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Holy moly I had a GBA That I never figured out why it needed like 30 seconds between reboots to work ! and it had no sound due to it beeing a water damaged console I removed the headphone jack and never got sound out ot it plus that discharge resistor ! I had to replace the powerswitch and the resistor was missing ! Thanks ! You just upgraded this GBA from the Junk pile to sitting in a new Shell !
Loving these videos, find them so interesting! In terms of soldering, would you ever do a video on replacing a GBA carts batteries? Something I’ve been looking at for a few weeks but seeing a few different ways of doing everything
Really awesome video. I just got into fixing and upgrading GBA's. This is really educational for understanding how PCB's work and how you can use a multimeter to devine the problems on a broken board.
Cheers for posting this - helped me confirm that the problem with my GBA was a blown F1 fuse. Thought I'd messed up something more major than that when instaling new triggers, so was relieved :)
This is so good! I was only looking for game boy mod videos and ended up in this video, but I watched every minute of the video and learned a lot. Thanks for sharing! So interesting 😁
I have watched a couple of your videos... This is pure gold! After being a happy customer of your shop, I am now a happy viewer of your videos! If I have any requests...It would be PC Engine GT stuffs (products and videos) :D
Super cool, love this deep dive. Back in the day I shorted my NGPC by using a mobile phone charger rather than my NGPC power supply, I then took it in to my local game shop and they said their is no hope for it so sadly it went in the bin... wish I still had it as I'd feel a little more inspired to fix it and give it a new lease of life!
@@RetroSix This helped me fix my GBA, thanks again! For anyone else interested, these fuses worked for the F1 fuse since the originals have been discontinued. www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/bel-fuse-inc/C2Q-1.25/615039
Bravo! Best video along this line I've seen thus far. I have GBA that starts about 1 out of 5-8 attempts. When it doesn't complete, the power light flickers with each failed attempt. When it fires up it's gtg until turned off. The power switch was cleaned and then replaced with the exact same results. The battery terminals are gtg. When back to back attempts to fire are quickly done in succession, the power light flicker is less bright each time until dark at about the fifth attempt. Capacitor?
Wow super informative!! I have a question. I have a gba where the sound works great when first turned on, but slowly gets quieter and choppy until there's no sound at all. Sound works perfectly from the headphone jack though. What could be going on?
I have the same corrosion problem, I think the Q7 is bad, the u4 has to modulate to 6v, right? If so, I lack that voltage, the truth is I don't know how to continue ...
Great content, I have a question, off topic , I have 2 GBA AGB-001, one works with Ni-Mh batteries (total 2.6v) so the batteries ain't the problem, and the other one only makes a pop noise, power switch is cleaned and battery contacts are fine, possible causes ?
I have 3v from positive battery pin to left of f1 and out the right of f1 in off position.also have 3 volts on pin 2 of the power switch while in off position.when I turn it on I get 0.06 on pin 2 of the power switch any help?
Hey RetroSix, thoroughly enjoyed the educational video! I used it to try and diagnose why the GBA I've been working on has no sound out of the speaker or headphone jack. Unfortunately, I still haven't solved the problem. I had soldered a wire similar to you did in the video (pin 4 to 5), but no sound came out still. I've cleaned both the volume potentiometer and headphone jack with IPA, and replaced the speaker. Is there anything you may know that could be the problem? My next course of action was going to be to replace the volume potentiometer.
@@Syngii it's likely the inputs into the amp then or volume wheel. For volume wheel just test with multimeter the voltage at pin 10 of the amp. As you move wheel up and down it should go from around 0V to 3v
Great video you have there! I have a GBA but whenever I tried to turn it on, its never turned on, the green light shows for a second and then its off. I already cleaned the power switch but no luck, maybe its not a power switch related issue?
I'm getting audio out of headphones but no audio from speaker, replaced speaker, volume wheel works with headphones in... possibly bridge pin 4 to pin 5 to fix the problem? what do you suggest?
Great video, I'm having some similar issues. GBA used to boot, but suddenly stopped, no sound or display; lights quickly flicker once when switch on or off. I checked the power switch's continuity and it doesnt seem to have any problems; when on common gets supply voltage and when off goes to ground. If anyone has a tips where to look next I'd greatly appreciate it
good day sir! may i ask what would be the potential issue if the sound on the speaker is very low but the headphone jack sound is normal? thank you for your input.
