Hardware help with m3 lite

zerolinks

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
152
Trophies
1
Age
38
XP
639
Country
United States
Do I changed the battery on my m3 lite perfect. Unfortunately, whenever I start up my gameboy the splash plays but the 'nintendo' logo that should be under it isn't there.
I have a micro sd that is formatted and has games and works with a different m3 lite perfect.

Can anyone help me?
 

zerolinks

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
152
Trophies
1
Age
38
XP
639
Country
United States
I was able to pry away the battery bought the correct replacement battery but the ol tape trick isn't working like the sticky guide shows
 

zerolinks

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
152
Trophies
1
Age
38
XP
639
Country
United States
So this is what it looks like,
1125091035.jpg

I'm not entirely sure what the problem is =\
 

zerolinks

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
152
Trophies
1
Age
38
XP
639
Country
United States
I tried putting a memory card that is already formatted loaded with the firmware and has games loaded through the m3 loader and I still got that screen as shown in the picture.
I thought I might have put the battery in the wrong way so I flipped it to negative side up and still nothing. Positive side up doesn't work either.
 

WigWrm

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
209
Trophies
1
Website
Visit site
XP
1,200
Country
United States
Regardless of the battery you should still be able to use the card. Sounds like your having a contact problem. You said you've already cleaned the contacts but you might have to place a thin piece of cardboard or thick paper behind the cart pcb in the shell case to ensure a proper connection.
 

zerolinks

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
152
Trophies
1
Age
38
XP
639
Country
United States
Yeah I cleaned the contacts the other night.
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by cart pcb. So I dunno where to put the piece of paper

Edit: I went ahead and stuck a folded piece of paper under the pins and it was the same result. This was with both memory cards that I have.
 

WigWrm

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
209
Trophies
1
Website
Visit site
XP
1,200
Country
United States
There is nothing to load on your cart for the m3 to work. The firmware itself is flashed onto a chip on the pcb. You would only need to place the firmware on the sd card if you were trying to update to a newer version.

It is starting to sound like your cart is malfunctioning. If you are not getting past the GBA splash screen then your gba micro isn't reading anything off of the m3 cartridge. This situation is no different than turning your gba on without a game cart.

This behavior suggests contact failure. You would have to dissamble the M3 cart, lift the pcb off the cart, insert a peice of paper/cardboard, reinsert the pcb and put the M3 cart back together. This method pushes the PCB out a little bit so that the contacts are also extruded. This would ensure that the contacts on the cart are making 'contact' with the gba slot reader. It would also help to clean the cart's contacts with isopropyl alcohol using a cotton swab.

If this does not solve anything, trying using various widths of paper placed behind the pcb. It may also be the case as per howdoidothat's instruction that you must solder the battery back onto it's original contacts. Also the extreme unlikelyhood exists that the program memory on the pcb has somehow become corrupted.."would only happen if you used the incorrect fw update for your card".
 

zerolinks

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
152
Trophies
1
Age
38
XP
639
Country
United States
I see, I had experimented with the different width of paper as well as cleaned the contacts and it still hasn't read the card. the battery contacts are holding the batter and making contact with it.

Would there be a way to clear the memory so I could update with a proper firmware. I dont think that happend. but then again it's not entirely impossible.


Thanks for your help by the way I appreciate it.
 

WigWrm

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
209
Trophies
1
Website
Visit site
XP
1,200
Country
United States
In all honesty the ability to reflash the firmware goes beyond normal consumer means. We would have to identify the asic or microprocessor and then find a suitable hardware programmer. Typically one would have to have a programmer in conjunction with an external power supply. The pin layout of the ASIC is also needed in order to flash the card properly.

For whatever reason your card is being unresponsive and my only advice left is to try to return for a replacement if it all possible.
Also try the cart out on other gba consoles to determine if the problem is really the card itself.
 

zerolinks

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
152
Trophies
1
Age
38
XP
639
Country
United States
ive been trying this on an sp and a micro. both have yeilded the same results.
I figured reflashing would be a bit of a chore, i might just end up getting an ez flash IV from DX. This unit was supposed to be for my little brother.

This is for my working m3 model
How long should an auto back up save stay on the card? i remember having some backup after having the console off for about a day, now they dont last more than an hour
 

WigWrm

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
209
Trophies
1
Website
Visit site
XP
1,200
Country
United States
Well as long as the save is written to your sd card I wouldn't worry about it. However I'm decently sure that means your battery is going low. If your willing to replace the battery be careful. Soldering is the proper way to disconnect/reconnect the battery in the m3. It really is an effortless process compared to tedious electrical taping.
 

zerolinks

Well-Known Member
OP
Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
152
Trophies
1
Age
38
XP
639
Country
United States
Lol, yeah. I'm just not sure what type of solder i would need to use. i would imagine it would be something that i would like to be able to remove later in the event of another battery change.
 

WigWrm

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
Messages
209
Trophies
1
Website
Visit site
XP
1,200
Country
United States
Well all solder is removable no matter what brand or gauge you get. You apply heat to it and it becomes an instant pool of liquid. You would have to use solder wick or some kind of manual vacuum device to take it off a pin/board.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    bout to buy me some prescription safety glasses
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Got eye insurance? Some do custom laser cutting engraving same day in office
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    I do but the optometrist I got my glasses at last year was expensive as fuck even WITH my insurance, so I'm gonna order on Zenni and see if my insurance will reimburse it. And if they won't, then, oh well, still will be cheaper anyway
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    $90 for the safety glasses on Zenni, vs my daily wear glasses were >$200 after insurance
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Haven't been to the eye doc in like 3 years but was pretty surprised they cut the glass in office had the in like an hour ready
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    That's pretty sweet, I had to wait like a week or so for mine to be ready
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    Lookin at buying another pair of regular glasses too. And maybe prescription sunglasses
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Yeah most just ship off to a lab could always call around to see if new ones have in office glass cutters
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    too much effort + im shy and social anxiety :( lmao
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    I just wear them when I drive cause I'd like to actually read signs
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Think they said I'm far sighted or some bs
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    My eyes aren't that bad, I need mine for driving but ever since I got my latest pair I wear them all the time when I'm home now, I never used to before
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    I'm near sighted though
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    I feel like docs just say you're this and that for the insurance claims half the time
    +1
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    But even my computer monitors, that are like 3ft away when I'm leaning back in my chair, so much easier to see now with my glasses than without
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    Doc was cool though, he measured my old glasses and I wanted to try different contacts than I had had previously and he's like "hmmm I bet you're this strength and that strength" and damn dude was dead on the money
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    lmao that clip
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Know a guy who did laser surgery for like 2g but argued you'd never need glasses again
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    laser eye surgery scares me
  • Sicklyboy @ Sicklyboy:
    The thought of any kind of surgery shit being done on my eyes gives me unbelievable amounts of dread and anxiety, and with the potential risks or side effects that laser eye surgery has, I don't think my eyes are bad enough to warrant it. I can see without my glasses - not great, but not bad either.
  • K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3:
    Yeah I feel that if it gets to the point where all I see is blurry then I might consider if
  • Skelletonike @ Skelletonike:
    Just do it like in Minority Report. Won't feel a thing.
    K3Nv3 @ K3Nv3: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806249264202.html?spm=a2g0n.home.rcmd.4.468a76dbbdxITc&gps-id=...