Nintendo GBA blank screen when reading GBC games

[Uevon]

Well, my families GBA turned 20 this year, but sadly I think I may have broken it a few years back when I stupidly thought it would be a good idea to put a vice grip on it to apply pressure to the battery to get Mario Kart to work (because for some reason applying pressure to the battery pack was the only way it could read that particular game, so I did have a reason). One time I probably squeezed it a little too hard and ever since it has had this unusual problem where when you try to play Game boy color games or Game boy games it will not display the Nintendo logo. It will just make the sound, but never launch the game. Even with the GB mode switcher held down this still happens. I cleaned the switch as best I could with some Alcohol and let it dry for a bit but it still does this. I even tried a different battery but nothing happens. I know its not the screen because it can still display the Game boy logo in Advance mode, but it won't read games anymore. I checked all the cartridge pins and they aren't bent in any way. Any suggestions?

 

[JuanMena]

Open your GBC cartridge and look for cold solder points.

 

[Uevon]

I don't think its the GBC cartridges, because the Game Boy Advance could read them just fine before this happened. I forgot to mention that for many years the Game Boy Advance could only play GB and GBC color games with no hitch and sometimes Mario Kart, which that is what ultimately what led to its current state.
Also, I forgot to mention that in GB mode, it makes this kind of loud fizzing noise. Why do you suppose that is?

 

[PizzaTimeJoshua]

Maybe the Gameboy chip that is made to specifically run Gameboy and Gameboy Color games was damaged when you put a vice grip on the system? Could have damage part of the chip or damaged a connection on the board. Do you also have a different GB/C game you can test to see if its actually the system's issue or cartridge issue?

 

[Uevon]

I have tested multiple GBC cartridges and Pokemon Yellow with this system, and they all have the same problem. I haven't tried testing anything with a multimeter, however; I am not very good with electrical things. I probably did do something like that for it to suddenly stop being able to play GB/C games. I suspect the original problem was just dirty cartridge pins, because it could actually run (GBA) games to some degree, but now it doesn't make it past the boot up screen.

Maybe the Gameboy chip that is made to specifically run Gameboy and Gameboy Color games was damaged when you put a vice grip on the system? Could have damage part of the chip or damaged a connection on the board. Do you also have a different GB/C game you can test to see if its actually the system's issue or cartridge issue?

Post automatically merged: Sep 10, 2023

Here is a shot of the board

 

[PizzaTimeJoshua]

I have tested multiple GBC cartridges and Pokemon Yellow with this system, and they all have the same problem. I haven't tried testing anything with a multimeter, however; I am not very good with electrical things. I probably did do something like that for it to suddenly stop being able to play GB/C games. I suspect the original problem was just dirty cartridge pins, because it could actually run (GBA) games to some degree, but now it doesn't make it past the boot up screen.

Post automatically merged: Sep 10, 2023

Here is a shot of the board

I'm somewhat familiar with the GBA motherboard but I'm definitely no expert. I would say try and spot some broken connections on the board if you can't spot any or everything looks fine, then its probably best to find someone in your area who knows about this type of electronics. Like a GBA Enthusiast that has modded their system before or a profession repair shop.

 

[Uevon]

I'm somewhat familiar with the GBA motherboard but I'm definitely no expert. I would say try and spot some broken connections on the board if you can't spot any or everything looks fine, then its probably best to find someone in your area who knows about this type of electronics. Like a GBA Enthusiast that has modded their system before or a profession repair shop.

Yeah, you're probably right. Would you happen to know anyone on this forum who could help me?

 

[JuanMena]

I don't think there's something wrong with the GBA itself. Otherwise the it wouldn't boot in GBC mode with GBC cartridges inserted.

I've had this problem with cartridges I've own before.

 

[Uevon]

I will have to try them all again, but I'm pretty sure it happens with all of them. Maybe the GBA is shorting them all out or something.

 

[JuanMena]

But what about how GBA games wont play anymore either?

Oh really?

Unfortunately a multimeter alone won't tell you what's wrong.
In order to find any shorts, you must desolder each component and test it without them being on the board. There's that first... then... you could use another SP Board (functioning) and replace conponents between boards to see how they behave, which would be a more direct approach, although, there's the possibility that whatever might have caused a short in your bad board might cause it on the components of the good board, so have it in mind.

Lastly, another alternative is to use a heat camera to see if something is overheating, thus, finding the short less invasively, replace component and test if that fixes the problem.

 

[Uevon]

Oh really?

Unfortunately a multimeter alone won't tell you what's wrong.
In order to find any shorts, you must desolder each component and test it without them being on the board. There's that first... then... you could use abother SP Board (functioning) and replace conponents between boards to see how they behave, which would be a more direct approach, although, there's the possibility that whatever mifht have caused a short in your bad boards might cause it on the components of the good board, so have it in mind.

Lastly, another alternative is to use a heat camera to see if something is overheating, thus, finding the short less invasively, replace component and test if that fixes the problem.

Hm, sounds pretty complicated. I can't say I have the ability to do any on this, but at least I have an idea on how it could be fixed. Thanks

 

[JuanMena]

Hm, sounds pretty complicated. I can't say I have the ability to do any on this, but at least I have an idea on how it could be fixed. Thanks

Unfortunately there's no other way to know, unless you do like user PizzaJoshua suggested, take your SP to an expert that has worked them enough to know what's the issue.

 

[Uevon]

Just out of curiousity, has anyone ever actually had this problem (though probably not from putting a vice grip on their GBA ) and have ever been able to fix it?

 

[JuanMena]

Just out of curiousity, has anyone ever actually had this problem (though probably not from putting a vice grip on their GBA ) and have ever been able to fix it?

Not with an SP, but with the cartridges themselves not booting.

 

[Uevon]

Not with an SP, but with the cartridges themselves not booting.

Maybe there is a disturbance in the circuitry from the pins to the GB chip on the motherboard?

 

[JuanMena]

Maybe there is a disturbance in the circuitry from the pins to the GB chip on the motherboard?

Test with multimeter in continuity mode.

 

[Uevon]

Where do I test on the board with the red and black things on the multimeter?

 

[master801]

Where do I test on the board with the red and black things on the multimeter?

Here's a schematic for the AGS-001 model. https://github.com/Gekkio/gb-schematics/blob/main/AGS-CPU-11/schematic/AGS-CPU-11.pdf

Your SP might be a slightly different model, but the schematic should still work with some minor differences.

 

[Uevon]

Thank you for the schematic.

Here's a schematic for the AGS-001 model. https://github.com/Gekkio/gb-schematics/blob/main/AGS-CPU-11/schematic/AGS-CPU-11.pdf

Your SP might be a slightly different model, but the schematic should still work with some minor differences.

 

[Uevon]

Well, I have my multimeter set up now. I'm still not really sure where to test, but just to begin I thought I'd have a go testing the solder holding the Voltage switch down (the switch that switches between GB and GBA mode) and the first two solder parts have continuity but not the other two. Is this normal?