Hardware GBA Backlight! (AGB-001)

[Sajun]

Which ribbon did you use? Type-A or Type-B? Could you explain the steps you took to complete you mod?

I'm afraid I made a mistake in my post. This one is actually a 32 pin, and according to the Retro Modding website the 32 pin has no issues with either the brown or white ribbon. The 40 pin is the one where you have to be careful when selecting ribbon A or B. Sorry for the confusion.

As far as my method goes it was a bit messy since I've never done anything like this before. Never soldered and have shaky hands so was tough.

Originally I tried to solder the wire to DA1, and specifically on the Y-shaped area it was the left point of the Y on DA1. When powering up the console the light would flash green and then go out; screen would never power up. What seems to have happened was that I made a connection to both the left AND the right points on DA1, and guides say to be careful not to make a bridge between the left point on DA1 and and any other point. So I messed that up with too much solder.

I removed the solder as best I could and then, per one of the above poster's guides on Youtube, soldered it to the nearby capacitor, the closest one to DA1. This worked, and achieved the same result as what I'm having an issue with now, wherein the screen powers on but is overly bright and scan line-y. I assumed that if I removed this solder point as well and tried to fix up my DA1 point, which had too much solder left on it at that time, then the issue would be solved. So I removed the solder and wire from the capacitor and fixed up DA1 and soldered the wire to it again, correctly this time. The screen powered on fine but I did notice that there were scan lines at that point. The opening segment of Final Fantasy Tactics was super messed up, for example.

I had a ton of trouble getting everything to fit back into the case. It took hours of trouble shooting but what I discovered was that the ribbon Retro Modding had sent me wouldn't fit in the case because it had to fit between the motherboard and the back of the new screen. Upon tightening down all the screws multiple times and having it not power on anymore once the case was all put together, I came to the conclusion that the black foam pad that's on the back of the SP screens by default was the issue. It was too thick, so I removed it since I had seen that other modders no longer had it on the back of their screens, despite not mentioning that step in their actual mod guide.

So I'm thinking that one of the potential issues is that I damaged DA1 in the process of trying to solder it to that point originally. I don't have the actual tool needed to remove the soldering material when trying to fix bad soldered points, so I had to ultimately carefully pull it back off with the soldering iron tip. Perhaps that caused a problem? I have no real way of testing it.

I have some more parts for a 40 pin mod on the way, so I'll have another one to work on here in a few days, but the process of doing that one isn't going to help me troubleshoot what's wrong with this 32 pin mod I don't think.

 

[darkgunsou86]

I did the backlight mod on both my 32 pin and 40 pin GBA.
The 40 pin GBA is brighter than the 32 pin GBA.
Is this normal?

 

[AnotherMuggle]

I did the backlight mod on both my 32 pin and 40 pin GBA.
The 40 pin GBA is brighter than the 32 pin GBA.
Is this normal?
View attachment 136454

Did you solder the wire to the motherboard on both consoles? I compared a 32pin and a 40pin that I did, side by side, and they were basically identical in colour and brightness.

 

[darkgunsou86]

Yes I did. I read somewhere that the 40pin will be brighter. just confirming it here. I will be playing the 40pin gba anyway so its ok. I bought the lcd kit from different sellers. maybe that's where the issue is. the lcds look the same though.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Yes I did. I read somewhere that the 40pin will be brighter. just confirming it here. I will be playing the 40pin gba anyway so its ok. I bought the lcd kit from different sellers. maybe that's where the issue is. the lcds look the same though.

I used screens and adapters from different sellers too but mine were definitely very close in appearance.

One thing I did note is that the 40pin was bright even before soldering the wire to the motherboard but the 32pin needed the wire soldered or it was nowhere near as bright. The 40pin also looked perfect right away but the 32pin needed minor adjustment of the potentiometer to remove the strange interlacing effect.

 

[slaphappygamer]

You can swap the screens to find out. If you swap them and the other is brighter, you’ll know it’s the screen.

 

[Sleepyhollow77]

Hello AnotherMuggle,
Would you be able to tell me which seller you purchased the screen and adapter from? I want to install a backlight kit in a 40 pin GBA that I have.

Thanks
John

I used screens and adapters from different sellers too but mine were definitely very close in appearance.

One thing I did note is that the 40pin was bright even before soldering the wire to the motherboard but the 32pin needed the wire soldered or it was nowhere near as bright. The 40pin also looked perfect right away but the 32pin needed minor adjustment of the potentiometer to remove the strange interlacing effect.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Hello AnotherMuggle,
Would you be able to tell me which seller you purchased the screen and adapter from? I want to install a backlight kit in a 40 pin GBA that I have.