This is video is very educational, and it has helped me on troubleshooting my on-going GBA project, it also helps me getting better on my soldering techniques. I did encounter and issue similar to the one for R13 after cleaning my power switch. The system will only boot after 10-15 seconds only. I tested the resistor and it works, using my multi-tester I keep getting a consistent 150 ohms reading. Could it be the power switch is faulty or that the C pad does not join to R13 when the console is turned off? Just in case i am ordering a new power switch and i am looking for similar 150 ohm resistors. But what would you recommend?
@@RetroSix Thank you! The far right pin in the power switch to the top of resistor has zero continuity, and same from the bottom of the resistor to ground. From your experience does that mean that by trying to clean the switched I made it worse?
You sure there is no continuity on both? Usually the bottom resistor is on ground. Very hard to damage that. Either way if bottom of resistor isn't making contact to ground solder a wire from ground to bottom of resistor. Then if top isn't making contact with right pad of switch solder a wire from top of resistor to right pad
@@RetroSix Thank you so much for all your help! Yeah, I did not get continuity from "1" to the top of the resistor. I did get continuity from the solder point from the far right switch (where the cover is soldered and it says off) but I am not sure if that was the point you meant. at this point I will use a wire to make contact. thank you so much for answering my questions, and I must say that I am a fan of your products! 😁
This was extremely informative. I do have a question, I have a GBA board that seems to be booting GBA games fine, however, when Gameboy games are put in, you can hear them boot and play, but I have nothing on the screen.
Hmm. Only thing I can think causing that is the S1 and S2 power rails. The mechanical switch in the cartridge slot that sends 5V to the cart instead of 3.3V. So worth checking that, pin 2 on CPU and R5 for any damage, shorting or similar. Also check S1 and S1 pins on cart connector have 5V and 3.3V present
I've checked everything, changed capacitors, I get the 3V everywhere it's supossed to be, but when try to turn on the green light just blinks once then no power and when turning off same thing, I'm goign crazy with this... Any ideas??
@@RetroSix Thank you very much, gonna check into it!! But L1 was just replaced and don't see any shorts on the rails, probably T1? Btw the power regulator is it U4?
350 to 380C. Better starting at 350 until you are used to how solder flows and timing get a feel for soldering then go to 380 so you can work faster and spend less time transfering heat further into the board
I need to say that you are an excellent teacher. Every time I sit down and watch your videos carefully I learn a lot. Thank you for this material.
Your welcome
This was great. Such a detailed explanation of the procedure you use,its so useful. Please do a game gear. Loving these.
Glad you like. I'll do some game gear soon
Great video! Thank you for taking the time to upload this
I had alot of fun watching this video, please make more of them!
Great explanation and very detailed. You helped me a lot to understand how the GBA works!
Holy moly I had a GBA That I never figured out why it needed like 30 seconds between reboots to work ! and it had no sound due to it beeing a water damaged console I removed the headphone jack and never got sound out ot it plus that discharge resistor ! I had to replace the powerswitch and the resistor was missing ! Thanks ! You just upgraded this GBA from the Junk pile to sitting in a new Shell !
Keep the videos coming. Learn so much watching this video
Thanks. Spread the word and share the channel and so long as it helps enough people I'll keep doing it
Loving these videos, find them so interesting! In terms of soldering, would you ever do a video on replacing a GBA carts batteries? Something I’ve been looking at for a few weeks but seeing a few different ways of doing everything
Yep we already do that but I can show how to do that too. Any requests just ask and I'll do 😁
Hey this is a great tour of troubleshooting and repair.
Glad you like it
Awesome troubleshooting video! Very informative indeed. Thanks for sharing Luke! Greetings from South East Asia :)
Greetings. Awesome to see people watching from all over the globe 🌎
Thanks for the video bro! Very educational. Keep the trouble shooting videos coming!
Thanks and will do
Amazing job! Just keep up!
Really awesome video. I just got into fixing and upgrading GBA's. This is really educational for understanding how PCB's work and how you can use a multimeter to devine the problems on a broken board.
Glad it's useful. Remember to checkout RetroSix.wiki also if you haven't already
Great video. Learnt such alot and thoroughly enjoyed it
Your welcome
You helped me solve my audio issue. Thanks for the video!
No problem glad it helped
Thanks for making this! I happened to knock off resistor 13 while cleaning a gba I picked up. Good to know it’s non essential.
Watching from Philippines,
Thank you!
