Gaming GBA SP turns off when I press the B Button

[Droidge]

I tried charging it over the night, seems that it is not because of the charge level of the battery. Whenever I press the B button while playing, the GBA SP shuts itself down and I have to restart it. Is it the battery? Is it the keys? I tried switching games, not a problem with a particular cartridge. What do I do?

 

[demoncatursday]

Don't have an SP, but I've had 360 controllers that have the buttons both do the same thing for no reason, I think you might need to open it and check wires and such, maybe clean it a little.

 

[Clydefrosch]

but everything works perfectly right as long as you dont press a? meaning you could still play tetris at least

well something inside can't be right. though I personally can't fathom how this could ever happen unless the b button somehow triggers a short of some kind. maybe, but it really seems unlikely unless someone shoved pieces of aluminum foil or metal dust in there somehow. or its some weird kind of prank?

does it also turn off when you dont press the b button but just the area around it? like when you put pressure on the casing and all, it might have a weird loose contact somewhere...

one way or another, you ought to take a look inside to find out more

 

[Hanafuda]

I don't want to cause you to panic, but I experienced the same thing years ago while my GBA SP was still under warranty. I was able to return it and get a replacement from Nintendo, but when I called in the problem the guy on the phone told me I had probably cracked the motherboard with too much button pressure. The result, in theory -- pressing B would flex the mobo and cause a short on one or more traces, which would shut down the console. It didn't sound like it was the first he'd heard of the situation, either. I never opened the GBA SP to confirm that diagnosis, because I was sending it back for warranty. But I've been careful ever since with the replacement they sent me to change my button mashing ways.

Good luck.

 

[Droidge]

I don't want to cause you to panic, but I experienced the same thing years ago while my GBA SP was still under warranty. I was able to return it and get a replacement from Nintendo, but when I called in the problem the guy on the phone told me I had probably cracked the motherboard with too much button pressure. The result, in theory -- pressing B would flex the mobo and cause a short on one or more traces, which would shut down the console. It didn't sound like it was the first he'd heard of the situation, either. I never opened the GBA SP to confirm that diagnosis, because I was sending it back for warranty. But I've been careful ever since with the replacement they sent me to change my button mashing ways.

Good luck.

Well, I imported my GBA, and thus don't have any warranty and I can't get it replaced.

but everything works perfectly right as long as you dont press a? meaning you could still play tetris at least

well something inside can't be right. though I personally can't fathom how this could ever happen unless the b button somehow triggers a short of some kind. maybe, but it really seems unlikely unless someone shoved pieces of aluminum foil or metal dust in there somehow. or its some weird kind of prank?

does it also turn off when you dont press the b button but just the area around it? like when you put pressure on the casing and all, it might have a weird loose contact somewhere...

one way or another, you ought to take a look inside to find out more

Nope, it's just the B Button. Weird, isn't it? Is there a workaround to open the GBA up? I don't have that kind of screwdriver which is used to open these things up... (Tripoint, I think)

 

[Clydefrosch]

you can open those screws with a strong but small flathead if you have to, but i think you can get an actual tripod driver for little money online

http://www.instructables.com/id/Take-apart-Nintendo-stuff-with-a-flat-head-screwdr/

this has a picture where you want to set the screwdriver.
got to be careful though not to kill the screw, dont force it if it feels stuck.

 

[Droidge]

I solved the problem: I didn't open the GBA up, I just removed and reinserted the battery.
Sadly, there's another problem I have now: I get a scrambled startup screen.