Thanks
John

I got my 40 pin screen and adapter from a seller called "2015happydeal" on eBay, not the cheapest seller but it was listed as a UK seller and it arrived in a couple of days.

If you're buying a 40 pin model make sure the adapter cable includes the tiny ICs on the cable. As I understand it the cables without the ICs will not work well with a white ribbon LCD. Don't take my word for it because my memory isn't clear, but I think if you check Google you'll find people with image retention, or ghosting issues, with some 40 pin mods - I'm pretty sure the cables with the ICs fix this issue.

I got my 32 pin and adapter from a seller called "GamersZone Store" on Aliexpress. This was cheaper but took a couple of weeks to arrive from China.

 

[Sleepyhollow77]

Would getting the voltage regulator help at all?
BENNVENN'S AGS-101 VOLTAGE REGULATOR.

I got my 40 pin screen and adapter from a seller called "2015happydeal" on eBay, not the cheapest seller but it was listed as a UK seller and it arrived in a couple of days.

If you're buying a 40 pin model make sure the adapter cable includes the tiny ICs on the cable. As I understand it the cables without the ICs will not work well with a white ribbon LCD. Don't take my word for it because my memory isn't clear, but I think if you check Google you'll find people with image retention, or ghosting issues, with some 40 pin mods - I'm pretty sure the cables with the ICs fix this issue.

I got my 32 pin and adapter from a seller called "GamersZone Store" on Aliexpress. This was cheaper but took a couple of weeks to arrive from China.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Would getting the voltage regulator help at all?
BENNVENN'S AGS-101 VOLTAGE REGULATOR.

I did a bit of reading a while ago and from what I could make out the voltage regular serves two purposes, it boosts brightness and it prevents screen flicker in certain games. Early Pokemon games are good examples of the flicker, and I could definitely see it playing Pokemon Red but I didn't find it too distracting for the 60hrs I put into the game. I'd probably give the regulator a go but I think the install is tricky because it requires separating delicate layers of the ribbon cable on the LCD, so there's risk of damage to the LCD.

 

[Sleepyhollow77]

Thanks for the quick response I've been doing some research but it kinda gets a little confusing with the 40 pin gba. I'll look for that seller on Ebay you mentioned hopefully it comes with the correct cable. I only thought there was 2 cables to pick from?

I did a bit of reading a while ago and from what I could make out the voltage regular serves two purposes, it boosts brightness and it prevents screen flicker in certain games. Early Pokemon games are good examples of the flicker, and I could definitely see it playing Pokemon Red but I didn't find it too distracting for the 60hrs I put into the game. I'd probably give the regulator a go but I think the install is tricky because it requires separating delicate layers of the ribbon cable on the LCD, so there's risk of damage to the LCD.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Thanks for the quick response I've been doing some research but it kinda gets a little confusing with the 40 pin gba. I'll look for that seller on Ebay you mentioned hopefully it comes with the correct cable. I only thought there was 2 cables to pick from?

Different people seem to say different things regarding cables but based on my reading they are not all the same. 32 pin cables never have ICs but 40 pin sometimes do. Those that do are designed for brand new, OEM, Chinese manufactured screen. Those that don't are designed for original Nintendo screens pulled from official AGS-101 systems. My theory is, if the seller is selling screens, paired with adapters then surely they should be compatible with each other!?

I've done a total of 3 mods, a 40 pin I did a few years ago with a genuine Nintendo screen, and the two I did more recently, that I've mentioned above. All 3 mods have been perfect, but the 32 pin was the only one of the three that needed minor adjustment of the potentiometer on the motherboard.

 

[manzhen]

Hello,

Very silly problem here. I am currently trying to attach the ribbon cable of the new screen to the ribbon cable that will be attached to the motherboard.

I don't know if I'm doing it completely wrong, but I can't seem to unclips that black part to insert my cable into it. Is there a trick to this or is there any other way to securely attach the ribbon cable into there?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'll patiently wait instead of breaking everything.

Thank you very much.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Hello,

Very silly problem here. I am currently trying to attach the ribbon cable of the new screen to the ribbon cable that will be attached to the motherboard.

I don't know if I'm doing it completely wrong, but I can't seem to unclips that black part to insert my cable into it. Is there a trick to this or is there any other way to securely attach the ribbon cable into there?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'll patiently wait instead of breaking everything.

Thank you very much.