Cheers for posting this - helped me confirm that the problem with my GBA was a blown F1 fuse. Thought I'd messed up something more major than that when instaling new triggers, so was relieved :)
Glad I could help
This is so good! I was only looking for game boy mod videos and ended up in this video, but I watched every minute of the video and learned a lot. Thanks for sharing! So interesting 😁
Glad it is useful 😊
I have watched a couple of your videos... This is pure gold! After being a happy customer of your shop, I am now a happy viewer of your videos! If I have any requests...It would be PC Engine GT stuffs (products and videos) :D
Good to know. Ill be sure to do videos when I open up and start restoring mine
@@RetroSix With RGBDRV and LCDDRV hard to find...a GT clean screen mod kit would be amazing!
Great job!
Great GB advance Master class!!!
Super cool, love this deep dive. Back in the day I shorted my NGPC by using a mobile phone charger rather than my NGPC power supply, I then took it in to my local game shop and they said their is no hope for it so sadly it went in the bin... wish I still had it as I'd feel a little more inspired to fix it and give it a new lease of life!
Yeah that's a Shane. Very likely easy to fix
Awesome video. Very informative. Thank you!
Your welcome
@@RetroSix This helped me fix my GBA, thanks again!
For anyone else interested, these fuses worked for the F1 fuse since the originals have been discontinued. www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/bel-fuse-inc/C2Q-1.25/615039
Excellent video!!
Thanks
Thx alot! I was able to fix my sound by cleaning the headphone jack. There was a lot of corrosion.
Very educative.
Bravo! Best video along this line I've seen thus far. I have GBA that starts about 1 out of 5-8 attempts. When it doesn't complete, the power light flickers with each failed attempt. When it fires up it's gtg until turned off. The power switch was cleaned and then replaced with the exact same results. The battery terminals are gtg. When back to back attempts to fire are quickly done in succession, the power light flicker is less bright each time until dark at about the fifth attempt. Capacitor?
Try replacing or bridging fuse. Also do you have any mods? The regulator basically thinks there is a short so stops
Wow super informative!! I have a question. I have a gba where the sound works great when first turned on, but slowly gets quieter and choppy until there's no sound at all. Sound works perfectly from the headphone jack though. What could be going on?
Nice 👍🏻
I have the same corrosion problem, I think the Q7 is bad, the u4 has to modulate to 6v, right? If so, I lack that voltage, the truth is I don't know how to continue ...
Great content, I have a question, off topic , I have 2 GBA AGB-001, one works with Ni-Mh batteries (total 2.6v) so the batteries ain't the problem, and the other one only makes a pop noise, power switch is cleaned and battery contacts are fine, possible causes ?
Power regulator circuit. L1 or T1 often fail
I have 3v from positive battery pin to left of f1 and out the right of f1 in off position.also have 3 volts on pin 2 of the power switch while in off position.when I turn it on I get 0.06 on pin 2 of the power switch any help?
Hey RetroSix, thoroughly enjoyed the educational video! I used it to try and diagnose why the GBA I've been working on has no sound out of the speaker or headphone jack.
Unfortunately, I still haven't solved the problem. I had soldered a wire similar to you did in the video (pin 4 to 5), but no sound came out still. I've cleaned both the volume potentiometer and headphone jack with IPA, and replaced the speaker. Is there anything you may know that could be the problem? My next course of action was going to be to replace the volume potentiometer.
Do you have audio in headphones? If you do and you still don't get audio are you using a CleanAmp or just stock?
@@RetroSix There is no audio coming out of the headphones either, and it's stock.
@@Syngii it's likely the inputs into the amp then or volume wheel. For volume wheel just test with multimeter the voltage at pin 10 of the amp. As you move wheel up and down it should go from around 0V to 3v
Great video you have there! I have a GBA but whenever I tried to turn it on, its never turned on, the green light shows for a second and then its off. I already cleaned the power switch but no luck, maybe its not a power switch related issue?
It's a dead short on the console somewhere or a bad regulator. I'll do a video on it when I get time but look for shorts
Hello,im having very low sounds on my gba..will your amp will resolve this issue?
Good work man. Really very well. Gba Restaured. Like; Returne here.
I'm getting audio out of headphones but no audio from speaker, replaced speaker, volume wheel works with headphones in... possibly bridge pin 4 to pin 5 to fix the problem? what do you suggest?
