it was bending properly and it looks like it is. I can't imagine why this Junior cartridge isn't pushing it down when inserted all the way. Ugh, almost tempted to send the Junior back and just use the GB/GBC emulation on the Omega. Is the Junior's native performance even worth it, or is the Omega's emulation generally good enough? (FWIW, I'm using the custom firmware from this forum for the Omega, versus the official.)

Edit 2: Could this problem occur if the Junior's battery is dead? I ask because I had actually managed to use the Junior a few times right after getting it (albeit I had to reinsert it once or twice to trigger GB mode). Now I can't seem to get GB mode to work even when pushing the Junior down in the slot--it just keeps starting in GBA mode. Unfortunately, I don't have another GB cart to test.

 

[hippy dave]

I'd really try another GB cart as the first step, I know you said you don't have one but it shouldn't be too hard or expensive to get hold of one

 

[Takokeshi]

It sounds like the spring for the GB switch in the cartridge slot might be too strong, it's pushing the cartridge back out. I can't imagine why a modded gba would have changed that, unless this was a refurbished board with an aftermarket cartridge slot. In which case maybe it's possible the aftermarket slot has a spring that's too stiff.

It's also possible though that the ezflash jr doesn't fit as snugly as a genuine cartridge would, so the spring is able to push it back out where it wouldn't be able to do the same to a genuine cart. No real way to tell without getting another gb cartridge to test though (a lot of Japanese GB games are *very* cheap on ebay, you could consider getting one just for testing purposes. Or maybe a local retro game store if you have any could lend you one.)

If it's not working at all anymore, the problem is the mode switch, not the cartridge. Can you get it to boot into gb mode again by manually holding the switch down?

 

[Alacres]

It sounds like the spring for the GB switch in the cartridge slot might be too strong, it's pushing the cartridge back out. I can't imagine why a modded gba would have changed that, unless this was a refurbished board with an aftermarket cartridge slot. In which case maybe it's possible the aftermarket slot has a spring that's too stiff.

It's also possible though that the ezflash jr doesn't fit as snugly as a genuine cartridge would, so the spring is able to push it back out where it wouldn't be able to do the same to a genuine cart. No real way to tell without getting another gb cartridge to test though (a lot of Japanese GB games are *very* cheap on ebay, you could consider getting one just for testing purposes. Or maybe a local retro game store if you have any could lend you one.)

If it's not working at all anymore, the problem is the mode switch, not the cartridge. Can you get it to boot into gb mode again by manually holding the switch down?

I just tried pushing the switch down with a thin screwdriver while booting it and it doesn't seem to work. Just keeps showing the GBA bootup screen. I guess that means something is messed up with the cartridge slot? Ugh, that really sucks if that's the case. It took almost a month to get the freaking thing over here (shipped from China).

Edit: I've also been noticing this little blinking bright green pixel towards the upper right of the screen that's been annoying me, and I can't seem to get rid of it (weirdly, it sometimes goes away so I'm not sure what that's about). Seems like the more I use this thing, the more issues I notice. Sigh. Think I might just have to open a return on eBay.

Edit 2: I went ahead and started a return on this thing. The dead/stuck pixel was the last straw. The guy doesn't offer returns of course but I provided a picture of the pixel (extremely noticeable when the screen is black) so hopefully eBay will side with me on it. I wanted to make this work but with GB mode not working and a glaring pixel like that staring back at me constantly, I just can't justify keeping it after paying about $170 for it. The ITA screen is nice though. I might try buying another from someone else and hope I have better luck next time. For now, I'll probably just go back to using my 2DS for GBA games.

 

[Alacres]

It sounds like the spring for the GB switch in the cartridge slot might be too strong, it's pushing the cartridge back out. I can't imagine why a modded gba would have changed that, unless this was a refurbished board with an aftermarket cartridge slot. In which case maybe it's possible the aftermarket slot has a spring that's too stiff.

It's also possible though that the ezflash jr doesn't fit as snugly as a genuine cartridge would, so the spring is able to push it back out where it wouldn't be able to do the same to a genuine cart. No real way to tell without getting another gb cartridge to test though (a lot of Japanese GB games are *very* cheap on ebay, you could consider getting one just for testing purposes. Or maybe a local retro game store if you have any could lend you one.)

If it's not working at all anymore, the problem is the mode switch, not the cartridge. Can you get it to boot into gb mode again by manually holding the switch down?

I've been messing around with the cartridge slot a ton today and I think you might be right about the switch being too strong, or maybe not sticking out enough. I tried putting a few layers of tape on the Junior (on the side with the switch) to make it thicker and it actually started Gameboy mode (not every time, but a few times). Unfortunately, I have a new problem now with the Junior where it's stuck at the boot screen (with a black bar over the Nintendo logo.) I just can't win with this. I actually managed to unstick the green pixel (at least temporarily) by using the Pixel unstuck tool floating around here but I just can't solve this cartridge issue to save my life. It sucks too because I REALLY want to keep this thing. When it works properly, it's the best way I've ever had to play GBA games (it even has a bad ass custom shell made to look like an OG fat Gameboy).

I'm just not sure what else to try. I asked Funnyplaying for suggestions. He was just about to e-mail me a return label but if I can fix this, I'd much rather do that.