Lay the ribbon on the table then very carefully pull the top edge (where the other ribbon goes into it) of the black flap upwards. It hinges at the bottom and opens at the top edge, like a door. Some are tight but they're also delicate so take care

 

[manzhen]

Lay the ribbon on the table then very carefully pull the top edge (where the other ribbon goes into it) of the black flap upwards. It hinges at the bottom and opens at the top edge, like a door. Some are tight but they're also delicate so take care

Thank you so much, AnotherMuggle. It is because it feels so fragile that I don't dare to be too forceful with these kind of things. I will report back if I broke everything!

 

[Sleepyhollow77]

So I decided to order from theGodofgaming Gameboy Advance Backlight Kit (40 Pin) GBA SP AGS-101 Backlit LCD Screen

We see how this works out

Different people seem to say different things regarding cables but based on my reading they are not all the same. 32 pin cables never have ICs but 40 pin sometimes do. Those that do are designed for brand new, OEM, Chinese manufactured screen. Those that don't are designed for original Nintendo screens pulled from official AGS-101 systems. My theory is, if the seller is selling screens, paired with adapters then surely they should be compatible with each other!?

I've done a total of 3 mods, a 40 pin I did a few years ago with a genuine Nintendo screen, and the two I did more recently, that I've mentioned above. All 3 mods have been perfect, but the 32 pin was the only one of the three that needed minor adjustment of the potentiometer on the motherboard.

 

[manzhen]

Hi again,

Thanks to AnotherMuggle I was able to get the screen working. I love the way it looks.

I'm not done having troubles yet though. I've been trying to reassemble and close my GBA, but I just can't seem to close it properly after having installed the new screen. I'm pretty sure I removed all the plastic that was in the way of the screen (see image of my sloppy scalpel work). And when the motherboard is in place, it looks flat and even to me. Same for the screen, looking at it from the front, looks like the whole screen is nicely flat against the borders.

Any ideas where the issue could come from? I tried rerouting the red wire in a few different positions, nothing seems to change. Should I still remove more plastic from the screen region?

Thank you again for your help.

 

[AnotherMuggle]

Hi again,

Thanks to AnotherMuggle I was able to get the screen working. I love the way it looks.

I'm not done having troubles yet though. I've been trying to reassemble and close my GBA, but I just can't seem to close it properly after having installed the new screen. I'm pretty sure I removed all the plastic that was in the way of the screen (see image of my sloppy scalpel work). And when the motherboard is in place, it looks flat and even to me. Same for the screen, looking at it from the front, looks like the whole screen is nicely flat against the borders.

Any ideas where the issue could come from? I tried rerouting the red wire in a few different positions, nothing seems to change. Should I still remove more plastic from the screen region?

Thank you again for your help.

View attachment 138000 View attachment 138001 View attachment 138002 View attachment 138003

Screen looks nice and alignment is good also. It upsets me when I see them misaligned.

I'm going to hazard a guess that your scalpel work isn't good enough. It looks like you covered the key areas but even the slightest raised area will be an issue. Personally I use a dremel tool and anything that's raised I dremel away so it's slightly recessed instead. If that's not the issue then my second guess is the black tape, especially over the ribbon cable because space is super tight around the battery area.

Edit: just to confirm there should also be no foam/grommet on either the front or back of the LCD.

 

[manzhen]

Screen looks nice and alignment is good also. It upsets me when I see them misaligned.

I'm going to hazard a guess that your scalpel work isn't good enough. It looks like you covered the key areas but even the slightest raised area will be an issue. Personally I use a dremel tool and anything that's raised I dremel away so it's slightly recessed instead. If that's not the issue then my second guess is the black tape, especially over the ribbon cable because space is super tight around the battery area.

Edit: just to confirm there should also be no foam/grommet on either the front or back of the LCD.

I couldn't live with them misaligned either. It's the only thing I would ever notice again.

Sadly I do not own a dremel tool, so it's going to be back to the scalpel. I'll also remove the tape, hopefully those two combined will be good enough to fit everything in there.

Thank you @AnotherMuggle ！

 

[manzhen]

Wheew, I'm getting there. It almost closes perfectly now. I still need to do a bit more of plastic cutting inside so it closes without using any force at all. Even if it seemed perfectly flat, it wasn't enough. Having the right tools for this kind of work really would make a world of difference (get a dremel!).

My humble piece of advice to total modding beginners like myself: do not glue the screen as long as you're not 100% sure the console closes perfectly.

 

[Sliter]

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)