Bridge 4 and 5 to confirm. If that works your headphones spring needs cleaning or port swapping
Short question: can I use an electrolitic capacitor to replace C26? I ripped off mine by accident
If you have Dehum kit installed just leave C26 off and make sure pad of C27 isn't bridged. No need to replace as Dehum kit has one on
Great video, I'm having some similar issues. GBA used to boot, but suddenly stopped, no sound or display; lights quickly flicker once when switch on or off. I checked the power switch's continuity and it doesnt seem to have any problems; when on common gets supply voltage and when off goes to ground. If anyone has a tips where to look next I'd greatly appreciate it
Jump on our discord channel we can help
good day sir! may i ask what would be the potential issue if the sound on the speaker is very low but the headphone jack sound is normal? thank you for your input.
Sounds like bad speaker try swapping that
Thanks for the quick response. will subscribe either way.
This is video is very educational, and it has helped me on troubleshooting my on-going GBA project, it also helps me getting better on my soldering techniques.
I did encounter and issue similar to the one for R13 after cleaning my power switch. The system will only boot after 10-15 seconds only. I tested the resistor and it works, using my multi-tester I keep getting a consistent 150 ohms reading. Could it be the power switch is faulty or that the C pad does not join to R13 when the console is turned off? Just in case i am ordering a new power switch and i am looking for similar 150 ohm resistors. But what would you recommend?
Test continuity with your multimeter from far right pin on power switch to top of resistor. And from bottom of resistor to ground
@@RetroSix Thank you! The far right pin in the power switch to the top of resistor has zero continuity, and same from the bottom of the resistor to ground. From your experience does that mean that by trying to clean the switched I made it worse?
You sure there is no continuity on both? Usually the bottom resistor is on ground. Very hard to damage that. Either way if bottom of resistor isn't making contact to ground solder a wire from ground to bottom of resistor. Then if top isn't making contact with right pad of switch solder a wire from top of resistor to right pad
@@RetroSix Thank you so much for all your help! Yeah, I did not get continuity from "1" to the top of the resistor. I did get continuity from the solder point from the far right switch (where the cover is soldered and it says off) but I am not sure if that was the point you meant. at this point I will use a wire to make contact. thank you so much for answering my questions, and I must say that I am a fan of your products! 😁
Yes pin 1 should connect to top of resistor. Bottom of resistor should connect to ground including the metal shield of switch
คาปา 4v 470uf ทำหน้าที่อะไรครับ
This was extremely informative. I do have a question, I have a GBA board that seems to be booting GBA games fine, however, when Gameboy games are put in, you can hear them boot and play, but I have nothing on the screen.
Hmm. Only thing I can think causing that is the S1 and S2 power rails. The mechanical switch in the cartridge slot that sends 5V to the cart instead of 3.3V. So worth checking that, pin 2 on CPU and R5 for any damage, shorting or similar. Also check S1 and S1 pins on cart connector have 5V and 3.3V present
@@RetroSix so it seems that S2 has 4.75 on boot, but S1 looks to be 3.27.
@@RetroSix are those values supposed to change if GB/C is installed compared to GBA? No matter the cart it seems to be S2 4.75 and S1 3.27.
@@joshuajacobson2102 C1 next to them should switch between those voltages the 5V for GB games
I know its and older vid to comment on but what causes a GBA to play GB/GBC games but fail to load GBA games past the Advance boot screen?
Upon inspection of the pcb R6 is missing.
Would you happen to have the link to the R13 resistor I need?
RetroSix.co.uk > Parts and components > Passives. Then you want the Resistor Book (0402)
@@RetroSix thanks 🙏🏽
I've checked everything, changed capacitors, I get the 3V everywhere it's supossed to be, but when try to turn on the green light just blinks once then no power and when turning off same thing, I'm goign crazy with this...
Any ideas??
That's when there is a short on one of the output voltage rails, a bad T1 or L1 or a faulty power regulator
@@RetroSix Thank you very much, gonna check into it!!
But L1 was just replaced and don't see any shorts on the rails, probably T1?
Btw the power regulator is it U4?
What temp do you have your iron at?
350 to 380C. Better starting at 350 until you are used to how solder flows and timing get a feel for soldering then go to 380 so you can work faster and spend less time transfering heat further into the board
What would you do if you deduce that the U4 chip is dead?
I'll be making a regulator or full board replacement soon
Anyone know what size the resistor r13 is I got 150 ohm resistor but they were too big
It's an 0402 SMD resistor, 150R
@@RetroSix thanks
So what happens if I still have no sound and have done all these things? Lol please help
Teach how to fix Sega gane Gear